Finally I Get Some Fun

When the conference broke for the day (at 5:30PM!) I took a taxi to the 39th Pier to meet up with Gina & the gang for dinner. They took a pedicab from where they docked to the 39th -- should have gotten a photo of that! Poor guy who had to pedal with the 4 of them in the back :-)

We met at a restaurant themed around a famous Tom Hanks movie. Here's a hint:

Did you guess it? Bubba Gump's Shrimp House! It was situated right on the water. Don't we look happy to be there?

Although the food was just so-so, Lori seemed to really enjoy the themed tall glass of beer. It was a two-hander!


Pier 39 is quite similar to the Kemah Boardwalk. Lots of restaurants, rides, and souvenir shops. And also a place where you can see the sea lions laze around. I'm not sure if that one is waving to us or is about to roll off the pier.

Alcatraz

The 2nd part of the tour for Gina and her entourage (just kidding Lori!) was taking a ferry out to the famous Isle of Alcatraz.

Gina got her first glimpse of a bird she seemed to be fascinated with, since she took dozens of photos of them.
Here's one of the best.

The chicks of this bird are extremely well camouflaged, don't you think?

Gina & Caylie were both enamored with the huge feet of this baby chick.

Alcatraz Island was named after the Brown Pelican, originally called ALCATRACES, by the native Americans. Gina got a photo of it as well.

In addition to the birds, gorgeous flora and fauna thrive out on "The Rock".





But here's the reason I was most jealous of their excursion. The history of the occupation by various Indian nations that started the American Indian Movement (AIM) back in 1969.

The tour of the prison itself seemed a bit depressing.


Here's the communal showers.

And the "accommodations"...

Lori, what did you do??? Ahmmm.... I'm telling!

Lori apparently was framed, because she got out of that nasty cell. Or was she? Perhaps, she was freed because she agreed to buy some books from this woman, who grew up on Alcatraz - her dad was a guard. She autographed Lori's copies of her memoirs on The Rock.

Finally, the ferry ride back offered some unique photo opportunities.


Including this one, which I think is one of the best photos of Lori I've ever seen. Do you agree?

Gina's Monday in San Francisco

First an update on my recovery. Mom came over yesterday and took me to see the doctor for my follow-up visit. He said all looked fine and I could return to work on Monday 7/18/11 -- TA DA!!!

While I was toiling away learning all about grant management in sometimes much less than interesting seminars, Gina was out playing with Lori and her family. They had a guided tour bus of the sights, which of course included a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge.


And places to take photos of the entire city.


This was one of the things I didn't like about SF. Too crowded living conditions. It reminded me of European cities in many ways.

Of course, there are several parks where folks can stretch and play, but I like having my own back yard to do so. Here's one of the parks that they visited with all kinds of cool fountains.



Caylie and Gina also got to get friendly with some police officers' mounts.

This was the only photo of the famed "Painted Ladies" row houses that Gina got.

It's Been Such a Long Time Since I Blogged...

My two faithful followers, Kerry & Iris, have told me that they've been missing my posts. Well, let's catch up a bit. Since the last post, I've bought a new car (looks exactly like the old one, but it's a 2011 model) settled with the insurance company, and had my surgery. Oh yeah, I also went to San Francisco for the UASI National Conference.

Gina had a great time in San Francisco. When we arrived on Sunday, we decided we would walk down Market Street to the Castro District. It looked a lot closer on the map then it did when we actually got out on the street. See that big rainbow flag in the distance? That's the Castro - and we'd already walked over half the distance.



It was an interesting walk, but I must admit it colored my opinion of San Francisco. First impressions are quite important. And my first impression was that SF was scary and dirty, with way too many homeless beggars. There was one that I thought was funny. He had a sign that said "Give me some pot. I need to get stoned." But all the others were just pathetic looking and unlike the Houston homeless, who come up with rather intricate stories to back up why they are looking for a handout, these people were just saying "Give me some money." Not even a "Please."

Anywho, after walking through blocks and blocks of graffiti strewn buildings and people wanting handouts, we were exhausted. Decided to just give up on ever reaching the Castro, and caught the trolley back to the hotel.

Gina met up with my sister, her husband, and her granddaughter the next day and took a day-long tour of the rest of San Francisco, including a special trip out to Alcatraz. I'll post the photos she took tomorrow. Her enthusiasm for the city made me appreciate it a bit more.

Sorry, but I'm feeling kind of dizzy and weak right now. This has been going on all day. Recovering from surgery really sucks.....

Photos from the wreck on Friday

Still in the process of healing. Way too much pain without the Vicodin but I must go back to work tomorrow. I did find out on Monday where my car had been towed. Mom came over to let me get to it so I could get out my personal effects. Tell me, do you think it will be considered a total loss?




The airbag was MUCH BIGGER when it deployed. It's all deflated here.

I'm sure had it not been there to do the job, I would have been through that pretty new windshield. I also got a call yesterday from the other driver's insurance (Geico) company. He admitted he ran the red light, so it looks like I won't have to make a claim on my own insurance after all. Thank goodness!

Two Trips to the ER in One Week - YIKES!

Last Sunday I moved 50 bricks from one side of the yard to the other. I remembered to use my legs rather than bend over to pick up the bricks, hoping to avoid a backache. Success. Well, kind of. I didn't have any back pain following my little landscaping task. But I did note a strange numbness in my right upper thigh. By the next day that numbness had turned into a raging fire-like sensation and when I would move in certain ways a searing sharp pain would surge through my entire groin.

