Braces → permanent retainer (wire behind my front lower teeth) → wisdom teeth out → permanent retainer removed → 20 years → Invisalign-style trays → permanent retainer.
I figured I would either forget or lose a removable retainer, and my dentist said it was up to me.
Made Patata e Fagioli (Pasta e Fagioli, but with potatoes instead of pasta) and put 2 meals’ worth in the freezer. Also oiled the dining table, lubricated the new (now 4 years old) windows, cleaned the kitchen floor, did laundry, and finally figured out that the sliding shower doors usually don’t need lubricating, but might want some cleaning. Nothing urgent, though.
Told hubby I wouldn’t mind having a day without anything on the to-do list. Not happening soon, especially as the garden needs to be put to bed before winter comes. Probably will work on that next weekend, if it’s dry enough.
I guess I could finish off the last of the cinnamon ice cream. That’s cleaning, right?
Morning all. Bladder was not as kind as yesterday, was up at 2am and 5am to answer calls of nature, finally got out of bed about 7:45am and have procured NY Times and eaten some pancakes, so the day’s started well so far. It’s 54F outside and about 70F inside, so while I’m tempted to turn on the heat, I haven’t so far, hoping a clear day for the atomic furnace will warm things up (getting near 70F today). Outside of maybe my usual gym time, nothing is on the agenda and I will take a break from yesterday’s exertions. Might consider a load of laundry or two if I can be self-mobilized to care enough to do them today. Dinner is a tossup between Chili’s and Applebee’s, both advertise sirloin steak on the menu and fewer calories than the usual steak houses (mostly because they don’t offer bread/rolls). So we’ll see which side of the coin comes up.
Flyboy, thanks for that information, I will now try octopus…never.
Bright Tree, well done on the voting.
BBBoo, if you stayed up that late to watch Nebraska football, then you should qualify for ‘superfan’…or insomnia…
Happy Vergering, Swampy.
boo fae, that’s a pretty nice collection day, the shoppers must all be pet lovers. And not surprised the band folks know you, you must be almost a constant presence for their weekend performances. And the cabbie knowing you was an added bonus.
Hippie, never bet on football and still get confused by the + or - on the dollar amounts to bet, but like you, the gas points are now the only ones I am concerned with.
Nut, Happy Shrub Destruction Day.
Knew there was a reason I liked you…
Guess I just like salt, or am too wedded to !Tradition!
FCM, don’t do outback either, the booths were always too cramped for me and the food and service were uninspiring. I do like Longhorn’s service and bread, so a couple more dollars doesn’t bother me–but I agree, the Roadhouse is #1. And no blood but a couple of spots on the back of my hand where I bumped it sonewhere…old age is not for the weak…
JtC, thanks for the Bleed Stop info, I’ll look for it this week.
Taters, you haven’t liven until you’ve shared a living room with a farting English Mastiff…
When I first read that I had a boo fae moment and wondered what kind of band they were…
On the dental discussion, I have a mild overbite my dentist tried to get me to fix with some overnight braces, but they got lost and I never replaced them, so guess I won’t have perfect teeth ever, but they still work fine.
And that’s all for the morning, need to do some Internettin’ and then decide on dinner. Take care all.
You need to perfect The Look - then no words are necessary. Or several variations. Like WTF or I don’t have time for this or Just go away…
I never had braces and a lower front tooth is and has always been out of line. As a kid, my folks couldn’t afford cosmetic procedures for us, and as an adult, I don’t much care. It doesn’t affect my bite, so why bother? My top center teeth are longer than the adjacent ones, tho not comically beaver-like long, so I’ll never ever have a “picture perfect” smile, but I’m an old grouch, so who cares??
Honestly, the only thing about my teeth that concerns me is keeping cavity-free and, so far, avoiding a root canal or any other bad tooth stuff. I’m far from a perfect physical specimen, but I’ve got pretty good teeth.
I’ve finished the painting and thanks to disposable gloves, I didn’t get any on me. I think I’ll play in my studio this afternoon - I want to make a good-sized flower pot/planter and I don’t know if I’ll throw or hand-build it. We shall see. But first, once FCD gets to a break point, we’ll go to Salsa’s for lunch as our main need to feed. Till then, dunno. Maybe crochet and Poirot?
