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 |  Writings about things that have occurred in my life. Not in Chronological Order |
| Things that have happened in my life, good or bad. The entries will not be in Chronological order |
Learning To Play The French Horn We moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico after my second grade school year. Once there, I attended school at Five Points Elementary. It was there that I started playing the French Horn. You might ask yourself why would a young boy of eight or so choose the French Horn? First, we need to backtrack a little bit. I didn't do a lot in the third grade, I was a typical boy. In the fourth grade I learned about the school band. I really wanted to join the band, but not because of a love of music. There was a girl in my class who was taking band, playing the Saxophone. I had a HUGE crush on her, and figured that if I could join band also, we’d have something in common. Ah, Rita Sanchez, my first love. Of course being band mates, we’d get to know each other, she would see what a nice kid I was, and we’d be together forever. There was just one problem. My parents were convinced that I wouldn’t keep at it, and refused to get, or rent an instrument for me. <sigh> Then my fifth grade year came around, and once again I pestered them to let me join the band. They finally relented, but now we had another problem. My parents were far from well-to-do. Very far. They couldn’t afford to buy me an instrument, so renting one from school was our only option. The only instruments that could be rented were the larger brass instruments. The Baritone, Sousaphone/Tuba, Trombone, and French Horn. I had a hazy vision of what a Baritone was, I knew what both the Tuba and Trombone looked like, but had no idea what a French Horn was, or looked like, so I chose it. I get to the first day of band practice…. And you guessed it. Rita Sanchez was not taking band that year, or any year in the future. I was stuck though, my parents had paid the year’s rental for the French Horn, so I had to at least stick that year out. As fate would have it, Rita and I attended different Middle Schools, but we did attend the same high school. She never knew I existed. Somehow I fell in love with the Horn during my fifth grade year, and kept at it in the sixth. When I arrived in Middle School, it was a bit more advanced, but not a lot. During the summer vacation of my 7th grade year, I attended summer band. This was quite the change for me, because it was there I learned to ‘sight read’. Let me give you a comparison of seventh grade band, and summer band sight reading. Up to this point, playing in band had been almost boring. We’d rehearse, but we went VERY slow in reading the music. Painfully slow. I shudder to think of what my parents went through listening to our concerts. Now I’m in summer band. The director was a high school band director, and treated us all as if we knew the piece already. There was nothing slow about it at all. He would hand us the sheets of music and start us off. It was quite the change for me. Of course I struggled at first, but the more we practiced, the better I became. I’d like to tell you that I became a great horn player, but I lacked one thing to allow that to happen. An inner drive. Don’t get me wrong, I was good, very good. But I didn’t practice! Despite this, I became the ‘first chair’ horn player in the 10th grade. Today I’m left with one thought. “How good could I have been?” I also have a burning desire to buy a French Horn and join the Bloomington Community Band. They don’t have a Horn player. Once I retire and stop traveling, I will. 658 words  Jim Dorrell |
Halloween, Circa 1988 Tonight I'm going back in time, in fact, a long time ago. Let's go back almost 35 years. It was Halloween, I'm pretty sure it was 1988. I was still in the Navy and on my second shore tour. I was stationed at the Trident Training Facility, Bangor Washington. This was a base that I really loved, and for good reason. How many military bases can you think of where you might wake up one day and find a mountain lion sunning itself on a rock in your backyard? Or a base where you can get a pass and go down to a little used pier an either fish, or catch Dungeness Crab, or both? Or perhaps visit an old Apple Orchard in the fall and pick apples from the trees... Anyway, about this particular night. A I mentioned in the title, it was very close to Halloween. My command was running a Haunted House so I thought I'd take some of the kids to visit it. Only of the 3 wanted to go, and the baby couldn't go of course. So we walked to it because my command was less than a half mile from the house. When we arrived, we were shown to a door that wasn't normally used and entered the haunted house. It was a short walk down a hallway. A hallway that had spider webs dangling from the ceiling, low enough to brush across a child's face. I have to stop for a moment and tell you a little bit about my oldest son. He was 4 at the time, and nothing, I mean NOTHING scared him. Except Werewolves. So we walked down the hall, my son even commented that there wasn't