Back from San Angelo
Posted Fri Mar 11, 2005 in
Travel
What a time to have to leave for a meeting. I knew, earlier this week, that my “cold” may very well be something else. It had that feeling that I get about once each year when I get some kind of upper respiratory infection. Well, sure enough, on the way down to San Angelo I started coughing more and my voice roughened. I was in for my annual bout with the illness.
I had been waffling about whether to drive down Thursday evening or Friday morning. San Angelo is about three hours from Lubbock. Well, about 1600 Thursday afternoon I got a call that galvanized me to action, regardless of how I was feeling. One of my co-investigators’ grandfather died and he would be unable to attend the meeting. So, I knew that I had to get down to San Angelo so we could have a pre-meeting meeting to get everything organized before our presentation.
There followed a flurry of calls and work on the computer to get the presentation finalized. That took another 45 minutes and put me past my planned 1800 departure. I knew it would be a late night and decided to take the car instead of the bike.
On top of everything else, the doctor’s office called and they wanted to do Wife’s surgery on Friday. That meant I could not be there. Double damn! So, things at the Ruminator house went from a state of mild trepidation to full chaos in a matter of an hour or so.
Everything that could be done got done by about 1845. I packed quickly, loaded the car, and headed out. The drive down was nice though—I listened to music most of the way down and called Wife a couple of times to check on her. The way that things came down really rattled her. But she calmed down as some order returned and so I calmed as well.
I arrived at the La Quinta at about 2215. One of my colleagues walked in right after me. We visited while waiting for the clerk to clear messages from the phone. He looked tired and was after his trip to LSU for a presentation and then back to Houston where he is based.
I woke early, showered, and packed. I reloaded the car and checked out—all the normal things—and walked over to the “breakfast bar.” I watched the news while waiting for my colleagues (who are also my friends) and thought about what the day would bring. My throat felt constricted and I thought that I might be able to make it back in time to see my doctor. I knew that my body would need antibiotics to help rid itself of the infection.
We met for the pre-meeting, and then headed over to the district office and made our presentation. Clearly we have work to do because the proposed work will be expensive and we think will take another four years. There is a lot of data collection and analysis to do. I am confident that we can to it. I think I only coughed a few times and made sure that I passed off the talk to my colleagues to take some of the pressure off. Besides, they are all qualified researchers and deserve to present parts of the program. I have an excellent team.
Wife called during lunch and her surgery was over. I was glad that she was doing fine. Daughter drove her to the office (he did the excision in his office) and then stayed part of the afternoon.
I called my doctor’s office and made myself an appointment. Then I said my goodbyes and got on the road.
It was a tough trip, at least at first. I was running about 15 minutes late but was extremely tired and sleepy. I fought with myself for over an hour before I got through that period. I hate that feeling. But I also knew that if I stopped and napped I would not make it to the doctor and I knew that I needed to make that appointment.
So, the car (which remains unnamed) and I rolled on. I saw only two state troopers and they were engaged with other motorists so we really did roll on. These areas of Texas are huge and open. The speed limit really should be a bit higher out here. The real danger is from wildlife.
I made it to the doctor’s office by about 1545. I signed in and waited, as usual. It was not long before the nurse called me in and put me in one of the treatment rooms, then took my vitals and asked me what was wrong.
“I’ve got the grunge,” I said.
Doc came in a few minutes and said “I see you’ve got the same thing.”
“You’ve got it too?”
“Nope, doctors are immune to germs.”
“Bull shit,” I muttered, before I could trap my tongue. He grinned and went about his business, checking out my systems. He is my friend and a good man and I am proud to know him. I am astounded that he is able to maintain a positive attitude even we he does not feel well. He is a better man than I.
I drove home via the drug store and waited for my ‘scripts. I knew that I would not want to get out again once I got to the house. I bought a copy of Popular Mechanics, a magazine that I used to read all the time. I also noticed a copy of Automotive with an article about the new BMW 3-series on the cover. I was tempted, but declined.
I got my drugs, went home, chatted with daughter and grandsons a bit while taking my meds, and then promptly crashed. I was in and out of sleep for the next 13 hours. Yeah, I woke up a few minutes ago, made coffee, and decided to write my story. I have to be up for awhile because my back is tired of me being down. I will be napping more today, I am sure. I hope to be much better by Monday and ready to get some work done.
I could go on for hours about how I view the use of concrete “riprap” (slope paving to anyone else) as a hydraulic feature, but you are probably aware of it. I kept my mouth shut at times during the meeting because I do not concur with the brute force approach being portrayed. I believe in my heart that we are smart enough to do better. — Dazed n Confused 12 March 2005, 13:45 #
Concrete is not rip-rap. Slope paving can be a really bad thing.
One good thing about the brute-force approach is that it makes the research look very cheap. :) — ruminator 13 March 2005, 08:24 #