Double Doctor Day

What can Dr Specialist do what you cannot, asked I to Dr Urologist.

Replied he: that is what we are going to find out.

I had driven to Smiths Falls because he didn't want me to get lost in the system whilst we waited for Dr Specialist to contact me. Meanwhile, Dr Urologist informed me that the referral had been accepted even though I hadn't yet received a call and might not for several more months.

Specifically, Dr Specialist is expert in reconstructive surgery when normal TURP surgery doesn't take. Or at least that is my understanding.

Meanwhile, we have scheduled yet another dilation procedure for June 20, to give me some temporary relief while we wait.

The consultation was quick because there wasn't really anything new to say, but I appreciated that he called me in. I did double-check whether I had heard correctly from the previous dilation in February, that the bladder spot that he had been monitoring looked innocuous. In point of fact, I am not sure if it was still present at all. Back then, I had been so flummoxed by the news that he could could do nothing more for me and that he was sending my case on, that my brain hadn't been processing very well. I was grateful to be reassured yesterday.

We drove back to town and enjoyed a breakfast sandwich in the park before returning home.

a pano from our bench

the phone got set to portrait mode, so Sue got blurred

When I got home, my family doctor was calling to see if we could move my appointment up from Thursday to yesterday afternoon. Most certainly, replied I,  glad to get two medical consultations done in one day. (I wonder how many doctors call to move an appointment up.) 

She has decided to give me a cortisone shot in the shoulder to see if that might help my rotator cuff injury. I never had much luck with cortisone in my foot when we tried, but I live in hope.

As for the hobbling that I mentioned previously, this post has gone on long enough, so I will spare you. I'll get back to the hobbling if and when the spirit moves and if and when the flesh is willing.

Trapped and Hobbling

I came across this ↓ Getting Old graphic and just had to post it on Facebook and now here too. The truth of really hit home when I came across it on Sunday as yet another body part decided to get it on the act give me grief.

Maybe I'll get into it more some other time. For today, I am off to see my urologist at the Smiths Falls hospital. I will hobble in and out, and the hobble will be a little hobblier than usual.

Pride Lights

When the flag-raising ceremony was over, I mentioned to Sue that they might do something special with the bridge lights that night. Sue checked with the mayor, and, sure enough, he confirmed that there would be a special display all week.

As it so happened, milady was in need of a blue hour photo that very day, and so, we found our way back to the site on Saturday evening. 

It wasn't quite blue hour when we arrived, but I liked the light on town hall, so I squeezed the shutter regardless.

I like the photo even though the bridge lights hadn't fully come on. What I didn't love was the choppy water, so my next photos were all long exposures to smooth it out. This photo was from the same spot as above about 10 minutes later after I I fiddled around with a neutral density filter and various exposure times.

As it got darker, the bridge lights were showing up better, so I moved closer and took some more long exposures.

I like all of these photos well enough, but I think this next and final one was the best for colour although I do like the wider composition of the previous photo.

I guess the next special display will be in a month for Canada Day, which I guess was the first time that I photographed the lights as they were new back then in mid 2023.

Raising the Pride Flag

On the first of June, a few dozen folk gathered across from town hall to raise the Pride flag. We put on our celebratory colours and joined them.

Sue being Sue, got right into the mix.

John being John, remained on the periphery.

Linda being Linda, outdid all. Not your typical town councillor. 

The police showed their support.

The flag was raised.

Indeed, you are welcome here.

Sue and John took their required selfie.

And . . . a Sue special . . .

That's our mayor with the tee shirt — top right

Geese and Green

On Wednesday, this guy managed to have a back spasm while helping Sue to do a little garden work. Two days later, I am not doing badly compared to some episodes that have plagued me in the past. I'm getting around well enough once I am up, but getting up and down with some ease will take a few more days.

Consequently, we were taking it easy yesterday and decided to take a lunch to the park. The normal lunch these days is to share a toasted turkey bacon club sandwich from Tim Hortons along with large coffees and apple fritters. It was breezy enough that we ate in the car, pretty well adjacent to this ↓ bench, which we claimed after our little lunch.

The park was wearing lush, spring green, and the geese families were there in abundance. There were at least five broods in the next photo although I don't expect that you can see them all at this distance and resolution. And some families had already hit the water when they spotted a dog. 

We only spent about twenty minutes finishing our coffee because the wind was up a fair bit. Of course, we took our usual selfie in which I look like a sap.

As we were sitting there, a surprising thing happened. You probably know how the geese usually move off when people or dogs approach, but this family walked right in front of us without a care in the world.

Of course, Sue did her usual composite.

If think this was our first bench sitting of the season. Hopefully, we will repeat the visit on a few more occasions as the season transpires. Maybe we'll bring our comfy chairs and perhaps a book and/or music.

Squatters' Rights

We sit in our comfy chairs, and turn the tv on at supper. If I look to my left, I can see a small patch of fence beyond the back, patio doors. What I have been seeing lately are starlings. They sit on the fence with their beaks full of nesting material. They look up and eventually fly toward the sky.

Except it isn't the sky to which they fly but to our eaves.

They've removed the vent cover up there and are happily building a nest inside the covered eaves. I suppose that weather had loosened the vent, and the birds finished the job, for we found the vent screen on our deck  

We've called a roofer guy. He will come and clean it out and install a new cover once our fine-feathered friends have raised their young and vacated the premises.

The cost will be $200, but nobody in this house is going to ascend two-storeys on a precarious ladder to do the job. For my part, I have a wonky foot and have trouble ascending even a rung or two on a stepladder. Besides, I am not a height-loving dude.

Anyway, I got the pics at full zoom, through glass, all the way from my chair. They still had to be cropped mightily, but I like them, especially the next one, which is also the final one for today.

Kinda cute, eh?

Cheap and Easy Crossing

In 1971, we moved to Sarnia in southwestern Ontario, where I would begin my teaching career. The St Clair river was all that separated us from Port Huron, Michigan. 

Sarnia (bottom) and Port Huron (top)

Within days, new acquaintances took us over to Port Huron. They introduced us to London Dairy where they served huge dishes of ice cream for about a buck. I used to order the Idiots Delight, which, according to my students, suited me well. I think the dish consisted of 4 scoops of ice cream plus a little of this and that, but I can't recall the particulars, except to say that it was rather filling.

It was easy to cross over the border in those days. We'd pay the 50₵ toll (or 30₵ if we had pre-purchased a book of tickets). When we pulled up to customs, it was almost a matter of just saying hello, answering a question or two, and being waved on. That freedom lasted for 20 years, and then 911 happened. First reports were that the hijackers had crossed from Canada. Those reports were erroneous, but the border crossing has been ever more difficult since then. We needed better ID and had to answer more questions. The extra time spent at the border plus the increased fares, made it no longer worth the effort for little trips, and we stopped bothering to visit Port Huron.

Now, let us cast our minds back to the 70s once again. Aside from ice cream, we'd mainly cross to gas up.

Yeah, 22.9₵ just about what a gallon cost back then. In fact, we tried to keep it down to 20₵/gallon if possible. At the time, we would have paid at least 50₵ in Sarnia, so the crossing was worth it. An added bonus was that the CDN$ was worth more than the American, so the currency exchange worked in our favour. Of course it hasn't been that way since then; the exchange rate became very high and, most certainly, not in our favour.

Since Canada went metric, we now fill up in litres, but when I convert, I figure we are paying about $6 per gallon. That a long way from 20₵, but it has been 53 years. I was young then, and now I am not