stuff

When I head out for the pool these day (just before 5 am) it is light out. Light enough to read if you wanted to.  In winter, it's pitch black dark still by the time I get home (6:30ish).  Having it light out makes me feel like I'm late. At the Ballard pool, the sun hit the water while I was swimming and was not at all comfortable. At least at my regular pool, they built a building across the street in the last year so the sun no longer blinds.

The baseball game is at 9am this morning. They moved it up to avoid a potential rain out.  So we have the kind of baseball Breakfast at Wimbledon.

A week from tomorrow I have my annual physical. Not really a physical just more of an overview checkup. At my request, we skip most of the routine tests for cancers so it really boils down to a meet and greet with lab work. That lab work gives me two different stress points. Invariably, I do not have to pee when presented with the cup. For the last couple of years, I've used pee insurance. I have a little jar that used to hold pimentos. I boil it up the night before, fill it with pee when I wake up and take it in my purse. If I can't pee when I get there, I use my backup pee. But, I'm always afraid of getting caught and it's a little stressful carrying pee in your purse. Sometimes, like last year, just knowing that I have the backup helps and I don't even have to use it.

But the real issue is diabetes. For a bunch of years now, my nums have fallen in the pre-diabetic range. My doctor will start serious doctoring if I cross that line. I would really like to avoid that.  Really. I know it's diet. And I know that I have no interest in changing my diet. Particularly changing it to eliminate all the things that are bad for me. Plus, I have no interest in eating all the stuff that is good for me. So, if the pre-diabetic becomes real diabetic, we will have a Houston sized problem.

My doctor will put the lab results in the MyChart app within hours of my getting them done. So at least I'll have a heads up about issues and/or be able to breathe easy and go in with no stress at all. I think I'm going to go ahead and do the lab thing tomorrow and get it over with. They open so early that I can pop in on my way home from the pool.

Time to boil the pimento jar.

While swimming, I am listening to Who Thought This Was A Good Idea written by one of Obama's top staff about her years in the White House. She is the one who reads the book as well. As a book reader she takes sucks to a whole new level. Her sing song 'this is so boring' style makes me want to stop mid-lane and slap her face.

The actual behind the curtains stuff is interesting but the way she tells it is not. I think it's generational. I don't feel like I'm an old fuddy duddy this woman sure makes me believe I am. Her baseline for what's appropriate to write, think and even believe is, often way off the mark of what I think is appropriate. Every once in a while, she offers up a tip - for job interviewing or job doing or something else. And nearly every tip leads me to think DUH! Anyone with half a brain would know that. I have very little experience with people younger than I am. And probably that's a good idea. Happily the book is only 6 hours. I'm half way done. I'd like to finish it.

My tweets

• Thu, 11:46: FINALLY Amazon Fresh pickup available to ME!!! Picking up my first order at 1 pm.… https://t.co/2SNFezXuyn

Continued

There was no particular urgency in the move from Rochester to California. The new job was one that Tom was creating and he hadn't done that yet. The old job was pretty much wound down already. So I had the luxury of time to explore, find a place to live, get properly settled.

The lab was located just south of San Jose and just south of it was a town called Morgan Hill. Tom and his wife had bought their house there and it just seemed like a good idea for me to move there, too. California real estate was nuts. Everything was top price and there was very little inventory. I looked at one place that was filthy and they were asking a bundle. So the next place I saw, although cookie cutter and in a development of condos just alike, I bought, probably because it was clean.

IBM moved employees around a lot in those days. It was said that IBM stood for I've Been Moved. They had it down to a science. And a bit of a gravy train. First of all, they paid all your closing costs - for both selling your old house and buying your new one.

They helped you sell your old house. You got 3 appraisals of the house and they took the average and offered you that price. So if you didn't want to bother and/or didn't think you could do better, just just handed it over to IBM and they gave you a check. The appraisals for my condo in Rochester came in way higher than I paid for it so, for once in my life, I finally made money on real estate! I sold it to the IBM broker gratefully.

IBM also paid for every single moving expense. They paid a service to pack your stuff. (And they would pack everything - the ash tray, was wrapped and packed, the ashes were also wrapped and packed - separately.) They paid for all the actual moving of stuff - car, boat, horses, people and all your belongings. And they paid for a service to unpack everything, put it away and take all the boxes. They paid for temporary housing with a per diem for meals and incidentals. Seriously, it was a sweet deal.

I was living in a little hotel/motel in Morgan Hill until my stuff could get there. My first Saturday morning, very early, I heard this amazing ruckus outside. There was a window just by my bed and I opened up one eye. And there, in the fields outside my room were 5 hot air balloons in various stages of taking off. They were so beautiful.

I fell instantly in love with California.

I got my stuff and moved in to both my new condo and my new job.

To Be Continued

A Miracle

The Mariners won. They nipped their 5 game losing streak and their 6 road game losing streak. And they didn't win by default. They actually played a decent game. It was lovely. Now on to Boston. Boston, you are welcome.

It is harder and harder for me to get up from the floor. I got no floor getting up from strength any more. There are times when I need to get down on the floor. This could be a problem.

The table cloth on my terrace table needs replacing. I went to Amazon and looked at round table cloths and couldn't find anything close to what I wanted plus the ones I didn't want were like $30 and $50 and up. WTF??? So then I looked at oil cloth fabric and PUL waterpoof fabric and found stuff I liked but not at prices I liked. Then I realized, well, duh! I can make exactly what I want (elastic around the rim so it doesn't blow off) out of my scraps! For FREE! So that's my new project. I got a good start on it.

Amazon Fresh finally opened up their new pick up spots for therestofus. It's been beta testing for a small number of Amazon employees only since it opened at the end of March. Until today. Free to prime members. So I fired up the website and placed an order. Their inventory is really small. Only one kind of cat food - a bag of dry. I got some grape juice and a watermelon and a salad. The later is a dollar cheaper than even at Grocery Outlet. Weird. If you are an Amazon Fresh member (for $15 a month) you can pick up your order in 15 mins. If you are just a regular run of the mill Prime member like moi, you pick a 2 hour window. I picked 1-3 and was there at 1. I was the only person there and they were at my car in no time flat. I wish they had more stuff.

The other thing is they use paper grocery bags with handles. It's been 5 years since Seattle eliminated free bags at stores. And long before that I just got in the habit of using my own bags. So I haven't had the 'what to do with these bags' issue in many years. I have a jillion uses for them but just no place to store them til I need them. I'm going to have to get creative.

I have a bear to finish and a new one to start and TiVo to catch up on.