My brother and I went to Florida for this past weekend to see our father. I left on Friday and came back on Monday. My father had a back operation in December, and while he didn't want us to come see him then, he finally agreed, now that he is up and walking around, to have us visit in March.
Since last July I have been working basically two full-time jobs. Forty hours a week as a medic and then fifty-six hours every two weeks as a clinical coordinator -- a routine that leaves me with one day off every fourteen. I like both jobs (particularly in this economy), but I really did need some time off.
I hadn't flown for several years so the tube of Suntan lotion I bought the night before I had to pitch at the entrance to the security gate because it was an 8 ounce tube and not the smaller permissible size. And then since they went to e-ticketing, it seems they no longer save the exit rows for tall people to request at the gate so I was stuck with my legs pressed up against the seat in front of me.
For food, there was no TV-type dinner, just a tiny bag of peanuts. The stewardess actually gave me two bags and a foil wrapped cookie. I also got half a Diet Coke from the other stewardess. I guess they are called flight attendants now or uniformed flight crew.
At least I had several newspapers and magazines to pass the time. I buy Men's Health, Time, Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone when I fly along with USA Today, the New York Times and the local paper. On a three hour flight I get a good sense of what is going on in the county. I learned what "twittering" was. I had never heard of it before, but it was mentioned in nearly every publication. I did get a little depressed in reading the cover story of the Rolling Stone about the cast of a TV show called Gossip Girl, and how the cast members were complaining of lack of anonymity. Well, I am out of touch, I could have been sitting next to one of them on the plane and not know it. But that wasn't nearly as depressing as reading about the AIG scandal. I don't even want to go there.
It was good flight, and I was glad to see my Dad and my brother. We went out to eat twice (I had two beers on the first night, two beers on the second and then three and a half with dinner on the last night when we went to a sports bar(the half was finishing my brother's third). I love drinking beer, but working everyday I just don't anymore. I would have gladly had more, but the occasion wasn't right).
We went to a spring training game where it rained steadily for three hours before they started the game. We left after two hours. Just going to the ballpark and having a hot dog was good enough. I managed to go running twice -- it was more humid than Connecticut, but I managed to do four miles on my last run. I am slowly getting back into shape after a long chest cold this winter.
On the last day, we went to the beach where there was crazy surf. There were 100 surfboarders and no swimmers -- at least until I arrived. One of my few talents is that of a body surfer (due mainly to my thin 6'8" frame). I did hesitate before entering the water. It was rough out there, and since it had been a few years since I had been in the ocean, I wondered if maybe my bones were now to frail for the onslaught of the waves, if I would get caught up in a rip tide and carried out to see. But I ventured forth anyway and did battle with the waves, crashing through them, or diving under them, or jumping over them, and when just the right wave came, I'd dive in front of it, my arms outstretched, my head tucked down, and caught up in the powerful wave, I'd ride in to the beach till the wave stranded me on the sand, and then I'd turn and run back out. I caught quite a few good rides, and felt refreshed and alive.
We watched a lot of basketball on TV and talked about the stock market. The market has been rough on people with fixed incomes. My father was a cautious investor and seems to have protected himself okay with more bonds and declining amount of stocks as he has gotten older. He had some stories to tell about heavily invested neighbors looking for work in their seventies. Me, I don't think I'll have to worry about retiring too soon and living off my portfolio. I expect to be working into my seventies even with a good stock market if we have one again (which I expect we will as all things are cyclical). I don't see much other choice. I do not play the lottery.
It was a nice trip. We laughed over old times and promised that next time we would bring our girls down. While my father enjoys Florida and his wife clearly loves her golf and bridge groups, I think he misses the grandchildren and going to kid's soccer and baseball games. I definitely need to make some time to get down there and bring the grandchildren to him.
The flight back was a little rough on the landing and left me a little queasy, but the 28 degree air snapped me out of that. I was tired when I got home, but there was no better sight than being met at the top of the stairs by my fourteen month old, who was jumping up and down and saying Dada. Later when we read books, I was delighted to see that she had added a monkey imitation to her already prodigious collection of animal impersonations (cow, tiger, snake, wolf.)
So here I am today back at work. It was good to get away. I feel like a better paramedic than I was when I left.
