Friday, August 15, 2008

I am a SPECIAL kind of stupid!

or "How I Know that I am Really At Home Now"

My family will appreciate this second title. I am definitely home here in Korea now because I had my first trip to the Emergency Room today!!

Being the good little housewife I am, I have been working on unpacking boxes and trying to get everything in order (another blog to come about the moving in of the House Hold Goods) and I even managed to do some dishes.
Now, as you can see from the drawing above, I have the dish drainer facing the wrong way, because the silverware holder is on the outside edge of the counter. And it tilts. And I washed a VERY sharp knife and set it in there to dry.

I went about puttering around, putting things away in the kitchen and turned to walk to the other counter when I . . . (and here is where the special stupid comes in) . . . walked INTO the VERY sharp knife! Yes, I impaled myself on the *&#%@* knife!!

Bear in mind, this isn't the first time I've done such a thing either!! Several years ago I had a paring knife in the dish drainer and brought the side of my wrist down right on top of it!!

I'm hot and sweaty and grungy from doing the boxes, and I am dressed but no bra. I immediately ran my arm under the tap water (let's hope it was pure enough!) and grabbed a paper towel and applied pressure. Then I went to the medicine cabinet to grab an ace bandage and I wrapped it around my arm to hold the paper towel in place, so I could put on a bra!! Didn't want to scare the natives and the hospital staff.

I shut off the hot water, latched Marlena into her crate and grabbed my purse and out the door. I got to the street corner and fished out my phone so I could call for a base taxi to pick me up, when my neighbor (whom I had just met this same morning) called hello to me and asked what I was up to. I said I was on my way to the ER (explained the whole special stupid to her) and was calling a taxi. She told me that her husband was just heading out the door to work on base (he is a contractor) and that he would take me. What a wonderful neighbor!!!

The physician at the ER determined that I did not need stitches, so the assistant put a couple steri-strips on and sent me up to immunizations to get a long overdue tetnus shot. I have to say, I think the assistant was fairly new to the whole job because she put the steri strips on as if they were bandaids, instead of using them to pull the wound together and hold it tightly. I think I'll live though LOL!!

The cut is about a half an inch long and looks like I gouged out my skin. When I got home, I examined the knife to determine how far in it had gone and from what I can tell, I impaled a good full inch of knife into my tender flesh. I have no tingling or loss of feeling or sensation though, so I'm sure that it will be fine.

I wanted to have it checked out though because the last time I self-impaled, I didn't have it checked and it probably needed a stitch that time. Plus, I haven't had a tetnus shot in about 15 years so all in all, it was a wise move to go visit my ER.

Now I am off to turn the dish drainer around!! No more self-inflicted physical idiocy if I can help it!!

I can't wait to tell Snuffles about my adventure today, and to warn him that he may be questioned. I realized that as I said that I walked into a knife, that it sounded like the lamest I fell down the stairs / tripped and hit the door knob with my eye excuse ever!! Hopefully they understood that it was what happened and there is no question about spousal abuse, but who knows? He has an alibi, I promise he didn't do it!!!

Monday, August 4, 2008

A Miracle?!

Woo hoo! This is the second day in a row that we have not had to turn on the air conditioner in the living room!! A sign of good weather to come! It's been fairly warm, but the humidity is notably lower. Autumn will actually arrive, I do believe! I was starting to think it was just a myth.

Tomorrow I go "back to school". I start my Korean language lessons! Tuesdays and Thursdays in August, for an hour each day. I hope that I can learn at least a little - it would make it easier to get around. I am so excited; I went to the BX and bought a spiral bound notebook and a pack of mechanical pencils. Yay me!

We put down a deposit on our "new" car today. The dealer has promised to replace the frayed fan belt and get the radio working again, as well as doing any necessary repairs if needed after inspection on base. Now I just need to get my driver's license and be brave and venture out on the roads. I feel confident though. Korean drivers pretty much drive the way I do!! Be afraid!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Working Hard!

It's a nice day today! Sunny, temp not too hot, and very little humidity. Even a nice light breeze.

So in anticipation of our stuff arriving from the States, Snuffles and I worked on getting the shed ready for storage items. What a lot of work!!

First we had to haul out the Korean cabinet we had salvaged. That wasn't too bad since we had put it in there only a couple of weeks ago.

The big hurdle was the "built-in" shelf of miscellaneous bits of wood. That took a good hour to dismantle. Lots of big nails, nasty cobwebs, rough wood. No way to just pull it out because it was built to fit and nailed into the cement walls to boot! We sweated and grunted and sweated and grunted and finally SUCCESS!! There is no chance of putting it back together but that's alright. We'll get some good sturdy metal or plastic shelves to put in there instead.