I didn’t make too much progress on de-shrubbing; chopped it down a bit, but then got distracted as the garden robin came bob bob bobbing along looking cute and getting in the way, so I switched to trying to make friends with it again. It’ll come right up to my feet now, and took some dried mealworms I threw for it. Let’s see if I can get it eating out my hand when it’s proper winter and food is a bit scarcer, assuming he manages to avoid the neighbourhood cats that long…
I also got delayed as I realised the heap o stuff to go to the recycling centre is getting ridiculous, so I chopped a load up and stuffed it in the car. On weekends the queue there is always huge and you just have to grab a space wherever, while on weekdays I can normally drive right in and park next to the green waste bay, so I don’t want to go today, but I figured getting it all in there ready would stop me putting it off again tomorrow like I did all last week. Unfortunately, after loading the car, I realised I’m nearly out of milk, and I don’t want to drive around a car full o shrub more than necessary… Oh well, I can walk to the nearby shop, I just don’t really wanna and I’m somewhat muddy. They can deal, I guess, if I want to have some for coffee tomorrow morning, which I do.
All the soop talk encouraged me to make some roasted garlic 'n squash soop, which I really like but never get round to making; the bit I tasted is really good, so when I do go to the proper shop, I need to grab some more squash, as they only sell butternut most of the time, while the acorn squish (which is what I’d used) and other squash, which taste much better IMO, are only there a month or so, but they store for ages. I roasted another batch of tomatillos as well while the oven was on- I don’t think the plants will last much longer, so figured I could freeze some salsa for winter.
My teeth are slightly wonky, but it’s just cosmetic and we don’t typically care so much over here. It ain’t like the rest of me’s in perfect cosmetic condition either, let’s face it.
Rolling on in to Sunday, with more beautiful weather today. It’s a bit chilly now but I’ll be opening the windows up in a bit. I need to drag myself out shortly to go to Walmart - I need a few things and to pick up a prescription. I always dilly dally too long and it gets too people-y inside on a Sunday.
Texas Roadhouse was a big hit yesterday and my mom’s friend loved it. I predict we’ll be going back there regularly. I was so stuffed, and we ate so late, that I skipped dinner.
FCM and Metal Mouse very much agree on the steak house rankings. Quality and consistency has gotten real uneven at the Outback near me so I’ve stopped going. Longhorn is usually pretty good though.
Taters there isn’t much worse than some farty dogs. And the hang time for the stench is always unreal.
Bright Tree yay for the ballot finally showing up! Sorry to hear the lasagna has ultimately turned out disappointing. That dish is too much work to not turn out well.
Doggio add me to the list impressed by your culinary skills. Also, you earn that OT over 5 hours per day!
As a sushi place, the teriyaki was tasty. While the octopus was overcooked and the albacore was OK, the salmon was like buttah. It just melted in our mouths At other places, we get a sashimi ‘plate’ that has salmon, nice, red, fatty tuna (melts even better than salmon), and yellowfin tuna. This place didn’t have that typical assortment, so Watashi no tsuma ordered à la carte.
Not overcooked, it’s delicious. But I feel guilty eating them since they are so intelligent.
That’s what the Ducks often do. They’ve just never been good near the goal. And my lovely wife is certain the backup quarterback threw the previous game intentionally.
If your lovely wife meant last weeks game that Ducks quarterback was Dylan Raiola, who was Nebraska’s starting quarterback for several years until he jumped ship to Oregon for more NIL $$$ and fame. I wouldn’t put it past him to throw a game but I can’t figure out what his goal would be. That it was Raiola who scored the touchdown against his old team that cinched our loss was bitter, acrid salt rubbed into the wound. Sigh…
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted, KP done, a batch of apple muffins made and fixing to get sheveled so’s I can go fill the car up with gas.
One of my neighbors is feeding outdoor cats in paper bowls. Not only does it make a mess, but the critters keep setting off car alarms, including mine. Not only that, but they’re leaving paw prints all over the vehicles, making it almost pointless to get your car washed.I may say something to the manager when I pay my rent for next month.
I gave in to autumn and turned the heat on this morning: it was in the 30s outside and in the low 60s inside (upstairs). After looking at the long-range forecast and seeing some low-ish overnight temps with highs not exceeding 71, I decided it was time. I closed the 3rd-floor vents (except in the master bathroom) and opened the 1st-floor vents, switched the thermostat to “heat,” and set it to 70. I figure it’ll take some trial-and-error to determine the optimal fall temp setting…which I’ll probably figure out just in time for the colder winter weather to start. Heh.
