Monday, Monday…

It was cool on Monday morning, but I didn’t let that fool me. It was supposed to be a repeat of the weekend’s gorgeous, warm weather.

I pulled the truck out and then tried to load the walker behind my seat. Um, not gonna happen. There is not that much room in an “extended cab with jump seats.” But, I still felt better safe than sorry, so I threw it in the truck bed.

When I got to work, many of the old timers chuckled and said, “You brought your buddy back! Does the bell still work?”

Sidebar: I had to use this at work (with that god-awful brace) for some six months when I had my spine fused. I added a little bell so I could “announce” my presence when coming around a blind corner after running into Art (whose office is back by the tech room) several times.

I hadn’t thought of that so I checked. Yep, the bell still works!

Vicky, on the other hand, was mortified. She said she felt terrible and all the other techs had been teasing her when I was just using the cane. “What did you do to the poor old guy in Puerto Rico? He was walking fine when he left!” So, this seemed worse.

I tried to break it down for her: I smashed the sh*t out of myself on a motorcycle when I was 22 years old. It took several surgeries and almost a year of rehab before I could walk again. Since I am 66 ½ years old, that means I have been technically a crip (off and on) for 44 years. That’s longer that she or any of the techs teasing her have been born.

I took an abbreviated walk outside in the morning. I usually got for 6-8 laps in the alley. I did two. I don’t want to aggravate my knee, but I damn sure don’t want to aggravate my back!

I didn’t have many options for lunch. Newburgh Grill is shut down all this week for staff vacations. So, I went to Time Out (which has just opened after its two week vacation shut down).

Before I left, I experimented and found that, if I moved the passenger seat all the way up, I could load the walker in from that side.

I didn’t get it out at the restaurant, though. I’d been moving enough to get there, so I trusted to the cane, God and luck.

Sidebar: It gets worse when I sit or lay down for any extended period. If I move a little, I can move a lot, I have found.

I got the pulled pork sandwich with fries (the soup sounded weird) and, as usual, could only eat about half of it. I wish they had a children’s menu…

I talked with Dan, the owner, who had just got back from the Dominican Republic. He said it was beautiful, as always. He had gone to a different resort, this year, and said both the food and service was not as good as the last one (he always goes there one vacation). He asked about the cane (as did Jason, the bartender and Nancy, my waitress) so I gave them a short explanation.

Then I took a long ride through Hines Park. It was HOT (89 degrees by my truck’s computer) and muggy.

Sidebar: It was 82 degrees with a nice breeze in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in comparison.

The afternoon passed slowly. I managed four round trips on my afternoon walk.

When I got home, I left the truck outside (briefly) to get the walker out. I got the walker inside and then used the cane to retrieve the truck.

Inside, I took a rest and watched the news. Then I went through the fridge and cleaned it out for tomorrow’s garbage day.

That done, I made dinner. I warmed up the last of the cauliflower and ate that with butter and salt. Later, I fixed a bowl of my macaroni salad. I had to add some more mayonnaise (the pasta seems to have sucked the dressing up) to make it right.

I watched TV until an early bedtime.