The last time

Sometimes something happens that is so powerful that you have to just let it out. It consumes your thoughts and you try to make sense of it. I have one such moment that stays in my head. I had a patient that I took care of for several years. Every time I saw her she would joke around with me. Over the years I saw the worsening of her condition. She went from walking in to using a wheelchair and finally arriving to clinic on a stretcher. Her last visit remains in my memory as to why I do what I do. Her blood pressure was low and she needed some fluid. I started the IV while another nurse kept her attention. She was worried about the IV and before she even knew it the IV was going and she was relieved. The doctor decided that she needed to be admitted to the hospital for care. This was the worse I had ever seen her. As she was laying there and the ambulance crew arrived, she asked me for a hug. I leaned over and gave her a hug. She whispered to me that she was scared. I had whispered back that it was alright to be afraid and that she would be just fine. She gave me another hug and I told her to take care. Her pressure dropped even further that night and she was coded and intubated. She passed later the next day. I hope that the care I gave her comforted her final hours.

And the world still turns

I had started my blog to keep in touch with family. Everyone is spread out here in the United states and over seas. It was real chore at first because I had to find the time to load pictures and write a little on what was going on in my neck of the woods. As time went on I found that I liked to write and post interesting things that were happening. I enjoyed going to my families blogs to see what was going on and I felt connected. The first social network I was in was My Space, only because my daughter was on it and i wanted to know what was happening in her world. Now it is Face Book. My daughter joined face book and I had to join in order to see what the big deal was. Come to find out, most all of my family had joined face book. I'm sure that this happened the end of last year as the posts on the blogs became less and less frequent. Now, there is not too much happening on the old blog sites. I go look but nothing changes.Day after day, week after week, month after month. I mean FB is great for the quick update, share photos much faster, and keep in touch with other issues. I was voicing my complaints the other day and one of my friends told me that it is just the newest form of social networking and who knows, one day something will come out that replaces the FB. I have become addicted to FB. I check it in the morning to see what has happened over night. I read my messages during the day when I'm on break. I look when I first get home and then check before I go to bed. I am a FB addict. But FB does not tell the story. It does not go into the detail that keep connections strong. I will continue to use FB to stay connected. But I will continue to post on my blog for the story that goes deeper. I will continue to check on the family blogs in hope that something new will appear. Until then, Blog on!

San Antonio Water Police: Go ahead, officer, take me away!

I received a notice today that I was in violation of the stage 2 water restrictions. I'm thinking to my self, WTF, my grass is completely brown, my xeric scape plants are starting to wilt. What could possibly be causing the violation. My fountain, of course! I have a pump that recirculates the water for the Koi and goldfish. Apparently I have to keep the "fountain" turned off to conserve water. My little pond is almost completely in the shade and does not lose water because of the pond liner. As far as I'm concerned, this is my outdoor aquarium. The Koi do not require that water move but it does keep it looking better. With all of the businesses that water the parking lots and streets, they have to concentrate on very small Koi ponds. How asinine!

July 20 was the day. I reached the goal weight that I set to cut my hair, 185 pounds! it was such a relieve to finally cut my hair. I have had a close cut head for the last 9 years and hair touching my ears was driving me crazy. My next goal is 180 pounds. This morning was 183 which puts the total to 14 pounds.

Garmin 305 Forerunner: you don't have to be a running nut!

I first saw this device at work. One of my friends uses it to keep track of his workouts. He is a big time runner. I am just getting into the walking/running thing. I usually bike. The great thing about this device is that it has a mode for walking and biking. It keeps the two files separate so each sport can be looked at individually. As you can see it is a little large but is light weight and after a few minutes you don't even know its there. The screen can be set up to monitor a variety of points. I have my main screen set to show total time, total distance, mile pace, and heart rate. My main tracking point was heart rate. I wanted to make sure that I was getting into a good aerobic rate. The heart rate strap is hardly noticeable. This device keeps track of the workout and then you can down load the data to your computer and see all of the data plotted on a chart. I'm far from being a running/biking nut but this sure helps me get a better workout. The device picks up the satellites quickly and works even when I'm off road in the trees. This is a great training device. Great even for beginners.

This is a sign that is posted on the fence at Boerne City Park. I had to get a picture of it. Where else but Texas. We were at the park for the 4th fireworks celebration. we had such a good time with family. Next year we plan on doing it again but this time have a BBQ at the park.

A walk in the park

These are some pictures from the park. I'm surprised that there is still water in it with the drought going on. There was a guy fishing and I saw him catch a perch and turn it loose. I enjoy walking this park.