Monday was a really great day! Susan came in to give me a nice long two-hour massage; I can't believe I finally starting to feel better. Whether it's because the days are getting warmer or because of PT and the exercises that she showed me for both. Karen came in and got me something to eat; when Susan comes in early, she feeds Dude because he doesn't understand why somebody comes in at 6 AM and doesn't feed him. After I ate, Karen got me dressed and up in my chair; it's only 10 AM, so I still have the rest of the day to cruise around and take pictures… That's why I love the weekends and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Mondays. Dude and I took off for a nice long cruise through Depot Park, down to the end of the wharf and back. While I was cruising down the wharf, I ran into Britt, and he was telling me that the wharf is open. Still, the boardwalk is not yet open, so they don't have staff put out garbage cans and pick up trash along the beach; the beaches are still path with people and their canopies/tents, but since there's no place to collect garbage, they just leave it on the beach. Since they don't want people taking pictures of the littered beach and posting it, so it's up to the wharf staff to not only do their own job but now cleaning up the beaches, I love how everybody that works down there really cares about the place and likes to keep everything clean and in order. We cruised over to the boardwalk; I love it during the week when there are not many people there so I can take pictures. We cruised back over to the wharf and started going up to Westcliff Drive; I could see from the wharf that the waves over by the lighthouse were awesome, and I wanted to go take some pictures, but then I looked at the time and decided I better get home because it's about time for Adriana to come in and Dude is probably really thirsty. We came home, and I uploaded my pictures, I didn't realize how many I had taken, but it's close to 200… No wonder my cell phone is almost dead. Adriana came in and put me to bed after she fed the hungry, thirsty guy, fed me, did a couple loads of laundry, wiped everything down, cleaned up the kitchen, and then went home. I spent the rest of the evening listening to music, watching TV, and editing what seemed like a million pictures. Before I knew it, it was 10 PM, and Adriana came back to let Dude out one more time; I didn't realize all this time went by, so I watched TV until I fell asleep.
Tuesday was a really great day! Cindy came in and fed the hungry knucklehead, fed me, and they got me dressed and up in my chair. She took me to my appointment with Dr. Owens; my appointment was originally for cataract surgery I was going to have, but I canceled the surgery, but I decided to go ahead and keep my appointment with Dr. Owens… There was a couple of things that I wanted to ask her about. I'm still having stomach/appetite problems; I'm still having problems with my SP tube leaking and a huge granuloma… She sent me a prescription for silver nitrate sticks to burn off the granuloma. She said after I got them, she would come over and have Karen do a video showing everybody how to burn them off; everybody hears "burn it off with a silver nitrate stick" and freaks out, so I thought if they can see how easy it was, it wouldn't be so scary for them. She referred me back to the gastroenterologists for my stomach problems. After my appointment, we got some Peet's coffee and cruised over to the harbor to get some lunch at the El Palomar Café and watch the waves and boats. I got my usual shrimp nachos, and Cindy got a couple of Carney Asada tacos; it was such a beautiful day, although it was a little windy. After lunch, she drove me to my physical therapy appointment with Yasel. She drove me home and left; I kick back and watch TV for a while until Adriana came in to feed the hungry Dude, put me to bed, and fed me. She climbed up, did a couple loads, and then went home. I watched TV for a while and then fell asleep.
Wednesday was another pretty good day. Susan came in to give me a nice long relaxing massage; she brought me some cannabis toffee… Probably the best time of my evening is to get in bed and get stoned after everybody leaves; I just kick back and watch TV and relax. Karen came in, and we did some personal care and then a really nice long hot bath; I always feel so awesome after the bath! Dude and I cruised over to the wharf and up and down a couple times; the waves were awesome, and of course, I took a bunch of pictures. Most of the time, by the time my chair bounces all the way down to the wharf, my camera is crooked, and I have to cut out most of the pictures at night when I crop them, and that sucks, I wish I could find a good way to mount the GoPro so it wouldn't turn sideways as I bounced down the street. My brother's going to try to find me a gimbal that I can work with my phone, so I can change the position of the camera; I found a hat that you can mount the go Pro on, but it's pretty heavy, and although I would like to strengthen my neck I think it would just fall off my head too much. I wanted to cruise down to the farmers market downtown, but I ran out of time; once I hit that wharf unless I set the alarm, I forget all about time. We cruised on home, and I tilted back and watch TV for a while until Adriana came in to feed the hungry poach, put me to bed, and then feed me. She did a couple loads of laundry and cleaned up, and then went home for the evening. I watched TV for a while and eventually fell asleep.
Thursday was a pretty good day. The weather is starting to get nice, and I have to cruise around and take pictures all day. Karen came in, fed the hungry mongrel, fed me, and then got me dressing up in my chair. After I took a couple of pictures of the beautiful roses in my driveway, the Dude and I took off for a nice long cruise through Depot Park, almost every time I go by, I take a picture of the bridge, the Marine sanctuary; I just love bridges. There's also a staircase that leads up to the bridge, and now is like taking a picture of that too; as I approached the wharf, I always cruise way down to the right because they do have a little submit ramp, and I love going there because that's about as close to the ocean as I can get. During the summer, they extended a couple of times, one for a day on the beach, which is an activity that shared adventures puts on every year. People from all over with every kind of ability come to kayak, surf, Outrigger, or just take a drive in the beach chair. There's usually a couple of live bands in an Indian restaurant that caters to all the food; it's so awesome just to watch everybody have so much fun. Foster runs shared adventures and is always doing something enjoyable. It's a nice place to just relax and take some really awesome pictures. Then I usually cruise over to the beginning of the wharf and take some pictures of the artwork and the waves crashing into the boardwalk logs. We cruised down to the end of the wharf and back, taking pictures of all the usual places. We cruised over to the boardwalk; I love going there and taking pictures when there are not many people around. It's also a nice quiet place to practice commands with Dude where there are no distractions; I also like to go there and work with him during the weekends when there are distractions. I took a picture of one of the oldest attractions, laughing Sal, I'm going to see if the lady that does my sewing for me will make me a costume, and that's what I want to be for Halloween this year… Now I just have to figure out what Dude is going to be. We cruised back down to the end of the war and then home because the battery on my phone was dying from taking so many pictures. I sat back and watched TV for a while until Joy came in to take Dude for a little cruise. Adriana came in to feed Dude and then put me to bed; she got me something to eat, did a couple of loads of laundry, wiped everything down, and then went home. I spent the rest of the evening watching TV, listening to music, and editing my pictures. I'm way behind in my blog again, but I think my arm is getting stronger, and my neck doesn't hurt near as much anymore. I watched more TV until I fell asleep.
