WeatherSystems

Have you ever thought about what this guy was thinking? Maybe he was thinking why he was posing or maybe I should get some clothes on or whatever. Guess I will always be thinking about that one.

I watched a panel of Republican candidates for Oregon governor on KGW tonight. Couldn't help but chuckle at the lineup. Chris Dudley, ex NBA player who hovers around seven feet and the other two candidates who must be closer to five feet tall. For a video picture click here.  I put my bet on Dudley.. At least the debate went rather uneventful compared with the Democratic debate. Click here to read about that one. Is there a doctor in the house? Sure was.

It seemed like I had a lot to write about the past week or two but I guess I have let go of some pet peeves and forgot them. Just as well I guess.  So I guess I will be musingly along for now  Pat

I suppose changing your clocks one hour ahead may not be as tough a job as this guy has but really it's a hassle. The stove, microwave, the wall clocks, the DVD player, TV maybe. Then there is your watch, auto clock etc. At least many electronic devices are somewhat 'smart' and reset themselves. What I'd like to know is where does that hour really go? It is  2 am on Sunday and all of a sudden it is  3am. It's painless, most of us are sleeping. I always wonder about people that are working, do they get by with just a seven hour shift?

Yeah, it is time to 'spring forward' remember that as you 'fall back' into the bed. Gads, I for one will NOT wait until late autumn to 'fall back' and regain an extra hour of sleep. I was looking forward to having it much lighter in the early morning hours but now it will be for a short while, darker in the morning.  On the flip side, it will be lighter in the evening hours.

I really don't know what "Daylight Saving Time" actually saves but at least I can say I saved something this month.

In my last post the title was "Random Thoughts As I Sit Here." So  a slight twist in this blog entry. Let's get to the bottom of the matter. This may be gross but I have to get it out (my story that is, sorry). Have you ever tried to fully and safely utilize an auto-flush toilet? I am sure you have. The frustrating thing is trying to place the sanitary cover on the seat prior to the sit down. My experience took place the other day at The Vancouver Clinic. No sooner do I rip a cover out and place it on the seat and then I make the slightest move . . . .  yep it flushes and down the drain goes the cover. Again, and again and again.  Boy so much for a water saving device eh? While I was in the middle of this ridiculous exercise someone kept knocking on the restroom door. Anyways, I finally figured it out since there were only two covers left in the dispenser. I went over to the paper towel dispenser which was also automatic. I waved my hand several times and managed to get a  decent size towel. I place the paper towel over the sensing head on the toilet and proceeded to cover the seat. Someone continues to beat upon the door. I stand back and double dare that thing to do another royal flush. Ha! Success. I guess it is nice to have such touch less wonders, the toilet, the water faucet, the soap dispenser, the paper towels . . . but hey, I am busy - quit knocking on the door!

Life I have always known is a very precious gift and sometimes we tend to drift away from reality. Human nature I guess. All it takes is a sudden life threatening event to bring it all home. Each day we wake up to a challenge of some sort. Yes, life is precious and until it stares at you in the face and you begin counting each heartbeat, the reality of intentions awaken the soul.

And so it was with me a week ago Monday on January 11, 2010. I had just arrived at work around 6:20 am and was just getting out of the car when my chest began to tighten up. I walked into my office turning my computer on as the pressure in my chest worsened and a severe pain in my left shoulder blade deepened with each breath I took. Something told me this was not good and remaining in control of my senses arrived ten minutes later in the ER room at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital.

I will say when you walk into the ER holding your chest and bent slightly over stating, "I think I am having a heart attack" you certainly get immediate attention and hey, no waiting. In a minute of a minute or two I was lying on a bed with a myraid of wires and electrodes from my neck to my ankles and placing nitro tablets one each five minutes times three under my tongue. An IV was placed in my right arm. The doctor was in very quickly and said I may be having a heart attack. Life was quickly placed in a box with four sides without windows and doors. The nitro did not ease the pain so a dose of morphine was injected into the IV. Within a minute or two the severe pain in the shoulder blade and the pressure in my chest eased off. Never had morphine before, not bad at least I was more comfortable. Many vials of blood were taken and the doctor came back and said I was going to be admitted.  Wow! What a role change for me, it was I who usually took others to the hospital, my wife, my kids, my parents.

I had a very nice room on the sixth floor cardiac ward and received excellent care. Was able to write my newspaper column later in the day from my bed. Blood work came back great, enzymes showed no heart attack.  All of a sudden my inner room of life had windows with blinds wide open but still unable to see  a doorway out. I was scheduled for a stress test the next morning. A  long night in a strange room it was.

The stress test while hooked up with more electrical circuitry, was actually a piece of cake running ten miles an hour at a 15 percent incline, ha! Then dye injected and nuclear imagining. Back to my room where a doctor came in and told me the imaging showed decreased flow in my left coronary artery on my heart. My eyes closed, the blinds and windows in my life disappeared and I was back staring at four blank walls.

Two hours later a cardiologist came by and said he thought the test may be a false positive and would require an angiogram to determine. Ah, another lonely night in the hospital. Wednesday morning the doctor came in and discussed the 'procedure' with me.
The procedure went well not bad at all, they relaxed me but I was able to see my heart on the monitors with the wire running through my arteries.

The doctor told me right away that my arteries were wide open and no plaque buildup at all and that I had a heart of a 40 year old. Hooray, but I thought I was already 40 years old (that's another story).

Even though I was in the basement in a dark room the sun was shining once again and all I could see were open doors. Back to my room for six hours of rest and then made the trek homeward. They think I had an esophageal spasm so a referral to a GI doc is in the works.

Being a weatherman it was like the weather around us, dark and rainy one moment and sunny and blue skies the next. We take that for granted quite often as well. The things I thought that were important were not, the things I sometimes do not think about were. Life is a precious commodity and time is a gift, that is why they call it the present.

I will be editing my 'bucket list' of things to do before I move on to a better place. What will you do?