Year: 2007

Our neighbors across the street are a charming old retired couple that we have come to know well in our 18 years here in Aiken. During the 5 years that Donna’s mom lived with us we had Oliver and Nancy over for dinner several times. Oliver is the talker of the two and he would regale us with tales of early life in Aiken and all manner of subjects. They moved into Dunbarton Oaks in the middle 50’s when the subdivision was first built. Oliver was an engineer that came to town to work at the newly opened top secret bomb plant south of town and Nancy taught school. Both have long since retired.

But in all the time we’ve known him, he never once mentioned his acting days with the local playhouse, so we were quite surprised to see this picture in the Aiken Standard’s “Portrait’s of the Past” section this week. I cut it out and laminated it for him. When I gave him the picture I told Oliver that the next time I come visit his house I’d like to see his award. He told me it is probably in the attic somewhere gathering dust. I’m sure 38 years ago it held a place of prominence on his mantle though.

We are planning a dip into Canada in May when we next visit the Pacific northwest in May. Donna has a long lost cousin that lives near Vancouver and we, along with her big brother and his wife, are going to say hello. As of January 23, 2007 you need a passport to get into Canada (and more importantly, back into the US) if you are traveling by boat or plane. If you are driving you won’t need one until next January. We are taking a ferry, so are we driving or boating in? We are not going to take any chances, so tomorrow we are going to the post office to get some new passports.

We already have passports, but they are a little out of date, they expired almost 24 years ago. To get a new one you need proof of US citizenship and our old passports fit that bill. When I filled out the application I checked the box saying that we would surrender our old passports. Everything was fine until tonight and besides having a hard time finding where we put them last, Donna got a little misty eyed about them as souvenirs of our honeymoon. Almost didn’t want to give them up. I got her to grudging agree to turn them in, but to make nice, I scanned all the pages into the PC.

We had a coupon to buy one, get one free as long as you bought two large drinks. Donna ordered a Billy Barou that looked big enough to split, so we did. I’ll have my Joey Bag of Donuts for lunch tomorrow. It was still nice enough at 6:30 that we ate outside on the patio and watched the traffic go by on Whiskey Road (although by the end of the meal I wished I had a jacket on.)

There was pine pollen on the car when we got off of work this afternoon, but I ain’t complaining, it was 69° outside. So I went rollerblading when we got home, had to. I did my usual 3 mile circuit and it felt pretty good to stretch it out, but I bet tomorrow morning I’ll feel it in my lower back and legs. The high temps are headed back towards fifty again by the weekend, so I’ll be back to hibernating ’til spring, but it can’t be far away now.

When I went for my esophagogastroduodenoscopy (I just love that word, I can’t say it, but boy does it look impressive written down) on Friday, I had a hospital arrival time of 7:30 and a procedure time of 8:30. Donna dropped me off about 7:15 so she could get to work at her normal hour. The patient registration clerks were ready and efficient, so when I entered the Endoscopy Lab where I was to have my procedure, I was very early. All the nurses were sitting in a big circle drinking coffee, cutting up and laughing. When I was noticed, everyone quieted down and one of the nurses directed me to the waiting room and told me they would call me when they were ready for me. They were probably having a morning staff meeting or something, but they sure were a happy bunch with all that laughing.

What ever the feel good juice is that they give you before the scoping, it is awesome. One of the nurses stuck the needle in the IV and said this will take about 5 minutes to kick in. I looked up at the clock and saw that it was 9:05 and I thought that I better remind the doctor that I wanted a picture of my insides, when the next thing I knew I was in the recovery area and a nurse asked if I wanted a Coke to drink.

Memories of the next hour or two are very scattered, for me. My wife will tell you different. Apparently I babbled on and on, repeating everything I said two or three times. Donna even tells me I was tormenting the other patients, particularly a woman who was in for a colonoscopy. I have zero recall of any of this. I wonder what else I was saying?

Over the weekend I figured out what all those nurses were laughing at when I walked in on them Friday morning and why they went so silent so fast. They were probably comparing notes on how their patients had acted and what they said while under the influence of the anesthesia the day before.

I expect they all had a pretty good laugh about me at this morning’s meeting.