Norris Family Blog

Linda's New Job

Linda came home a few days ago and was worried about a test she was going to have to take. She had been offered a job as a full time aide at the elementary school and they now required each new employee to take the test. There was a booklet she had brought home with her explaining the test and showing examples of the questions on the test. Linda was mainly worried about the Algebra problems. We talked about the test and she studied the booklet a little while before going to bed. The next morning, Linda went to town and took the test. She was gone for over three hours, but when she came home, she was smiling and said she had passed the test. The school had Linda begin work on Monday, doing office work this week until the kids start school.

Posted by Dave at 7:00 PM
Categories: Current Events

Jury Duty

For three months I have been reporting for jury duty. The first two times I showed up at the courthouse and waited in the court room until my name was called, then after the jury had been picked, the judge would release the rest of us and I would go home. Today was different, this time the court room was filled with prospective jurors and people were also standing outside the door. It took a long time to call everyone's name and have them respond. Then the clerk began calling jurors to be set on the current case. I was the first one called. I moved to the seats for the jury and remained until 33 other jurors had been seated. Then the judge swore us all in and read the charges against the defendant. It was a double murder case, OH CRAP! He introduced the defendant and all the attorneys, then he began asking questions of all of us jurors. If we would have answered yes, we were to raise our hands. The questions were simple and easy to answer, like, "Are you related to the defendant or any of the attorneys?" No. "Do you already have an opinion of the case?" No. "Are you involved in any way with any of the attorneys?" Yes, my hand went up. The judge called on me and I said, "I am friends with one of the attorneys and co-own property with him." That was a red flag for the defendant's attorney and she asked to approach the bench. The judge agreed and called me to the bench also. So, there I stood, in front of the judge with 4 attorneys surrounding me. Two were asking questions and I was giving answers, 4 or 5 questions. They wanted me to say that I would believe my lawyer friend's statements more than someone else. But I said, "Not really, but if you don't trust me, that's OK." The judge laughed. The attorneys looked at each other like they didn't know what to say next, so the judge took over. He asked me if I considered my lawyer friend as my "family attorney", I said "Yes." The judge said, "Thank you, you're dismissed." I thanked the judge and left the courtroom. I did not want to be on a jury, let alone a double murder trial's jury.
I returned to the farm and picked up Stacey, who had been staying with Regina while I was at the courthouse. We noticed that the Garmons had cut the hay across the creek from the house and Larry Anderson had cut the hay down the road and across the creek.

Stacey's diecast NASCAR model had came in the mail, so we took it out of the box and Stacey and I put it in the display case down at the pole barn. Jimmie Johnson was the winner of the Brickyard 400 this year and his car had a black paint job instead of the blue that Lowe's usually has on his car.

It looks like we have room for next year's winning car in our "Winners' Row" and then we will have to do something else.

Posted by Dave at 5:30 PM
Categories: Current Events

Valerie, Bob and Family Visit

Tuesday afternoon the phone rang and it was Bob Bankson, our nephew. He was in Daytona Beach, with his family, and he said they were going to stop by our farm on their way back to IN. I gave him directions and told him we would be here.
Wednesday evening about 7 PM. they pulled the motor home into the driveway and rang the door bell. We welcomed Valerie and Bob and their kids into the house. Valerie introduced the kids to us, Annalise Kirsten, Christopher and Graham. We sat down and talked for a while, then let them look through the house. I showed Bob the tractor shed and the pole barn. The girls and kids joined us a few minutes later. We laughed as we listened to their stories about their vacation in Florida. We brought up a few stories of our trips to Disney World and the beaches. The two young boys were getting sleepy, so we loaded into the Mule and went back to the house. I covered up the two boys and Kirsten and soon they were asleep. Annalise continued to talk. It sounded like they had a great time staying in their motor home while on their vacation. We enjoyed a few pieces of chocolate pie and lemon pie that Linda had made for their visit. We thought they were going to stay the night and sleep in the motor home, but they decided to leave just before midnight and drive at least part of the way home and then maybe sleep a little while before finishing their trip. Valerie was worried about getting home in time to register the kids for school the next day. Bob carried the boys to the motor home and those that were awake gave us hugs and we all said good bye.
It was really nice to see Bob again, it had been a long, long time. He has a great family and they all seem to get along great. We had a real nice visit that was too short. We told them to come back soon and to keep in touch.