Lunch with my mom’s cousin (“Aunt J”) was very nice yesterday. The drives were only mildly annoying: 70 miles took 1 hr 20 min in the morning, and 1 hr 35 min in the afternoon. Surprisingly, her husband (“Uncle R”) was home; it was good to see him, too. He didn’t go to Panera with us, though, because he had to do some work (and isn’t really a “sit around and chat” type). He’s been an MLB scout his entire career, which means he’s always traveled a lot. He’s been with the San Diego Padres for the last several years: he recently turned 80, and is still working! He got home less than a week ago, and will be flying to Arizona on Monday for some of the fall league. He’s in relatively good health and the Padres still love his scouting reports, and Aunt J said they really look out for him (e.g., he had some kind of respiratory infection while in the Dominican Republic, and the team made sure he had great doctors and got excellent care). If he’s safe and still able to do what he loves, I say good for him!
I was a little disappointed about one thing yesterday: Uncle R was with the Washington Nationals when they won the 2019 World Series, and he got a ring but didn’t receive it until the spring of 2020 – which of course was the start of the pandemic, so I didn’t get to see it then. I’ve visited my aunt once or twice since then but he wasn’t home, and at lunch I told her that when we got back to the house I was planning to ask Uncle R if I could see the ring. She told me he didn’t have it: at some point he took it somewhere to show some people, and never got it back! We agreed that he is too trusting. They’re hopeful he’ll get it back sometime, but she said it’s kind of a sore subject. I’m really glad I said something to her before asking him. I would have loved to have seen that ring, though: my ex and I had season Nationals tickets back in the day, and I was glued to my TV set for that World Series! By coincidence I wound up visiting Aunt J the day of the parade in DC, and by some other fluke Uncle R was actually home that day (I don’t remember why he opted not to go to the parade): I got to watch it with him, which was very special because he was even more emotional than I was and he shared stories about some of the players. He’s been really great to me over the years, sometimes giving me his seats in the scouting section of local ballparks when he couldn’t make it and always offering to get me tickets when he was with the Nationals. It’s been fun to have an “uncle” who works for MLB.
Right now (12:08pm) I’m supposed to be 28 miles away having lunch with a friend, eating yummy Thai food while catching up and discussing plans for a trip to LA in December[1], but my back’s bothering me a little today and I’m not up for another ~90 min of car time plus sitting in a restaurant chair/booth for who knows how long. I texted her this morning; we’ll be talking at 2pm.
On Friday I forgot to mention that my Halloween costume arrived last week! I ordered a personalized t-shirt that says, “I love ceilings.” (Give up? I’m a ceiling fan!)
OK, I’m about to make this already-long post even longer with some photos…consider yourselves warned!
I finished Lego Downton Abbey on Friday, and am quite pleased with how it turned out:
As always, larger photos are available in my online album of completed sets.I started Wallace & Gromit when I got home yesterday.
Since high school, I’ve collected Swarovski crystal figurines (I also have some of their jewelry). The pieces I like tend to cost more than I’m willing to spend, so I hadn’t bought anything since early March until I saw two adorable Halloween items this morning! I couldn’t resist ordering them:
Time for some replies, then lunch and Lego.
Great minds!
My HS ring’s stone was red (the school colors were red and white), but was more of the traditional big school ring style. My college colors were blue and white – plus my birthstone is sapphire, so the blue stone was even more perfect for me.
There are pictures of me at graduation wearing a hood, but I must have borrowed/rented it – along with the cap and gown – because I know I would have kept it. I stole the tassle from the mortarboard, though, and still have it with the tassles from HS and undergrad.
OMG I frequently think about/hear that laugh in my head but no one ever gets my “Muttley” reference!!
Neighbor cat has taken to hanging out under the back porch. Drives Ms Peach crazy. I haven’t seen Brian, the blue-gray stray around in a while, the neighbor cat is a big white fluffy thing.
We’re back from the Sunday doggie play time visit with boss and boss’s dog.
Very cool. He must have some great stories.
Dog is claiming she needs to go out. Must go attend to that.
I just had the sweetest experience. My mother’s neighbors are really nice. They are an older Indian couple but they travel a lot so I never actually met them. Today, as I’m home alone, the doorbell rings and it’s the lady next door. I wasn’t sure it was our neighbor but when she asked me for a favor, I realized that she was. The favor was … could I come next door and help them get their new electric car started. They never had one before and they weren’t sure what to do.
