It's getting better every day

This last week have seen multiple financial crushes, hopefully that is all for the near future.  The HAU (home septic unit) blew the motor bearings, so that needed to be replaced; $$$.  The trip to the vet for Dottie came to >$400.  C is badly bummed because his brand new (just arrived today) Dell computer won't turn on.  A very basic task, don't you think?   I spent the majority of the day looking online at CA king mattresses, wow, they cost the earth!  I'm not sure how I would describe the softness/firmness that I want, we will have to go and bounce test a few models at the mattress store.  Damned if I will pay more than $1000 for one.  The current one is all lumpy and sags when I sit on the edge, it is more than 13 years old, it replaced a leaking water bed.  We just turned it a few weeks ago, so now both sides are worn down.  One of my 'scrips has once again been denied, we go through this every time I try to refill it.  I see the doctor tomorrow (GP) who will hopefully write a refill for more than one month.  The house pressure washing guy is due to leave an estimate tonight, more expense.  The mildew/algae really shows up on the cream vinyl siding, and our pressure unit is just too weak, and really I want it done thoroughly by someone who knows what they are doing.
Update:  The doctor did write for a 30 day supply of Ultram (not generic as per Dr. Diab (rheumatology).  However the insurance will only cover 7 pills, so I am picking up the cost myself..... VC is really bummed himself.  My silk outfit is MIA, and I spent hours on the phone to get a trace started with USPS.  
The new neighbors are all moved in I guess, the uhaul truck is gone.  So far, at least, they don't have a dog.  I hope they notice Smudge is hanging out and feed him, I've only seen him once here, the other cats must have chased him away.  We will feed him if he comes here, but I am not setting up a breakfast bar for coons, possums, and all the cats in the neighborhood.  There are possums in the garage tonight!  


The MRI I had on Tuesday came back with the expected anomalies, but no sign of cancer.  I was dreading the process, but really it wasn't bad.  I kept  my eyes closed (in the future I will get a cloth to drape over them) and counted to 60 really slowly, three times, and I was done.  20 - 25 minutes altogether.  No claustrophobia to mention.

Hope all of you are having a relaxed and pleasant weekend.

better still to come

Well, other than falling yesterday in the bathroom, trying to step on the scale, I am doing pretty well.  Today I saw the ortho surgeon, and he did his usual magic with a cortisone injection in the left (unreplaced) knee.  They last about 2 months, but can only be given every 3 months, so the last few weeks have been misery.  He is going to try something else (Zilretta) in two months, maybe to last longer.  The injections he is contemplating run about $600, each.  I fell sort of to the side in the bathroom, giving myself a whalloping bruise, but no real damage except for a bad case of the shakes.    It all happened so fast, I'm not sure why I fell.

My face biopsy came back all clear, come back in 3 months. Woohoo.

The attic clear out is still ongoing, maybe 1/3 done.  So much junk.  I have been surprised at how many empty boxes there are up there, guess R can use them to pack up.

Another of our cats, Dottie, needs to go to the vet, she is acting very weird this last week, looking all droopy.  Here comes another bill.

There is an extra critter in the ceiling down here, got in somehow off the porch I guess.  It starts munching around 4 am, and I rap on the ceiling here and there with my cane, then blast music for a couple of hours.  I am not sure who is getting punished, me or the critter.  It was quiet last night (or I slept more soundly) but there is rat poison up in the corner where there is a small gap in the drywall, hopefully it is just what it needs to move on to the next incarnation.  I have been waiting for the attic-clearers to find rodents of some type, but not so far.  Fingers crossed.

Nice Day

I think we've finally gotten hold of actual springtime weather.  The forecast for tonight is 100% chance of thunderstorms so it will be kinda squishy afterward for the old mare to go out and kick up her heels, racing for new spring grass.  If she were more sedate she would get out of the barn more frequently, at 26 she should be through with acting up, but no.    She doesn't need to be injured and I shouldn't need any more vet bills.

I went to get my hair cut and colored, and the salon was out of one of the dyes grrr.  This shop has been going through hairdressers weekly, and no one seems to know how to do anything, including the register.  It isn't all that easy for me to get into the salon, navigating a heavy door with no automatic movement, the chairs which are too close together, and count on C to take me there and back. Why are the most convenient places getting the ax?  Honestly, there are businesses going down all over, so much for POTUS promises to farmers, workers in places that shut down 10 or more years ago, the coal miners.  They all were singing "happy days are here again" in 2016 and it is too late to turn that machinery back on, but they believed.  What about 2020?  Grrr.