Then we swept the piles of dirt that had accumulated over goodness knows how many years, and swept down the walls covered in cobwebs. Not cute dainty "Irish Lace" cobwebs but dark, thick, dirty, greasy nasty cobwebs. *shudder*

Next we got out the hose and sprayed everything down with the strongest stream possible. Dumped some Pine-Sol on the floor and scrubbed. And scrubbed. And scrubbed. Then we did several rinses with more water. Each batch of water also required us to push it out the door with the big push broom since there is no drain in the floor.

Now we are letting the room dry completely and towards the end of this week we will paint the interior. Ceiling, walls and floor! Then we will have a nice clean shed to use for storage. There just isn't enough room in the house to accommodate some things, like tubs of seasonal clothing and holiday decorations.

You know, we should have called Mike Rowe! This was definitely a Dirty Job!


Saturday, August 2, 2008

About a Great Lunch and Finding A Car

Snuffles got back from Japan late last night and it's good to have him home!

Today we went out for a short walk down the street to Sunny's Auto Sales and found a nice car! A 1996 Hyundai Avante Touring, which is basically a compact station wagon. Low mileage, good price. We'll go back on Monday to make the purchase and by Tuesday it will be ours! Keep your fingers crossed.

This is what the car looks like, but the one we will be buying is white. I think that's a better color choice during the hot summer months!


Then we decided to go for some lunch. Chang Pwuck, a Thai restaurant, recently moved and relocated inside the Young Chon Hotel so we stopped in to try it out. Fabulous! Since it is Saturday, they had a buffet with so many yummy choices and everything was delicious. 30,000 won for the two of us (roughly $30 USD).

Here is a website with a review: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=140&article=41578&archive=true

Friday, August 1, 2008

Neglectful, I know

I just keep waiting for something exciting and big to happen worth blogging about but then I remember that I am so fascinating that even the most mundane details of my life will thrill you all LOL!!

Snuffles has been gone to Japan all week so Marlena and I have been holding down the fort here at home.

She started coughing this week, which is bad. It means that the worms are getting into her lungs. So she is on complete bedrest. No walks PERIOD. Poor girl. She thinks she's being punished, I'm sure. We went to see the new doctor today and she prescribed some steroids for Marlena to help with the respiratory issues. She also gave me the okay to give Marlena some baby benadryl to help keep her calm. Miss D is so darn peppy!! She wants to run and jump and walk for hours but we just can't let her right now. We shall see if Benadyrl makes her sleepy or if it peps her up.

I also talked with the lady that coordinates the animals for adoption on base, about the cats in the attic. She has some humane traps for me and she and I will be working together to get the cats rescued and out of the attic.

Snuffles and I saw The Dark Knight at the base theater on Sunday before he left. GOOD MOVIE. I went last night and watched Get Smart and that was a fun movie!!

Did you know, on a military base, before the movie starts they play the national anthem? And here at Osan, they play the Korean national anthem as well! Everyone stands and is very respectful. The prices are quite good too. Maximum $4.50 for a ticket (depending on the show, and it's projected popularity, prices vary), and a refillable drink and a medium sized popcorn can be had for $6.25.

I signed up for my Korean language classes! Yay!! When I went to the community center to pay for the classes ($50 for one month, 8 classes), the guy at the desk - an AMERICAN AIRMAN - asked if I was signing up for the ESL class!?!?! LOL! At any rate, every Tuesday and Thursday in August I will spend an hour a day learning to speak Korean. Wish me luck!!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Poor Marlena!

Oh my sweet baby!!

She went to the doctor today to start the heart worm treatment. They did the chest x-ray first and she behaved very well, of course.

Then they shooed me away for a few hours and administered the first of three heart worm shots. From 10:00 AM - 1:30 PM, they kept her for observation.

Apparently she wiggled when they injected her so she is very swollen at the injection site. They said she behaved very well and didn't make a sound but omg . . . when I picked her up she wouldn't even make eye contact with me and she was drooling (vet said it was from stress).

She is so miserable and sore and I feel horrible Frown

They told me to keep an eye on her - watch for coughing, seizures, extreme swelling of the injection site, vomiting. If she is still very sore after a week, call them. She'll go back in a month for the final two shots.

In the meantime she is not to get excited at all. Apparently once the heart worm poison begins to work, as the adult heart worms die off, they can dislodge from the heart and get into the lungs and that can kill her.

She's to be kept calm and confined and only short necessary (bathroom) walks, for a whole month. I'm so glad we have her stroller!

I just feel so bad that my baby girl is unhappy and in pain and there isn't much I can do about it.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Some Photos

Just a few things I've photographed lately.

Who wants to go out and play?!?!
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The chest that me and Snuffles found in the trash pile!
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Close up of some of the art on the doors:
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Marlena's Styling Ride:
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