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Showing posts from February, 2020

Thumbs, surgery, and bacteria

I never realized how important our thumbs are until I temporarily lost the use of one of them.  Thumbs are vital!  Think about it; if we didn't have thumbs, how could we text each?  How could we hold our eating utensils?   Horrifying!  About seven years ago, I noticed that the joint at the bottom of my right thumb had grown a huge bump; it was a bone spur.  It wasn't particularly painful, just ugly and deformed.  I went to a hand surgeon.  At his office, an x-ray confirmed that I had osteoarthritis.  Weird, especially since I am left-handed, and, at that point, I was still sort of young.  I asked the doctor about treatment.  "There's surgery, but we can try a cortisone shot and see if that helps," he said.  I asked if the shot would hurt.  "It won't hurt me," he replied.  Ha ha, what a smart ass. The damned shot hurt like hell, and the thumb lump laughed at its impotence.  So, surgery; I trusted this ...

Part Two: Dry January Meets Mother/Daughter Weekend

In my previous post, I discussed my plans for Dry January.  I was successful in avoiding alcohol until Friday, January 24, the first day of our Mother/Daughter Weekend.  The four of us were staying in a lovely resort that had a good selection of restaurants on site.  On Friday afternoon, we enjoyed lunch at a low key place that had an enticing selection of cocktails.  So, yes, after more than three alcohol free weeks, I had a drink.  It wasn't a really strong drink; it was one of those froufrou cocktails with more mixers than booze...but, it was good!   After lunch, we went back to our room to catch up on everything.  We hadn't been together for a few years, so there was a lot to discuss.  Eventually, it was time to explore, so off we went to another bar/restaurant.   Unlike our lunch place, this was definitely more bar than restaurant.  Fine by me!  As I've written in a previous blog, I LOVE bars.  They remind me o...