It's All About Me

Sunday

Sun, 10 May 2026 16:39:14 GMT

I've been on Wegovy now for 16 weeks. I've lost about 15 pounds. In my personal, substantial girth, that ain't much. But yesterday I got a reality check. Bonny was sharing her hip replacement details - show and tell for a meeting of old people - and she said that she had gained 10 pounds of water with the surgery and was having trouble losing it. "None of my pants fit! I can't get my shirt buttoned! Ten pounds is a LOT of weight to gain!!"

hahahah ok so, I said to myself... if 10 is a lot to gain then 15 ain't chump change in the losing department. Go me! I only wear knit clothes that are either very loose or stretchy (or both) so my clothes fit pretty much the same way they always have pretty much. But, I do have a stretched out old swim suit that is very nearly now too baggy to wear. I have the straps tightened as much as they will go. I normally swim by myself so it's ok to wear for laps still.

This living room is a mess. I need to spend some time tidying it up before I do anything else today. I have cat food to put away, yarn to put away, the kitchen to clean up...

Then the baseball game which starts before lunch today.

I finished a book last night that Jo recommended - A Killing in November by Simon Mason. It was really really good. Great characters. It's a British author and a British reader. One of the characters was American and this reader has THE worst American accent ever but you were never confused about who it was when that character was speaking! It was still a great read and... it was #1 in the series of which there are already 4 and soon to be a 5th! happy happy.

I checked my library hold list and several are available soon - you are 1 of 3 waiting, you are 2 of 5 waiting, etc and then there's this one...

Martha recommended it yesterday and I just went to Libby and slapped a hold on to it without looking until this morning. It appears to be THE book to want! At least they have 300+ copies. I have plenty to read until then.

Ooops I just fell down a crochet pattern rabbit hole. Shit will never get done that way. So it's time to get off this computer.

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Busy Day!!

Sat, 09 May 2026 21:42:45 GMT

I swam, I did a load of laundry - wash, dry and put away - I went to elbow coffee (no new maladies but lengthy conversations about the only ones). I had a long conversation with Martha about amigurumi. Then I hopped into the car and drove up to the Other Safeway. It was fine but I like mine better. I did stop at Dollar Tree, again, for more amigurumi kits. I got one of all they had and 2 of some for Martha and others who might be interested. At a buck 25, it's just too good a deal.

Now I still have some chores but I thought I'd better get an entry done before the whole day got away from me.

The Mariners game is in two hours and I now have a massive number of yarn projects going on. Plus, I lost two of my good yarn needles in my yarn needle pin cushion - massive engineering failure there - and I need to find them. They are very narrow needles with very long eyes and I have no idea where I would buy more. I have 3 but two are currently housed in the pin cushion.

I'm really torn about watching Remarkably Bright Creatures - the movie. Just like I am about Project Hail Mary - the movie. I loved the books so much but cannot fathom how the octopus and space creature on screen could live up to the versions in my imagination. But the former is now live on Netflix and so decision time. Not today but...

I have a poke bowl for dinner - well half of it. It's a large bowl so the other half will be lunch tomorrow.

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Wanna see my pool?

Fri, 08 May 2026 16:09:25 GMT

On the lower right there are some stairs with railings and on the upper right is the spa (aka Old People Hang Out). That's facing east, so when the sun is out, particularly in the early morning, it screams through there and blinds all in its wake. (ok, a little dramatic) But, when it's not out, like this morning, it's a beautiful snow-capped mountain view. Oh and see that big white swanish looking thing in the center on the far side of the pool? There's one on the other side and they hold the volleyball net.

My swim this morning was just lovely. And I remembered to stop by the mail room on my way home and pick up Bonny's mail. She wants someone to go to the grocery store for her but she didn't ask and I didn't volunteer. She's too picky and I don't want the stress. Joan taught me that. Joan no longer drives and yet has a laundry list of things she must have at the grocery store. She has a shitload of family but apparently they can't be bothered. I get it. She wants green bananas and when you go out of your way to find green ones and get them for her, she bitches about the price. Nope. The end. Bonny says Safeway does not slice the compressed turkey roll the right way, only QFC does. WHAT THE FUCK??? 1. She could have gotten it before her surgery and popped it in the freezer if she was afraid it wouldn't last a week. (that shit will probably last a year) 2. Beggers should take whatever sliced turkey they get and 3. They sell sliced turkey downstairs at the Bistro. So. No. I'm not volunteering. IF she asks me directly, AND I'm going anyway, I will likely get whatever she wants. Otherwise nope.

I am going to Safeway today, probably. I need tortillas and flat cheese and cottage cheese. But, honestly, I can hold out for another few days and I might. Ok, a little interruption. I just ordered two things from Amazon and had them sent to a locker at a different Safeway! It's still in Issaquah but I've actually never been there. ADVENTURE!! They will be ready for pick up tomorrow. This is exciting.

