Writing can be\u00a0a\u00a0catharsis. This is what this Post is all about. Airing out my mind.<\/p>\n
IF .. THE BIG IF ..<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I believe ..<\/p>\n And, as a member of the male sex\u00a0this is my very own personal opinion, but I want you all to know..<\/p>\n I believe that\u00a0IF\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>a woman could remember .. really and truly remember and bring back into her conscious mind ALL of the experiences (morning sickness .. I feel like I weigh a ton .. what is\u00a0with this child inside of me kicking around .. arr-g-g-g\u00a0that labor\u00a0pain sure hurt\u00a0.. my water just broke ..\u00a0it’s time to pant like a puppy .. squeeze down hard .. etc et al) of conceiving and bearing and birthing a child complete with the postpartum depression experience and add in the terrible twos there might be more one child families! Help me out ladies with telling me more of the grief I have no clue about.<\/p>\n In the field of addiction and alcoholism .. One of many factors but at least a MAJOR factor in relapse is the<\/em> inability to remember .. to REALLY<\/span> remember .. how bad it was.<\/em><\/span> We tend to remember only the good times and the positive experiences.<\/p>\n IF\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>I .. your very own Captain .. could remember ..<\/em><\/span>\u00a0REALLY REMEMBER<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>.. how frustrating and agonizing and disgusting and infuriating\u00a0airline travel\u00a0CAN BE\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>(not could but absolutely\u00a0IS<\/strong><\/span>) I simply would\u00a0NOT\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>continue to make these trips.<\/p>\n The trouble being :\u00a0It’s what I do (thanks Payton Manning).<\/p>\n You would think that yours truly has never before been on an airline flight. I seem to completely and blithely\u00a0forget the whole getting-ready-to-go issue that is so difficult\u00a0for me. I seem to forget the hassle it has become to go through security. The trip that Patti and I made yesterday (Detroit to Seattle, Seattle to Anchorage)\u00a0was one\u00a0of my most difficult security experiences ever. You would have thought that this 81-year old, clean cut and\u00a0fairly presentable\u00a0man WAS THE MAN security has been waiting for\u00a0to BUST and thus justify their existence. My CPAP machine was an issue with them. Then my laptop was an issue with them. Then I (as in ME) was an issue for them. I was pat-pat-patted down not once, not twice, but three times. Head to toe with some intense\u00a0attention<\/em><\/span> to the area between my knees and belly button. Most noticeably that area about half way between my knees and belly button. The area\u00a0that starts with the letter ‘c’ and\u00a0rhymes with the words\u00a0notch and\u00a0botch. Patti was wondering what on\u00a0this good earth is\u00a0going on with Cap and security. Well I survived that and we boarded and were seated.<\/p>\n IF\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>I .. your very own Captain .. could remember ..<\/em>\u00a0REALLY REMEMBER<\/em>\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span>how the experience of flying for 5 hours feels. Then how a very\u00a0tight connection in Seattle feels. Then how flying another\u00a03-1\/2 more hours feels. All of this after the packing out to fly scenario played out. After taking one very nasty fall coming down the stairs in our Royal Oak home about 2-hours before we were going to go to Detroit Metro to begin the check in \/ boarding process. We finally got into bed in Anchorage after a 22-hour, two\u00a0flight\u00a0day. Like women and addicts, I seem to\u00a0fail to remember just how a 22-hour flying day feels. Patti and I were both numb when we fell into bed early this morning. Now I have to deal with a small (but significant) 4-hour jet lag.<\/p>\n The flights themselves were nice. We had, on each flight, one 3-seat row to ourselves. Patti sat at the window. I sat\u00a0on the aisle. The seat between us was empty\u00a0as was the area in front of that middle seat and all of\u00a0THAT was great.<\/p>\n Why Me God? What Exactly Did I Do To Deserve This God?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Gullilble, are you tuned in here? What exactly seems to be happening here Gullible?As the flight attendant served Patti and I our dinners (we had to purchase them as dinner was not included on either flight) he looked down at the two of us, smiled, and said..<\/p>\n “I am comping you\u00a0(giving us dinner for free) your dinner.”<\/p>\n To preserve our great relationship, after we picked up our\u00a0truck out of storage,\u00a0I came to the library to give Patti a lot of ‘space’ at the condo to do as she needs to do which is considerable. I wrote Patti a very loving Thank You Card telling her thanks for coming to bed with me at o’dark o’clock last night instead of (as she usually does) staying up for hours to begin her in-processing process.<\/p>\n I had forgotten<\/em><\/span> how PITCH BLACK DARK Alaska can be in November.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I texted a friend that one someday a yet to be experienced\u00a0flight would be my last flight\u00a0ever.<\/p>\n Conclusion : This too shall pass. It always has up to now.<\/p>\n I just updated our TRAVEL PAGE and said that, as of this instant, we two have NO TRAVEL PLANS.<\/p>\n Patti is probably thinking to herself..<\/p>\n “This may not be all bad. I can think of few better places for Cap to run out of energy than to do it here in Anchorage.”<\/p>\n In case the below\u00a0experience quietly\u00a0slipped past you in the fog of the above grief I will repeat it.<\/p>\n About 2-hours before we were due to leave the house and head out to Detroit Metro to begin the check in \/ boarding process, I took\u00a0one very nasty fall<\/em> <\/span>coming down the stairs in our Royal Oak home.<\/p>\n I was not rushing. I was coming down the stair slowly. I was\u00a0focusing on what I was doing. I was\u00a0holding both<\/em><\/span> a right and a left handrail securely. Two steps from the ground floor, the\u00a0back of\u00a0my right heel\u00a0did not clear the step and I fell forward with a scream that awoke Andrej who was sleeping and scared the daylights out of Patti.<\/p>\n The fall was a real bummer. My left hip replacement did not like the\u00a0fall nor did\u00a0my spine\u00a0appreciate it either. I did NOT go down but I sure jolted the dickens out of my body.<\/p>\n Back in November of 2014, as we were about to leave the home in Royal Oak, I took a bad fall in our upstairs bedroom. I stepped on a throw-rug that was on a polished wood floor and down I went onto my back with a thud.<\/p>\n Back in\u00a0\/ around November of the\u00a0year 2010 a friend up in the North was going out\u00a0the door\u00a0of a residence in Fairbanks\u00a0to catch a flight to Arizona to winter.\u00a0He slipped and\u00a0fell and broke his leg and hip in seven places. He was never the same again.<\/p>\n Several winters ago I was walking \/ inching along\u00a0here in Anchorage going out to our trash\u00a0dumpster\u00a0with two canes, each with ice spikes on their ends, and I still fell.<\/p>\n Old people fall and age 81-years is not exactly young. And I\u00a0seem to be\u00a0falling down in spite of my best efforts not to do so.<\/p>\n There is no answer to this. IF you want to get from Detroit to Anchorage, you will fly. IF you stop over and stay a night or two in Seattle, that is costly and you then start anew with security in Seattle.<\/p>\n Well I think the time has come (as the Walrus said) to close this Post off and press publish.<\/p>\n “Publish it? Why not just delete this entire mess Captain.”\u00a0 \/Sign us \/ The committee within your head.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Hanging in with fingers and toes..<\/p>\n Patti and Cap<\/p>\n After I get home, after Patti proof-reads this, the two of us are going out to Piper’s for nachos. This I do know : After a good nights sleep, things will certainly look better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Writing can be\u00a0a\u00a0catharsis. This is what this Post is all about. Airing out my mind. IF .. THE BIG IF .. I believe .. 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