 Nostalgia, DVDs, old movies, television, OTR, fandom, good news and bad, picks, pans, cute budgie stories, cute terrier stories, and anything else I can think of. Contact me at theyoungfamily (at) earthlink (dot) net . . . . . . . . . .
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» Sunday, October 13, 2024
The Roller Coaster is Exhausting
 Well, what to do about the faucet problem. Despite the fact that I was washing dishes in the bathroom and filling pitchers of water there, James used the kitchen faucet a couple of times and it didn't explode. However, it did need to be fixed. So while scrolling the internet, I found a company called "Steve's Handy," a handyman service. Steve had all five stars from people who used him.So I called him and he was supposed to come Monday afternoon, but the previous job ran long. We made an appointment for 10:30 next morning, which was neat because now James could talk to him. He showed up promptly, then showed us some faucet options. We picked a Glacier Bay with a spray unit in the faucet head. He then went to Home Depot to pick up the faucet while I cleaned out under the sink. He came back with the faucet and installed it. Well, I've had this "punch list" of small things that had needed doing for years, like the light in the bathroom downstairs. I asked Steve to look at the items. Folks, he took care of all of them. * We haven't had a light in the downstairs bathroom in years. When James tried to fix it, back when he could still climb ladders, he could not get the light out of the cowling it was in. Steve was able to fix it—it turned out when James tried to replace the light bulb that burned out, the glass cover on the fixture was so tight he actually pulled out the whole fixture, which is why he couldn't get the light bulb out—Steve was able to get the clear cover off and just screwed in the light bulb. * Steve used a special needle-nosed plier and got the broken light bulb base out of the overhead ceiling fan light in the library. This has been out of commission almost as long as the bathroom light, and it now has a bulb back in it! The cover is even back on it and the pull cords for the fan and the light back on. The screws that hold the cover were lost, but, since Steve had to go back to Home Depot to get a plug to cover the spray hose hole, he also picked up some generic screws so the cover could go back on. (It's not bright enough for the library, but I didn't have a 100 watt equivalent bulb that would fit.) * I finally got our "Wizard of Speed and Time" poster reframed in the better frame I bought for it at least five years ago and Steve re-hung it in the foyer. * Best of all, he got up on a ladder and was able to move our Leaf indoor antenna up as high as it would go (another four feet to the west and higher by at least 16 inches), and now we are getting Georgia Public Broadcasting again and Ion TV (I think we may have lost the better signal on "the Loop" which shows old black and white TV, though...oh, well). I re-scanned the television only two days ago and came up with 80 channels; scanned it again today and got 95. I've only reached 92 scanned channels previously, during the winter when the leaves are off the trees. Usually, once the trees leaf out we lose GPB completely. Steve is definitely getting five stars and more from us!!!!! (Also, he's a theater person and tech-y and knows the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company!) So if you're in the area (Cobb County, Georgia, from Smyrna north to Acworth) and need some work done, check out Steve's Handy! These are all the things Steve does, per his Yelp listing: Handyman assembly Circuit breaker installation Electric installation or replacement Wire installation Faucet installation Garbage disposal installation Handyman installation Outlet installation Handyman painting Plumbing repair Sink installation Switch installation Toilet installation Water pipe installation Handyman caulking Electric inspection Electric repair Wire repair Faucet repair Garbage disposal repair Light fixture repair Outlet repair Plumbing installation or replacement Handyman repair Sink repair Switch repair Toilet repair Water pipe repair Well, all this high had to have a downward slope, didn't it? It's the way things go these days. When James went to dialysis Wednesday afternoon, the PA looked at his fistula wound and thought it was getting infected. They put antibiotic on it and sent a tube of it home with him, and gave him IV antibiotics. They also said if it was worse by Saturday we would have to go to the emergency room. Yes, I freaked. I did notice it was a little red on Tuesday. We have been doing just as the doctor ordered since the surgery: soap and water washing only, pat dry, a little Mupirocin on the incision. No bandaging necessary, even though the wound would rub against his shirt. Well, it's going to be bandaged from now on, until we see Dr. Coyle next week (James called her immediately). So at night we are cleaning it out with wound cleaner, covering it up so the shower doesn't wet it, then re-cleaning it, putting Mupirocin on it, and bandaging it. DaVita gave him more intravenous antibiotic on Friday as well. They said it didn't look any worse and, since the doctor said I was treating it the right way (we sent her photos), just rebandaged it. (I hate the way they rebandage it. They put tape on his arms that pulled off some skin. In good news, we got some stuff done on Thursday, and then on Saturday took a long drive up to Cumming to celebrate Jessica Clerici's 31st birthday. I loved seeing our friends, but Mellow Mushroom sat us outside so there was room for all of us to sit together. In the sun. In almost 80℉ weather. I had a migraine that kicked in immediately and with the glare and the heat, I had to retreat to a shadier seat. Juanita had bought the coolest candle for the cake. It looked like a flower with long yellow pistels, but they were wicks. You lighted it in the middle and all the wicks ignited and the "petals" fell open and rotated while it played "Happy birthday." We were in walking distance of a Barnes & Noble, so we walked around it for a few minutes and I bought a Christmas romance and something called A Werewolf's Guide to Seducing a Vampire for Hallowe'en reading. The moment we got home we both took a nap. Sun takes so much out of us. Sigh. Today I did a bunch of little chores including cleaning out the cart where I have all his bandages and medicines. With grim irony James calls it his "crash cart." Steve left a tool here and is supposed to come back to pick it up. Maybe he will put up the new light bulb I bought at Home Depot on Friday. I walked in there and came face-to-face with Christmas! They had nearly two dozen Christmas trees (they're all so tall; what happened to six-foot trees?) and I actually liked a slim-line one, but I don't think it would fit all 200 of our ornaments. I suppose I could get rid of some...but I love them all. Labels: birthdays, chores, Christmas, events, friends, health, home improvement, home repairs, illness, medication, purchases, television  » Sunday, October 06, 2024
October at Last...and Off to a Bad Start
