Hazmat and Coyotes

Hazmat.

First.  No.  This has nothing to do with my cooking.

As I was backing out of the garage, I noticed in the rear view mirror a police SUV directly across the street with all the flashing lights on.  As I pull parallel with him, he is getting out of his vehicle and signaling me to stop.  He came around to my window and asked me if that was my large metal briefcase sitting by the light pole that is between my driveway and the neighbor’s drive way.  “Ahhh, no.” was my reply, “But I did have a guy giving me a quote on sun screen today for the back patio and he did have a case”.  The cop pushes the button on the microphone that is hooked on his shoulder and says in his low tone serious cop voice “Put that on standby”.  I told the cop that I did have man’s cell phone number and would call to verify that it was his.  The cop says make it quick as the Hazmat is just on standby and they won’t standby long. 

I rush back into the house.  The guy had emailed me the quote.  Luckily, I had just printed it out otherwise it would have been time lost waiting for the computer to fire up.  I call – get voice mail.  As I’m walking out of the garage with the phone, I leave the message to call me quick as the cops are here and very briefly explained the situation.  Cop asked how sure I was that it was his metal case.  I was 70-80% sure.  I didn’t really look that close at it but I knew it was the aluminum type.  It’s the black front panel that was throwing me off.  Cop said if hazmat comes they evacuate people around a perimeter and foam down the case.  I changed that I was 95% sure and hit re-dial.  Voice-mail.  The cop turns and walks back towards his SUV talking into the shoulder microphone again. 

He moves the SUV so that it is on the same side of the street as me and the metal case but down one more house so he is sitting in front of second house down from mine.  Holie schmoe, has the dude called the hazmat team in?  I hit re-dial again, this time he answers.  Yes, it’s his.  I flagged the cop.  All is well.

Sun City West has volunteer deputies that work with the county sheriff.  They are retired cops from other cities now living in SCW.  It’s another way of keeping costs down yet having more patrols in the area than the county could provide.  This dude was the epitome of a southern officer of the law - short, lots of dun-lap (belly dun lapped over the belt), slight southern drawl, stands feet apart, thumbs in belt, never smiled until he was saying goodbye.   

Coyotes

The first coyote I saw was in early April at the duplex in Sun City.  Dad, Mom, and I watch one trot across the green-space in back.

My second sighting was also at the duplex when I was out for a walk.  I came up to an intersection, looked to my left and out he comes about a half a block down.  He never looked at me, just trotted out and headed in the opposite direction of me staying close to the houses and then cut back in between two other houses.

Third was at the new house in the back yard.  One came trotting from the east headed west through everyone’s back yard.  Maybe three seconds later, here comes another one, and another three seconds a third.  Oy. 

Those were all during daylight hours.  The first time I heard them in the middle of the night I thought it was a child crying.  Suddenly it was a bunch of sad sounding yelps and it all sounded like it was right in the neighbor’s back yard.

Couple weeks ago I heard them calling each other.  This was like somone say Woo as in Woo-Hoo but a real long Wooooooo.  One starts and then there is another and another and it starts to get spooky when the sound starts coming from all directions...like you’re surrounded.

By this time I’ve talked to people about them in general conversations and someone had said that they have two sounds used most often; a general communication between them (the Woooo) and an after a kill to keep others away.

I heard the after the kill last week.  A rain storm had moved through so I had gone out on the back patio with a glass of wine to watch the lightening in the distance and listen to the soft rain.  That was ruined by the sound a dog makes when it’s keeping someone or another dog away from their food dish.  And just that quick it was a couple others joining in the fight to what I assume was the attempt to snatch the kill for themselves.  That’s when I headed inside. 

Again, I thought it was just a house or two away.   At a whisper-ball demonstration coyotes somehow came up in conversation and I told them about the fight and how close they must have been.  There was an agreement that while they may sound 2 or 3 houses down, they really are more like 3 or 4 blocks away.  I’m 3 or 4 blocks away to the north and to the south of golf courses.  Coyotes tend to hang out around golf courses - shade and better meal choices.

