Canadian Buffoon European Vacation - 30/03 - Endings and Silver Linings

[jedijill]

Argh, I am feeling your pain. Poor Ponzi! Hey, at least your insurance covers you outside Canada..if you were American you would have been arranging for a second mortgage to pay for the doctor.

Jill in CO

 

[Thumper_Man]

Would we make our flight?
Would we send the kids without us?

We'll find out tomorrow.

We're all waiting to find out since you said we'd find out tomorrow. You posted this yesterday; that makes tomorrow today.

 

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

I can't imagine the horror of going through all that pain and being so far from home. Not this past Christmas, but the one before, I had my back go out on me almost the same way. I bent down to grab something and tried to come back up and went directly back down again. I couldn't even yell out because of the pain. I had to slowly inch my way, in a bent over position, around the bed, to make my way towards T-Man to get some form of help at all.

And your description of poor Ruby as she is trying to help you out and seeing you in that way...I think T-Man went through the same thing. I can still picture his poor face when he saw me and rushed to my aid, and everytime I see it in my head it pains me again. You never want to see your spouse like that.

While I'm cracking up and the whole insurance/doctor conversation...I can only imagine what you and Ruby actually had to go through that day. Forget about the stress of the kids and the possiblities of tomorrow, but just during that moment, not really knowing what he is telling you, what he is giving you, and while your insurance is saying, "sure, go ahead" you are probably also thinking..."I'm going to get screwed on this later..."

I'll breakdown more tomorrow if I get a chance...My boss is out this afternoon and tomorrow and I have to organize his files during that time, while also organizing a going away party for a co-worker of mine and getting my own work done in the process...I should have a spare moment or two somewhere... Just kidding...I did however, at least want to show up and say i'm still reading along.

 

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

ok, going to read the whole chapter tomorrow. I just wanted to say:

I always wanted to CAVORT! (I'll bet Lady H has some great smilies for cavorting)

Hmmm...This one could be interesting...Will any of these do?

 

[mmeb144]

Well, I know I didn't ask, but I like the last one best.

 

[smidgy]

lady H: the last one is what I picture myself looking like while CAVORTING... a slightly aging flower child, playing in the meadow.. ( cue baroque classical music in the background).


but I probably more resemble the clarabelle the clown disrupting the universe by throwing the stars all around (but I don't think my teats are hanging THAT low yet..)

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Ouch! it wasn't just "my back hurts" but total incapacitation. At least you were able to find a doc who would make house calls. I'm so sorry your last day was a bust. I guess the girls found a way to entertain themselves, and a new food, too! Did they buy more post cards?

 

[pkondz]

Oh Ponzi

Oh gee. I'm such a cad. I made a beautiful lady cry.

When I set out on this TR journey I was really worried about how I'd write that last chapter.
I decided to bite the bullet and tell it like it was.

But I don't like letting my readers down.
But it's what happened. Warts and all.

I have to say that you did a beautiful job describing it though-I'd have struggled to find Dis-approved words

Thanks. It was a tough one to write and try to make fun...

When it really, really wasn't.

You two should be very proud to have raised such great girls.

We are!

ok, going to read the whole chapter tomorrow. I just wanted to say:

I always wanted to CAVORT! (I'll bet Lady H has some great smilies for cavorting)

And I can so see you doing it!

ok, I didn't wait till tomorrow. (well, I guees technically, it is tomorrow). I couldn't stand the suspense!

Good. My evil plan to keep you reading worked.

how incredibly awful!! amazing how when a back "goes out" how it can totally cripple you. It is a spectrum. you have the aches, you have the "ooh, easy now, have to walk slow here"... you have the ouch ouch! OMG! with every step.

and then you have what you had.. the full blown, all out I will never move an inch without pain again, just kill me now extreme end of the spectrum.

Yup. That pretty much nails it.

that being said , my favorite line in the whole chapter:

Don't have kids.
Rotten little ingrates

and as any parent knows, THEY ARE!!!!

Have you ever had to barf and pass out at the same time?
While sober?

ok,i spit out my beer on that one!