Today is the usual. I might toss in the laundry. I finally remembered to get some mesh laundry bags at Dollar Tree yesterday. I want one for my bras and one for my socks. My brash always want to octopus my pants and my socks want to wander all over the place so this will contain them. And then... When the closet lady designed my closet she made this neat little pull out thing for scarves. Except. I only have one scarf. BUT I just discovered I can use it to hang my mesh bags above my dirty clothes hamper. Genius.

Ok. I gotta go see my pocket bottoms back together.

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Accomplishments!

Thu, 07 May 2026 22:42:55 GMT

I have this switch system that was fairly expensive and has never worked right in this apartment. The individual switches sit on top of the wall switches and make them into smart switches. I've had them for years and they worked great in the condo but here they have been fiddly since the day I moved in. BUT... I may have conquered them.

They are one of those class of fucking wifi gizmos that require 2.4 wifi. Most of those can find it in a hybrid (2.4/5) signal but not these fuckers. So this morning, I finally got the idea of redoing my extender. My extender takes my wifi network and spreads it to the bedroom and bathroom. When I set it up, I blew off the 2.4 and went for the hybrid. This morning, I factory reset it and then set it up to spit out two different SSID's one for 2.4 and one for 5. And the hub for my stupid switches loved it immediately!

I had to set them all up again and rename them all and then re set up all the routines but totally worth it. I'm quite excited about it.

Then on to Dollar Tree. You know how embarrassing it can be like in a grocery store when the cash register clerk holds up you jar of hemorrhoid lotion and screams to the entire store "CAN ANYONE GET ME A PRICE CHECK ON THIS HEMORRHOID LOTION?????" Well, that's the kind of embarrassment shared when you have a lot of Dollar Tree items and the helpful cashier announces to you so that everyone in line can here "THAT'S SIXTY-EIGHT TWENTY TWO". I'll bet those people in line behind me spent less than $20. At least I'm keeping the store open for all of us!

I did find the cutest cheapest amigurumi kits. I've been kind of thinking about this and looking at some other kits. In fact, I was looking through a sampling just last night of toys about the same size in really nice kits for $40 and $50 bucks and here these were for $1.25.

Amigurumi is the tight crochet of little dolls and animals (Google will help you get an idea). I've never done any and wanted to give it a whirl and so I got this little kit

It included everything I needed to make this!!

I'm pretty delighted.

Then I did some research and, turns out, Amigurumi really refers to small stuffed toys that are crochet or knitted! So I've been doing it all along!

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16 weeks

Thu, 07 May 2026 15:57:28 GMT

Today is my 16th Wegovy shot and my last at the lowest dosage. Next week I am going to start the next step up. I'm thinking that unless I see a radical change, I'll probably just stay at that next step forever. I could probably stay at this one but I want to see if there's a diff.

We gave volleyball a kind of try this morning but there were only 4 of us and 2 didn't count. One of the players has an injury he's nearly healed from but he's going out of town. Another had a skin thing and is not allowed in the pool for two weeks. So, I made the executive decision to call it for a while. I am the one that has the email list of all the players and that makes me in charge! haha. So I sent out an email this morning saying we were going to take a break until after Memorial Day. I kind of did it unilaterally but then realized that the only person who might be real pissed about my doing it was the one person I really don't care whether they are pissed off or not so I did it. Hopefully, by then, we'll have enough people to play.

Until then, I've got laps. Which is what I did today. .88 miles. It was good.

Next up. After I get dressed, make my bed, empty the dishwasher and clean up from breakfast... I'm going to the Dollar store. I have a list.

But, first I have a bit of tech to do. I need to reinstall my wifi extender to see if I make a 2.4G network and a 5G network. One of my smart devices will not latch on and I think it's because it's not finding the 2.4ish bits. So that's first.

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Wednesday

Wed, 06 May 2026 16:05:39 GMT

Today's Mariner game is in the afternoon and next week's games are all early since they are playing in the Midwest. This fits into my schedule so much better than home night games. And it will save me money. Yesterday I almost went to the Dollar Store but didn't. Today I won't because - game. I don't need anything at the Dollar Store, just have a Jones to go and so would spend. When I was little it was Woolworths Five and Dime.

I do not really enjoy shopping for expensive stuff but gimme some cheap shit to pick through and I'm in heaven. But, I do not need anything! So I'll watch the Mariner game instead.

But first I want to change the bed linen and then I have to get dressed and then Bonny wants company - she sent me a text just as I was getting out of the pool - so I'll go entertain her for a bit.

I have seborrheic dermatitis on my face and scalp. It's an itchy red rash that comes and goes. I've had it for years. I have a topical cream for my face and a lotion for my scalp that discourage it from festering. But, it generally takes a steroid cream to ease the itchy flakey and get rid of it entirely. And I worry about steroid on my face. The other day I had several patches that were just giving me fits. I had a jar of vaseline next to me so I just lathered that all over it. Bingo! It instantly reduced the itch and flake. Way better than the steroid. So I've been using it now for about a week and it's a miracle. Why the fuck didn't someone tell me this ages ago??