I look forward to October every year. It's my favorite month except for December, although the leaves here don't really turn until November, but there's such a possibility in October...that it might be cooler, that it might be colorful, that we can make all the wonderful things coming up like the book sale and the Apple Festival.It started out on a bad note Tuesday. We'd had a nice day: went to Sam's Club for gasoline for the truck, went inside and found some nice sirloin steaks for a semi-reasonable price, and some nifty dark-chocolate covered nut clusters. Nuts are good for kidney patients, and these turned out to be really tasty, with flaky dark chocolate on them. We also went by Dunkin Donuts and got two more apple cider doughnuts, and James made chopped steak and ramen noodles for dinner... ...and forgot to check behind him to make sure the chair was there and sprawled out on the kitchen floor. We had to call the firemen to get him up, and he said he was okay—he didn't even scrape an arm or a leg like he usually does and start bleeding!—but over the rest of the evening he started to hurt worse and worse around his chest, and off we went at 10:30 to Urgent Care. Even though there were few customers, it took us until 3 a.m. for him to get an x-ray and then another 90 minutes for them to look at it. I had a screaming headache most of the time there; had taken three ibuprofin before we left the house and it barely touched it, and someone's alarm was going off constantly, and there was a baby crying, and it was hot in the little cubicle we were assigned to. We were so miserable we both considered just walking out, but we had to check... So, they said no broken anything and sent us home on a couple of hydrocodone for James and absolutely no energy for me. We got into the house and just crawled out of our clothes and fell asleep on top of the bedspread with a couple of fleece throws at about 5:30 a.m. Ever since now he has this pain around his torso when he twists (can't figure out how it happened since he appeared to have landed on his left side), coupled with the pain in his back that has been so intense he has been taking, in ones and twos, the hydrocodone Dr. Coyle gave him for post-op. I have been wakened every night by his moaning in pain. So, whap, apparently it was now my turn; tried to get in bed early Thursday night for the book sale on Friday and instead suffered nightmares and knee pain and nausea all night. It was a whole lot of fun for both of us. I staggered up long enough to help with breakfast and feed and walk Tucker, then crashed on the futon until it was time to get up for dialysis transport. I went straight to the book sale and bought thirteen books, and didn't feel fully human again until after supper. So James ended up going to his club meeting online again, after making it successfully last month on his own (sigh...). Over the week I also finished putting up a couple of more fall decorations, put the new signs up on the front porch (hopefully the plague of roofers will go away), brushed Tucker, updated my blog, and finally put away the charged power supplies (and sorted out the little woven crate they're in). I also, happily and sadly, finished the very last Maisie Dobbs book, The Comfort of Ghosts. I've been reading the series since 2007, when I read a great review of the first book. Maisie started out as a thirteen-year-old servant whose thirst for knowledge was so great that she would get up at three a.m. to study in her employer's library to further her education. Her employer educated her, and she went to college but didn't finish due to serving as a nurse in the Great War. Now World War II has ended. Maisie is at the end of a long journey. It was a satisfactory ending, but how I will miss her! Also, back in the day when James was working, one of the things we used to watch at lunchtime was the New Zealand-produced "reboot"/follow-on of Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds. They did a lot of fan service to the original series and we enjoyed it. However, Amazon Prime only showed two-thirds of the series. I just found out the remainder of the series was on Tubi. Alas, now it seems our kitchen faucet is either broken or giving up the ghost. Like we haven't spent enough money. Labels: accidents, autumn, books, dogs, health, illness, shopping, television, treats » Sunday, September 29, 2024
A Week So Busy...
...that we may have to break it into parts.
Might as well get the nastiness out of the way first. Hurricane Helene was in the news a lot starting September 24. Supposedly this monster was due to gather a lot of strength and not lose it after it crossed the Florida/Georgia line. I immediately began gathering every small power supply we had in the house just in case we lost power for more than an hour, as our internet and main computers are already on APC power supplies, as is the television and Roku, but they would be needed for emergencies. On Wednesday it poured and we took the rollator to dialysis because the power chair isn't supposed to get wet. On Thursday we heard that a 15-20 foot storm surge would probably hit Tallahassee when Helene made landfall, and then the damn fool thing was going to come directly up I-75 and hit Atlanta head on with 75 mph winds. These were the conditions predicted when we went to bed on Thursday night. Instead, we slept almost soundlessly until five, when rain lashed at the windows and we could hear the wind raging outside. By the time we got up it was sprinkling, and then partly cloudy, with some very blue sky visible. Just south of us the storm had turned east, so Atlanta and Chattanooga were marked "safe" except for some downed trees around town. Instead Helene barrelled into western North Carolina like a gigantic watery freight train. All the beautiful towns and villages there were lashed and pounded. The "Rainbow Bridge," a little tribute place where you could fasten a memory of a beloved pet, was washed away. The gatehouse at Biltmore Estates was 2/3 covered in water. The little town of Chimney Rock was completely washed away. Big chunks of the freeway in eastern Tennessee and western NC are gone, as well as smaller roads. The Blue Ridge Parkway has been chewed up in many places. In fact so many roads are out that they cannot bring in supplies to many places and are resorting to helicopters, small planes, and, in one case, a mule train! Mountain Mule Trackers have been using their mules to get supplies into that part of the state. Fall is the time when much of western NC and eastern TN make money due to leaf peepers. They'll have no business this year. Dolly Parton personally donated a million dollars to recover efforts. James' sister, in Gaffney, South Carolina, lost power, but they are in the country and have a generator. [They only had power restored on October 6, thanks to tree cutters shipped in all the way from St. Louis, Missouri, followed by the local linemen. Electrical linemen are the GOAT. These folks need to be paid more money, not overstuffed politicians and performers.] So while Nature was doing her damnest, we were able to carry on: I cleaned out under the bathroom sinks and used shelves to get extra storage space; we stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home from James' surgical followup and found lots of fall goodies; Thursday it was cool enough for me to go for a full walk!; on Saturday after Hair Day we drove out to the Costco in Paulding county, gassed up my car, and found more Belgian chocolate mousse in the handy little glass containers as well as lamb chops for $5.99/pound; and stopped at the local Walmart and finally found some of my yogurt! I bought two weeks' worth and need to check the local Wally Worlds for more. In James news, Dr. Coyle seemed pleased with his fistula so far, even though he complains he cannot feel what they call "the thrill," the buzzing that a successful fistula makes. I can feel it plain as day, it vibrates like a purring cat. The skin around the surgical area has also swollen up like it's supposed to, which the original fistula did not do. Oddly, his blood pressure was rather low on the visit, but she did not seem concerned. And Friday he got lucky and got an early chair at dialysis! Sunday he got the nicest surprise of all. His best friend J.P. called ... um, from wherever he and his wife are living now; I've totally forgotten. You should have heard them on the phone exchanging their health challenges. Apparently J.P. also twitches in his sleep and has been diagnosed with narcolepsy. We had some of the lamb chops tonight, in the air fryer, with mint jelly. So good! Labels: chores, errands, food, friends, health, local, relatives, sadness, shopping, sickness, storms, weather » Sunday, September 22, 2024
