oh my what a day
Alan & Brenda Leonard
I am home, and I am exhausted, and honestly, I need some sympathy for a
really rough day. I didn't sleep well last night, just feeling uneasy about
today. Talk about premonitions.
My car wouldn't start this morning before church. I had scads of stuff to
bring to church, because there were extra choir rehearsals and baseball
practice for my son, and all that. No way I was going to take the train.
So I tracked down my neighbor to jump it. Fortunately, it appears that the
battery was the only problem, because is has run fine since.
Ok, so long story short, church started at 9:45, and I left to go home at
4:15. Had something to drop off at someone's house and found them fine.
Got lost on the way home. This is not unusual for me in Germany, the roads
are former cow paths and the cows had no sense of direction. It takes an
hour to drive the 20 km home, but I arrive. Finally.
Relax. Make popcorn, read the paper and a few emails. Remember I need to
call a friend about getting together on Tuesday. Her phone rings once, and
Tim is shrieking in pain. So I hang up, and look. He has a hand over his
eye, and there's blood down the fingers and the face. Yikes.
The cat scratched him, and she managed to catch his eye. So after I mop him
up enough to puzzle out what's going on, it appears that there is a cut on
the center inside of the lower lid. So off we go to the German hospital.
(No military hospital here or anywhere near here.)
Now, you must understand that German hospitals are just not like American
hospitals. I walk in the front door (there's no emergency entrance) and the
receptionist speaks no English, and my German is mediocre at the best of
times. She points, and we head off. And get lost. In the hospital. Miles
of empty corridors. This is where I lost it. Finally, a nurse appears and
magically, she speaks enough English to puzzle out the problem, and leads me
to where I need to be. It's nowhere near where the receptionist pointed, so
far as I can tell.
After ten minutes discussion about who will pay for this, I finally convince
the doctor to look at my son's eye. I am ready to lose it again, but in
anger this time. Let's talk money after we deal with a scared, hurting
child, okay? GRRRRRRRRRR!
This doctor can tell me that he does not need stitches. (Brilliant,
Sherlock. Even *I* had guessed that.) So we must see the opthomologist.
Miraculously, there is one working on a Sunday night. In the town 30 km up
the road. And like any good doctor, we arrive early and she's running late.
Tim is hungry, tierd, scared, and wants to go home. Me too, but we really
do need to see this doctor.
After the "who's going pay" song and dance again, she turns out to be quite
nice, does a very good exam of his eye. The cornea is NOT scratched, to my
great relief, and the cut will heal on its own. She gives us an antiboitic,
bandages the eye, and home we go.
I'm so relieved that he's okay, but still so wound up inside about a system
that seems so much more interested in money than people. I know the
military is terribly slow about paying their bills. I am very sorry for
that, and I was happy to pay the bills tonight and will bill the insurance
myself. But please, help my son first!
So somebody, please, say something calming. Soon. Thank you!!!
brenda
really rough day. I didn't sleep well last night, just feeling uneasy about
today. Talk about premonitions.
My car wouldn't start this morning before church. I had scads of stuff to
bring to church, because there were extra choir rehearsals and baseball
practice for my son, and all that. No way I was going to take the train.
So I tracked down my neighbor to jump it. Fortunately, it appears that the
battery was the only problem, because is has run fine since.
Ok, so long story short, church started at 9:45, and I left to go home at
4:15. Had something to drop off at someone's house and found them fine.
Got lost on the way home. This is not unusual for me in Germany, the roads
are former cow paths and the cows had no sense of direction. It takes an
hour to drive the 20 km home, but I arrive. Finally.
Relax. Make popcorn, read the paper and a few emails. Remember I need to
call a friend about getting together on Tuesday. Her phone rings once, and
Tim is shrieking in pain. So I hang up, and look. He has a hand over his
eye, and there's blood down the fingers and the face. Yikes.
The cat scratched him, and she managed to catch his eye. So after I mop him
up enough to puzzle out what's going on, it appears that there is a cut on
the center inside of the lower lid. So off we go to the German hospital.
(No military hospital here or anywhere near here.)
Now, you must understand that German hospitals are just not like American
hospitals. I walk in the front door (there's no emergency entrance) and the
receptionist speaks no English, and my German is mediocre at the best of
times. She points, and we head off. And get lost. In the hospital. Miles
of empty corridors. This is where I lost it. Finally, a nurse appears and
magically, she speaks enough English to puzzle out the problem, and leads me
to where I need to be. It's nowhere near where the receptionist pointed, so
far as I can tell.
