What the -- ???

Once upon a time, before Bob's stroke, Bob bought me a vintage Kit Cat Clock, which hung in our kitchen for years. Then, after his stroke, it stopped working. Dead....

At that time, living off $1200/month (social security) and with all his medical expenses, mortgage payment of $675, etc. -- not much money to spare. So I put the clock in a box. My mother, (love ya, mom) bought me a reproduction battery operated Kit Cat Clock, which shortly after Bob's death also "died".

After searching around, I found a guy (on e-bay) who repairs vintage Kit Cat Clocks and sent our original one to him for repair. I was worried sick that it might a) get lost, or b) be unable to repair. But he was able to repair it and I got it back safely and was so excited I took a video of it to share with everyone!

But in the video -- which I took with my camera -- it looks like the clock is hanging on a wooden plank wall.... huh? We do not have a wooden panel wall -- so how on earth ----?

So I retook a video today (same place) in our kitchen just to see what would come up: and here it is, exactly where it hangs in our kitchen:

Funny, Bob loved this clock and could see it from his hospital bed. When the repro stopped working, he would point at it and say bink-bink-bink! meaning the tail wasn't wagging and eyes weren't rolling...

So for many reasons, I wanted the old cat clock restored. And must say the repair was beautifully done, clock now working perfectly, as you can see -- and you can see it from Bob's "point of view" where his hospital bed was... but what the heck? why is the first video looking like it's hanging on a wood panel wall?

The second video is taken in the same place, but shows its real home.

Anyway -- strange things happen....but I am glad to have this present from Bob to me restored. Brings me great joy to watch it!  Sort of a Valentine's day present from him this year --- last year it was ducks! But haven't seen Louise (or any ducks) this year.....

Phew!

Had a great time with Shirley, her daughter Nicole and the girls (ages 10 & 9) and jeepers, did they keep me running!

We went on the "Pirate Cruise" on the first day -- this was definitely for the kids.

Gena and Emma ready to board the Pirate Ship

But fortunately, they had an upper deck, for "adults only" where they had free beer and wine and a smoking section, so we could escape the lower deck chaos, which included face painting, treasure hunts and other "pirate games".

Upper deck, that's Nicole (in pink) and Shirley next to her.

Then the next day,  believe it our not, we went on a "speed boat tour" in the Gulf of Mexico:

Shirley & I ready for the "ride of our life"!

Nicole and the girls in their boat ready to launch.

On the water (we, Shirley and I) are in the yellow boat (barely visible) way in back.....

I tell you, I was scared shitless at first! We had "tour guide" in the first boat, and each boat followed him in a line. There were five boats all together, Shirley & I were in Boat #3. And it was a bumpy ride!!! It was a two hour tour.... (Glad Shirley drove! ha!) At one point the water was so rough, we were crashed by a huge wave and I was knuckle white hanging on and yelled, "Shirley, this is a crazy way to die!!!!" And we (old ladies) were quite sore afterwards....

But all in all, it was rather fun. And I can take that off my "bucket list" (not that it was ever on it). ha!

And by the way, it was Nicole who booked these tours -- not me. I would have choose lounging on the beach.... or by the pool....

I did get them down to the beach, (it was two blocks from the speed boat place) because I told them they couldn't leave Florida without at least putting their feet in the Gulf of Mexico. So we walked down to the beach:

Shirley & Nicole on the beach

The girls wading in the Gulf.....

Unfortunately, we were not dressed for the beach and the girls put more than their feet in the water. In fact, they were soaked and it was good thing I thought to bring some towels with us....

All in all, a great time. The weather was perfect every day, 82-84 degrees and sunny, evenings a mild 69-70 degrees. And they are from Wisconsin, so they immensely enjoyed that.

When asked, the kids said their favorite part was swimming in my pool! Believe me, they were in the pool every morning, every time we returned from a tour and every evening after dinner and even the morning they had to leave, one last dip in the pool before heading to the airport.

And now, life returns to normal for me, Kona and Ripley.  Spending today, doing laundry (beach towels, sheets, etc.) A lot of work, (both before and after) but well worth it.

Though do remind me how much work it was before I invite someone else down. My back is still aching, and I am ready to be a couch potato for the next few days....

They're here!

