ICE AND PHYSICAL THERAPISTS
Not one but two therapists checked out Lou today. We were having rain, freezing temperatures and ice forming on the grass and edges of the walk. I even slipped taking out ashes and fell on my rump. The first therapist Stephen Baum is from Weatherford with an undergraduate degree in English and Philosophy from UNT and a Master's in Occupational Therapy from TWU so Lou was pleased. His expertise is in breathing problems and had Lou taking deep breaths and blowing out through her lips. He had her walk to the bedroom and show how she gets in and out of bed, how she gets in and out of the shower and sits on the pot. He recommended the transfer bench for the tub and offered to bring one since I can't run to Abilene. He also recommended Lou sleeping and napping with her feet elevated to reduce the swelling.
The physical therapist came out at 1 when we were preparing to eat. We ate a late breakfast when Lou asked for waffles and she ate 1/2 this time. We told the therapist to come on out before we ate lunch. She had Lou walk to the dining table and sit down to see how mobile she is. We will have one or the other therapist coming every day. They are encouraging Lou to get more exercise and she has done better today. One time when I was in the laundry room she got up off the couch and was standing looking out the window. That is the first time that she has done that in a week. She got a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon with her feet up and they look better.
I want to introduce our number 2 grandson Jon-Marc Wilcox who is a technician for Ishikawajama Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) Southwest. This is a Japanese company who purchased non-destructive testing technology from Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and offer services world-wide. Most of Jon-Marc's experience is in the testing of the pipes and containers for nuclear power plants. His company has developed robotic equipment that checks welds and piping for flaws. J-M is a night person and enjoys working the night shifts. Most of his work has been in the US until this week when he was sent to Korea and he has given me permission to post his emails. Here is the first one:
Date: Saturday, January 3, 2009, 11:17 PM
Hey everybody. We got to the hotel here in Busan at about10:00 p.m. Korea time. That is 7:00 a.m. your time. It was a long and exhausting flight, but it really wasn't too bad. I watched my movies and tried to sleep but I never could. The flight actually ended up being a little shorter than scheduled. It was 11 and a half hours insteadof 13. Once we got here getting through customs was a breeze. They did not check any of our bags and just let us through no problem. We exchanged our money and got into the taxi which brought us to the hotel. The hotel is called Hotel Theme. By the way the exchange rate is 1250 won to 1 dollar. Anyway, once we got here we decided we were pretty hungry and went to get some pizza. I didn't feel too adventurous on my first night. Although the Korean version of pizza isn't exactly American style. There was the normal pepperoni, bell peppers, and olives, but they also added corn and some things I wasn't really sure what they were. It tasted pretty good though so I didn't question it. After dinner a few of the guys went to have drinks, but I was way too tired and came up to my room and went to sleep.
As far as the room goes it is quite a bit different than back home. As you enter the room there is an entry way that you must take your shoes off. If you are caught with your shoes on inside your room you will get into trouble. After you take your shoes off, you put your key into a slot in the wall that turns on all of the lights and television. The remote control for the tv also controls the lights and airconditioner in the room. As far as the tv goes there are actually quite a few english speaking channels. In fact I was watching National Treasure 2 as I was writing this. That is really how most things are in the city. A lot of people speak english and most everything is written in both languages, so it is not too difficult to get around.
A buddy and I went exploring today and walked along the beach and saw some kids playing baseball and we watched them for awhile. There were even people swimming and surfing in the very cold water. There were numerous vendors selling their wares on the street, mostly food. There seems to be more corn products here than rice, which I was not expecting. It is now 4:00 here and we are getting ready to go out again, so I will have to wrap up.
I miss you guys, but so far I am enjoying my time here. Wewill start work tomorrow and I will be working nights, which is days for you so that kind of works out.
I will try to e-mail as much as I can to keep you updated, and I am taking a lot of pictures. Well gotta go.
I love you all.
