Tag Archives: partner

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Dance!

I took this at the 2023 Swinging by the Sound Dance weekend in Port Townsend, Washington. This is the dance contest at the live band dance in the evening. The ballroom is at our American Legion Hall and has a fabulous floor to dance on. I was volunteering, since my lungs still were not up to that much dancing.

I do love to dance, though, and plan to for as long as I can. It helps with balance and reduces fall risk, too! My ex says it’s the most fun you can have with people standing up.

Jonathan Doyle led the band and they were and are fabulous.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: ballroom.

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Eating his words

After today’s international zoom on Cardiovascular Complications of Long Covid, I am thinking about one of my former partners. An ex-partner.

I got influenza in 2003. I was working full time plus all the call, had two small children, my mother had died two years before of cancer, and I was worrying about my marriage. Quite a stress load. I got influenza, running a temperature of 104 for a week and tachycardic. My heart rate was 100 at rest instead of my normal 62, and when I walked across the room slowly, it went up to the 130s or above and I got short of breath. I did not figure that out the fast heart rate immediately.

I tried to go back to work a week after I was out. By lunch time I thought, I feel like I’m dying. I stuck the pulse oximeter on my finger. My heart rate standing was 135. Oh. Normal is 60-100 and 135 is not ok. It’s exhausting. My office manager chose that moment to call me into her office and scold me for missing work. I was so freaked out by my heart rate that I did not show ANYONE in my clinic. I left and went to my physician, upstairs in the same building.

The tachycardia continued for two months.

I didn’t understand it, my Family Practice doctor didn’t understand it, and my partners accused me of malingering and were pissed. My instinct was to lie on the couch, so that’s what I did. Rest and wait. That level of tachycardia makes a person anxious, so my communication skills were challenged. After six weeks, I had an echocardiogram, which was normal EXCEPT for a fast heart rate. After two months, it went away. I staggered back to work, still frail and tired, and still down ten pounds.

One of my partners said, “I could understand you being out two months for heart disease or cancer, but not for influenza.”

At the time I didn’t say anything. That comment really, really hurt. I told myself that I should TRY to be a nice person and not wish that he would get a bad case of pneumonia with tachycardia. That took some major effort on my part.

Now with all the people with a fast heart rate after Covid-19, he can eat his words.

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pair

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: partners.

My plumbing, from the 1930s, backed up yesterday. I pay for emergency service, but they came four hours after I called. I did damage control and then really wanted a shower. My boat is docked at the port, so I went and used the port showers. Whew. That felt better. Plumbing is fixed, hooray.

This pair were swimming in the port when I got there. Snapped with my cell phone. I think they are Barrow’s goldeneye or Common goldeneye ducks. Small diving ducks. They headed away quickly when they realized I was watching.

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Spare the rod

You say you want a partner to join in work or love
It bothers me to hear you say those words
sand inside my clothes

a partner is someone that you respect and listen to
I hear a disconnect between your words and plan
someone to improve upon

You’ve chosen your next target for this thoughtfully
I can see that your plan would work quite well
practical and logical

I do not think that he will bend to your desire
Carved and polished, obedient as wood
sanded to a shine

Earthquakes and fire shake and forge our world
I stand in awe before the forces on us all
that make us grow

There is only one that you should try to change
The stubborn foe that eyes you when you shave
will keep you busy

And God will gild the lily

I took the photo in 2012 from the Kai Tai Lagoon in one of our rare snows. It looks like a magic castle on a hill to me.
I published this on everything.com today too.