And first thing, girls in the pool ---

Tomorrow, I guess we are going on a "Pirate Cruise" --- Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum! (I hope!)

Guests!

I know I have been silent here on this blog, but much going on, including a 2 day workshop I went to (and started to blog about that -- got a draft -- interesting workshop with John Holland and still will post it later--- but -- ) other things have gotten me off track, hard times, holidays, Bob's birthday, valentines, yuck  -- then I've been busy cleaning --as finally I have a friend and her daughter and grand-daughters coming for a visit from Wisconsin!-- so finally (first time) someone staying in the guesthouse! that I put so much work into (over a year ago) and hoped my family and/or friends would come to visit and sadly, no one interested to come visit -- but I am finally looking forward to having some company!  And it's 82 degrees here!

Today is Bob's Birthday

He would've turned 59 years old, today.

He may be gone, but he lives on in my heart....

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! I will always love you.

New Years Resolutions

I usually don't make New Years Resolutions, because I normally don't keep them as I set my standards too high ---  (you know, lose weight, stop smoking -- blah)

But this year, I have two:

1.  Write at least one hour (or more) a day -- five days a week.
2.  Swim everyday, when schedule permits -- unless it's raining.

I have started (and then trashed the whole thing) and restarted writing a memoir.  I know many readers here have suggested I turn this blog into a book, but this memoir will be a bit different than this blog.

Though some parts of the blog will be included and I want to include Bob's drawings in the book.

But basically, the focus of this memoir will be the medical mistakes that ultimately ended Bob's life. And the lawsuit. Stuff I couldn't really blog about (the inside scoop, as it were) while the lawsuit was in process -- (and, yes, I signed a "confidentiality" agreement, but the "confidentiality" applies only to the settlement amount, I made sure of this with my lawyer  -- though, I am thinking, names will have to be changed to "protect the guilty").

It has come to my attention, through my research in preparing to write this memoir, that "medical errors" are the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States.  Right after heart disease and cancer.  A statistic that I didn't believe at first, didn't seem possible, but found (after much research) to be true.  Various studies show that between 210,000 up to 444,000 patients die each year from preventable medical errors in the USA and these numbers could easily be higher due to undocumented cases and cover-ups.  The AMA, of course, doesn't include "medical errors" in its list of leading causes of death  -- wonder why? hmmmm

I believe the world needs to know not only these facts, but also the poor quality of our health care system and how difficult it is to even find an attorney because of legislation that has passed in many states capping monetary settlements, and how vehemently victims are persecuted and re-victimized (by insurance companies & defense lawyers) when they do find an attorney and pursue a lawsuit, and lastly, how incompetent and/or negligent health providers are never held accountable for their acts even after a lawsuit is settled and/or won by the injured party.  In fact, most health care providers continue to practice, they do not lose their license to practice medicine, and perhaps their next "medical error" will happen to you or someone you love.

It will be a time-consuming project, and for sure a difficult and emotional project for me, but I feel the time is right for me to begin.  And surely, will take more than one year.

But as this will a memoir, a personal story about Bob and what happened to him (and me), my hope is that it will be the type of book to inspire people not only to pursue their own lawsuits, but to perhaps change "torte reform" laws that damage the victims of medical errors and their families, to take away the stigma of those who file malpractice lawsuits, debunk the myth that there are "frivolous malpractice lawsuits" and to justly punish the proven incompetent practitioners in our midst.

It also seems such a paradox that doctors and nurses and other medical practitioners are not held accountable for making mistakes that result in severe injury or death because, as they say, "doctors/nurses are human and humans make mistakes" whereas -- we, who are not protected by the law, if we make a mistake, for example:  have a traffic accident while distracted which injures or kills someone, we face charges of "negligent homicide" or "manslaughter", or if someone slips on our steps and is injured or drowns in our pool -- we can be jailed or put in prison for this and sued with no "caps" on monetary settlements.  Why are doctors/hospitals/hospital employees exempt from "mistakes" while others are not?  I tell you -- because it's all about politics and lobbyists and insurance companies and money.... don't me going... but it is not fair or right.

And also, this book will be a tribute to Bob. That he won't be forgotten.... and his legacy will live on.

I know, I'm setting my goal rather lofty.  But I think I'm up to it.

Happy New Year.
Time to jump into the pool.