Ok, time to get the day started or at least to get dressed for it!

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Tuesday

Tue, 05 May 2026 15:56:31 GMT

I got a text last night from Steve. Steve is the leader of our volleyball group. He's not elected or official but he's the one who takes responsibility for making sure it all works. He and I set up all the equipment every game. And he's the adult of the group. He's never snarky or mean about the assholes, like the rest of us and he keeps everyone nice and polite. And he's tons of fun. He fell off the curb yesterday and sprained his foot and maybe broke it.

So volleyball this morning was a mess. And one of the other good players is having a cist removed from her head tomorrow so she's out for two weeks. Another is going away for four days. The whole thing is crumbling like a dry cupcake. I kind of wonder if it will ever recover.

I got a very cheery text from Bonny yesterday mid afternoon. She was done and had already had PT and was happy as she could be. Then about 2 hours later, I got another saying they were giving her a roommate. This morning I got one saying she was hoping to spring out of there about noon and her roommate was the roommate from hell. At least she's got a new hip.

The maintenance guys are putting the cushions on the chairs out on the patio. I called that one!

Today will be more crochet. I'm working on a vest with a gradient yarn that is just fun to work with. The center back is the light part and it gets darker under the arms and then lighter again. You can see the center seam in this photo. The waffle pattern is very satisfying to work on.

I have a load of laundry ready to go in. The Mariners play tonight and there's my day! I'm on call for Bonny early afternoon. My job is to retrieve the walker from her apartment and take it down to the loading dock when she and her son get here. I think I can handle that.

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Well, crap on a stick

Mon, 04 May 2026 15:50:20 GMT

Dreamwidth just ate the entry that I was in the middle of creating. That rarely happens but is very annoying when it does.

Oh well.

I got up at 4:30 and picked up a very stressed Bonny in the elbow and off we went to the hospital in Bellevue. Except... the garage door was locked. I knew they locked it down at night and should have figured out that it might be locked in the morning and then moved my car to the street last night. But, I did not. It took two calls to Security to get the door opened. (Yes, at 4:45 in the morning, we are not out for a leisurely drive but, in fact, are on a timeline that does not allow for us to idle in garage.)

Anyway, there was, wonderfully, no traffic at all. It was sure different. We got there with 10 minutes to spare. She just wanted a drop off so that's what she got and I was home by 6. And the door opened.

Today I'll pop into the security office and get the exact garage door hours.

I had an early and long, lovely swim.

Now I'm dressed and breakfasted and ready for the day and it's not even 9 am yet!

I am signed up now to go to the alpaca farm on Thursday. I marked today as the day I would decide to bail or not. I am not wildly enthusiastic about going but I think that's just laziness. None of the others signed up are particularly annoying. The weather is supposed to be dry and cooler (it's been way too hot for a couple of days). There is no reason for me not to go so I guess I will just do it.

Biggie and Julio have just joined forces to request Breakfast Number Two. So I guess I'll go do that.

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And so it begins

Sun, 03 May 2026 17:06:14 GMT

Sometime yesterday the crew arranged the outside terrace furniture. It was all kind of piled together from when they did a big landscaping a month or so ago. Now it's all back the way it is for the Summer. Next they will bring out the cushions. I'm guessing they are shooting for this week. It's supposed to be very warm today so they will have complaints.

Old people LOOOOVE to complain - especially about stuff they used to control and now no longer do. When they had their own homes, they did it this way... When they hired their own services, they made sure...

Bonny and Joan both get newspapers delivered. The security staff does the door deliveries. And, according to Joan and Bonny, they NEVER get it right. Sometimes they leave it on the floor. Now, in fairness, neither Joan nor Bonny can pick up shit from the floor easily. So I made them signs taped to their shelves in English and Spanish asking that the newspapers be left on the shelves. This has worked flawlessly.

HOWEVER, yesterday at Elbow Coffee they were both bitching because they leave the paper vertically when they should leave it horizontally. WTF??? I give up. I'm going to train myself to ignore all complaints except mine which, of course, are always valid.

This is NOT a complaint. I weigh myself on my Wyze scale every morning. It sends the data to Fitbit and the weight then goes to Trendweight.Com where I can easily see progress and trend. The Wyze to Fitbit transition is true but nearly every single day, a 10th of a pound is lost between Fitbit and Trendweight. It amuses the heck out of me and I appreciate the gesture. If it added a 10th of a pound, I'd be using the pant off of both of them for false data manipulation. If that is not a thing I'd make it one. ha!

The Mariner game started late thanks to The Big Eunuch celebration and so ran late. They played great until the end of the game when they made not one but two stupid and, turns out, fatal, errors and lost it in the 10th. They deserved to lose. And, honestly, I blame The Big Eunuch. And just love using that nickname.

Today's game starts at 1. And, at least my favorite announcer is doing the color.

