So my brother had flown down from Connecticut to be with me on Dec 26th (the day I had my PD equivalency test). It was a Wednesday, garbage collection was very early the next day, so I put the very full and smelly garbage can out on the sidewalk. What I didn't realize that day was that garbage collection would be one day later that week because of the Christmas holiday.
As K was getting ready to leave the next evening, I asked him to go bring in the garbage can, which he did. Faithfully. All the way almost to the door between the house and the garage. It is one of his enduring, sometimes endearing, habits - he gets so absent minded, it is mostly amusing (after I'm done ranting, usually). He was in his usual I-may-be-here-physically-but-mentally-I'm-playing-my-perfect-game-of-tennis mode, so he forgot to even register that the garbage can was still heavy (in other words, not empty). So naturally he forgot to tell me that he brought in a bin that was still full of garbage into the garage. All the way up to the door into the house. I'm lucky he brought in my bin, and not one of my neighbors'. :P
Next day, I came into the garage to get some solution bags, and got a BIG whiff of "eau de garbage". I thought, "Huh. Note to self: Rinse out the garbage bin." It wasn't until I had to move the bin to get to the solution bags that I realized it was still full. Very carefully rolled the bin into the farthest corner of the garage, as far away from the house as possible. But I still had to live with a smelly garbage bin - by the time garbage collection time came around the next week, my bin was full to overflowing... and a very potent smell of garbage was beginning to permeate the house.
I gladly rolled the VERY full bin out to the sidewalk that week, I'll tell you that! Next morning, garbage had not been collected. I just thought they were late that day (it being Jan 2nd, after all). Came back from work that evening to see that the bin was still full, so I left it out one more night. The garbage-men came by on the Friday, instead of Thursday. Again.
In a huff, I went to look up the phone number for the waste-management company, to complain, and to ask if garbage collection was now changed to Friday mornings. And on the calendar they had sent me the previous year, I saw a * for the weeks of Christmas and New Years. *Garbage collection will be one day later when there's a holiday in the week*
Hmph! Deflated again. Palm, meet forehead *THUNK*
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
A link that everyone on or starting PD needs to have available
OK, so it is almost 3 years out of date, and it is only a page, not a blog, but it does have some useful information...
http://www.bryanjrollins.com/MPGN1/peritonealDialysis.html
http://www.bryanjrollins.com/MPGN1/peritonealDialysis.html
Radi's first adventure
Adventure, you ask? Yes, indeedy-doody, I reply.
As has become customary, I went to BFF CMR's house for New Year's Eve (I started the custom last year *heheh*). And we had good food, good wine and we played a fun board game, the name of which I don't remember now. But the real adventure lay in what came next: I was going to stay overnight!
What's the big adventure in staying overnight at a friend's, you might ask? Go ahead, I KNOW you're going to ask anyway. The big deal is that this is the first time I have stayed away from home sweet home for any duration longer than 8 hours, the max I can go between exchanges...
I went well prepared - well, except I didn't remember if I had taken the little baggie of extra supplies like masks, clamps and catheter caps. But I didn't have the time to turn back because I was already running late to meet J at the theater for a good bloodbath ("Sweeney Todd", in case you're interested). As it was, I made it with barely 5 minutes to spare to showtime! Was a good movie too, I must add. I had fun trying to keep up with the body count - and this bloodbath was more fun than the last bloodbath I went to see ("No country for old men"), because at least this had people bursting into good song. Some of the lyrics were so wickedly funny!
After the movie, J suggested we take a look at the view from the 28th floor of the same building (which is actually a Microsoft office location). So off we headed upstairs - the cafeteria has some really beautiful views through its picture windows AND from the balcony that runs along one side of it. For being the last day of December, it was a really mild day - we'd had bright sunshine all day, and by the time we got up to there, it was verging towards a beautiful pink sunset. And there I was on the 28th floor balcony, without needing a jacket! Of course, as soon as the sun went down, so did the temps - down to a few degrees below freezing, I think. Dunno, was in CMR's place, which like most houses other than mine, is a few degrees too warm for me.
So I didn't really know if I was going to be able to stay overnight at their house (I might have previously mentioned - J is CMR's husband :)), and I wouldn't until I checked the status of my daily solution-bag-heater bag. If I didn't have my extra supplies baggie, and if the little baggie of supplies in there was ehough to last the night and the morning, I would stay. Otherwise I would have to go back home in time for the next exchange after the last possible one with my travelling supplies. And miss the wine, conversation and just plain fun of the games (which I usually end up losing, by the way).
