DANCE MOVES (Sept 11)

SEPTEMBER 11- We will never forget. 😢

AFTER THE FLUSH I have spoken before that there are jobs people perform for which I have much respect as they are dangerous, distasteful and nasty to name a few.  One such came to mind as we drove by one of the City's pumping station, sewage pumping station. Reminds me of the song "a pump station has it's life underground with the perfect disguise above". I had been in that particular station with its nice clean brick exterior and a deep interior that takes more than a minute or two to make it to the surface if an alarm sounds. I got the (technical term) heebie jeebies just being inside it for a brief period. Yet an inspector goes in alone and a whole team if there is a major malfunction. Makes me believe robots have a role. 

SURGERY TO SENIOR MOMENTS Speaking of which, my surgeon is performing my knee "castration" solo, i.e., no robotics involved-boo. Well he's young and no doubt has the stamina to flip these arthritic pieces and parts with energy and gusto. Though I just spoke with someone who mentioned their friend managed to BREAK their titanium hip joint - damn.  It's getting real as I picked up my old people walker. You should see me whip it around, dance and perform gymnastics with the darn thing. Yeah funny now.  After it made it to the car a couple more errands were run. I fussed briefly that someone could just steal it out of the back seat but in retrospect the perp would probably make a very slow and obvious get-away. Easy capture. 

And speaking of the ever-evolving galaxy of "senior world" may we discuss the lighter side of hearing loss. Some may recall my dramatic eardrum blowup last Fall.  Pros-turn bad ear up when sleeping cuts noise; insults lose their punch especially if there is a proliferation of consonants in the phrasing; spousal disagreements are avoided 'cause if you can't hear, you can't react; a smile and nod usually suffice as a response. Ignoring someone becomes easier. Cons - smile and nod become rather silly when a question demanding an answer is presented. That uncomfortable stare you get as the questioner regards you impatiently with that confused look on their face. Responding appropriately is luck basically. One says "huh" frequently or the more polite, pardon? Gets old. 

Though it's not all fun and games. If you find a conversation veering into "cabbages or broken marigolds" you may want to listen harder. You might have just sold your car for Olive Garden gift cards or agreed to chair the church festival. And DOUBLE precaution. Always listen and repeat grandchildren comments or you may find your grandson sailing off the shed roof on a piece of cardboard with their assumption of your full knowledge and consent. Speaking of grandsons over the Labor Day holiday the two "Joes" taught me a new fishing term - QR. Otherwise known as quick release which apparently covers the unfortunate "loss" of the big one who tossed the hook before landing.

MEMORIES Hosting some family members this weekend meant a lot of stories, some I never heard before so interesting. Then of course my brother-in-law and I get into job disasters I have known each topping the other with renditions of body part mayhem and dumb things people do in the name of expediency over safety. And to top it off several fire departments put on a show on our bridge stealing water out of our canal so their rookies could get some practice handling the charged hoses. A task I have done during agility testing and failed to pass. There's a reason more than one FF is on a hose but of course you don't train that way. Adrenaline and an active fire scene help as well. Funny connection, since I waxed ad nauseum on the topic, but I was able to convince my fire department folks that hearing protection really works when standing next to a pumper belching out 100+ decibels. After donning the Mickey Mouses they realized they were able to carry on a conversation with the bad bad (technical term) noise filtered out. Somewhat important when someone yells out "MORE PRESSURE!" "MORE PUMPERS!" "WHERE'S THE NEAREST RIVER?"  "#%?@!", etc. etc.  Peace Out...💚 💙💛