My Outing

On March 18th I presented at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital for a procedure. 

I'd been seeing a primary-care physician who had been chasing blood pressure and heart murmur issues. And I'd noticed that my stamina for even ordinary activities was diminishing, despite various treatments. I sure wasn't bike riding with any enthusiasm. Earlier in the month I'd done an echo and a stress test referral. Cleveland Clinic cardiologist no more than glanced at the output and said that we have a problem here. A real problem. And it's got nothing to do with a slight murmur that had held the attention of my usual and customary doctor for several years.

We set up for a possible angioplasty and stents. That day arrived, and revealed that I had sufficient blockage that this procedure was no longer an option. I hadn't had my heart attack yet, and we set a date for a "procedure." Meanwhile I avoided stressful activity.

Cardio is a rough area in a hospital. There is good. But there's a lot of bad going down in the form of sudden crisis. People coming via the ER after their big crunch. And sometimes a situation goes bad in the hospital. My attempted stent was held for hours while the crash team went to work on a man ahead of me. From the waiting area, and then overheard in cardio, I estimated that this man had discontinued his prescription medication and had been using natural remedies. Leaving the crash team knowing the guy was having a crisis and also having no idea what kind of crap he'd been putting into himself. (The manufacturer might have no clear idea, as well, and that's another problem for another time.)

At the end of a long day, we met with with Dr Mark Malias and set a date for a quintuple bypass.

The deal went down. And I was quickly present in body only in a room full of doctors and amazing equipment. I had made no effort to find out anything prior about what would be done other than information provided by the doctors and staff involved. - That's why a team of physicians and OR specialists spent a whole lot of time in school and continuous training: they have it down as good as it's gonna get. 

I'll treat this as an amazing adventure, I'd said to several people. Experience it. Learn. Take it in without preconceptions.

Time stops and starts after something like this surgical procedure. Sometimes it's moving quickly. Other times slowly. It's afternoon; no, it's morning. Or maybe it's night. Well, doesn't matter, does it? Lights are on all the time indoors. ICU staff made it work. 

I want to make minor mention of something that took place nearby me. And I overheard just bits and pieces, mostly after the fact, and I could have it all wrong. Late at night another man, who had been making progress, died. Within a short time the head of emergency medicine was there, and he gathered everyone around to discuss what happened. Everyone participated, and he knew everyone by sight and by name. Respect was the key. Information was the point. I think I'll leave it at that. Except to mention that the physician calling this meeting is widely believed to be one of the finest medical doctors alive by the people who work with him. 

ICU for several days. Then 5 East. Finally out of there and home just a few hours short of one week.

While on 5 East I had my room door open as often as possible; I like to be part of the routines of staff and sound and motion. And when shift rotation took place, I could overhear how the staff exchanged information. A form of what pilots call "challenge and response." Both parties must agree on each bit of information exchanged. No uh-huh or nodding of head. No yup. The information was presented as the challenge and the response was to repeat that information back to the challenger while taking notes.

So, to the pictures. For complicated reasons left unexplained here, these were all taken with my ten-dollar LG cellphone. And, last picture, it's standard-issue ketchup meatloaf, tho probably turkey. And damn did it taste good!

-end-

Cornered

And Atget's Wagon 

Pinhole

I have been meaning to take pics with a pinhole on a digital camera. These are the results from an experiment that's about as uncontrolled as you are gonna get. How large is the pinhole? I dunno. About the size I got by poking a piece of foil with the sharp end of a dental pick. Which foil I then taped over the end of a micro 4/3 extension tube to mount it on the camera. B'gosh & b'golly after that.

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The Rule of Thumb

The rule of thumb for many used digital cameras seems to be (new price)/(years since introduced) = selling price for excellent condition. I just bought a used Lumix G2. Didn't need the H, and I'm fine happy with 12mpxl. It's mostly my airplane camera with an old Pentax K-mount 200mm on an adapter.

Waazi loo lah? 


Pic by someone else and conveniently lifted from a GooSearch.

In my experience, a good morning often begins with a dog walk. This isn't always possible for me b/c of competing interests. There's bicycle to ride. And, MWF, I can fly my model airplane, weather permitting. Otherwise, there's walk this dog around. 

Part of a good walk is policing the area. Here Ellen with litter hound Lili goes after a drink lid tossed on 6th Ave.

I'm baking again. Weather is good for running an oven. Although, chilly days makes for slower rise. These a couple of raisin, pecan, date, & cinnamon "holiday" bread. It's a mess to make. And I do it several times a year. Then I go back to the usual and customary.

Here the start of final rise on a loaf of dark rye. I had it on a cookie sheet, and I know better. When the sheet popped and twisted from heat, the loaf fell a little and became a bit more sticky in the middle than I'd like. First project this morning is getting a terracotta tile for baking. Then another loaf of dark. And maybe French.



Ellen did another neighborhood mailbox. A man who works for one of the local investment banks knows value when he sees it. He's putting some of his money into property in this area. He lives in this area. When he buys, he improves and then rents. His houses all distinctive b/c of a mailbox with a Florida theme painted by Ellen.



Laura Riding Jackson's house must be moved from its present location at the Environmental Learning Center near Vero. Then the ELC will put in another building and more parking. Which seems a peculiar contrast to environmental learning. What do I know? We attended a fund raiser and birthday celebration for Laura at 118. Local rancher, poet, artist and generally good guy Sean Sexton read from Laura Riding Jackson and from his work. Sean a man with a curious Indiana connection. His grandfather from the Shelbyville area and a Purdue grad.



Sean put me on the spot when he did a bullwhip demo. He asked me the speed of sound. I gave the number for kcal per hp. Sigh. The mind fades away so gently one hardly notices. Unless it's in other drivers.

Where Laura worked



I suppose these trees will be cut down as part of the environmental learning.

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A Trip To The Bird Pond

Yesterday's dog walk included a trip past a nearby bird pond. It's a catch pond for run-off from a strip mall on a corner between 17th Street and Indian River Boulevard. And sufficiently away from traffic that it's attractive to wading birds.

Both Ellen and I had taken a pic or two with the lens I had on my camera at the time. It's kinda long, useful for macro sorts of pictures, but not particularly good for birds. A little later I put one of my old Pentax K-mount lenses on my digital and returned. A 135/3.5 that I bought used in, I think, the mid '90s for about thirty dollars. 

Using zone focus and stopping down seems to work well. I need to mod my lens adapter by drilling it and putting a small lever on it to work the "pre-set" for aperture. And to remember that this isn't film. I can set high sensitivity and still obtain good results. Same deal for how much "film" I have on a roll. I will run out of camera battery, at 5 shots per second, long before I run out of memory card.

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