Medical Mutterings and Spending Money
It was another doctory week, but not overwhelmingly so, like the "day of three doctors' appointments." James had dialysis the usual three days, on Tuesday we went to see Dr. Mobley and on Thursday James had an MRI on his back, ordered by Dr. Mobley, to see what's going on with his back. Friday before dialysis we had a visit with James' cardiologist and had enough time to stop at the Perimeter Barnes & Noble and stopped by MicroCenter on the way back to get a new bluetooth keyboard for my phone. My faithful Freedom Pro seems to have given up the ghost.The house also had to see a doctor, or rather the garage did. There are thin, taut metal cables on either side of the garage doors that roll up when the door rolls up, and then unspool and stay taut when the doors are down. One, on the truck's side of the garage, had quit spooling up over the weekend, and the other quit as the week started. Apparently this is Very Bad and can warp/break the garage door panels. So we had to have "Don't Panic! Garage Door Repairs" come to fix it. It cost nearly as much to fix as the garage door panel repairs back in 2014. Gah. So, we had some good things this weekend: while we had to give David's birthday party a miss (my lower GI was in an uproar) on Saturday, we had a great time at Aubrey's birthday "do" on Sunday. The cake was based on Hazbin Hotel, a fandom I hear about on Reddit, but haven't investigated, and, best of all, the company was wonderful. Alice made it so we could take the power chair up to the back door and then James was able to limp in on the folding walker. I also finished and posted a story I began on September 15, finished on the 18th, and posted on the 21st. It seemed to be well received. In a very annoying development, DaVita will not allow me to go back and help James set up his stuff any longer. They say it's against the rules. Now, when we first started going there in July, the rules clearly said that if the person having dialysis could not get to the chair by themself, they needed to have a helper come in with them. James can get from the power chair to the dialysis chair if the power chair is next to it, but he cannot park the power chair out of the way and walk the few steps to the dialysis chair without help. The nurses are not supposed to do this, so he would get out and I would park the chair, then help him get his stuff set up, wait for James to get a finish time, then leave. Now the clinic manager says I can't do this anymore. If I want to do this, I have to get a doctor's note. Once I have the doctor's note, we have to take a conference class, and then answer a questionnaire...what the absolute f*ck? Just to help him pull stuff out of his bag? The funny thing was that when I went to pick him up, the clinic manager had gone home and the nurse on duty just let me in. She didn't want to deal with the power chair and didn't mind me coming in the back at all. So it's just one person with a stick up their butt... Labels: annoyances, birthdays, books, computers, friends, health, home repairs, sickness » Sunday, September 15, 2024
Surgery Week
James had his fistula surgery this week, on the 10th.
The week itself did not start auspiciously; James Earl Jones died. "The Voice," and the talented man attached to it, is gone. End of an era indeed. Monday evening we stuffed James with food at about 11:45, then valiantly tried to get 3 1/2 hours sleep. If was mostly fruitless, and we could have waited and gotten up at four anyway, as the freeway was totally clear and we got to the surgical center so early that the only people there were the security guards. So we parked and closed our eyes until the lights went on. We weren't the only people there early, either; there were about six other patients...well, patiently waiting. James' surgery was scheduled for 7:30, but he had to be here for 5:30; I think we waited a bit longer than that. Finally they brought us back to a room and I helped him undress and waited under unforgiving fluorescent lights until they shooed me out. They would send me texts on James' condition, and I could also look on the electronic board. The café was open by then and I had something called "breakfast porridge," a bagel and cream cheese, and milk. I couldn't finish the porridge. I didn't mind the Cream of Wheat texture, but it was apparently pumpkin spice and virulently sweet. Well, here my long wait began. I was so sleepy, but there was nowhere to sleep, I was too woozy to write or even to read. I finally perched myself on a sofa on the other side of the waiting area, which was lit brightly with obnoxious white lighting (I mean, I tried sitting everywhere, even in the children's waiting center, but it was too damn bright), and half dozed. I got a text at ten saying he was in recovery, and Dr. Coyle said if they started on time, James should be ready to go by 12:30.
Alas, no, because he had the same blood pressure problem as last time, and also felt like he couldn't breath when they turned the anesthesia off, so they put him on oxygen and then a Bi-Pap to help him get the anesthesia out of his system. Worse, the recovery room nurse kept trying to call me, but I wasn't getting her messages because my phone was tagging them as spam. So I kept calling her, which must have been annoying for her. Didn't get to see James until 3:30 p.m., after which they'd turned both the oxygen and the Bi-Pap off. Guess when we got released. Yes, you guessed it: rush hour. It took us over an hour to drive the 24 miles home. Despite the delay, he seems to be doing fine. The doctor gave him some pain medication, but he only used it that evening and the next day. He did report some burning at the surgical site during his first dialysis after the surgery, but that was all. After this, trips to dialysis and the rest of the week was a breeze. Put the flag up for September 11, then next day stripped all the summer crap down and put up fall stuff. Since I finally found the rub-on letters, I finished the signs for the porch, and now I just need to spray them with a clear coat. I also bought a cute stuffed sheep. » Thursday, September 12, 2024
FOR TODAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2024
Outside my window... ...there are clouds; it was raining earlier. The trees are still heavy with green leaves, but there are signs of fall...tulip tree leaves turning yellow...rusting muscadine vines...leaves scattered on the sidewalk...spider webs in the trees...
