DRAWER FIXED

Last week my handyman fixed my two most used drawers in the kitchen.  They are the drawers that have the silverware and the most used kitchen items (like measuring spoons, can opener, etc.)  The handyman fixed the drawer by putting oil on the on rail holding the drawer in place.  The drawers are the original in the house (from 1920).  The handyman put oil on the center rail and that was it.

The first time I pulled open the drawer it almost ended up with the contents on the flower.  It has gotten easier to open the drawer.

Until tomorrow...

WALKING MORE

I am trying to walk more.  I realize that I walk the dogs but Happi likes to go for more of a sniff than a walk.  I don't really get much of a workout.  It is walk three steps, stop, wait, walk five steps, stop, wait. Even Lucky gets impatient sometimes.

I have been taking the bus instead of walking lately because it has been raining.  Now that is nicer, I need to walk more when I go out.  I live on a steep hill and it is a good workout.  I get very out of breathe if I keep up a good pace. I need to get up the hill and not be out of breathe.  I just can't take the dogs.

Until tomorrow...

IT ALL HURTS

I am having difficult mornings.  My hips hurt, my hands hurt, my ankles hurt, my elbows hurt, my shoulders hurt, my knees hurt.  My jaw even hurts.  Sometimes I think my hair hurts but maybe I am dreaming that.  My stomach doesn't hurt so there is a bright spot.

I am sure it will subside soon.  Flares always do.  The trick is to ride them out.

Until tomorrow...

BATHROOM CLOSET ORGANIZED

I reorganized my bathroom closet.  Last week my handyman put a new shelf in the closet.  I decided that I wanted to put things on a different shelf.  Move the towels to another (more accessible) shelf.  Put all the medical supplies on one shelf and the non-medical stuff (bath stuff, soap, toothpaste, etc.) on another shelf.  I moved my sheets to another more accessible shelf.  I am really happy with the outcome.  Everything is more organized and accessible.

It will be easier to reach for the items I need more often.  I will no longer have to get up on my tippy toes to reach the sheets.  It is much easier for me when I am sore and swollen.

These things make me so happy.

Until tomorrow...

SLOW COOKER SOUP

I made the slow cooker soup today.  I ran out this morning and bought lentils.  Thanks to my brother and his lentil knowledge.

I made Lentil, Chard and Potato Soup.  It is really hearty and tasty.  It was really easy to make.  I will have dinner for a few days.  I love to make slow cooker soups.  No stirring, no checking.  Just put it in and let it go.

Until tomorrow...

SLOW COOKER SOUP DELAYED

I got all ready to make a slow cooker soup today and after shopping for all the ingredients, I realized that I didn't have the necessary lentils.  Since the soup had to cook for 8 hours, I was not going to make the soup today.  Sigh.

Until tomorrow...

DOG WALKER AND FRAMES

Me and the pups met with a dog walker/sitter. She is very nice.  She was worried about my dogs and her dog.  I already know that they will be fine since Happi and Lucky have been fine with other dogs.

Well they loved her.  This is all good news.

I spent the afternoon shopping for eye glass frames.  My friend M went with me from store to store trying on frames.  I must have tried on 50 frames.  I found a few that I liked but none that I love.  I feel that I need to love a pair of eye glass frames that I am going to wear every day for the next X number of years.  Years ago I had someone convince me that a pair of frames looked good on me and I bought them.  I have probably worn them for a total of one week in all these years.  Mostly when my other glasses broke.

So the search continues. 

Until tomorrow...

NEW FRAMES

I have been thinking for a long time about getting new frames because I need to be able to see when I read a book.  I can see to read a book if I take off my current glasses.  So all day long I take on and off my glasses to get work done.  At first it was okay then it was annoying now it is inefficient.

I just hate changing my frames.  My current frames are old and can't take the transition lens.

What kinds of frames will I get?  I can't wait to see.

Until tomorrow...

HINGES THAT MATCH

The handyman came today and banged out a bunch of things.  He finished two shelves and installed them.  He made the hole in my cabinet so my TV cords no longer are in the front.  I can now close my cabinet doors.  After 7 years the brass hinges on my cabinets in the kitchen have been replaced with the brushed silver that match the rest of the kitchen.  They look so nice.

He finished painting my door.  It was a great day.  The house is looking great.  If it would only stop raining long enough he could fix the outside stuff.

