Emerald blue

There is a sound made when liquid is poured into a cup. I can't really describe the sound, I think the description of the action is the best way to show what I mean. -Kinda like splash is not the sound of someone hitting the water, but we know what that sounds like. and then there is SPAH LAAASSHHH- I'm talking about pouring a cup of coffee. I'm not sure if it is what the mug is made out of, or the properties of coffee, but it seems to me to be unique. And it may be that my addiction to caffeine creates certain responses. Whatever the case, I pour a cup of coffee, and the sound has almost as much effect on me as the actual drinking of the stuff. I can't hear the sound of someone else getting poured a cup without me getting one too. I wanted to focus on the sound, but now I think about the latte, and I don't have the same connection. For me the latte, and breve, are attached to smell. Just a hmmm from me.
So the sun understands it is summer. At least, the daylight hours last a summer day. We have lights on the front of the house to help light up the house in the evening. The problem with living at this latitude is that these lights are ineffective until after 2100. The sun is up early in the morning as well, but I don't know much about that. Time has no value to me in the early morning. Respiration and circulation are more important then. So, the sun knows how long it is supposed to be up, but it seems it has forgotten how much warmth it is to provide. The temps do not feel like June. And this has been a rather steady trend, it is not just this week. So, with the amount of light, you get the impression of summer. And that is contrasted with the temps, and confusion sets in. I am beginning to doubt the accuracy of the calendar.
Yesterday I was in Seattle, and it was rainy. Yes you are correct, what is so surprising about that right? I still contend that it was a little out of the ordinary. I went to the VA to fine tune my new chair, evaluate my new cushion, and to get started on (we hope) better leg braces. I was able to lodge, in the hospital, so that I could participate in the softball practice. The Veterans wheelchair games are in July, and the Recreation therapists want to give the first timers some experience before they go. I actually drove over on Friday, did all the fitting and evaluating (VA does not "work" on the weekends! c'mon), and softball was on Saturday. Friday evening I enjoyed the Alkai beach path on my mountain board, and Sat, I did a short pole (workout) in the VA parking lot before the softball (we played in the VA parking lot). I should have brought goretex. I should have brought some of the clothes I wear in the winter. Instead, I brought clothes logical for June (at least for the Columbia Basin). I was under dressed, and I had sunglasses which were superfluous. In my favour, the sun remembered it's job by Friday evening, so at least I was dry on Alkai, its just that the sun did not remember till late afternoon, thus it did not warm up all that much. It was Saturday that I got wet. It never really rained. It was simply "misting" all day, which the west side is known for. I don't want to sound like this is me complaining. I like the cooler weather, and the sun and I have a love/hate relationship. I guess what all this illustrates is that I am an East sider again. I am re-acclimated with my home weather system. After eight years west of the Cascades, I think I got used to being wet all the time. And now, it comes as a surprise to me, that they are wet all the time, west of the Cascades.
Lodging is an interesting "benefit" to being in the VA system. (There are so many things to talk about, which happened to me in the last few days, I had to split up some of them) If there is bed space at the VA, and a staff member, like a therapist, nurse or doctor, writes the proper thing, I "get" to stay at the VA free of charge. In short, the VA can be a hotel of sorts. Now, before anyone gets the idea that they need to run out and become a vet to enjoy such perks, one should remember what exactly the VA is. First and foremost, it is a hospital, and that should be enough to send chills down the spine, and said person running in the opposite direction hands flailing in the air screaming like a little girl. That used to be enough to keep me away. But I got over that (sort of) and I feel some pull in the idea that I can be a good example to the new injuries. My night stay was not "free". It came with a few ....costs. I'll go through a few, but not in their entirety. I was in a four person room, with a curtain dividing each bed. The intercom the nurses use was in this room as well, and there is no button to select which rooms get to hear the messages over the system. My roommate (I only had one thanks be to God) was in for an infection, so he was hooked up to an IV, and he had the vampires in drawing blood for tests, etc. AND he had a temp, so he thought the room was hot. I should have asked for a blanket, instead of the light sheet of paper they put on the beds (or remembered my experiences and brought my own). It was a challenge to be a positive "role model" around this guy. Grumpy, disgruntled, knows-more-than-you vet is a good description. I also ran into one of the guys I was in the hospital with initially, who also walks on the "shadow side of the street". So, I wanted to focus on one thing in these writings, and have found it too difficult. But I think I am back on track now. The people at the VA are a different ....a different atmosphere is created. I guess it is like going to Wall Mart. At least I get a similar sense of the atmosphere. When all the people around you are not successful go-getter's, the air is different. In contrast, going to the Olympic training facility in Colorado Springs has a completely different feel. And it could be all due to the people in the place. So, in the VA, I think what I mainly feel is people who are not about fixing problems themselves, they are looking for someone else to solve. Or using someone else to solve their problems. This is mainly the patients. The staff usually want to help, but with so many people asking for them to solve problems, and a bogged down system, they have a less enthusiastic attitude. For the most part, the nurses, and therapists are the quality people and are good at what they do. It is all the administrators and secretary types who are in their positions not due to skill which bogs the system down. Add to that the "customer" who is full of whining and demands that someone do something for him, and we end up with an air de Wall Mart. And it all feeds on itself. It becomes a downward spiral.
The negative air in the VA system can be broken. It is not easy, and it is not permanent. It takes sacrifice from those involved, and either we all share the load or one or two do. I have had the pleasant experience to have dealt with some "VA martyrs". These were staff people who had too much energy for one person, and they also sacrificed their personal lives to the VA entity. I do not rate at their level, but I aspire to accomplish similar feats by my accomplishments in Nordic skiing. So far I have received some positive feedback at any rate. Hopefully we can feed enough positive stuff into the loop, to rid the negativism inherent in the system. I suppose if I look at it like weeding the garden, it will be helpful. Because it seems to be quite similar in the way that one rids the garden of weeds, then the next week has to do it again, and again and again. I think in one way the two situations differ, is that weeds are a direct relation type thing. I know I am pulling a weed, and that it is coming out of the ground or not. The VA system "weeds" are less obvious.
Let me finish, because I have to finish, with that I am appreciative of the VA system that I have to deal with. It is not perfect, as I think I have made clear, but it is better than it has been. I appreciate the leg work that was done before me, by the guys who have gone before who did not accept mediocrity. I am lucky that I am a veteran with a spinal cord injury, and not a civilian, or child with a disability. I have resources and people who are willing to help me. I just need to find them and make them see what I need, and how they can help. I don't want to "use"(and then abuse) the system like so many have. Rather work in the system.