January 2, 2019- Goals

So, today at work during our morning staff meeting we were asked to state our goals for 2019.   Honestly at 7:00 in the morning, my goal is to stay awake.  I haven't thought a whole lot about goals for the year.  I would like to learn a little French, since I might be spending a couple days there next December.  I'm not stressing over it too much though at this point.  I was worried about traveling to Zurich last year without any knowledge of German, but everyone spoke English.  I've heard that the French are a little particular about visitors speaking their language, so I would like to know a few words at least.  Hopefully I'll be able to say enough to get by.

I think everyone's staple goal is to lose weight and eat healthier in the new year.  I wouldn't mind joining a gym with a partner, but I will never do it on my own.  I'm far too much of an introvert to get out there on some random machine surrounded by tiny women in spandex.  First of all, I don't even know how to operate any of that equipment, and secondly, I can already feel the glares of people staring at my jello parts. Maybe if I ever win the Lotto, I can get a private trainer-- preferably a blind one.

Back Again

I was going over my Facebook settings and realized that I haven't added anything at all to my blog since Aug. 2010. So far 2012 has been somewhat uneventful. I think I'd like to keep it that way. Presently I have a cold, but thankfully it seems to be going away somewhat. I still am hacking away, but if this is typical of the colds I normally get, then that will be with me for a few weeks.

I was thinking (as I mentioned on Facebook a few days ago) that this seems like a very strange January weather-wise. We haven't had any rain at all this winter aside from a few sprinkles. The mountains are snowless, and we actually just were put on a high-fire danger alert yesterday due to the dry conditions. I can see a major drought in our future if things don't change soon. Our friends planned a birthday party at the snow park for their son, but now I don't even know if it will be open. If so, it will be the nasty hard man-made machine snow. How sad is that?

Seriously???

I really have to question the service of Kaiser hospital sometimes. Yesterday I met up with my sisters in my mom's hospital room, because the doctor was supposed to discuss her illness and treatment with us. We waited about an hour and a half and finally asked the nurse where he was. She said he was in a meeting that should be about an hour long. Meanwhile my sister, Cheryl asked the nurse if she could let us know what my mom's current blood sodium level was and/or if it had come up any. The nurse said ok and left the room. She never did bother to come back or tell us anything. As for the doctor, we waited for him for over 3 hours. Finally Cheryl asked the nurse if the doctor could just call her once he was finished with the meeting. We all went home. Cheryl finally called me about 4 1/2 hours later. She said that the doctor had told her he was in meetings all afternoon. On a Sunday???!! I'm having trouble believing that. He said that since he hadn't actually seen my mom that he could not say exactly why her blood sodium level was so low. It's possible it could be from the antibiotic that was used for her bladder infection. He said that it appeared that the infection was cleared up though. If so, why are they still giving her antibiotics by IV? Also, how could he know this if he hasn't seen her? AND, why did he want to meet with us? (Actually, it is possible that my mom only said that he wanted to meet with us. She was so delusional on Saturday that she may have just thought he wanted to see us. Maybe he didn't really say that). Either way, it bothers me that he hasn't even bothered to check in on his patient. Cheryl said that the doctor is supposed to speak with her today, and she'll let me know the outcome.

Worried

My mom was admitted to the hospital for a few days last week due to a bladder infection which led to dehydration and a low blood sodium level. They released her Tuesday and she seemed to be doing well. She went back in the hospital this morning again. Her blood sodium level is very low again and she is extremely confused. The doctors say that low sodium does often cause confusion, but it is very scary. Phil and I will be going out to see her later today. I hope that the doctors can provide some answers as to why her sodium is so low. I talked to my sister a while ago. She was at the hospital earlier. She said that the doctors said my mom's sodium level was in the 120 range. I googled "normal blood sodium level" and it said normal levels should be 136 to 145. Not good! I'll let everyone know when I have found out more as to what is causing this.

My Sister's New Home

Saturday Phil, my mom, and I took a ride to see my sister Charlene's (AKA Renie) new house. She's lived in Antioch for many years in a trailer park, but it was time to get away from the noise and traffic. She bought a really nice house with about 1 1/2 acres of land in Ione, CA. It was a foreclosure and still has a lot of fixing up to do, but my sister's boyfriend Danny has already done a tremendous amount of work. He put in new tile and carpet, new light fixtures, and painted all of the inside. He still wants to repaint the outside and do some landscaping. It's really cute already though.

Pigs and Pride

This morning Phil asked me to take a couple pictures of our discusting neighbor's house so that he can forward them to the city (last 2 pictures). Phil already contacted the neighborhood improvement services, and they claim to have a case file opened. Aparently not much is being done though. I can't understand anyone living like such pigs. Geeze people, whether you rent or own have a little pride in your home!

On a nicer note, I took the camera along with me to San Francisco today and took a few pictures after my interview. The tall building to the right of the Transamerica building in the 3rd photo is the building where my interview was held. I don't know the name of the sculpture or the artist, but I liked the mother holding the baby. The 1st pic shows the rainbow flags along Market Street in preparation for the Gay Pride parade this weekend.

1st Fire of the Season

This morning we were warned of a high fire alert due to low humidity, strong winds, and warming temperatures. Temps are surely climbing. Right now it's about 85*, but by Sunday we should be reaching mid-90's. Sure enough, today we had our first fire of the season. I understand that it is still burning. No structures are threatened yet, but there was a voluntary evacuation. The fire is really close to a school, so hopefully all the kids were evacuated safely.