Countdown to crating Ziva. She’s under the dining room table, totally unhappy about everything. She’ll be less happy when I lock her up and put out food and water for Taz. Sucks to be her. 
Roxy should be done with breakfast soon. When I get back from the vet, I’ll play with her a while to tire her out. Then when she’s napping, I can scrub the dirty seat covers. Yes, my life is that exciting…
Nellie, I see you got my point (especially after others also swatted you gently with a rolled-up newspaper-- and that’s really hard to do with the digital edition). I do understand having no one around to rely on or turn to so you get used to YOU being the only person you can count on. And sometimes I resent having to do everything myself, and that resentment turns into defiance-- “Fine! I don’t need any help!”
BUT sometimes (and lugging a big package uphill is one of those times) it can feel good to be helped, IF you can manage to let it feel good.
You can still be a self-sufficient tower of capability and strength 99% of the time. Just like you love to help people, so do others. And when you do unbend enough to LET them, don’t negate the grace of it by calling yourself a wimp for accepting help. To wit:
I wince when people call themselves names. You know you’re strong. Your strength isn’t compromised or eroded because you gave in grudgingly and let someone help you.
I’ll get off your case now. But I’ve got my eyes on you. 
Morning all. woke up to clouds and 54F, so fall has definitely shown up here in N. Ali-bama. Nothing on the schedule today, may call AT&T about my Direct TV bill (would like to get it earlier in the month so it fits my schedule better) and see about an appointment at the Doc’s for a flu shot.
Also wondering about a pain I’m getting in my left side-back, but only at night when I’m moving in my sleep–during the day I have no pain and complete freedom of movement without a twinge. It is a puzzlement.
nellie, good people doing good things is a gift we need to pass on to one another. And we know you could have made it; but you didn’t have to.
FCM, beware the wrath of Ziva! Does Roxy come with you to the vets?
Thel, glasses have always been great for peering over.
Butters, I hope this Miami migration is over for now, and that you can get the help you need for your somewhat difficult patient…
Dot, plan to eat something, dear. I find writing things down kinda makes me do them, just so I can cross them off the list.
Everybody take care and enjoy your 2Day.
Ziva has been delivered. And no, Roxy stayed home with PeePaw. And chances are, her mama will pick her up before I have to retrieve the shaved kitteh. I’ll try to catch a photo of her new lion cut and post it later.
Meanwhile, food and water is now available to Taz, so he should be happy. Onward!
Back from sorting
Happy Tuesday! For a day with only two classes to teach I sure am busy. Have a Zoom parent/admin/teacher conference, a counseling session and a mass of grading to do during my conference period, then paperwork galore when I get home since I discovered Dee didn’t get around to signing me up for Medicare when it was due. So now I have to go through that morass. Any suggestions to make it easier?
The cats are fed, I am fed (Honey-Nut Cheerios with Peruvian blueberries the size of marbles) and Tango is running wild all over the office. The day has officially begun.
Sun’s out! Buns out! (I love being pantsless in my own home.)
I got the dishes washed up yesterday during my post-mother rage-cleaning fit, so I think I really will make that chicken soup today - it’ll be good for the soul.
God, she really pissed me off. Of course I can’t get her outta my head; my best consolation is that I guarantee she’s even more worked up, by orders of magnitude, and she doesn’t even have the comfort of smoking pot.
Meh. For now, I’m supervising kitties being rambunctious in the sun and wet grass.
Need to get my rent payment set up & stretch the whatever’s left like a rubber band.
It’d be nice to get the floor swept, and there’s a shelf I’d like to put up, in the kitchen over the microwave, to make up for the minimal counter space.
The clean laundry needs to be re-homed back into drawers and such, so I can get the dirties off the floor and back into a hamper.
We’ll see how much of all that actually gets accomplished. 
Yeah! I just saw that on the NSA Satellite feed-- very cute! 
My new Calphalon 2 1/2 qt. Tri-Ply pot arrived yesterday. I didn’t expect it that fast! The lid is better than the ones on the rest of the set that I bought over a decade ago, but it doesn’t quite match the rest. The handle is the same, but the edges are different. I haven’t washed the pot and lid yet. Once I do, I’ll hang them in place of the old ones. I don’t know where I’ll put the old ones.
In other pot news… Remember a few years ago when we had the trailer and passageway demolished, and then had the roof and walls repaired where they were attached? At some point, a small pot was found. It probably fell out of the trailer, which was literally falling apart. Somehow it found its way into a fork of a sequoia tree by the driveway. (Not Giant Sequoia, but both are getting too big to be where they are and need to be cut down. Anyway…) For whatever reason, I couldn’t be arsed to get the pot out of the tree. Couldn’t see it anyway, unless you were looking for it. I finally got it down.
It’s about a quart, and made of thin (aluminum?) metal. The handle appears to be ferrous, as it had some rust on the bottom. There was a three-inch dent in the perimeter of the bottom. I used a ball peen hammer to shape it somewhat, and an upside-down center punch to shape it better. I washed it, and got some of the surface rust off of the handle. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it. I do my cooking in my Calphalon pots and pans, or my copper-bottom Revere Ware pots. Dad would have used for boiling eggs; but I have the similar pan dad used for that purpose, and I’ve never used it.
Well, it never got as hot as predicted yesterday. (Here on the coast, that is. Some inland areas topped 100 again, which is terrible for the fire situation. But they’re due for some relief today.) A misty fog rolled in just after noon and made me wish I’d brought a jacket.