Our pool has 4 lanes and today there were swimmers in 3 of them! That's as crowded as I've ever seen it.

Tomorrow is the Bonny to the hospital at 0 dark 30. Should be fun.

Oh, I finally got into the new MyChart. I had to verify with a text about fiftybigillion times but I finally got it done, got my brother access, set up my notifications - never call me and never send me snail mail. My money says within the next week, I'll get a letter in the mail and at least one robo call welcoming me to the system. MyChart is now Epic and Epic says 'come link all your accounts at this umbrella site!!!' I got the one linked but, of course, the new one is listed as a non-linker. Thanks for that help.

Also the software now offers up no way to change your password. At one point I was allowed to set a passkey but, there does not appear to be any way to use it. And two factor authentication goes to both my email and my phone number with no way to change it.

They have some details to work out but the funniest one is this...

Those are ALL the options. Seems like they might want to think about adding at least one more.

Now I think I'll go brush my teeth and then watch my Sunday morning Tia Watson YouTube update.

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Saturday

Sat, 02 May 2026 18:50:51 GMT

Volleyball is done. Elbow Coffee is done. Lunch will be ready for pickup in 30 minutes. And that's it for today's commitments.

Today is the day to sign up for the new MyChart from my doctors' office. Earlier the URL would not work. Now it works but not for me. Verification Denied. Try again or call ... 3rd try, same results. NFW am I going to call any time soon. I'll wait.

Today is also the day they retire The Big Eunich's number. Last night's game was an Apple TV game so not a lot of discussion. I thought the ceremonies were going to be last night but they are tonight. S'ok. My mute button still works fine.

I think Julio has a tooth problem. He keeps trying to chew on things like the metal door handles on the kitchen cabinet. He's too old for teething but maybe they are kitty wisdom teeth. Julio will never allow himself to be caught to be put into a carrier so he will never go the vet. If he has a tooth problem, he's going to have to figure out how to fix it himself. Or maybe he's trying to get into the cabinet.

Lots of good TV to watch and a good book to listen to. My day is set.

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Fri, 01 May 2026 16:22:24 GMT

Bonny asked me a while ago if I would drive her to the hospital for her surgery on Monday. She said it would probably be early 'and you are always up early anyway.' Whatever. Then she said her friend Chris would take her and then she said her son would take her (she's still not speaking to her daughter). Then yesterday afternoon, I learned it was back to me. She said she would find out today exactly what time. Fine. I don't care, really. She's going to the same hospital I took Myrna to a million times. It's not convenient but at least I know how to get there.

She just texted me that her check in time is 5:20 am. Honestly, I would not have enough nerve to ask anyone to take me somewhere 30 minutes away at 5:20 in the morning. God made Uber and Lyft for that. But, I'm not Bonny! It's fine. And as I pointed out, at least we'll dodge the morning rush hour. Her son is on the hook to pick her up after which is a relief.

So, yesterday, I went into the storage room to find one of my swiss army knives to keep in the car. I found one but I also found my glucose monitoring kit. A few years ago, I got a wild hair to monitor my glucose daily. Then I had my annual doctor visit and my numbers were down and he didn't even mention diabetes or pre diabetes so I abandoned the effort.

My numbers were back up this past January so I decided yesterday to see if the Wegovy was making a difference. My kit is a little stabber and then a little reader and an app. I remember from before that the instructions were confusing and incomplete and the app sucked and it was incredibly difficult to find out what my readings indicated. That's all I remembered. I opened the kit and found the stabber, the little stabbing pins, the strips and the reader. The reader wanted batteries. I couldn't get the pins into the stabber so I just jammed one into a finger. Then I could't get the reader to read. I tried this several times until I was out of fingers. Finally, I went to gemini. Oh that stabber is WAY easier when you know how to load and operate it! And, the little strips do not go in blood first. And, I should have done a fasting draw. Otherwise, all was good. hahahahha

My fasting draw this morning was 111 - I was expecting much better. But, I was also expecting to have lost more weight so whatfuckingever. The glucose kit goes back into the storage area this morning.

Friday is menu day and next week's selections are dreadful. Next week is also the last week of the meal allowance month. So, this morning I ordered 3 dinners. 2 for the freezer and 1 for me. That leaves me enough for necessities (yogurt, quiche, eggs) next week and lunch tomorrow. This week they had decent lunches and dinners. So I took advantage.

The Mariners game tonight is the start of the whole retirement of the asshole's jersey. I'm thinking it will be a good game to watch on mute.

Meomensteeen - a fellow Mariner fan - left a comment on yesterday's entry which turned my asshole pitcher's frown upside down. The asshole's nickname is The Big Unit. She said "Once my grandma misheard my dad when he was talking about Randy Johnson. She asked me, "What is this big eunuch your father keeps talking about?" Ever since then, my family has called him The Big Eunuch."

I am so so so so sorry that my Mom died without hearing this.