Went to see the doc who sent me to the ER. Turns out I had a pulled groin muscle and pinched femoral nerve. OUCH! ER doc prescribed a muscle relaxer and Vicodin for the pain and told me to stay home for 10 days and ice it. No way I could take that much time off from work. I was able to put in a couple hours a day from home the first two days, but that Vicodin puts my lights out. Mostly I slept - up to 18 hours a day!

Had a follow-up visit with my doctor on Thursday who agreed with the ER doc that I should take off 10 days, but agreed to write me an excuse to return to work on Friday. I went on to work half a day on Thursday, and a full day on Friday. As I was driving home on Friday, I had a car wreck!

I had the green light, was driving about 40 mph, and out of nowhere this older car (have no idea the make or model) flew through the red light. I slammed on my brakes, but couldn't avoid the other car. Hit the driver side door, and my car spun around and wound up going the same direction the other driver was going. My air bag deployed - what a strange sensation. It scraped up my left forearm and had a hole in the top that continuously emitted some sort of dust. My neck and shoulders were killing me and I have a nasty scratch on my throat

and even nastier bruise on my right breast from the seat belt. I'm grateful for these minor injuries, though, because had it not been for the airbag and seatbelt, I'm sure I would have gone right through the new windshield I just had replaced on my car! The more painful injuries are the ones with no visible marks. My neck and shoulders are soooooooooooooooooo sore!!!!!!!

So, I'm sitting in my car kind of dazed, but fully conscious. The accident happened at an intersection next to the Greyhound bus terminal so there were a lot of witnesses. Including quite a few homeless chaps. One came up to my car and opened my door. Another man told him to bug off and he started yelling all kinds of obscenities saying he was just trying to help. A nice woman came over as those two guys were yelling at each other and told me that 9-1-1 had been called and to just relax because an ambulance was on the way. The other car involved was about 30 yards ahead of me on the road, pulled over by the curb. The driver never emerged from the car so I don't know if it was a man or woman or if there were any passengers.

After the homeless man stopped yelling, he went to the other side of my car and tried to open my passenger door. He told me to unlock it and foolishly I did so. He then crawled into my car, sitting on his knees and telling me he loved me and was praying for me. I looked out my window and saw the nice woman and mouthed the word "Help!" She immediately leaned in my window and told him, "Get out of her car! You have no business in there! Get out right now!" and he did but then started yelling, dropping the 'f' word over and over, and got into some sort of a scuffle with another homeless guy. I just wanted the ambulance to hurry up and get there. My right wrist was hurting, along with my neck and shoulders.

Eventually the EMT did arrive, and so did a Houston cop. I told the cop I had the green light and gave him my driver's license and insurance. The EMT asked if I had any known medical issues and I told him I was diabetic. So he did a blood sugar test - it was 219. High, but considering the situation, understandable. He then put a neck collar on me, which was incredibly painful, and helped me out of the car. He & his partner taped me down to a back board. I saw the nice lady and another man telling the cop that I definitely had the green light. Then they put me in the ambulance and asked where I wanted to go. I said the closest hospital, which was St Joseph's - just a couple blocks away.

I never saw a doctor in the ER. Just a nurse. She gave me a shot of Toradol which helped a lot with the pain. Then I was taken for x-rays of my shoulder, neck, and right wrist. It was swollen, but all the x-rays showed no fractures. After 3 hours, they released me. The cop never did come see me in the hospital so I had no idea where my car had been towed, nor did I have an incident report so I don't know if the other driver had insurance.

I had called Gina and she met me at the hospital. We got home around 11PM and I took a Vicodin and crashed. Today I tried to call the accident division of HPD to find out where my car was towed. They told me to call the "Tow Line" so I did. They had no report that my car had been in an accident or been towed. They asked for a case number, which of course, I didn't have. So I called back the police and they said no incident report had been entered into the database. They suggested that I call the Fire Department since their EMTs had come for me. I called the number they gave me and it doesn't open until Monday. Such a run-around!

Requiem for a sad little puppy

On Sunday, while walking my dogs, I saw a bedraggled looking pup curled up on a neighbor's lawn. He didn't hardly move -- just watched us as we walked by. And my dogs just ignored him. I could tell that he was a stray. He had no collar and was listless, skinny, and raggedy looking.

I told Gina about him when I got home and she went out and picked him up and brought him home. I could then see what really bad shape this poor dog was in. He looked to be very young, had big paws - maybe he was a lab or shepherd mix. It was hard to tell because he only had a little bit of fur. Most of his body was covered in scabs and his skin was raw and red. I hadn't seen all that when he was curled up. It was pathetic, and looked quite painful. Yet this pup, who had clearly never been taken care of by humans, continuously kissed Gina. It broke my heart.

We decided to take him to the Humane Society. The intake clerk took one look at him and explained that they would take him, hold him for 3 days, and then euthanize him. He was not adoptable. She said I'd have to pay $20 for them to take him and I could not come back and reclaim him. Gina & I discussed the possibility of taking him back home and seeing if our vet might be able to cure him. The cost we knew would be enormous. And we would have to keep him in the garage or out on the porch in a crate because there's no way he could stay in our house. I asked the clerk what she thought we should do and she just shrugged. Finally, we decided to leave him. I paid the $20 and we left.

That was 3 days ago, so I presume he's now gone. Gina and I have both dreamed about him and I have thought of him in my waking hours over and over. I don't know that we did the right thing. Perhaps we should have at least tried to get a prognosis from Dr. May and then allowed him to euthanize him if it was a hopeless cause.