Today's Chapter - In Which Orion Has A Senior Moment



Today is the deadline for controlled hunt applications. For Oregon Game Management Units which have more potential hunters than the game populations will support, there is a lottery for the limited number of tags for hunts of a given species. Today, at 9:00 PM. I once read a warning in the annual synopsis of seasons and regulations that even if you were in line at the time of the deadline, the ODFW computers quit taking applications at precisely 9:00 PM.

Today was hectic. I began with crossing the Columbia River to Washington, to see patients in a skilled nursing facility (SNF). My Nurse Practitioner colleague and I split the multiple admissions and discharges, and reviewed the status of the twenty plus people we had there. While there, I got an electronic message that a home bound foster home resident had a productive cough. I left the SNF at 1:30, and stopped for lunch on the way to the foster home. En route to the foster home, I got the call that a friend and mentor had sustained injuries in a midnight lawnmowing accident, and was seeking advice. I hang up the phone and hear on the radio that the Banfield Freeway, the main route from where I was to where I was going, was closed to all traffic both ways by a fatality accident . A woman had lost control of her car, hit and flew over the concrete median, and landed on a policeman going to a memorial service for policemen. I was flying straight into these conditions:

"Traffic was shut down today in both directions on the six-lane freeway for hours. It caused backups along Interstates 5 and 205, snarled local streets nearby and drew curious onlookers to the freeway overpasses."

Evasive action ensued. The ill and the injured were visited, and care was rendered. This got me home with ten whole minutes to kill before time for Elizabeth and I to leave for our shotgun lesson.

The trip home included a trip to the grocery store, to procure the list given by Headquarters. Once home, Dan's therapist had some pressure in her ears, and didn't resist when I offered to take a look with my look-in-the-ear-oscope. That done, it was time to fire up the grill. I was turning the steak tips for the first (and if done properly only) time when Elizabeth asked:

"Oh Dad, did you put in for our tags today?"

Time: 8:24 PM

I practically tossed them the tongs and answered their questions about how to finish the process while getting in my car.

Time: 8:42 PM. I am in line for controlled hunt applications at GI Joe's. The two guys in front of me are not terribly organized, and are still making selections from the synopsis as the clerk waits for their decisions. I am anxious

Time: 8:48 PM. I have purchased the hunt applications with twelve minutes to spare, thanks to my daughter's timely reminder.

That just leaves dinner, a Danny bath, some "quality time" with the family, and blogging.

Let 'er buck.

Posted: Mon - May 15, 2006 at 11:17 PM        

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