Mary, thanks for the suggestion about making an appointment now.

Mary Ann

Hi everyone. The day starts out overcast and we are headed to about 90 degrees again this afternoon with a 20% chance of some rain.  I got up this morning, showered and shaved and got partially dressed and laid back down with the head of the bed raised and read my email, devotionals and other readings I do each day.  I also read through all of the postings in the five discussions I follow each day. This seems to be becoming a habit as I am awake but not really ready to get up and start the day.  So it was about 8:15 before got out into the kitchen to start those duties.   

The main activity for today will be going to the dinner at Church this evening and then we will stop by Walmart to pick up an online order.  Yesterday in the paper I read that starting tomorrow there is a delivery to home service that will be instituted for our area.  It will have a $5.95 charge or you could get a yearly membership.  While we don't need this service now the time may come when it will be needed so was really happy to see that the service will be available. 

Yesterday Pat was able to find a new pair of shoes.  She is very hard to fit.  Following that we did go to the Honey on the Rock restaurant.  The meal was excellent and the surrounding very nice.  I was very impressed as a Bible  was on each table. I ended the meal with a big piece of pineapple chiffon pie that was delicious and Pat had their banana pudding.  We will definitely go back.  They offered a full or half portion meals, which was plenty of food for us and left space for the pie and banana pudding.

Mary Ann, sorry to see that your doctor really wasn't helpful to you in identifying your bite problem. 

Sue, while it has been quite awhile since I have stayed in a motel, the last few times I did I placed my suitcase in the bathtub or one of the stand alone luggage racks as didn't want to take any chances.  Fortunately I never had a problem with the bed bugs. 

deAngel, sure hope your area isn't hit too hard by the effects of the hurricane.  Good to be prepared with a light source.  Those expected winds are pretty high for a mobile home park. My SIL loves garage sales and finds some good bargains.  I didn't hear yesterday whether my son was able to work or not.  I am not expecting him at the Church dinner tonight as took him off the list for this week when he told me he had been ordered not to work until he felt better. 

Patricia, I remember the terrible traumatic time you went through in avoiding the bedbugs.  Sure glad they never found your apartment.  It sounds like you have taken every precaution available to you.  I don't think we experienced any of those really strong winds the two years we lived in Anchorage although I may have just forgotten as it was over 50 years ago now that we lived there. It sounds like you will welcome the snow so the street construction noise will cease.

Jeanne, I'm wondering if it might be Hannah M. Anderson?  Does that ring a bell?  I  don't remember seeing a post from someone with that name.

SCFSue

Sue, we don't have anyone registered as Hannah anything.  Anyway, the email is gone.  If it's a member with a different ID she'll have to try again and identify herself.

My dear sweet 19 year old cat, Winnie, moved on to the Rainbow Bridge, last Thursday.  He had lost a lot of weight over the past couple of months, and was extremely frail and seemed disoriented at times.  Finally, last week, he stopped eating and drinking water, and it was difficult at times for him to walk or sit.  We wanted him to die here at home, but when he indicated that he was in pain, we took him to the vet, to be put to sleep.  As you all can imagine, it was a long sad weekend here. We buried him here in our backyard, that he loved so much.  I can walk out just a few yards to his gravesite, and I can see it from the kitchen slider.   It's comforting to know that he is still close.

Oh, Marilyn, I am so sorry that you lost Winnie.  I have tears in my eyes.  I can't imagine how it will be for you after having him for 19 years.  I sometimes wonder why people have pets who cause more work, but I know I would miss Kendrick and he's only four.  I expect he will outlive me and we plan that he would then go to live with Annie's grandmother who would then be about my present age! 

With sympathy, Mary Ann

Marilyne, along with everything MaryAnn has said, I too know how it is to lose a feline family member. The last was Sarah with sudden liver issues at only eight years and of course, Peter and Beijing who I lost in 2011 at 20 and 22 years. The longer they are a part of our lives, the harder to let them go.

You will never forget Winnie and that is as it should be. But the sharpness of loss will ease. I too am crying as I type this.

Marilyne, what sad news it is to hear that Winnie is gone. Hugs!

Marilyne, I join with our other friends in our sadness for you. We ;love our pets as family.

I empathize with you, Marilyne.  We lost both of our little poodles six months apart, and although it has been years now I still miss them.

Hi everyone. It looks like today will be a repeat of yesterday in terms of the weather with a high around 90 degrees.  This being Thursday I will pick up my friend and take him to coffee this morning.  On my way I will make quick stop at Walmart to pick up a prescription and a couple of other things. I doubt I will try to attend the Wisdom class today as have been tired all week and today starts the same.  There is nothing else on the schedule for today.  We did have a nice dinner at Church last evening and then Jennifer came out and played Farkle with Pat for a couple of hours. Scott had traded work days with someone on the day he was sick so he was working last evening and couldn't be with us.