Our hyperthyroid cat is doing great, with meds morning and evening, and a pinch of the much-lauded supplement, she is picking up weight and her coat is sleek and clean, with much less barfing.

We have started clearing the attic, maybe one-fourth done.  The amount of junk is staggering, it will mean many trips to the landfill.  A lot of it is baby things that I thought we could use for grandbabies, but that ship has sailed.  R has found an apartment and will be moving the first of June.  Our first job will be cleaning her room, it is thick with dust on every surface, it is no wonder she has "allergies".
There have been several trips to Goodwill with donatable stuff, although there are no clothes from the attic, they are in too poor shape from being so old.  The same with the stuffed animal toys, too dirty.  All the garbage bags up there just shatter when touched, so it all has to be re-bagged to discard, which is strange I think.  Anyway, my goal is to have Nothing In The Attic; if it is keepers it goes to the storage unit.  There won't be much.


 My counter over there --->  shows 44,000 page views as of this morning, yeah me.  It is only a guess, The earlier counters just disappeared, and I picked a reasonable number to begin again.  I realize there are millions of bloggers who get 40,000 a day, but I'm happy with my 44,000.

More doctor visits

I went to see the derm doctor on Wednesday for a skin check, and wouldn't you know it she found a suspicious spot on, of course, my face.  It will take 3 to 7 days to get the results from the biopsy, they would call if it showed anything.  Otherwise, by mail and see you in 6 months.  The question is, is the spot a basal cell carcinoma or just a spot?  I grew up in Miami, so years in the sun, and at that time, there weren't any sunscreens except clothing.  Once PABA screens came out, I used it faithfully, but there were times when I forgot -- until the next day when the burn showed up.  I was never one to lay out in the sun to get a tan, or use a sunbed,  I don't even now, the process gives me a raging headache.  So I wait.  Again.

I twisted my shoulder during the breast biopsy, and it is only now can I raise my arm above my shoulder.  If I have another breast biopsy I will make certain that I am in a position where I am more comfortable, and not have all my upper body weight propped up on one arm.  I am too agreeable, when I said I need to re-arrange myself, the techs/nurses said oh no you have to stay this way, so I agreed, dumb me.  At least a mammogram doesn't hurt (much) afterward.

Good news about the neighbor's cat that they left behind, he seems to be amenable to eating here, and I don't see signs that our old old cats are chasing him off.  I think he is only semi-tame, he won't be petted or eat from his plate if you are too close.  I could be sure it is him if  he and one of ours weren't both solid black.  Hope he gets tamer when winter comes, and he will need to huddle into the space in the garage around the heater.

God I just realized that today is May 10th, three years since N died in our hands next to the truck.  Guess that that is a sign I am healing.  But I really miss him!.

Bye for now!

Lazy May-zy

I can't seem to stay awake today, I'm not sure why.  I took some Ambien last night, but the effect should be long gone. So I will just yawn my way through this post, hoping for something coherent.

Did you ever have something you know, but wish you didn't?  That's me.  I think some things are best unshared so your whole mental landscape isn't shaken to bits, at least for a while.  I hope it is for a short while.

I saw my friend on Monday, we ate at IHOP; it was the only place open for breakfast, along with Denny's, but IHOP turned out fine, I had cannolis which were delicious, and it was so good to see her after all this time, 4+ years.  I hope the next time isn't so long.  I feel like everyone else is moving along, and I am stuck here marking time.  My exercises, which I do every day, throughout the day, aren't paying off that I can see.  I'm going to try using the cane more, resigned to the likelihood that I will fall at least once.  My original ortho doctor made the front page of our local paper, he was caught in a sting operation for illegal drug prescriptions, pretty much as rumor had it months ago.  I can't help but wonder if he was impaired (?) during my first surgery when the infection set in.  I asked him several different times if there was an infection, since the wound was red, swollen, hot, but he said no, if it was infected I would have a fever (I never run a fever) and there would be pus.  So the 6 total surgeries that were needed to clear the infection are to blame for the weakness in that leg, all the muscle atrophied with the need to have no weight-bearing for months.  The original surgery was done on June 26th of 2017, nearly two years ago.  The final surgery was on Feb 19th of 2018, over a year ago.  My advice is, if you are considering joint replacement, and they tell you 1 in 100 odds of problems, think really hard about what if YOU are the number 1, infection being only part of what can go wrong.  That doctor had academic and professional awards out the wazoo, but that didn't help him either.

Another pity party, sorry.  Tough to think of many cheery thoughts mid-afternoon on a Saturday, a lovely day, and me stuck here in this room.