After ten minutes discussion about who will pay for this, I finally convince
the doctor to look at my son's eye. I am ready to lose it again, but in
anger this time. Let's talk money after we deal with a scared, hurting
child, okay? GRRRRRRRRRR!
This doctor can tell me that he does not need stitches. (Brilliant,
Sherlock. Even *I* had guessed that.) So we must see the opthomologist.
Miraculously, there is one working on a Sunday night. In the town 30 km up
the road. And like any good doctor, we arrive early and she's running late.
Tim is hungry, tierd, scared, and wants to go home. Me too, but we really
do need to see this doctor.
After the "who's going pay" song and dance again, she turns out to be quite
nice, does a very good exam of his eye. The cornea is NOT scratched, to my
great relief, and the cut will heal on its own. She gives us an antiboitic,
bandages the eye, and home we go.
I'm so relieved that he's okay, but still so wound up inside about a system
that seems so much more interested in money than people. I know the
military is terribly slow about paying their bills. I am very sorry for
that, and I was happy to pay the bills tonight and will bill the insurance
myself. But please, help my son first!
So somebody, please, say something calming. Soon. Thank you!!!
brenda
Pam Hartley
----------
(And, it's exactly the same in U.S. hospitals -- probably not in U.S.
military hospitals, but in civilian hospitals you betcha. The Germans
probably LEARNED it from us. Walk into an emergency room here and the first
thing they make you do is go to the little office and write them a check or
fill out the insurance forms. They're also no better at giving directions
<g>).
Pam
>From: Alan & Brenda Leonard <abtleo@...>He's fine, you're fine, you're all safe and home. There there. :)
>To: <[email protected]>
>Subject: [AlwaysLearning] oh my what a day
>Date: Sun, May 25, 2003, 1:57 PM
>
> I'm so relieved that he's okay, but still so wound up inside about a system
> that seems so much more interested in money than people. I know the
> military is terribly slow about paying their bills. I am very sorry for
> that, and I was happy to pay the bills tonight and will bill the insurance
> myself. But please, help my son first!
>
> So somebody, please, say something calming. Soon. Thank you!!!
(And, it's exactly the same in U.S. hospitals -- probably not in U.S.
military hospitals, but in civilian hospitals you betcha. The Germans
probably LEARNED it from us. Walk into an emergency room here and the first
thing they make you do is go to the little office and write them a check or
fill out the insurance forms. They're also no better at giving directions
<g>).
Pam
[email protected]
In a message dated 5/25/2003 5:35:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
abtleo@... writes:
~Kelly
PS So sorry. I hope you're both better soon. And I've been there! <g>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
abtleo@... writes:
> So somebody, please, say something calming. Soon. Thank you!!!See you in 70 days?
>
~Kelly
PS So sorry. I hope you're both better soon. And I've been there! <g>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
marji
At 22:57 5/25/03 +0200, Brenda wrote:
could have gone so much worse, but I'm so glad you are both home ~
together! You know, the one thing, weird as it sounds, that gets me
through really rough days like that is that most days are NOT like
that. Most days are peaceful and calm and even though things happen, they
are not nearly as outrageous and taxing and scary as today was for
you. And, it helps me appreciate those calmer days so much more!
I hope you both can enjoy your evening, and when you wake up tomorrow,
it'll be a new *different* day.
With love and hugs,
Marji
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>I'm so relieved that he's okay, but still so wound up inside about a systemYeow! What a day! But you handled it, and Tim's okay. This whole thing
>that seems so much more interested in money than people. I know the
>military is terribly slow about paying their bills. I am very sorry for
>that, and I was happy to pay the bills tonight and will bill the insurance
>myself. But please, help my son first!
>
>So somebody, please, say something calming. Soon. Thank you!!!
>
>brenda
could have gone so much worse, but I'm so glad you are both home ~
together! You know, the one thing, weird as it sounds, that gets me
through really rough days like that is that most days are NOT like
that. Most days are peaceful and calm and even though things happen, they
are not nearly as outrageous and taxing and scary as today was for
you. And, it helps me appreciate those calmer days so much more!
I hope you both can enjoy your evening, and when you wake up tomorrow,
it'll be a new *different* day.
With love and hugs,
Marji
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
BADOLBILZ
Brenda, I'm so glad you're son is okay. Thank goodness it's all over.
Pam's right about the U.S.'s ER's. I cut my thumb a couple years back
on a broken glass while washing dishes, halfway severing a tendon. In
the ER, I was of course sent to their little office to fill out forms,
and after asking me all the usual questions, the woman working whipped
out a pen and handed over the forms to be signed, seemingly completely
oblivious to the blood soaked clothes I was holding on my right hand
with my left. After one wild-eyed look at my dh, he signed for me.