I took enough supplies with me to last until the midday exchange of New Year's Day. And when I got to CMR's, I found that I had been an incredibly (if unconsciously) good packer-of-supplies, because lo and behold! That little extra supplies baggie was there, tucked into the front zip. I have ABSOLUTELY no recollection of doing that before leaving home - my last memory of that baggie is that I set it out on the bed, all ready to be packed. Sometimes I feel that urge to pat my own back so much I almost pop my arm out of its socket :P
After the movie, J and I went our separate ways - me to go straight to CMR's house, him to get a cuppa joe before heading home. By the time I got to there, I was miserable - I'd finally had my flu shot for the year that morning, when I went to the doc's to get my weekly EPO shot. That, combined with the fact that I had drunk a full half-liter of water while eating most of a "medium" bag of popcorn (medium - HAH! it was ENORMOUS!), that I was mildly feverish, very sleepy and EXTREMELY bloated. I actually had to fight to keep from zoning out while driving there... a very odd feeling, that. Was never so happy to park in their driveway. Then I stood outside in the rapidly freezing weather, still sans jacket, banging on the door, loaded down with my full solution-bag-heater bag, ringing the doorbell, banging on the window. All to no avail. I could see CMR sitting on the couch with her daughter, but nothing I did could get her attention. I finally dug out my cell phone and called her - which thankfully she heard. Turns out her mother had been vacuuming, so she couldn't hear the doorbell, not over the noise of the TV and music as well.
I finally got into the house and THEN got my jacket on, because I still had one more trip out to the car to get the rest of my overnight supplies - the VERY HEAVY backpack with three solution bags in it and my overnight stuff. I lugged it into her spare bedroom, and announced that I would be staying overnight. Then I almost passed out, I was feeling that bad, so I flopped into bed for a nap. Somehow, every time I go to CMR's house, I seem to spend at least 50%-60% of my time there flat on my back, snoring my head off... I really need to break that habit. I mean, I got there at 4:45pm, was in bed for my nap at 5, woke up at 7pm, did my evening exchange, then managed to stay awake another 7 hours before succumbing to sweet slumber again (after the nighttime exchange, of course). Then I stayed in bed for the next 10 hours, only getting up for the morning exchange, before finally wandering out for my New Year's Day spinach omelette and a glorious cup of coffee :P
I hung around for a few more hours, until it was almost time for the next exchange - technically, I could have done that at their house as well, because I had all my supplies, but I really had to give myself the incentive to get home, because I had so much to do at home that I'd been neglecting during the holidays. Top of that list was cooking for the week, one of my most hated chores. So what did I do as soon as I got home? Called big sis on the way home, yakked with her for a while, meanwhile doing my exchange, made myself a VERY late lunch around 4:30pm.
Then I headed over to the Gold's Gym around the corner, feeling ever so virtuous because I was about to start a membership at the gym and an exercise program, on the first day of the new year. And what happened to that? The gym was closed, because it was New Year's Day. So much for THAT! So I headed over to a friend's house, and played with her two kids (aged 18 months and 5 months respectively). Then I came home, saw that the original movie version of "Sweeney Todd" was on cable, watched that as I did my evening exchange, then vegged out with one more movie before I ended the night. So much for cooking... HAH! Made myself a few dosas for dinner and went to bed, including the night-time exchange routine, of course.
As has become customary, I went to BFF CMR's house for New Year's Eve (I started the custom last year *heheh*). And we had good food, good wine and we played a fun board game, the name of which I don't remember now. But the real adventure lay in what came next: I was going to stay overnight!
What's the big adventure in staying overnight at a friend's, you might ask? Go ahead, I KNOW you're going to ask anyway. The big deal is that this is the first time I have stayed away from home sweet home for any duration longer than 8 hours, the max I can go between exchanges...
I went well prepared - well, except I didn't remember if I had taken the little baggie of extra supplies like masks, clamps and catheter caps. But I didn't have the time to turn back because I was already running late to meet J at the theater for a good bloodbath ("Sweeney Todd", in case you're interested). As it was, I made it with barely 5 minutes to spare to showtime! Was a good movie too, I must add. I had fun trying to keep up with the body count - and this bloodbath was more fun than the last bloodbath I went to see ("No country for old men"), because at least this had people bursting into good song. Some of the lyrics were so wickedly funny!
