What is it in golf when you call for a re-do of your last shot? Mulligan? I want to call a "mulligan" on the vacation. I would so love to be able to redo it.
I was looking forward to that holiday more than I can describe. It was to be my break from Medicine Hat, returning to start the RCMP job and start anew, so to speak.
I underestimated how hot it would be in Orlando at that time of year. When I was there a few years ago in early June, it was around plus 28 and high humidiy every day, but I actually got to like it.
This time, I think the peak was around plus 35, again with the humidity. Put that together with the crowds (again, less extreme in June) and it wasn't the holiday I had in mind. I was so excited to go back with my wife and my family, and re-experience and share the things I loved about it so much with them, as I was there by myself last time.
Then, topping it all off, was my dad's passing, and the memorial week that followed. Kind of makes it feel like we never went anywhere at all.
But, as my sunburn and mastercard bill will atest to, indeed we did, and I will try to give a bit of a trip diary, to the best of my ability.
July 11- left Medicine Hat. Eye appointment in Calgary, then to Edmonton. Dropped Allie off at emergency to get her cat bite looked at, (after dropping Napoleon off at my brother and sister-in-law's house) ended up requiring antibiotic IV that night, and booked to go back then next morning for more, with a warning that if it didn't start looking better, she may need to arrange for the same in Orlando. She also got a scrip for oral antibiotics.
July 12- Phone calls to our travel medical insurer, to make sure that IV antiobiotics would be covered, if necessary. Yeppers. So, she got her morning treatment, and managed to squeeze in one more at about 3pm. Leaving Doctor Tongue and the dogs at Allie's mom's house, she met me at my parents place that afternoon. That would be our last visit with my dad.
We left the condo, drove to Leduc, picked up my sister and her youngest son, and headed for Calgary. Stayed at a crappy hotel, overpriced because the Stampede was still on. Left them at the hotel at 10PM, while we headed off to the nearest Calgary emergency room, as the bite wasn't feeling so good. 4 hours later, she didn't need anymore IV treatments, but they prescribed another, stronger oral antibiotic to be taken along with the first one. Back to the hotel in order to get a couple hours of sleep befopre catching the airport shuttle in the morning. My poor sister, she thought we'd be cancelling the trip for sure, especially when we got back to the hotel, she only saw me and didn't notice Allie. Thought they kept her at the hospital.
July 13- Actually beginning the trip. Made it to the airport, checked in and after initially thinking we had bypassed all the food establishments on the other side of Customs, found fast food on OUR side of security, and had breakfast and got snacks to take on the plane. Met up with my nephew and his girlfriend, who had flown from Edmonton earlier and connected in Calgary, same flight as us. Uneventful flight, 5 and a half hours or so, we landed in Orlando. Had to wait on the plane for well over half an hour, as there was a thunderstorm, and the airport crew couldn't be outside to guide the plane in (lightning risk). Finally, we got towed in, met our shuttle driver (waiting for us in the airport with a sign that said "O'Keefe", just like in the movies. Made it to the hotel, changed, had a really good dinner at a local Friday's restaurant (more on that later), went for a swim, and crashed.
Next post- day 1 in Florida....
My dad's service was very nice. It meant the world to my family and I to see not only family, but our friends there as well.
On a happier note, I realize I haven't given you an update on "This Week In Doctor Tongue". The old man has completely rebounded, and ate my mother-in-law out of house and home while we were away. He has de-aged, and doesn't look a day over 12 right now. He is active, NOISY and DEMANDING, and his coat is as healthy as it has been in a year or so. Stupid cat.
Just realized how funny it would look if someone's internet connection died, and stopped the text of this post at the exact point, "The old man has completely rebounded, and ate my mother-in-law"
Bad kitty.
For anyone that is in the area and would like to come to my dad's service, it will be on Thursday at 11AM, at St. Andrews Church in Edmonton, on 111 avenue near Westmount Mall. Have to specify that, because there are about 600 different St Andrews churches in this city, apparently.
Eventually I will get to back-blogging the Florida trip. Or not. I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to write about. Doesn't seem all that interesting or important right now.
Arrived back from Orlando, to find out that my dad passed away the day before we came home.
William James O'Keefe
1920-2005
Still hot, still humid here in Orlando. Between that and the crowds (I have never seen anything like Florida July crowds), it all adds up to pretty much non-enjoyment of the theme parks. We have had a few good moments, but it makes it really tough to have a good time at the parks, which is 90 perent of why you come to a place like this.
June is the last civilized month to come here. Never in July, never again.
The best times we've had have been when we haven't left the hotel. Sitting around the pool, visiting and relaxing, has been the best part. Well, that and hearing my brother-in-law Calvin swear profusely after (and during) the Dueling Dragons coaster at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure. That park is awesome, now I am positive I could vacation here without visiting another Disney park, and just stick to IOA for my thrills. Although, I hear that Busch Gardens in Tampa is even better.
Allie went on the Hulk coaster at IOA, as well..I am so proud of her!! She didn't swear, but she loved it just the same.
And the Spiderman 3-D ride is just awesome.
I want to move here.
Hey kids! Greetings from hot, humid Orlando. Not much in the way of free or cheap net access here, but I did find a cafe with access, so here we are. The heat and humidity are killer here, but I actually like it.
Went to Disney MGM Studios already, Universal today, and more disney parks in the next few days.
That's about it...time to leavethe nice AC'd cafe and head back into the swampy heat.
Dogs and newly healthy Doc are parked at mom-in-law's house.