While he was doing his work, I cleaned out the water cooler that the ants were under.  I had laid it down to clean the bottom and I guess something kicked up some junk and I had to clean the whole thing out.  I took all the parts apart and cleaned them all.  No ants had gotten in the inside or even on the outside that I could tell.  It just got junky inside when I laid it down.  I am sure the compressor had to settle down once I sat it upright.  It took about one hour but now the water is clear and cold again.

Until tomorrow...

ANTS

Okay, if you get grossed out by things, stop reading now.


When I was a kid I watched this made for TV movie about people stuck on an island that was overrun by a colony of ants.   It is called Empire of the Ants. The ants killed almost everyone but the people who survived had to set the island on fire and jump in water with straws to breath through.  This movie scarred me for life.

I am not afraid of most things.  Ask anyone who knows me.  I am the one who kills (or saves) the spiders, bugs.  I have been the one who picks up the dead animals (mice, rats, etc.) and disposes of them.  I watch CSI and medical shows while I eat.  I am the person you want when you are in a hospital because I don't get queasy over this stuff.  In college I was the one holding back girls hair in the bathroom.  You get the drift.  I don't fluster easily.

Except for ants.  I hate ants.  They creep me out.  They give me nightmares.  That darn movie!   Over the past few days I have been seeing ants.  I don't like using DEET to kill things because of the bad things in it.  But ants will bring out the animal in me.  I could not be a Buddhist.

I saw a few ants.  I used the spray.  Then I saw a few more and I tried vinegar and water.  Then today I saw more ants by my water cooler.  A lot more.  I moved the water cooler and almost threw up.  I grabbed that DEET and sprayed like a mad woman.

There was thousands of ants and millions of eggs.  Oh my gosh it was gross.  I just sprayed until the can was empty and then I grabbed another can.  Ugh.  Then I had to clean it all up.  That was the worst.  I was worried that I had not killed it all so I put all the dead ants and eggs in a sealed plastic ziplock and that in a plastic bag.  Then I took a shower.  I felt like I had ants all over me.

It was so awful.  Just writing this creeps me out.

Until tomorrow...

PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN PROBLEM FIXED

Today I went to see my gut doctor.  Everything is okay.  She is retiring in a few months so this is our goodbye.  She said that the current political situation was the impetus to her retiring at this time.  The mess with the healthcare situation and all the other crazy stuff going on the world.  She is retiring from being a physician seeing patients to be a physician activist.  Good for her!

I talked to her office about the mess about The-Insurance-Company-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named  changing my primary care doctor and the staff tried to fix it.  I got home and called The-Insurance-Company-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and miraculously my primary care physician's name was listed on their list of doctor's I can use.  I don't know what someone did but it worked.  Problem solved.

Until tomorrow...

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HAPPINESS

Today is the International Day of Happiness.  Do you know where the happiest place in the world is?  Besides Walt Disney World?  Norway is the happiest place in the world.  The USA is number 14. 

The top things they look at are six economic and social factors

• gross domestic product per capita
• healthy years of  life expectancy
• social support (having someone to rely on during times of trouble)
• trust (a perceived absence of corruption in business or government)
• the perceived freedom to make life choices, and
• generosity (measured by donations)

Happy Happiness Day!

Until tomorrow...

LAZY DAY

Okay maybe it was having 6 visit from Comcast.  Maybe it was the overcast day.  Maybe I was just tired and not feeling well.  I don't know.  I just wanted to stay in bed and watch TV and movies.  It was nice seeing a picture that didn't flicker and hear sound that was clear.  I could watch a movie downstairs or upstairs.  I guess I just wanted to relax.  So I didn't get out of my pajamas until about 2 pm when I took a fabulous bath.  In the bath I finished the book I have been reading forever.

What a lazy day!

Until tomorrow...

COMCAST #5 AND #6

The cable guy comes in the morning and puts in a new cable box downstairs. I tell him that the type of box he wants to install is not going to work but he puts that box in anyway.  He leaves once it works.

Twenty minutes later the remote control doesn't work again.  I contact the supervisor and tell him that the box doesn't work again.  I tell him that Hulu is looking good at this moment.  The supervisor says he will be right over with some new boxes.

The supervisor shows up with the technician from this morning.  It takes them about one hour to figure out that last weekend when the technician accidentally turned off my cable box downstairs, he didn't set my cable account correctly.  It would not matter what cable box was installed it would not work.  My account was not set up to handle a cable box for more than 20 minutes.  They fixed it and now the cable box works.  Fingers crossed it will stay fixed this time!

