Flat-Out
There’s a Mellencamp line that pops into my head from time-to-time:
“Sometimes life is just too ridiculous to live.”
Monday felt that way.
The sting, bite, whatever on my hand raised some havoc. I woke up and looked at my paw and it was the size of a catcher’s mitt, and I wanted to gnaw it off due to the itching.
As luck would have it, I was also due for hip injections to ensure that I can stay on my feet for the rest of the summer.
I went for the shot and the doc asked me how I’d been holding up. I showed her my hand.
“Something bit me.”
She laughed but said, “Oh no! Those are worse the older you get.”
So, I got the injections and we talked about inflammation. I have way too much!
Yet, by 10 A.M. I had the medicine working in my hip, is taken a Benadryl and now had a steroid packet to work through.
“Too ridiculous.”
I got drowsy.
My back was on fire to match my hand. The injection site was throbbing.
I gathered up Melky and on a beautiful day, I laid in my bed.
I answered the phone for a number of work related calls, and never let on about how badly I was dealing, and then I thought of K.T.
K.T. was a man nearing retirement age. He was still being paid as a union laborer, but his physical skills had slipped.
Yet, he was simply an amazing employee for us on a huge job in Lockport.
No matter the task, K.T. Could handle it!
Yet, every time I called him I’d ask:
“K.T. are you busy?”
“I’m flat-out,” he’d answer. “Busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.”
And he usually was, but he’d make more time.
“How are you?” Kathy asked, via text on her break.
“Flat-out,” I answered.
K.T. passed away recently. He was a good guy and a man who worked so hard. I hadn’t seen him in years, but he’d drifted to retirement with his wife, who he always called his bride.
“How are you buddy?” I asked in that last phone call.
“My bride has me flat-out,” he said.
I smiled.
This is a different sort of flat-out, but it made me think of K.T., and while life seems ridiculous at times...
...it carries great memories!
“Sometimes life is just too ridiculous to live.”
Monday felt that way.
The sting, bite, whatever on my hand raised some havoc. I woke up and looked at my paw and it was the size of a catcher’s mitt, and I wanted to gnaw it off due to the itching.
As luck would have it, I was also due for hip injections to ensure that I can stay on my feet for the rest of the summer.
I went for the shot and the doc asked me how I’d been holding up. I showed her my hand.
“Something bit me.”
She laughed but said, “Oh no! Those are worse the older you get.”
So, I got the injections and we talked about inflammation. I have way too much!
Yet, by 10 A.M. I had the medicine working in my hip, is taken a Benadryl and now had a steroid packet to work through.
“Too ridiculous.”
I got drowsy.
My back was on fire to match my hand. The injection site was throbbing.
I gathered up Melky and on a beautiful day, I laid in my bed.
I answered the phone for a number of work related calls, and never let on about how badly I was dealing, and then I thought of K.T.
K.T. was a man nearing retirement age. He was still being paid as a union laborer, but his physical skills had slipped.
Yet, he was simply an amazing employee for us on a huge job in Lockport.
No matter the task, K.T. Could handle it!
Yet, every time I called him I’d ask:
“K.T. are you busy?”
“I’m flat-out,” he’d answer. “Busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.”
And he usually was, but he’d make more time.
“How are you?” Kathy asked, via text on her break.
“Flat-out,” I answered.
K.T. passed away recently. He was a good guy and a man who worked so hard. I hadn’t seen him in years, but he’d drifted to retirement with his wife, who he always called his bride.
“How are you buddy?” I asked in that last phone call.
“My bride has me flat-out,” he said.
I smiled.
This is a different sort of flat-out, but it made me think of K.T., and while life seems ridiculous at times...
...it carries great memories!
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