Rest in peace, Mike

The owner of Toad's Place died last week.
I have many memories of Mike serving behind the bar too, he mixed and placed a drink in seconds.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) - The founder of Toad's Place located in New Haven passed away.Founder, Mike Spoerndle along with his friend and business partner Brian Phelps worked together at Toad's Place since it's opening in the 1970's.

"The first time I ever saw him, he was at the door, collecting money, he had one guy in a headlock, and he's collecting money in the other arm, he's got one foot up on the door, directing traffic. That's how I met the guy, you know," says Phelps.

Many well known bands played some of their first live shows on the Toad's Place stage.

Toad's Place on York Street is a magnet for some of the biggest names in rock, country and pop. Bob Dylan, James Taylor and Bon Jovi all jammed there. The Rolling Stones made a surprise visit in 1989.

"He and I were always elated when we'd have a monster act here, that was always. First one we had here is Springsteen," says Phelps.

Spoerndle's battle with drugs forced Phelps to finally buy full control of the company in 1995. But Spoerndle's legacy is much like the music he adored will always have a place at Toad's Place.

"He searched out new musical talent. He played it when others didn't even know about it. He brought it into the club for the first time ever," says Phelps.

doctors with dirty hands

Some time ago, I brought a female friend (not my gf) to Yale New Haven Hospital.

She had been calling me three or four times a day believing she was pregnant as she hadn't gotten her ladies troubles for some months.

The guy who may have impregnated her was already living with his girlfriend and their infant son and wanted nothing more to do with her.

Feeling pregnant and alone, she confided her worries to me. At the time she had no idea of what to do, though I could tell she was not in a situation that could welcome a child. Then she'd been buying pregnancy tests left & right all turning out negative.

She had no physician and her problem changed to a condition that led her to bleed excessively and within a couple weeks, she worried her condition was very serious. Finally she asked me to bring her to the ER because she bled very severely and incessantly day & night, even with methergine(?) tablets a friend had given her.

We went into the ER. I waited while she was led behind the main doors and shortly she'd come out to me and told me that the docs said they were unable to treat her problem and directed her to the ob-gyn department where she could be examined.

So, we walked to that door and there were dozens of women in the waiting room. But she did talk to the front staff and explained that she was hemorrhaging, literally hemorrhaging to the point that ladies hygiene pads were no use. They asked for her insurance info and she said she had none and they turned her away in a quiet, business like tone.

If she were meek as mice, she'd have left quietly as she was asked, but she wasn't. She raised her voice to a screech and screamed that they were sending her out "to bleed to death on the streets".

I remember this incident as though it were yesterday because I was so stunned that anyone in this shape could actually be refused any type of treatment or even some advise. I also remember because her screaming those words just pierced through my soul.

I led her out the corridor, all the while she looked back & continued screaming at them.

It seemed to her that she had one right only, which is the right to die.

Outside her major hysteria had her crying & screaming to pedestrians and passing cars. "They threw me out, they left me to die in the street." I'll never forget her words.

Suddenly the ob-gyn center director appeared rushing toward us on the street.

Realizing a potential law suit, he talked softly to her, persuading her to come back to ob-gyn, where she was now taken into the examining room ahead of the other women in the waiting room.

I took a seat, hoping they could help her. Shortly after, she had come out with a slip. She was told to return to the ER and show the slip, indicating the urgency of her problem and need for immediate care. Again I sat in the waiting room, but for a very long time. I thought about how had she been quiet & compliant , she may well have been dismissed "bleeding on the street".

She emerged looking much calmer and told me about all the diagnostics they'd done & of her follow-upt with their ob-gyn unit later that week, when they could come to some diagnosis and treatment.
We are still good friends. She mentioned the story on the phone the other day and permitted me to share it, as it is really a disgrace & a crime that patients actually do get turned away, so much for the Hippocratic Oath & the professionals practicing it ?

you couldn't mess around with granny

Above, Penny dances with Granny's carnival teddy bear. Granny didn't think the bear needed dancing and cut it short.
Poor Penny wanting to take the bear out for some fresh air and granny didn't think her bear needed it.
Granny blew a major fuse over Penny's activities with the bear and she received royal hell for it.

feeling the pains of my labor

I want to be wide awake, usually, in the summer. I get happiness at the beach, for some reason, I can just walk miles for hours, almost endlessly, it seems.
Someone told me it's the iodine in the salty air that gives people a lift.
It's such a pain going to out of town doctors. I hate sitting in the chair explaining & convincing docs that "yes ! I need them"
HIPPA law, this "confidentiality law" guards personal medical records from being disclosed. Under this law, the patient must sign a consent form if he permits his records released to another treating physician.
Yet, if one has a history of an overdose, even an accidental one, this information is readily obtainable without the patient's consent. No signature needed from the patient. For this reason, I have to travel way out and see doctors.
I feel as though I am doing something criminal & deceptive.
I understand a doc's not wanting responsibility if a patient is suspect ,but everyone knows you can take anything if you really want to leave the planet.
Circumstances CAN change. Attitudes change,outlook & feelings change. One's life can change from agonizing to fulfilling.
When I was given a script of Xanax 6 mg per day, one doc reprimanded me at my next visit for "taking advantage" of her trust, because I didn't mention the accidental od.
Shouldn't I have been the one feeling mistrust ? (my records released without my knowledge)
I'm very tired of the ordeal.

gone to the birds

I was asking around for an American yellow parrotlet(the European yellow are supposedly less vivid)I got a blue one instead, they seem to sell so fast.
This one is from New Jersey.Melvin is very receptive, eats from my hand. He loves broccoli, but isn't fond of sweet fruits, like Percy.
I'd love to pair one of these guys with a bright yellow female, but they're territorial and temperamental. If there is another male in view of a mating couple, the male may kill his mate with jealousy,Ouch!
Also fledglings must be removed from the father because he may kill male offspring.These birds don't make the best daddies.

Below is granny holding up a sketch she drew of her beagle.(it doesn't look like a dog)You couldn't tell granny that.In the sketch, the dog appears to have 5 legs, but she had explained that one wasn't actually a leg, but a sign of his gender....
Oh granny, I still get a kick out of you.....