From the President of the Allegany County 4am Club, Genesee Valley Chorus Member, Medical miracle
The Genesee Valley Chorus 50th Anniversary Concert is this Sunday June 14 in Wellsville
By Chuck Wiser, I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels
It is currently almost 3 AM Wednesday night going into Thursday morning and I’ve decided that if I can’t get back to sleep, I might as well start to Wramble. I’ve been awake many more minutes than I have been able to sleep and until just moments ago I couldn’t figure out why. After a little bit of nervous anticipation, or mostly concern, for the motorcycle riders involved in a very nearby accident, I finally retired at about 10:30 a few hours ago. I initially dozed off but only slept about a half hour before waking back up and it’s been a sleepless struggle ever since. I have tried every sleep remedy and trick in my nocturnal toolbox but to no avail.
I’ve taken my evening “meds” which include Meclizine, which “in and of itself” normally will make me sleepy. I decided to supplement that with a sleep aide and Benadryl, which it, as well, will normally help me to get to sleep. That failing I got up grabbed my book and a coke and read for a while until I was a little drowsy and then returned to bed. Nope! As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was wide awake again. I’ve been experiencing an unknown cause related leg swelling and painful ankle bone so I thought an Oxycodone, which I have but seldom use, would help the pain from that and also induce relaxation and sleep, as it often does. Nope! No help there.
About a half hour ago I shot up out of bed and, calling myself an idiot, came to a full realization as to why the sleeplessness. Earlier this afternoon I decided to take advantage of the now warming into the high 70’s pool temperature and took a dip in the pool. I swam and monkeyed around with the pool skimmer basket for a while and then grabbed a beverage and sat in the sun basking and enjoying the “after dip” refreshment. Well, I fell asleep in my chair and according to my wife, I slept for over an hour there. Duh! No wonder I’m not sleepy. For some reason a short afternoon nap is often more restful than a 6-hour night of sleep. But now that I know the reason why, I won’t fight the awakening but will take advantage of it.
Actually, this early start will make it easier to meet my Thursday afternoon publishing deadline, as I have a doctor’s appointment later this morning (Thursday) and then some other things going on later as well
The word “Actually,” made in bold print above to call attention to it, is another example of Auto-defect in my word processor. The “suggested modifications” to what I write, in this case the word “Actually” is removed as a suggestion to be more succinct and business like. There needs to be a writing mode that accounts for intentionally wanting my words to be more “conversational” than business like. I guess I could turn off the “auto-correct” feature all together but, there are times when it is useful, and helpful.
Another writing note includes the phraseology used above; “In and of itself.” I recall certain phrases that use to be commonly used by others, to the point where they embedded themselves into my memory and I recall them with fondness. When I was in the infancy of my teaching career at Alfred State College and was given the daunting task of taking over the Manufacturing Machine Shop classes, my mentor was to be Belmont’s Ernie Winterhalter, who was soon to retire. When initially asked if I would take over his classes, I replied “No Thank You.”” Why not” the current dean who was calling the shots asked.
I replied that “I don’t know anything about running that equipment in the first place, and I’m a little afraid of the machines in the second place. Guess what…The next semester I was assigned those classes to teach. Talk about intimidating. With Ernie’s tutelage and guidance, I became a little more comfortable using the equipment and eventually able to pass that learned skill on. That uncomfortable introduction to machine operations helped me to be a better teacher as I knew the uncertainty and hesitancy of my future students and could help them as Ernie helped me. At the beginning of each semester, I would tell the students exactly how I felt, and relay that story to them. Making a short story long, the phrase “In and of itself” was one of Ernie’s common comments, along with a few others.