anything scary so far. We came to a dimly lit open space that had a man lying in a coffin, or so it seemed. He would wave his arms weakly and beg us to help him. You see, his abdomen had been 'opened up', we could see stuff inside. A man in a long white jacket walked up and started explaining that this man had come in complaining that his stomach hurt, so they did a little surgery to open him up, and discovered what we were seeing. He even picked up some of the stuff in his abdomen and showed it to us as blood dripped from it. I guess my 6 year old daughter was looking on in horror, because the 'mad scientist' looked at her and said, "Is your stomach hurting you? You don't look so good, c'mere, we'll check your out." Needless to say, she was hiding as best she could behind me! Our next stop was in what was our Diesel Generator lab. Except it was empty! Not for long though, because we heard the unmistakable sounds of a chain saw being started. Then from behind the Diesel strode a tall man wearing a hockey mask. That's all my daughter could handle. She grabbed my hand and proceeded to pull my arm down, at the same time she used her leg to climb up the side of my body! I helped her a little bit, until she was sitting on my shoulders. Not satisfied with things yet, she proceeded to hit my head and yell, "Run Daddy, Run!" We left as fast as we could, but my son wanted to see more of the man wielding the chain saw. After leaving the Diesel Generator room we were in another hallway. Chained to the wall was a Werewolf! He kept pawing at us, trying to grab us, but we were too far away. Suddenly one of the chains broke and he could just about reach us! It was at that moment that my brave son had seen enough, and he took off running down the hallway. I have to tell you that the Werewolf was chained using plastic chains taped to the wall with Duct Tape. The Duct Tape came loose, allowing him to almost grab us. I related this story to all my children several times. I think I embellished it a little more each time too, but this version has not been embellished. At least not according to my memory. Of course, this did happen 35 years ago. Word Count: 716 Jim Dorrell |
How I Met Two Hollywood Celebrities When I was hired at Motorola (now Motorola Solutions), I realized a couple of things. First, I was on a tight budget and wouldn't get out a lot. Second, I wanted to be somewhat active and not just sit on the couch, but knew a gym membership was more than I wanted to spend, and I'd probably not use that membership the way it should be used. My solution was to work in a restaurant where I could walk a lot, maybe carry a few server trays, etc. The first restaurant I applied at was a Red Lobster. I'd worked there when I first left the Navy because I had no clue about 'networking' and getting my name out there. I needed some kind of job, so Red Lobster it was. My position there was what the restaurant called Alley Coordinator. Basically, I was a kitchen employee who prepped the plates and put them on those large oval trays to be taken to the table. I moved from Alley Coordinator to server eventually, and learned that serving tables was something I really enjoyed. I eventually left Red Lobster and was hired at Pappadeaux. But I'd learned about Micro-Breweries during a trip to Detroit, so moved to a small Micro-Brewery in Palatine. One night a couple was at one of my tables, and ordered a lot of food. A lot of food for just two people. While I was pre-bussing the table, the lady said to her husband, "We're going need to-go boxes to take to the room." Being polite, and quite a bit curious, I asked where they were from. He replied, "Los Angeles." She said, "Hollywood." Now my curiosity was really up, so I asked what they did there. Again the man was polite and a little brief and said, "We work there." (I think he was trying to politely tell me to not be so nosy!) And again his wife, being a bit more outgoing said, "We're in movies." Thankfully, I knew better than to tell the rest of the staff that I had people from Hollywood at one of my tables. Besides, I didn't recognize either of them, and figured they might not be all that famous. I boxed their food for them, and we talked some more as I did. About this time the gentleman relaxed and opened up more. I asked them, "What brings the two of you from Hollywood to Palatine Illinois?" She pointed to her husband and exclaimed, "He's getting an award!" I was impressed, but wondered what kind of award could a Hollywood celebrity, or 'wanna-be' celebrity be getting in the small village of Palatine. She went on to say, "He wrote the original 20 minute screenplay for 'Oculus' that was purchased by Sony. He then rewrote it as a full length movie, and directed it. Have you seen Oculus?" I had to confess that I hadn't, mainly because my movie partner did not like horror movies, but it was one I wanted to see. (That was the truth too, though I still haven't seen it.) We talked some more, and I mentioned being an amateur writer with an account on Writing.com, that I'd tried my hand in writing horror but felt it wasn't a good genre for me. The gentleman was very