I am thinking... ...that I should finish putting up the fall decorations, but it's so much nicer to sit here and eat a plum and type!
I am thankful... ...that James' fistula surgery is over! It was a very tiring and tedious afternoon waiting for them to let me see him. As with last year's fistula surgery that did not work, he had trouble with low blood pressure after the procedure was over, and also woke having trouble breathing. This has also happened after surgeries and should be on his chart by now; anesthesia takes a long time to clear from his system.
In the kitchen... ...nothing going on now, but we have chicken drumsticks for supper. James will make them in the air fryer with a teriyaki sauce--we have the most wonderful low-sodium teriyaki sauce we get from Amazon.com--and we will have leftover mushroom rice for a side.
I am wearing... ...black shorts and pale blue tank top, white Hanes socks and my blue scuffs.
I am creating... ...I was updating my journal a few minutes ago. Vincent D'Onofrio had created a nice poem on his Twitter feed, so I printed it out and pasted it into a blank page. Sometimes I copy them down by hand, but this was a longer one.
I am going... ...to have to hit some of the craft stores and see if I can find some fall garland!
I am wondering... ...if I can find some good deals at the library book sale this year. I would love to find a discarded copy of the last Maisie Dobbs book so I won't have to pay full price, but that's a pipe dream. Would love to find some Gladys Taber books!
I am reading... ...Sensational: The Hidden History of America's "Girl Stunt Reporters' by Kim Todd, about "Nellie Bly" and her compatriots.
I am hoping... ...that James' fistula matures quickly and we can get that permacath pulled out of his chest so he can take a proper shower without us having to drape him in Glad Press'N'Seal and use a shower cape when he washes his hair.
I am looking forward to... ...cooler weather, especially as we now have to go out three times a week to dialysis! Last year we could stay holed up on blisteringly hot days if we wished unless James had a doctor's appointment!
I am learning... ...patience, which is still a chore. Just do your cross-stitch game or edit your stories, Linda, and keep your mouth shut.
Around the house... ...I have stopped in the middle of putting up fall decorations; they are already on the porch and in the foyer. A few are on the dining room table, but that's kinda where I stopped.
I am pondering... ...why we don't have better candidates for political office. Or why the Republicans suddenly had to ally themselves with fundamentalist Christians. The United States was founded on the principals of freedom of religion, so why do we have a political party that is asking us to adopt the beliefs of one particular religion?
A favorite quote for today... ..."The reality is that none of us are easy to be with. We all suffer from something. So when you meet someone who's willing to stay committed to understanding you and actually wants to grow with you, don't let silly things like ego and pride ruin it.
One of my favorite things... ...Cool weather! I want it so badly! I want to wear flannel and jeans again instead of being sleeveless and in shorts! I want autumn leaves and cold winds that I can drink deeply of and that make me feel alive, not steamy hot air coming up from superheated concrete.
A few plans for the rest of the week: A bookstore visit, I hope! If I don't go into a bookstore once a week, I get twitchy.
A peek into my day... ...how about a peek into September 1! I went to DragonCon for the day and got to see Vincent D'Onofrio speak, got an autograph, and a photo taken. Here's a photo I took of him. How can you not love a man with eyes like that? 
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» Sunday, September 08, 2024
Some Farewells are Harder Than Others
Emotionally, it's been a bummer of a week.
The saddest part was finding out a friend had died. I met Rose Marie Badgett on my first trip to a convention with friends rather than with my mother. There were six of us sharing a room: Rosie (from Kentucky), Alice and Maggi from Georgia, Mary from Massachusetts, and Gail and I from Rhode Island. We had a wilder weekend than we expected than at a Star Trek convention because all of us were supposed to leave on Monday, but Sunday night a big snowstorm blew into New York City, flights were suspended, Amtrak was running about twelve hours behind...and the hotel offered us another night at the con rate. We had a room party and James Doohan showed up, except we missed it because Gail and Rosie had gone out to dinner, and the other four of us were in Holly's room, Mary and Maggi because they wanted some quiet, and Alice and I were watching Backstairs at the White House. Rosie was one of the Space: 1999 fans in the bunch and I saw her twice a year until she moved to California and then I moved to Georgia. I think I saw her last in person in 1985. But we reconnected on Facebook. Apparently she had been ill for a while and passed away on Sunday. My consolation is that she and Lin have probably found each other by now and are telling tales to each other. Less hurtful but still mournful was the fact that we made our monthly trip to Canton on Thursday and Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint was no more. They must have closed right after we went last month. So we made our monthly pilgrimage to Books-a-Million, then ate at a pizza place called Brooklyn Joe's. It was very good, but they don't make personal pizzas; however, they will make half a pizza one way and half another, so I got my usual bacon/black olive/no cheese and James got all the cheese and onion and mushrooms and burger he wanted on his half. Next time we will get a medium, though; we brought half of it home and had it for a meal a few days later. Sunday we also sort of "don't care"'d and didn't go to the Yellow Daisy Festival, either. Just not the same for me since the Country Pick'ns folks retired. We already had maple barbecue sauce anyway. I would have liked to have looked at the opal rings again and gotten James a new glass nail file (the one I bought him last year was broken and the "replacement" I got from Amazon is terrible—you have to saw at your nails to file them). Got some useful things done this week anyway: James