Over the past two weeks, there have been two occurances that have kept things totally off-balance. And even though neither appear at this time to be directly involved in the business of Big Red, they certainly have had an effect.
It all started when that grey and white creature that tries to rule the roost know as Farm-o-falls, did what he is named for. Brat the Cat was, well, being a Brat. Gene and Jean had just gotten back to the farm from taking @zooleft to Vermont for her stay at Goddard, when as the garage door was closing, Brat the Cat made a dash for freedom and got caught by the door. It almost crushed him. Not knowing how bad the injuries were, we wrapped him in a blanket and Gene and Jean headed for the emergency vet clinic. I came totally unglued and stayed at home.
After Xrays, drugs and a night in the hospital at a cost of $500, it was determined that Brat had a severe lung injury but, thankfully no broken bones. He was given a 50-50 chance of making through the night.
I remained at the farm, still unglued.
Brat the Cat came home the next day and started a recovery process that could take several months. Actually he was back to normal in just a couple of days being his normally obnoxious, bratty self.
And, I recovered.
That brought us up to last week that started with the Big South Playoff game at Liberty against High Point. It should have been a great game with a near sell out crowd but as almost all of basketball season has gone, was a total disappointment and I barely covered my expenses. Following that game, we packed up Big Red and I headed to Richmond for the Home and Garden Show at Richmond Raceway. The last time I did that show, two years ago, it was a good one for us so my expectations were high.
After I set up Big Red and unloaded and stored my supplies in our booth at the back of the Main Exhibition Hall, I drove to Harrisonburg and spent a day and a half with Peggy, Kagen and Todd. Then back to Richmond in time to open on Friday at noon. Tank and Laura, who had the day off from her teaching position, met me to work for the weekend.
Friday was pretty normal for shows. Slow, slow, slow. But enough to cover the motel bill and dinner.
Saturday started off with the expectation of a huge day. Then, that whole trauma thing crept into the equation.
A little after lunch started, I got a nose bleed, something I had seen for nearly 40 years. Only this wasn't a nose bleed, it was more like Old Faithful. It was so bad that we called in the Henrico County EMTs and Officer Echert who seems to always be in the center of things at RIR. Finally, I quit bleeding but my blood pressure was through the roof. So high, in fact, that they insisted I go to the hospital to have it checked out. So, off I went in the ambulance, leaving Tank and Laura to handle the show's best day by themselves.
Four hours later, and an assist from Peggy's daughter Allison who I think beat the ambulance to the hospital, I was released with this tampon like packing in my nose making me look like a monster. Not the best image for showgoers at RIR. Unfortunately, they did nothing to address the blood pressure issues, only the packing to keep my nose from bleeding again.
Through all of this, I never felt bad, never was light headed, never had any pains.
Until Saturday night. By the time we'd closed and I drove back to the motel (Tank and Laura picked me up a late dinner and went to get a prescription filled at an all-night pharmacy), I started getting very uncomfortable. I couldn't sleep and my nose, already large enough, was roughly three times its normal size. I headed back to the hospital at 4:30 AM and had the packing removed. They were shocked to find out I wasn't bleeding, nor was there any sign of blood. I ,at least, got a couple of hours of sleep.
I did take it easy on Sunday, but worked the show like normal and had no further problems. Of course, I set an appointment with my doctor to look at the whole issue and see what's up. I'm actually heading there now.
As has been the case the past five or six shows I've done, this one was a disappointment compared to two years ago. While I covered my expenses, we were down considerably so I didn't make enough to cover my hospital bill, and probably not enough to cover my doctors visit this afternoon. Oh, well.
This week, we're back at RIR for the Craftsmen Classic Arts and Crafts Show we've done for the past couple of years. This, too, should be a good weekend. Hopefully, without any trauma.