Marilyne, I join with all the other in saying I am so sorry that you have now lost Winnie as a part of your daily life.  I am sure you have many happy memories of his contribution to your lives over the 19 years.  I is always a sad time to lose a beloved pet. 

Marilyne, so sorry to hear of you losing Winnie.  I was looking at my dog yesterday while sitting on the patio and she is almost completely white on th ears and muzzle, she has aged so much in the past year it seems.
And she has really slowed down.

But you will always have the memories that will bring a smile to your face.

Marilynne,  I, too, am sorry to read that you have lost your little Winnie.    Always sad to lose a pet,  who has been such a big part of your family.   Nice that you were able to keep him close by.

It is a pretty sunny morning here in Central Maryland.  Supposed  to get up in the 80's again today.  Summer has not left us, yet.  I think it is supposed to be like this through the week end and into next week.  However, they mentioned another hurricane coming along.  Hopefully,  it will  head out to the west the further it gets up our coastline.

Have a good day,

Joy

Thank you all so much for your kind words about Winnie.  I know you all have or have had pets, so you understand how empty the house suddenly seems, and how lonely you feel, when they're gone. Our animal companions bring us so much love and pleasure over the years.  They become members of the family. 
Thanks to Mary Ann, Patricia, MarsGal, Gloria de, FlaJean, Joy, Hal and Larry.

Aww Marilyne, I am so sorry to hear of your loss.  I know there are no words that would comfort you, but you just gotta know we are all feeling your pain.   

shirleyn.

Hi everyone. Another sunny morning and again headed into the low 90's on this first day of Fall.  We do have a 40% chance of some isolated thunderstorms this afternoon. This is the day for our housekeeper to be here and I anticipate we will go out for our big meal today around noon as we usually do on housecleaning day.  Yesterday Pat made a Mexican soup and this morning some brownies and we are taking some of each over to a member of our Sunday School class who is laid up with a cracked hip and has been ordered to keep all weight off of it for a couple of months in hopes it will heal.  Nothing else on the schedule for today. 

Our granddaughter came over again yesterday afternoon and fixed sloppy Joe's for our dinner last night.  She and Pat got in a few games of Farkle as well. So far this morning I am feeling much less tired than I have all week for which I am grateful.

Joy, like your area we don't seem to know that Fall should give us cooler days.  I do hope you don't get a lot of rain and winds from the hurricanes.  I think the current thinking now is that Maria will head out East into the Atlantic but it is still iffy as to its path.  These storms have minds of their own being impacted by the atmospheric conditions. 

This has been an "interesting" morning.

First, the cable went off completely, including the internet.  Only for a couple  minutes, then after 5 minutes off again for about 10 minutes.

A half hour later, the power went off - first for just a few seconds, then for about 45 minutes.  Thank God for those tall cans of auxiliary oxygen, and I was able to hook up to one very easily.  The only other problem with no power, at least in summer, is no water.  You can imagine what that could mean with an extended outage.  But at this point, all is well. Thank God

Jeanne Lee, glad everything is ok.  I really feel sorry for the people on the islands suffering from the hurricanes.  It is hard to imagine being without power for months.  We lost power for a week once and that was miserable.

JeanneLee - So glad that you didn't have to deal with a long electrical outage. With your need for oxygen, it would be a serious situation.

Flajean - I've been thinking about the people on Puerto Rico, as well as all the other Caribbean islands.  There must be thousands in hospitals there, as well as people at home who need oxygen.  I wonder if they will have a mass evacuation of people?  How could sick people survive there, without electricity? 

So many disasters happening everywhere, with all the hurricanes and the horrible earthquake in Mexico.  I just hope that the Kim Jung Un, in North Korea, will not decide to send a nuclear missile to a populated area.  He is obviously an unstable young man.

It turned cold here last night, for so early in the Fall.  My thermometer read 47 degrees at 6:30 this morning. I've never turned the heat on this early in the season, but I had to this morning.   

I wonder, too, about all of those people in the islands who have lost power over entire islands. 

Jeanne Lee, I hope things have settle down by you but maybe until the various hurricanes decided to depart, you will have on-again, off-again power.  I don't know about your power company, but the one I worked for had a list of people who were on oxygen and they would get a generator to those people.