had his preop for his new fistula surgery on Tuesday, I backed up the hard drive on the desktop, got gas for my car, picked up a prescription at Kaiser. Did you know there's a "lost" episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent? There is; fortunately it's a Nichols and Wheeler episode...I do dream about them finding a "lost" Goren and Eames! This one was about favoritism in picking out an Olympic site and apparently the Brazilians didn't like it, so it's neither on the DVD set nor in reruns. Someone recorded it when it was first broadcast, though, and that's what I saw. It was an underwhelming effort anyway. Jeff Goldblum overacted terribly in an interrogation scene with the female suspect. The best parts were insights into the ongoing Major Case storylines at the time: Megan Wheeler being interrogated by the FBI due to her fiance's involvement in money laundering and then throwing out her wedding invitations (very sad scene), Ross and Nichols arguing over the latter's decision to go see Breakfast at Tiffany's for insights into the case, and Nichols learning Wheeler's likes and dislikes. On Saturday we had fun at Taste of Smyrna; this time we went early (1) when it was cool and (2) James could have a meal before his club meeting afterward. We tasted the usual "drunken pork" and creamy grits, rice balls, elk and bison meatballs (I was disappointed; they were quite bland), and a very sweet bread pudding. No Asian food at all this year. Labels: books, conventions, errands, events, food, friends, loss, television » Sunday, September 01, 2024
Breathing Rarefied Air
As the kids today say, I "did a thing." I was deathly in fear of doing this "thing" because it involved leaving James alone for the day. Make no mistake, he is much stronger and fitter than he was when he got out of the hospital at the end of June. But he still doesn't feel stable enough on his feet, mostly due to his back and knee pain, to go back to a cane or even back to where he was months ago just walking slowly and making sure he has touchpoints. He still relies on the rolling walker we got from Kaiser, but he's been using it to get around the kitchen much better—if still painfully—to the point where he can even wash a pan or two to start prepping. When I told him what I wanted to do, he said, "Go ahead, do it. I want you to do it. You need the break and you deserve it." He even went on Amazon and ordered a tray/storage compartment that fit on the top of the walker so I didn't have to help him transport the parts of his breakfast anymore (the egg plate or the burritos, the tea, the oatmeal, and the smoothie drink). He kept repeating "I will be fine." I was still paranoid, especially about what if he had a fall or had chest pains that didn't go away with nitroglycerin. To assuage that, I made sure the chair lift seat wasn't blocking the door and left a house key hidden on the porch, then told him to keep his phone on him at all times. If he had to call 911, hopefully he could tell them where the key was and they could get in without damaging the door. So I did it. From the moment that I saw Vincent D'Onofrio was going to be at DragonCon, I wanted to be there. We haven't gone since 2019, and, although I miss it, I don't miss the crowds, the constant noise, the crowds, the heat between the hotels, the crowds, the long wait for elevators since James is in the power chair, the crowds...well, you get it. I'm homesick for it, because DragonCon has been an alternate "home" for years, with a bunch of people I adore who I only see mainly there (the BritTrack people, the Trek Track folks, the sci-fi lit panel regulars, etc.). I miss them. So I bought a Sunday membership and bought a photo op (it's a very early birthday gift to myself). Alice did offer me to loan me her badge on Saturday (which would have been naughty, but...) while she watched the Georgia football game, but I decided against it (but thanked her copiously). She reminded me to get parking in advance, which I did (and it turned out I didn't need to, as there was plenty of space on Sunday at less than I paid for pre-paid, but...better safe than sorry, as everyone's mom has said at least once). We made it down to the wire with James neither having a fall or chest pains by Saturday night. Thursday night I was feeling guilty and said to him, "Maybe I should have gotten you a Sunday membership," thinking he could have wandered about while I was doing my fangirl thing. But just going for an echocardiogram, eating out at Pacific Buffet, and stopping at Barnes & Noble had wiped him out that day, and he demurred. Sunday morning, after not a lot of sleep due to anxiety, I was up at 7:30. My backpack was already kitted up with some snacks, my camera, a folder to put my reserved photo from the photo op in, my tablet, etc. I dressed, fed and walked Tucker, used the bathroom, and off Butch and I went. The bad day driving to DragonCon is always Friday, because of rush-hour traffic; on Sunday the freeway is practically empty. We freewheeled following the GPS down I-75, exited at Courtland Street, turned left on Andrew Young, and drove up to opposite the Westin. With SpotHero all I did was drive into the garage, find a parking space, and walk off (coming out was just as easy; I didn't have to scan a QR code or anything). After five years of non-attendance, you would have thought I'd fumble around trying to remember things. Nope—it's all muscle memory now, like riding a bicycle. It was cool and shady enough that I just walked down the big long hill from the Westin to the Courtland Grand (formerly the Sheraton), stopped once by a young blond woman who saw my Law & Order: Criminal Intent t-shirt (bought especially for the occasion!) and gushed "I love your shirt! I love that show," crossed Courtland Street again, and headed for registration. This was easy-peasy, just follow others through a little Disney World serpentine, show my QR code, and get my badge. Took five minutes. Then I went to Disability Services, because, while I am willing to wait in line, I cannot be outside in the sun or else Mr. Headache, Mr. Palpitations, and then Mr. Diarrhea will visit me in short order. DS decided that was justifiable and I got a seat in line and end of row designation. Now, breakfast! Again by long habit: hike the block to the Courtland Garage, use their elevator to what James and I have always called "the Luke Skywalk" and into Peachtree Center and the myriad of eating locations, some shuttered until lunch, others open for breakfast. Of course I went to Cafe Momo, which is a big buffet-by-the-pound, as I planned to have a hearty meal and then just snack later. In my styrofoam container I put oatmeal in one small compartment, roast potatoes in the other, a slice of French toast and some peeled and sliced oranges and kiwi fruit in the big compartment. Finishing off with a reduced-fat milk and a bagel and cream cheese, I went out to the tables to eat. (They have lots of other stuff—eggs—yuck!