AMAZON

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Some days you are the bug...

I have no way to explain yesterday. My mother had surgery on her replacement knee to repair damage done through over-energetic physical therapy after the original surgery. The operation went hell and, if she were younger, she’d probably be home now. As it is, she’ll be hospitalized for about three days and then a week or so in a rehab center. I am most thankful!

I didn’t sleep a wink Sunday night. I don’t know why, but I suspect it has something to do with the new medication I have been prescribed. I finally got up at 4:00 a.m. and was at the hospital shortly before my mother was scheduled for surgery. As my sister, uncle, and I waited for the completion of the operation, I continually fell asleep. My sister suggested that I go home, take a nap, and return later. Good idea, Sis!

I need a CPAP—Continuous Positive Airway Pressure—to sleep because I suffer from sleep apnea. Without the machine, I stop breathing. I had just put on the breathing mask and turned the machine on, when all of the electricity in the house went off. I got up and was stumbling in the darkness toward the fuse box, when I noticed a Louisville Gas & Electric Company car in front of my house. I put on a pair of pants and went onto the front porch just as the car pulled away from the curb.

What happened? Did I forget to pay my utilities’ bill? I didn’t think so. Besides, I knew that a new bill had arrived in Saturday’s mail. I retrieved the envelope and opened it: nothing was shown as past due and the current billing amount wasn’t due until October 10th.

So here I was, exhausted from lack of sleep and unable to sleep without power to operate the CPAP, stressed by my mother’s surgery, and perplexed by the incongruity of the billing statement and the power shut-off. I attempted to find a telephone number for Louisville Gas & Electric on the bill so I could telephone and inquire of the company what the hell was going on. I couldn’t find one; besides which, I suddenly realized that, without power, none of my telephones would work! That’s a real problem with modern technology and conveniences like cordless phones—a major inconvenience when one has no electricity.

It was so dark inside my limited-widow shotgun house that I couldn’t find a flashlight to search for my cell phone. So I drove downtown to the Louisville Gas & Electric Company’s main office. There I received an explanation that I can’t explain because I do not understand what the woman said. (I appreciate that for one who has earned two master’s degrees to say he does not “understand what the woman said” sounds absurd, but it is the only way I can say it).

My discourses with three Louisville Gas & Electric Company employees ended in my paying the bill due on October 4th on September 26th and being told that my utilities would be turned back on “in a day or so” for the charge of an additional $45.00. Even my pleading that I could not sleep without the CPAP got no response, so I accepted what I couldn’t change and, now even more exhausted, returned to the hospital. There I learned from my uncle that my mother was out of surgery and that the operation went well. After talking to my sister and saying a prayer of gratitude for my mother’s successful surgery, I left the hospital to run an errand for my mother. I went to the post office and had her mail delivery stopped until she returns home.

It had been a hectic day and I looked forward to getting some sleep. However, first I had to run a couple of errands for myself. All went well until I backed out of a parking place at a local shopping center and heard a crunch. I got out of my car and found that the rear-mounted tired on my CR-V had bumped and broken the turn-signal cover of the car parked behind me. I left my car where I had stopped and went back into the store I had just exited. I spoke to the manager, who agreed to telephone the police and search for the owner of the car.

About ten minutes later a police car arrived just as the car’s owner came out of the store. I gave the police officer my license and proof of auto insurance. He began writing the report as the owner of the car I had hit and I surveyed the damage of his car. This car’s owner, who turned out to be one of the balloon pilots who had his balloon at the balloon glow I had attended on Saturday, looked at the damage and suggested that I just locate a replacement turn-signal cover for him and we’d consider the incident closed. The policed officer said that was a great idea. We all shook hands and departed. And I went to sleep—finally!

The saying is true and should be believed: Some days you are the bug; some days you are the windshield. Yesterday I was the bug and I am so very glad that yesterday is over!

8 comments:

  1. Wow! What a crappy day! We've been experiencing a crappy month.

    My husband has sleep apnea too. He has a CPAP but it's like pulling teeth to get him to use it.

    Hope your next day is better!

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  2. Good to see you back, sonson. I am very glad yesterday is over and hope not to repeat such a day soon.

    I know a lot of folks who refuse to use the CPAP. I think it has something to do with the mask and the feeling of being confined. But for me, I cannot sleep without it. I even got a power converter for my car so that I can use it if I want to nap during long trips.

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  3. I found your blog through Thomas and have enjoyed reading. It does sound like you had a "bug" day. I'm always grateful when those are over and have the chance to start anew...hope the week gets progressively better for you!

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  4. Thanks you, punkmom. I’m glad you followed Thomas’ link to me.

    I suppose that sometimes we are on the mountain top and sometimes we are in the valley of the shadow. Yesterday was the latter. Although today hasn’t been a mountain top day, I am most pleased to report I am out of the valley!

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  5. sorry you had such a bad day. i hope u r ok now.

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  6. Hi, Nick. Thanks for visiting me. I've been enjoying my visit here, even swiped your "send crack" pick for my friends from NOLA. Bless you for going in the store to 'fess up about the auto mishap. I posted a pic Friday of my car; someone wasn't so nice to me. Hope you don't have too many more days like this one, here. You remind me, I need to get me one of those old-timey phones that isn't cordless, for when the power goes out!

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  7. You’re welcome, Susie. I glad you visited me here, too.

    That “send crack” picture is rather unique. I still wonder if it was real or posed. Anyway, I’m pleased folks enjoyed it.

    I’m sorry the culprit didn’t fess up to whatever damage was done to your car. As for me, my personal ethics dictated that I needed to find the owner of the car I damaged. Besides, and almost as significant, I had the 11-year-old son of my friend, Candy, with me. It would have been an appalling lesson to teach him had I just driven away.

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