I spent Thursday afternoon in the ER at the hospital.  Sunday night I developed a pain at the base of my skull and I had a painful time turning my head toward the left.  When I went to my PCP on Tuesday, I told him about it but he was more interested in the bite spots and I think my 15 minutes was drawing to a close (I see 15 minutes mentioned on my Medicare and/or Aetna statements) and he glossed over the pain.  The pain continued and I did not want to return to my PCP so we went to Blodgett Emergency.  The upshot of my pain was that I had a wax deposit in my left ear.  I had a CT of my head (nothing in it) and a tech worked on removing the wax.  It turns out there was a lot of wax; a piece ¼” square was removed and a smaller piece.  We left home about 12:30 pm, got there and checked in at 1 pm, was seen at 2:15 pm and left about 5 pm.  We stopped for supper on the way home and got home after 6 pm. 

Annie brought a neck pillow that can be heated in the microwave and that helped a lot.  I fed the cat at 9:30 pm and went to bed.  I could not move my head much, especially to the left and I sleep on my left side.  I rearranged my pillows a couple of time and was asleep around midnight, waking up at 7:30 am with a couple of pit stops during the night.  This morning I have a slight pain, barely noticeable, and feel much better.  I think both time and Annie’s heated neck pillow helped. 

I don’t have normal ailments, always something different.  I wonder sometimes how I have lasted this long. 

We are to have a hot one today and at noon it is already 85 degrees.  The mail is here so I guess I’ll see if anyone loves us (usually only bills and ads and those are not “love”).

Mary Ann

Mary Ann - sounds like you had a scare, with that pain at the base of your skull. I'm glad that it turned out to be ear wax, and that you are feeling better!  It's the health issues like that, that cause us so much worry until they are diagnosed and treated. 

As I've gotten older, it always seems to be the endless little things that pop up, and have to be addressed. A relentless stabbing pain in my ear, turned out to not be my ear at all, but instead, my jaw was out of alignment . . . what they call TMJ.  Somehow this condition causes tremendous pressure in the ear.  Like you, I don't have normal ailments!

Interesting that you only get 15 minutes with your primary doctor.  What about when you see a specialist?  I'm pretty sure that my doctors spend a longer period of time with me.  Besides Medicare, I have Humana for my secondary.

Marilyn, I think my doctor does spend more than 15 minutes with me, but I've noticed on either Medicare or Aetna (my secondary) that it will show "office visit 15 minutes".  I also think for the reason I saw my doctor that he could treat the bite situation if necessary, but head pain was out of his expertise.  He is listed somewhere as a pediatrician, but he is a GP and has patients of all ages.  He is not a cardiologist or brain specialist but has a list of specialists to refer people to. 

While I did have the huge chunk of ear wax, I am not convinced that was the cause of my problem.  My headache is better but when something serious crops up, I am likely to think the worst.  Time will tell.  At my age, anything can  happen.

I think my phone bit the dust today.  Dot called, got a couple of rings, then it quit.  I tried to answer it and there was nothing.  I thought I might have hit the "end" button so tried to call her and could not.  Later I took out my TracFone and called my number and it worked fine.  I cannot play back messages on my main phone but I think I still can on the one in the kitchen.  The phone in my bedroom will show the number calling, but I can't answer it.  It is time for a new phone.  I do have my previous phone, but I think Tom and I will go shopping for a new set.

Mary Ann

Interesting about the ear-wax Mary Ann. It is not something i would have thought would cause pain so much as loss of hearing and maybe, a little pressure.

I discovered some time ago that the 15 minute thing with my doctor is that he can bill for an extended visit for anything over that. I don't know for sure if that is a individual doctor thing or an insurance thing. Fifteen minutes doesn't seem very long for even a regular visit.

It is going to be in the mid 80s today which is above average for here at this time of the year. I am not looking forward to mowing the front yard today, but it needs done. Sigh!

Hi everyone. It looks like we will have a mostly sunny day today getting up to around 90 degrees this afternoon with no chance of rain.  Yesterday afternoon we had a lot of thunder and severe thunderstorm warnings but ended up getting no rain.

I awoke at 4:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep.  I laid there for about 90 minutes and then decided to get up and get my day started.  I expect today to be a pretty quiet one.  I do plan on going to my weekly meeting around 10:30 this morning and that will likely be it.  Yesterday morning we took the soup and dessert Pat had prepared to our friend from Church that I mentioned yesterday and we had a nice visit with her for 30-45 minutes.  Then we went from there to the BBQ Barn and had a big main meal for the day and so we didn't have to mess up the kitchen on housecleaning day.  By the time we got home it was almost 2 pm and I laid down to rest for a couple of hours and then had a quiet rest of the day.