I originally wrote it without the second line.
Then when I was proof reading, I realized that there is a time when you might barf and pass out!

And the fact that you spit out beer??

rats. I tried to find a Perfect Strangers episode on you tube, but couldn't. Larry and Balki work out at the gym, and are too sore to entertain the girls they met there. they get in a fight, and one of them throws a book down in front of the other to stop him from attacking. (he has to walk ALL THE WAY AROUND the book on the floor.)

Never saw it (and I'm at work so I can't look for the clip either) but that's pretty good!

So, just so you know, and if you have those cute little Keebler Elves around up in the Great White North, they have Grasshoppers, which are the same as Thin Mints,

Hmmmm.... I honestly don't buy a lot of cookies.
The problem with buying cookies is that by the time I take them out of the grocery bag and put them in the pantry... they're already all eaten.

So I can't say whether we have 'em or not.
I guess I'll have to look now, right?

and there's also a subsitute for Samoas (I know, you don't like coconut, but I do! so you could get the same taste, that's if they have them.

I will be sure to avoid them like the plague if I do see them.

One of the bakeries who make cookies for Girl Scouts is a subsidiary of Keebler, I'm thinking they stole the recipe!

Oh? And how do the Girl Scouts feel about that?

That totally sucks about your back pkondz! I've had a muscle seize up like that, and thought I was going to die too!

It ain't fun, is it?
Funny (and not in a ha ha way) how when I wrote that, I thought almost no one would really get it.
Turns out that almost everyone's had the same experience!

Next time I'll pick a more obscure malady.

"So I went on my trip and woke up one morning with the Black Death!"
(Which is, of course, still better than eating coconut.)
(Which is, of course (eating coconut) better than eating brussels sprouts!)

Argh, I am feeling your pain. Poor Ponzi! Hey, at least your insurance covers you outside Canada..if you were American you would have been arranging for a second mortgage to pay for the doctor.

Actually, I'll mention that in the next/last chapter.

We're all waiting to find out since you said we'd find out tomorrow. You posted this yesterday; that makes tomorrow today.

Go re-read that.
What does it say? "We'll find out tomorrow."

So that's not today, right?
Technically, every time you read that, it'll always be tomorrow.

i.e. That chapter ain't never gonna be posted!

I can't imagine the horror of going through all that pain and being so far from home. Not this past Christmas, but the one before, I had my back go out on me almost the same way. I bent down to grab something and tried to come back up and went directly back down again. I couldn't even yell out because of the pain. I had to slowly inch my way, in a bent over position, around the bed, to make my way towards T-Man to get some form of help at all.

Like I mentioned earlier, it amazes me that so many people have gone through the same thing.

I took great pains in describing how it feels and how to recreate the difficulty in moving.

Geez, all I had to do was delete 90% of the chapter and just write:
"I bent over and wham! My back seized. You know what that's like. The end."

And your description of poor Ruby as she is trying to help you out and seeing you in that way...I think T-Man went through the same thing. I can still picture his poor face when he saw me and rushed to my aid, and everytime I see it in my head it pains me again. You never want to see your spouse like that.

Yeah. That was worse than the back pain.
I so wanted to just get up and give her a hug and tell her not to worry.

While I'm cracking up and the whole insurance/doctor conversation...I can only imagine what you and Ruby actually had to go through that day. Forget about the stress of the kids and the possiblities of tomorrow, but just during that moment, not really knowing what he is telling you, what he is giving you, and while your insurance is saying, "sure, go ahead" you are probably also thinking..."I'm going to get screwed on this later..."

Nope. All I was thinking was, "I don't care what it is... JUST GIVE ME THE &@^#% SHOT!!!!"

I'll breakdown more tomorrow if I get a chance...My boss is out this afternoon and tomorrow and I have to organize his files during that time, while also organizing a going away party for a co-worker of mine and getting my own work done in the process...I should have a spare moment or two somewhere... Just kidding...I did however, at least want to show up and say i'm still reading along.

And I appreciate it!

Hmmm...This one could be interesting...Will any of these do?