I just ordered more yarn. I have a house full of yarn. I have yarn for the blanket I just started. I have yarn for the vest I just started. I clearly have a yarn problem. But I found this yarn and put it in my basket and waited for a free shipping deal. I got the free shipping code so what was I supposed to do??

Ok, enough. Before I spend another penny this morning, I need to get dressed and make up my bed. Them's the rules.

This is the project I settled on for this yarn. It's one of those go until it's big enough or you are tired of it projects.

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Misc

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:39:29 GMT

I've started this entry a half dozen times writing about different things and then wiped them out and started again. I think the reality is that I've got nothin'. I have a wonderfully comfortable life that just does not change. On the one hand, it's marvelous for living but, on the other, it sucks for journaling.

A few weeks ago, I bought an afghan kit from Herschners (online yarn store). They have a very nice, soft worsted weight yarn that is really nice to work with and this kit uses it in four colors that I like. So I bought it. But the pattern turned out to be not so interesting. So I made up a new one but then abandoned that one and tried another. Fail again. I think now, I may be on the right track.

I remember years ago, I had a friend who was trying to get into woodworking as a hobby. He was so frustrated by my knitting and crocheting in contrast. "If you fuck up or change your mind, you just unravel and start again. If I fuck up or change my mind, my wood won't go back to the way it was! Not fair."

The Mariners won again yesterday and now are off until tomorrow. After my Dad died and Mom had spare time on her hands, she would follow the Mariners with me. At that time we had a pitcher who was a massive asshole. And, together, we hated him. This coming weekend, they are retiring his jersey number* and all the recent games have been peppered with vignettes about what a miracle worker he was on the mound. I am so over it. I will be very glad when this weekend's games are over and I know Mom will be, too.

*After his career was over, Ichiro joined the Mariners and picked the same number - 51. Nothing to do with the asshole pitcher, it was just the number he had always had in Japan. Having that number was in his initial contract. They retired Ichiro's number a few years ago. So now asshole's number will just be a retirement repeat.

I have 3 Amazon returns. I think I'll take them today and stop into Safeway for a couple of things.

I forgot to suss out that sports car guy from yesterday. I'll look when I got down to the car today.

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Soft clothes day

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:23:49 GMT

After dinner or sometimes before, my Mom would go to her room announcing she was putting on her soft clothes. Sometimes it was sweats. Sometimes it was nightgown and robe. It was comfortable clothes, no bra and meant to be seen by family only.

I had a great swim this morning. The Mariners game is at 10:40 today. I have no other obligations or things I want to do outside this apartment and enough food so I don't even need to go get any so I have declared today a Soft Clothes Day. Sweat pants, a Mariners 3/4 sleeve t shirt and no bra. Cause, why not?

My doctors' office is switching from their own online portal which is kind of a dog to My Chart which is less of a dog. The switch over is going to take place on May 2 - Saturday. They have it set up so that on Saturday (or after) you can, apparently create an account but not until then. My doctor did make a remark when last we talked that finally she'll have a decent connection with her patients so I am interested to see what the differences are. I was one of the first patients to use My Chart when my Seattle doctor got it years ago. I wonder if it will remember me.

Ok so. I just logged onto the my old MyChart which now shows my current primary doctor! Her info is in shadow and in complete so clearly a coming soon situation. And there is an umbrella MyChart (now known, apparently, as Epic) where I can link my two accounts. So I'm now all set up on it and will add the new link on Saturday. It would be very cool if it also linked the info - like if I could see/compare 10 years of test results.

Oh! A silver Audi convertible sports car just left the garage with the top down. Old guy in ballcap at the wheel. Now there's a true picture of the much overused expression - living his best life.

Ok, time to get off the computer and empty the dishwasher, and tidy up before first pitch.

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Firing lines

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:29:15 GMT

It's that time of year. The first wave of baseball managers ripped from the dugout. Alex Cora (whose little brother Joey was one of my favorite Mariner players ever) got the heave ho from Boston earlier this week. Today the Phillies canned their guy. Boston has won 12 but lost 17. Philly has won 9 and lost 19.

The Mariners have won 14 and lost 16 which isn't great considering they were supposed to be the top dogs this year but also not so terrible that their manager will be fired this week but... maybe... who knows?

And ballparks without roofs should be eliminated from Major League ball.

Volleyball was ok today. At least it wasn't cold.

Today is house cleaning day and I have an Amazon return which I think I'll take while the house cleaner is here.

I dreamed last night that I lost my watch and that my brother adopted a baby goat. Today, I have looked at my wrist a couple of times and been surprised to see the watch is back. Also I have thought of texting my brother to ask what he named the goat. Apparently these dreams were fairly Vivid.

Biggie is begging for breakfast number 2 and I need to get dressed.

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Monday

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 16:24:41 GMT

This week promises to be a quiet one with nothing to dread. In other words, lovely.

My swim this morning was wonderful. I think I was just so grateful that the water was not ice cube cold. I've added about 10 minutes onto my swim for really no good reason - it just feels right. I do need to charge up my music player and change songs.

