msconduct

I got an email message yesterday that my eye appointment - in January - was canceled because the doctor had left the practice. Best I can tell he was the only ophthalmologist there. And, my insurance has a very lame, and incorrect, directory of in-network doctors. Many of the ones listed may have practiced here once, but sure don't now. Ugh. I can't even decide whether or not to worry about it. I'll call over there this morning. 'There' is a large cadre of medical peops all over the northwest so I'm sure they will want me to go a doctor in Seattle and that is not happening. Now I'm worried about my primary care physician. I do not want to lose her!

It's so dark so late into the mornings these days. That will clear up next weekend when we switch the time again. But, now it's very spooky so, I'm thinking, seasonal.

Plus it looks like here it will be a rainyish day - spit rain - a little here, a little there - just constant. Which suits me fine.

It's new menu day. They publish the menus for next week. This week has been loaded with excellent options. If next week is back to not so excellent, I'll order up extra meals today to eat next week. Some of their stuff just freezes beautifully and serves me well when the menu is blah. New menu day is like planning the weekly grocery shopping except I don't have to go anywhere and it's already paid for... and cooked. The best of all.

I finished up Task on HBO. It was one of the more excellent series I've seen recently.

I think I'll go swim. I still have my Dollar Store list and the car still needs gas and still neither of those things has to be done today. Also I'm out of those good ham/cheese croisant-ish rolls that I like for breakfast. Costco. Sigh. So... who knows.

bill_schubert

I increased my GLP1 amount yesterday and I can tell. The 'HIMS' doc said I should go ahead and increase. I've been delaying since any increase has to be subsequently reduced on the other end but I've got to get there first. So I bumped it up. I'd not completely digested dinner from last night as of this morning.

Semaglutide feels a little like eating that huge Thanksgiving feast. A little nausea and loss of appetite. The problem, of course, is I've got to get my protein. So a protein drink this morning and half an English muffin with brisket and mozzarella. We had a very good dinner last night and have lots of leftovers. I won't feel like cooking tonight.

Yesterday I received a dividend from the 20 shares of Cisco stock I bought 23 years ago. When I bought them I actually acquired the physical stock certificate. That made a lot more sense back then. Now that I trade stocks on my phone I'd rather have it all online. So I'm going to Schwab where I have an account and take them the certificate and see if I can get it transferred into my account. And then I'll likely sell it. I don't think Cisco is going to increase much unless they figure out a way to harness AI in their networking. They won't do badly but I can do better with SoFi or Walmart or just my savings account.

Nothing else on the schedule today. Dana is on the porch going through her fossils making up bags of them to give away at Halloween, third year of an annual tradition. She's got kids that come back for the fossils and take them to school as show and tell and a couple of girls who want to be geologists. Very cool.

susandennis

I have a couple of Dollar Store items I need but not critically. And I need to get gas, but not critically. So I might not do either today.

Last night's dinner with Bonny turned out to be dinner with Gail and Jim and Bonny. Jim lives across the hall next to the Jim who needs a lot of help. Gail lives on the other side of the complex. Neither are very interesting and I was not the one who invited them to join us. But, it worked out fine. The service was very slow. I like eating in the dining room once in a while but it is a production that eats up your evening. I have other, more interesting things to do. Plus there's the eating. Gail got a pork chop which she said was delicious and she really would have loved to have picked it up and gnawed all the good off the bone. But, she didn't and I wouldn't have either. HOWEVER, I will when I order it for take out tonight! Take out means you can spice your food to your heart's content and eat it any way you wish. Also some of their menu items do not 'take out' well. I had trout last night which was delicious.

Volleyball was short this morning. We usually play for 2 hours but a bunch of people were missing and the asshole was one of the few people who showed so we quit. The asshole says stupid, insulting things and has no player skills nor does he seem to be interested in acquiring any and he's dangerous to play next to. All of this annoys me but what annoys my friend, Steve, the most is that a few weeks ago, the asshole lost his swimming trunks and so now just wears his underwear. It's knitting boxers so not tightly whities but it really annoys the shit out of Steve. Which amuses me. So all is not lost. Anyway we quit after an hour. It was fine.

I've been on the hunt for a rain jacket for a while. It has to be the lightest of weights with a hood and pockets, of course, and room for a sweater under. I finally set Gemini to the task this morning and found a nice on on sale at Columbia. As much as I hate ordering from places other than Amazon, Columbia seems to have a fairly easy and straightforward return situation which, in my experience, means it won't need to be returned. hahah.

