MAR 15, 25.. SAFELY DESCENDING STAIRS..

This past week, Patti and I had two very routine medical appointments with our Primary Care Doctor here in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

No big deal.

Our Doctor's office is located on the second floor of a two story Medical Building.

As you can see on the left side of the above photo, there is an elevator up to the second floor.

Yes indeed, there are also stairs leading up to the second floor.

The next two photos below, both look down upon the above first flight of 17 stairs.

At the head of the stairs is a pleasant, 5 stair, landing.

What's the point Captain? 

If one was to fall forward, while progressing down the above stairs, death could be one result. If not death from hitting one's head, then possible severe and serious injuries could result.

So? Patti and myself and most elderly patients "take the elevator".

Very good Captain! Let's call that decision a "No Brainer"!

The day before our Wednesday appointment we were advised both by text message and over the telephone voice mail messages that the elevator was inoperable and out of order for one week.

We were also advised that we could cancel and re-schedule our medical appointments.  

On Tuesday, the day before our appointment, I went over to the building and studied the situation. 

I saw other elderly senior citizens with wheel chairs and walkers etc successfully negotiating the steps with assistance from friends and others. Mothers with babies carrying them up in baby baskets.

Finally! Do you all realize that if you cancel a medical appointment, it might take several months to get a new appointment!

And? The stairs looked very friendly to me!

Oh Captain what on earth are "friendly stairs"? 

Our friendly stairs have a very short "rise" of five - 1/2 inches and there is a very nice "landing" to rest upon.

So I told the reception desk that Patti and I would keep our Wednesday appointment.

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Wednesday our two appointments went just fine. Patti had absolutely no problem going up the stairs.

However, during our appointments, both Patti and I had our canes with us and both Patti and I have a medical "history of falls".

Guess what? Our Nurse Practitioner said to us, "I will go with you down the stairs and show you the safest way to proceed down the stairs.

Here we go. Both hands are free. You face the handrail. 

Facing the handrail, you grasp the handrail with both hands and you carefully step down with with one foot moving sidewise.

Then you move your other foot down.

Nice and safe with NO DRAMA such as falling down the stairs to a painful death or serious injuries.

Neither Patti nor myself had ever seen nor heard of the above technique. 

Nice advice here on "The Ides of March!"

Best Wishes as you navigate stairs.

Cap and Patti

APR 13, 13 .. BE SAFE !? .. PART XII ..

Well today .. Saturday 13 April 2013 .. 

I 'WAS HAD' by a sidewalk Safety Hazard! I twisted my left knee (not too bad but definately it hurt a tad) when I missed the below 'invisible hazard' on steps that I have gone down many times before but today the steps GOT ME. 

You can see HOW SMALL THE LEDGE IS!

I put my cane in the below photo to show you how small the ledge I missed is. 'ZILLA! I was happy I had 'your' cane with me or else I may have fallen down hard! 

A photo showing the ledge and the relatively much taller steps.

You tell me .. how do you BE SAFE!?

Following below is a Post about Gullible's Pablo ..

APR 7, 13 (2/3) .. BE SAFE ! ? .. PART XI ..

Do 'The Walls Have Ears'?  I wonder.  

When I was taking photos here in the Raahat Inn there were some staff watching me.  Do you suppose they thought the positioning of the rubber mat in the below photo would be an answer?

TELL YOU WHAT!  It DID help me this morning to be sure to avoid this one set of the raised edges.

 

 
Hard to 'Be Safe' with vehicles this big on roads this narrow!

How do you 'Be Safe' with this traffic density and no shoulders on the roadway!

Below is my Calla Lily Patch.  The Patch is immediately alongside of the main roadway here in Kodaikanal.  When I am photographing my Calla Lilies .. I MUST BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL NOT TO JUST STEP-BACK FROM THEM AND RISK BEING HIT BY TRAFFIC!

 I am listening for traffic also.

Well this morning I did step back and was almost hit by a new road hazard to me. 

Luckily I had my camera out since I just photographed my Calla Lilies and I got the below photo of my NEW ROAD HAZARD!

   
Much Joy!  I'll /sign/ as .. Calla Cap

OH YES!  Scroll down for Today's Calla Lilies! 

Or just click onto the below link..

https://bobbacaps.blogspot.com/2013/04/todays-calla-lilies_7.html

APR 5, 13 .. AND SUDDENLY THE LIGHT WENT ON IN MY BRAIN !

Yesterday in my Post titled .. 'THE MESSAGE TO ME OF THE CALLA LILIES' ..

I shared some thoughts and philosophies about all of the 'dangers' that exist here in India and how 'having to be fully present' seems to activate within me an awareness that I do not seem to have in the United States with the intensity that I have here in India.

I told Patti that here in India within one day .. sometimes several times within one hour or even within a few minutes .. I face more life-and-death possibilities than I face in a year in the States.