They are still delivering a newspaper to Jim Across The Hall every day and nothing has changed. No one has come to take his things. This week will mark 30 days since they took him and so the deadline for emptying his apartment. I guess the plan is to pay for another month. Curious but none of my beeswax.

No sun out this morning - no rain - just an eye pleasing cloudy. It would be a good day to run errands but I don't really need anything.

So I'll stay in and puzzle and knit and watch TV. The usual. The Mariners play at 5.

I was thinking yesterday about the life I lead now. And how lovely it is. And what I thought it would be when I was in my 20's and 30's. I have not worked now for more than a dozen years. I loved working. I really did. But, I think I really do like this better.

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Little Mr. Muffet

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 16:12:45 GMT

The pillow cases are in the washing machine right now. I just passed the bedroom door and saw this.

Nothing entitled about that cat!

The pool heater got turned back on or whatever the fix was, the water temperature was back up this morning. Woot! And my swim was wonderful.

I started a new book last night - I'm pretty sure it's one that I got from Jo's writing about it. A Killing in November by Simon Mason. It's extraordinarily written. Or maybe just well written for the ear. I was sucked in immediately even though there was no dead body in the first 40 minutes! I like my killings early on in the plot. But I'm totally sucked into this one - it kept me up late. AND... it's the first in a series. And there are already 5. Love that.

Yesterday was pretty much baseball, TV and knitting and today is likely to be the same and I'm perfectly fine with that.

My foot that the shots have helped fix is getting un fixed again and it's too soon. The nerves directing the toes get pinched and it's owwwwey to walk on it. I cannot match a shoe to the pain although this morning, my only shoes are the rubber sandals I wear to the pool, so maybe time to swap those out for something else - at least for a few days to test.

Ok the laundry needs folding and hanging.

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rant

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 23:49:40 GMT

Jan and Dick Gram live in Myrna's old apartment. Jan just came to my door and asked if I was busy. Their printer was offline and they couldn't get it online. Windows and Epson. I last used a Windows computer maybe 10 years ago. I'm not sure I've ever used an Epson printer.

Dick has a very large voice and he wanted me to know that the printer worked two nights ago and he put in new cartridges and why does it not work now. What is your password, Dick. The printer worked two nights ago and he just put in new cartridges and why does it not work when you need it. So you don't know your wifi password? Why won't it work when I need it?

I learned a while back, by accident, that an iphone will give you the wifi password you are using if you dig deep enough into the network info. Then I remembered that Jan has an iphone and so I was able to get the password which is about 25 characters long and has 3 dashes. Of course the Epson keypad has no dashes. My looking for it erased all the work I had done so far.

And, I need to mention that this was in a tiny room that is stuffed to the gills with furniture and papers. There is barely enough room to stand, much less get to the printer and it's about 85 degrees.

So I bailed. Sorry. Call IT. If they have left for the weekend, send your documents to the reception desk. They will be happy to print them out for you. I felt badly about it until I got home and did a search on how to get dashes out of that stupid Epson keypad and Google didn't know either. Now I no longer care. Those Timber Ridge IT guys are not paid enough.

p.s. BUT Google did know how to find the wifi password on an Android phone. I never knew that either.

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Latest breakfast favorite

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 16:28:05 GMT

I do not do well if I skip breakfast. So I don't but I also don't have a lot of patience with breakfasts requiring lots of ingredients, elaborate prep and/or dirtying of many items. I do have a tendency to find a good idea and have it every day until another good idea comes in to replace it. Currently I'm one egg scrambled with a fork full of cottage cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Except now I am out of tortillas. So a trip to the grocery is on the agenda. I think I'll go to QFC and score one of their poke bowls which will do nicely 1/2 for lunch and 1/2 for dinner.

I just picked up next week's Timber Ridge menus and there are a bunch of good choices. The past couple of weeks have been stinkers but next week... yum.

This morning was the first morning that I had to lower the shades to enjoy my coffee. I love my shades. This morning situation won't last long - a month or so and then the sun moves on.

I had a wonderful swim this morning. That forced week off has benefits of double enjoyment now.

The Mariners are in the Midwest for the week so nice early times.

I have a load of laundry that I put in before I went to swim. It's now nearly ready to come out for folding and hanging. And I need to get dressed. Time to get on with the day!

p.s. This past week, I misplaced a very handy metal retractable tape measure that I've had for years. Gone. Just gone. And now FOUND!! And it's very clean.

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Thursday

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 16:38:31 GMT

It was good to get back to volleyball this morning even if the game itself was pretty meh. We have one guy who is only about half there mentally and he's really a pain to play with. He rarely shows up any more but he was there today. But it was ok. At least it was good to get back to moving.

About once a quarter, they have a Resident Update Meeting where the heads of the various departments give a, hopefully brief, state the state address. Yesterday of the 6 presenters, 4 were, indeed brief, and provided good info. 2 were dreadful - presented nothing interesting and presented it in as lengthy and boring way possible. At least most of the presenters have now quit reading the slides to us.

