Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Sumac & Sphygmomanometer

*
Circumstances of today prompted me to be out driving around. Not that I wanted to be. I tried to make the most of it, though, by finding this backroad guarded by long-lasting sumac heads standing tall and proud:



The reason for being out and about was that I needed to run my son to the doctor to have his sore throat assessed. The basketball coach is worried that his players might turn up too sick to play in the important sectional game coming up later this week. Let's see......that's about $90 for a friendly little chat with the doctor, and another $50 or so for a strep test, which was negative. Shall I bill the coach? Wish I could. You, of course, will know which one of the items in the photo is a sphygmomanometer. While working in a hospital as an LPN eons ago, I used one of those gizmos many times per day. I always felt the accuracy of readings could be iffy and possibly imprecise.......varying from one nurse's ear to another.
Later on, after depositing my son back at his school......I was involved in another drive-by shooting.......with a camera, of course:
*
Here's the Wikipedia article about Aldo Leopold, for whom the wetland pictured above is named. And, here's another informative article about Aldo Leopold. See, blogging helps me learn.
*
Seriously, I am going to try NOT to blog for awhile. Its like a disease.......the blogging bug creeps in and takes over my brainwaves. I should have asked the doctor to run a blogococcus test on me today!
*
Stay warm and well.
*

12 comments:

Gail said...

Why would you try not to blog? I truly enjoy your postings and would miss you if you stayed away!

Anonymous said...

Gail asks a good question. May as well try not to breathe for a while.

Is there a local Aldo Leopold connection that causes the wetland to be named after him? His Sand County Almanac is on my list of favorite books.

GeckoGirl said...

Awww Jeanelle....if you're not gonna post for awhile; then can Buster take over?? I don't mind reading posts from a dogs point of view....and he has such a cute nose!! I know my little Tessie would love to have a "paw-pal"!

Kat Mortensen said...

Phew! I thought this was something to do with a sigmoidoscopy! Glad to hear neither you nor your son required that!

There's a 12-step program, or so I've heard. They'll have to drag me kicking and screaming!

Kat

Jeannelle said...

Gail,

What a sweet comment. Mostly, I'm mad at myself for not getting out and reading other blogs much lately.

********

Sempringham,

I should be ashamed to say that all I know about Aldo Leopold is that he was an Iowa native and very interested in the environment. I thought perhaps he taught at Iowa State, but a quick Google search told me it was the U of Wisconsin-Madison.

There's a huge tract of wetland along the Wapsipinicon River that comprises the Aldo Leopold wetland. Lots of interesting birds to see there at various times of the year.

**********

Oregon tribal,

Thank you for your kind comment, too. I'll see if I can infect Buster with the blogging bug....

*********

Poetikat,

See, I think I need to take blogging lessons from you.....blog every few days instead of every day. Thanks for swinging by.

Country Girl said...

Why are you bothering to fight it? There's no escaping it. The blogging is in your heart; it's in your soul.

And your blood pressure cuff is easier to say than its proper name.

Caution/Lisa said...

I've had a few of those, "Please take your child to the doctor," calls from teachers this year. Lots of $$ money to find out that, of course, my child is healthy.

I do hope there's no blogococcus test out there because that would surely give way to a blogococcus vaccine, and THAT is something I would never want to get.

rhymeswithplague said...

Well, I had never heard of Aldo Leopold at all, he was as foreign to me as Pol Pot, except that I have heard of Pol Pot. And I was longing for the I-didn't-know-what-it-was-called-before bloggococcus bug to strike for the past few days. I couldn't think of one thing to blog about, but did manage to throw together a little potpourri of a post this morning. You have no idea how relieved I felt when bloggococcus finally showed up. Am I admitting to an addition? I hope not.

Jeannelle said...

Country Girl,

You speak from experience, I know that.....you are a blogger extraoirdinaire (sp?). Thanks for the encouraging words. Your lighthouse photo was so beautiful, I actually ventured over to PW to read about the photo "actions".

*********

Caution,

Oh, yeah, we all get drawn into running to the doctor with our kids. Just think what it was like in the old days before antibiotics and other modern remedies. We are so fortunate.

I'd never willingly take the bloggococcus vaccine, either....they'd have to tranquilize me first.

********

rhymsie,

I would rather be known as Aldo Leopold than Pol Pot, that's for sure.

Its nice to be able to diagnose yourself concerning the bloggococcus germ.....and treat it....by blogging!

But, I must ask.....are you admitting to an "addition"? Please do tell us more about that!


********

rhymeswithplague said...

LOL! I meant addiction! (Sometimes when I post I get my tongue wrapped around my eye teeth and I can't see what I'm saying...)

Patti said...

"sphygmomanometer... I always felt the accuracy of readings could be iffy and possibly imprecise.......varying from one nurse's ear to another."
I'd love to see you use it on a nurse's ear...;)

Jeannelle said...

rhymsie,

That's OK.....it was fun to catch you in a teeny-tiny mistake, because you never make any in your writing.

********

Patti,

Um....I'm not sure what you're getting at. A stethoscope is used with the sphygmomanometer to take blood pressure readings. The nurse ascertains the BP reading by listening through the stethoscope while watching needle on the gauge as the pressure is released from the tightened armband. I simply meant that each nurse may hear the results a little bit differently. Sorry I didn't make that clear.