Trying To Reason with Hurricane Season - A Hockey MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

Hello, chums! It’s been a couple of weeks. Dogs have been controlling my life, and the rest of the time went to family members in various states of crisis–or what they think is crisis, anyway. But one of the dogs is on vacation, so my evenings will be free for a while.

My big news is that I’m feeling better! I used to be unable to go 1/2 mile without having to do Lamaze breathing. Now my back doesn’t start hurting until later, and it doesn’t hurt nearly as much. Yay, progress! Also, it’s great to be able to bend again. Hurray!

I had an eye doctor appointment this morning. My daughter and I bought googly eyes while she was here, so while waiting for the doc, I stuck two big ones on my eyelids. In a few minutes, I heard laughter, so I waved my arms in front of me and said, “Doc, doc! I can’t see!” She made me promise to do it for the corneal specialist next week.

The news there wasn’t so great. My right contact is a little uncomfortable. She said there’s nothing more that can be done, and the corneal specialist is recommending another transplant. I can’t tell you how badly I DON’T want to go through that again. My eyes have apparently been sensitized because the last few transplants, the pain was ungodly. I’m not that uncomfortable with the contact, so I hope to put it off for awhile.

On the bus, a guy who was boarding with a scooter tripped and fell hard with his legs flying up in the air. People helped him up, and he sat behind me and started talking about falls with his scooter. Then he fell asleep. I had to wake him up because he was heading for Tumwater and had to transfer. I hope he made it OK.

The new bus route drops me off at the mall, so I went to Penney’s to buy a tee shirt. This elderly man waiting in line started putting the moves on me. Ick.

My son is still sick. It’s been three weeks now. His pulmonologist wants to see him tomorrow. Hopefully he’ll get relief soon. I worry about that guy.

My elderly neighbor is in terrible pain and needs a hip replacement, but she can’t get one because she has nobody to stay with her for a week or so post-op, the length of time the surgeon insists she has somebody. Her daughter is wealthy but won’t come down until September because she’s too busy, nor would she pay for a private nurse. I feel so sorry for her.

To make matters worse, someone stole her wagon-style grocery cart, which she uses to get her trash to her car and then the dumpster. It happened in broad daylight. It was tucked away where it couldn’t be seen from the street. She’s on a fixed income and had to buy a new cart. Stoopit criminals.

My nephew finally found an apartment. He’s still in the motel for a few more days. His mother has spent over $3,000 on his hotel bill, which doesn’t bother him in the slightest. OCD is only one way he’s messed up.

All this hockey talk reminds me of the old graffiti: “Jesus saves.” “But Mikita gets the rebound and scores.”

ALWAYS suspect the squirrels. They’re the juvenile delinquents of the tree world. Glad mom is better!

Tater, what a wonderful person E. must have been! I loved the “funny bone” on his urn. To combine humor with beautiful art is the sign of a truly outstanding human.

I know exactly where. I’ve never figured it out, either.

Shoe, I’d love to know the backstory on that couple. He’s a cheapskate and she’s Attila? She’s Attila because he’s a cheapskate? He’s a cheapskate because she’s Attila?

Molly, Happy Pride Month! The gym shorts sound like a good way to ease out, at least in yoga class. My daughter has two skeletons on her front porch she puts in seasonal attire. They have names and are a gay couple–always smiling and holding hands. On June 1st, she decks them out in rainbow shirts and sunglasses and hangs the Pride flag plus rainbow bunting. When is your local parade?

Also, so glad your wife is such a sweetheart. She obviously loves the essential you.

doggio, love that meme. Question: who loads the brown vans? Are the parcels loaded in order by address?

When I was 15, a friend and her mom invited me to go ice skating at an indoor rink. Friend had a cute ice skating outfit and was twirling and figure-eighting. I clung to the rail and slipped like I was wearing banana peel shoes. Friend’s mom said not being able to skate meant getting help from cute boys. Turned out, she was right.

Remember double-blade skates? That’s what I need.

I ALMOST got caught up, but I’m fading fast. It’s not even 9:00 yet. I’m fudding right into duddyhood.

Hippie and molly, I loved the labor and delivery stories!

42

Naw, it’s less than 10%. $15 each on two $175 charges. It should have been at least $20 each, to get slightly above 10%. I think I’ll add another ten each when I go back next week.

