Town Report

Thursday is Far Guys infusion day.  The infusion protects his lungs for 6 days...it replaces the protein that cannot escape his liver to protect his lungs.  WE are thankful for one more week.

Clinic Report:  They take your temperature when you enter the building, and ask the questions "Have you been out of the country?"  "Have you visited New York, California or Washington State recently?" " Have you had a temperature?  A cold or the sniffles?"  Then they write down your temperature on a post it note and stick it on your chest.  (Proof they did their job?)  They give you a mask to put on.  Then the gal tells you to go to registration....the gals there say "go ahead Gene you are all set Happy Thursday."

He is their every Thursday same time same place guy.

I waited outside in the parking lot...there are hearts in the window.  I called my sister and talked to her for awhile.  I crocheted.

After Far Guy was done we picked up our groceries from our online order.   Stopped by the butcher shop and bought bacon and brats.  You call in your order and they bring it out to the car.

Main Street was mostly deserted there were lots of places to park.

Minnesota goes into Stay at Home for two weeks this evening March 27 until April  10.

My other baby brother and his wife ( she who sees Robins first) stopped by to visit out on our patio. ( 6 feet apart at least)  She who sees Robins first already saw a Robin.  She brought me a skein of yarn from wally world so I can finish a project.

We are home and safe for another week   Stay safe!
Far Side

Grocery and Clinic Adventure

I placed an online order at our preferred grocery store in our little town ( population 4, 021).  The older fellow that delivered my groceries to the vehicle said they were out of many things...I did not ask what.  I waited about five minutes from the time I called to tell them I was at the appropriate spot and the delivery.
I gave him a tip even if he was a grumpy gus.

I consulted my print out.  No eggs, no hamburger, no bread, no english muffins, no co jack cheese, no chicken thighs. 

My other baby brother said that the meat store on Main Street was doing curbside ordering and delivery.  I drove over and sure enough a young man took my order for hamburger and brought it out to me.  While I was waiting an elderly man wanted to talk so I listened...I think he was hard of hearing as he kept walking closer and closer to me...he apparently had not heard of the six foot rule.

We can live without the chicken thighs and I still have bread in the freezer...and flour to bake some should the shortage persist.

We stopped at the grocery store in our tiny town ( population 323 I think that is counting summer residents ) and bought some eggs.  They seemed to have plenty of groceries on their shelves.

Once at home I unpacked everything and used disinfectant Lysol wipes on everything I could.  Fruit was washed even the bananas...I usually wash all fruit but not the bananas.

So we can eat another week possibly two.

Main Street was almost deserted...If you have to shop downtown you will find a parking spot.

Far Guy reports at the Clinic a person greets you at the door and asks  "Where are you going?" Infusion Center  "Do you have an appointment there?"  Yes.  "Have you been out of the country."  No "Do you have a temperature?"  No,  I don't I took it this morning to make sure.   Then he was cleared to go into the building. 

I picked up groceries, went by the drive through at the bank and then I waited at the clinic parking lot for Far Guy's call.  I noticed several people exit the building wearing face masks.

Far Guy used hand sanitizer in the car...and threw his clothing in the washer when we got home.

So much for our day ( 1 1/2 hours) out.

This is day 11 of self isolation for us.  We are doing ok...we wish the sun would shine.

Last evening we got word that The University of Minnesota has shut down the Lung Transplant program until it is safe to do transplants again...no idea when or if.

Sunflower field near Wadena Minnesota a few years ago.

Far Side

Yellow Page System

Do you get tired of Doctors Offices and waiting.  I know I do. I had a little problem the other day and made a same day appointment and left Far Guy and Chance in the dust. No sense having them wait, when I am perfectly capable of waiting by myself.

I had to register first and practically tell them when the last time I went to the bathroom was..in my case I felt like I had to go all the time. Then I had to answer the same questions..no I have not moved, no my phone number has not changed..yada yada yada.  I needed a lab done before my appointment.  They handed me a yellow sheet of paper and said “Here, these are the medicines you take, make changes if there are any.”   Then I have to tell everyone what my name is and when I was born. Like someone is going to impersonate me. 

I was curious about the yellow page of paper..yup everything was correct..an aspirin, a multi vitamin , my blood pressure pill and a potassium pill because I cannot eat enough bananas to keep me alive.

