Veterans

It’s November 11, and as is traditional, it poured all morning!  It’s usually wet, sometimes snowing (not today) and grey all day.  The aircraft flyover seemed smaller than usual, but the number of military in attendance at the Cenotaph seemed larger, so it balanced out.  It’s cool still, and intermittent rain forecast for the rest of the evening.  Jerry is snoring quite loudly on the sofa after being totally overwhelmed by 2 PSWs being here simultaneously.  Both Don’s and mine showed up (his was late) so Jerry was outside to growl and pretend to be vicious.  Don seems to have used up quite a lot of his energy and is comfortable on the sofa as well; he was sawing logs earlier, but is awake now.

My blood pressure has risen to almost normal!  It was an exciting moment when my nurse checked it and saw that it was over 100 for the first time in ages… it was hovering at 75 for a good long while, but inched up over the weekend.  It appears that the IV is helping!  I’m doing pretty well with eating; I’m actually managing a whole frozen meal, which is another improvement and it makes me happy.  I’m scanning the meal provider menus to set up my next order — I’d ordered samples the last time, so now I have an idea of what works and what doesn’t.  Sadly, all the meals with sweet and sour, honey BBQ or even things like General Tso’s all taste like syrup!!  So I’ll drop them from the rotation, but the pastas seem to be better.  

Since it’s Remembrance Dau, please thank a veteran for their service.  I’m not a veteran personally, but my closest friend is and I did work in support of the military for several years.  My friend points out, rightly, that I don’t understand military culture, nor do I understand how disrespected veterans are generally.  I admit, there are elements of military culture that are alien to me… my friend, for instance, every year says that he’s not worthy of his medals or of being acknowledged for his service, but every year he dons his medals and blue beret (UN peacekeeping force) to go to the Cenotaph ceremony.  I truly appreciate the sacrifice that veterans make in serving — there’s a quote that I saw which said “A veteran is someone who, at one point, wrote a blank cheque to the Canadian government for an amount of up to and including their own life.”  Thankfully the majority don’t cash that cheque fully, but there are many whose lives are affected by their service.  Today, especially, it’s important to acknowledge the service of veterans; I’ll just add that they don’t disappear into the background tomorrow, so please continue to support them.

My elder niece is ready to begin job hunting in her field of study, so I’ve been asked to help with cover letters and resumes… I’m happy to do that, of course, although I’ll need to do a little research as her field is outside my expertise.  I had a conversation with her about work and work locations — I asked her to consider how far from home is she willing to go.  She and her mother have different ideas, and I interjected that it’s up to her, but depending on on where work is available, she may need to be aware of either long commutes or moving into her own space.  Mother is not thrilled, niece is a little nervous, but I’ll do what I can to help her select companies close enough that she can live at home and not be in hours-long traffic!

It’s time to unhook my IV, so off I go now.  I’ve got a little work to do to finish the cancer application reviews which were due at 4, but I got an extension to noon tomorrow so I can just quickly review and ensure I haven’t goofed badly!  I may try to finish tonight, we’ll see… Good night!