Thursday, Friday and Saturday

My memory of the vacation is fading faster than I thought it would. I remember having a good time but I'm less certain of when specific events took place. I remember waking up Thursday morning and doing my best to will the rest of the vacation to slow down. I wanted to spend as much time in the room as possible. 

Normally, I get cabin fever in a single room. I'll admit to my champagne tastes. I like to have a separate room for writing. The TV that was approximately the size of your average skyscraper helped a lot during baseball games but less for my normal TV watching. I'm an MSNBC addict and the terrible news in Israel followed by the terrible news in Gaza didn't make for TV thar I wanted to watch 24/7. While I believe that Israel is in the right, every death is a tragedy especially the death of civilians. I spent much of the time reading books in my tablet computer and watching the waves over the last two and a half days to escape the deaths of children. I hate war even when it is necessary.

The final Phillies-Braves game was a bit more of a conventional thriller on Thursday night. I have to admit that I was tired enough to forget what inning it was so I was surprised when the Phillies started celebrating on the field. I had ideas of writing about it when I woke up in the middle of the night as seemed inevitable. Sure enough, I woke up but I went right back to sleep since I'm sneaking up on fifty and all.

On Friday, I got some quality balcony time in. It was very nice out there but it got very cold. I hate to admit it but I was happy to come back inside. We packed most of our stuff Friday night. Saturday morning went smoothly and we ended up checking out an hour early. Strangely enough, I had my first Diet Pepsi of the week on the way home. I'm an addict and so getting my fix made up for having to leave the hotel.

Wednesday: Rest and Baseball

 When I woke up Wednesday morning, I was tired and didn't want to go out. I wanted to read my book while looking out over the balcony. I've wanted to go on a cruise for most of my life and the view from inside the room was very much like looking over the bow of a ship. I've done that a few times if a ferry counts as a ship anyway. It should since it isn't meant to be lifted out of the water but I digress. 

More than anything, I wanted to slow down the pace of the trip. It was Wednesday and weeks have a funny way of going by in my life. Saturdays and Sundays take forever to pass. Monday is usually my favorite day of the week followed by Tuesday which is a sort of Hump Day for me. Wednesday tends to be a very long day in terms of hours but it's so full that it flies past. Thursday and Friday fly by probably because I dislike the weekend so much.

These journal entries needed to be done unless I wanted to abandon the project again and I don't want to do that. Therefore, I did Sunday, Monday and started Tuesday before getting dragged out unexpectedly. My beloved wanted to go out and watch some waves down by an amusement park. I want to set aside the idea that she is some sort ogre. I want to bury it. She asks so little of me so I try to say yes. We saw waves and a classic car.

I was exhausted when we got back but I was worried about getting a nap in before the game started. Eventually, I couldn't stand ir and went to sleep but learned that we were mistaken about game time anyway. It was two hours later than we thought so my nap ended up being much better than expected.

The game was just extraordinary! The Braves got off to a 1-0 lead and the pro-Atlanta FOX announce team started talking about the importance of a shutdown inning. That is when a team's pitcher holds his opponent scoreless after his own team scores. Needless to say, that's not what happened to the Phillies. We scored six runs on our way to an eventual 10-2 win!

In Search of Sunglasses

 Tuesday surprised me. I wanted to go to this store I saw called Shade Shack. I've been wearing Dollar Store sunglasses and liking them more or less my whole adult life. What did these mythical Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses actually look like? It was a total lark. I knew that I didn't want any of the super-expensive sunglasses from the display case but it was fun to look at them. The cool guys running the place explained what makes a pair of sunglasses $85 without  a big pitch.

I was pretty excited about finding two different $15 pairs that I thought looked good on me. More importantly, I liked the improved field of vision over the pair I had been using. Getting zapped by headlights or sunlight that goes around the lens is annoying! I think of one pair as my mean glasses and the other as my nice ones. 

We went out for dinner to a place called Nick's.. I'm still debating whether or not to provide a link to any website that they might have. (I'm hanging my hat on not.) Their food was great and the service was top notch but I won't be going again. They claim to be handicap accessible and they might be ADA compliant in the technical sense. I know that I had to go through the embarrassment of needing help with their wheelchair ramps.

They belonged in an amusement park not not a restaurant! When I got into the bathroom, I had to play a game of wheelchair Tetris to get into the stall and then it was a good thing that I have full use of three limbs that can reach the floor and one that can't. I needed them all for the required gymnastics in there. I'm in relatively good shape considering only the use of my limbs and applying them. If you're someone in a wheelchair with only the use of your arms, I don't see how you could do ir but you would have different training than I do.

The cream of crab soup calmed me down considerably. In fact, I was so sleepy that I couldn't finish it. There may have been something else between the soup and the ribs but I don't remember it. I only had one rib in the restaurant and it was to die for so I forgave them for the wheelchair ramps. I just won't dare go back. 

If you don't mind, I'm going to break the fourth wall a bit. I started this entry on Wednesday, October 11 and I'm finishing it from home on Tuesday, October 17. If I have forgotten something, that doesn't mean it was easy to forget.