The sections of nursing care, memory care, and assisted living are full up and always have been. The lines to get in them are long. Timber Ridge contracts with other places to take the overflow - like Jim Across The Hall - but that is expensive in inconvenient for all. They have been saying for as long as I've been here that they are looking at various solutions to the problem. Yesterday was the first time I got the impression they really were. They are looking at expanding and, it sounds like, building something adjacent which ain't gonna be easy since two sides are occupied - a school and apartments - and the other two sides are steep hillsides.

I've developed a sore spot on an important finger from the doll knitting so I switched to one of my other projects last night. A blanket of very large squares. I finished a square before I realized that I had done it exactly backwards. So I ripped it out and got the first row started correctly before bed last night.

I may do laundry today - or tomorrow - I have an Amazon return that is not worth much so no hurry. I need a haircut. No baseball today. I'll finish my book but I have several candidates for Next.

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Surf's back up

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:37:06 GMT

Yesterday afternoon Erica sent out the note that the pool was open again. It was too late for swimming - I'm a morning only swimmer - but not too late for anticipating this morning's swim. Which I did. And it was glorious.

Although, I do have to say that my skin really enjoyed dry dock. Spending 1/2 to 2 hours in water every day can dry out this old shell.

The Mariners lost again - sigh. Today is an afternoon game so at least we will get the loss out of the way early. And they have tomorrow off. I wonder when management heads will start to roll on down the road.

I have about a half dozen large flour tortillas that are really just too big. I was thinking yesterday, I need to go to the store and get some of the smaller ones to put my egg in for breakfast. Then, this morning, I spied the scissors and BAM! tortilla the perfect size. Ha!

I'm really into this book The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. It's kind of like a car wreck. I can't not read it but the main character is pissing me off. I'm not a letter writer. I receive very few letters which is good because they require a return letter and I find that annoying. I very much appreciate emails and texts over all other forms of communications. But reading someone else's letters is delicious. Especially someone my age. I spent a few hours yesterday listening while I knitted. I could repeat today. But that would finish it off and I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

They have started making and selling these great quiche tarts down in the Bistro. They are the perfect size and quite tasty and they freeze beautifully. So that's been my dinner for a few nights. Very excellent. I have half of yesterday's lunch for lunch today. And since I've solved the tortilla problem, breakfast is sorted for the rest of the week. nice.

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Making friends with alpacas

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:24:24 GMT

Here at the cult, there is great emphasis on socializing. Meeting people. Making friends. I don't mind getting together with people now and again. I'm not opposed to meeting people and I'm mostly ok with making friends but not as items on an agenda. I'm perfectly fine here in my own apartment with my two cats and visits from Martha or Bonny. When I need to people, I go out to the elbow and work on the puzzle and visit with whoever wanders by.

Timber Ridge and the various resident led committees are always planning shit. Music programs, group stuff, outings. There's a puzzle group and art group, a million grief groups, low vision, hard of hearing, spousal support groups. My neighbor down the hall is trying to get a singles group going. Not a couples match up but more like people who want to do stuff with other people but don't have people to do it with. A laudable idea if that's what you want.

I almost never sign up for or attend any of it. The first year I was here, I went to a lot because I made friends with Myrna and Myrna's middle name was JOINER! So at least I've tried stuff. She and Martha and a couple of others were the social committee for the 3rd floor. They planned twice yearly get togethers. (All the floors have them.) I've been to every one since I moved here and they are dreadful. The last time, I went and decided it was the last time. Now Myrna's dead and Martha is over the whole planning process so they are looking for a new social committee. No one is volunteering. I suggested that we abandon the floor socials. What???? We can't do that!!! Why don't?? Because! Ok. Fine. Whatever.

BUT this morning I signed up for a thing. A kind of social thing. A social thing outside. Yeah, it's not me except it's a tour of an alpaca farm. May 7. It's about 30 minutes from here. It's advertised as rough ground so no one with walkers or mobility issues is encouraged. So far the list of people who have signed up is an ok list. I can still bail. It's a small group and there will be a long waiting list so we'll see.

Erica sent out an email yesterday saying that the pool will be closed for volleyball and aqua fit this morning but will likely open up some time today. So yeah!

The Mariners continue to lose. No real injuries or obvious issues like other teams. We have good, talented guys who are just playing shit. Oh well. It's not like we don't have 50 years of experience with losing.

I put Biggie's pill issues to Gemini and Gemini suggested a pill pistol. I ordered 2. One came yesterday. Fail. The pill is too big. One is coming today BUT Gemini may have solved the problem. In explaining how to use the pill pistol with a cat, it said to shoot the pill in the side of the mouth instead of straight down. I usually tilt his head back and aim for the middle of the back of the tongue. This morning, I tilted his head back and sent it down the side and got it in one! So... maybe...

