Friday, January 15, 2010

Trips to the doctor; Grand Island, NE bridal show; Blue Knights trip planning; Utah says goodbye to Deputy Josie Fox

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I’ve always been a wimp when it comes to going to the doctor. I’ve never liked blood & guts, and have a dislike and fear of needles. I remember going to the doctor for a checkup when I was in grade school. The nurse stuck me in the finger for a drop of blood and I fainted. My phobia has never gotten any better.


I’m not sure how I made it through Army basic training. It seemed like about every week we lined up to get shots of some kind. I found out I was not the only person in the world that didn’t like needles. I remember a couple of guys passing out while waiting in line to get shots. The military, in it’s infinite wisdom, did not mess with needles when giving shots to hundreds of people at a time. They used an air gun of sorts, and I found if I held my arms tightly to my sides, the shots did not bother me a whole lot.


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When I got into Law Enforcement, people who knew me asked what I would do when I had to respond to a dead body, a bad crash or a shooting. I didn’t know how I’d react but hoped I would be able to work my way through it. I was able to make it through several incidents early in my career without embarrassing myself.

One thing I learned about going for a physical - when there was a blood draw involved, I could generally get through it by lying down on the examining table. Most everybody who has drawn blood from me was very good at it, and if I felt anything, it wasn’t much. After a while, I could sit up, then stand up and walk and there were no problems. However, I always continued to remind them that I had to lie down.

As a result of a visit to the doctor during the summer of 2002, I learned that I was diabetic. All sorts of images ran through my mind. My grandmother was diabetic and I remember seeing her giving herself shots. Fortunately, I’ve been able to control the diabetes with oral meds and watching what I eat. Sometimes, like during Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s particularly difficult as I LOVE chocolate!!

I’ve found that my regular check-ups cost less if I go to the V.A. for them. However, when I have a blood draw, there’s no place for me to lie down. I keep telling them I need to lie down, but I find myself sitting in a chair. On my last visit, I was all through with the blood draw and thought I was about ready to get out of the chair. The next thing I knew, I had 4 people standing around me and somebody holding a cold cloth to my forehead. I suddenly began to feel nauseous, something that had NEVER happened to me before! That subsided and I decided I could get up and go to the waiting room. As I stood up, a wave of nausea came over me and this time I did throw up.

Now, the same people that thought I did not have to lie down to have a blood draw decided I needed a wheelchair to move around. They wheeled me outside to get some fresh air. During conversation I told the nurse that I hadn’t had anything to eat (the blood draw was after fasting) and she decided to roll me to the canteen for something to eat. Part was down the hallway I started to get that feeling again. She turned me around and we ended up in a sort of emergency room. A cold cup of water, then they brought me a granola bar, which I nibbled on. I got most of it down, then the nausea came back and so did the granola bar.

The doctor stopped and checked on me a couple of times. He asked how I’d gotten to Lincoln and I told him I rode the Gold Wing. He asked how I was going to get home and I told him the same way. He shook his head and told me he didn’t think so. About noon, he came back in to check on me. I was feeling a bit better and he let me walk around a bit, then he walked outside with me. After a while we went back in and I headed for the canteen where I had a light lunch. It all stayed down this time.

When all was said and done, my blood work came back fine. My blood sugars were acceptable and I am still on my oral meds. I continue to try to watch my diet. The doctor has cautioned me against gaining very much weight, and so far that has not been a problem. If the time comes that I end up on insulin, I don’t know what will happen. Hopefully, there will be an oral insulin before that time comes.


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My two older daughters, Heather and Hollie, started a venture together several years ago that they call “Nebraska Wedding Guide.” Hollie has a photo studio in Grand Island, Nebraska called “Hotshots by Hollie.” Hollie has developed a photography business doing senior pictures, babies, weddings, families, children, birthday packages, announcements, holiday cards, dance and sports. Their mother and stepfather own a flower shop in Grand Island and my youngest daughter, Abby, works at the flower shop. As part of the Nebraska Wedding Guide business, Heather and Hollie put on a bridal show twice a year in Grand Island. There are vendors at the show such as other photographers, clothing places, caterers, flower shops, etc. They just finished up doing a bridal show that looks like it was a great success. Jan and I went to Grand Island to help out where we could. Admission to the show was one can of food per person. The food went to one of the local food pantries in Grand Island. At the end of the show, they had collected almost 500 food items for the pantry.
On the drive to Grand Island, we saw snow drifts like we hadn’t seen for YEARS!! It’s no wonder roads were closed as long as they were! Some of the railroads in Nebraska were shut down, including AMTRACK between Hastings and Holdrege, Nebraska. The wind would blow the tracks closed as soon as they were open. However, it looks like there may be some relief in sight as this week promises that the weather is to warm up and there is no precipitation forecasted. We might even be able to get the 2’ berm of ice and snow out of the end of our driveway.