—both scrambled and fried and spicy; grits, pre-made tortilla shell meals with meat and lettuce; different fruits; coffee and tea; cereals; etc.) Oh, if you were looking for Waldo, I found him having breakfast at Peachtree Center, too! When I got done it was much too early to go to the Walk of Fame where Vincent D'Onofrio would be signing things, so I marched over the skybridges through the Marriott and into the Hilton to descend to the oh-so-wonderful coolness of the Galleria level where Trek Track and BritTrack are and walked into the Lower Decks panel. Alan Siler was on the panel and I can't remember when I'd seen him in person last. I got two hugs and we talked and he told me how he was splitting the book he was writing in three parts, and that his Kozmic Press outfit is going to be doing an anthology of essays of women talking about how they were influenced by the Beatles. You so rarely see books written about how women have been influenced by rock bands! And the panel was fun, too, talking about favorite moments in Lower Decks—has any scene been funnier than the punchline with T'Ana and the box she asks Beckett and Tendi to fetch?—and if this is really the end for the series. Now I moseyed on back to the Marriott and the Walk of Fame; there was no line at this point and I just strolled right in. The actors sit in little booths talking to the fans and selling autographs (James and I have been going long enough to remember when you bought the photos from a dealer or from the actor and the actors signed them for free!). Jodie Whittaker (Doctor #13) was signing autographs practically in front of me. Vincent D'Onofrio wasn't at his booth, so I walked around checking everyone out. Anson Mount, when I finally spied him, was wearing a baseball hat, so no glimpse of the infamous Pike hair wave, and looked tired. There was a lively crowd around "the hobbits" (Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, and Elijah Wood). And I absolutely had to stop and say hi to Barry Gordon when he was free. He does animation voices now, but I remember Barry Gordon from when he was a child actor, especially in the film A Thousand Clowns with Jason Robards. It was on television in the late 60s and I cried at the end when Robards realized that, to support his abandoned nephew (Gordon) properly, he would have to give up his bohemian lifestyle and take a 9-to-5 job. When he walks off dressed in the suit carrying a briefcase just like all the other white-collar automatons in NYC I burst into tears. He seemed happy that I remembered it. Finally I went back to the line to find out that Vincent D'Onofrio was expected shortly, so I got into line. I had his two books with me, Mutha and Pigs Can't Look Up. Unfortunately, I found out in line that it was cash only. I'd been talking with various of his fans in line, including other CI fans, and the guy dressed as the Fourth Doctor said, "There's an ATM over there; I'll hold your place!" and I ran over and got the cash. Turned out I could only have one book signed with the money I had and I really couldn't afford both, so I got Mutha signed and told him I remembered going to the Monkey Jungle place in Florida that he wrote about when I was about two or three (I agree; it was a terrible place, all noise and agitated simians and smelled horrible, and why parents dragged kids there I'll never know). The line was long and I didn't want to take too much of his time, so I never asked him James' question, which was if we would ever see a DVD or at least a streaming release of Night of the Cooters, and then I was sorry a few minutes later when another woman engaged him in conversation for at least two or three minutes. (While I'd been waiting earlier he told the woman before me the story of the unusual voice he uses for the Jack Horne character in the remake of The Magnificent Seven. He was in London doing a movie (I wonder if it was the Sherlock Holmes film) and he was waiting at a restaurant when this enormous man walked in; he actually blocked the light coming in the restaurant door he was so big, and "his hands were the size of baseball mitts." So he says something to him and this huge man replies in this high-pitched voice, so he wanted to use that voice in the future.) I stood there a long time watching him interact with everyone. Honestly, he looks gorgeous. You can tell he works out and takes care of himself; the only sign that he's older is the grey hair and beard. His hands are still absolutely beautiful, long slim fingers like a pianist's might be. (Yeah, I'm gushing here...) I also ran into Rob Bowen and got a hug. I was really restricting myself on locations, so perhaps it followed, but I didn't run into nearly as many people as I do—I usually see someone from ARTC, or Mark Heffernan, or the Rays, or Roger Nichols, or even Laura Hayden...but...no. Finally I decided I needed to hit a bathroom and hie myself over to the Hyatt to get in line for the 2:30 panel. I'd been in terrible fear that I would need to pee before the panel and lose my place in line or, even worse, have to pee during the panel, so I was sucking on watermelon candies and hadn't drunk anything since the milk at breakfast (which was terrible—it was labeled "ultra-filtered milk" and tasted like milk-flavored water). So when a friendly looking woman sat next to me in the waiting area I started talking to her and we were "bathroom buddies" for the duration; she watched my backpack while I used the rest room and then I watched hers. We bonded over knee surgery, which she'd had (both knees) and I was telling her James wished he could. (BTW, I periodically texted James all day, mostly to receive the response "I'm fine; have fun!")