On my twenty (20) minute walk down-the-hill from my Internet Cafe to my Raahat Inn .. countless times trucks and buses and cars and motorcycles BLAST past me within literally 12-inches or less!

IF you don't think that I need to 'be fully present' when the below bus is BEARING DOWN UPON ME!  You had better guess-again!  This bus is ON MY-shoulder-of-the-roadway and I had best be on-my-toes or I die! Got it?  Sudden death (mine!) is inches-away! And YES! He IS blowing his 'air-horn' at me as IF 'what am I doing on HIS road'!

What's that 'Zilla?  What-on-earth am I doing taking the above photo!  This is why I need your 'ZILLA - CANE .. I can NOT afford to lose-my-balance Ol' Chum!  I did NOT have my 'ZILLA-CANE when I took the above photo.  IF I had I could NOT have taken the above photo!

So I brought 'yesterday' with me here into this Post. 

In this Post I thought that I was 'only' going to show you some photos of some cakes.  I have already shown you several of the below photos over at Dot Net.

And Suddenly The Light Went On In My Brain!

This is NOT 'just' about the cakes any more than the Calla Lily photos are just about some beautiful flowers.  I had to be 'fully present' to even SEE the Calla Lilies!

And suddenly SEEING the cake photos brought-me-up-short!   

NO!  This is NOT about some pretty cakes!  

This is ABOUT PURE AND SIMPLE LOVE!

The first two cakes you have seen.

The below cake was baked at Daily Bread in Pondicherry.

The below cake was baked at Hot Breads in Pondicherry.

And now feast your eyes on The Cake that turned on the light in my brain.

The below cake was baked at Hot Breads in Pondicherry.

Go ahead!  Feel some tears for the LOVE above and below!

The magnitude of the LOVE shown in the above cakes is beyond me to put into words.

The LOVE that the person or the family ordering the cakes has for some one.

The LOVE of the team that actually prepared and baked and decorated the cakes.

I refuse to be cynical .. I KNOW  it's a business BUT just feel the LOVE.

The below books to-show-to-others speaks of LOVE!  Should you wish to be cynical all-you-can-see is commercialism.

"Oh God of Abraham?" .. "This one I really got right!" 

WITH LOVE .. Cap ..

Please continue on down to my next Post about OUR Calla Lilies.

APR 4, 13 .. BE SAFE ! ? .. PART X ..

Yesterday I showed you some dangerous 'tripping-hazards' IN MY HOME The Raahat Inn!

The first two photos below I repeat.

In Photo 1 below we are looking down the hallway towards the cross-over walkway into my building. Notice especially the black floor mat.

In Photo 2 below .. yesterday I showed you the tripping hazard .. the elevated section of concrete.

Well today I discovered yet another real threat!  In the above photo notice the black mat in the foreground.  At its end is another raised ledge to trip-over!

Can you see it below?  IT VERY NEARLY 'GOT ME' THIS MORNING!

See the Photo 1 above.  Walk completely into my building going over the cross-over walkway. When you do so .. turn around 180-degrees to see the below view.

In Photo 4 below .. on the right side of the floor you can 'just barely' see the step-leading-down peeking-up-at-you.

Below you see clearly this danger (the step leading you down only goes halfway across the floor!) I showed you this yesterday.

Looking back the other way from the above photo.

Below I am repeating Photo 4 above.  Look past the doorway on the cross-over walkway .. you will see another black mat. OK now walk straight ahead through the doorway.  

OH! Watch out as you step on the step-down and do not fly off into space!

In the below photo as you look across the black mat you can see several more tripping-hazards all associated with the cross-over walkway.  One bad fall and you risk BIG TROUBLE!

HERE IS THE MESSAGE!  

You MUST .. at ALL TIMES .. be as 'fully present' as you can possibly be!  In ALL PLACES.

And IF you can do this .. 

IF YOU TRULY CAN DO THIS .. THEN YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I WROTE ABOUT IN THE POST ABOVE .. 'THE MESSAGE TO ME OF THE CALLA LILIES' ..

Joy .. Cap 

APR 3, 13 .. BE SAFE ! ? .. PART IX ..

You say 'Be Safe'! HOW can you Be REALLY Safe when you come to India for months-on-end?
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Deep breath!  This is going to be a fairly long Post!
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IF any of you think that just because I have left Pondicherry and I am not in Calcutta or another large city .. that because I am now in Little-Old-Kodaikanal .. that I am now 'safe-from-hazards' .. think again!

I can .. and I now will .. make the following statement .. with regards to 'being-out-at-night' here in India ..

As much as I love Kodaikanal .. and I do love 'Kodai' ..

AT NIGHT .. and this statement applies to the night .. KODAIKANAL IS THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE FOR ME TO WALK THAT I PERSONALLY HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED HERE IN INDIA!

A good part of this problem is that my Raahat Inn is located on THE main roadway leading up into the downtown area of 'Kodai'.