The husband was struggling, both with the start procedure - pressing the brake and then the power button, which he was pressing as though there were a foot per square inch requirement and he wasn’t letting go. I watched the dash cycle a couple of times. I think he was just turning it on and off. Then he was struggling with something on his phone - an e-key or something - which don’t really think had anything to do with whether or not he could start the car.
At one point he was sitting there with the dash fully on - a GPS map on the screen - and he was still scrolling through his phone looking for something. So, I told him that I’m pretty sure it’s running and if he’d put in reverse, he’d see.
Sure enough, it was like I pulled off a magic trick. They were both happy and smiling and laughing and thankful and they went off on their little drive in their new electric vehicle - which I’m hoping they don’t park anywhere to go into a shop or anything or they may not make it back.
The frost is on the pumpkin here, so the dogs and I had a rather brisk walk. I’ve switched over to my two-dog leash because I got tired of unbraiding theirs. As long as I keep the bigger, younger (10 years old) one from trotting too fast, it’s much better. Eddy, the oldster has arthritis, so I know I shouldn’t laugh, but he bounces down the stairs on all four feet like a baby goat, and I can’t help it.
We had a rough night. I dreamed that MetalMouse was for some reason coaching on the fields here, and there was some commotion. I couldn’t figure out if it was a copycat thing or panic over nothing, couldn’t seem to call 911 because the buttons on my phone all had foreign symbols on 'em, and couldn’t find MetalMouse. Just after I woke up from that one, Effie made those percolating sounds that indicate a doggie nightmare and then jumped on the bed, demanded comforting pats, and slept pressed against my internal organs. Poor girl. Sometimes it’s a relief to be awake.
JtC, I salute you and all others for attending No Kings events. I’m grateful to you. I wish I could have gone, but the oldster keeps barking at people to get off his lawn (and it’s all his lawn), and the other protests against people and dogs.
shoe, that was kind of your coworker, but it sounds like it’ll be fake chicken tortilla broth. What’s tortilla soup without tortillas? I’m looking forward to the review. And sorry about the obnoxious coworkers. Want me to come over and give 'em what-for? I ain’t a-skeert: I taught freshmen. Sounds like your coworkers ARE freshmen.
nut, I’m charmed by you befriending the robin. And I think cutting down the shrub is better, unless, of course, you encounter the Knights who say “Ni.”
taters, I’ve never had patata di figoli. Mom always made the pasta version. I remember singing, “You say potato, and I say patata. You say you’ve got to, and I say I gotta.” Oh, I thought I was so clever at age 12. My mother was a very patient woman.
How the heck do you pronounce the name of that German brand?
Sis has one of those for travel. Her crew only gets leashed then. When we had a small beagle houseguest for a couple of weeks, I’d put Nelson on the retractable leash and Copper on the standard, as he was a rambunctious puppy and she had to stop and do the hound dog sniff test every couple of feet.
Dagnabbit. That mouse is way too cute, and it would go really well with my glass pumpkin. If we go into town next Saturday, I might have to stop at the Swarovski store and see what the mouse looks like in person.
We wanted to set a new program and it didn’t give us the option to use the automatic dosing.
Thank you both for sharing Ariel’s beauty!
Sent a mail to the repair service and asked for the Wednesday afternoon slot, which would be after my 5 year hearing check. Another busy week to look forward to, so I should get my head on my pillow. Night all!
I discovered that HealthEquity has been charging me a monthly $3.95 ‘Admin fee’. At the first of the year, when my former employer switched providers, I had almost $60 in my HSA. This morning I had $19.32. I called to close my account, and was told there would be a $25 fee to close my account and return my remaining funds. To hell with them. I went to the pharmacy and bought pseudoephedrine for twenty bucks to deplete the amount on my card. Now they have nothing to administer. I also tried to email my state representative, but the contact form on leg.wa.gov didn’t work. (Kept saying I had to fill in required fields, which I had done.) I ended up sending her a message on Farcebook, and copying my email into a non-related post she’d made.
At other places, we get a sashimi ‘plate’ that has salmon, nice, red, fatty tuna (melts even better than salmon), and yellowfin tuna. This place didn’t have that typical assortment, so Watashi no tsuma ordered à la carte.
My mother was a very patient woman.