Ugh. I just saw an article about how successful TV drug ads are. Ugh.

somedayseattle

For her birfday, I bought Erica a Freddie Krueger sweater and a new red chef's knife.

The perfect combo.

somedayseattle

They gave it all they had, but my Mariners fell short. Took Toronto 7 games, though. One hell of an effort. Super proud to be an M's fan today. But for me, baseball season is over. Time to stash my M's gear away & pull out the Seahawks stuff.

Then, in a couple seeks when they are eliminated from the playoffs, stash all that shit away and go back to my trusted "Who Farted?" cap.

somedayseattle

Happy birfday,

tinytadpole

susandennis

The part of the country I was raised in (Southeast) is so very different from where I have now lived twice as long (Northwest). But, I still kind of half expect early evening thunderstorms in hot weather and am always surprised and delighted by the early morning fog that greets most cooler days here. It's just so cozy and lovely. This morning it's rolling through so that even the part of the building just across the drive is shrouded.

I learned yesterday that they are trying to convince Hazel to move into assisted living. John is not dead yet but he's not ever going to move back to their apartment. She can't live there on her own - she has minor memory issues but mainly can't see shit. She can't work the telephone most of the time. She can turn on the TV but only to Netflix and if something screws with that, she's lost. She can't drive or figure out how to get a ride to anywhere and has had two major (stitches) falls since Labor Day. BUT denial is strong. She says the assisted living apartments are too small and she is claustrophobic. This is going to be a situation.

They are closing the pool down Monday-Thursday of next week to do work on the filters or something. Yesterday, I sent a note to the maintenance scheduler to ask if I could sneak in a swim Monday morning before they start and I just got the nicest note back saying they won't be closing the pool actually until about 9. So I can get easily get a Monday swim in before they do.

Bonny and I are having dinner in the dining room tonight. I rarely eat there so this will be a treat for me. She eats there a couple of times a week but rarely with me so this will be a treat for her. hahahah

Otherwise, the day looks normal. Puzzling, TV, knitting - the usual. My knee is 99% healed and I'm so grateful. It's such a relief.

Ok. Time to hit the pool while we still have this fog.

susandennis

Finally, in the 9th inning last night, I had to mute every announcer. The TV guys had already pissed me off and now the radio guys were dragging out and repeating every minute, every single idiotic sports idiom ever uttered by anyone. The Mariners lost by one run but, honestly, by the last out, I was just relieved to get 5 months without having to hear another sports announcer. If you can't say something not stupid, shut the fuck up. And, also, I'm tired of baseball.

So all's well that ends well. hahahahaha

I played volleyball this morning and it was fun. My knee twinged a couple of times but not badly and it is fine now. In all the knee madness, I'd taken to no longer wearing the brace for my elbow tendinitis. I need to still wear it. So I'll put it back in my swim bag.

My across the hall neighbor, Jim, has been deteriorating mentally for a while now. Yesterday afternoon, I ran into him coming back from dinner and he had a carer!! Finally. And she's a good one. We have a solid program here of careers. You can hire them for an hour a day or 24/7. They will help with every day things or just be with you in case you need help and, in Jim's case, they will make sure he's ok inside his apartment and goes to get meals. There are a bunch that work here a lot. The one with him yesterday took care of Gail, who lived down the hall, when her husband died. Jim appeared to be very comfortable with him. So, whew. I don't have to worry about his burning down the place or turning up as a corpsicle.

Today is house cleaning day - yeah!!! And that's about it for action. Fine by me. The only thing on my list today is lunch x 4. Their lunch menu this week includes Chicken Teriyaki Bowl. And theirs is better than anyone else's in Issaquah. PLUS. it reheats from freezing beautifully. So I'm going to order up a bunch today for the freezer (and lunch). This will also help my monthly meal credit balance. I think I'll order that up now for pickup later and then... go get dressed.

bill_schubert

I had a fasting blood draw this morning. Could not have been more convenient, though. The clinic is five minutes from our house if I drive slowly. My coffee drinking was delayed but not by much. My appointment was at 7:45 and I was back by 8 and on the porch with my coffee.