Good job!
I'll throw in this one:

lady H: the last one is what I picture myself looking like while CAVORTING... a slightly aging flower child, playing in the meadow.. ( cue baroque classical music in the background).

OMG. That visual.
So you.

but I probably more resemble the clarabelle the clown disrupting the universe by throwing the stars all around (but I don't think my teats are hanging THAT low yet..)

Ouch! it wasn't just "my back hurts" but total incapacitation. At least you were able to find a doc who would make house calls. I'm so sorry your last day was a bust. I guess the girls found a way to entertain themselves, and a new food, too! Did they buy more post cards?

Post cards? What are post cards???
I'm pretty sure they have never once thought about sending a post card.
Unless it's electronically...

Yeah, that last day did not quite work out the way I thought it would.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Geez, all I had to do was delete 90% of the chapter and just write:
"I bent over and wham! My back seized. You know what that's like. The end."

Well, I never had it happen to me, so all your work was not in vain!

Dang, so sorry that happened to you, Ponzi. I saw you posted the new chapter last night, but I didn't really have time and saved it for tonight so I could enjoy reading it.

Well, what to say about enjoying it? It was beautifully written, engaging, fascinating, suspenseful. I loved that part of it.

But what a horrible experience to go through, the topic was not so great.

Looking forward to hearing what happens next...

 

[pkondz]

Well, I never had it happen to me, so all your work was not in vain!

Dang, so sorry that happened to you, Ponzi. I saw you posted the new chapter last night, but I didn't really have time and saved it for tonight so I could enjoy reading it.

Well, what to say about enjoying it? It was beautifully written, engaging, fascinating, suspenseful. I loved that part of it.

But what a horrible experience to go through, the topic was not so great.

Looking forward to hearing what happens next...

Hey look everybody! A person who hasn't had a bad back problem exists!
I was beginning to think that type of person was in the same category as unicorns.

Yeah, trust me... the topic was definitely a bit of a downer.
Glad you still enjoyed reading the chapter, though!

As to what happens next.... loose lips sink ships.

Well, no. They don't.... but torpedoes do.

And no, I have no idea why I said that...
Yes I do. I'm on hour 25 of being awake.

 

[My2Girls66]

I am really feeling your pain. Like someone stabbing and twisting a big dagger. My pain was caused by a pinched sciatic nerve, that is exactly what it felt like. Then the pain would race down my thigh and into my knee. Next time I am going to Venice to get that shot! I don't know what the charges were for the house call, or hotel call as it were, but my DD has been living in France for the past year and a hall and has been to the doctor. 35€ for the visit. Unlike here in the US....don't even get me started I will just say that with insurance, copays, deductibles.....out of pocket expenses for healthcare are ridiculous.

 

[DizzneyDi]

Count me in on knowing exactly how this kind of back injury feels. I've gone through it several times. The most recent one wasn't so much an "I've been stabbed in the back" thing as it was a "there's a sadist with a serrated blade trying to remove my left kidney very slowly" thing. I think the worst part is you can just be going along doing something simple like opening a file cabinet drawer or putting a cookie sheet in the oven (Girl Scout tie-in!), and then, wham, you're on the floor with no idea how you got there. Or how you're going to get up again.

Ah, good times.

 

[orangecats2]

pkondz does not do coconut.

Ever.



Does he have them printed already?
I'd be interested in buying one.
(Would I be his first sale???)

They are at the printers now. Technically you wouldn't be his first sale. He did kickstarter to get the money for printing. He had 32 people support him. So I guess that makes you #33.

Good chance I'll be in Cleveland early July....
Just sayin'....

You're really coming to visit me??? What do you want to do in Cleveland?

Yes, I've had that kind of pain before too but in my neck. Three times in my life. The last time being 17 years ago so I'm hoping that never again does it happen. The scary part for me was being paralysed for awhile.

I was so hoping for more pics of Venice. This has been my favorite city on your trip so far. And that's saying something coming from a francophile. But you had to go and hurt your back!!! Jeez! I better not see that suitcase this summer.