The panel loaded quickly, and I got a nice aisle seat where I could take a lot of photos. Vincent was on this panel with Mike Colter, who played Luke Cage in the short-lived series. They were very easy with each other and it turned out they knew each other from sometime back when Colter was in an episode of CI ("Albatross"). (They had this very funny back-and-forth about the meaning of the word "albatross"—yes, it's a really neat bird, but it also has a metaphorical meaning and so on...) Since this was a panel about Marvel, the questions were mostly about Kingpin and Luke Cage, a lot of it going over my head since I've avoided Daredevil due to the violence. He did talk about how he loved the role, but that gaining the extra weight every time they filmed was getting harder because it's hard to lose weight as you get older. For the newest series, they have a new "fat suit" which he said is still very warm, but is very light, "like a sneaker," he described it. So with that and the use of prosthetics and makeup he doesn't have to gain the weight any longer (which is fine with me because he looks so fine!). Vincent also told the story about how he got the part of Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket; Matthew Modine, a friend of his, encouraged him to audition via a short film (he was working as a bodyguard at that time) and he rented a camera and performed some dialog from a play. Stanley Kubrick was impressed enough by the film to call him, and the first time he hung up on Kubrick because he thought it was a joke. Kubrick called right back and said immediately, "Don't hang up!" Once the panel was over, I had a short appointment in the ladies' room—"unavoidable delay" as Frank Gilbreth would put it—since it wasn't crowded, which I used it as an opportunity to decompress and cool down. It was not yet 4:30 when I headed downstairs for my 5 p.m.photo op. The area outside was crowded and hot, and I noticed from my appointment printout that I was still early, so I wandered in the rest room for a little longer and splashed cold water on myself and cleaned my face off and put a tiny bit of blush on. I'd never done one of these before so I wandered back following the signs not knowing what to expect. The basement level of the Marriott was partitioned off with a lot of dark curtains hanging from portable curtain stands. It was hard to be in this area without nostalgia because it had served DragonCon as the Dealer's Room and the Walk of Fame for so many years; it was here I got June Lockhart's autograph and talked to Dee Wallace-Stone about her being back to back with June Lockhart—two of Lassie's TV moms together! (Now the Dealer's Room takes up four levels of the Merchandise Mart!) The one thing I hate about the new Walk of Fame is they forbid you to take unauthorized photos; I used to love going in there and get candid shots of the performers interacting with the fans. I have photos of Mark Goddard and numerous other people just sitting behind a table and hanging with congoers. At first you stay in a general area where you wait for your photo op "partner" to be called. While a bunch of us waited, including a woman in a "DUN DUN" Law & Order shirt, I saw someone dressed as Vincent's Daredevil character Kingpin come in, portly, with the white dinner jacket, the cane and all. Then there were two of them, then three, and finally there were four of them altogether. They posed for pictures with the people waiting. It was funny. Then we D'Onofrio fans got called back and shuttled into lines. There were some DS seats available, but I was trying to stand and let the seats go for the people with back and leg problems. Now at this point I hadn't actually had a drink since ten a.m., and sucking on Jolly Ranchers wasn't helping any longer. I finally pointed to a chair and asked "May I sit down?" because I glanced at my Fitbit and discovered my pulse was rocking around at about 90. Sitting helped a lot. I was next to a married couple who were teasing each other, and she was in a wonderful T-shirt with Vincent's pic on top and the cityscape at the bottom and the legend "Robert Goren, Detective" at the bottom. Pretty swell! The photo op itself goes by fast because the Epic people are processing the pictures as fast as they can go. You drop your personal stuff on a table, line up, and one by one the person (or persons, because there are group shoots) gets into the picture with you, the photographer yells "Chin down!" and the picture is done and the next person is summoned. I broke protocol at this point, just quickly, because the one thing I had wanted so badly to say at the autograph table never came out. I said very quickly "Thank you for Twitter. It's helped me through some bad places in the last few years" and he bent over me a little to hear what I said and then they took the picture and I think he said "thank you" or something because I was brain fried and totally overheated at this point. Picked up my stuff and asked one of the Kingpins, "What now?" and he said come back here and get your picture, and he pointed it out when we got there, already printed out. And you got checked out to see if you got your photo—and the correct photo—and then it was over.  I really would have liked to stay...but I was tired and hungry and ohIhadtomakesure James was okay. I walked out the back of the Marriott instead of going across the bridge to Peachtree Center and taking the back door, which would have gotten me to within a block of the Westin, but I just did homing pigeon. Walked up the hill past the Hyatt and then crossed Peachtree Center and then left across Harris. By that time I was blowing like a racehorse and stopped to catch my breath at the water features in front of a building on Peachtree Street. In about a minute I was able to take in a lungful of air again to trudge on and turn at the Westin to go back to the parking garage. I will say I am glad we were not in the truck in this garage! It was tiny and if the ramps going up were steep, the ones coming down seemed like they were about at a 45 degree angle! The chair lift would have scraped the ground even without the power chair in it! But yeah, the gate just opened for me and out I went, back on the city streets, and back on the freeway, and then back home, exhausted. I was so happy I cried all the way home. James held dinner for me; it was about six, and it was a turkey burger which I smothered in the wonderful Meadowcroft Farms sweet onion relish. We split a Ritter peppermint-filled dark chocolate bar for dessert. Bliss. My day was complete when I posted my photo op on Twitter and once again thanked Vincent D'Onofrio for his posts—they have truly gotten me through many dark things in the past couple of years—and he liked my post. Well, of course I watched Law & Order: Criminal Intent later on...why do you ask? — [Fitbit stats: 13,546 steps, 5.38 miles, 12 floors, 49 active zones, and 62 active minutes. I put on 1000 steps with walking Tucker twice, but at least 12,000 of those steps were between 8:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. We don't call it "the DragonCon Exercise Program" for nothing.] [At least September 1 was better than August 1. I lost Oliver one month ago today. Miss you, baby bird.] Labels: dogs, DragonCon, dreams, emotions, events, exercise, family, food, friends, television » Saturday, August 31, 2024
And Even More Medical Stuff
