St. Petersburg, Florida - MRI results

Tuesday 12/12/2017
Depart: St. Petersburg, Florida 11:00
Arrive: St. Petersburg, Florida 12:00
Maintenance Run in Local Area

Clark chose today for a maintenance run of the boat. He had two objectives 1) knock a few barnacles off the bottom of Sunset Delight and 2) heat up the engines for an oil change. Yesterday, we had on long pants and heavy coats; today we had on shorts and t-shirts. Based on weather alone, today was definitely a better day to take the boat out for a ride. Expectations for weather tomorrow are back to long pants and coats again.

We left the lines on the dock since the lengths were already adjusted for the boat position we wanted to return to. Even so, it turned out to be a bit of a puzzle to put us back the way we were. The trick for this somewhat-ugly dock arrangement is to get close enough that I can actually get on and off the boat but stay far enough away that we don't get "hung up" on the cement dock and cause ourselves boat damage.

During our outing, we enjoyed views of St. Petersburg and local birds.

Flocks of Pelicans

A few sailboats were out enjoying the windy conditions like this one

and this one with a different sail shape.

We did not go far on our maintenance run - just an hour to go out in the bay and turn around. On our short trip, besides quite a few sailboats, we saw a barge, the same Coast Guard vessel we saw on our way into St. Pete, and a cruise ship. Because the weather report showed winds picking up in the afternoon, we went out before noon; however, by the time we turned to start back to the marina, we could tell the winds were already brewing.

As we made our way back, we saw small planes returning to the St. Pete airport. Perhaps they had the same idea we did to return before it got rough.

St. Petersburg, Florida airport

From out in the bay, we had good views of the city from the water.

Ominous Clouds approaching as we left St. Petersburg

Mostly clear skies on our return!

Approaching the St. Pete Municipal Marina,

we chased some pelicans out of the way

and passed a fisherman fishing from the dock
surrounded by hungry birds!

Entering Marina

We managed to work through the dock-line puzzle and tied the boat back in approximately the same position as before. Even though it was noon when we got back, Clark dove right into the oil change and ignored the fact that it was lunch time. Originally, he intended to do only the starboard engine today and the port engine after our next maintenance run.

However, after completing the starboard-side engine, the port engine was still hot enough to allow him to get both engines done today, so he kept right on working.  After four hours of working in the almost 100-degree engine room (he measured with a thermometer), he emerged happy having completed both engines in one day. Although I tried to coax him into at least a drink of water as he worked, he stayed focused on his "job" until he was done. He finally ate lunch at 4:00.

While heading back to St. Petersburg, the wind that had picked up during our little outing threw buckets of saltwater at the boat. So, while Clark worked hard in the engine room, I took a few buckets of fresh water and washed the saltwater off the railings, windows, and wooden bright work on the boat. This task took me no where near the four hours it took Clark to do the oil change, so I managed to eat lunch at a much more sensible time and then kick back with a good novel.

Given Clark had lunch at 4:00, we did not eat dinner until 8:00 when I served up all the leftovers collected over the past three days. I do love a good smorgasbord! Tuesday night is a favorite TV night for me starting with Lethal Weapon, so we relaxed in front of the television for the rest of the night.


Wednesday 12/13/2017
No Boat Travel

Knowing from last Friday's x-rays that I had broken my arm back in October, I was disappointed when the MRI scheduled for yesterday got cancelled as we did not have the insurance pre-approval required to perform the test. I have been very anxious to know whether or not  I had also suffered rotator cuff damage. One day I have almost no pain with reasonably good arm movement, and the next my arm hurts and the movement is restricted once more. What gives!? When I got a call late yesterday saying that the insurance approval had come through, and they could fit me in for today, I nearly jumped for joy (but it would have hurt too much).

Waiting for my appointment, I passed time this morning doing online Christmas shopping and writing out some Christmas cards. Then, after a quick lunch, Clark and I walked up to the post office and then grabbed an Uber ride out to the doctor's office. Whether taking Uber or Lyft, we seem to have trouble connecting with the drivers for pick up. Our driver today, however, answered the phone when I called her, and we managed to connect reasonably quickly and enjoy a pleasant chat as she drove us out to the doctor's office.

I have never had an MRI before, so this was a new experience. When I met with the MRI technician, he had a few questions for me, but the top of his list was "What kind of music do you like?" He told me to think about it and went to complete the MRI test currently in progress on another patient. When he finally came back about ten minutes later, I had an answer for him "New Country"!

The MRI tech took several minutes fluffing a pillow for me, giving me a blanket, and supplying me with headphones for my selected music. I felt very pampered until he started stuffing me into the MRI machine while telling me not to move a muscle for the next 30 minutes. Immediately after that, I told him my nose itched. Then the cord for the earphones wrapped itself around my neck and started strangling me. When I tried to adjust the cord, it pulled my blanket away. After a lot of fidgeting, I finally got settled in for the long haul ready to hang out in a metal cylinder for the next half hour.

Thank goodness for Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, and a cover for my eyes. They  all helped me remain relaxed and stationary through the process. Immediately after the test completed, I got to see the doctor and learned the good news that my rotator cuff is intact. The doctor's opinion, and what I had hoped to hear, is that with some physical therapy, I will be fine and do not need surgery. Yay! At the end of the visit, he gave me two shots of cortisone to "put out the fire" in my shoulder. It helped almost immediately.

With the Uber trip to the doctor's, the MRI test, the doctor discussion, and the Uber trip back to the boat, the appointment turned into an all-day event, or at least all afternoon. By the time we were back on board, I had decided that I wanted to go out to one of St. Pete's Irish Pubs for dinner to celebrate the good news. After a quick look around on the internet, I chose MacDinton's where we found a bit of traditional pub fare for dinner.

Walking back to the boat after dinner, we had a bit of a delay when we found the St. Petersburg "Jingle Bell Run" in progress on the street in front of the marina. We inadvertently timed it perfectly to arrive at the crosswalk at the busiest point in the race. We could see runners moving down the far side of the road with the middle of the road marked by paper bag lanterns.

Since the runners only ran on the far side of the road, we moved to the middle of the road to search for and grab the first opening to cross the road. We found none. As we waited, we found ourselves surrounded as the number of runners expanded to overflow to both sides of the road. Clark said the only way we could cross the road would be to join the runners long enough to cross over, so that is what we did. As we ran, it felt to me like we were boats being washed downstream by the current.

Our plan had been to come back to the boat to get a coupon and then go get dessert at Kilwins. Having successfully made it across the mass of people, we opted to forgo ice cream and hang out on board with a Christmas movie instead. Good movie! Good decision!