After my test I sat and waited and waited.  I started to notice that other people had these large yellow pages also, it was like a big ticket. Welcome to the world of Pharmaceuticals…a pill for everything…and sometimes pills because you take pills.  The handsome guy sitting two chairs down from me laid his on the end table, he was young maybe 25, his yellow page was almost empty.  The elderly gentleman scooting around in one of those fancy red metallic flake scooters with the bag on the back that said “West Palm” who also had an accident on his grey pants ( reminder to self..carry a lap robe with you if you have room on the fancy scooter) was a two pager..two full yellow pages.  Then he began to cough..poor guy..I imagined the wet spot on his pants  growing larger as he nearly coughed his guts out and his silver haired tiny little wife searched her pockets for a Kleenex. Then he began to search his own pockets for Kleenexes..I bet if he found any they would have been soggy anyway.  I reached over and grabbed a box of Kleenex and took it over to the poor guy.  Two pages..I wonder what the maximum amount of pages is..Three..Four..I wonder when you are near death perhaps your number isn’t really up..but perhaps your pages are all full. 

I waited what seemed like forever, but since I don’t wear a watch and the Clinic has no clocks around, I have no idea if the twenty minutes that I am supposed to wait patiently before complaining has passed or not. Far Guy doesn’t like me to complain, but he is at home..so he will never know. I wait patiently, I can show restraint sometimes.   I have not touched anything other than that Kleenex box..I feel the germs swirling around me.  Finally the PA pokes his head around the corner and smiles and points at me..he doesn’t have a nurse..but he knows me ( he did not ask me to spell my name or for my birthdate)..and he is retiring next month..rats. We had a great visit..I have five days of meds for my bladder “irritation”  and have a recheck next week..at which time I bet one more med is added to my yellow page.

Yesterday when Far Guy visited his Neurologist far far away, we arrived thirty minutes before our appointed time and saw two other couples that we knew.  I barely got comfortable in my chair and began to people watch when Far Guys name was called.  The Neurologist increased one of Far Guys meds again. Nothing is new in the treatment of Far Guys Atypical type of Trigeminal Neuralgia.  Far Guy was discouraged..he wants to take less medications..not more. I bet he is a full one pager or maybe even a two pager, but that Clinic apparently doesn’t care for the yellow page system:)

The Clinic

We have a brand new clinic in our nearby berg. Far Guy dropped me at the door and parked in back forty and hiked in, even the Handicap parking area is a block away. The parking lot has no safe Pedestrian walkway..everything was icy and cars were sliding all over..I wonder if the clinic planners had that in mind to increase their business. Cars versus Pedestrians is sure to produce some injuries for them to practice on. I feel sorry for the handicapped, elderly and the Mom's with more than one small child, they are taking their lives in their hands just walking from the parking lot to the clinic.

The doors are so heavy, you have to use both hands and your body weight to open the door. I am not one to use those handicap silvery buttons to open doors...until now. Once inside you are greeted to slate floors..classy..and cherry-wood..even more classy..they even have some of those new fancy "fat chairs". Fat Chairs have finally come to the boonies, in the section where we were sitting there were 12 regular chairs and 14 fat chairs. When I pointed this out to Far Guy he said maybe I was being a bit harsh..maybe they were Mom and Kid chairs. Maybe they were.

Far Guy has a regular Doctor at the clinic. I still have my regular Doctor in Fargo. I am usually not a "sick person" so I can avoid the clinic entirely. I happened to get one of the "Travelling Physicians"..she was a doll, she took very good care of me. I cannot say one bad thing about her. She is the closest to a perfect Physician that I have ever seen in that clinic. They must have replaced some of the Administration when they went from the old building to the new.

For those of you that really care, my blood pressure was really good for being dehydrated. It pays to stay away from Far Guys Coffee! I am feeling a bit stronger today. However Far Guy has grounded me for the entire week. I am to do quiet things and nap. So that is my plan for the entire week. In another twenty four hours I won't be contagious anymore. Jolynn stopped by yesterday with beef soup and fresh bread..really yummy! She stayed near the door and handed the stuff into Far Guy..he was so thankful..and so was I :)