FlaJean, I look at those pictures from the Islands and think where would one begin to put all of that destruction back together again. They are also dealing with lack of water and food as well as shelter.  They are not in a situation where power companies can send their trucks and repair crews to help out.  I think about 3 days without power is the longest I remember experiencing and that was due to an ice storm and it was very cold. We did have a kerosine heater so we did stay warm. 

Marilyne, I hadn't really considered the folks on oxygen and in hospitals.  I would think those on oxygen would have to have been evacuated although I don't think the airport is yet in service in Puerto Rico.  It I remember correctly it was to be opened today or tomorrow so I expect there will be lots of food and water and other assistance being flown in as fast as possible.  However, there would be a big job in distributing such things with so many of the roads destroyed or blocked with fallen debris.  The North Korean situation is most disturbing.  He apparently doesn't care that his country and people would be destroyed if he were to attack another country.  It was cold out your way yesterday.  We don't hesitate to heat or cool if we are uncomfortable. 

Mary Ann, you bring up a good point on letting the power company know that a person is on oxygen.  I had to chuckle at your nothing in your head comment.  Glad they found the reason for your neck pain and I hope that pain is now a thing of the past.  It seems our medical care is now in the hands of the insurance companies and the doctor's hands are tied.  Pat has made several heating/ice packs filled with rice that can be used for painful area.  I don't get very many bills in the mail anymore as can get them online and have a number of them that are fixed amounts set up to be paid on the credit card.  However, it seems we must be on many companies mailing lists as most days we get one or more catalogs.  At least I know the mail has come when there is something in the box. 

Marilyne, my sister in law had to have surgery on her jaws many years ago due to JMG.  The daughter of the lady we visited yesterday has spent weeks in the hospital with debilitating headaches.  Her problem has now been diagnosed as one relating to her mouth and teeth and is getting relief through the efforts of her dentist. 

MarsGal, I have never heard that about the billing process the doctor's use.  With our homeowner's association our yards are mowed and edged and the grass blown off the walks and porches once a week for  9 or 10 months of the year whether they need it or not. During the winter they come and tidy up the yards every two weeks.     

I'm showered and my hair is washed so I'm set for the day  - I think. 

I think if my doctor felt I needed an in-depth visit, he would schedule one to accommodate the amount of time he needed, however, as he is a GP, I think he would refer me to a specialist.  My PCP would be only the first step in treatment. 

Larry, your mention of the BBQ Barn reminded me of a couple cooking programs I just finished watching - America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country.  Both shows featured BBQ foods. 

Larry, with "nothing in my head", you can take it two ways!  I was happy to hear there was nothing wrong because when your head is involved, you can't help but wonder.

I don't have anything special on my agenda today, just more of the same.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann, sounds like you're feeling better this morning.  No more pain I hope?  When the doctor orders a CT scan of the head/neck/ brain, you can't help but be concerned.  I had the same CT scan last December, after the ENT doc diagnosed my paralyzed vocal cord. 

Fall arrived here, with a significant drop in temperature the past couple of days. After turning the heat on yesterday, it will probably be back to the AC sometime over the weekend.  I'm not a big fan of Saturday, like I was when I was younger.  Millions of new people have moved here to "Silicon Valley" in the past five years, to work for the huge tech companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, et al.  They work long hours all week, so on Saturday, it's a mob scene!  The grocery stores, shopping centers, freeways, streets and small towns, are filled to overflowing with people.  It's not easy for seniors to try to manage the traffic, and the long lines at the stores, so we stay home all day. 

Marilyne, our Fall arrived the very same way.  Has actually been cold for a week now.  According to the extended forecast our temps will rise up into the 70's starting today.  Did not check further than that.  I like the 70's tho, just comfy for sure.

Good morning from another dreary, wet Interior. Farrah is sitting and staring at a winter flock of small birds tumbling in the wind outside the balcony. There are redpolls, pine siskins, chickarees, fox sparrows and others reacquainting and gossiping and just having a good time out there. Every spring the huge winter flocks break up into smaller ones of species only.

Then in the Fall, like now and earlier this month, they gather again into huge multispecies flocks to help all the birds get through the winter. It must be like one large family reunion with dozens upon dozens of small birds! With perhaps five to seven yellowed leaves cleaning to the tree in front, Farrah has a great view.

There has been another blowup here. Sometime in August, the various organizations that bring food boxes here announced that if you weren't in the designated social room to sign and pick up your food, you were supposed to fill out paperwork for a certain designated person to show ID, sign for and take delivery of your box. No longer would CNA's or PCA attendants be allowed to pick up the boxes for their clients. The various volunteers who bring the food to this building and others are not allowed off the main floor or in the hallways.

