House update and me update: Tuesday

[electricland]

My aunt writes:

Today had gumbo for lunch, with rice, okra, ham and shripm.

The 2nd floor pass-through is complete, and the repositioning of the doors and wall studs on the second floor also. Same for 1st floor, except for those affected by vents.

Bad news. The duct guy has been on holiday and is behind; so gave John the name of another duct guy.

Good news: The water guy came, thinks he can have it done by the end of next week, and the quote, $1400, is $300 lower that the first estimate.

3rd floor: removed collar ties, put up and doubled rafter ties.

R, in answer to your question, the X-drive drill, given to John by Jen and Mike, has: a light to see what you're drilling, a laser level, a stud finder, a gear shift, a 25-position clutch (no wonder it broke), lights to indicate whether you're drilling in or out, and it comes in 4 colours. John is picking up the free replacement at Lee Valley Tools.

Have attached updated to-do list, for comment.

Cheers, H

Good to know!

I had an attack of mildly justified health paranoia ("OMG what if this isn't just a Charley horse? What if it's a blood clot?") late Monday evening, called Telehealth, and as a result spent the rest of Monday night from 12:30 on slowly freezing to death with the rest of the damned souls in the waiting room of Toronto East General's emergency department. Which, I recalled too late, has a terrible reputation. Next time, if there is a next time, I'm going to St. Mike's. When a doctor finally did see me (at 10 a.m.) it took him all of 5 minutes to poke and prod, ask me a couple of questions, deploy a tape measure and send me for a Doppler ultrasound, which said what I was starting to suspect, i.e., I'm just fine. They sprang me loose at noon. I went home to sleep. Oy.

Comments

[themusesbitch.livejournal.com]

According to my cousin's boyfriend, who is a paramedic, Mt. Sinai is the best hospital in town. Friends who have been treated there concur.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! I'm glad you're OK, though.

[raithen.livejournal.com]

Mom and I agreed last night that we are SOOOOOO proud of you for actually going and getting it checked (and I just KNEW! you would have called telehealth). Glad it was nothing and that you are feeling better! Look for a JJ report in my journal sometime later today - we went for our first off property walk last night! I love that filly :D.

Oh, and Mom's reply to your tale of the hospital (I shared):"ya for our medical system eh"

[electricland.livejournal.com]

the part that annoyed me was when people kept asking me "Have you seen your family doctor about this?" NO, because it is MIDNIGHT. Excuse me all to hell for not having (well, realizing I might have) health problems during regular working hours. *eyeroll*

and East General has a specially bad reputation -- J's cousin (who is also a paramedic) has said they're not just slow, they're actually obstructive, and nearly everyone I've spoken to has rolled their eyes. Although Cranky says her family's experiences with East General (brother with broken limb, grandmother) have been good.

as the woman accompanying her daughter (teenager, cracked heads with another girl playing soccer, woozy and vomiting, sitting there since 8 p.m. or so) said, it's not so much that WE weren't being seen, it was that NOBODY was being seen. Kind of makes you doubt you're ever getting out of there.

[ozreison.livejournal.com]

Which, I recalled too late, has a terrible reputation.

Here we have Cambridge Memorial, which has a reputation for really rude staff, a horrible waiting area, and tremendously long wait times.

Or we have Grand River Hosputal, where people have been known to die in the waiting room in what seems to be disturbingly frequent occassions.

So I can sympathise greatly, and hope that you don't have need of their services again anytime in the near or distant future. *hugs*

[raithen.livejournal.com]

You are in K-W!! I did not know this :D! (Grad school at UW and 4 years spent in K-W ;)

[ozreison.livejournal.com]

I live in Cambridge and work in Waterloo... been in the area since 1998. ;)

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

ouch, glad you're feeling better? and hope you're getting a lot of sleep.

sending you good house thoughts. :)

[scapersuse.livejournal.com]

Also sending good house thoughts, and am glad that your health issue wasn't serious, annoyance with the doctors notwitstanding. :)

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

My East General stories:

1. In 1976, I fell down the stairs at school and couldn't put any weight on my right foot. After being forced to wait for half an hour or so with my mother for the kid she babysat who had detention (I wasn't allowed to walk to or from school by myself until I was 11), and then several hours of being forced to soak my foot in hot water (my mother has strange ideas of first aid), my father took me to East General after he got home from work. Four hours later I finally got an X-ray. A couple of hours after that before they came out and told us that I had torn the ligaments in my ankle and fractured my heel.


2. In 1984, my father collapsed in the basement. I was upstairs, and my mother was out, so I had no clue that anything was wrong until my father came upstairs and told me that he had called an ambulance to take him to East General. A couple of hours later they sent him home with 222s, having told him that he had a migraine. A few hours later, he collapsed again and went back to the hospital. This time, they looked more closely and found the aneurysm in his brain.


3. My grandmother went to East General when she got sick last summer. As it happened she was diagnosed with lymphoma and ended up not going home again; she passed away in October. But every time I visited the nurses were cranky and nowhere to be found when they were needed.

I wasn't too impressed with St. Mike's when I was there either - I was rushed there in an ambulance about five years ago after fainting at the bridge club. In the bed next to mine in the ER was a woman who had been hit by a streetcar and was in rather a lot of pain. When the nurse said something rather rude to her I spoke up and said, "you know, she's been hit by a streetcar - she's probably in pain. You could be more sensitive." And the nurse snapped back, "Trust me, she's not feeling any pain." Her tone made it clear that she was referring to the fact that the woman was drunk and that she disapproved.

Oh, and I've also heard horror stories about how St. Mike's treats patients with HIV, since as we all know, only those sinful fags get HIV... *headdesk*

OTOH, I've had friends of who went to Sunnybrook to be treated for various things, and I've always found the staff there to be courteous and helpful. And yes, I've also heard good things about Mt. Sinai.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Ay yi! Those are terrible stories!

Mt. Sinai it is then. (That's where they tell us to go if we're injured here at work -- of course it is right across the street.) My grandmother swears by it too.

Sorry to hear about St. Mike's. Sounds like that merger with the Wellesley didn't do much...

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I shall continue to update, never fear. ;)

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Have actually been sleeping very well -- yay for cooler weather. And ibuprofen is a good good thing.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

eeeek! don't you go needing an ER visit either. Scary stuff.

*hugs back*

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Still feeling moderately foolish about it all, but OTOH, as others keep pointing out, what if it had been something?

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Good to know! My grandmother swears by it. And that's where work tells us to go if we're took sick while at work (granted, it's right across the street, but perhaps that's not the only reason).

[lietya.livejournal.com]

I once spent a whole *day* in the hospital - after waiting 12 hours in the ER, too! - only to be diagnosed with "mild dehydration and gastrointestinal distress." Most Useful Visit Ever, lemme tell you. So I know how it is to feel foolish. :) But, indeed, better foolish than dead or gravely ill.

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

yup, ibuprofen is our friend. ;) as is cooler weather....*hugs*