Friday was a nice relaxing day. Susan came in to give me a nice long two-hour massage; I was really hurting, so it felt great, and there was a lot of crackling going on. Karen came in And got me something to eat; we did some personal care and then a nice long hot bath. She got me dressed and up in my chair, and Dude and I took off for cruise through Depot Park and down to the end of the wharf and back A couple of times. The weather was beautiful and starting to get slightly more crowded because everything opened up a little more. We cruised home and kick back and watch TV for a while until Adriana came in. She fed the hungry pooch, put me to bed, fed me, did a couple loads of laundry, cleaned up and wiped everything down, and then went home. I played cribbage online while I listen to music and watch TV and eventually fell asleep.
Saturday was a beautiful day! Cindy came in and fed the hungry hound dog, fed me, and then got me dressed and up in my chair. I'm so excited! I got up early, and I have all day to cruise around in this beautiful weather; I will never take this beautiful place where I live for granted again… I had a lot of time to think about my life during this pandemic. I'm going to try to appreciate all I have from now on. Dude and I took off for a nice long cruise down to the end of the wharf and back; it's so nice to see everybody out and about again having a good time. The wharf, the beaches, and the boardwalk are packed with people again, and I really appreciate them more… Without them, this wouldn't be such a desirable place to live. As I was cruising back down to the end of the wharf, I saw many people gathered where Paradise dogs used to be, and they were all apparently artists; they were all doing different projects. One lady stopped me and talked to me for a while. They were also very religious; religious people used to make me nervous, but now I just go with it. Like always, she wanted to pray for me after our conversation. She gave me a piece of paper that she painted a beautiful picture on. She wrote me a little personal note on the back, as I'm dictating this, I remember back in I think what makes the most uncomfortable about religious people is that they always tell me that if I believe in God and I pray a lot, I will be able to walk again… It's lovely. I'm sure one day they will come up with the cure to repair the spinal cord, but I don't think it will happen in my life, and I wonder if I ever got feeling/sensation back, it would be mostly pain for my muscles atrophying. I headed down towards the boardwalk and ran into my friend Vince, he and his wife owned Paradise dogs for years, and I think most people stopped there just to visit with them because they are so sweet and have the best stories of hotdogs were delicious also. When my for service dog Robby retired, he said that he dropped a hot dog and could give it to him; when he held it up, I'll never forget how big Robbie's eyes got, and he just kept looking back and forth at Vince and me. When Vince said okay and gave it to him, he looked like he just discovered the best thing in the world… Every time we went by there, he got all excited and looked at Vince. I talked to Vince for a while and then headed on towards the boardwalk. Usually, after I leave my house, by the time I get close to the wharf, my chair has bounced around so much that my go pro is crooked, and I have to tilt back or forward to take a good picture, and I miss half of the scenery when I straighten it out at the end of the day when I edit my pictures… When I run into somebody I know, I always forget to ask them to straighten it. We cruised through the boardwalk; it's always a good place to practice Dude not paying attention to anyone, although I hear a bunch of awwwww's and oh how cute because he's just so adorable. If somebody asks, I usually tell them they can say hello to him and thank them for asking, unlike my first service dog Robby; when I tell Dude, "let's go," he snaps back into work mode. We cruised back home, and I uploaded my pictures until Rosalie came in; she fed Dude, put me to bed, and then fed me. She worked on my chair, washed a couple of clothes, wiped everything down, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and then went on home. I edited a couple of pictures, tried to catch up on my blog while I listen to music, and then watch TV until I fell asleep.
Sunday was a relaxing but also a miserable day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry pooch, fed me, cleaned up a little bit, took Dude out for a cruise, and then went home. I stayed in bed because Karen's coming in at noon to do some personal care and a nice long hot bath; I started taking iron because I'm anemic and ever since I've had a headache, a stomachache and I'm constipated… I guess iron does that to me, but the doctor said if I don't take the iron pills, I have to come in for some kind of treatment that takes 2 to 4 hours, and I DEFINITELY don't want to do it it it if it that. I tried to catch up on my blog; I'm so far behind because of all my neck, shoulder, and arm pain… I don't know if I'll ever get caught up. I get almost caught up, and then something happens, and I don't write in it for a week, and it intrinsic to two weeks and then three, etc.… Since I couldn't get up and take pictures, I looked online and found some pictures of the police cleaning up the beach and some of the rock art that people make along Westcliff Drive. Karen came in, and just as I thought personal care was miserable, I'm always looking forward to a nice long hot bath and then just stay in bed for the rest of the evening. I'm trying to watch a movie on Sunday nights when trying to think of some past perfect movies that I really liked and, of course, the new ones that I wanted to watch. Eventually, I fell asleep.
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