No longer could volunteers such as I, take delivery of four or five boxes or more without being assigned with forms to do so. There were letters about this. The various organizations verbally told people about this and there were signs about it posted on all five social rooms' bulletin boards, the mail slash security room's board and the bulletin board outside the manager's office. I told people about this.

For some reason, several people claim they didn't get any message or that their various attendants did not inform them of this new procedure. So they didn't get the different food boxes and need to redo various forms for next time. Some folks are angry at me and others that volunteered their own time and efforts to help others supposedly in need.

I am only going to pick up deliveries for those who asked me in the past month to be their assigned volunteer. I know there are others like me who are not going to add on those who either forgot or ignored all the messages. And thought someone else would take it upon themselves to do their responsibility for them. I know others who simply quit volunteering altogether. After all, it is two Saturdays a month and you could be doing other more agreeable things with your weekend. Anyway, as the Manager has stated, "This is an Independent living complex and we are not your attendants."

I have taken to decluttering my computer and simply deleted over eight hundred saved emails and various folders and unsubscribed to a number of news sites, cooking sites and various home and arts and craft sites. I still get over one hundred daily emails. For a while, I was simply posting unseen, various emails to their appropriate folders and knowing I wouldn't ever go back for them but they were there "just in case!?"  I pared my various web groups down as well. Before this, I was looking at sometimes over three hundred daily emails!

Now there is only one more final closet clean out and donate, once more going through the linen closet and donate and finally purchasing one computer chair and one last three or four drawer chest for the walk-in linen closet at the end of the hallway. Then I will need a new hobby! Any ideas? Everyone talks about decluttering. It is everywhere. But no one talks about the aftermath of addiction. When you are still all revved up and nothing left to donate? Then what?   

Patricia, I had the same idea - when you finish all of your decluttering etc, what are you going to do.  I doubt you'll want to twiddle your thumbs for very long. 

Tom had to let his friend's dog out of her house to do his business so I went along for the ride.  Afterward we went to Russ' restaurant for lunch.  I did not want anything hot and Russ' has good sandwiches.  It also caters to older people and because it is HOT today (93 degrees a few minutes ago), they were not busy.  I had a Slim Gem sandwich which was slices of ham and turkey, with tomato and lettuce on a roll (unknown type) with sesame seeds.  Tom had a turkey club.  I brought half of my sandwich home and will eat it for supper when Tom will be gone.

Like so many places, it is unusually hot here right now.  I am so thankful for my a/c but I remember so many years growing up where we had only fans to move the air.  In fact, I never had an air conditioner until I moved here in 1981.

I just looked at Grand Haven.  Being a weekend and hot, there are lots of people on the beach and also many boats going in and out of the channel.  I've been there and done that, too!

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, I have had a magpie nature all my life. My mother was the same so I blame her. After all, it couldn't be just me....could it? Except she had more money and better taste than me. A sister at one time said my place looked like a posh English Gentlemen's club and the other said no I just liked to bring my work home with me! I worked for Alaska House and Xanadu at the time, an Alaskan art gallery and an import-export shop. Even now I struggle every time I have extra cash!

We have mainly rivers in the area and many are from glaciers so are either muddy brown or clear down thru the depths. But all are full of twists and turns, hidden sweeps, whirlpools and currents. The summer water temperatures range in the upper thirties and yes we swim in them. There are many, many hot springs, ponds and creeks about, some nestled right next to those cold rivers.

The lakes we have around here locally are snow melt and some that are deep in the spring and summer, begin disappearing visually in August and September. Even the ones that were formed by glaciers or blocked off and formed by avalanches are usually not deeper than say 2.7 miles to 31.4 miles. Many are known for sports fishing due to a F&G program of killing Northern Pike and restocking annually along with strict fishing regs.

It is 43 degrees at 3:42 PM and our high was 52 today.  The skies are not just gray with rain clouds but are winter white with even the blue skies of sunny days more washed out than that deep blue of summer. Also, the sounds are much clear and travel further and the rotation of the sun and moon has already moved further north for the winter. We are just within the boundary line for the arctic so our summers are shorter and our winters longer.

I wonder just out of curiosity if those of you further south notice the obvious movement of the sun and moon's rotation moving during the change of seasons. It is pretty obvious here even to the uninitiated but that may be because we are so far north.

Edit for Larry, Anchorage with it's being on land below sea level and backed up on a narrow stretch of land between gulf and mountains, has always had high winds. September 2012 reported wind gusts of 131mph. Gusts of 103 have been noted almost once per year with one of 140 mph in January 1982. Anyone who has more than once flown into Anchorage is familiar with the area's wind gusts.