Week of 9-21 to 9-27-09

Monday, September 21, 2009
After my usual morning, Zack and I went to town to have blood drawn for my regular panel, and to run a couple of errands. We stopped at the motor home to collect the food items and clean out the refrigerator. We then took it all home and put it away.
I spent the remainder of the day trying to reestablish my satellite internet connection. I have no idea why it is so difficult to get it to recognize and connect to the system after having just moved the modem.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
I have a doctor appointment with the doctor that did my endoscopy, regarding my air swallowing, so I had my morning coffee and a light breakfast, got ready for town, played with Zack and then we left.
I drove straight to the doctor’s office and had a brief wait before being weighed and shown into a room. Dr. Lee, a young man of Chinese decent, came in and greeted me. I had only seen him briefly before my procedure, so we hadn’t really done much talking. I explained my concerns and in a nutshell, he told me I was obese and bordering on grossly obese. He has what I would consider poor bedside manners and poopooed any of my suggestions or opinions. He told me my BMI was 33 and that a BMI of 40 was grossly obese. He told me if I lost 60 pounds I probably wouldn’t have any of my current problems or complaints.
I admit that I put on some pounds this pass winter when I was traveling, and that I haven’t had the energy to burn calories (he said it was because I was obese), so agreed that I could stand to lose a few pounds. He told me to make an appointment to see him in a month and he would judge my progress . . . yea, like that’s going to happen. I can figure out how to weigh myself and determine my health and condition without him.
I stopped at Safeway and had a prescription refilled, got gas in the Jeep ($2.69 a gallon), and then headed for home. I have another appointment with my allergist tomorrow, so must go back to town again on Wednesday.
Home again, I worked on getting the computer online and then gave up for the night and watched television while having some dinner (a salad, if you are curious).

Wednesday, September 23, 2009
I spent the morning working on the computer and FINALLY got it to connect. I had almost 150 emails waiting for me and of course plenty of stuff to investigate and read. My appointment is for 2 PM, so I mustn’t dilly-dally.
We drove to town, bumping into Guy and Mary cutting firewood on the road to Peggy’s. A quick visit so I wouldn’t be late and then we were on our way again.
I had my appointment and it was agreed that unless I had problems or new symptoms, I didn’t need to see him again. We drove home, arriving at 4 PM, and I played with Zack, which is our usual routine, and then started wading through all of the emails. I stopped at 8 PM and had some dinner before showering and watching some television before bedtime.

Thursday, September 24, 2009
I settled in with my coffee and began the task of going through all my emails, which more were delivered since yesterday, and answer those that required a response. It took me until 4:30 to finish, and after a third play period with Zack, I decided to “zone out” in front of the TV with a drink.
Happy to have my internet access back, I could put it to the side and just relax. I showered, ate dinner, watched some television and then went to bed.

Friday, September 25, 2009
After coffee and watching the news on television, I planned on changing into my work clothes and cutting some more firewood, but was distracted. I needed to do several loads of wash and has trouble keeping the batteries charged up to finish. I had to run the generator until the batteries were charged enough to withstand the surge of the water pump coming on. I ended up charging, running the washer, having the generator stop charging, letting it rest and cool down, discharging the batteries, starting the generator, waiting for the batteries to charge and then finishing it all.
Michele had told me that she had to start the generator everyday to keep the power on and they didn’t watch any television or use anything but lights. This isn’t usual, so I investigated several possibilities, but found no reason for it. I disconnected the wind generator to see if that would make a difference and it didn’t seem too. I charged the batteries to the float level (28.6 Volts) and let the generator run for an hour longer.
By 10:30, the power went off and I had to start the generator. I will check the wiring again and make sure I don’t have something hooked up wrong, but for now, I’ll just finish watching my program, shut the generator off and go to bed.

Saturday, September 26, 2009
I awoke a couple of time in the early morning hours, smelling smoke, but it was faint, so I went back to sleep. I got up at my usual time and had my coffee while reading new emails and doing a little research.
Around 10 AM, I got an email from Dan, the Marysville Volunteer fire chief, who works as an emergency dispatcher in Helena, asking for individuals that hadn’t responded to the Mac Fire to let him know if we were available to stand by and help if the Marysville department was called. I emailed back, let him know I was available, and would stand by.
The battery in my fire department pager had died while I was on vacation and I didn’t think to check it until I heard from Dan. I put the radio on the charger and a new battery in the pager and emailed Dan to see what information he had. As several of you know, there was a fire that broke out on MacDonald Pass, about 9 miles from me, as the crow flies, and some of our fire fighters responded last night. Officially, Marysville wasn’t requested, but Dan thought the fire may move towards Marysville and wanted to know who was available and make a plan of action if it did.
I continued to stay in contact with Dan through emails and by 4 PM he informed me that the fire hadn’t grown from the 200 acres and was moving towards Helena, not Marysville. What a relief. I have had a plan of action for a possible fire since moving here, so made sure I had all my important papers and supplies ready if I needed to evacuate. Luckily I didn’t, but I am always mindful and ready for such an event.
A couple of bow hunters stopped by and asked if they could park their truck on my property, near the creek crossing, and I told them it was okay. We visited for a while and then they left. They are brothers from the Helena area and had already seen, and tracked a couple of cow elk on the mountain, but the wind gave their scent away and the cows took off. I hear game on the mountain side all of the time, but have no idea what it is without climbing the mountain and looking for clues.
Zack and I played some more and then I did some reading before stopping for the day. I’ll shower and fix myself some dinner before relaxing for the remainder of the evening.

Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sometime in the early morning hours, the wind died down and it is calm this morning. The apparent danger of a local fire (MacDonald Pass, Hwy 12) has passed and I am much relieved. The fire was less than 9 miles away, as the crow flies, and has burned over 300 acres, as of this morning. Its cause is still under investigation and while they have a good handle on it, it is not yet under control. Another fire broke out near this one and not much information is available, except that they are moving towards Helena and away from me. Note: for up-to-date fire information around the US, go to http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/.
I spent the morning giving and getting information about the fire and then did some research before planning on working outside for this afternoon. National Weather is predicting rain for Tuesday and snow showers for the remainder of the week. I still have a few items that need my attention before I am ready for winter, but none of them are vital to surviving the winter.
Zack and I played for a while and then a quick check of my emails before shutting down the modem showed another email from Mary in Marysville, reminding me of fire training today at 4 PM. I can’t get much done between now and then, so will try to handle a few chores before driving to Marysville and partake in the training. I haven’t been to a fire training in over a year, and am not qualified to do anything but drive the pumper truck, and would like to keep it that way as I don’t wish to fight fires if I don’t have to.
Well, I went to fire training and within the first 15 minutes Dan got a call for EMT assistance from Canyon Creek. He asked if anyone wanted to ride with him and Mary and I volunteered. We headed out, Code 3, to the address and I filled out a response form. A 67-year-old woman was dizzy and incoherent, according to her husband. She had been in a car accident a week ago and he felt that her condition was a result of that. Dan spoke to the woman, getting information, and started to take her blood pressure when the ambulance showed up. At that point, we let them assume responsibility. We assisted them in getting her onto the gurney and into the ambulance so they could transport her to the hospital. I finished the report and we headed back to the station.
The rest of the department had drained the tank of a new truck that Canyon Creek donated to us, and were filling the portable tank, which is a large canvass square on a folding pipe frame, to draft and fill the tank of both trucks. We all assisted and then put all of the equipment away, departing around 6:30.
Zack and I got home and played for a while, I fixed his, Zoey’s dinner, then my own, watching some television, and relaxing the remainder of the evening.