Dr. Kowalski Does his Magic

Wednesday February 22^nd

Got going about noon and headed down Hyw 28 through Mesilla and into the world’s largest pecan grove owned by the Stahmann family. If I remember the story correctly they emigrated here from Wisconsin in the 1920s. The fella at the Farm and Ranch Museum told us that the second largest pecan orchard is in Australia and is also owned by the Stahmann family. We generally stop there when we are in Las Cruces for some pecans, candy and gifts.

Cathey had called the orthopedic clinic this morning to let them know that we either had to get an appointment made for the cast removal or we wanted to pick up the records to take with us to the next stop. The doctor still had not looked at the records or the xrays and they called and said they had them on Monday morning. Later they called and left a message on my phone that the doctor would not be willing to remove the cast – no explanation as to why. So we went and picked up the records this afternoon.

We discussed staying a couple of days longer to do some of the things that we didn’t do, like go have breakfast over in Hatch (Hatch is about 30 miles NW of Las Cruces and is the Chile capitol of NM, and maybe the US). Going there would also fit in with going to Deming to visit Rockhound State Park. I also discovered a fixit project on the trailer. My new tool box is too heavy for the shelf behind the kitchen sink and the shelf has partially collapsed. I thought that was a good place for a heavy item because it is in back of the axles and takes weight off of the hitch, but it looks like the tool box will have to go in one of the side compartments or in the Suburban.

Late in the day I made a quick trip to WalMart for a few groceries and also bought a set of surgical grade tin snips. Once I talked Cathey into me trying to remove the cast, I put the surgical tin snips to work and within 10 minutes had the cast removed without incident. So without consulting the medical records or checking the xrays, Dr. Kowalski did his magic, and for less than the Las Cruces Orthopedic Clinic would have charged! Cathey asked if I had sterilized the tin snips, I said “No, but I am sure the Chinese sterilized them before they shipped them over here.”