The Rightness of Wrong

November 30 (Saturday)

Peg and Bill spent the night. They decided to leave today to avoid traffic tomorrow going back to LA. We walked to the Ferry Building for coffee and a snack for breakfast. Peg bought a loaf of bread at ACME.

We had lots of leftover turkey. We put together some awesome turkey sandwiches. Bill said it was the best turkey sandwich he had ever eaten.

Sad farewell. We packed them up in the garage. They took some old dog stuff, crate, fences, etc. They plan to get a dog. We put my old Lemond road bike on top of the load for Bill.

Thomas, Siggy, Gigi and Annika came over for a goodbye visit in the evening. 

Beth put out hor d’ouvres including some Pt. Reyes Blue cheese. We looked at our old wedding pix and commented about how young Thomas, Beth and I looked.

We got interrupted by a fire alarm. Our building has a very loud, obnoxious fire alarm. "A fire has been reported in the building, you must leave the building immediately. Do not use the elevators. Use the stairs." This gets repeated many times along with shrill sounds and flashing lights. 

Another false alarm.

 

Thomas and gang went on to Tadich Grill for dinner.

Lynn let me know that my mom hurt her knee getting into the car. I need to take her to Kaiser tomorrow to have it checked out. Lynn is preparing for a trial and unable to go.

December 1 (Sunday)

I had another great nights sleep. I dreamt that I got to Kaiser and forgot to bring my mom. Oops.

I got up early and drove to Berkeley. Picked up mom and her wonderful caregiver Jessica. I thought I would have to take her out the back door in a wheelchair. She was able to go down the stairs, carefully and slowly, using a cane.

Off to Kaiser Oakland. Kind of deserted. We were the only people in the waiting room. They took her in as soon as we got there, even though we were a little early.

I was a Kaiser member most of my life. I have a pretty good idea about how their system works, from a patients perspective. Not impressive. 

The doctor (Internal Medical Specialist) showed up in the room on time for the scheduled appointment. He had obviously read the chart. He know how she hurt her knee. He was familiar with a recent X-ray of the knee, showing moderate arthritis.

Before he even examined her, he already had the diagnosis and prognosis. Not reassuring. He said she had simply twisted the knee and aggravated the arthritis because the joint space (between bones) is quite reduced. It would hurt for 2-3 days and be better in a week.

I have a bias against Kaiser. In my opinion, the doctors always assume that nothing is wrong or give the patient the best case scenario. Otherwise, to do further investigation might involve diagnostic testing which costs Kaiser and the doctors money. They have a capitated system - patient pays one monthly fee and is supposed to get all the care they need. The less care patients get, the more money Kaiser and  the doctors make. In a fee for service model, the doctor has more incentive to provide more care, including diagnostics.

The doctor might be right. I hope he is. We'll know in a week. Phyl: let me know so I can report back.

I walked over to the SF Museum of Modern Art in the afternoon. I like to do that spontaneously once in a while. I had no idea what was on exhibit. I joined the museum so that I would be motivated to do that, and so I would go more. Additionally, I can go for an hour here or there. I don't feel compelled to stay the whole day to get my moneys worth.

The big exhibit was, "Soft Power". An exhibit about, "the ways in which artist deploy art to explore their role as citizens and social actors." 

Kind of political and boring to me. I listened to the dialog/descriptions on my air pods and saw the whole exhibit. A snoozer. I would not recommend it. Sometimes art inspires you. Sometimes not. 

I like art that makes me feel good. Music - same thing. I decided to walk my way down the floors of the museum, taking in what I found, until I got ready to go home. 

I liked the Pop, Minimal and Figurative Art from the 1960s.

I absolutely loved, "Don't! Photography and Art of Mistakes." 

I have always considered myself a poor photographer. I never took a class or had any training. I knew that there are a lot of do's and don'ts involved in photography. This exhibit turns that on its head. It is an example of the Don'ts only. I really felt good leaving that exhibit. 

Got home and found Beth just finishing up another knitting project. 

Good work!