43

Even when someone familiar with them is staying with them in their own home, it’s hard on them. I love Sis’ dogs, but they’re missing her. When I was in the hospital and rehab, she took care of Nelson, but he missed me.

I have my sweet boy draped over my left shoulder. At bedtime, when the other dogs go to their crate, he gets me to himself and gets all cuddly. The rest of the dogs are getting used to my presence but miss Sis and BIL.

If I survive this week with a functional left hand, it will be a miracle. This morning I cut it taking the seed out of an avocado (combo of dull knife and slightly overripe fruit). This evening, I popped popcorn and did a well duh when I burned my hand on the pan handle ( my popcorn pan at home has a composite handle ).

44

I was in hurricane Bonnie in 98. I had just moved to Wilmington for that one, like a week before. The eye went right over us and I took a little drive during the 45 minutes of calm in the middle of the thing.

45

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. It’s currently 61 degrees Ferret Height(16.111 Centipedes)

Inside staff loads the vans. Allegedly the route is loaded by address. but the Orion trace computer program tried to route you different, sometimes loads with a dock aren’t put at the back so we move them, plus some businesses have weird reciveing hours, so things have to be done out of sequence. Plus pickups have to be back by a certain time.

Yay for that!
Boo on the eyeball, and all the other things.

My intro to hurricanes was David(Cat 1) in Wilmington in 1979.

46

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 70 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 89 and mostly cloudy for the day. There could be rain late afternoon. It’s laundry day! I am just beside myself with joy. Also the bug man cometh at nine a.m. I need to call the pharmacy today to refill ‘scripts, so guess I will. I should also deal with a couple of errands that need doin’. This cuts into my RDOS sloth time. How awful! Sup will be leftovers, so that’ll be easy.

VanGo glad Ms. Peach is back home and has settled in.

BrightTree those raisin buns look so good. Unfortunately I live with someone who despises raisins. If I made ‘em it would be a treat just for me and I would feel guilty. That means I’d have to make sump’n for OYKW or buy him a treat from the bakery. Have I mentioned he’s a spoiled brat? I am glad Ollie is doin’ better with the diet. Hopefully you can ease him into a less farty diet soonest.

MOOOOOOM hope the snort of Nyquil and early bedtime helped.

Mollie stoopid is gonna stoopid even in a hurricane. Glad you had some entertainment with your mornin’ coffee however.

Nellie yay for feelin’ better, but boo for the eye problems. Hope you can find a way to minimize the pain if it comes down to the transplant. Good on you for makin’ the doc laugh. I an sure it was much appreciated. That was kind (not surprisingly at all!) of you to wake up the guy so he didn’t miss his transfer. Hope your son gets feelin’ better soonest.

47

Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 17c/63f with a predicted high of 18c/65f and mostly cloudy. Weather app says “Not much is going on with the fucking weather today. Let’s get fucking crazy and try to name all the fucking superfoods.”

Wishing you a very happy Pride Month! Sounds like Mrs Magill has the ideal solution for women’s boxers too, she’s such a thoughtful person.

Frumious I hope you manage to get everything sorted out. Tips are a minefield sometimes, we always overtipped just to be sure we were getting it right!

That is the best news! I’m sorry that the eye doctor couldn’t match that one for you.

VanGo I’m glad Ms Peach is back and settled where she belongs.

I logged off work bang on time yesterday, then went to make campus food. I just about had time to do that and feed the cats before I had to leave for the gym and my Spin class. Got home and made dinner, then emptied the rubbish and hauled the biiiiig bin out to the kerb for today’s collection.

I was out of the house at the crack of sparrow’s fart this morning because I could not afford to be delayed getting to campus. Today was the day of the dreaded exam for Exceptionally Difficult Student. Fortunately everything went well, everyone turned up when they should have done, and the laptop didn’t break. EDS didn’t have tantrums or a meltdown (which was what we were worried about), and she finished her exam in 1.5hrs. She’s gone now, and we can all heave a big sigh of relief.

While her exam was going on, I paid the balance for a short break away with friends, bought tickets for a music festival in September, and came up with a cunning plan for another gig. We are off to Scotland in November to a music festival in Troon, we usually combine it with a visit to ‘im indoor’s’ mum as she lives not that far away. My favourite band in the whole entire world is playing at that festival, and have now announced a handful of dates around it. My cunning plan involves getting to at least one of those extra shows, and I think we can manage one of them on the way back home. Will have to discuss that with 'im indoors, he’s back from his trip today (and tickets aren’t on sale until Friday so I’ve got time to work it out with him).