Boomer's Club Wine Tasting

I now belong to the Boomers Club (Baby Boomers).  They had a July wine tasting event that I had signed up for.  This was my second step into socializing with the club.  The first step has been going to the RummyKub game that is held twice a month. 

I was assigned to a group of four couples and one single female and it was held this past Thursday evening at the home of one of the couples.  We brought a bottle of white wine that was to be under $10.  Naturally, I brought the Fetzer Gewurztraminer – best white wine out there and my thanks to Dar and Thom for enlightening me about it. 

We had finger food with the host opening a new bottle every so often.   When we had sampled everything, the two with the most positive comments was Skinny Girl Chardonnay and Great America Chardonnay.  No one brought a Pinot Grigio.  AND no one commented on my Gewurztraminer!  Bummed.  The couple from Buffalo New York swears by Lake Niagra wine produced by Weideminer Winery somewhere in New York.  They said they have found it here, but couldn’t remember where.

Wine tip:  Although Fetzer makes a great Gewurztraminer, forget about their Pinot Grigio.  I’m making a light dinner for the neighbor tomorrow night who is returning from a week in San Francisco and bought a bottle of Fetzer Pinot.  I’m smart in my old age to know to sample before serving.  I did so last night.  The bottle wasn’t “corked”/gone bad, it just wasn’t good.  So I went to Trader Joes after work today and picked up a Charles Shaw Chardonnay.  There was a very nice gentle man filling a case box with the Chardonnay and said he and his wife prefer that over any other Two Buck Chuck.  He said, “Two Buck Chuck”.  Ah memories.

Back to the wine tasting group; it was a very very nice evening.  Of course the conversation started with where everyone was from.  I’m finally meeting the Wisc people.  One couple was from the Milwaukee area.  Which lead into Polish food and where to get the best Polish cuisine and Mexican in the area.   Somehow we ended up going around the table saying how we met our spouses.  Then it was best shopping districts in Phoenix, somehow onto a short discussion about the plane that was shot down over the Ukraine - topics all over the place.  The event started at 6:30 and just before 10pm someone looked at their watch and noticed the time, it was approaching 10 pm so we all headed home.

I got an email yesterday announcing the August wine tasting.  This sounds like it might be a monthly event.  I’m signing up!  I don’t think it will beat my first experience, but it still will be fun.

Speaking of finally meeting the Wisc residence, Rita took me across the street to introduce me to Becky and Joe.  Becky is from Ireland and Joe grew up in Milwaukee.  Both of their hearing isn’t the best so they didn’t hear me ask how they met.  I’m assuming military since they go to the Luke Air Force base commissary.

It's Not Like He Was Lost

The trip from Phoenix to Madison was uneventful.   Note to self, consider which direction the plane is going and which direction the sun will be shining onto the airplane when choosing the seat assignments.  

That evening Mom and Dad took me out for “fine dining” which turned out to be a bar on Fox Lake that serves burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, or cup of soup all at $1 each.  Food was surprisingly good.

Thursday Mom and I had lunch with an old family friend, Shirley.  We talked so much we didn't realize we had been there for two hours.  I think it had to be pushing four or five years since the last time I had seen her.

Friday it was off to younger brother Steve’s for a grill-out.  I got to see all the nieces, nephews, and pooches with the exception of Holly.  It was good food and good conversation.

Saturday was grilling out at Uncle Ralph and Aunt Eunice’s cottage along the Wisc River near the Dells.  Again, it was good food and good conversation.

Sunday was leaving day.  My flight didn’t leave until 3:30, but I wasn’t able to print out a boarding pass in advance and since the flight coming over was overbooked I was thinking arriving the earlier the better, figuring 1:30-1:45 would be a good time.

We went to breakfast and then stopped at East Towne Mall to bra shop for Mom at JC Penny’s.  We arrived 10:45-11am-ish.  Dad said he would go sit out in the mall in front of Penny’s and do some people watching.   Somewhere along the line he changed his mind and ended up at Sears in the Big-Boy Toy department.

