Bad Backs and Las Vegas on Tap

Yep. It happened again, Lucy. The back that I tweaked on Saturday with the Ditch Witch seemed to be getting better, but took a nasty turn on Friday and I spent the weekend with back spasms and hunched over like Quasimodo. My planned golf game was a casualty of the bad back as I was up early on Saturday morning and took a shower, but wasn't able to bend over to put my socks on. It was one of those glorious late Winter days with a high blue sky and temperatures that would top out in the low seventies. As painful as it was to pass up the opportunity to play, I knew that if I did play, I'd be in even more pain. Reluctantly, I called the guys who were together on the driving range hitting balls and waiting for me to arrive.

Darla took off to do some errands and to spend some time with her Mom and Dad who were at Alicia's house. I sat in my recliner trying to get comfortable and feeling sorry for myself. This weekend was supposed to be my time to finish the sprinkler project in the backyard and get things cleaned up for our trip to Vegas. The other problem is that the pool company is coming out today to redo the transition area between the deep end of the pool and the stamped concrete deck. I wanted to have the sprinkler pipe installed because I need them to bury the flexible hose for the drip system under the flagstone. I guess, in retrospect, I could have just laid the pipe over the path and put a note for them to bury it.

However, I pushed myself up and spent most of Saturday laying pipe and using the purple primer and PVC glue to lay in the sprinklers. I got the main yard done and the risers done in the raised bed above the waterfalls and finally quit for the day at about 5:30 PM. Darla came home in the middle of my project and said, "You're Fired, Ken Lyon!" I figured what more could I do to mess up my back, it was already shot? I asked Darla to clear out the tub in our bathroom (she likes to keep plants in the tub) and to run a hot bath.

I soaked for about 15 minutes as the water was only lukewarm and it seemed to loosen up my back a little. The key word here is "seemed". I agreed to take Darla out to dinner at Pete's Italian restaurant and we got dressed and headed over. My back started to spasm in the truck and I had a huge spasm as I got out of the truck and shuffled into the restaurant. Darla parked the truck and met me inside. They gave us a table close to the door and I pulled my chair out and sat down. Unfortunately, every time I attempted to lift myself off the chair to scoot it into the table, my back would spasm. Finally, Darla just scooted the table over to me and we ordered our salads and some pizza. I suffered through the meal, sitting sideways on the chair to release the stress on my back. I told her to take care of the bill and that I would go and try to walk off the back pain. She pushed the table back and I stood up and had a huge spasm that caused me to fall back into the chair and yell "shit!" I struggled up and left, shuffling along the walkway to the car. Darla came along shortly after and told me that the people at the table next to us were concerned and asked if her husband was okay. Darla replied, "He's fine, he just has Turrets syndrome". Nice.

Sunday we skipped church as I didn't want to walk the distance from the car to the church and then sit for 90 minutes. I did, however, finish the sprinklers in the yard while Darla took off for Ripon (outside Stockton) to visit her grandfather on his "80 something" birthday. The work on Sunday was tougher as I had to trench on the far side of the pool where we couldn't get through with the trencher the week before. My back was really acting up and I took frequent breaks to rest. I ended up hunched over with real pain in my lower back and finally quit after refilling the trenches and bringing the flex hose up to the edge of the flagstone walkway. I left a note on the pipe to have them bury it and also talked to the pool company about what I wanted done. They will be out there this morning and I hope that at least one of the crew can read English.

I called my Bowen therapist, Harry, and he called me back on Sunday and told me that he's booked both Monday and Tuesday and good luck with the back. He also gave me the number of Jane Saro in Antelope who is quickly becoming my "go to" Bowen person. She helped me after Christmas when Harry was on a two week vacation. I called Jane and she had three openings for today and I took the first one available at two-thirty this afternoon.

I probably wouldn't have come in to work today because of my back, but I have a new underwriter starting today. Work is really going well this year. Through two months we are up 38% over 2006 and we're up over 55% in February. We have a contest going on right now where the branch that has the highest percentage of premium gain in the first three months will be rewarded with a $500 per employee bonus. Our New Jersey office was up 66% in January and took a big lead, but we put up a big number for February, so it will be interesting to see how this all filters out.

I talked to Jennifer a couple of times over the weekend. She is in Vegas and the weather is great. John and she got there on Saturday and have been visiting with John's Dad. The golf has taken a little hit as Al decided that $89 is too expensive for golf. I thought about changing our tee time to Thursday, but Randy doesn't get in until Thursday night. Randy is thinking about having Chris join us on the course and if he does then we'll have Daniel play as well. I will try to get out and hit some balls on Thursday. I may be able to talk Darryl into taking Dan's clubs and playing a game on Thursday.

Dad and Shirley are off to Vegas today and Sherry arrives on Tuesday. Darla, Daniel and I arrive Wednesday night. Darryl and Cheryl get there Wednesday night. Randy, Cake and Chris get there late Thursday night, Al arrives Thursday and, finally, David flies in Friday afternoon. We are all off to dinner at PF Chang's on Friday night and the Clapton concert is Saturday night. Fun times are in store and I look forward to it. Dad and Shirley are going to the Circus Soleil presentation of "O" at the Bellagio on Wednesday night. We all chipped in and got them tickets which are four rows from the front of the theater.

Well, this is a little thin, but there is only so much I can write about gimphood. Hopefully, the Bowen treatment today knocks me back into shape and the only concern is having to lift all of my winnings in Vegas. That could knock my back out all over again. Ciao.