So it seems that DH has given me the green light for next years DIS meet at WDW. Hopefully a bunch of us can go.

 

[pkondz]

I am really feeling your pain. Like someone stabbing and twisting a big dagger. My pain was caused by a pinched sciatic nerve, that is exactly what it felt like.

Ruby got to experience some of that. When she was pregnant with Kay, the baby was always sitting on her sciatic nerve.

Next time I am going to Venice to get that shot!

Don't be in too much of a hurry. I really have no idea if that shot helped at all.
More on that next chapter.

I don't know what the charges were for the house call, or hotel call as it were, but my DD has been living in France for the past year and a hall and has been to the doctor. 35€ for the visit. Unlike here in the US....don't even get me started I will just say that with insurance, copays, deductibles.....out of pocket expenses for healthcare are ridiculous.

I'll include all the costs for the long distance calls and the doctor in the next chapter.

Geez, I'd better write this stuff down somewhere, or I'll forget to include it all.


uh... I guess I just did write it down, didn't I.

Count me in on knowing exactly how this kind of back injury feels. I've gone through it several times. The most recent one wasn't so much an "I've been stabbed in the back" thing as it was a "there's a sadist with a serrated blade trying to remove my left kidney very slowly" thing. I think the worst part is you can just be going along doing something simple like opening a file cabinet drawer or putting a cookie sheet in the oven (Girl Scout tie-in!), (Atta girl) and then, wham, you're on the floor with no idea how you got there. Or how you're going to get up again.

Ah, good times.

And it's wonderful to know that it will almost certainly happen again, isn't it?

They are at the printers now. Technically you wouldn't be his first sale. He did kickstarter to get the money for printing. He had 32 people support him. So I guess that makes you #33.

Well, let me know. I could be his first international shipment, right?

You're really coming to visit me??? What do you want to do in Cleveland?

Before you get too excited, this is the background.

Every year for the past four or five years, Elle and the rest of her dance team have competed.
They usually do very well.
If her group holds true to form, she'll qualify for world cup which this year is being held in Niagara Falls.
So if she qualifies, we're thinking of driving.
If we do, we'd hopefully stop in Chicago to visit Nebo and Smidgy and Cleveland to visit you.

What do we want to do in Cleveland?
Visit the Christmas Story house and museum.
Yeah I know there's Cedar point and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But I don't know if we'd have the time.
Too early yet. She competes in a few weeks, so we'll see after that.

Yes, I've had that kind of pain before too but in my neck. Three times in my life. The last time being 17 years ago so I'm hoping that never again does it happen. The scary part for me was being paralysed for awhile.

Wow! That must've been really terrifying! I hope too that you don't have to go through that again!

I was so hoping for more pics of Venice. This has been my favorite city on your trip so far. And that's saying something coming from a francophile. But you had to go and hurt your back!!! Jeez! I better not see that suitcase this summer.

I have a little bit (and I mean little) more.
You will definitely not see that suitcase!

So it seems that DH has given me the green light for next years DIS meet at WDW. Hopefully a bunch of us can go.

That would be fun, right?

 

[pkondz]

It's cold.

Really cold.

I worked the midnight shift last night.
When I left work this morning, it was -35C with a wind chill of -48C.
Or -31F and wind chill of -54F.

I knew it was coming so I had plugged in the car when I got to work.
No, I don't have an electric car.
The plug is just to keep the engine block warm so the car can start when it's cold out.

The extension cord for the plug is rated to remain pliable down to temperatures of -40.
It doesn't.
It's stiff as a board.

I open the hatchback to throw the cord in... and have to hold it up with one hand.
The hydraulics don't work at these temperatures.

The hatchback makes a funny sound when I close it.
Hmmmm.... it's not closed properly.
It won't fly open, but it's not really closed either.
The mechanism is frozen, so it won't connect properly.
So I guess now I've got to stare at the "door open" light all the way home.

Nope. The sensor's frozen too.

I get in the car. It's like sitting on a block of ice.
There's zero give to the seat.

Because it was plugged in, the car starts easily.
But it's not happy about it.
The block is warm... but everything else... isn't.

