Busy

Busy bee, this morning me.

I was out the door by 7:30 this morning. I filled up Taez's tank, ran him through the car wash so he's blue and gold again, and not likely to be missed in a snow flurry. From there I stopped and got some groceries. Came home, hauled garbage and recycling and had that done by 9 am.

I am now in the middle of trying to put up my new blinds. Machinery in the form of my drill is not cooperating - ie the batteries, both of them, are dead. So one is charging. I did get one of the clips drilled and up before the battery died. I'll get the rest of them up later and actually have a dark bedroom tonight. And not have to worry about people walking through my back yard, or the cats playing with the cords.

Yesterday was the holiday party at work. Meal was so-so, kind of expected when you're trying to feed 3,000 people in under 2 hours.

It was the founder's 85th birthday, so the cupcakes all had an '85' on them. Most people didn't get that until he spoke during the program. He's benefited from the company's technology - he has both a pacemaker and the insulin pump. He read a letter from a patient that has seen his children grow up, have kids of their own, and have great grandkids because 36 years ago he got a pacemaker.

The program features a patient that has been helped by each of the divisions in the company. There were two boys, 7 & 9, from Alaska that both have the insulin pumps. One gentleman and his doctor both have the surgery solution to stop snoring - three plastic rods inserted in the soft palate that stiffen it so you don't snore. A woman who has an intrathecal baclafin pump that puts medication into the space around her spinal cord to help stop spasms is one of the few to have a child while on the pump. A local high school basketball referee had a heart attack during a game, a high school girl started CPR, told others to get the school's automatic external defibrillator and used it to start his heart again - he now also has an internal defibrillator as well.

The stories get to you every year. The company helps a person around the world once every 5 seconds. The founder wants a clock in every building showing that, and that can change as we speed up that help.

One part I didn't remember is that we all get out of work two hours early the day of the holiday program. I waited until 3:30 to give others a chance to get out of there. Then I headed first to Whole Foods to get cat food and a few other things. Then I went to JC Penney to get my blinds. Stopped at Checkers to get a new power steering cap - dropped Taez's other one down in the engine compartment somewhere when I tried to add fluid Thursday morning. I still made it home by the time I usually get home last night. Cats were happy and so was I.

After lunch I'll finish getting the blinds up. Sort clothes so I can wash them tomorrow. Wash dishes so I can cook - make up a big batch of tomato risotto, add in veggies. Get the outdoor freezer set up - I washed out a cooler I have, moved a table next to the door so it's right handy for freezer overflow. Make another batch of yucca buns.

See just how ambitious I get today and tomorrow. Monday it's back to work for three days. Thursday I'm planning on heading to the Dominik clan. Friday sometime the Jones clan comes to town. Saturday hopefully we can all spend some time together, get photos. Sunday I get to recover before going back to work for three days, off the 1st, back on the 2nd.

Eeek, not sure if I'm ready for a new year. They go faster and faster the older I get.