Yet the thing I always try to remind myself is that I'm really glad
there are people who want to be Dr's and nurses and ambulance drivers,
etc. Even though I wish they could do the job with more common sense,
I'm still glad that in an emergency, they are there. I'm glad you were
able to eventually get the help you needed. HeidiC.
Pam Hartley wrote:
Pam's right about the U.S.'s ER's. I cut my thumb a couple years back
on a broken glass while washing dishes, halfway severing a tendon. In
the ER, I was of course sent to their little office to fill out forms,
and after asking me all the usual questions, the woman working whipped
out a pen and handed over the forms to be signed, seemingly completely
oblivious to the blood soaked clothes I was holding on my right hand
with my left. After one wild-eyed look at my dh, he signed for me.
Yet the thing I always try to remind myself is that I'm really glad
there are people who want to be Dr's and nurses and ambulance drivers,
etc. Even though I wish they could do the job with more common sense,
I'm still glad that in an emergency, they are there. I'm glad you were
able to eventually get the help you needed. HeidiC.
Pam Hartley wrote:
>
>
>Walk into an emergency room here and the first thing they make you do is go to the little office and write them a check or fill out the insurance forms. They're also no better at giving directions
><g>).
>
>Pam
>
>
>
coyote's corner
You are way to hard on yourself. You are in a foreign country - have you not just moved there? How stressful that must be! Where is your man? Is he not a warrior? Does that not carry stress of its own?
You did wonderful as the stress piles on you heavier and heavier.
You should be proud......
I think there are many that would have fallen part right at the beginning...an eye injury is such a scary thing.
You are a strong and patient mother. Good for you! Better for your babies.
Janis
You did wonderful as the stress piles on you heavier and heavier.
You should be proud......
I think there are many that would have fallen part right at the beginning...an eye injury is such a scary thing.
You are a strong and patient mother. Good for you! Better for your babies.
Janis
----- Original Message -----
From: Alan & Brenda Leonard
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2003 4:57 PM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] oh my what a day
I am home, and I am exhausted, and honestly, I need some sympathy for a
really rough day. I didn't sleep well last night, just feeling uneasy about
today. Talk about premonitions.
My car wouldn't start this morning before church. I had scads of stuff to
bring to church, because there were extra choir rehearsals and baseball
practice for my son, and all that. No way I was going to take the train.
So I tracked down my neighbor to jump it. Fortunately, it appears that the
battery was the only problem, because is has run fine since.
Ok, so long story short, church started at 9:45, and I left to go home at
4:15. Had something to drop off at someone's house and found them fine.
Got lost on the way home. This is not unusual for me in Germany, the roads
are former cow paths and the cows had no sense of direction. It takes an
hour to drive the 20 km home, but I arrive. Finally.
Relax. Make popcorn, read the paper and a few emails. Remember I need to
call a friend about getting together on Tuesday. Her phone rings once, and
Tim is shrieking in pain. So I hang up, and look. He has a hand over his
eye, and there's blood down the fingers and the face. Yikes.
The cat scratched him, and she managed to catch his eye. So after I mop him
up enough to puzzle out what's going on, it appears that there is a cut on
the center inside of the lower lid. So off we go to the German hospital.
(No military hospital here or anywhere near here.)
Now, you must understand that German hospitals are just not like American
hospitals. I walk in the front door (there's no emergency entrance) and the
receptionist speaks no English, and my German is mediocre at the best of
times. She points, and we head off. And get lost. In the hospital. Miles
of empty corridors. This is where I lost it. Finally, a nurse appears and
magically, she speaks enough English to puzzle out the problem, and leads me
to where I need to be. It's nowhere near where the receptionist pointed, so
far as I can tell.
After ten minutes discussion about who will pay for this, I finally convince
the doctor to look at my son's eye. I am ready to lose it again, but in
anger this time. Let's talk money after we deal with a scared, hurting
child, okay? GRRRRRRRRRR!
This doctor can tell me that he does not need stitches. (Brilliant,
Sherlock. Even *I* had guessed that.) So we must see the opthomologist.
Miraculously, there is one working on a Sunday night. In the town 30 km up
the road. And like any good doctor, we arrive early and she's running late.
Tim is hungry, tierd, scared, and wants to go home. Me too, but we really
do need to see this doctor.
After the "who's going pay" song and dance again, she turns out to be quite
nice, does a very good exam of his eye. The cornea is NOT scratched, to my
great relief, and the cut will heal on its own. She gives us an antiboitic,
bandages the eye, and home we go.