After trying on 47 different bras…okay, maybe it was 7 or 8, we were done shopping within a half an hour and went to find Dad who we discovered wasn’t at the designated spot.  No problem, he may have moved up to the middle area where there was more people to watch.  Nope.  Maybe he went over by Dick’s Sporting Goods and was sitting there.  Nope.  Maybe he went back to the truck.  Nope.

I had Mom sit in front of Penny’s in case he wandered back and I took a quick walk around the mall.  Maybe he was by the food court.  Nope.  I finished the complete circle around the mall and came back to Mom.  We decided I should find the mall security and see if they have a paging system.  Nope.  Security guy did say he would alert the other two on duty, thus the posse was sent out.

I finished the second walk around the mall returning to Mom who was talking to the same security guy and I did another check of the truck.

I did a third walk around the mall even meeting/passing the security guy just outside of Sears.  It’s now getting close to 1 o'clock.  Where on earth did he go?  He doesn't have a habit of just wondering away.

Mom said I should check upstairs at Penny’s.  No sooner than I got upstairs she calls my phone and says she could see Dad headed towards her with the security guy.

The security guy caught up to him outside of Sears and asked him if he was looking for his wife and daughter.  Dad replies, “Nope.  But, they’re probably looking for me.”  

So it's not like he was lost.

We got to the airport shortly before 1:30.  Nothing like keeping life interesting.

It’s Not Like We Were Lost

The front of the house has a covered patio/porch that is the length of the house with the front door in the middle.  I had purchased two wicker chairs and a short table for one side and wanted a metal bench for the other side.  Next door neighbor, Rita, had said I should go to The Dump at Cave Creek, about 45 minutes away, and she would gladly go with me.

We set out Wednesday afternoon.  We had been onto I17 for a good 30 minutes when Rita mentioned we should have come to the Cave Creek exit and hoped that she wasn’t getting me lost since it had been several years since she had been there.  Just as she mentioned this, we came to an intersection that had a restaurant known for its pies.  She remembered having stopped there many times after having gone to The Dump so we were on track, but she would call them to be sure.  They told her it was the Carefree Rd exit that we needed and yes it was after the town with the restaurant with the great pies.

We just kept talking away and finally she said that it just can’t be this far.  I had a map in the back seat so we took the next exit, Camp Verde, to check the map.  Yep, we missed the exit…by about 65 miles.  The person Rita spoke to must have thought we were coming from the north.

After we stopped laughing and Rita stopped feeling guilty we got ourselves turned around.  It was a nice scenic drive on a nice day, no harm no foul.  Gave me a little practice with mountain driving and it’s not like we were lost. 

 We finally got to The Dump at Cave Creek, but they only had metal benches with the seat made with ceramic tile.  I didn't care for those.  We were told to try another place on the other side of the town. 

That place had a really nice metal bench.  It had some character, not just straight lines or an ornate design, but it was over my budget.  Rita spotted a guy that look like he worked there and ask what their best price was.  He calls someone and tells us $225.  I was about to say $200 and Rita pipes in, “One seventy five; most she can spend is $175”.  He calls the person again and comes back with $180.  We stuck to the $175; he just turns and walks away.  Okay.  Whatever.  We leave to check the place next door. 

The place next door only had wooden and I didn't want wood.  Rita strikes up a conversation with the guy behind the counter telling him we came all this way with $175 cash and the guy next door wouldn't sell us a metal bench.  I start to look around while they keep talking.  Next thing I hear is her asking him if he also owned the place next door that had the metal bench.  He did!  I finally got a word in and said I have cash, not paying by check or credit card, cash.  He picks up a calculator, punches around on it, and finally says he’ll sell it for the $175.  Rita says, $175 out the door, nothing added.  He smiles and says $175 out the door.  Take a peek below for a picture of my perfect bench.

Below too is a map that shows were we should have turned off (way down by the 303 and Hwy 74) and where we turned around (up by Hwy 260).