polite and said, "We're always looking for new stories, new ideas." I knew he was just 'being polite' (or was he?) and said, "You don't want an amateur like me sending you story ideas." I think he smiled when I said that. Their check was a little over $60, they left me a $30 tip! I think it was because I didn't broadcast their presence to the entire staff. Well, since I hadn't recognized them, you know I had to go to IMDB when I got home and look up Oculus. Lo and behold, she had been telling the truth! He had written (or co-written) the original short screen-play for Oculus. As I looked further into the movie details on IMDB, I saw her also, and realized she wasn't his wife at all. He is Mike Flanagan, a Hollywood director who seems to enjoy filming horror movies. What she doing on IMDB though? Well ,it turns out that she is none other than Katie Sackhoff. I was surprised, especially since she kept the focus on Mr. Flanagan, and never mentioned a thing about her work in movies. The next morning my daughter called as usual, when I mentioned taking care of Mike Flanagan and Katie Sackhoff the night before, she was incredulous and said, "You met Captain Starbuck? Dad, you suck!" That's a common phrase from her, meant as a type of jealous comment. Captain Starbuck was one of the characters in the early 2000 version of Battlestar Galactica, and she loved that series, and Captain Starbuck. Turns out she's a bit of a fan of Katie Sackhoff. That was my exposure to a Hollywood couple, though I did meet a couple of other VIP'. One was Mike Singletary (the recently retired Chicago Bears Middle Linebacker), who has thighs the size of my waist! The other was Marty Booker, a Chicago Bears Wide Receiver. All of them were very nice people who were pleasant to the entire staff. I realize that not all celebrities are this polite to us 'normal people', some can be quite the Prima Donna or worse. I think I was lucky that night. I've heard several horror stories... Jim Dorrell |
I Was A 'Bad' Father Okay, so I wasn't that bad of a father, but I have done some things that might make you shake your head. My biggest regret in many ways, was taking the job at Motorola. True, it is my dream job. It pays well, it supported my family and I far better than I could have hoped. But I wasn't home for my children at the time they needed a father in their life! That's my regret. Now about the 'bad father' bit. Here's one of the things I did to terrorize my children. First, I purchased a Halloween mask at a yard sale. They all saw it, they knew we had it. At that time, we lived on a cul-de-sac, our split-level house had a small wooded area behind it. One night while the girls were in their room (a downstairs bedroom), I grabbed the mask and went behind the house. With the mask on, I knocked on their window. They heard me, heard my voice and came to the window. Need I describe the chaos and screaming that occurred?  Secondly. After retiring from the Navy, I was eventually hired by Firestone, which required us to move from Washington State, an area/state we all loved, and settle in Illinois. The drive was great, we saw a lot of things. But one day, as we drove along I-90, I looked over and saw railroad tracks. I quipped, "Hey kids, a train just went by." "How do you know Dad?" I responded, "Can't you see its tracks?" Yeah, if they had been older and bigger, I might not be here today. I did many things like that. Sadly, right now I'm drawing a blank for more memories. While still in the Navy, I told my oldest (9 or 10 at the time) about the man who taught me Transistors while in EM "A" School. His name was Liberty Mann. He made a distinct impression on me, especially if I remember him 50 years later. Petty Officer Mann didn't believe that Electrons could flow up a wire, from a low level to a higher level. But they did, and to help him understand that, he developed what he called 'Liberty Mann's Elephant Theory Of Current Flow.' See, instead of Electrons in the wire, he called them Elephants. He had it all worked out too, and could explain a lot of circuits using that analogy. He even had light bulb operation in it. The Elephants loved dark, so when they found themselves in a light bulb, they would gather up all that darkness to consume later. This is the story I told my oldest daughter one day, she had this look on her face of "My Dad has gone bonkers and lost it". Months later, I was driving her to her elementary school for an evening rehearsal, and out of the blue she says, "I wish there were Elephants around here Dad." Not putting two and two together, I looked at her oddly and said, "Why Jennifer?" She responded, "So the lights would come on!" All I could do was bang my head on the steering wheel. Some of you feel my sense of humor is terrible. Can you imagine being in a moving truck with me for 4-5 days and having to listen to bad jokes the whole time? Okay, it wasn't all the time, but it was often enough. So yep, I was a 'bad father'. Fortunately, my children are no worse off due to it. Jim Dorrell |