Then my friend T called and we went out to lunch and to the park for ice pops.  I watched Central Intelligence in the evening.   It was a nice day.

Until tomorrow...

HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY

I went to a party that my friend H had. It was quite fun.  It was billed as a poker party but I didn't play poker, I played games.  I played a game called Exploding Kittens.  Not as violent as you think.  It is a bit strategic.  It was fun.

Then we played Cards Against Humanity.  It was interesting and fun.  I ended up with three presidents and the pope as my answer cards.

Until tomorrow...

COMCAST YET AGAIN

Last night I was watching TV and channel surfing.  All of a sudden the remote control ceased working.  I could not change channels or move the volume control.  This was a bit of deja vu.  The same thing happened with the other cable box a few days ago.  Now it is happening with this cable box.  If I got two feet from the cable box the remote control worked fine.  The cable box was broken.  I must have a record at breaking cable boxes in four days. 

Today I called my contact, the supervisor, at Comcast and he promised me they would bring a new box on Saturday.  I am super busy tomorrow and can't wait around for Comcast.  He can't believe both the boxes died in less than a week.

Maybe my Comcast is possessed?!

Today I wore a pair of my birthday socks.  They are SO fun!  They say Party Animal. 

Until tomorrow...

WEIGHTED AVERAGE

I spent 30 minutes today trying to figure out how to get a weighted average.  I have someone who is working 32 hours regular time @ $24 per hour and 10 hours travel time @ $15 per hour.  I need to figure out the weighted average.  For the life of me I can't figure it out.  Now I realize I am no math wiz, I admit it.  I am not putting myself down, it is just a fact.  I barely passed algebra (and I can barely spell calculus) and forget geometry. Isosceles triangles.  Ugh.  Don't get me started on Chemistry.  I loved to mix the potions but the math work and the memorizing.  Not my thing.

Anyway, I can't figure this out for nothing.  I feel like I am back in high school taking one of those quizzes.  "If the Amtrak train from Boston to NYC is going 80 miles per hour to the south and the wind is going 30 miles per hour to the east, which way is the smoke blowing?"   Trick question: Amtrak trains on the NE corridor are electric!  

I need a math wiz to help me. 

Until tomorrow...

THE-INSURANCE-COMPANY-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED

I had to call The-Insurance-Company-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named today. I got a letter stating my primary care physician had been changed to another doctor. I wanted to know why. I found out that once again The-Insurance-Company-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is fighting with the medical group. This happened a few years ago and the contract negotiations went down to the wire. It stressed me out thinking I would have to change insurance companies mid-year or I would lose my doctor's. Now it is happening again.  I changed my primary care physician back to my doctor and crossed my fingers the negotiations would work themselves out.

I called my doctor about the pain in my hips. I have an appointment on Friday.

Until tomorrow...

TAXES DONE NOW HEALTH INSURANCE

Don't you love when you finish your taxes?  It is something I dread doing every year and when it is done I feel like I deserve a night out.  A food delivery.  Something!  Now I have to clean up the mess.  All the stuff I dragged out to figure everything out. 

For months I have had pain in my elbow. My doctor says it is tennis elbow.  Now I have been having pain in my hips.  The pain is so severe that it wakes me out of a deep sleep.  It started on my left side and now it is on both sides.  Since I sleep on my side, it is quite painful to sleep.  I think it is time to call the doctor and see what is up.

Oh, I think I can call my doctor.  I got a letter from the insurance-company-who-can-not-be-named saying they changed my primary care doctor without my permission.  Ergh.  I guess tomorrow I need to call insurance-company-who-can-not-be-named and figure this out.  Now that Comcast is fixed I have a new battle to fight.

Until tomorrow...

COMCAST APPOINTMENT #4

At 9:30 am my doorbell rang and I was still in my pajamas.  Comcast was supposed to call before coming but they were at my door.  The cable guy came in and switched the cable box in a few minutes.  Everything with that TV worked great.

Ten minutes after he left I checked the TV downstairs and all the channels that are pay channels didn't work.  No MTV, no HBO, no LOGO.  UGH!  I called Comcast and told them what happened.  Turned out the cable guy took out the cable box that didn't work from upstairs but he turned off the cable box from downstairs that did work.  They tried to fix it over the phone but they could not.  They had to schedule a tech to come out.  One and half hours later I get my fourth phone call from Comcast from the tech that came that morning apologizing from turning off the wrong cable box. He already turned it back on.  Everything was working.  Yeah!  Hopefully this is the end of my Comcast visits for a while.