Yes, it has been awhile and I'll get that photo updated someday.  Jack is no longer with me.  He died in April of 2013.  I sold the house, moved to Arizona.  Working part time and hope/need to for another two or three years.  I’m adjusting rather well if I do say so.

When we lived in Prague, I wrote what I called “observations” that were short notes of things that I notice.  In this post I’m doing the same for the things I’ve noticed around me since arriving.

--One evening I drove past the lawn bowling facility.  I actually made a u-turn to check if I saw what I thought I saw.  All the men were dressed in white head to toe.  Some in shorts, some in slacks, various caps, hats, shirt and shoe types, but everything in white.

--Around Easter the newscasters reminded adults not to place the Easter eggs under shrubs for the safety of the adult and the children because shrubs tend to be a natural habitat for snakes.

--House and auto insurance are about half what I was paying in Michigan.  That savings was somewhat offset by the cost of auto license which is about 50% higher.  Still, all three combined came in way under budget.

--Auto insurance policy has a Mexico addendum in capital letters and bold print which basically said if the car is within 25 miles of the Mexican border coverage gets very limited.

--It also has a section that states my or a relative’s pet would be covered, but not a pet belonging to a friend.

--The siren tower and radio tower in Sun City are camouflaged to look like palm trees and pine trees. 

--Coyotes are not uncommon.  They are very wary of humans so not a problem.  More about that later.

--There are golf carts and golf cars.  Most here are golf cars.  They are licensed, have brake and turn signals.  They can clip along easily at 30 mph.  It was strange to see one passing another.

--There are two settings on the light switch for the front house lights.  Move the switch all the way up to turn the light on and to the middle “alert” setting which flashes the porch light.  This is to assist the ambulance in locating your house.

--Lots of Michigan people.  Person at the license office actually lived in Kalamazoo until, as she put it, she wised up.  She moved there for love but eventually learned he wasn’t so great after all.  Receptionist where I purchased the front security screen door is from Owosso. House inspector was from somewhere in central Mich.  Handyman is from Saginaw area. Neighbor to south is from Ann Arbor, to the west is from Bloomfield Hills, to the northeast from Dearborn Heights.

--Garbage cans are in the ground near the end of the driveway. There is a lid that is on a hinge on one end and a handle on the other to lift open the lid.  Garbage is picked up twice a week.  Guys run around with big bins on wheels taking the can out of the ground at each house dumping contents into the their bin and trotting off to the next house eventually catching up to the garbage truck to empty their bin into the garbage truck and starting the process all over. 

--Mailbox at the duplex I rented when I first arrived was a mail slot through the garage.  Mail dropped into a big box in the garage.  I rather liked not having to go outside to collect mail, just out into the garage.  Mailman delivered the mail riding a bike.  He parks the truck, loads up the basket on the bike handles and off he goes.

--They have the Pure Michigan tourist ads on TV.  I’ve only seen Michigan and Utah being advertised as a tourist destination.

--I have conquered the feeling that I must be outdoors whenever possible.  That Midwest feeling of enjoy the nice weather before it’s gone.  It has sunk in that the weather is always good.  While the days are getting hotter, I am still able to have coffee on the patio in the morning, but after work will watch the news instead of feeling the need to be outdoors.

--Read a Mark Twain quote, “Be careful about reading health books.  You may die of misprint.”

--I watched a lady slowly drive past the duplex next to me, then mine, then the one on the other side.  She was obviously looking at the house numbers.  The one on the other side was the unit she was looking for.  She puts the car in reverse, backs into the driveway, but leaves the front of the car partially on the sidewalk area.  There is like ten feet behind her before the back of the car would come close to the garage door.  She just gets out and leaves the car right where it is thus making anyone walking down the sidewalk to go out around the front of her car.  Oy.

--Sales tax in Sun City and Sun City West is 6.3%.  In Surprise it’s 8.5 and Peoria 8.1.  Can make a difference when buying non-food items.

--TV as started warnings not to drive into sandstorms.  To pull over and stay put until it passes.