Sea Stories @Kåre เลียม Enga  and ForeverDreamer  , thank you for your comments about starting a reactor. Life in the Navy was 180 degrees out from the life I live now. Kåre เลียม Enga we were young, yes. Were we more mature? I don't think so. I would say we were better trained than the average sailor, and being so, we understood the risks associated with operating the reactor plant. Plus, it had been drilled into us from day 1 in the Nuclear Power Program that risky behavior wasn't tolerated. Add to it that Nuclear Trained Personnal also received extra pay, pay that a lot of us either couldn't afford to lose, or didn't want to lose, and you have yourself the 'well trained nuke'.That doesn't mean we didn't have a sense of humor about things. Far from it. But it was always at someone else's expense, we never fooled around with the plant. Like the time we had to get underway on a moment's notice (okay, a couple of days notice) so we could be at sea when Typhoon Pamela pummeled Guam. (We operated in and out of Apra Harbor, Guam). The Engineer came aft and saw the mess that was the Engineroom during refit and said, "Stow the Engineroom for sea!" We had a young Ensign on board who was just as Dorky as could be. Sorry, I don't mean to belittle him, but he was quite the character. Well, here was the Engineroom with that Ensign just kinda hanging around as was his custom. There were 2-3 Machinist Mates nearby when the Engineer said to stow the Engineroom for sea, so after the Engineer left, they grabbed the Ensign and held him against the Evaporator while one of their shipmates taped him to it, with Duct Tape! He was spread-eagle against the side of the evaporator, and couldn't move at all. They also taped his mouth shut. Later on, the Engineer came aft again and saw the Ensign taped to the Evaporator, sighed and said, "Get him free so we can get this thing started up!" It was acts like this that really allowed us to keep our sanity for the most part. Another 'game' we played was seeing how fast we could make someone mad. We called it 'Spinning them up', a reference to spinning up missiles before launch, or simulated launch. Some were 'easy' to spin up, others not so much. I was 'easy' on my first patrol, I know that. Once I learned what the game was all about though, it didn't happen, and someone else became the target. If you want to see our humorous side, look no farther than "Playing With Hot Dogs"  . This small incident occurred on my second boat, the USS Sargo, SSN 583. True story though, no names mentioned because I don't remember them. Jim Dorrell |
Starting Up A Nuclear Reactor Today I thought I'd share with you how a Nuclear Reactor is started in very brief terms. Some of you might be interested in this, many of you might not be, but I'm sharing anyway. First things first. A Reactor Plant has more than one system, but right now we'll talk mainly about what's called the Primary Plant. There is a Secondary Plant that has to be mentioned briefly. Think of the Primary Plant as a producer of heat. That's done thanks to the Reactor Core. That heat is used by the Secondary Plant. The hot water in the Primary is sent to the primary side of a Steam Generator. It flows through tubes before returning to the core. The hot water in the tubes heats water on the outside of the tubes, producing steam. As you might be able to tell, the water in the Primary and Secondary never mix. This steam is used to spin turbines. On a submarine, we had 4 turbines. One set of turbines is connected to large generators (Ships Service Turbine Generators or SSTG's) which produce electricity. The other set is connected to the screw via a set of reduction gears. Yes, it's a screw, not a propeller. The screw operates most efficiently at low speeds (RPM) compared to the high speed of the turbines, which is why the reduction gears are needed. Now, back to the Primary Plant discussion. The core is quite small when you look at it. It would measure about 3-4 feet in height and width, so it's essentially square. I'm generalizing here for a couple of reasons. First, I've forgotten a lot these past 30 years. Two, I can't be too specific because if I did, I'd be breaking laws about sharing Confidential information. So we'll keep this discussion general in nature. The operation of the core is mainly controlled by Control Rods. These are made of Hafnium, their only job is to absorb neutrons, and the rods do that well. When the reactor is shutdown, the control rods are fully inserted and essentially rest on the bottom of the reactor. Before the reactor can be started up, many checks must be done. We (nuclear-trained personnel) would be busy all night before this startup because these checks would take 8-10 hours. Valve lineups were done on both the primary plant (not all primary plant valves were in the sealed Reactor Compartment), and secondary plant. Breaker positions for everything in both plants were done. Safety checks/pre-startup checks were performed on the reactor control portion of the system, as well as computing the ECP (Estimated Critical Position). Yes, the reactor has to reach criticality and actually becomes slightly supercritical to heat it up. Depending on the length of the shutdown and type of shutdown, the