Red Nose

It's Just Not Spring Without A Little Bronchitis

Sorry for the gap in updating on the Photo-A-Day deal, but I have an excuse.

Another bout of bronchitis.

I started feeling symptoms on Wednesday, but chalked it up to allergies. (Spring has not just sprung around here; it has exploded, with the accompanying uptick in tree pollen.) Thursday I started coughing a bit. Friday I started wheezing, and I knew it wasn't allergies at all. I have been through this before, and I know bronchitis when I get it nowadays.

So I spent three and a half hours of St. Patrick's Day in the urgent care center, snorting and hacking and wheezing. It was very dainty and ladylike.

The doctor finally finally finally came in and said, "I've been listening to you coughing for awhile -- what's going on?" And I explained everything, and he peered down my throat and peeked in my ears and looked up my nose and listened to my rattley chest, and said, "You need a nebulizer treatment, and I'm prescibing a Z-pack, and an inhaler, and some cough syrup to help you sleep."

So I waited a while, and the nurse came in with the nebulizer treatment, which made me feel quite speedy indeedy. And then I waited a while, and the doctor came back and listened to my chest again, and then said he'd be back with the paperwork and I could pick up the scrips at the pharmacy. And then I waited a while, and he came back with the paperwork. And then I went to the pharmacy and waited a while, and finally finally finally left with all the requisite drugs.

But before this exciting adventure, Joe and I went to lunch for St. Patrick's Day. Joe had a special drink called an "Irish Flag Shot", which consists of one part creme de menthe, one part Bailey's Irish Cream, and one part Grand Marnier orange liqueur. Made correctly, it looks like the Irish flag (duh). And this is what it looks like when it's been drunk, and there's only a wee bit o' creme de menthe left in the bottom of the glass -- a good shot for today's Photo-A-Day theme of (what else) "green".

Early Spring (and Some Clouds)

Late spring has arrived early in DC this year. The trees have burst wide open, daffodils and forsythia are carpeting the median strips and highway embankments, and the temperatures are in the high 70s.

Unfortunately, my allergies are also in full bloom. My throat starting itching and my nose started flowing, so hello, Benadryl! Well, this too shall pass.

Today was the first day in the new office space. The move went off without a hitch; given the number of times my company moves people around, I would have been surprised if it hadn't. They've got this stuff down. So my five boxes of books and files and other office detritus were just a'waitin' for me outside of my new cube. (I did ultimately get the one I wanted, so no complaints.)

Because of this exceptional weather, the longer walk to work this morning was quite pleasant. An industrious gentleman sweeping the sidewalk with a pine tree branch wished me good morning and told me that I looked nice and to have a wonderful day. That made me smile.

So the theme for today's Photo-A-Day is "Clouds" -- and it's a good thing that I snapped this one yesterday, because was not a cloud in the sky today.

 

 

You Are Here

Today's Photo-A-Day theme is "sign."

I thought about being creative on this one, but ultimately I just snapped a picture of this helpful piece of user documentation near the Silver Spring Metro stop.

The reason for this sign (and many others like it on the surrounding blocks) is that the county (or maybe the state? I don't know!) is building a brandy-new transit center that will consolidate buses, subway trains, Amtrak trains, MARC trains, bicycles, skateboards, and maybe even scooters!

I kid. But they are building a transit center. It's that gray irregular pentagon on the sign.

Anyway, the construction of this behemoth has caused the bus stops to go all cattywampus and WMATA has had to accommodate the buses on the surrounding streets. They've actually done a pretty good job, including signs like this one.

At least you always know where you are.

Fork

The Photo-A-Day theme for today is: Fork.

I took the easy way out:

This serving fork belonged to my mother. It's nice and hefty, and it reminds me of two stories.

Story #1: When I was a little girl, my mother taught me how to set the table in this novel (and outmoded) way. The plate is the home. The front door is on the right of the plate. The spoon is the little girl going off to school. The daddy is the next to leave, going off to work. The mommy stays home in the house, on the left side of the plate.

Well, what can I say. It worked -- at least until I saw a place setting with two forks. Must have been a Mormon place setting.

Story #2: After my parents got married in 1933, they lived on the second floor of my Gramma's house while their house was built next door. (My grandparents gave them the lot as a wedding present.) They'd eat dinner downstairs with Gramma, though. Every month when the rent came due, Gramma would set my Pop's place with two forks.

As my Pop told the story, the first time this happened he asked "Why the two forks?" And Gramma replied, "Fork over."

If You Want a Beer, See Ron

For Day 11, the Photo-A-Day theme is "someone you talked to".

Well, meet Ron, our favorite beer guy at Verizon Center. We made friends with Ron our first year as season-ticket holders for the Caps. He disappeared last season -- we know not where -- but he came back this year.

He always gives me a big hug. It's like being enveloped in a big friendly blanket. We joke back and forth and talk about the team and have a high old time as he pulls our beers. Lately his beer stand has featured Molson Canadian; other times it's Rock the Red Ale or Blue Moon.

So while the  beer may change, Ron doesn't.

Cover Your Ears -- and Maybe Your Eyes

Today's theme for the March Photo-A-Day is LOUD.

Y'know, hockey is a loud game. The crack of the puck on a stick or of bodies on the boards punctuate the action; the airhorn or siren wail signals a goal or the end of a period. The crowd can be amazingly loud, especially home team crowds when they're cheering on their favorite team, exhorting the skaters to unleash the fury, or hollering at the referee for a bad call on the ice.

