What is that dark cloud? And, why is it following me?
There are some days that would have been better and safer if you would have just stayed in bed. Yesterday was one of those days for me.
I had a very stressful weekend. I had to catch an early morning flight from the west coast to a big, cold and windy Midwestern city on Sunday in order to testify as an expert witness on a trial. The case involved a baby that sustained permanent brain damage because a medical provider did not notice or appreciate the early signs of meningitis. I was there to defend this child in an action against the hospital. I gave my expert testimony on Monday. The trial is still going on. This child had pneumococcal meningitis; a life-threatening disease, now, virtually preventable with vaccine (Prevnar). For people that think vaccines are worthless or dangerous, should have been there to see what pneumococcus did to this innocent, unimmunized child.
Although my son is a lawyer; we have friends that are lawyers, I am not a big fan of the legal system. Personally, it scares the crap out of me and I have no idea why I agreed to help in this case. I guess, I just wanted to help that little baby. I am so glad that my part is over.
So, without much quality sleep over this stressful weekend, and of course, on the plane, I arrived home only to hop in bed so I could work my 12-hour shift the next day. I sat wedged in the window seat in the back of the plane, next to a huge, sweaty Swedish fellow in the middle seat. In the seat in front was a mentally-challenged woman with a four month old baby who cried most of the way. Mom was really doing a good job, but clearly the child was not happy about something. Based on the smell, I am guessing, "gas". The stressed mother stood up most of the way, rocking her baby, and blocking the movie screen. So, between the BO and the poop smell, I had a wonderful flight. I am really getting too old for this stuff.
I headed for the clinic Tuesday morning in the usual and customary manner - the same car and even the same lane I always drive. As I rounded a curve on the freeway, I encountered a huge chunk of metal in my lane. Since I could not safely change lanes, I tried to straddle it. Whatever this chunk of junk was shattered my rear tire and nearly caused me to roll my truck. I managed to make it to the shoulder; called my work and then called AAA. Believe it or not, AAA arrived in less than 10 minutes (probably because it was not raining!). The nice man put on my spare and I dropped the remnants of my other tire off at the tire shop. In less than 40 minutes, I was back on my way to work.
Fifteen minutes later, while in the far right (slow lane), a woman in a SUV happily gabbing on a cell phone, abruptly turned into my lane to avoid rear-ending the car she was tailgating. He was stopping at a yellow light. She must have assumed he was going to run it; likely her intention. I laid about 40 feet of tire rubber to avoid hitting her. She pulled off to the side of the road, exited the car, and seemed to be visibly shaken. As much as I wanted to stop and give her a piece of my stressed mind, I let her go with a dirty look. She was lucky this time.
There were no further incidents the rest of my 12-hour shift. The dark cloud had dissipated by now. On the way home, I saw a relatively FULL MOON. I knew it! Some people are absolutely crazy during a full moon. That is where the term, Lunatic originated (Luna means moon)...just in case you didn't know.
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Technorati Tags: full moon, stress, meningitis
I had a very stressful weekend. I had to catch an early morning flight from the west coast to a big, cold and windy Midwestern city on Sunday in order to testify as an expert witness on a trial. The case involved a baby that sustained permanent brain damage because a medical provider did not notice or appreciate the early signs of meningitis. I was there to defend this child in an action against the hospital. I gave my expert testimony on Monday. The trial is still going on. This child had pneumococcal meningitis; a life-threatening disease, now, virtually preventable with vaccine (Prevnar). For people that think vaccines are worthless or dangerous, should have been there to see what pneumococcus did to this innocent, unimmunized child.
Although my son is a lawyer; we have friends that are lawyers, I am not a big fan of the legal system. Personally, it scares the crap out of me and I have no idea why I agreed to help in this case. I guess, I just wanted to help that little baby. I am so glad that my part is over.
So, without much quality sleep over this stressful weekend, and of course, on the plane, I arrived home only to hop in bed so I could work my 12-hour shift the next day. I sat wedged in the window seat in the back of the plane, next to a huge, sweaty Swedish fellow in the middle seat. In the seat in front was a mentally-challenged woman with a four month old baby who cried most of the way. Mom was really doing a good job, but clearly the child was not happy about something. Based on the smell, I am guessing, "gas". The stressed mother stood up most of the way, rocking her baby, and blocking the movie screen. So, between the BO and the poop smell, I had a wonderful flight. I am really getting too old for this stuff.
I headed for the clinic Tuesday morning in the usual and customary manner - the same car and even the same lane I always drive. As I rounded a curve on the freeway, I encountered a huge chunk of metal in my lane. Since I could not safely change lanes, I tried to straddle it. Whatever this chunk of junk was shattered my rear tire and nearly caused me to roll my truck. I managed to make it to the shoulder; called my work and then called AAA. Believe it or not, AAA arrived in less than 10 minutes (probably because it was not raining!). The nice man put on my spare and I dropped the remnants of my other tire off at the tire shop. In less than 40 minutes, I was back on my way to work.
Fifteen minutes later, while in the far right (slow lane), a woman in a SUV happily gabbing on a cell phone, abruptly turned into my lane to avoid rear-ending the car she was tailgating. He was stopping at a yellow light. She must have assumed he was going to run it; likely her intention. I laid about 40 feet of tire rubber to avoid hitting her. She pulled off to the side of the road, exited the car, and seemed to be visibly shaken. As much as I wanted to stop and give her a piece of my stressed mind, I let her go with a dirty look. She was lucky this time.There were no further incidents the rest of my 12-hour shift. The dark cloud had dissipated by now. On the way home, I saw a relatively FULL MOON. I knew it! Some people are absolutely crazy during a full moon. That is where the term, Lunatic originated (Luna means moon)...just in case you didn't know.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: full moon, stress, meningitis
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