reactor was cooled to a certain point. I can't provide numbers because that's most likely Confidential data. Once all the checks have been performed and reviewed, the startup watch is stationed. In the small space called Maneuvering  The Reactor Operator, who sat at the middle panel, would receive the order to commence reactor startup. He would then use the shim switch (the small 90 angle switch in the middle of his panel) to shim the rods up. The speed was very slow because if the rods were pulled at a high speed, the reactor would reach criticality before the instruments could detect it, then go super-critical, and we'd have an incident occur that would put Three Mile Island to shame. The primary instruments were monitored very carefully as the rods were pulled. As the ECP was neared, shimming would stop and start several times to verify reactor operation and response. Eventually the Reactor Operator would inform the Engineering Officer Of The Watch (EOOW) that the reactor was critical. At that point, rods were left where they were while readings were recorded. Once all the readings were recorded, the rods were again shimmed, and the reactor would be slightly super-critical. Very slightly, and I mean very slightly. This would allow the reactor to heat the water in the primary plant, and eventually turn the secondary water in the steam generator to steam. The Steam Generator would contain water in the lower portion of it, and steam in the upper portion. They weren't separated physically. Think of a covered pot on your stove.  Once the Steam Generator pressure reached a set pressure, valves would be opened and steam admitted to the Engineroom. The pipes were heated, the system was heated, and slowly the Engineering plant would 'come to life'. What was a nice quiet space would now be noisy with the sounds of steam flowing through piping, turbines starting up, condensation occurring in the condensers, and pumps running to pump the condensed water back to the secondary side of the Steam Generators. Eventually, the Throttleman would be given the order to warm the main engines. Once warmed, the submarine is ready to go to sea. It's been quite a while since all those checks were started on the plant, and at this point the rest of the crew is onboard and the 'Maneuvering Watch' would be set so the boat could get underway. Yes, Nuclear Trained personnel had been on board for about 4 hours before getting underway, the duty section had performed all the checks before starting the plant. Since our duty sections usually had a small number of people in them, there were many times I'd stand six hours of watch (noon to six for example), get a couple of hours at most to relax/sleep (relax? No, I was doing some kind of work) before returning to the Engineroom and Maneuvering to relieve the man who had relieved me so he could perform the reactor pre-startup checks. I'd be on watch until midnight when he would once again relieve me so I could enjoy a bite of midrats before returning to Maneuvering to relieve him so he could finish his checks. Yes, there were times we were both up all night. Once the boat was underway, the plant was stable. The Electrical Operator (Right hand panel) would not change much on his panel, he would monitor the panel closely, but rarely adjusted anything. The Reactor Operator (again, sitting at the middle panel) would shim rods occasionally to control the primary plant temperature. The Throttleman (left hand panel would operate the throttles (those large cylindrical 'wheels') when ordered to change the boats speed. So he was probably the busiest of the three operators. And that my friends, is how a submarine nuclear reactor in started up, and operates when underway. There's more, a whole lot more, but this entry is already pretty lengthy. If you have questions, ask please and I'll answer as best I can without revealing Confidential Information. Jim Dorrell |
A Surprise While Working In A Restaurant This will be a short entry, I think. A long while back, I worked at a restaurant at night. I'd finish my day at Motorola, rush home and change clothes, and get to the restaurant. I'd be on my feet all day 8-4, then stay on them at night, sometimes a bit past midnight. I started at a Red Lobster, then moved to the local Pappadeaux, and finished my 'restaurant career' at a local small micro-brewery (Emmet's Ale House in Palatine). This is a something that occured while working at Red Lobster. I was carrying a full tray (about 30 lbs) of dishes to the alley to drop off at 'Dish'. This particular Red Lobster had swinging doors leading to the Alley, and of course it was closed as it should be. There was another server behind me with a similarly loaded tray, though it wasn't all that stable as I was about to find out. As I pushed the door open I ran into another server who was stopped for one reason or another. I stopped, as did the server behind me. Except when he stopped, one of the round dinner plates on his tray flew off past my left shoulder. I saw it, and calmly reached out, grabbed it out of the air and placed it on my tray. I thought nothing of it. I saw it, I grabbed it, y'know? Well, he was just blown away by that and said, "Did you just grab that out of the air?" It was about then that I realized that I'd done something I couldn't duplicate no matter how many times I tried. I have no idea how it happened, you've all done something like this I'm sure. Just pure reflex is all it was. Still.... I don't normally have cat-like reflexes, at least I don't think I do. But sometimes things just happen almost on their own. It did this night. That's all for now. Like I said to start, a short entry tonight. Aren't you glad? Till next time, y'all be good, take care of yourselves, and love those who love you. And of course, keep on writing! Jim Dorrell |
