A Day of Disappointments

It promised to be a great day, with a high of 62 degrees F., lots of sun and little wind. Then I got in the shower. I was about halfway done when the connector from the hose to the wand split! Water was spraying all over the place, so I had to adapt to using the broken coupling spray to rinse the soap off.

I left early, then, to stop at Meijer’s (where I bought it). I took the old hose with me, hoping to just buy a new one. Of course, they don’t sell just the hoses! Of course not…... I ended up buying another, “better” one, hoping this one doesn’t break. I’m starting to think I should have gone to Lowe’s or Home Depot and spent big money for a more rugged one.

I couldn’t remember exactly when my appointment with the spine doctor was while at work (it’s on the fridge at home). I thought it was either May 1st or May 5th. So, I called their office to check. According to them, it’s not until May 29th! So, I asked the nurse to ask the doctor if I could take off this damn brace. She said she would, but it might not be until late today when she would have an answer. I said I understood.

Meanwhile, I gave up on sitting in my chair and was sitting on the walker seat. It was too high and the handles got in the way of typing, but at least it wasn’t pressing the brace into my back. I called Michelle in Facilities and she’s going to look for a chair without a full back.

The doctor’s office did call back around 10:30 AM. The guy who called relayed a message from my doctor. Under NO circumstances should I take the brace off unless I am lying down, at least until they see me again. Sh*t!!!

I made the mistake of trying to go to the Goodwill at lunch and drop some things off from the closet cleaning. Plymouth road is all torn up, with construction barrels everywhere and big trucks and backhoes moving around. Since I made it that far (it’s by Farmington Road), I went across the street to the Big Boy and ate my favorite Big Boy meal: Veal Parmesan with spaghetti as the side dish and a Caesar salad.

The afternoon passed slowly, but it passed. Sitting on my walker was making my butt sore, but not hurting my back for a change!

On the way home, I once again experienced a downside of having your car detailed. As you probably know, my car is leather inside and whatever they sprayed on the interior (Armor-all?) made everything slippery. So, my right arm kept sliding off the center arm rest and my left off of the door’s armrest. Weird!

The first thing I did was to look at that appointment card on my fridge. It did say 10:15 AM, but it says May 1! (Come on, people! I may still be on drugs, but I gave up drinking last September, so you can't trick me that easy!)

It had gotten cloudy, but was still warm with just a light breeze, so I went out back and dug a hole in the rear garden. There was a big spot without any plants in the southwest corner (my guess is that the hosta that was there died over the winter). So, I divided a day lily from the front garden around the old tree and replanted it in the back. I filled in both holes with some dirt, watered both with my little bucket and put mulch back on top the dirt. I also watered the transplanted tarragon, which was looking a little bedraggled.

Back inside, I took off my shoes and proceeded to take down the old shower unit and put up the new one. This time I bought one that had both a regular shower head and the wand. It went pretty easy, but everything is still just plastic (like the one that failed). I checked for leaks and had none, so I called it good.

My daughter Melissa called to tell me she and Dave are coming up for a short visit in mid-May and she would like to come over on a Saturday if I didn’t have anything planned. I told her even if I did, I’d change it to see her.

So, we hung up and I finally changed out of my work clothes. I stuck a pot pie into the microwave and took my evening pills. When the pot pie was done, I plated it and went into the bedroom. I took off my brace for the night (ahhh) and laid down on the bed to eat supper and watch some TV.

B___ called to check in and I told him about the shower problem (after all, he put in the first one). He said if it happens again, he'd suggest going to Bed, Bath & Beyond, rather than Home Depot or Lowe's. He said they have a much bigger selection of better quality shower heads and, of course, we all get those 20% off coupons.

I watched TV until 10:00 PM and then shut every down and went to bed.