Month: May 2002

Boll Weevil

Well my evil plan was foiled, of the like 14 people who showed up at the MMM…Time, nobody was really interested in the movie. Ended up eating some ice cream and going for a drive up by the lake and points west. Ended up in Thompson and came home via I-20. Since we hadn’t really made plans for an after drive meal before we started and nobody had a CB we ended up scattering off different exits on the way into and past town. Donna and I drove into downtown and dined at our favorite Augusta eatery, the Boll Weevil.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions sine 02/02/02: 119

Back To The Doctor

Left it up for the trip to work on Thursday, but it went right back down for the trip home. Friday it was upper 50’s so we drove to work with it down, nothing like a little brisk fresh air in the morning. Back to the doctor this morning to try another pill. Feeling better today, but not normal. Hope I feel well enough tomorrow to make the Master’s Miata Club’s MMM…Time. We meet at 4 and there is a matinee showing of the Attack of the Clones at 5:30, I’m going to try and get them to go to the movies.

Started up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions sine 02/02/02: 119

You Get What You Pay For

Our company has 2 different medical plans, the PCN (Physicians Care Network) and something else. The something else used to have a name, but now I think it is called the Non-PCN Plan. 🙂 In the PCN you have to go to the primary doctor and get a referral for anything he can’t handle. Not that they are stingy with referrals, but they don’t want you running to the ortho guy for a hangnail. The company is trying hard to steer you towards the PCN by making the other one twice the cost. It is working too, the last time I was chatting with our HR Manager he said there are like 20 (out of 350) left on the Non Plan. The nice thing about the PCN is that you can go to your primary doctor as often as you need and it doesn’t cost a cent. No deductibles, no forms, no nothing.

Well if you read my Wednesday post you know that I was not feeling to well. After repeated calls to the doctor’s office on Thursday asking for results of my blood work and them saying they haven’t got them yet, at the very end of the day they actually got them. Seems the lab’s fax machine was sending the results, they are just not sure where they were going, outer space perhaps. The Physician’s Assistant called and told me that my results were normal, but if I still felt bad in the AM I should come in and see the doctor.

After a restless Thursday night I went back in to see the Doc. The Nurse took my pressure and pulse, 168/106 and 78, still high. The doctor showed me my results, everything was smack in the middle of the OK range (except my cholesterol which was 203.) He also showed my 4 other copies of the report! Seems as every time I called, the receptionist called the lab and the lab faxed over a copy, but it got stuck in the pipe, but eventually came out. I got another EKG, which looked better than the one from the other day. The Doc is stumped, if something bad happened to make my pressure skyrocket like this, it would have showed up in the blood work. He gave me a different BP medicine, Micardis, and said take this over the weekend and check your pressure on Tuesday and give us a call.

Took one of the pills at lunch and I’m starting to feel almost human again. I hate to brag, because I might jinx it. Shhhh!

Why do you think they call it a practice.

Missed rating last night. Had a good one worked up about movies again. Couldn’t finish Purple Noon on Monday afternoon and tried to watch Mulholland Dr., but bailed about 45 minutes in. But when I sat down to write it all out I couldn’t concentrate.

About 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon I felt flush and light headed, out of sorts. I had the nurse at work check my blood pressure, it was 176/102. She suggested I see my doctor. I called and they could give my an appointment at 9 the next morning. On the way to the car, my wife said lets just go over there. I got to see the Physician’s Assistant. Took my blood pressure and it was still like 170/110. My pulse was 78. Both high for me. I am usually right around 130/90 and my pulse is usually 55. She listened to my heart and went and got me a Hytrin (a blood pressure drug), said take one tonight, go to the lab and get some blood work and keep the 9 AM appointment tomorrow. Last night I hardly slept, I could feel every heartbeat and they seemed to be coming twice a second. Somewhere around 2 AM things seemed to slow enough that I got some bits of sleep in.

I got to the lab first thing and they took some blood and I made it to the doctor’s office a bit early. The nurse took my pressure and it was 160/100 with my pulse still 78. She said lets run an EKG. After that The PA came in and did the pressure thing – 156/96. The EKG showed nothing too abnormal, she said there was some indication of electrolyte imbalance, but need the blood work results before making any comments. That will take 24 hours (don’t get me started on why that is like that) and I should go back to work. I hadn’t slept so I went home and took a 2 hour nap.

I still feel crappy as I write this, but not like last night, I’m sure my heart rate and pressure are down, I can tell, but I’m still not right. Let’s see what they say tomorrow. Do I need to keep taking the Hytrin? Am I now a high blood pressure person? Is that how it comes about, suddenly and dramatically?

Bat Cave

Finally hooked up the garage remote to the “Bat Cave” toggle switch. Works OK. You have to have the key on and you can’t hold the switch up or the garage door stops traveling. It’s a momentary on type switch, but that just means it is spring loaded, you can hold it too long and it confuses the opener. I’m sure with a little practice I will get the hang of it. 🙂

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 117

X-Files V

Last night was the big 2 hour series finale. Yeck, I’m glad that is over with. Sunday’s are free again. I was going to rehash the episode and dissect it’s inadequacies, but it would take to long and I just want to forget it. Best line of the whole episode comes from the prosecutor, after a litttany of witnesses testifying to their little bit of knowledge of the Mulder story and the alien mythology, he objects by saying, “This testimony is irrelevant, we didn’t come here for a trip down memory lane. We are here to try Agent Mulder for murder.” I wanted to stand up and cheer. I only wished he had said it sooner.

Let’s just say I would have had a better time watching the Cosby reunion on the channel.

Brian 3, Hollywood 2

I happened to catch just a part of this movie on one of the cable channels a month or so ago and my wife and I decided to rent it. George Clooney for her, Nicole Kidman for me. That’s right, The Peacemaker and as it turns out we saw the best 10 minutes on TV. (The part where our main characters are introduced to each other.) I stopped believing when they start passing around pictures of the train wreck taken from a satellite. If we have pictures being taken of every square inch of the country of Russia to be able to pick out this particular bit of train track, why don’t we have pictures of the robbery train and work back from there to track the truck with the nukes? George and Nicole outrun, not just one, but two explosions. We are treated to the usual red LED countdown clock as they try to disarm the bomb. The only action movie clich? we missed was the Fruit Cart. Then again, that might have been in there while they were tearing up downtown Vienna and I had glazed over and missed it. Oh, and I fell sorry for the citizens of Vienna as it appears they have no police force at all.

The only movie left on the coffee table to watch now is Purple Noon. 1960 French film based on The Talented Mr. Ripley books. I actually liked the Matt Damon – Jude Law flick based on these characters, so we’ll see.