My next event is at 4PM today. I do not much like having anything scheduled after noon unless it is lunch but this is a volunteer event with Beaux's shelter. They need a couple of people to help with the adoption van which will be set up at Pets Mart. They just need hands to be with the dogs. I'm qualified. It is only for a couple of hours so I'll be back home by 6:30.

During my morning walk around the block with Toby and Beaux I started listening to the first in a series of five podcasts put together by the Duluth News Tribune about the Edmund Fitzgerald. They are timing the podcasts so they end on the 10th of November, fifty years after the ship sank. This has a personal significance to me as I obviously was around when Gordon Lightfoot made the whole thing famous a year after it happened. And I've seen the Great Lakes blow up a vicious storm faster than anything in my experience as I was on a Navy ship moored in Michigan.

I was aboard USS Antrim in 1988 as we sailed through the Great Lakes on a recruiting cruise giving tours to interested citizens and potential sailers. One calm night when we were steaming down Superior heading back from Duluth I was standing the evening watch (8 to Mid) on the bridge. The pilot who was assigned to the ship came up next to me. As we stood looking out at the dark and vast flat water ahead of us he asked if I'd heard of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I said I had and he said we were coming up on where it went down. And he told me his story. To set the scene you have to understand that no one speaks full voiced on the bridge at night unless they are giving an order so the story was that much more dramatic as it was relayed quietly so that only I could hear.

During his own return voyage from Duluth to hime, he was on the ship ten miles behind the Fitz in the middle of that November storm. He was in occasional communication with the pilot on the Fitzgerald. The seas were equally rough where he was astern of them and both ships were running for Whitefish bay where the seas would be calm. The Fitzgerald was closer and nearly to safety while the ship he was on had another hour and a half or more in the severe seas.

As he watched, the light from the Fitzgerald went out and as he looked down the radar blip disappeared and that was all hear ever saw or heard of them.

That night on the evening watch we passed over the graveyard of the Fitzgerald and, of course, the entire Lightfoot song played through my head.

Twenty eight years later I'm walking down the street listening to the podcast that tells the story all over again.

susandennis

Saturday night, Eero had an update. All day yesterday, I had random issues. The TV was working. Apps would come up but half errored out when I clicked on a particular show. My phone kept telling me I had to sign into my wifi network. I rebooted everything but the cats. This morning, half the websites I generally go to were semi - broken. Not totally. But mostly.

And finally I get a news notification from the New York Times that Amazon reports issues with AWS. HA! Yes. It's not me!! Hilariously, when I click on the article, it errors out. Oh well. At least I don't have to get a new router. Hope they fix their shit soon.

The Mariners lost again last night which means they play tonight - the final final final - last game. Unless they win and then the Dodgers will be at them four games in a row starting Friday. I am coming to believe that baseball needs to be over by mid October at the latest.

My knee is much better. Lying on my side to sleep still makes it complain a bit but standing, walking, moving around is fine. I think I'll take it for a swim this morning and play volleyball tomorrow. Nothing else on the agenda really.

Hmmmm Flickr is also dependent on AWS... Ok, while Amazon fixes their cloud, I think I'll go swimming.

alierak posting in

dw_maintenance

DW is seeing some issues due to today's Amazon outage. For right now it looks like the site is loading, but it may be slow. Some of our processes like notifications and journal search don't appear to be running and can't be started due to rate limiting or capacity issues. DW could go down later if Amazon isn't able to improve things soon, but our services should return to normal when Amazon has cleared up the outage.

Edit: all services are running as of 16:12 CDT, but there is definitely still a backlog of notifications to get through.

Edit 2: and at 18:20 CDT everything's been running normally for about the last hour.

susandennis

I have my legs back. Both of them. When I walk, there is a teensy weensy bit of discomfort. Under ordinary circumstances, I would hardly notice. I can get up from sitting without any pain. I get little stabs here and there and my back is now bitching about favoring the knee but mostly it's a miracle heal. So. I've been busy.

I washed my duvet cover and robe and a towel I used to mop up stuff and then put the duvet cover back on.

I went to UPS and did my Amazon returns and then popped into Safeway for some fried chicken.

Oh and I cleaned out the cat toy box. There is a big bag of cat toys in the storage area that will mostly likely go on to the trash room after it marinates there for a bit. The kitchen is clean and the dishwasher is loaded. I dug out a very old phone that long ago grew too old for updates so is not useful for much BUT, I did download an audiobook read by Angus King (the Scottish guy who put me to sleep last night) to it and it will stay charged up and by my bed.