I STAY-IN-AT-NIGHT (I am not going to be out-on-the-street after 6:30PM!) with the sole exception of walking to my 'default' restaurant that is immediately adjacent to my hotel!

I have pretty well 'memorized' this several hundred feet of 'land mines'!

In the first three photos below .. the street you are looking at connects me with the main roadway and my Internet Cafe.  I have no choice but to walk up and down this street. There is no sidewalk. The traffic 'pushes' pedestrians onto the road's 'shoulders'.  You don't want to step off the 'shoulder' into the below ditches!  

And a closer view of the above ditch.

Here the 'sidewalk' is the below green grassy strip.

Behind the motorcycle in the above photo this street joins the main roadway which I show below.

'Pick your poison'! You can walk on either side of the main roadway.  There are no sidewalks on either side!  Below is one of my Calla Lily plants I have been photographing!  See the bus coming at me.

Then suddenly I must share my piece of the roadway with a COW!  Look closely to the left of the photo at the edge of the roadway on the other side.  No room over there either!

Just look-at-the-expression on the dog's face!  The dog looks 'mortified' at the condition of the walking surface.

And yes we all can see the ladies above walking on the paved roadway .. but only when there is no traffic!

IN the below photo ARE YOU going to 'fight' for your share of the paved roadway with the bus!

And how about this truck?  "Ah sorry Mister Trucker .. but I have a 'right' to my space!"  

A closer view of the above surface. It's 'twist-an-ankle' time on this stuff!

The cars will 'give-a-little' IF they can!  Do you see the idiot in the 'Jeep' passing? This means the downhill traffic is pushed to the edge of the roadway to avoid him!

This on-coming vehicle has to stay on his side and I have to get off the roadway!  Again it is NO better on the other side if you look across at the left side of the photo below.

I FACE the on-coming traffic!  I would no more 'walk-with-my-back-to-the-traffic' as this lady is doing than fly-to-the-moon!

Now 'get-with-me' on this.  The vehicles going downhill either turn off their engines or just coast .. motorcycles and cars and trucks and buses.

So? You CAN NOT HEAR THEM COMING FROM BEHIND YOU if you are walking downhill on their side of the roadway. One absent-minded-slip stepping onto the roadway without first looking back to see if it's safe and you are a 'traffic statistic'!

In this section I simply STOP .. stand still .. wait for traffic to pass-me-by then get back onto the paved roadway.

The below photos are in the 'heart-of-downtown' Kodaikanal.  

Forget the danger at night!  Even in the day .. IF you are NOT paying attention to where you are walking .. you can really injure yourself!  Do you all see the 'little-break' in the sidewalk ahead?

Step down into this 'little-break' and you are in one big heap of trouble!

Go back up two photos. At the very top center of the photo .. you will see at the end of the red tile sidewalk .. the below MESS that you risk stepping down into!

In the below photo .. the sidewalk just takes-a-break from being a sidewalk and becomes a 'big gap'!  The opposite side of the sidewalk gives you an idea of the drop-off!

Just more-of-the-same!

Below you are 'hemmed-in' between the wrought-iron railing on your right and the wall on your left.  The wrought-iron railing on your right is there because the local authorities do NOT want you in the street in this section of the city.

'Geez Louise'!  Give-me-a-break!

And now (Taa-Daa!) into MY Raahat Inn!

The Raahat Inn consists of two separate buildings connected by open-air cross-over walkways between the two buildings. I am in the building on the left and I use the lower of the two walkways you see below.

In the first photo below you are looking down the hallway of the first building as you come to the cross-over walkway into (my) second building.

It's hard for you to see BUT as you will see in the two photos following the one below .. at NIGHT (even during the DAY!) .. if you are not careful .. there is a tremendously dangerous 'tripping hazard' a few feet past the black-mat on the floor that you had better beware of!

Why this is here I don't know!

A real close-up view of this beauty!

LASTLY .. IF you are walking from the other direction towards we in the below photo .. you had better REMEMBER that the steps do NOT go all-the-way across the hallway!

One .. just one! .. bad fall because of the numerous hazards you encounter while walking about and you could be in REALLY SERIOUS trouble. 

On my first-ever trip to India from the autumn of 1990 into late spring of 1991 my friend-of-friends .. 'YMCA' Alan Rimberg told me .. 

"Cap! Only 'risk-takers' come to India for long periods of time!"

'YMCA' Alan was hit by a truck riding his motorcycle here in India and ended up in surgery in a hospital in New Delhi.  It cost Alan (in early 1991 money) Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) to be flown home to New York city.

To-this-day .. the numerous lessons Alan taught me during several months of inter-acting with each other .. remain embedded in my head!

I don't think 'truly normal' folks enlist in Uncle Sam's United States Marine Corps either!

Semper Fi!  .. Cap

Our Calla Lilies are coming into full bloom.  See the below Post!