After the movie, J suggested we take a look at the view from the 28th floor of the same building (which is actually a Microsoft office location). So off we headed upstairs - the cafeteria has some really beautiful views through its picture windows AND from the balcony that runs along one side of it. For being the last day of December, it was a really mild day - we'd had bright sunshine all day, and by the time we got up to there, it was verging towards a beautiful pink sunset. And there I was on the 28th floor balcony, without needing a jacket! Of course, as soon as the sun went down, so did the temps - down to a few degrees below freezing, I think. Dunno, was in CMR's place, which like most houses other than mine, is a few degrees too warm for me.
So I didn't really know if I was going to be able to stay overnight at their house (I might have previously mentioned - J is CMR's husband :)), and I wouldn't until I checked the status of my daily solution-bag-heater bag. If I didn't have my extra supplies baggie, and if the little baggie of supplies in there was ehough to last the night and the morning, I would stay. Otherwise I would have to go back home in time for the next exchange after the last possible one with my travelling supplies. And miss the wine, conversation and just plain fun of the games (which I usually end up losing, by the way).
I took enough supplies with me to last until the midday exchange of New Year's Day. And when I got to CMR's, I found that I had been an incredibly (if unconsciously) good packer-of-supplies, because lo and behold! That little extra supplies baggie was there, tucked into the front zip. I have ABSOLUTELY no recollection of doing that before leaving home - my last memory of that baggie is that I set it out on the bed, all ready to be packed. Sometimes I feel that urge to pat my own back so much I almost pop my arm out of its socket :P
After the movie, J and I went our separate ways - me to go straight to CMR's house, him to get a cuppa joe before heading home. By the time I got to there, I was miserable - I'd finally had my flu shot for the year that morning, when I went to the doc's to get my weekly EPO shot. That, combined with the fact that I had drunk a full half-liter of water while eating most of a "medium" bag of popcorn (medium - HAH! it was ENORMOUS!), that I was mildly feverish, very sleepy and EXTREMELY bloated. I actually had to fight to keep from zoning out while driving there... a very odd feeling, that. Was never so happy to park in their driveway. Then I stood outside in the rapidly freezing weather, still sans jacket, banging on the door, loaded down with my full solution-bag-heater bag, ringing the doorbell, banging on the window. All to no avail. I could see CMR sitting on the couch with her daughter, but nothing I did could get her attention. I finally dug out my cell phone and called her - which thankfully she heard. Turns out her mother had been vacuuming, so she couldn't hear the doorbell, not over the noise of the TV and music as well.
I finally got into the house and THEN got my jacket on, because I still had one more trip out to the car to get the rest of my overnight supplies - the VERY HEAVY backpack with three solution bags in it and my overnight stuff. I lugged it into her spare bedroom, and announced that I would be staying overnight. Then I almost passed out, I was feeling that bad, so I flopped into bed for a nap. Somehow, every time I go to CMR's house, I seem to spend at least 50%-60% of my time there flat on my back, snoring my head off... I really need to break that habit. I mean, I got there at 4:45pm, was in bed for my nap at 5, woke up at 7pm, did my evening exchange, then managed to stay awake another 7 hours before succumbing to sweet slumber again (after the nighttime exchange, of course). Then I stayed in bed for the next 10 hours, only getting up for the morning exchange, before finally wandering out for my New Year's Day spinach omelette and a glorious cup of coffee :P
I hung around for a few more hours, until it was almost time for the next exchange - technically, I could have done that at their house as well, because I had all my supplies, but I really had to give myself the incentive to get home, because I had so much to do at home that I'd been neglecting during the holidays. Top of that list was cooking for the week, one of my most hated chores. So what did I do as soon as I got home? Called big sis on the way home, yakked with her for a while, meanwhile doing my exchange, made myself a VERY late lunch around 4:30pm.
Then I headed over to the Gold's Gym around the corner, feeling ever so virtuous because I was about to start a membership at the gym and an exercise program, on the first day of the new year. And what happened to that? The gym was closed, because it was New Year's Day. So much for THAT! So I headed over to a friend's house, and played with her two kids (aged 18 months and 5 months respectively). Then I came home, saw that the original movie version of "Sweeney Todd" was on cable, watched that as I did my evening exchange, then vegged out with one more movie before I ended the night. So much for cooking... HAH! Made myself a few dosas for dinner and went to bed, including the night-time exchange routine, of course.
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