We went to a great game today -- the Hockey 4 Hope charity game featuring Capitals alumni such as Peter Bondra, Yvon Labre, and Alan May. The alumni played three full periods against a different opponent each period. First, they played against alumni of the Naval Academy hockey team. Next, they played the hockey team from the US Secret Service. Finally, they played a motley team made up of firefighters and police officers from Prince George's and Howard counties. The Caps alumni won every time!

During the game, we kept a close eye on the progress of the Caps game against the Bruins. When the Caps won, I had a hard time not shouting out loud. (Dare I say that maybe we'll make the playoffs after all? Maybe I daren't. Shhh.)

Anyhow, now we're watching the Flyers-Maple Leafs game on Hockey Night in Canada. I love Hockey NIght in Canada, because the games are good and -- even more -- because it features the inimitable Don Cherry, who is the epitome of loud, both in voice and dress. So I took a picture of him from the TV -- and caught him personifying the theme.

 

 

 

At Least I Saw Stars

Well, the results are in.

I have moderately severe degenerative arthritis in my neck. It's affecting the C3 through C5 vertebrae, with nerve impingement in C3 on the right side and in C3 and C5 on the left.

No wonder it hurts.

The doctor asked if I played sports when I was young. (Note that he said "young," not "youngER." Ahem.) I admitted that I did not; however, I did take an acrobatics class in the 70s.

To be exact, I took an acrobatics class from September 1975 to November 1975, when I was in Clown College. One of the exercises we had to do was to leap onto a mini-trampoline, soar headfirst over a vaulting horse, and end in a dive roll.

I had never done such a thing, never in my entire life.

The assistant teacher gave us a tip before we started -- "Shoot your arms straight up as you come off the tramp," he said. "It will give you the height you need to clear the horse."

However, he did not remind us to tuck our heads as we landed and rolled, probably because he thought that was such an elementary, basic instruction that it did not need to be said.

I took his advice to heart as I ran toward the mini-tramp. I jumped; I shot my arms up. I cleared the horse, no problem, and I sailed right over and held my head nice and straight.

You know what's coming, don't you? Sure you do.

I landed right smack dab on the top of my head. I didn't lose consciousness, but as I lay on the mat I thought to myself, "Wow -- you really do see stars!"

Anyway, I was a lousy acrobat. I did learn how to do that dive roll and eventually I even learned to do a backward somersault on a trampoline, but I was always terrified.

And now, 37 years later, the birds have come home to roost in my poor neck. The doctor has referred me to physical therapy for now, so we'll see if that helps. If not, the next referral is to the spine surgeon. He hesitates to prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs for a chronic condition like this because they have a nasty effect on kidney function, so I'm left with this -- which is also my photo for today, with the theme of "Red."

Window on Connecticut Avenue

As I mentioned here, I have a very nice cube right next to a long bank of windows. These windows look down on Connecticut Avenue, one of the major thoroughfares in DC. I have a great view of this street, so I can watch people, watch for desirable food trucks, watch motorcades of Important People, watch the weather, and generally stare out into space.

It can be a little noisy, particularly when the occasional motorcade comes through with its police escort or when the more frequent ambulance or cop car screams down the street, but the light is great! I'm going to miss that light.

Coincidentally, the prompt for the Photo-A-Day today is "window", so here you go.

My new cube is also by windows, but I won't have a direct view outside. One of the cube walls will block it. The view is okay -- it's the garden enclave of the main headquarters building. I think, but I don't know, that it will likely be quieter and a little darker; nevertheless, it is a window and I'll still be able to stare out into space. However, my staring will be a tab bit more obvious, since I'll have to get up and stand in the walkway.

Maybe I'll construct a sort of cube periscope for staring purposes.

Something I Wore

Today's Photo-A-Day prompt is "something you wore."

Behold: my favorite shirt in the whole entire world.

It is an Eddie Bauer men's waffle shirt, and it is the softest, most comfortable shirt I own. It is the perfect "loaf around the house and fall asleep on the sofa" shirt. I bought two of these shirts for Joe and SonnyeBoy for Christmas and was so jealous of them that I bought one for myself.

Why did I buy the men's shirt?

Because there was no women's version. For some reason, manufacturers these days believe that women want these short, fitted tops with odd prints all over them. Such is not the case, at least with me. I wanted comfort -- big, sloppy comfort -- and this shirt is IT.

Even better? I got it during the after-holiday sale -- eleven bucks, my friends. Eleven bucks. I wish I'd bought a half dozen.

Five O'Clock At The Clinic

The March Photo-A-Day prompt for today was 5 pm. Here's my photo:

This is my kitchen clock, and yes, I was late. But I was late because I was at the clinic at 5 pm, finally getting my painful neck checked out.

I wrote about this back in August. At that point, I called the advice nurse to make an appointment, but the advice talked to doctor, who advised her to advise me to apply hot compresses and take the painkillers and muscle relaxants that he prescribed. I did that, but they did not help one whit.

Not one whit. (I've always wanted to say "not one whit"; now I have.)

The Buddhists say that until something is painful enough, you won't change it. Well, my neck pain finally got painful enough, so I called again and this time I made an appointment. The doctor moved my head around and then sent me down to radiology where I had copious x-rays. I hope these x-rays are conclusive, because I will be very upset if I talk to the doctor and he says that nothing is wrong with my neck.

I don't want to be upset, because that just makes my neck hurt more.

Anyway! At 5 pm I was walking out of the clinic to the car, so I took this picture as soon as I got home. So I guess I just missed it by a neck.