Jon-Marc
Not one but two therapists checked out Lou today. We were having rain, freezing temperatures and ice forming on the grass and edges of the walk. I even slipped taking out ashes and fell on my rump. The first therapist Stephen Baum is from Weatherford with an undergraduate degree in English and Philosophy from UNT and a Master's in Occupational Therapy from TWU so Lou was pleased. His expertise is in breathing problems and had Lou taking deep breaths and blowing out through her lips. He had her walk to the bedroom and show how she gets in and out of bed, how she gets in and out of the shower and sits on the pot. He recommended the transfer bench for the tub and offered to bring one since I can't run to Abilene. He also recommended Lou sleeping and napping with her feet elevated to reduce the swelling.
The physical therapist came out at 1 when we were preparing to eat. We ate a late breakfast when Lou asked for waffles and she ate 1/2 this time. We told the therapist to come on out before we ate lunch. She had Lou walk to the dining table and sit down to see how mobile she is. We will have one or the other therapist coming every day. They are encouraging Lou to get more exercise and she has done better today. One time when I was in the laundry room she got up off the couch and was standing looking out the window. That is the first time that she has done that in a week. She got a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon with her feet up and they look better.
I want to introduce our number 2 grandson Jon-Marc Wilcox who is a technician for Ishikawajama Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) Southwest. This is a Japanese company who purchased non-destructive testing technology from Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and offer services world-wide. Most of Jon-Marc's experience is in the testing of the pipes and containers for nuclear power plants. His company has developed robotic equipment that checks welds and piping for flaws. J-M is a night person and enjoys working the night shifts. Most of his work has been in the US until this week when he was sent to Korea and he has given me permission to post his emails. Here is the first one:
Date: Saturday, January 3, 2009, 11:17 PM
Hey everybody. We got to the hotel here in Busan at about10:00 p.m. Korea time. That is 7:00 a.m. your time. It was a long and exhausting flight, but it really wasn't too bad. I watched my movies and tried to sleep but I never could. The flight actually ended up being a little shorter than scheduled. It was 11 and a half hours insteadof 13. Once we got here getting through customs was a breeze. They did not check any of our bags and just let us through no problem. We exchanged our money and got into the taxi which brought us to the hotel. The hotel is called Hotel Theme. By the way the exchange rate is 1250 won to 1 dollar. Anyway, once we got here we decided we were pretty hungry and went to get some pizza. I didn't feel too adventurous on my first night. Although the Korean version of pizza isn't exactly American style. There was the normal pepperoni, bell peppers, and olives, but they also added corn and some things I wasn't really sure what they were. It tasted pretty good though so I didn't question it. After dinner a few of the guys went to have drinks, but I was way too tired and came up to my room and went to sleep.
As far as the room goes it is quite a bit different than back home. As you enter the room there is an entry way that you must take your shoes off. If you are caught with your shoes on inside your room you will get into trouble. After you take your shoes off, you put your key into a slot in the wall that turns on all of the lights and television. The remote control for the tv also controls the lights and airconditioner in the room. As far as the tv goes there are actually quite a few english speaking channels. In fact I was watching National Treasure 2 as I was writing this. That is really how most things are in the city. A lot of people speak english and most everything is written in both languages, so it is not too difficult to get around.
A buddy and I went exploring today and walked along the beach and saw some kids playing baseball and we watched them for awhile. There were even people swimming and surfing in the very cold water. There were numerous vendors selling their wares on the street, mostly food. There seems to be more corn products here than rice, which I was not expecting. It is now 4:00 here and we are getting ready to go out again, so I will have to wrap up.
I miss you guys, but so far I am enjoying my time here. Wewill start work tomorrow and I will be working nights, which is days for you so that kind of works out.
I will try to e-mail as much as I can to keep you updated, and I am taking a lot of pictures. Well gotta go.
I love you all.
Jon-Marc
posted by Dr. Rodenberger at 8:06 PM
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