Now do you see why I hesitate calling Comcast?  It is never easy with them.  It is always 3-4 visits. A week or two of Comcast.  At least this time it was escalated to a supervisor quickly.  I have clear and watchable cable again one year later.  Yay!

Then I finished my tax preparation for my tax meeting tomorrow.  What a day.

Until tomorrow...

COMCAST APPOINTMENT #3

I had taken photos of the continuing flickering of the cable picture to show the cable guy.  This morning I called the cable guy's supervisor.  I explained the situation and he said he would be at my home in a few hours.

When they arrived, they tested this and that.  It turned out that the cable boxes are old and some part of them was "full" and not able to work correctly anymore.  Really??  That was why I was having more and more issues.  They checked all the wires and even brought in the cherrypicker to check the outside wires.  New boxes were installed and checked.  All the TVs were checked and they all worked. I was happy.  After two hours they left.

I worked on my taxes for a few hours and then made dinner and sat down to watch some TV.  The remote control launched the channel guide but the arrows would not work.  I could not go up and down or left and right.  I could not get the guide to turn off.  I tried another remote control (I have a few with all the cable boxes I have had) and still no luck.

I finally went within inches of the cable box and I could change the channel.  Something was wrong with the new cable box.  UGH! I called the cable supervisor (he worked late on Saturdays) and he said he could not come by tonight but he would arrange someone to come by Sunday morning.

I checked the box downstairs and it worked great so I watched TV downstairs.

Until tomorrow...

MACARONI AND CHEESE

What is your most requested comfort food?  Mine is probably ice cream. Then pizza. But back in my college days I used to love to come home from a night out and make Kraft macaroni and cheese at 2 am.  Since I am lactose intolerant my days of eating mac and cheese are long over. Then I became vegan and there was no way I was going to eat Mac and cheese.

Until today! A new product came out. Daiya Vegan Mac and cheese. I bought it a few weeks ago but I have been too suspicious to try it. I tried vegan items before and have been very disappointed.

Not this time. The Daiya macaroni and cheese is delicious!  I haven't had Mac and cheese in 30 years and it tastes SO good. I want to eat the whole box like in my college days.  It is so creamy and cheesy. It has that yellow-orange look. I ate it with vegan hot dogs.  Now I am going to have one of my homemade vegan "Reese's" peanut butter cups. What a great dinner.

I have a new favorite comfort food. Yum!!

Until tomorrow...

WHERE WAS THE SOCIAL WORKER?

I went to the Family Fair for my foster/adoption today.  I was supposed to meet a social worker to talk about a child.  After driving 2.5 hours to the site, the social worker was not in attendance.  I was a bit disappointed.  Okay, I cried.  I was tired from the drive and frustrated that I went that far and she wasn't there.  I pulled it together and met some other people so the whole day was not a loss.

Until tomorrow...

DAY WITHOUT A WOMAN

Today was International Women's Day.  It was also Day Without a Woman.  I participated.  I closed my consulting company for the day.  I went down to a protest/strike gathering.  It was energizing. 

It was also Lucky's birthday!  She is probably 8 or 9 years old.  She still acts like a puppy.  To celebrate we all went to the doctor's office.  Lucky needed her nails cut and her anal glands cleaned out.  She was in a much better mood after that.  I guess that would put me in a bad mood too.

Happy had her nails cut and her shots. 

Then the Comcast guy came. Visit #2.  He installed the part.  It didn't change the flickering picture.  We moved cable boxes around.  It didn't change the flickering picture.  I keep telling them it is the outside. They won't believe me. 

In the evening I had my neighborhood watch.  It was a smashing success.  We had a guest speaker and for about 2 hours there was a scare that he was not going to show up.  I had made this arrangement 1.5 months ago and I was a little angry that he was blowing us off.  But he showed up and was a great speaker. The group wants another meeting in a few months.

The day was so great.  I have other positive news but I want to keep that to myself right now.  More on it tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

SOCIAL WORKER, CATWOMAN AND ALEXA

I found out my social worker for my foster/adoption is retiring in a month.  This has it's pros and cons.  She has been working part time and this means she is hard to get a hold of some times.  It also means that I have to break in a  new social worker and hopefully we click.  I am sure we will be fine.  It is a chance to meet a new person.

A friend gave me this for my birthday, isn't it cool?

CATWOMAN!!  I am putting it on the same shelf as my Hermione wand and Hedwig the owl.  Just a little geek out.