Now it's baseball game time. Who is going to be Dodger fodder????

bill_schubert

I finished with the brisket a couple of hours ago and got it all sliced. It is cooling now. Once it has all cooled I'll vacuum seal it in half a dozen bags and freeze it so we can reach in and grab one when we want.

The meat is a lot more expensive than it used to be (no plot twist there, I guess) but still will feed us for probably 30 meals so that amortizes fairly well. And it is much cheaper than buying it at a BBQ place.

Other than that it has been a quiet day. I took the dogs for a walk early this morning and will likely take them again. On days I don't play PB I like to take them twice. Beaux jumps all over the place soon as he realizes we're going on a walk. He's got a lot of puppy in him that is slowly but surely coming out.

He barked yesterday. A full throated bark. Three of them, in fact. First I've heard. He has very bad hearing so he doesn't have a lot to bark at but he decided there was a reason as he was standing on the patio and let it go. So funny. Startled the hell out of me. So fun to see him get more and more comfortable.

Next week is a quiet one too. I've got a gig I'm helping the shelter with on Tuesday afternoon. I've never done it before and have no idea what I'm doing but next week is national adoption week and I'm going to help for a couple of hours at the adoption van. They need help all week but I only picked one day. I might do another if it is an ok job. They have a bunch of volunteers but as will all places don't manage them very well so they always come up short.

The Austin FC team is in the playoffs. They don't start until a week from Wednesday. Best of three games for the first round. I'm VERY cautiously optimistic that they can break through to round two but the odds makers don't agree so it will likely be a short playoff run. Regardless it is good for the team and great for the coach. He's seasoned but this is his first year with this team. He's done a great job and regardless of how things fall out this year, next has a ton of potential.

Since soccer and tennis are my only sports having a decent team to follow is good.

susandennis

Last night, when I got into bed, I twisted my knee AGAIN! I was so pissed. I got out of bed and hobbled to the bathroom and put on a fresh lidocaine patch and went to bed and to sleep. At 3 am I woke up and got up to pee. The patch was still working. But then I could not go back to sleep. This rarely happens but by 4 I was over it. I've been listening to a novel set in Scotland read by a guy with a delicious Scottish accent. So I pulled out my phone and turned the book on and within minutes, I was asleep. I woke up briefly a couple of times and he was still going and I went right back to sleep. I had a bookmark set for when I stopped following the story so I can go back there and pick it up tonight, but for now I have a new sleep machine!!

This morning when I finally work up for good and got up, I discovered that my knee is so much better! Like 95%. It's wild. I'm going to walk around some this morning - like up and down the hall - to test it but I think it may well have turned the corner which is just so curious. Just night before last, it was incredibly painful to walk from the bed to the bathroom. And now...

But, to celebrate, I also woke up this morning with a lovely case of the runs. No cramps. No pain. Just runs. Hopefully the Imodium I took will nip it in the bud but weird. So weird.

I went to Amazon and clicked return for all of the knee braces. The one that I had been tempted to keep said to keep it and they would refund the money anyway. So I have one to try for volleyball which now, it looks like, I may well just be able to play on Tuesday.

The Mariners play again tonight. But, as

jo pointed out, it's a game fraught with peril. If they lose, they play again tomorrow. If they win, they have to play the fucking Dodgers in the World Series and the Dodgers will wipe the field with them - it won't be a fair fight. At least the game starts at 5 here. She has to wait til 8 to even see the first pitch. That really sucks.

I think I'll get dressed and go test my knee.

bill_schubert

He can't hear much but nothing wrong with his nose.

Keeping me company while I put the rub on the brisket.

dandylover1

Hello, Dear Readers. This is purely a medical update, so please feel free to skip it if you don't wish to read about such things. I am placing it behind a cut. Some may ask me why I am sharing such information. I think it's important for women who may wish to try these forms of birth control, whether as contraception, or as I am using it, as menstrual suppression. That said, I am just one woman and this is my experience. Everyone is different, so please speak with a medical professional before making any decisions..