48

Well, I slept thru, but an hour after waking, I’m coughing and dealing with a drippy nose again. Dammit. I see my doc on Moanday, in case it keeps up till then. I think when I see the neurologist tomorrow, I’ll be wearing a mask.

Speaking of hurricanes:

In 2004, Daughter was in Orlando for her freshman year at UCF, living in her first apartment with her life-long bestie (the friend she visits in Akron.) That was the year Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne all hit Florida. She either hunkered down in Orlando or went to Ocala to hang with her grandparents. Helluva experience for an 18-y/o living along for the first time.

As for me, my last year in college, I took a meteorology class to fill out my schedule. The prof’s name was Dave and the TA was Fred. Neither one hit Indiana (duh) but we had fun with the names.

FCD will be working in his shop today and I think I’ll rake the ditches out front since they’re packed full of leaves. It’s almost exactly 2 years to the day since my little seizure while raking leaves in the ditch… Am I taunting fate?? We shall see.

For now, I’ll finish my morning surfing, then shower, dress, and whatever. Happy Tuesday!!

49

It’s Tuesday, so I have to wind the clock. Gotta send some $ to the Food Bank and Repro Freedom for All.

Time for breakfast.

50

Well, good morning all. My bladder decided that it was done playing nice so got me up at 4:30am, so just to show it who is the boss I went back to bed until 7am. Have had my big bowl of cereal to break my fast and will consider donning proper clothes here in a bit, but nothing much on the agenda so not in any rush. It’s clear and 68F and for the first time in a week there is a negligible chance of rain today.

Hello nellie!! Glad to hear you are feeling better. And lovely little moment at the eye doc’s; nice that she had a sense of humor. And hope the eye settles down and makes peace with the contact. And you bus tales never disappoint…sounds like he might have been under the influence of some…substance… And best wishes to son and neighbor.

I actually remember seeing that way back in college, except the response was “And Esposito scores on the rebound!” (the odd things we remember from 50 years ago).

red, good luck on being right-handed…

swampy, sounds like a busy day at the bear den.

boo fae, glad the EDS wasn’t exceptionally difficult this time. Hope the November plan works out.

And that’s all for now. Will see if I can mind my calorie input better the rest of the week and see what happens when I check my weight again next Moanday. Have a good one all.

51

Good morning.

It’s 53F and sunny outside. It’ll remain sunny today, with a daytime high of 85F.

Nellie, so good to see you post here! I’m happy to read the back is doing better, but boo on the eyeball thing. The I-5 spot I’m talking about is Martin Road all the way through the Nisqually Valley and up the hill to just before Dupont. It’s ridiculous. During my former commute days, the backup started before Martin, closer to Pacific.

I’ve never been in a hurricane, but as Lily noted, tsunamis are a threat along the coast and even in some inland waters. Also, let’s not forget the numerous volcanoes that surround us. I don’t live far from Mt. Rainier. Mount St. Helens showed us her wrath back in the 80s. I was camping not far north of her the day she blew. That was quite unnerving, and we all evacuated. Finally, we also live in earthquake country. The “big 'uns” are a rarity, thankfully, but we did have the big Nisqually earthquake back in 2001.

FCM, I’m sorry you’re still feeling icky. I hope it passes soon.

Bright Tree, I’m glad Ollie’s itchies have improved so much with his diet. I hope the gas issue is resolved soon. Buster and Maisie are rarely gassy, but hoo boy, when they are, it’s obnoxious.

I spent five solid hours working in the garden yesterday. I spent the day on the “shade garden” slope planting. I also transplanted some other plants in the garden area below my great room window, but, yeah, the slope was most of the day. The slope is filled with rocks and boulders, so I can’t just take a shovel and start digging a hole to put in a plant. I have to use my Hori knife and dig out stones and boulders by hand. I almost gave up on one hole because the boulder I dug out was quite large, but I finally got it. I’m going to have to invest in a pry bar for hole digging on the slope.

I’ll probably get out in the garden again today, at least to finish widening the one garden bed and transplant the last of my purchased plants. There are only a few left. I also need to transplant a rather large Delphinium. It’s still in the original nursery pot, and I think I’ve had it for two years now. It’s actually doing great in that pot’s location, so I’m tempted to just get a larger pot and transplant it there. I think it would look lovely on the slope, but that area doesn’t receive enough morning sunshine. Such a conundrum.

