Err-runs...

Me: Please go get the electrical cord for the hip cooling unit, its next to my side of the bed.

George, back from upstairs: Here ya go!

Me: That's to my Kindle.

George, back from upstairs: Here...

Me: That's to my laptop.

George, back from upstairs: THIS?

Me: That's to the cell phone...

George: well, god dammit...

Me: Its okay... Can I just have an ice pack from the freezer?

Hip, Hip, Hooray...Not!

I'm trying to bring crutches into the world of Haute couture... one gimpy slap step at a time...(sigh)

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I have been on walking aids recently, first a walker, then crutches. I have been off my horses,too. I am not happy about that. I haven't even been able to longe or play with them for fear of injuring myself further.

Three years ago, thinking I was in my twenties, not my fifties, I overdid the leg presses at the gym. The result was soreness that turned into tendonitis which turned into bursitis of the hip. Chronic, painful, sleep disturbing, radiating-to-my-foot bursitis. I couldn't even lay on my affected side or wear snug pants.

So-called conservative therapies either didn't help at all or helped only a little. Those included massage therapy, warm water movement, iontophoresis, electric stimulation, and injections of corticosteroids at the site.

Finally, my orthopedic surgeon recommended a procedure to remove the bursa, a surgery that is only done by a couple doctors, and those in a city over a hundred miles away. After a ton of research, I agreed. Last week, I had the surgery, and now I am on crutches and off my horses.

I am not a languishing sort of person, not one to enjoy this interlude drooping and clickety-clack staggering from bed to couch. I am ready to be all done with this.

Lesson: when it comes to weight training at my age: less is more...

Learning

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An eastern teaching says 'When the learner is ready, the teacher will appear'. That doesn't mean a miraculous appearance, but a readiness to learn. Lessons are all around us every day. When the soil of our mind and heart is ready, the seed of learning can sprout. I struggle with 'keeping myself ready to learn the lesson', open enough to take it in and apply it to my life.

New Life, for Some

My husband is 'semi-retired' now. Meaning he hunts and fishes for four to six weeks at a time, then returns to a regular work schedule when he is home, usually 8-5. Hmmm.

This is not working for me. I am alone during the dark autumn evenings when he travels, and have him around for dirtying the kitchen and going to bed early for work when he is home.

It's not like I can have a network of friends to spend time with and then abandon when he decides to be home, or just go and do my own thing whether he is here or not. I am alone, in the worst way, except if he was dead, I mean.

I am not a solitary person. I really like conversation, cooking and visiting with someone everyday. But, suddenly, since June, I have been alone more than I have been a part of a couple. I don't think I like this...

Clean Up On Aisle Life!

I feel like I should be a character in the children's book 'Everybody Poops'. I would be the clean up person, the poop scooper, the carpet cleaner, the gagging glove-clad follower of the parade...

No such character exists, of course, but it should. And, it would be me.

My grandpugs are visiting. One of them, the youngest, has had some, uhmm, gastric upset lately. I'm talking the visible foggy paint peeling gas and copious amounts of semi-soft crap all over the house. I bought new carpet when we moved into this place, and I have tried to limit the exposure to nasties and toxins.

Suddenly, though, it is as if I live in a land mine area full of unusual smells and scary tarry piles.

I am thinking of diapers...

You've Got Mail

My husband got more than a laugh out of seeing an AARP membership solicitation addressed to me in the mail. He got downright gleeful, all 'ha-ha-ha' over it.

That lasted until I sorted through the pile of mail and discovered a meaningful missive just for him: a pre-paid plan for cremation...

Email and Facebook etiquette

Everything one writes on Facebook or sends in an email is just a substitute for the spoken work. In other words, if we send it to others or post it on Facebook, we have stated it as fact and as something we support. If we pass on an untruth or unconfirmed statements as 'fact', we are both advancing another's agenda (unwittingly, I hope!), or undermining our own credibility.

We only get one chance with each of our acquaintances at being a person of character and truth. If we value that, we have a duty to verify information before we hit 'forward' or 'send'. If we don't, we lose that chance. I value my credibility with you. I therefore promise to you that I will check out the things I send to you as best I can to confirm their truth, as I have done in the past. Because I know two things: 1) I value my credibility in your eyes, and 2) I value you and your time more than to make you read untruths or rumors because my name is attached to them.

I further promise that if you find that something I have sent you is wrong, untrue or offensive, I will appreciate your feedback and will not be offended for pointing it out to me, because I know you do so out of love and respect for me.

Internet communication has been around long enough that it is time for personal responsibility. If we utilize the technology, we owe it to others to use it responsibly, correctly and with good manners.

Here are some rules we should adopt that might prove useful for Facebook and emails:

(You won't easily find these in books or on websites covering a modern version of etiquette, but they should be part of everyone's introduction to the computer. In fact, I'd lobby for them to be printed on every computer.)

1. Send only what you have checked out and that you want to have associated with your name and character. If you don't know, or don't have the time to check it out: don't send it!!

2. If you regularly forward almost all or all of your emails, shame on you! You are not thinking of your friends or what might really interest them; you are mindlessly cluttering their inboxes and taking up their valuable time. That is not 'staying in touch' nor is it communicating, it is dumping.

3. If you are forwarding items, be responsible and delete the addresses of others you are sending it to. Send it to yourself and put everyone else in the Bcc (blind courtesy copy) box so that personal email addresses aren't out there for others to exploit.

4. If you think something is worth passing on, take the time to make it appear polite and presentable. In other words, colored text, giant text, different fonts, exclamations, capitals, scrolling, emoticons, all that 'stuff' is the equivalent of screaming at your reader. Yes, all those buttons can be used, but SHOULD they? It is irritating to be forced to scroll down, down, down, having one's chain yanked, reading one. GIANT. red. green. blue. word. at. a. time. Make the point, get to the punch line, and let your reader off the hook. They are certain to have other emails to read. If we hogged a conversation in the same manner, we would get slapped or rejected socially, probably both.

If this confirms your current practice, you are a mature, informed and considerate user of modern communication tools. (But, I bet you know someone who could use this email.) If, though, you think this might describe you even a little, rather than take offense, think honestly about your communication with others. I'll bet, even if no one told you directly, someone is thinking you need a primer, and this is it.