Yesterday morning at 8:30 or so, I had my first MRI. I don't know how similar my experience is to others', but it wasn't bad at all. I had ear plugs that deadened the noise, and since the test was for my shoulder, I was only partially immersed into the tunnel. It was lit, there was fresh air, and the upper inside was far enough from my face that I didn't feel claustrophobic at all. The only hard part of the whole experience was being unable to tie the gown since I can't reach behind myself with my left arm. If you think the sound of one hand clapping is interesting, try imagining the image of one hand trying to tie something.
After we left the clinic, we headed to GVSU so my husband could get a flu shot. (I'd had mine at my doctor's office on Monday.) On the way there, we were pulled over and given a speeding ticket. The officer pulled over two cars. He let the other driver go (because she was female? because we had an Obama-Biden decal and she didn't?), and now my husband will have to pay probably a lot of money because we were doing 70 in a 60 mph construction zone. (Or so the officer said. I wasn't looking at the speedometer, but it didn't seem that we were going that fast.) There were no workers present, and the road had just narrowed to one lane when the officer saw us. That won't make much of a difference when it comes to the cost of the ticket since last week, a road construction worker was hit by a car. Whenever that happens, the ensuing media blitz means that officers have to ticket more people to show that they are trying to end the speeding in construction zones. (Where are these officers when people are zipping around me trying to get ahead of me when I'm the one driving the speed limit and already moved over into the lane that will stay open?)
Anyway, that was a blight on an otherwise okay day. We tackled the grocery store later in the day since apparently my husband hadn't replenished any of the food in the house since I'd been home last. There was nothing to eat except eggs and bologna. I halfway starve all week at school since I eat mostly those little heat-and-eat microwave meals, and so I want fresh food when I come home.
Yesterday was my husband's brother's birthday. Harvey turned 60, something he was dreading. My advice to my spouse was to make his retired-state-trooper brother happy by telling him about the speeding ticket, but he didn't tell him. We do still wonder why the trooper gave us a ticket but not the woman who'd practically rear-ended us coming up behind us so fast that she'd had to brake. Sadly, having seen with my own eyes that police officers will target certain motorists for "driving while black," or for having certain political messages on their cars, I don't put it outside the realm of possibility that this officer was a McCain supporter who thought he had himself a chance to stick it to an Obama supporter. (Maybe he thought we were black until he pulled us over.) Certainly, he took his own sweet time calling in my husband's license and registration, and he acted downright disappointed that we weren't driving a stolen car or that we didn't have past infractions that he could add to his list of grievances.
Another thing we did yesterday was to pick up our absentee voter ballots. I do hope that Obama wins. Maybe a win by a person of color will do a lot to change the prejudice that exists in this country. Maybe it won't change a thing. Maybe it'll make things worse. But my bet is that it will help bigots to see that a black man can be an honest, intelligent, ethical president. After all, we tried having a good ol' white boy with the IQ of a turnip (George Six-Pack), and look where it got us. Mike, if you're reading, I've been recalling how often we lamented the 2000 election and how often we predicted the worst. I don't know about you, but everything bad that I imagined would happen has been only half as bad as what DID happen. My imagination didn't stretch far enough to cover 9/11, the invasion of Iraq, the widespread invasion of privacy, the collapse of our economy.... I could go on, but it's a moot point. Soon the era of George II will end, though the stench will follow us into history.
The word "stench" reminds me that I had another encounter with a stink bug at Betty's house. Having killed one, only to suffer the olfactory consequences, I was determined to find a way to deal with this second stink bug that didn't involve having to open the windows to air out the room. Living in one bedroom, as I do at Betty's house, I didn't have a lot of options at my disposal, but I did have a can of apple-cinammon air freshener, which I sprayed on the stink bug several times. When I left on Thursday morning, the bug was still clinging to the side of the night table. It hadn't moved all night long. Perhaps I cemented it into place with the aerosol mist. Maybe it died. I don't know. I'll certainly check for it when I return Monday night.
In another Betty-related bit of news, the dog Sasha has come up missing. She was there on Monday night (I heard her barking). Then Betty told me Wednesday evening that Sasha had been missing since early that day. Thursday morning as I was leaving, Betty said the dog still had not returned. Sasha is a huge reddish dog, and Michigan is in the middle of bow-hunting season. It's my guess that some over-awed deer hunter thought he'd bagged himself a deer, only to find the dog tags and collar on a distinctly canine-looking animal. I hope not. Sasha isn't a bad dog. I don't like for her to sit in my lap or try to knock me down when she jumps on me, but she's very sweet if you just rub her ears for her. And I know having her there makes Betty feel safer.
As usual, there's laundry to do, so I'd better get going. I didn't bring my dirty clothes home last week, so now there's two weeks' worth to wash and dry.
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