That’s really all I have planned for today. Tomorrow, I’ll pick up the dogs’ Apoquel prescriptions from Costco. I still don’t really feel like going anywhere today.

You all take care.

52

Good morning! It was 65ºF and quite muggy this morning, so we swam walked. It’s not easy to see, but there was a lot of mist in my sunrise photo.

Special bonus: last night’s sunset

Spike got the Amazon job. It’ll be from 6:30PM to 5:30AM, four days a week. I really don’t like my children doing shift work, but it’s only for a couple of months. It’s at their warehouse in Murfreesboro. He thinks it’s take him forty-five minutes to get there in the evening. I told him that he’s gonna want to start checking the traffic report at 5. I-24 literally has the worst traffic. I hope he can get an internship next summer.

Nellie - I’m running the tent for my Church at Franklin Pride Fest this weekend. I hope we’re next to the Lutherans again. They were ruthless towards the haters who always come in. Last year there were a couple of fourteen year-old girls at their tent who heckled the hell out of the haters. I’ll be free for a couple of hours in the early afternoon, so I’ll go visit my sisters at the MTTA tent.

She is. She really is. The last couple of months have been hard for her. I did kinda force her into an identity crisis, but I think she’s working her way through it.

Taters - Your area of the country is beautiful, and I would love to live there, but not until after the Cascadia subduction zone slips.

Have a good day, everyone!

53

Nellie, glad you’re feelibg better. I’m sorry your eyes won’t settle down and behave.

54

it has been a few days. i don’t sound like barry white any more, still have coughing fits.

fan expo was in philly for the weekend. talk about a very accepting event, the diversity is amazing. i had gotten a ticket for friday quite a while ago. even feeling a bit wiped out i did go for a few hours. there were 2 booths with really good teas and tisanes, i got some lovely blends there.

saturday, after shopping i napped, sunday was the same. i did feel almost totally human on monday.

we had 4 interns start on monday, so most of the day was getting them set up. at the condo we have asl workshop every other monday, it was a good time. i won sign bingo!

tonight is green committee meeting. no rest for the cougher!

hurricane wise pa is protected. the west gets hit by remnants. those can cause a lot of flooding. the east is protected by nj, de, and md. phila gets hit by cat 1’s at the most. sometimes a 2 will sneak by. we do get flooding. sometimes the poconos will get flooding as a tropical storm or remnant goes by.

as far as hockey goes, i hear the whalers are doing well this year…

55

This brings up the ironic possibility that the Hurricanes game could be cancelled because of a hurricane.

56

B-b-but that would eliminate being rewarded with peanuts (legumes + small dogs =farts).

Up, caffeinating, breakfasted, doggies tended to and fixing to do KP. I have a podiatrist appointment, but that’s about it except bringing in the bins once trash is gone.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

57

Smart man!

58

I have a strange relationship with raisins. They’re good in oatmeal raisin cookies and in cinnamon raisin bread, but not by themselves.

Growing up, my mother gave out little boxes of raisins for Halloween. Everyone knew she was my mother. I hated the day after Halloween.

59

No reason to go outside today. Went down and paid the rent after forgetting to do so yesterday. I may check the tomato plant later.

Breakfast: bagel with mashed avocado, lemon olive oil, salt, and chopped tomato. A bit of scramble and bacon on the side. My avocado fu continues to amaze all who witness it. I’ve had one bad one in the last year.

Kinda like the year I gave out Clif Bars. I got a lot of “Really?” looks. To be fair, I had never eaten one and had no idea what they were like.

60

I raked a good bit of the longer ditch, then pulled out the Toro and ran over the remaining leaves, turning them into dry mulch. Tomorrow I’ll have a go at the other ditch.

It was a tad unnerving since it was almost exactly 2 years ago that I had my seizure while raking the very same ditch. Today, I just kept telling myself “I’m fine. I’m fine.” :rofl: Anyway, that ditch looks good and tomorrow I’ll be seeing my neurologist to discuss cutting back on my meds. So we’ll see.

After I finish lunch, I need to splice an eye into the halyard we bought the other day so we can finish rigging the mast and boom in the crane configuration. I’ve never done a splice in a braided line, so this will be a learning experience. Or a cussing experience. Or both.

What I want to do is assume the recliner position. This adulting crap gets old fast!