Tuesday ended like most days with me falling asleep sitting up for several hours followed by several more hours asleep in bed. When I got up, it was Wednesday and that was another story.

In Search of Coffee

Monday was a holiday and my in-room coffee maker was broken. That was OK because I was willing to pay for an overpriced cup at my least favorite chain provided that I didn't have to leave the hotel to get it. That led to a round of my least favorite game: internet research. It can be fun when one is looking for a good rack of barbecued ribs but that is later in the story.

I'm skipping ahead here. {I'm getting the chance to write on Wednesday morning.) The first thing I did was call the front desk about the coffee maker and they said that they would send a new one up with housekeeping. Those very kind people started on the ground floor that day and didn't get to us until late afternoon. The internet research for the coffee found a lot of places serving drinks like "Closed for the holiday" and my favorite, "Closed for Season."

It turns out that the best place to go for a cup of coffee in the Mid-Atlantic is Wawa. You can get your no frills coffee like I started off wanting and get your pumpkin spice latte fix for the year when you get there at last.

It was pizza and ice cream Monday night since we were both overwhelmed by the seafood. While scrolling through the channels on TV, I noticed that I was so desperate to get to vacation that I missed the start of the baseball playoffs. I missed the Phillies sweeping the Marlins and their Game One win over the Braves. Wouldn't you know that I tuned in just in time to see them blow it in Game Two? It was awful especially with the Fox announcers rooting for the Braves. 

I'M ON VACATION!!!

 Yes, the shouty caps are intentional. We've in our first full day at the Doubletree Hilton in Ocean City, Maryland. It's our first trip in 13 years so we're going all out. I slept in a bed comfortably last night for the first time that I can remember. There will be pictures once I figure out how to post them because the view is unbelievable.

I don't remember if I got a picture of it but the first thing I ate in Ocean City was a deep fried Oreo cookie. I'd heard so much about them and they lived up to their reputation. I loved them! For dinner, I had a selection of seafood including a crab cake, sea scallops, shrimp, clam strips and fried flounder. I never got to the flounder and clam strips because it was so worth it filling up on sweet potato fries. Those were as good as the crab cake and scallops.

Last night was a bad one even here in Ocean City. It started off with a terrible football game where my Cowboys got whooped. Actually, it started with something far more serious but I can't hope to write about the horror that is yet another Middle Eastern war in this entry. When you get right down to it, I don't really care about football. I enjoy it but I can't afford to let it make me crazy. Last night was about a lot more than that.

I found myself without insulin during the wonderful food fest. How could I possibly forget to pack insulin? How could I possibly be that stupid? Don't be so quick to judge. For reasons that I won't bother to explain here, I decided to go to my backup meter when my current CGM sensor expires which will be any time now. Therefore, I had to pack a whole kit that I haven't used in a while. I remembered all of the stuff needed to check my BS and I remembered the insulin in the pens used for measuring it. What I forgot was the new box of needles for injecting the insulin. Without the pen needles, the insulin might as well have been on Mars.

We also forgot the large amounts of bottled water that I need with my sensitivity to any change in water. My body handles tap water from Bear, Delaware just fine. I drink it by the gallon. I will risk tap water from anywhere in New Castle County except for Newark on brown water day. If I cross a state or county line, it's not worth the risk. 

In any case, I found myself here with two little bottles of water and some diet soda to drink with high BS. Much to my surprise, I fell asleep on the truly glorious bed. Three hours later, I woke to a new crisis where my high blood sugar overwhelmed all of the measures I took to protect the bed. I never do well at night even at home or in beautiful places. I guess it was too dark to see the view

I Miss Baseball

 Over the last two years, rule changes have been implemented in baseball. If you know me, you probably know that I dislike the changes. You might know how much I dislike change in general. These changes were meant to speed up the games and increase the scores. I liked the old pace of baseball with time to make a bathroom trip when the other team's bottom of the lineup was hitting. These lineups with nine good hitters are annoying except for the Phillies.

I'm kidding, of course. I hate the designated hitter even when it allowed us to keep Bryce Harper in our lineup while he was injured. The Phillies always have a player or two getting paid about a billion dollars to rehab an injury. I've been there without the big paycheck but I've been there with the pain and the guilty feelings. It would be better to be rid of the lousy DH rule and let Harper recover all the way. Thankfully, he is recovered fully now.

Don't worry. This isn't a rant by someone practicing to be an old man. I've had plenty of practice. Instead, I'd like to tell you a little about my baseball experience. It was a little like being in a different world for me. This was probably helped along by the fact that I watched or listened to baseball at the beach most of the time. I listened to the games with a little portable radio out on the porch where the dog lived. Reception was good there, it was screened in against mosquitos and it kept me away from my mom who wasn't interested.

It was dark but not too dark with light coming out of the windows. The radio crackled and popped a little but the broadcast was pretty clear. We had outdoor furniture  on the porch and I always liked the chaise lounge. I had the extreme good fortune of listening to a broadcast team that included Hall of Fame broadcaster, Harry Kalas, and Hall of Fame player, Richie Ashburn. Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler rounded out the team. They were less well known but I thought they were great.