Overall, I was glad though. My wife gets insane when it’s hot outside. She works from home, and like most houses in the area we don’t have air conditioning. When it’s hot I get hourly texts with thermostat updates, and I come home to blankets over all the windows. I love her, but she drives me crazy when it’s hot. With the climate changing, we may need to invest in a window AC next summer.
And of course, Blanche said the famous line in Streetcar, not Stella. So much for me looking smart here.
Johnny, you are much more resourceful than I. That old pot would be out with the trash if it were me!
The CHEAP old pot! Like, something you’d pick up at a yard sale for a quarter or less! 
I didn’t tell Mrs. L.A. how much the new Calphalon pot cost.
I applied on line and it was a piece of cake. It’s been almost 2 years since I did it, but I don’t recall any issues. The biggest hassle was because I didn’t start drawing Social Security till the next year, I had to pay for part B by check. Now it’s just held out of my SS check.
Then again, I also didn’t have to figure out supplementals because I have to continue to carry health insurance till my spousal unit hits 65. If that’s the morass you’re referring to, I fear I can’t be a lot of help. In which case, just ignore me.
Meanwhile, I have Ziva back. Not only did it not take long - they didn’t have to sedate her! Yep, 2020 is a freaky year! 
It amazes me that she just let the tech give her the lion cut and clip her nails. No pic yet, tho. Once I let her out of the crate, she headed for her cave under the bed.
The tech told me she does cat grooming on the side and I’ve got her cell number, so I can call her directly next time and get it cheaper than going thru the vets, which is nice. I should have asked if she does dogs, too…
Roxy is now napping. I scrubbed the 4 chair seats and they’re sitting under the ceiling fan to dry. I suppose I could tidy a bit. Maybe. Sketties for supper because it’s easy. Guess that’s all for now.
Afternoon all. The sun has reappeared and it’s nearly 70F now, so hopefully the soccer fields will be open for practice (we’ll know by 4pm). I have a flu shot appointment for next 2day, got my Direct TV bill moved to the 15th, and cleaned the second bathroom, so I have been industrious (for me) this morning.
FCM, maybe the cat groomer is a hypnotist on the side and transfixed Ziva while she got shaved.
flyboy, between you and shoe, there’s a lot of discussions about pot right now on the MMP… . And hope your wife does check Amazon for the price… 
quietly, like others, I don’t recall signing up for Medicare to be all that difficult. Did have to visit their building in Huntsville, but nothing much.
OK, need to clean the main bathroom and prepare for soccer practice. All y’all take care.
That you know of…
Wicked, wicked Boo
Happy Toosday!
Misty day today, it’s cooler now than when I went to the park.
We left the park early because nobody else was coming and park people were driving trucks in to do some kind of irk. Echo is rather stupid around trucks.
A plumber came to fix the fountain last week, and somebody ran a hose from the pump on the small dog side to the big dog side. Everything seemed to be irking well, so I have no idea what they were doing today.
Picked up the groceries, had lunch. I’m thinking about a nap. I was up half the night, my stomach hurt enough to wake me several times, as well as it was hot.
Got a text from the lawn/fence/bathroom guy. It seems I now have to pick out fixtures. Do the choices never end?
#sorrynotsorry
I wish. No human being on this green earth needs it more. Just … like, relax for a second, woman.
ETA: oh, my chicken soup just beeped! Yay!
If she was smart enough to marry you she already knows.
It is worth it to her. You may be a lot of things but I’m sure you are never boring.
wheelie You’re a nice guy, buy her an air conditioner when the end of season sales are good. Let her look at the box all winter so she has the relief of knowing that next summer she will have an oasis of comfort. You just may find yourself hanging out in the AC room.
Wanted to hop in here with all the rest and agree that my experience signing up for Medicare was absolutely easy and no big deal (and for me to say that is something). As I remember I did it either in a few minutes at the Soc Sec office or on line. I signed up for part B at the same time and arranged to have the premiums come out of my benefit checks (you’ll have to wait a bit to that do I suppose, but it is sooo convenient). The really important part is later when you choose the supplemental plan. Do that very carefully as pre-existing conditions don’t count only the initial time you enroll. Having to change plans later can really bite you in the ass, coverage and cost-wise. So called ‘advantage plans’ may sound good because they appear cheaper, but you get what you pay for-I had home care nursing clients die while they waiting for treatments to be authorized.
FCMooomm. Glad Ziva made it home so quickly and you are still friends. Perhaps the tech-on-side can come to your place for the next lion cut. Less traumatizing for all and da Rox might find the process amusing.
BBBoo~still lazing about on this fine, sunny prairie day
Your chicken soup beeped?? Did you think the Road Runner was a chicken?? Beep beep!
Why is it that when you have to talk to your kid’s teacher it still feels like you’re the one in trouble?? Overlyboy was busted today - he was distracted during his zoom class and, when asked what he was doing, admitted, “I’m sorry, I was doing my business homework.” Apparently the teacher lost her mind and kicked him off the zoom class, all the while screaming something about calling me.
I hate to be all lackadaisical about it, but for Pete’s sake, it’s the first time he’s done this - I think going off the deep end and kicking him out of class essentially is a little excessive. Oh, well. I think I’ll give her another hour and see what happens. I flippin’ hate high school - whether it’s my son’s or someone else’s.
Otherwise, the day is going fairly well. Got my walk in, lots of coffee this morning, things got done, etc.