I'm so relieved that he's okay, but still so wound up inside about a system
that seems so much more interested in money than people. I know the
military is terribly slow about paying their bills. I am very sorry for
that, and I was happy to pay the bills tonight and will bill the insurance
myself. But please, help my son first!
So somebody, please, say something calming. Soon. Thank you!!!
brenda
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Alan & Brenda Leonard
5/26/03 16:22:
the compliments.
And thank you to everyone who wrote something calming. It was appreciated,
both last night and today. You were right, Marji. I woke up today and it
was much different. Good different! I met another musician (English
speaking!), finished my book (A Widow for One Year), and relaxed. I
actually feel sane again.
brenda
> You are a strong and patient mother. Good for you! Better for your babies.Just one baby (6, but still my baby!), thank goodness. Thanks Janis, for
> Janis
the compliments.
And thank you to everyone who wrote something calming. It was appreciated,
both last night and today. You were right, Marji. I woke up today and it
was much different. Good different! I met another musician (English
speaking!), finished my book (A Widow for One Year), and relaxed. I
actually feel sane again.
brenda
Alan & Brenda Leonard
5/26/03 16:22:
they always want your ID card, but that's quick enough.
How depressing. Maybe I *don't* want my dh to get out of the army anytime
soon after all!!
brenda
> (And, it's exactly the same in U.S. hospitals -- probably not in U.S.I had forgotten that part of American hospitals. In the military hospital,
> military hospitals, but in civilian hospitals you betcha. The Germans
> probably LEARNED it from us. Walk into an emergency room here and the first
> thing they make you do is go to the little office and write them a check or
> fill out the insurance forms. They're also no better at giving directions
> <g>).
they always want your ID card, but that's quick enough.
How depressing. Maybe I *don't* want my dh to get out of the army anytime
soon after all!!
brenda
BADOLBILZ
You wrote a book? Could you tell us about it? I'm working on one, too.
HeidiC.
Alan & Brenda Leonard wrote:
HeidiC.
Alan & Brenda Leonard wrote:
>5/26/03 16:22:[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>>You are a strong and patient mother. Good for you! Better for your babies.
>>Janis
>>
>>
>
>Just one baby (6, but still my baby!), thank goodness. Thanks Janis, for
>the compliments.
>
>And thank you to everyone who wrote something calming. It was appreciated,
>both last night and today. You were right, Marji. I woke up today and it
>was much different. Good different! I met another musician (English
>speaking!), finished my book (A Widow for One Year), and relaxed. I
>actually feel sane again.
>
>brenda
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>[email protected]
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>
>
>
Alan & Brenda Leonard
5/31/03 01:10:
that's going on in my life, I honestly considered it an accomplishment that
I finished *reading* my book! (A Widow for One Year, by John Irving)
My gifts are in the performing arts, not the creative arts on paper. If you
read all your email, you've read everything I've written in the past year
and some, excluding grocery lists!
brenda
> You wrote a book? Could you tell us about it? I'm working on one, too.You make me out to be far more organized than I truly am, Heidi. With all
> HeidiC.
that's going on in my life, I honestly considered it an accomplishment that
I finished *reading* my book! (A Widow for One Year, by John Irving)
My gifts are in the performing arts, not the creative arts on paper. If you
read all your email, you've read everything I've written in the past year
and some, excluding grocery lists!
brenda
BADOLBILZ
Oh Brenda! I'm sorry I misunderstood. But ya know, if one was to add
up all they wrote, it does define who they are pretty well. So perhaps
without knowing it, just by writing e-mails, grocery lists and paying
the bills, you've been working on a smashing autobiography! In any
case, I find when I'm obsessing on something (like my writing) I tend to
read into things too much.
HeidiC.
Alan & Brenda Leonard wrote:
up all they wrote, it does define who they are pretty well. So perhaps
without knowing it, just by writing e-mails, grocery lists and paying
the bills, you've been working on a smashing autobiography! In any
case, I find when I'm obsessing on something (like my writing) I tend to
read into things too much.
HeidiC.
Alan & Brenda Leonard wrote:
>5/31/03 01:10:[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>>You wrote a book? Could you tell us about it? I'm working on one, too.
>>HeidiC.
>>
>>
>
>You make me out to be far more organized than I truly am, Heidi. With all
>that's going on in my life, I honestly considered it an accomplishment that
>I finished *reading* my book! (A Widow for One Year, by John Irving)
>
>My gifts are in the performing arts, not the creative arts on paper. If you
>read all your email, you've read everything I've written in the past year
>and some, excluding grocery lists!
>
>brenda
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>[email protected]
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>
>
>