The engine screams in protest.
So do I.
But not for long.
You have to try and breathe as shallowly as possible so the windows don't frost over.

Yes, there's a window defrost.
But it'll only blow cold air until the engine warms up, and that's going to be a while yet.

I start my drive... and of course it's a rough ride at first.
The tires aren't round right now.
It takes a few seconds of driving for them to thaw out enough to be called 'round'.

It is March, right? Shouldn't this extreme cold be behind me now????

In about a week, I'll have three days off.
I'm seriously thinking of jumping in the car and driving twelve or fifteen hours south until I feel warm.

Of course, then I have to turn around and drive back!

 

[jedijill]

Holy mackerel! That's cold! I thought I was about to die when it dipped to -16 here this winter...I have a spare room...You can come to Colorado to warm up!

Jill in CO

 

[orangecats2]

Maybe you want to go to the Cleveland Hard Rock Café? I wanted to buy a t-shirt at the one in Niagara Falls but my DH thought that was weird. So I ended up getting a regular Niagara Falls shirt. Boring! Wish I'd bought a Hard Rock one.
The Christmas Story House and museum and gift shop only takes about an hour to see. There's really not much to see. Although when we were there over a year ago they were building something new so maybe there is more to see now.
But you can let me know more when you see if you're going to Niagara Falls.

Actually DH had several out of country people who pledged. A couple in the UK, one in France, and the strangest - one from St. Petersburg, Russia. You however may be the first Canadian. He charges $5 for the book. He also has another book out of short stories with two other guys.

 

[pkondz]

Holy mackerel! That's cold! I thought I was about to die when it dipped to -16 here this winter...I have a spare room...You can come to Colorado to warm up!

Never been to Colorado.
-16... Toasty.

Point of order.. in this case it's Frozen Cod.
With this cold it's about as far as you can possibly get from Holy.

Maybe you want to go to the Cleveland Hard Rock Café? I wanted to buy a t-shirt at the one in Niagara Falls but my DH thought that was weird. So I ended up getting a regular Niagara Falls shirt. Boring! Wish I'd bought a Hard Rock one.

Hmmm... Actually, I probably would like that too.
Plus Thumpy will probably want a pin. Unless he already has one from there?

The Christmas Story House and museum and gift shop only takes about an hour to see. There's really not much to see. Although when we were there over a year ago they were building something new so maybe there is more to see now.

Still wanna go.
Love that movie.

But you can let me know more when you see if you're going to Niagara Falls.

I'll keep you posted.

Actually DH had several out of country people who pledged. A couple in the UK, one in France, and the strangest - one from St. Petersburg, Russia. You however may be the first Canadian. He charges $5 for the book. He also has another book out of short stories with two other guys.

Well, let me know when he gets them printed, tell me how much I'll owe you for the book and shipping
and I'll send you a money order or something like that.
Sound good?

 

[pkondz]

Aaaaaahhhh!!!!
I saw the toe fungus ad again!
I clicked the 'go away' button so I'm hoping that'll be the last time.

Please, Lord. Let it be the last time.

 

[buzz1121]

Pkondz, take comfort in the fact that nature has righted itself and the polar vortex is now back where it belongs.

I can only assume that you and the Kondz family are in route to visit me and the family in SC. I'm getting the guest room and room over the garage ready. It will be 48 degrees here tomorrow but by the weekend, it will be in the 60s.

I really feel for you with the back pain in Venice, of all places. I was cringing when you were trying to pull yourself onto the bed. You clearly conveyed the herculean effort to even blink in the condition you were in.

I don't want your European vacation to end on such a Clark Griswold note!!

On the up side, expect to receive a special delivery from SC in, oh about ten days longer than it should take. I am almost scared to guess what the package will look like when it arrives. The last one looked like it lost the battle.....

I think next time we should try the Pembina route with gas money put in the package. The USPS is really trying to make up for the loss in revenue due to technology.

Or I may just air drop DD1 to your house in her Daisy tunic to deliver the cookies.

She thinks it's neat that some of her cookies are traveling so far!