2001-08-13 - 9:51 a.m.

My Father the Bird Man

This weekend I had hoped to both go out and spend some time with Shells (who is recovering from her wisdom teeth removal -- hehe, I guess she'll be nearly as dense as me now), but instead my spells of dizziness have gotten worse. :(

I drove home Friday night instead of going out (though I really wanted to dance), and was stuck in a one hour delay crossing a bridge that normally takes about 3 minutes to cross. By the time I finally got home (11 PM) I was exhausted and just fell asleep. Saturday I ran some errands, but had to cut those short once I started getting light headed and could barely stand up. When Shells called about going to a concert Saturday I had to flake. :( But we planned for me to come over and just play LEGOs on Sunday.

I woke fine on Sunday, but within a few hours the dizziness returned. Apparently my sister (who is good about noticing little details) noticed I was having problems focusing and the like, so she nagged and nagged me to death about going to the hospital on Sunday. I hate doctors. Nuff said.

But then my mom, Shells, and my sister all started nagging me to go and get checked out, so when my mom called and put me on the phone with the advice nurse, I found that I had an appointment for Sunday afternoon.

We still aren't sure what is wrong with me, but the doctor is guessing I just have a pretty bad viral infection near the inner ear, so I've lost all of my motor control and sense of balance.

Both seated and when lying down I still feel like the room is spinning. It is like a very bad hangover, and worse yet I'm constantly fatiqued. In fact, it feels just like I did 10 years ago when I had mono, expect my throat isn't that sore. However, 10 years ago they gave me antibotics to help with what they thought was a cold and they nearly killed me. My throat closed off, I stopped eating, I had severe de-hydration, and the mono got worse.

So this time no medicine for me. They did do a blood test and tomorrow I'll call to find the results. They are testing for mono, diabetes, and anemia (sp?). The diabetes test was my suggestion since I have a family history of it. I really just want to nap or build LEGOs for a day until I find out, because I'm having a hard time focusing.

Bird Man

Oh yeah, I did find something interesting out about my father this weekend. Sunday when I woke up there were some peanuts sitting on their picnic table in the back yard and a bunch of screaming scrub jays (like blue jays, but without the cool pointy heads). My brother told me to go outside and feed the birds, but they already had plenty of food. I figured I'd go out to see why they were so noisy.

When I got outside to look at the birds, they all got quiet and looked at me. Pretty damn creepy. Anyway, I picked up a peanut and then made this ticking noise I make while talking to squirrels. The birds to my surprise listened to me and started nodding their jay heads!

I then put the peanut down and made more ticking noises. They nodded again. I picked up a peanut, pointed and ticked. They nodded. I pointed the peanut to my mouth and made the "shhhhhs" quiet signal. The birds nodded.

I then walked inside and watched as they flew down and one by one quietly ate the peanuts.

It is freaky, but my dad has actually trained the neighborhood's local jay birds to listen to his commands. They get upset if he isn't outside, but once a person starts to talk to them, they listen and follow their instructions.

So yeah, apparently my dad is bizarre. But I already knew that.

-=-

<< previous - next >>