Holiday is off to a dramatic start, as the wife went to emergency in Edmonton yesterday. She was bitten by a cat (a bat? no, a cat...little Monty Python reference there..). Our lovely dogs were attacking a neighbourhood cat in our back yeard, and when she broke it up, the cat left her with a bite mark that looked like a king cobra had bitten her. Yesterday, it started to get infected, so it's IV antibiotics and pills to follow..yeesh, could we have any MORE drama before we go away?
Got through the last week (and more importantly, the last two days) of retail hell, now in preparation for the trip to Orlando, via Edmonton (Monday) and Calgary (Tuesday). We fly out on Wednesday.
Packing, lonesome kitty-proofing the house, tidying, etc etc etc.
Doctor Tongue is doing awesome today. This morning, he just about took my fingers off as I put half-a-can of cat food on his plate, and he devoured it all, same with supper. I couldn't ask for him to be better right now.
So, back at it..will blog as much as computer access allows over the trip. Wish you all were coming with us..(Well, except maybe you..you know who you are...)
I will leave you with the World's Ugliest Dog. Mukey's Petplan wouldn't even take this guy on as a client.
Doc is feeling much better..still weak from not eating much, but the antibiotics seem to helping immensely..he ate a whole lot more today than he has the past 5 days combined, so this is a good sign. We just need to keep this up and get his strength back..if you thought he was skinny before, he's even skinnier now..he weighed 7.8 lbs at the vet..less than half of what he was in his youth. Way less...
Yes, there are definite similarities here...
TV schedule listing on Cinescape:
SIX FEET UNDER (8 PM CST, HBO) "Eat a Peach." In honor of George Romero's new flick, all the dead bodies at the funeral home rise from the dead and shuffle off in search of human flesh.
Damn, it didn't happen. Still a good show, though.
Speaking of HBO, now that I live far enough south to actually get it again, we caught a pretty good movie the other day, "The Girl in the Cafe", with Bill Nighy.
This guy is becoming a favourite actor of mine. I know there are many films of his that I haven't seen, but he always has this charisma to his characters. From Underworld's Viktor, to the washed up rock star in Love, Actually, to the step-dad in Shaun of the Dead, he is a great character actor who seems to have a bit of "Bruce Campbell Syndrome": small parts in big films, big parts in small films.
Speaking of, Underworld 2 is indeed in post-production, with Nighy appearing again as Viktor. About time..worse movies have had sequels out in less time. He is also going to be in one of the Pirates of the Carribean sequels.
Doctor Tongue is hanging in there. We're still worried, and he isn't eating much. At the vet today, he got some antibiotics and fluids. Just have to wait and see what the next few days hold.
The antibiotics are in case he is fighting an infection, which was what happened a few years ago. The worst case scenario is that at his age, it could be the big "C". If the antibiotics don't do anything in the next day or two, that becomes a bigger possibility.
Like I said, we're just trying to keep him comfortable, hydrated, and fed to the best of our ability. It would make me very happy if I got up tomorrow morning, or if it some point tomorrow, he yowled like usual and demanded his breakfast. He is a bit lethargic, but it isn't like he's vacant and out of it or anything. He comes for cuddles, purrs, and whaps Molly on the nose. He's just good enough to give me some hope that he can pull out of this, but that may be wishful thinking on my part.
Whatever will happen, will happen. He'll let us know how he is, and what our next steps are before going on holidays.
So handsome. If he could see how good looking he was, we probably couldn't stand him.
In all his shaved glory.
Meet Napoleon.
Whatcha gonna do today, Napoleon? Whatever the heck I feel like doing. Gosh!
We always say that we're suckers for sad cases, and that despite having 9 cats, there is always room at the inn for a special case. Here's one. This big fella turned up on our doorstep, blind as a bat, with a coat that was one big matted clump from shoulderblades to tail. His eyes really look like that, totally clouded over.
We figure he can tell light from dark, and maybe see foggy shapes, but not much else. He is a complete cuddlebug, he loves attention, never stops purring, and needs to be in contact with you all the time. How could anyone let such a sweet, big guy get in that shape is beyond me.
Not sure if I linked to this before, but one can never be too cautious of monkeys.
Doc seems to be getting his energy back, very slowly. Thanks for well wishes, everyone.
Doc's feeling a bit better..he ate some of his food this morning, it's a start.
*fingers crossed*
Doctor Tongue isn't feeling so hot today. He hasn't been interested in his food since yesterday morning, and he hasn't been drinking water that we can tell, either. He's very lethargic. Some good news tonight, he has been drinking some milk (yes, I know cats are generally lactose intolerant, but he craves it at the best of times, and if he'll take it right now, we'll give it to him). He also drank some water right after, too. Hope he wants to eat something in the morning.
Ever since he lost all that weight 18 months ago or so, we have been very wary of his health, but he's been fine, overall. He is 16 years old, after all. We'll be watching him very closely for the next couple of days, and hope that he's just a bit under the weather, and will be back to his cantankerous old self in a short time.
We could use any spare prayers our way, though.
I start at the RCMP on July 26, the day after we get back to Medicine Hat from Orlando (via Edmonton and Calgary).
About flippin' time.
I don't know what that means for London Drugs..as much as I want to get out if it, I kind of want to keep it until I find out whether I get the Esplanade job. ON the other hand, I will be working until 20:15, 10:30 at LD most nights that I work, and the RC's will be 8AM-12PM Mon-Fri. Not sure if that sleep schedule will burn me out. Also not sure if I want to alter the RC's schedule to something like 10-2, just to accomodate a job I don't like or want. Decisions, decisions...