Baseball was a huge part of my life. I woke up and assaulted my grandfather's newspaper for coverage of the previous night's games. I don't know how many times I got to see or hear the greatest third baseman of all time be a hero. There was one time when Mike Schmitdt was injured and the Phillies went down 8-0 in the first inning. The Phillies spent the whole game mounting a furious comeback that brought them to within two runs. 

The Phillies loaded the bases with two outs and Veterans Stadium was shaking from all the fans screaming, yelling and chanting, "Mike!" Oh! I was there with my dad who was providing one of the great moments in the life. Well, Mike stepped out of the dugout and the crowd noise was something you could feel as much as hear. Mike (whose last name triggers the spellcheck) took a couple of practice swings and crushed a pitch for a bases clearing, game winning, three run double. 

There were so many wonderful moments. I remember listening while one of those supposed phenoms who had one big moment before becoming a huge disappointment had one great moment. I don't even remember his name now bur he struck out Pirate greats, Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke, in a row to get out of a jam  That same year, back-up catcher Ozzie Virgil hit a game winning grand slam while I was trying to stall bedtime with dad. I wanted to wait in case Ozzie provided a miracle and Dad didn't want to deal with my whining when he struck out. Even the broadcasters were shocked by the centerfield grand slam!

There will still be grand moments. The current TV announcer has his own home run call but it will never replace "that ball's outta here!" in my heart. Sadly, there are Phillies fans who have never heard Harry Kalas call a game and never will. The real loss is that they won't know the pleasure of listening to the broadcasters telling a story of their baseball pasts. With so many rules meant to speed up the game, there will be no time to weave such stories into the slow moments.

Those Poor Pencils

 Most of you should be familiar with the insurance concept of yearly or lifetime maximums on medical expenses. I've used up most, if not all, of my yearly patience budget for dealing with doctors and those who work with them. This has been an insane year especially over the summer with three hospitalizations. They didn't seem to want to let me go the third time. 

This was a big withdrawal from the old patience bank. I crowded testing and appointments into the end of September and the beginning of October for a reason. It wasn't easy but it was doable. Now, a doctor wants to schedule a retest and a follow-up appointment jammed into the same time period. The patience bank is just about empty. I intend to complete the test and get the appointment done if it fits into my schedule. If not, my plans come first. Seeing me afterward was the doctor's first choice anyway.  

Earlier, I was thinking in terms of my lifetime cap on patience used up but my 50s are lurking out there. If I'm lucky, I'm going to keep getting older and that means making my peace with hos There are a few things that I like about the hospital. I love the food and the people who work in the guts of the place. I'm talking about the people who clean the rooms and prepare the food. I get very frustrated by them after a few days but the people who clean the patients (like me) and fetch things for us while we're restricted to bed and pissed off about it are pretty great, too. Every once in a while, one of the nurses comes up with an idea that is pure genius The surprise sunshine often comes from the transport people who move patients from place to place. They either love their jobs or fake it better than anyone. I'll never forget this pair that sang Philly soul duets while they moved moved me from one floor to another.

I'm getting a chance to recharge my batteries soon. It's ironic because I was just thinking about my early 20s. Those were some good times and some terrible times. Honestly, I spent a lot of my early 20s trying to avoid being homeless. I succeeded and I managed to win all the other wars that I had to fight at the time but I didn't know that in the moment. It's tempting to look back on it fondly and I did have a good time but there's something I'd have to admit. If I got my wish back then, it would have been for the chance to spend some time in this era. I have a better TV, a much better computer and tremendous air conditioning. I had a lot of the same medical problems and little or no health insurance.

I just know that I remember more about my 20a than I do my 30s. Other than a few specific details from the first day or so after the amputation, I remember my 40s awfully well. It hasn't all been loss and grief though it could be easy to see it that way by the numbers. A lot of people and cats have died but we have learned to spend more quality time with people. I got to have lunch recently with some family that I hardly ever see due to my attempt to live a life of peace.

There was never any conflict with them. The amputation and the pandemic combined with my general habits to make me even more of  a hermit. I remember lying in a hospital bed deciding that I am way too difficult to be around so I should avoid any situation where conflict seems likely. That means no contact with certain members of my family. They won't miss me. They haven't missed me for more than a decade and I appreciate the increased peace in my life. I spent a lot of time worrying about whether or not I was going to have some random conflict with my father before this peaceful time started. He wasn't the only one but he was the most obvious one. Everyone knows that we butt heads but they like to chuckle at the thought of me butting back.

I'm not a fool. He has the ability to bully me face to face so I avoid him. I'm a better strategist than I am a tactician these days. A battle avoided is as good as a battle won for me these days. Despite my own health worries, I have almost 30 years on him so I expect to outlive him. It's a cold way of thinking but I can be cold when I need to be. When his time comes, I expect to grieve but I will be safer for it though he is in his late 70s now and I'm nearly 50. One would hope that we would be beyond the threat of someone losing his temper and getting physical.

As you can see, there are reasons why it would be smart for me to avoid him even if he's on his best behavior. I'm still a little triggered from the ribbing I got. Nerd rage is a gaming conceit for a reason, folks. We keep it well hidden in our pocket protectors and thick glasses but then we snap on poor, unsuspecting pencils!