Yesterday, somehow, a moth got in here and both cats just went nuts. They had a ball chasing it around for the longest time. I need to find a moth source. It would be a great and cheap cat gift!

I just got an email that someone 'friended' me on Live Journal. Interesting since my last post there was announcing that I'd be leaving and never posting again and that was 4 years ago...

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Monday

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:20:41 GMT

I've kind of enjoyed my break from the pool but I'm over it now. Erica was hopeful that they could get it open today which would be fine by me.

I do think I may have solved a bit of my shower issue, though. There's a toilet paper stand that is in the way and Amazon is bringing me a much smaller one that may make it less of a PIA to use the shower. It arrives today - assembly required. I have several Amazon purchases arriving today.

One is a pill shooter. Biggie has this gynormous tablet that he has two take twice a day. Plus a much smaller one. The smaller one is no problem but that giant one is killing us both. Actually, it's just annoying him but between his teeth and claws my hand is not faring well.

I can't put it in his food because 1. I can't guarantee he'd even eat it all and 2. Julio might eat it. I can't put it in a pill pocket because he's not allowed non-prescription food. So we're going to try a pill pistol if I can find one that will handle a pill this size. Cutting it in half is not an option. I actually have a smaller version and could do that twice making 5 pills a day. ugly option.

No plans for today. I worked up a little doll backlog so I spent some time on my mitered corner blanket yesterday. I may do more today.

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Sunday

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:59:01 GMT

I'm ok with taking a few days off from the pool but the down side is that I now have to shower here in my own bathroom and I really do not like this shower. The glass doors make it not convenient. You have to slide them one way and reach around to turn the shower on and then slide them the other way to get in and it's just a PIA. When I first saw the apartment, I asked if I could have the doors removed and was told (by marketing) that I could but when it came time, Timber Ridge said no. If I had to use that shower all time time, I think I'd press the matter further even now but, since I'm at the pool every day and use that shower (no shower doors), I don't bother. But now...

Oh well.

The laundry is laundrying and the phone app says there is another 30 minutes until time to fold and hang.

And that's it for the plans for the day. There is a Mariners game this afternoon.

I started a new book yesterday. I really didn't even want to read it but I've been on the wait list at the library since forever so I thought I should at least give it a start and now, of course, I'm hooked. It's an epistolary novel and I'm a sucker for reading other people's mail. Plus, it's the letters to and from a woman only a couple of years younger than I am. So of course, I'm hooked. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans.

And there is plenty of TV to watch so I'm sedentarily set for the day!

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Whackadoodle Day already and it's not yet 9!

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:08:27 GMT

Yesterday I had a particularly nice swim. My swim sessions are getting longer and longer because they are getting more and more enjoyable. Also swimming was Carl who is a bit of a weirdo. I can't tell if he's neurologically challenged or just thick or what but he's clearly a few pixels off. He sometimes plays volleyball with us but not often and not well.

Shortly after I got home, I got an email that the pool was closed til further notice due to fecal matter in the water. WTF????? Did I poop and not know it?? Erica (the fitness director) and I swapped a few emails and I learned that, apparently, Carl's colostomy bag sprung a leak. It will take until at least Monday and maybe longer to get the water cleaned and chemically adjusted again.

So... no volleyball today. The Mariners took their own sweet time losing last night so I got to sleep late-ish. And this morning I woke up at 5:30... I rolled over and decided to close my eyes for a bit and the next thing I knew it was nearly 8!!! And the cats were having fits.

Then, the second bombshell of the day dropped... I have gained a half pound and lost very little in the past week. So I quit counting calories and for the past two days have just eaten what I wanted. This morning I was down a pound and a half.

This is from yesterday but... wanna see my new comforter?

I got the most delightful email from Scott and Julie - my New Zealand friends - last night. They have their sights on one last grand trip to the US next year. While they were here last year, I gave them a list of places in the Southeast which is one area they have never been to. So Scott turned that list over to CoPilot with some parameters and CoPilot designed a wonderful 3 weeks from Nashville to Asheville to Savannah and Atlanta. With stops at places in between that I hadn't even thought of but will be spectacular. They are planning on arriving in mid-May and then stopping in Denver for Moab, Monument Valley, Silverado and then on to Atlanta for the Southwest Tour and then to here for a week of telling me all about their adventures before they take their over packed suitcases home. It sounds wonderful.

Time now to get dressed and ready for Elbow Coffee. Man, when you sleep in, your day sure gets cut short! (Captain Obvious reporting for duty.)

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It's All About Me

Sunday

Busy Day!!

Wanna see my pool?

Accomplishments!

16 weeks

Wednesday

Tuesday

Well, crap on a stick

And so it begins

Saturday

Misc

Soft clothes day

Firing lines

Monday

Little Mr. Muffet

More pool problems

rant

Latest breakfast favorite

Thursday

Surf's back up

Making friends with alpacas

Monday

Sunday

Whackadoodle Day already and it's not yet 9!