Gimpy Mumpy

Doctors Behaving Badly

In another installment of Doctors Behaving Badly we bring you the intoxicated doc operating a backhoe.  By "operating" a backhoe I mean driving through the neighbors fence and into the side of someone's home twice and into a tree.  When an officer responded to the call and asked doctor Veltman to come down off from the vehicle the doctor responded with this week's Quote of the Week:

"I am a (expletive) medical doctor and you are below me"

Personal Floatation Device

With all of the current local flooding I could not help but notice that the closest thing I had to a raft or PFD is an inflatable ring cushion known around GimpyMumpy.com as my "ass donut".  Hmmmm......

Anyone have a bucket?

Sometimes I think what makes a person a true New Englander is how we deal with adversity.  Give us a snow storm, ice storm, hurricane, drought or flash floods (yes, for us Mainer's these are called Seasons) and you see our true character.  It may be difficult to glean from the lines of the following news articles but there is not only a steadfast resilience but a very strong sense of community that rises just as fast as the flood waters. 
For a state of little more than one million people spread over more than 30,000 square miles we know how to come together.
Some news updates and footage of the flooding:  CBS News, Union Leader, ABC News, Boston Globe.

Also see earlier post A Few Drops Too Many.

Happy Mother's Day!

A few drops too many

I guess my earlier comment about walking like a duck was a bit too accurate.  Our area has received over 10 inches of rain in the past few days with another 2 to 4 inches likely this week.  This led to the unfortunate occurance of our basement, which has never had water problems, flooding last night.  The water started pouring up through the floor around midnight meaning that we had to hold an all night vigil over a pump that continually shut itself off.  We could have remedied this problem by moving the plug from a ground-fault outlet to a regular electrical outlet but this gimp would rather not become a roast duck, so lack of sleep it was. 
Oh the horror!  Oh the fatigue!  Oh the laundry!!

"Move Normal"

The advice my physical therapist left me with Friday was to "move normal".  What the heck is that supposed to mean? 
He had said this once before and I brushed it off but this time he went so far as to say, "Move normal.  Don't think about your disability just move normal".  Grrrrr.....
I like my physical therapist and all but these kinds of comments have to go!  If he wants me to walk a certain way or move a certain way then he needs to give me specifics and we'll work on that.  By telling me to "move normal" and "ignore my disability" he's sending the message that I'm moving like a spaz and walking like a gimp and that this bothers him.  His comment also seems to assume that I am not trying to "move normal" which is also a bit insulting. 
Hmmmmm, "golly doc I never would have thought of that!" *sigh*  Another person who thinks I walk like a duck. 
Another medical professional who is not all he's quacked up to be.

Don't Eat and Drive

PSA: Don't drink eat cereal and drive.
One man learned this lesson the hard way when he accidentally ran into the back of a police vehicle while eating his Frosted Flakes. 
Is it just me or are we becoming less intelligent?  When I see someone shaving, eating, watching television, using laptop and/or applying make-up while driving my first thought is that it is Darwinism in action.  The problem is that these people are likely to injure innocent people while they are at it and with the Mumpy Luck that will likely include me.  Grrrrr...... My Fimo Goddess of Pain is cringing.

Fimo Goddess of Pain

The amazing Goldfish is at it again with some incredible art and craftwork.  Her recent post The Green Man Project reminded me of a Fimo charm that a friend of my mom's made for me prior to dental surgery some years ago.

My Fimo Goddess of Pain was clearly fashioned after an ancient fertility goddess and I was told to hold this little charm when I went for my surgery and she would help to take my pain away.  I am not a true believer in such things but when it comes to pain I'll try just about anything and so I held my Fimo Goddess in the palm of my hand while my mom drove me to my appointment. 
Things were going well until we went over a bump.  "Oh my God mom! Her booby just flew off" I half cringed, half giggled.  It wasn't long until the next one fell off leaving me with a somewhat broken charm.  "Oh this thing is giving me the creeps.  It's not working, it's only giving me a very bad feeling about this appointment," I said and then burst out laughing.  When I went inside the clinic I checked in and filled out the paperwork.  When the nurse came to get me I made one last prayer to my Fimo Goddess of Pain and went to hand it to my mom but at that moment something disastrous happened.  Her head popped off.
"What does it mean?" I thought as they lead me away.  Perhaps she was trying to tell me something of the future.  I suppose I should have listened.

University President "Not Deaf Enough"

Students at Gallaudet University, a liberal arts college for the deaf, have been protesting at the gates of GU all week.  The students complaint is that they do not feel that the new university president Jane Fernandes is "deaf enough" for the job. 
Perhaps I am missing something here but it seems that the most prominent complaint is that Mrs. Fernandes did not learn sign language until she was 23 years of age.  But if she can communicate using ASL now then what is the problem?

Georgia Tech Lab Conducting Accessibilty Research

Georgia Tech Research Institute is known primarily for their military research and testing, however this Associated Press article sheds light on their new "accessibility division" dedicated to testing the accessibility of products and finding ways to make products more user friendly for the disabled user.  Hmmmm......perhaps they could combine their military testing with the accessibility division to construct a fully functional TankChair.