As you probably have figured out I have been checking things to do off my list.  Today I finally called Amazon about my Amazon Echo remote.  When I changed passwords and wifi in my home, my Amazon Echo didn't work.   I finally got that to work and then the remote didn't work.  I tried for days to "pair" them to no avail.  Giving up each time.  The reason I need the remote is with my 1920 walls, Alexa can't hear me increase or decrease the volume when the phone rings so I have to get up to turn her on or off.  Thus defeating the purpose of having Alexa.  The remote is great.  I keep it with me when I am working and I can talk into it and turn Alexa on and off, mute her or even ask her questions. When Alexa stopped working I stopped using the Echo very much.  Today I called Amazon to see if I was doing something wrong.  The remote was broken.  It just died.  Sob.  Amazon is so great even though it is not under warranty, they credited me a new remote.  It arrives on Thursday!  I feel I will be more productive with my Alexa working again.

Until tomorrow...

GARBAGE DISPOSAL

Yesterday I made this awesome and delicious soup.  It is White Bean and Barley Soup with Tomatoes and Greens.   It is hearty and tasty.  Perfect for these rainy days.

Oh, and it hailed last night.  I got up to take one of the dogs out at 1:30am and the deck was covered with hail.  It is SO cold here.  I heard the hills have been snow covered for the last two nights.  That is very rare.

Today the plumber came to fix the garbage disposal.  Turns out it was dying.  I also found out that it was a makeshift install and a part was missing.  I had the plumber install a new one.  It is SO quiet now.  And not smelly!  He also checked my sewer line and it was good.

Until tomorrow...

HAIL?!

Today Happy (my dog) went out int he backyard to pee and out of nowhere it started to hail.  She stood in the backyard for a minute like she was shocked.  You see Happy is a tropical dog from the island Palau.  She has not ever seen hail or snow.  She ran under a tree and very quickly urinated.  She then ran into the house like something was chasing her.  When she got inside she shook to get all that hail off her and looked at me very confused.  Then she barked and ran up the stairs to her bed.

It was so funny to see her reaction.  I wish I could take her to a snowy area to see her reaction to snow.

Until tomorrow...

LOGAN

Today was my birthday movie with friends.  I have been waiting to see Logan and it didn't disappoint.  But first, the previews were so crazy.  There is a new Aliens coming and it is SO scary looking.  I had to watch the preview through my fingers.  And a new Fast and Furious.  I can't wait.

Logan was excellent.  It did not disappoint.  I don't want to spoil it for you.  It was action, action, action!  It is rated R and is not for the faint of heart.

Until tomorrow...

TABLE 19

My day started with a visit from Comcast.  For those of you who read all the time, you might remember I had a problem with Comcast almost exactly a year ago.  I had them come to fix the cable issue at least three times and still it was not fixed.

Then I went on vacation, got sick with meningitis, the flu, and got back to work.  Then I started the adoption process.  I never could come up with the time to get the cable fixed.  I know it is going to be a long process.  Last year it was three appointments and they could not fix it.  Who knows how many appointments it will take to fix this time.

The problem has gotten worse and now I can't watch a show most times without having the picture  flicker.  It is annoying.  The guy came and didn't have the part he needed.  He is coming back Wednesday.  Appointment 1 done.

Then the gardener came and cleared out the backyard.  It looks great.

Then the handyman came and did a few things.

I went to see Table19 at the movies.  I thought it was a comedy but it is more of a romcom.  It was funny but a little sappy for me.  I liked it.

Until tomorrow..

HOME FIXES

Today was a day of fixing things around the house.  The handyman came to paint doors, make shelves, paint shelves and put in locks.

Then the electrician came to fix a light and that made me real happy.  I have not had a light in my kitchen for about 2 months.  I can see when I cook again.

Until tomorrow...

HORRIBLE TRAFFIC JAM

Today I was driving back from a clients office and I was cruising along and all of a sudden the traffic came to a sudden stop.  We inched along for about 10 blocks only to find out the entrance to the freeway was closed in both directions.  Ugh!

I followed the crowd like a lemur inching along for about 1/4 mile.  It took about 40 minutes.  Then I finally figured out how to get back on the freeway.

The whole time I was happy I had the top down on my convertible since it was one of the first sunny days in months.  It was a bit chilly but sunny.  I was worried that my GPS was in the trunk and I had no idea where I was.  I was hoping that if I followed the line of cars they would take me back to the freeway.  They did! 

It took me 1.5 hours to get home when it normally takes 40 minutes. 

Until tomorrow...