Posted by Dave at 1:00 AM
Categories:

Stacey And The Hospital

Friday morning at 8:30, I was setting in the living room and heard some commotion in Stacey's room. I quickly went in there and Stacey was staggering around. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was feeling jerky. We went into the living room and I had her set down on the couch. I began talking to Stacey and I could tell she was going deeper into a stupor. I quickly grabbed the Valium and gave her two 5 mg tablets by mouth. We sat there and I tried to keep Stacey's attention, but she was slipping away. At 8:55, Stacey had a grand mal seizure. After the seizure ended, I put on my shoes, opened the garage door, opened the car door, opened the door from the house to the garage and then I carried Stacey to the car. I pushed her into the car seat and closed the door. I tossed Coco back into the house, started the car and backed out of the garage. We rode to the hospital and went to the ER. They came out with a wheel chair and I sat Stacey in the chair. We went inside and I began explaining what had happened as the ER nurse was examining Stacey. A few minutes later a woman doctor came in and I told her about Stacey's condition and how the hospital usually treated Stacey's problem. The EMT on duty started an IV and the nurse administered 5 mg of Valium through the IV line. Stacey's mind cleared up a little and she was able to mumble a few things to the doctor and nurse. The doctor called Dr Zhu in Bowling Green for advice on treatment procedure and then admitted Stacey for 24 hour observation. I called Linda and she left work at the school and joined us in the ER. About a half hour later, they moved Stacey to a room in the hospital. Stacey ate her lunch around 12:30 PM, then laid back and went into a deep stupor again. She was given more Valium, but it seemed as each hour passed she would respond less and less to verbal stimulation and the doses of Valium were having less affect. When Pauline and Brent arrived with Julie and Kyle, Stacey was not acknowledging anything. They left and went back to the farm to get ready for their friends to show up. They had planned a birthday party for Brent and we were supposed to take care of their kids. I told Linda to go to the farm and take over on Julie and Kyle, that I would remain at the hospital with Stacey. Our neighbor, Regina Jones stopped in to see how Stacey was doing. Then a little later, Stephannie and Tommy Young came in with Jason to check on Stacey. Around 9:30 PM, Stacey had a lot of trouble and I asked the nurse to give Stacey more Valium. This time it seemed to have more affect as Stacey went into a restful sleep. She slept decently until they woke her at 3 AM for a blood pressure check, then the involuntary movements began again and she needed more Valium. That was the last time they administered Valium. As daylight came, Stacey gradually woke up and was doing better with each hour that passed. By breakfast time, she was setting up and was able to eat her breakfast. After breakfast, Linda came to the hospital with Julie and Kyle. I kept the kids in the ER waiting area while Linda went to Stacey's hospital room. Linda dressed Stacey in clothes she had brought to the hospital, then Julie, Kyle and I went to the room. After about 20 minutes of letting the kids she how Stacey was doing, Linda took them back to the farm. Dr Rice came in and wanted Stacey to stay another night in the hospital, but I told him she was dressed and ready to go to the house. He changed his mind and said if Stacey made it to supper time without needing any more Valium, he would release her to go home. Stacey ate a good lunch, took a nap or two and was ready to go at 6 PM. The nurse removed her IV, we signed the paperwork and went home.

Posted by Dave at 11:00 AM
Categories: Current Events

Follow Up On Stacey

About 9:30 AM we left home and went to the clinic by the Cumberland County Hospital. I talked with the nurses and they spoke with Dr Rice, who wrote out an order that Stacey needed "brand name medications as a medical necessity". I told them I was headed to Bowling Green to talk with Dr Zhu, Stacey's neurologist, about the same thing. One nurse sent me after Stacey's medical records since Dr Zhu had requested a copy of what had been done at the hospital. I picked those up before making the 75 minute drive to Bowling Green. We went inside the Graves-Gilbert Clinic and up to the receptionist at Dr Zhu's office. They checked us in and sent us right into the examination room. Two minutes later, Dr Zhu came in and we began talking. First we discussed Stacey's current condition, then what had happened at the hospital and then why we thought it had happened. Dr Zhu and I agreed that changing from brand name to generic medications approximately one month ealier had probably brought on this episode since Stacey had been controlled without any seizures for three and a half years. Dr Zhu expressed his frustration with Coventry Cares for their blanket policy of taking everyone off of the brand name meds and putting them on generics. He then explained how they treated physicians that attempted to get their patients back on brand names by putting them on hold and denying the doctors recommendations. OK, we were all in agreement on that issue.

Posted by Dave at 11:00 PM
Categories: Current Events

TVA Power Line Work

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has been working in our area. They are constructing a new 161 K-volt power line from a transmission line to Burkesville. They purchased right of way over our property and the permission to construct two sets of poles too. The last three or four days they have been stringing the wires for the power line.

A large truck with a "U" shaped device on the end of a telescoping boom has been positioned in our hay fields to keep any ropes or wires from touching the lower voltage power transmission lines running along the creek.

A helicopter was pulling ropes from one hilltop to another hilltop on the opposite side of the valley.

Julie and Kyle were playing on Nancy and Steve's driveway while Nancy and Linda watched the helicopter do it's work.