( Notes on Period Suppression )

dandylover1

Hello, Dear Readers. Today, I am going to share with you a review that I just posted to Reddit. But first, here is the background post, in which I was searching for a good version.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OldOpera/comments/1o1v6v0/la_traviata_where_to_begin/

Now, for the review itself.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OldOpera/comments/1o5a9dn/la_traviata_1955/

"Tonight, I chose another Verdian opera, La Traviata. It's one that I had been curious about. I heard this was his last bel canto work, and I knew a few arias from it, mostly with Schipa, except for Di Provenza, of course, which I heard from several baritones.

Recording

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9kiaH0h2pQ

Libretto

http://www.murashev.com/opera/La_traviata_libretto_English_Italian

This is another libretto with no ocr errors and clean divisions between the Italian and English, so it was easy to put into a single file. For once, I think it helps to know the cultural background, because some of the plot was lost on me. Obviously, I understood the larger picture. Two people were in love, they were forced apart, and they found each other again, only for one to die tragically. Being a lover of the Regency and dandyism, I naturally know what courtesans were and how they were viewed. I also know that, in opera, all sorts of interesting things happen that may or may not mimic real life, all for the sake of moving the story along. But the meeting between Giorgio and Violetta is a strange one. He tells her that he has a daughter, and that if she and Alfredo were to remain together, the man who would marry her would reject her, and says that their happiness depends on this. Basically, it's okay for Alfredo to be unhappy and lose his love, as long as his sister marries this man? Is it strictly because of Violetta's past, with the hope that Alfredo would find a more "respectable" woman, or is it that the marriage of his sister will raise the family fortune and status? And why on Earth does Violetta agree to sacrifice her own happiness, especially since this is the first time she has been in love? Is it because she knows she is dying and doesn't wish to create trouble? Then, when Alfredo, thinking that Violetta has betrayed him, announces his grievences at the party, his father scolds him for offending a woman and says he can no longer see his son in him. This is the same man who forced her to lie and sacrifice her happiness, and now, he cares about her feelings? To me, it seems to be more about how Alfredo will appear to the guests and society at large than any concern for Violetta's well-being. At least, in the end, he feels genuine remorse. Perhaps, I am doing something odd for me and overanalysing it, instead of just enjoying the story as I normally do.

There was absolutely no confusion over the music or the singing, however, both of which were excellent. I actually didn't realise how many arias from this work I knew! I can honestly say that this is one of the best operas I have ever heard. There wasn't one part that felt dragged out. I was unsure about Maria Callas, but I am extremely glad I chose this version, even over the one with Rosa Ponselle. All of you were right to recommend it. Both her singing and acting were impeccable, and she truly captured the escence of Violetta, handling the varying demands of the role marvellously."

somedayseattle

A big EFFYOU to Home Depot for running holiday commercials on Octo 14th. Traditionally HalloGivingsMas (Eatin' Season) does not commence until 8 am, Halloween morn. But now there will be people pressuring us to get the season open early.
No can do, my little sprouts. no can do. Gotta stay true to the spirit of the days. Oct 31, we rock.

susandennis

I have my doll/monster knitting kit well organized now in one small basket. Everything I need. So I took it to Elbow Coffee this morning. I was sitting next to Gail. Gail knows how to knit so she watched me closely. I finished up one and she took it to her physical therapist but then I realized, I did not get a photo of it. That's only the second one who escaped the camera. Sigh.

I decided that a knee brace is not helping. I've now tried 3 different ones and none seem to do anything really and this last one made the knee feel worse. So, Amazon, you can have them back.

My knee feels good enough to go down and pick up lunch so I ordered. A cheeseburger. With fries. Yep. That will work nicely. Plus, I think I'm being wussy about it anyway. I thought it kept me up all night but... my bed said my sleep was 94% out of 100. Arguing with the bed seems silly.

Laundry is laundrying. I have three more episodes of The Diplomat (Netflix) and, actually, lots of other TV to watch while I make more knitted things that will get camera action.

somedayseattle

I just made a homemade French dressing so good it will make you punch your neighbors kid. Twice.

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Page generated Oct. 24th, 2025 04:38 pm

Reading

eye yeye yeye

Semiglutide

Just the usual

the next avenue over

things i cannot do

soak up the sun

Fog season

No more This Is What It's All About

Unusual Day

Is it memorex

AWS outage

Really really good

Quiet day here

So weird

Beaux discovers brisket

Medical Update, Period Suppression

La Traviata, 1955

slotted spoons are no good for soup

Missed one

my gramps has cramps

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