A Better Day Well, for the past 10 days or so, I've lived with pain from the spinal surgery. I have always been one who detests taking meds routinely for some reason which is a big part of why I've had so much pain. That, and the fact that I 'expected' to recover from this a little faster than I have. But when you realize that the surgeon had to cut through the muscles in the back of the neck and separate them to get to the spinal column, it makes sense that this would not heal quickly. I was expecting too much, and was unrealistic in my expectations of recovery. Today has been a good day. It's not been pain free, but it's been A LOT better than it has these past 10 days. On a separate note, I received a compliment of sorts at work today. Last year I spent a week cross-training one of our Asia Pacific instructors on a series of topics that he needed information about. It went well, and he was very appreciative of what we did. Now a woman who works for him will be in our Fort Lauderdale complex delivering a class, followed by a couple of weeks in Schaumburg. She e-mailed me today asking if I could be available one of those weeks to cross-train her on several subjects. Well, as you might imagine, I don't control my schedule, but I am free one of those weeks. I informed my managers about this, and now I am scheduled to work with her the first week in April. Being asked to cross-train someone is always a compliment in my eyes. But having a manager you cross-trained a few months ago recommend to one of his employees that she ask to have me cross-train her also is a bigger compliment. The first week of March starts my 'new schedule'. While I'm not scheduled to travel a lot, I will be teaching a lot more. Some at home, some in Schaumburg, and some in the field. Starting the week of Valentines, and going to the end of June is 19 weeks. I will deliver 7 weeks of online classes, 6 weeks of Field classes, 1 day of 'Virtual Professor' (I'm in a Virtual Classroom waiting for people to come in and ask questions), 2 weeks delivering classes in Schaumburg, and 1 week in Schaumburg Cross-Training the Asia Pacific (APAC) instructor. One of my 'free' weeks will be a week of meetings and such during Memorial Day week. So yep, it's gonna get busy, and remain that way the rest of this year. Believe it or not, I'm looking forward to it! That's all for now. Aren't you glad? Till next time, y'all be good, take care of yourselves, and love those who love you. And of course, keep on writing! Jim Dorrell |
My Cervical Spinal Surgery On 1/24 I had surgery on my Cervical Spine. This was necessary due to the numbness and associated weakness in my left hand and arm. I found out a couple of things after I'd been prepped for surgery. The resident doctor who would be assisting during the surgery stopped by and talked to me for a minute. He said something I wish I'd known earlier. "This is probably the most painful surgery we do." I was thinking, 'You just had to say that, didn't you.' There was one thing slightly different in my surgery than most. This surgery is normally done by accessing the spine from the front, making an incision in the front of your throat and moving your vocal chords and larynx to the side to gain access to the spinal column. I've had problems swallowing at times, not often, but often enough. When I mentioned that to the surgeon during our meeting, she decided she would access my spine from the back of my neck. As a result, I have a six inch incision starting right about the middle of my neck, going down. The reason I have so much pain is she had to cut my neck muscles and pull them apart to access my spine! Yeah, everything's been a pain in the neck for the last 8 days, pun intended. (I have a 'clean photo', taken after the bandages were removed, should anyone want to see it). The surgery itself took FOUR hours. Something else I didn't know. Doing this from the posterior side, they had to immobilize my head. So they used pointed rods in a brace type setup to hold my head in place. She couldn't have me moving my head at all during surgery, could she? I still have tender spots around my head where those rods dug into my scalp. She fused the C4, C5, C6, and C7 vertebrae together by placing a small screw in each, then using four 4 inch rods to keep them properly spaced. Surprisingly, I have almost full movement of my neck in all directions. I've lost some flexibility, but not a lot. I was sent to recovery, and