Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Some Days

The last 24 hours have lived up to the unexpected times portion of this blog's title. Just about this time last night we received one of those dreaded calls, the night nurse wasn't coming and a replacement couldn't be found. So mom, who just got over a bad cough/cold, and I stay up until 2:00-3:00 in the morning until dad gets up and takes over. He then stays until the day person arrives around 7:00.

Therefore, we're all tired on no nurse days and are very thankful when the next comes in. After a short night, I was greeted by an ever increasingly rare busy day. Part of the busyness was due to going out for a scheduled hair cut, but it still cuts into the day.

After about a two week hiatus, one of my business partners calls to check on progress for a particular client's site I've been working on. This site is going on Wordpress, a web platform meant for blogging, so the client can do their own updates. Unfortunately, I have had little opportunity to work on the programming side of these sites, so it's a somewhat steep learning curve. Of course the theme we're using is not programmed how I would expect making it all the more difficult. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll need to bow out on this project to another programmer who has more expertise in the area. I of course don't like losing work, but it's in the best interest of the client.

Last weekend, I switched a different client's web host to another in order to provide better reliability. They use their own server for email though and it was messed up due to the switch. I had to again go to an outside source in order to get it fixed. You would think that after twelve years of doing web development that I could do these things, but apparently not.

I'm sure it's partially due to being tired, but tonight's Spanish review lessons also didn't go well. Only scoring a 90-93% on material I've already covered is pretty pathetic, in my thinking anyway. With everything combined, I start wondering if I'm really completely competent or just a good actor. However, I know that's temptation trying to take hold, so avoid such thinking.

Tomorrow I'm planning to attend a networking event with other local business people. Hopefully it will prove to be productive and I can get my name more in circulation. I have also had a few potential site contacts come through in the past week, hopefully a few will turn into actual business.

I know last time I said this post would be about chairs, but this felt more like today's topic. Look for chair information coming soon, hopefully.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Fall

Autumn is in full force in Iowa, as much as I hate to admit it. A lot of people say that fall is their favorite time of year, and I can't blame them for that. Trees turn colors and show a very beautiful part of God's creation. Where I like to go out for rolls (walks), it seems like everything is new again with different color that changes on every visit. For me though, fall means colder temperatures, and a foretaste of what is to come, winter.

It also means an end to my barefoot summer. Last week I went out train watching with my parents and whore shoes all day. It was a grim reminder of the season change and I could tell my body didn't like it. After getting home, my feet were swollen and had several red marks from their experience. The outing itself was enjoyable though, especially exploring roads around the rails we hadn't been to before.

One of these roads had an old wooden bridge on a dead end rock road that went over the tracks. It was a great place to sit because nobody would care that you were there and it offered a bird's eye view of the rails. The only slight problem is that the approaches on both ends were rather steep. This meant that on our return trip over the bridge, the van bottomed out and got stuck. It was a minor problem that didn't take much to get out of, but it made for an entertaining excursion.

The bridge was just outside of Boone, Iowa, the home of the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad. They were using their steam engine last weekend while we were in the area so we could hear when we were in the country. Hearing the lonesome sound of the steam whistle in the distance made it seem like we were back in the days of steam when the Union Pacific Challengers and Mountains would have ruled the tracks. If I can get dad's memory card the videos, with background steam whistles, will be on my YouTube channel.

Speaking of fall, I'm starting to think my health might be doing the same again. For the past few weeks, I haven't been able to keep my lungs completely clear for anything. My nurses have been having allergy trouble, which I may be as well, but it's very odd to be so congested for so long. This week, I've had a few times that I could hardly keep my eyes open. Today is Friday and I have been wanting to get this entry in since Monday. The leaking bladder problems have also returned, thankfully not as bad as last time though.

In my next update, I need to talk about what's going on with my wheelchair. That topic could likely take a few posts, but I'll try to keep it down to one. The next few days look to be warmer again, so I'm hoping to get out and get some sun, barefoot of course, while I still can. Until next time!