Author: Peg

Checking out exciting downtown Kailua-Kona. Iron Man competition is this Saturday. It turns our sleepy little village crazy. 

Today was work and yoga. Not too bad. Also visit the vampires for a bloodletting. On Thursday I get the mammogram – my last one ever – after this year the girls get a pass. And a sonogram on my cranky thyroid. They nicely scheduled them back to back.  Enough already with health business. Nobody gets out of here alive. Especially out of The Asylum alive. 

Best news today: Johns Hopkins University Names Medical Building After Henrietta Lacks. 

 

So what did I accomplish today?

1. Got up. Drink the pre-made coffee.
2. