Tuesday, February 28, 2017

COMCAST

I finally called Comcast. After about a year of having cable issues, I am finally fed up.  Over a year ago I had Comcast come out three times and they said they could not figure out the problem.  I gave up when I went on vacation and then I got sick with meningitis.  I could not begin to think about dealing with Comcast.  Then I was too busy to deal with my cable issues.  For any of you who have ever had to deal with a difficult issue with a cable company or phone company, you know what I mean.  It is rarely ever one visit from tech.  It is multiple visits from the tech support people.  Each person telling you another story about why the ___ is doing ____.  For my cable it is always: you have too many cable boxes.  You need a booster.  You don't need the booster.  A cable cord is bad.  Are you sure it isn't your TV?  Your splitter went bad.  I have heard it all.  The cable still has problems.

Maybe next week it will finally get fixed.  I can hope!

Until tomorrow...

Monday, February 27, 2017

OSCARS

Okay what do we say?!  It was so crazy.  I saw a post today that said: "I saw LaLa Land win and turned off the TV."  Ha ha.  They missed all the chaos.

It was a good time.  Just the right amount of politics and humor.  It had just enough glamour.

Until tomorrow...

Sunday, February 26, 2017

FOSTER/ADOPT GROUP MEETING

Today was my foster/adopt group meeting at my home.  There were 5 guests.  I made hummus swirls and my homemade "reese's" peanut butter cups.  Someone brought homemade lemonade.  We talked for three hours.  It was a good gathering.

We all talked about where we were in the process and speculated how long we would have to wait to get a child.

Until tomorrow...

Saturday, February 25, 2017

ORCHIDS

I went to a orchid show today.  I was given a free ticket so I thought I would head over for a bit.  I was not sure what it was all about.  It was a big orchid festival where there were thousands of orchids I could purchase.  I was essentially chaos.  I only stayed about 30 minutes.  The orchids were beautiful but it was crowed.

Until tomorrow...

Friday, February 24, 2017

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS



I went to see the play A Thousand Splendid Suns tonight with my friend S.  It was really good.  It was almost just like the book.  The actors were so awesome.

Until tomorrow...

Thursday, February 23, 2017

ANIMATION SHORTS

I went to see the Oscar Animation Shorts.  I really liked three of them.
  • Piper about a little piper bird learning to eat.
  • Pear Cider and Cigarettes is an adult animation about a guy who needs a kidney.
  • Pearl is about a musician who gives it all up for his daughter so she can be all she can be.
It was a fun time.  I just love animation films.

Until tomorrow...

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

IT DIDN'T RAIN TODAY

Just one thing: It didn't rain today.  Ah...

Until tomorrow...

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

QUICKBOOKS

I finally had to deal with moving Quickbooks from my old dying laptop to my new computer.  I have a very old version so upgrading was not an easy task.  I was on the phone with tech support for almost 3 hours.  My old file version from 2008 would not upgrade to 2017.  So tech support had to take the file and upgrade it from 2008 to version 2012 save it and then upgrade it to 2017.  It took forever.  They were very nice and I really lucked up since Intuit was having a 70% off sale on Quickbooks.  Nothing better than finding out that the item you need and have to buy just happens to be on sale 70% off.  Yay!

It is all done and I am finally able to invoice my clients again.  Hooray!

Until tomorrow...

Monday, February 20, 2017

PRESIDENTS DAY IN BED

Yes, I was thinking I was sick. Or just sick of everything going on.  The rain, the news, the cold, I didn't feel well, I was tired.  I stayed in bed and on the couch.  I stayed in my PJs all day.  I watched a movie The Nice Guys.

Until tomorrow...

Sunday, February 19, 2017

GAME NIGHT

After a restful day of watching TV, I went to my friend H's game night.  I was a little nervous since I have not played a board game in about 30 years.  I can't even tell you the names of the games we played.  The first game was a game with cards and chips.  The goals is to get to 15.  You use the chips to buy the cards. Some of the cards have numbers on them, those numbers get you to 15.  It was confusing at first but once I got the hang of it it was quite fun.

The second game was also a card game.  Everyone gets two cards.  Each of the cards has directions on it. When it is your turn, you play one of the cards and have another player do what it says.  Then you get another card.  The last players show their cards.  The cards all have numbers on them and the highest number wins and gets a little red heart.  The person with the most hearts at the end wins.  It moves pretty fast.

It was a fun night.  

Until tomorrow...

Saturday, February 18, 2017

INSANE NEIGHBOR

Today I had my helper come over and help me clean out more of the garage.  It looks great.  We pulled all the boxes down off the shelves and reorganized them so the less used items (such as camping equipment and memorabilia) are in the back and the more used items (such as office supplies, party items, holiday items and photos) are close at hand. I cleared out a bunch of stuff that I no longer need.  I no longer need to move 5 things to get my Halloween decorations out to decorate.

Then we made areas: a place to put gardening items, a place to put my ping pong table, and a place to put the boxes of taxes.  Now I can see and be in my exercise area again.  I even found a VCR that someone gave me years ago. It works!  I can use my yoga tapes again.

My helper had parked her car in my driveway when she arrived.  Many of my friends park there due to a lack of parking in my area.  Halfway through our cleaning out, my neighbor rang my doorbell.  My helper answered the door and I was down in the garage.  My neighbor spoke to my helper but I could not hear what was said.  By the time I got outside my helper was in her car and the neighbor was saying something to her.  My helper said "you don't have to be so rude".  I jumped in and  tried to find out what was going on.  Turns out my neighbor wanted her to move her car claiming he can't get his car out.  As the conversation went on he told me that "You will not park your car in the driveway anymore" because he can not get his car out of his driveway.  I told him the previous owner got his car out by doing a K turn.  He said he has a larger car.  I told him I was going to park my car there if I need to and he could ring the bell and ask me to move it if he found it impossible to get his car out.  He then told me that he would back his car out and if I found a dent, well...  He also said he would call the police if I parked my car there.  Good luck getting the police to come out for car parking situation.  Then he said "If you park your car there again, I will hit it."

The conversation just deteriorated after that about the security light on my house and how I am not friendly anymore.  Blah, Blah.

So much for being neighborly.

Until tomorrow...

Friday, February 17, 2017

SHREDDING

I love shredding.  I don't like the action of shredding mostly because the shredder jams all the time.  I have to reverse the shredding action and then empty the shredder.  Because of our recycling rules, the shredding has to be in a paper bag and not loose in the recycling bin.  The problem is who has paper bags anymore?  So I have to find a paper bag and then empty the shredder so I can shred some more papers.

Today was the day I went to the shredding company.  I had 5 boxes of shredding.  Old bank statements, checks, taxes, work papers, etc.  All needed to be shredded.  I also had a hard drive from an old computer.  They are all in little pieces.  The guy at the shredding company is starting to recognize me since I have been there three times in the last three years.  We are both from the East Coast and currently live in the same area.  He is a very nice guy.  I have referred his company many times.

It feels great to get those boxes out of the house.  More things gone.  The next thing to get rid of is the e-waste.  I am glad I didn't get rid of it already since my new cordless keyboard is not working and I had to hook up my old keyboard.  Sometimes it is good to keep some of that old stuff around just in case.

Until tomorrow...

Thursday, February 16, 2017

PROFILES

I went to look at more profiles of children today.  We were told that foster/adopt profiles show up each week and we can go over and look at them.  I was in the area and I stopped by.  That is when I found out they meant I needed to call first and make an appointment and then stop by.  Not everyone understands the words "stop by" the same.

There were no new children that were right for me this time.  It is will just take patience.

Until tomorrow...

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

ANOTHER COYOTE SIGHTING

What a day!  I spent almost all day getting my computer up and running.  It is almost there.  I still can't figure out the keyboard but let's call this a victory!

At noon today there was a coyote walking down the street.  At noon.  I thought they were nocturnal animals.  So scary. 

I got a new door today.  It looks awesome! 

Until tomorrow...

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Well, I finally turned on my new desktop computer. I was waiting for the right time. Today was it.

The first thing I wanted to do was install antivirus software.  That is when I realized my cordless keyboard is not working. I could not get the password to type in the box. Then it would type but it kept saying it was the wrong password. Ergh.

I finally went and got my old keyboard and plugged it in and voila!

I got a text from my neighbor asking if I wanted to come over for Chinese food for Valentine's Day.  I heated up some vegan food and headed over. It was a single persons Valentine's day. They had a bunch of food and desserts. There was great conversation and laughs. Considering I woke up and forgot it was Valentine's Day, I had a nice day.

Until tomorrow...

Monday, February 13, 2017

WAKING UP

Do you have a sense of dread when  you wake up?  I don't mean about my RA but about what is happening in the news.  Last night 200,000 people were evacuated due to a dam cracking and potentially flooding the whole area.  Missiles being launched by North Korea.  Mudslides. Floods. Something everyday.

Just one day I would like to wake up and find no news alerts telling me something has happened.  Wouldn't that be nice??

Until tomorrow... 

Sunday, February 12, 2017

ENVI HEATER

I finally got my heater installed downstairs.

Backstory: My bathroom was supposed to have radiant heat in the floor when it was constructed.  Due to a mistake by my contractor, the radiant heat doesn't work.  The bedroom is next to the bathroom and the bedroom has heat so the bathroom is not freezing.  The whole downstairs is about 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house because it is basically underground.

Currently: On really cold and rainy days I use a radiator type space heater to make the downstairs warm.  Problem is I can't sleep with it on because they get very hot and they aren't safe.  I bought this new type of wall heater called an Envi.  It is safe because it never gets hot.  I don't have to worry about dogs or anything else burning themselves on it.

Today my neighbor came and installed it for me.  I turned it on and by the time I went to sleep it was toasty downstairs.  Not super hot but just enough to cut the freeze.  I could leave it on all night and it was cozy in my bathroom and bedroom.

Can't wait to go to bed tonight.

Until tomorrow...

Saturday, February 11, 2017

RESIST!

I participated in an event today where 5,000 people stood on a beach spelling out the word RESIST!  It was a lot of fun.  I had to get to the beach early to stand inside the outline of a letter.  I was in the base of the letter T.  There was a helicopter that came and took pictures.



Most of the time it was easy and fun.  The hardest part was when we had to kneel for about 15-20 minutes.  It felt like an hour.  My knees are not meant for kneeling.  My ankles and knees were in so much pain.  We were packed in so close that there was no where for me to go.  I just closed me eyes and thought of happy thoughts. When I stood up, it took a few moments for the blood to flow back to my feet.

I met some very nice women and we hung out the whole time.

In the evening I went to dinner with my friend S.  Thai food was just what I needed.  Yum!

Until tomorrow...

Friday, February 10, 2017

THE RESULTS ARE IN

Today I got the results of my blood tests. My potassium has gone up. It is still low but not as low.  My Vitamin D is no existent. It is so low it doesn't register. I need to start taking Vitamin D. My Vitamin B is a bit low too.
I need to start taking vitamin B and vitamin D.
Until tomorrow...

Thursday, February 9, 2017

DRAG QUEEN BINGO

Don't you just love Drag Queen Bingo?!  What you haven't gone to Drag Queen Bingo?  Too Bad.  You are missing a fun time.  It is bingo with Drag Queens.  There are Drag Queen MCs.  There are Drag Queen Offs, where they dress two folks up as drag queens and have them lip sync (a la Rue Paul's show Rue Paul's Drag Race) for their life.  There are prizes given out and a silent auction. 

I had a super good time.  I had my sparkly daubber and I had 9 bingo sheets.  I tried to win a trip on a fire boat.  I ended up running into a woman from my Foster/adoption class.  We had a good time catching up.

Can't wait for the next Drag Queen Bingo!

Until tomorrow...

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

DEHYDRATED? NO!

I went to see my primary doctor today.  But first I had a handyman come to do some work on my house.  He put in security lights on the front and back of the house.  He helped me fix the garbage disposal that had some weird odor.   He also made my doors so I could open them since they were bloated from the rain.  I am so happy.  I want to get so many things fixed.  You know how you get to a certain point that you can't take it anymore?  I was at that point.  I can handle one thing that doesn't work, or two things that don't work but when it gets to 10 things that don't work, I start to have a melt down.

Then I went to my primary doctor.  First I was told I have tennis elbow. Funny I don't play tennis!  He heard what happened when I had the heart palpitations and then in the ER.  Then I told him my opinion that I was not dehydrated and that there was something else wrong.  He looked at the medical records from the ER and low and behold, the tests showed I was not dehydrated.  Ha!  I was low on potassium.

The doctor sent me out for some blood tests to see what else is going on.  He thinks there is something else going on.  I think he will get to the bottom of it.  He did give me some good advice: If the heart racing happens again, lay down.  I don't want to fall and get a concussion or knock out my teeth.

Until tomorrow...

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

HAPPI UPDATE

Just giving a Happi update.  She has been going for longer and longer walks.  She even went around the block today for the first time.  She was so excited.  I have a double block so going around the block is a big deal.  The orthopedist said she needs to take longer and longer walks each 3-4 weeks until she gets back to her regular walk.  She is about 3/4 of the way there.  I have been walking her longer some days and shorter other days so she doesn't get overly tired.

The doctor said to not wear the brace on her wrist and it is working out better.  Her back has not been bothering her and neither has her wrist.  She has just been a happy pup.  She can't wait to go for a walk each day and gives me an unhappy look if we can't go out.

Until tomorrow...

Monday, February 6, 2017

SICK AND STING

I still don't feel well today. I just wanted to stay in bed today. I actually had to convince myself to get up to go to the Sting concert I had tickets to.