--This week they have half hour programs on the monsoon season which runs from late June until early September.  It’s not what I consider monsoon.  I think of monsoons as heavy rains almost every day.  Here it sounds like it might be a couple times a month, but a heavy downpour.

--They still have Sinclair gas stations.  Remember those?  They had the green dinosaur as their logo.

--I’m officially a q-tip – white hair and white shoes.  

Traverse City / Garage / Kirk & Amy

I had Tuesday thru Friday off so we spent a three days in Traverse City.  We didn’t get to eat dinner out on the patio of any restaurant.   The wind really picked up both nights that we were there.  We did eat lunch outdoors and spent time on the deck of the Holiday Inn overlooking the bay in the morning reading the paper.  That’s what we need to do more - shift our sitting outdoors to the mornings when it’s going to be a hot day.  

We helped the local economy by stopping at a couple of wineries and spending some time downtown.  All and all it was a good trip.  Except for the drive up; it took a whole lot longer than expected.  We decided on the more scenic U.S. 31 not realizing the portion 196/31 was one lane each way.  Forgot how much Holland has grown which means more traffic lights than we remembered.  And then bridge work with a couple miles of road work farther north that was down to only 1 lane - meaning they would let a group of south bound traffic through, wait until that cleared, and then let a group of north bound traffic through.  That was a 10-but-felt-like-20 minute wait.   The 190 mile drive took us just under 4 hours.  

I haven’t done the annual garage cleaning and starting to bug me.  Normally, it would be an early morning start one day in June and have it done in a couple hours.  But early June was filled with excuses and then it got hot.  There hasn’t been a let-up on the hot part.  Maybe in September.

Kirk and Amy are now in Clarksburg, WV.  Job started this past Thursday inspecting the installation of a natural gas line. 

They did expand the deck and put in a patio with fire pit during their time off in Tennessee.  Dang, they do good work.

And then the ambulance came – Part 2

About 2:30 last night (Saturday) I woke up to Jack making gurgling sounds.  He has a spastic esophagus and often just his normal saliva accumulates and he has to go into the bathroom and spit it out.  I poked him and told him to go spit it out.  He responded with ‘ok’.  I did this two more times getting the same ‘ok’ response.  Finally, I turn on the light.  He’s staring up at the ceiling. Obviously, he has low sugar.

Figuring since he is answering me I could get some milk or juice down him.  He was even able to sit up with assistance.  After some coaxing and explaining as to what is going on and why he needed to drink he did take a couple of sips.  But then…he would bite down on the straw, stare up at me, and give me a toothy smile, and say he-he-he.  I’m trying hard not to giggle so that he takes this seriously.  Some more coaxing, he would pat my arm or my side, and take a couple of sips.   

He ‘ld say he was tired a lie back down.  I’d coax him back up.  He wasn’t too stable sitting up to begin with so I was holding him up with my hand on his upper back.  My arm started to get tired, as this up and down has now been going on for a good 15 minutes, so I put my foot flat on the bed and rested my arm on my thigh with my hand supporting his upper back.  This I’m not making this up – the dang dog comes in and puts his cold wet nose where it doesn’t belong which causes me to jump, I turn to shout at the dog and out of the corner of my eye I see Jack doing a slow motion fall sideways.  Luckily still onto the bed. There he is on his side, smiling, and staring.

I start the whole process over again. Now I’m thinking what little he is drinking probably is just keeping his sugar from going even lower and not enough to start raising it.  Time to call 911. 

As before, the first to arrive was fire rescue.  He must live close by as it was less than 10 minutes.  Knowing when he comes completely around he will need to eath, I started making Jack a peanut butter sandwich after calling 911.  I was just finishing that when I saw the red flashing lights coming down the street.

This time it was just 3 fire rescue guys.  One asking me questions, another working with me to prick Jack’s finger to test for his blood sugar (it was at 48) while I'm still trying to keep Jack drinking, and the youngest pup just watching it all.  Good thing I can multi-task.

And then the ambulance arrived.  What Jack had drunk was starting to take effect as he was now sitting up on his own.  The older of the two paramedics tells Jack to drink the orange juice and Jack slowly does.  Because he was drinking and talking coherently, the decision was made that he didn’t need a glucose IV.

