So what do you have planned for the rest of the day?

I get this question a lot from people I don't know and it always annoys me because if I had plans, which likely I do not, I sure don't want to explain or defend them to a stranger. I don't mind it so much from people I know but still. I don't have anything planned. Maybe I'll sew, maybe I'll knit, maybe I'll just while away the hours fucking around on the internet.

I need to come up with a clever non-answer that I can have at the ready at all times. So what do I have planned for the rest of the day? Finding a good, witty, evergreen answer to that question!

I went to the doctor. And it was very nearly a totally wonderful experience. There was a new PA who I really really liked. (The old one had been there too many years.) And my doctor laughed because he could not find anything wrong. All my labs were good, my blood pressure was good, my oxygen was good, my lungs were very good... finally he settled on fat. As in I am too. He said that my recent weight gain was likely due to old age. I asked him if I could sign up for that deal where old ladies shrink into little old ladies. I allowed as how I was not amused by this special snowflake of being the opposite. He was just generally amused by me.

He signed all my wellness forms so I can get more points from my insurance so I can get more Amazon $$. He gave me a tetnus shot. He told me my next bone density test would be in 15 years. I allowed as how if I was still using the bones then, he was welcome to test. He did send me for more blood to test for Hep c. There was the only wrinkle. The blood drawer was not the most skilled. She could not find a suitable vein anywhere and finally went to the hand. Which I hate. And managed to blow up the veins in it.



If it never looks any worse than this, it won't be too bad but it feels like a giant bruise so I'm thinking this might not be the final color. At least she got enough blood and I don't have to go back again til next year!!

I signed up for a t-shirt class. What???? You have 3 t-shirt patterns that fit AND you have more t-shirts than you could ever use. WTF? Well, here's the F. I still do have one shirt that I did not make that I love that is kind of fitted and and fits perfectly and I'd like to have a pattern of it. Yes, I could do it on my own BUT. This class is at the store down the street and it is the only class they currently offer that I am even remotely interested in. I want to 1. support them. 2. use their machines to see if I like them. 3. get some tips on doing it right with knitted fabric (which is tricky but the only fabric I want to wear) and 4. - a biggie - how to use and learn the advantages of a serger. So. I signed up. July 22. Cool.

My terrace roof is leaking again. It only leaks when it rains. And, so far, the leak is very minimal. I caught it early this time. It's coming from a drain on the terrace of the unit above me. It happened before. The fix is easy. The guy who fixed it before is still around and can easily fix it again and will do the fix next week. And there is minimal, if any, rain the forecast. So not terrible at all.

I'm meeting seattlejo for coffee this afternoon. She picked a place, just down the street, that I've not tried yet. It's in the new Weyerhaeuser building. Win win win.

My tweets

• Fri, 08:19: Seriously @ The Polyclinic https://t.co/Rc20aCvjOM
• Fri, 10:54: What does this sound like, I wonder?? @ The Florentine https://t.co/Ah0OAJZdNX

Continued

I fell in love with Seattle immediately. It was shocking. I'd never even really had more than a passing fancy for a place before I got here. But at every single turn, I ran smack dab into something new that I loved about it. The weather, of course. Cool. There really was very little air conditioning of cars and nearly none of homes back then (1992) which I thought was a bit miraculous. No bugs. I'd never ever lived in a place where you didn't need screen doors and windows. Even now 25 years later, as I sit here with the door to the terrace wide open, I'm delighted by not having to have screens.

Seattle is also beautiful. There are spots all over town where you can look east and see snowcovered peaks. And then turn around and look west and see snowcovered peaks. All Freakin Year Long. The boats and the water are always so beautiful and peaceful.

But, you know, what really got me and got me fast was the mores. The conversations you'd over hear on buses and in restaurants. What people deemed appropriate thoughts, ideas and conversation. I was used to meeting new people who wanted to know who my daddy was or what church I belonged to. Here people did not care one bit who my family was or even if I had any. Your church membership was and is a private matter and viewed as not appropriate to casually ask about.

It was amazing and liberating and all of it gave me an instant sense of belonging that I had no idea was even possible in a place before.

My job was, on the other hand, very not interesting. I had signed up for 'anything' and got exactly that. I basically entered orders for leased PC's into an antiquated computer system that worked mostly. Yes, this was IBM but in 'the cobbler's children have no shoes' scenario.

The people were nice enough but the work was really deadly.

On the up side, the office was in the center of town and lunch time was great fun. And walking home after work was always full of adventures. The most wonderful Seattle Public Library main branch was in the next block and I was a voracious and passionate reader. I was chewing through every mystery and thriller I could find like nobody's business.

I discovered a mystery book store in my own neighborhood and just melted into their doorway. I worked there part time for several years and even now am listed on their website under former inmates "Susan Dennis was our first computer guru. In fact, our original e-mail address was through her. She read tons of books, kept a running commentary about each on her personal website, knitted constantly, was a long-time baseball fan, and collected mugs."

There was one series about a Seattle Police detective that was my tour book. Each book was about a murder in another part of Seattle and the author would explain all about that part of the city with a little history and a little description of what it was like and what was there. On the weekend, I'd hop a bus and go to that section and explore. It was a great way to 'meet' my new city. (The JP Beaumont series by J.A. Jance are not great literature and not even very well written but they sure served me well.)

My desk got moved to the 4th floor looking out over the Fairmont Hotel - a grand old dame hotel. And a week after the move, they started filming the movie Disclosure with Michael Douglas and Demi Moore there. We could see a whole lot of the filming action. It was very cool.

So my job kind of sucked but everything else had a very high degree of fabulousity.

To Be Continued