ended up spending 3 hours there. The reason was my breathing. I took a few deep breaths as needed, but not near enough. Essentially I was still out of it, and wasn't breathing right. I'd take a breath, exhale, then stop breathing for a bit before inhaling again. They finally transferred me to my room. I guess that in moving me from the gurney to my bed, I flashed whoever was around as I thrashed my legs in the movement. I don't think that anyone who saw that was overly impressed.... I remember none of this, but 'you know who' recorded a video of the whole process. I only remember waking in my room around 4:30 or so.Monday was a blur, I went into surgery right about 8 am, I'm told I went into recovery right about noon, and was in my room sometime between 3 and 4. None of that is in my memory other than pre-surgery. In fact, I remember someone saying they were starting the meds to put me to sleep, and I said something about 'Good night everyone, see you later!" I was out very quickly, and remember nothing after that. Tuesday and Wednesday were better, it was when the doctor removed the gauze pads and tape from my incision that I asked them to snap that photo. She had inserted a drain on either side of my incision, they were removed Thursday morning. Tuesday and Wednesday I was in and out of it all day, mainly because they had me on morphine and Tramadol. I was finally discharged about 2pm. My home meds included Tramadol (an Opiate based medicine), and Valium. I took those Thursday through Saturday, but stopped taking the Valium after that. Right now I alternate Tramadol and Tylenol three hours apart. I do pretty well, as long as I can remember to take my pain meds. Even taking the pain meds, it's difficult to sit up right (even wearing the soft cervical collar) for very long. That's all for now. Aren't you glad? Till next time, y'all be good, take care of yourselves, and love those who love you. And of course, keep on writing! Jim Dorrell |
What is something people get wrong about your occupation, gender, community, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, medical condition, etc. that you would like to clarify? This is nothing major, nor a real eye-opener for anyone who knows me. But doing what I will write about here gives people the wrong impression about me at times. I quit using most four-letter words when I left the Navy. I figured (hoped) I would be getting into a career, work shoulder to shoulder with people completely unlike my Submarine shipmates, and thought they would probably not cuss like a sailor. So I made a conscious efforft to not cuss. In the early days of my retirement from the Navy, I struggled to find a job with decent pay. I worked in a restaurant, worked in retail sales, drove a taxi-cab, went to school at night just to draw GI Bill Benefits (at the time, $700 a month, more than I made each payday) and have extra income for the family. It was 1993, imagine having 6 children, the youngest is 3 months, the oldest is 13. You make $8.00 an hour, working 40 hour weeks, and have a retirement income from the Government of $1300 a month. So yeah, we struggled. I worked at a Red Lobster as an Alley Coordinator (kitchen, arranging food on plates/trays to be taken to tables), and one day I cussed, using a word that starts with S. (I remember this incident distinctly) A young female server was nearby, and gasped, "Jim, what did you say?" I responded, "Nothing, nothing important." She came back at me and said, "No, you cussed!" I couldn't believe it, I'd just spent 20 years in the Submarine Service, and she was surprised that I would cuss? We talked about things a little bit, and at one point she said, "You have to understand Jim, you not cussing made me think you were a priest or something." That's when I realized I'd been successful in removing four-letter words from my vocabulary. This same thing has occurred on at least 3 more occasions since then. But heck, if you know me, you know that's far from being true. I started writing in 1995 or so. My first efforts were centered around Erotica/Porn; there were reasons for writing that genre that I will not go into here. Let's just say I was unhappy with my life, the direction it was heading, how I was living. That's all behind me now. No, I have not changed to become a Saintly person, nor am I a eunuch or anything like that. I'm just me, someone who has finally embraced his golden years, accepts himself for who he was all those years ago, and who he is in today's world. What I find a bit humorous in all of this entry, is that I 'quit using four letter words' in 1993. Yet in working at Motorola, I probably say one or two more often than any of my co-workers! So no, they're not really gone, just on the back-burner if you will. Along with all this, I've had to learn to not be too judgemental about those who freely use F bombs and more all the time (another JAFBG prompt). That was easier said than done. That's all for now. Aren't you glad? Till next time, y'all be good, take care of yourselves, and love those who love you. And of course, keep on writing! |
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