Looking outside right now, the days of getting on the motorcycle and taking a ride seem a long time away, but it’s never too soon to be doing some maintenance and safety checks now. While the motorcycle is in the garage up on the center stand, take a good look at the tires. How much tread is left? Check the tires over carefully for cuts or any other damage. How old are the trires? Are they weather-checked? When I bought my 1984 Gold Wing, the tire tread looked decent, but when I looked closer at the tires, they were badly weather-checked. The rear tire was weather-checked into the cords in the sidewalls. Needless to say, I changed them at the earliest opportunity.

When you need tires, research what tires will give you the best service. Everybody who rides has an opinion on the best tires for their motorcycles. When I got my GL1800, ’d heard horror stories about how poorly the tires wore. I asked the dealer I got it from about tire pressure, and was told to run 40 lbs in the front and 41 in the rear. My front tire lasted 13,000 miles and still had tread when I replaced it. I replaced the rear tire at the beginning of the season last summer at 23,000 miles and it still had fair tread on it.

When I had my ’84 Interstate, I took it to the Harley shop for tires. One of the mechanics there had worked for a Honda dealership for 12 years. I bought what he recommended and was very satisfied as I consistently got 23,500 miles out of the tires and they were still not unsafe to ride on.
While the motorcycle is garaged during the winter, it is a good idea to put a Battery Tender on the battery. This will give the battery a trickle charge when it’s needed, and when it’s fully charged, it will automatically shut off. It can most certainly extend your battery life.

If you’re planning a road trip of any great length, look at your riding gear. Boots, chaps, gloves, helmet. If any of these need to be replaced, do it now. If your trip includes a route through the mountains, consider that a change in elevation means a change in temperatures. We came back from Las Vegas in July 2001 through Colorado. The first day we rode from Las Vegas to Grand Junction, Colorado. The last 100 or so miles, the heat was pretty bad. Jan commented that she was starting to feel a bit light-headed and felt the heat was affecting her. The next day, we rode south to Montrose and then east along the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The highway climbed to over 13,000 feet when we went through Monarch Pass. There was a light rain and it was very cold for that time of the year. Coming out of the pass and continuing east, the weather warmed up again. If we hadn’t been as well prepared as we were, it could have been a miserable ride over Monarch Pass. As it was, it was a bit uncomfortable but we came out of it no worse for wear.

I’ve been trying to decide what route to take coming home from the Blue Knights International Convention in Billings, Montana in July. When we were in Colorado in 2008, we rode to Ft Collins, then west on Hwy 14 along the Poudre River Valley. I’d have loved to have gone farther than Rustic, which was about 21 miles. However, one of the guys had to be back in Greeley early, so we didn’t go any further. I’d have liked to have gone to Steamboat Springs, but it looks like it would be almost a full day each way from Greeley. I’m now thinking of leaving Billings the same way we got there, then fron Casper going southwest on Hwy 220 to Muddy Gap, then 287 south to Rawlins. After an overnight stay at Rawlins, we’d go west on I-80 to Hwy 789, then south to Craig, Colorado. From Craig, we’d take Hwy 40 east to Steamboat Springs. East of Steamboat Springs, we’d take Hwy 14 to complete the ride we started in 2008. If anybody has taken this route please feel free to comment.

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Delta, Utah paid its respects to fallen Millard County, Utah Joise Greathouse Fox on Monday January 11th, 2010. According to the Salt Lake City Tribunethe center where the funeral took place was designed to hold 1,500 people andit was overflowing. Police from across Utah, California, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Montana attended the service. When the services ended, the procession to the cemetery stretched the entire length of the town. Adulta and children lined the streets, creating a tunnel of American flags. There was a two hour delay between the end of the services and the beginning of the graveside services. We must remember that the services were a celebration of the way Deputy Fox lived, not how she died. Rest in Peace, Deputy Fox!



All photos by Salt Lake Trib


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