The best thing about my job as a traveling physical therapist is I don’t have to care about the office drama or the office politics. One of the permanent staff members waltzes into the staff office (which I have affectionately name the fish bowl) and sarcastically says, “Boy there sure is a lot of money sitting in here.” At first I wonder what her issues are and why in the hell would she say a thing like that. Then the greatest thing occurred to me. I don’t have to flippin care! As a traveling therapist I work for an agency that finds work for me within 60 miles of my home. The agency pays my salary, takes care of my health insurance, and even reimburses my mileage. So the reality is this person could be talking about an HDMI switch for all I care. I great thing is I don’t.
My husband is a huge gamer and currently has a playstation 2. At least 3 to 4 times a week he goes down to his friends house to play Xbox until all hours of the night. I’ve heard the new playstation 3 has incredible graphics and many new games to choose from. The only bad thing is the upgrade you have to purchase on the system to play the old playstation 2 games. The Xbox has come down in price and will have new games coming out just in time for Christmas.
Last weekend there was talk between some of us girls about Vegas vacations. The last time we were all in Vegas was June of 2003 and it was an experience I’ll never forget. My husband has never been and I keep telling him he has to experience it at least one time in his life. I’ll never forget walking through the Mirage staring at all the lights and hearing all the sounds of slot machines. I’m sure the people around me must of thought…”yeah first time in Vegas for sure.” One night we walked out of a casino after a night of slot machine and beer drinking to find joggers on the street. “Could it really be 7 a.m.???” Vegas is a place you can stay up all night and not even realize it, so after that we lovingly renamed it Upside Down World.
The effects of Hurricane Ike were felt as far north as Cincinnati, OH. Unfortunately, I was driving on Interstate 74 towards Indianapolis when wind gusts reportedly up to 74 mph lifted my car and the car beside me and shifted us a couple feet. Almost simultaneously we hit the breaks as if we thought we could stop it. I was driving home from my best friends surprise wedding when the wind started picking up. I was thinking I hope she got some good wedding gifts. Maybe some picture frames, a capresso coffee maker, cuisinart waffle iron, and perhaps a good photo album. I’m just glad that she got married to a great guy and that I survived what was left of Ike.
I hear many of my retired patients say they don’t know how got anything done when they were working 40 hours a week. Many say their schedule is so full of activities with grand-kids to helping out with their church. When I work a 40 hour week I often think I don’t have any time to get anything done. I feel overwhelmed. I feel like it’s impossible to cook every week night or try out any new recipes. Or I’ll skip a workout to go grocery shopping and pay the bills. Having fun also takes a backseat or I feel too tired to be happy about a weekend away. Despite the difficulties of working I am thankful that I have a great career with a good income.
“This place reeks of urine,” said the son of one of my patients after coming from the waiting area in the physical therapy clinic I’ve been working at lately. Sadly, one of my patients earlier in the afternoon came in from a local nursing home with his sweatpants soaked from groin to tennis shoes in his own urine. It smelled up the place the rest of the afternoon. He was only 52 years old and had suffered from several strokes in the last 12 years. The strokes affected the right side of his body so he can’t walk without a walker, lay down on a bed or get up from a bed without help from another person. Unfortunately, he is also incontinent and must rely on someone else to change his depends or bath in urine like he did today. The nursing home that sent him to therapy is responsible for his basic needs and our clinic had no briefs or extra clothes to help this man.
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One of the best things about this time of the year is the beginning of the NFL season. I’m a huge football fan and look forward to watching the Colts play on Sundays. This year is special since the Colts will play in the new Lucas Oil Stadium just finished last month. When I toured the new stadium just a week ago all I could think about was how the Colts franchise has transformed the city of Indianapolis and built a legacy of die-hard Colts fans. Winning Super Bowl XLI was just HUGE for Indiana sports fans since it’s the first professional sports championship. We came close to winning the NBA title with Reggie Miller in 2000 but came up short against Kobe and Shaq (who wouldn’t?) Before that all we had were the five NCAA titles in men’s basketball by the Indiana Hoosiers (1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987). So, the Colts begin their season this sunday in a Superbowl XLI rematch with the Bears. Let the NFL season begin!
Finally, I think I’ve solved my cat Cosmo’s vomiting problems. At first it was hairballs, then it was unchewed partially digested Purina One cat food. For the hairballs he gets Laxa Stat lubricant for hair ball elimination and prevention which I have to force him to eat by wiping the stuff on the outside of his mouth. The outside of the bottle says, “Great Taste,” but obviously my cat doesn’t think so. He sees me pull that green tube out of cabinet and runs for cover. It takes me nearly 15 minutes to get him out from under our bed. When he started vomiting his food I couldn’t figure out why it came up unchewed? I watched him eat and discovered that Cosmo scarfs his food down without chewing it so fast that 5 minutes later he was barfing it all back up on the living room carpet. So, instead of getting 1/2 cup twice a day he gets 1/4 cup 4 times a day. To my delight for nearly 2 weeks we’ve had no cat vomit! Problem solved…for now.
My sister-in-law is a personal trainer in a swanky suburb of Atlanta, GA so I’m always bugging her about the latest fitness craze or weight loss tips. Yesterday I sent her an email about what supplements I could be taking to increase lean muscle and burn more body fat. She recommends Amino Acids, Flax Oil, and CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) and says not to take diet pills because they can screw up your metabolism. She also recommends The Maker’s Diet as an eating plan to help lose extra pounds. And exercise consisting of weight-training and aerobics 6 days per week. I started taking the CLA so we’ll see how it works.
A few days ago my husband and I got free tickets to the very first high school football games being played in the new Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. We really had no interest in the games at all we just wanted to see the new home of our favorite team, the Indianapolis Colts. The stadium itself was magnificent. The upper levels were closed to the public but we got to walk around the lower level seating and around the concourse. The concourse is a promotional products machine with each area being dedicated to a particular sponser. Chevy and Huntington Bank were just two of several sponsers that got to decorate a section of the new stadium. Unfortunately, the retractible roof was closed but overall we were blown away by how awesome this stadium was.