The copter had to pull five ropes across the valley and the workers then attached the steel power lines to the ropes. The workers said each of the wires were about two miles long and had to be pulled through several towers before crossing the valley to the other side and then through more towers before being attached to other sections of wire.

While the power lines were being pulled the helicopter was being used to fly the length of the wire and see if any snags were occuring. The guy on the outside of the copter also removed any limbs that were hanging on the lines.

They landed in our hay field and two other workers had assembled fiberglass balls, that are placed on the lines to ward off airplanes, the workers gave the guy riding outside on the helicopter one of the balls.

He held the fiberglass ball as the helicopter pilot flew the copter back to the power line.

The pilot held the copter in places as the worker placed the ball on the line and tightened the bolts and nuts that held it in place. When the worker was tightening the bolts, he was jerking the copter around in the air. This looked extremely dangerous from down on the ground where Stacey and I were watching.

This operation took about ten minutes per ball. Then the helicopter flew back to the truck and trailer and they picked up another ball.

The pilot and worker attached five of the fiberglass balls to the lines and were done.

Posted by Dave at 3:00 PM
Categories: Current Events, Farm

Cruisin'

We left early for town, stopped at the restaurant and ate, then drove the 65 Mustang to the Courthouse Square and met some other car club members. We pulled away from the square about 8:15 and drove towards Glasgow, then turned south and went to Dry Fork for the Rolling Rods 5th Annual Fall Cruise In. There were lots of cars already in the park when we arrived and parked our vehicles. I'm guessing there were around 250 vehicles before the event was over. Their club gave everyone a choice of a shoulder sandwich or a big hot dog, with a bag of chips and a cold soft drink.

After the 50/50 drawing, we drove back to Burkesville and to the farm. We took a short break, changed to the 56 Chevy and met up with Carol and Dave Neff back in town at 3 PM. We then went to Albany to the Cruisin' On The Square. We registered there and won a couple door prizes before their 50/50 drawing at 7:30 PM. We drove back to the farm just after dark and put the cars away and called it a night.

See the car pictures by clicking HERE.

Posted by Dave at 9:30 PM
Categories: Cars, Current Events

Back To Normal

Not much has been happening around the farm this last week. We managed to get her prescriptions changed back to the brand name medications. It took about a week, but the two doctors contacting Coventry Cares and the hospital bills showing up probably made the medication change happen a little quicker. The Depacon that Dr Zhu had the hospital administer by IV helped Stacey get up to therapeutic levels. I had to take Stacey to the hospital today to have a blood test for Depacote and Tegretol levels. I think Dr Zhu will probably increase her dosage by 1 Depacote pill a day.

Posted by Dave at 7:30 PM
Categories: Current Events, Farm

Grand Kids Visiting

Stacey and I began the day by working on her Dell PC in her bedroom. We put a few more mp3s on the AMD-1 PC in the study and linked them to her iTunes program. Then we headed to Pauline and Brent's house to get Julie and Kyle's clothes and the little dogs. We picked up their things and the dogs and went to Rita's house to get Kyle and Julie. Kyle was there, but Julie had not returned from school, so we had to go a few places until the bus dropped her off. We returned about a half hour later and Kyle came running out of the door. I buckled him in the car seat and a few minutes later Julie was let off the bus. She went inside and said good bye to Rita and then came out to go with us. She buckled in and away we went for the ride to Burkesville.

Julie and Kyle told us that their Mom and Dad went on a date and they would be back in a few days to pick them up. Pauline had surprised Brent with tickets to PAX-Prime in Seattle, WA and they had flew out early that morning. Since it was a surprise, we hadn't been let in on any of the arrangements, but were able to handle the tasks given to us. A little over an hour later, we pulled into the driveway at the farm. Pico and Poco were barking and ran inside to see Coco just like Julie and Kyle were hollering when they ran inside to see Grandma Linda.
Today, Kyle rode with me on the tractor over to the 'pop sickle barn' to take the wheels off of the finish mower. I'm having a guy weld some pieces onto the supports for the wheels to help keep them in place when I mow. I parked that tractor in the shed and used the newer tractor to bush hog the gravel bar where Julie and Kyle throw rocks in the creek. They let me know that the weeds were too high down there for them to throw rocks and I needed to cut the weeds down. Grandma drove the Mule with Julie, Kyle and Stacey riding along while I bush hogged the weeds. Kyle was the first to fall down on the slick creek rocks, then Julie fell and they both had muddy rear ends. When I finished cutting the weeds, we went back to the house and they changed clothes. We went to town for hamburgers, then back to the farm. We took Daisy for a run and the kids were able to throw all the rocks they wanted.

Daisy has been doing excellent staying around the Mule. We still have her wear the radio collar and it has worked very well helping train Daisy to listen to us. Now I only use the vibrate feature maybe once a week.