It was a concert at a small venue and I was much more excited to see him this time. I saw him last fall at a big collideum. It was nice but he was a dot on the stage. At this small venue he seemed so close. It was nice.
For those of you who have gone to concerts with me in the past, you will be happy to hear that there was an incident at this concert and I had nothing to do with it. I didn't even say a word. Here's what happened:

I was at the concert by myself. I was sitting on the end of a row in the balcony. Next to me were three women. They were fairly annoying by talking during the opening act (people who have gone with me to other concerts know I think this is rude) and standing up. 

People behind them kept politely asking them to sit down. They would sit down begrudgingly. Then another song came on and up they would go. The folks behind would yell sit down. By the 6th time it started to get contentious. The women started calling the folks behind them annoying. The folks behind them were throwing things at them. Finally someone got an usher who told the women to sit down.

During the next song up they stood up again. The usher had to come back again. I just sat there and kept to myself. 

It was interesting to see someone else have to deal with drunk and rude people instead of me.

The concert was awesome. Glad I went.

Until tomorrow...

Sunday, February 5, 2017

LAYING AROUND AND WATCHING THE SUPERBOWL

I feel a bit hungover. Very tired. I am not sure why.

I have had a few people suggest that I had an anxiety attack. I do not feel like it was an anxiety attack. I have had plenty of anxiety attacks and this was very different.

How exciting was the second half of the Superbowl? I missed the half time show when Lucky decided to get sick right as Gaga went on stage.

Until tomorrow...

Saturday, February 4, 2017

A CALL TO 911

I was feeling fine. I had just walked a ways. I had just had a conversation. Then my heart started racing, faster than it ever did before. The world went white. I held on to something and I did not crumble to the floor. I could not speak or I would have said I am going to fall. I could not lift my arms or walk. It seemed to go on forever but it was probably 20 seconds. Any longer and people would have noticed.

Then I could move and I slowly went to the bus. I wanted to go home. I needed to go home and figure this out. Do I need to go to the hospital? Do I need to lie down? Who will take care of my dogs?

I got home and called my doctor's emergency line and the nurse told me to call 911 NOW!

I called my neighbor to come and take care of the dogs. I then called 911. My neighbors came and helped me get ready by putting the dogs in cages and getting my coat and bag. My heart raced again.

Then my house had about 10 men in it. EMTs and firemen asking me questions. What medicines do you take? How old are you? What is your birthday? Are you allergic to anything? What happened?
They put me in an ambulance and took me to the hospital where they ran tests and gave me fluids.

My heart did not race at the hospital. So the prognosis is dehydration. With a warning that if it happened again I am not to go home but to call 911 immediately no matter where I am.

My wonderful neighbors brought me home.
 
Until tomorrow...

Friday, February 3, 2017

ALMOST READY TO PUT THE COMPUTER TOGETHER

I finally have all the pieces of my new computer, printer and router.  Things are starting to work again.  I will say, changing your wifi password, changing your router, changing your computer and changing your printer all around the same time has been cleansing and frustrating all at the same time.  I go from pulling my hair out to being so happy to see my new larger monitor.

I bought a HDMI cord and I think this is the last thing I need to buy. 

Until tomorrow...

Thursday, February 2, 2017

A WHAT? COYOTE?!

A crazy thing happened this morning.  At 7 am I looked out my front window because the street light was out.  What did I see?  A coyote walking down the street.  Right down the middle of my little street.  Like he was going to work.  I ran to get my camera but he was gone when I got back.  Just another animal to add to the list of animals I have at my home:

  • raccoon
  • eggret
  • skunk
  • hawk
  • coyote
  • rat
I feel like I am missing an animal.

In the afternoon I went to a family fair for foster/adoptive parents.  I got to meet social workers and see profiles of kids.  I saw one profile that I am interested in.  I can't spill the beans about the child but I am interested to hear more.  The social worker wanted to hear more about me which is a good thing.

Until tomorrow...

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

TELLING UPSETTING NEWS

How do you tell a friend some news that might upset them?  I have a friend that I also employ now and then.  This person is going through a life change which is exciting.  I fully support all of it.  The problem is these changes effect our working relationship.  My friend is not able to be available when I am in need of services. 

I have put a Plan B in place.  You know what I mean.  I have another person waiting in the wings just in case my friend's life change takes my friend out of town or in another direction.  I don't want to be left hanging. 

Now, here is my question: How do I tell my friend that I have a Plan B?  I have to tell him at some point that I have a substitute.  I could just wait until my friend is not available and then call the Plan B person and that is an organic transition. 

I just can't wait around for my friend to let me know one day that a month long trip to Katmandu is planned for next week and I am up a creek. 

But I also don't want to lose a friend.  My friend must understand that I can't wait around forever for my friend to figure out life.

Anyway, any ideas will be regarded. 

Until tomorrow...