Went to Kroger this afternoon as has become my habit since James started dialysis to find the dairy cases completely rearranged and my favorite flavor of yogurt nowhere to be seen, and no more space for it on the shelf. First it's disappeared from Publix and now it's gone from Kroger. After I came home, I checked Chobani's website to see that they still do make the flavor, then called Publix hoping I could order it. The manager said he would look into it for me.Tuesday we had to go back to Kaiser Townpark for James to get the examination on his eyes to see if the Plaquinel is affecting them (it's not, so far). We discussed the computer glasses and were told that his distance glasses—the ones with the transitional lenses that "have to be trained"—are the ones he should be using for the computer. Wednesday was another dialysis day, and then, success on Thursday! I finally found the rub-ons I need for the porch. They were in the same places I had already looked a couple of times. Perhaps it's the little blue guys again. In the afternoon we went back to Townpark so James could have a new echocardiogram. We had lunch at Pacific Buffet and I bought some books at Barnes & Noble. James bought a DragonCon streaming membership and we were able to see a little bit of the convention this afternoon: a Star Trek: the Next Generation reunion panel and then the John Cleese panel. I believe Cleese is here for the entire convention, but he is only doing one panel, and this was it. Sunday has its own entry... Labels: conventions, crafts, food, health, sickness » Sunday, August 25, 2024
Things Done
I mentioned James got new glasses earlier this year. Well, he's been a bit discontented with them. The transitional glasses he ordered don't get dark enough, even enough in full sun, and to see the monitor on his computer with the "computer glasses," he has to bend way over the screen. So we went to Costco today, only to be told the transition lenses have to be "trained" by holding them up to the sun! Also that his computer glasses aren't going to work for the distance he is from the screen (31 inches).Who heard of lenses having to be "trained"? I ended up buying a new vacuum cleaner, another Dyson, at Costco because the price was so good. I love the old one, because it is so light, but the beater bar quit working and I wager it would cost as much to fix as to get a new one. I like the new one, but it is too darn heavy. I finally made it to the bank this week to re-work the CD that I was unable to renew when it expired. The bank happily worked with me putting it into another CD with a good interest rate (4.5 instead of .01!). I also cashed out about seven expired savings bonds that were no longer gathering interest and added those to the CD. The big thing that happened this week is that I bought a Sunday membership to DragonCon. I am really scared about it because it means I'll have to leave James alone for the day. But he really wants me to go; he even bought a tray for his walker so he can manage to make his breakfast and then eat it at his desk. Labels: cleaning, conventions, errands, financial, problems » Sunday, August 18, 2024
More Medical Muddles
This week we had a new wrinkle: James' pulse has been slow. We called up Kaiser and they got us an appointment on Tuesday with a Dr. Carpenter. We thought for sure he would ship us off to Urgent Care, which was, providentially, empty, but he ordered an X-ray and a blood test, and then took an EKG. He said because we were going to see James' cardiologist the next day, he felt safe just doing that. And so we did; Dr. Shash said that dialysis needs to take more fluid off of James. Both he and Dr. Carpenter think he should be on some kind of diuretic to help him shed fluid, but DaVita doesn't think so. They did take him off his high blood pressure meds, which they thought might have been the cause of the low pulse. He really doesn't need the medication anymore due to the dialysis.I hate that DaVita and Kaiser don't talk to each other. It's Kaiser I'm paying for medical service and to keep James healthy, and I don't like DaVita sticking their fingers in the pie. In happier news, we went downtown on Thursday and wandered about, visiting the new Italian grocery and goodies store, the candy store for sugar-free candy, and the Corner Shop (the British store). The only other notable event was a horrific thunderstorm on Sunday; everything got dark, the wind whipped up and the rain lashed down. But it cleared up in time to reveal a beautiful full moon! » Sunday, August 11, 2024
A Week of On and Off
It was an okay week, although we are worried that James' lungs may be accumulated fluid again. When we saw Dr. Salazar on Friday we asked him to listen to his heart and lungs. He said they sounded okay, so we're going to leave it to DaVita to take the proper amount of fluid off him per day.We did have a couple of fun excursions this week. On Tuesday we went to Ollie's discount outlet to get new vinyl bungie cords for the big trunk we keep in the back of the truck. The sun rots them after awhile and we have to buy a new set. We bought two sets, so we'll have a spare next time when the new ones get broken and can go looking for another set while still having a usable set. We also got a new bungie cord to go around the tarp cover for the power chair. The last one rotted out. On Thursday we drove out to Canton, went to Books-a-Million, had dinner at Uncle Maddio's, and finally stopped at BJs for fruit cups, maple syrup, and also AAA batteries. Remember when everything took double As? Now it's almost always triples. Friday we got a call that the infectious disease doctor at Urgent Care thought Augmentin wasn't good enough for James' UTI. They want him on Fosfomax again. Sigh. The Augmentin was doing well, too. I could tell the the Fosfomax isn't going to work. It will kill the UTI for a week and then things will start up all over again. I spent Sunday looking for the damn rub-on letters I need for the signs on the front porch ("Dog loose in house" and "No sales or solicitors"). I'm getting so tired of those fripping roofers knocking on the door at least once a week. Still can't find them. Labels: annoyances, excursions, food, health, shopping, sickness » Sunday, August 04, 2024
Three Strikes: Everything, Sadly, Normal
Empty. The house is empty, even though Ollie didn't chirp all that much
in the beginning and didn't make many noises even when he was sick. No
one to share my peaches and plums with. No one to eat out of my oatmeal
spoon. "How quiet, how quiet the chamber is..."
» Thursday, August 01, 2024
Oliver
By this week, Oliver had turned into Beth March. He seemed sometimes to gain ground—once, for instance, we uncovered him and found him up on the high perch that both Snowy and Schuyler had favored—but despite the antibiotics and the anti-inflammatory, he never seemed to totally gain. I was losing him little by little as each day went by. I think he's been sick for so long that, like Beth, he just couldn't fight the tide going out any longer. He'll pretty much just sit in my hand and fluff up and sleep.
Tuesday I totally forgot the appointment with the vet wasn't until Thursday and took the poor guy all the way over to Vinings. Dr. Bostick wasn't even in the office, but the nurse tried to cheer me up. On the way home, as we were turning off South Cobb Drive, a big wedge of geese flew overhead, right over our heads, honking loudly. I told Oliver maybe someday he could fly with the geese. He was so droopy Wednesday morning, plus he had fallen off his perch at one point (I put some hand towels at the bottom of the cage so he had a soft place to land), but after eating some millet and being vaporized he seemed to perk up. And then I took a nap and when I got up to dress to pick up James, he was doing badly again. He bobbled when he sat on his perch, and otherwise he's asleep or sort of out of it. He was so bad by the time I had to leave I took him with me because I thought he was dying. Cuddled him for the rest of the night. Instead of letting him sleep in the cage, I put food and water in the carry box and covered him with facecloths and he slept on my night table Wednesday night. At six he fell off the perch and I had to cuddle him before putting him back in and going back to bed. Our appointment was today at eleven and I knew what I had to do. Oliver went flying with the geese at about 11:30 a.m. Dr. Bostick took one look at him—but she didn't have to, I already knew. They were all really sweet once they saw how bad he was. Fly, little one, second star to the right and straight on til morning.  My dad died on August 1 in 1985. God, I hate summer. |
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