At the risk of being a little too personal, the comment about my having some leg swelling mentioned in my 2nd paragraph is a lead into what is turning out to being a medical mystery. I have some kind medical thing going on. I woke up one morning a week or so ago with extreme pain in my lower leg and ankle of one of my legs. I wasn’t aware of any known injuries or activities that caused the pain, but it was also accompanied by some leg swelling and soreness. I have been through a series of tests including Xray, blood tests and more recently an Ultrasound in an attempt to find out just what the problem is. Later this morning I have an appointment with Dr. Gilfert to see if he has any idea. He is a “foot expert” but I figure that the primary source of pain is now the ankle bone and that counts as part of the foot in my non-medical opinion. To date, no one else has a clue as to what the problem is. The idea is that if he can’t determine the cause of the pain, hopefully he can refer me to some kind of specialist that can.
Here’s another shout-out alerting, and/or reminding, anyone interested in listening to excellent mixed chorus music covering decades of musical history, this weekend will bring just such an occasion. The Genesee Valley Chorus (GVC) will be celebrating the 250th year of our country, with its own 50-year celebration. As many former chorus members as we can recall have been invited to join us in song Sunday, June 14th at 3:00 PM at the Trinity Lutheran Church on North Main Street in Wellsville.
Current GVC members have been reaching out to any and all former members of GVC and are planning on including them as part of the program with a selection of songs in which they can re-join the chorus and share their voices now, as they have done in the past.
Alumni Rehearsal: We are going to have a rehearsal at Grace United Church on Saturday June 13, 3:00 until we finish. It won’t be later than 7 PM . During this rehearsal we will have time to practice the few songs that we are performing, re-connect with our former members, and have a meal. Even those who haven’t been able to join us this season or for this concert are welcome to learn these songs with us. The concert will be at 3:00 PM Sunday as noted on the flier/poster.
The other day I heard mention of some sort of activity on South Street in Belfast, NY come over our scanner. That name rang a bell as my wife used to live at the intersection of South Street and Sunnyside Street in Friendship, NY. The more I thought about it I recalled there being a “South Street” in almost every town that I could think of. I believe that other than Main Street and its various geographic modifiers ie; East Main Street, etc., South Street is likely the second most common street name. You seldom hear of North Street, or West Street without some modifier.
As I sit here in the Sunroom at dawn and it being just at the edge of daylight I can hear a bird cheerfully chirping outside my window. It’s too dark yet to make out what, or even where it is, but it makes a cheerful morning to greet a nearly sleepless night.
I have been to the Urgent Care Center, a relatively new feature of Jones Memorial Hospital a couple of times recently. This, I guess, is aimed at providing additional hospital services to supplement the normal Emergency Room operations. It is convenient, when it can be. My visit experiences give mixed feelings. Staffing personnel have been outstanding, but there seems to be too few of them or they are spread too thin. I spent over two hours there earlier this week and ended up after a blood draw and being sent for X-Rays. I was then told they would call me later with the results. I understand and accept that, as they had a much more severe case than mine. I wonder why the more severe one hadn’t gone to the Emergency Room however, as it dealt with a laceration. No worries! As they say. We are blessed to have such a facility to start with.
My hospital visits have been matched with the “Automotive Doctors” equivalence as my wife’s car is currently tied up at the Bokman Auto Body Collision shop in Olean. My run in with (and over) a deer a couple of weeks ago has resulted in almost $4000 worth of damage. To the naked eye, it would appear that there was just some plastic parts that needed replacing. Opening the hood, however, revealed that the radiator had been pushed back toward, and nearly hitting the fan blades. I would like to give a shout out to “Mary” at the Olean Bokman’s office. I didn’t have any convenient means by which to drop my car off and then return home. Early on, plans included getting a rental car to use during the time my car was “laid up.” I wasn’t crazy about that option as the rental car fee wasn’t completely covered by my insurance. Mary, who lives in Allegany County offered to bring me home if I dropped my car off on a day, she only works half that day. That was a great gesture. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get back down to Olean to pick my car up after the repairs are done. I’m working on that one and perhaps could compensate anyone running me to Olean to pick up my car when it’s ready. I’ve hitch-hiked further than that though, so you never know.
Keep the GVC concert in mind if you want some great musical entertainment this weekend. GVC alums are reminded that they too can be included.
If you have any cares, comments, questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to me at IM.Wiserdad@gmail.com