At one point Jack has this quizzical facial expression looking from one guy to the next.  Finally he asks if they were from the hospital.  One guy told him, “Kinda”.  Shortly thereafter the rescue guys leave.

It’s now 3:30am, Jack has eaten the sandwich and answered all of their questions.  Another blood test and he is up to 70.  We all agree everything is under control.  Another 20 minutes and we’re back in bed.

--------------------------------

Which, I haven’t updated his latest hospital adventure.  No better time than the present.  The following is parts of an email I sent family.

May 8, 2012

Writing from the hospital room.  Jack had a gall stone removed.

The blow-by-blow account: 

Around 7pm on Sunday, Jack said he was feeling a sharp pain.  By 7:30 he wanted to go to bed, and by 8:30 he wanted to go to the hospital.  It wasn't until 11pm that they took him for x-rays.  Something was there that they wanted to do a CaT scan.  That was done around 2am.  Doc came in about 4am and said that he did have what appeared to be a gall stone in the bile duct and that Jack would be admitted to the hospital.  He also said that someone from the surgical team would be in to discuss.   

First to arrive was physician assistant from the internal doctor team, no more than an hour later it was one of the internal doctors, and then about 5:30 the surgeon that did an out-patient fixing of a couple of hernias and Jack’s bout with diverticulitis a couple of years ago.   He wasn't convinced from the scan that it was just the stone.  The scan wasn't the best because Jack couldn't drink all of the contrast and they weren't able to wait as long as they normally do between drinking the contrast and doing the scan because he was getting sick to his stomach every 10-15 minutes.

Somewhere around 7am he was admitted.  And the string of this and that started.  A case worker came in, a physical therapist, a woman that made sure Jack didn't have dementia or depression, nurse, nurses assistants (notice the plural), blood drawing person, cleaning room person, and one other woman that I don't recall what she was other than asking the same questions as the case worker, a DO doctor, a doctor on the internal team that I couldn't pronounce his name if my life depended on it (it was a huge long African name - not sure why he came in since he only asked Jack how he was feeling, made a joke, and left - must have a Mercedes payment coming up and needed to do a face to face in order to bill for the 'consultation'), and the doctor that was going to do the ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography).  Jack remembers little of all of this because he was either vomiting or sleeping during most of the time that any of them were in the room. 

Around 9pm on Monday they were going to try a cocktail of sorts since nothing was helping with the pain and constant sick to the stomach.  A different drug and the drug he was already taking rotating them every four hour.  First four hours was the new one, four hours later the old, then four hours the new, etc. Knowing they would be with him almost constantly and having now been up for 40 hours, at 9:30 Monday night, I headed for home. 

Noon on Tuesday he was wheeled in for the ERCP.  The stone was a tad smaller than a sugar cube and somewhat rectangular.  Because of its size, they broke it into pieces, removing some, and pushed some into the intestines to one day come out in a bowel movement.  Since they are in there, they do a check of other organs.  His pancreas looked good/normal.  He does have a small ulcer in his stomach and a slight hiatal hernia.  Two docs said neither are serious, just would do some preventative care to prevent them from becoming a problem.  They would not need to remove the gall bladder, but that is not to say more stones won't develop and move.  Due to Jack's age, they didn't want to unless they had to.

So, that's where we're at.  I'm thinking tomorrow he will be released.  Just waiting on the team to stop in and let us know what happens from here.

Hospital stay funny:

Two gentleman walk in, one of them said they were from St. Monica's Catholic parish.

Jack's response was no, that's okay, I'm Catholic.

That same gentleman repeated in a louder voice where they were from and asked if he wanted communion. 

Jack said yes.

At one point the Lord's prayer was said.

It became obvious that the one that didn't do any talking couldn't hear any better than Jack because he was a slower than the other guy in saying the prayer.

It was a tad like two people doing the "Row Row Your Boat".

I had to really squeeze my nose to keep from chuckling out loud.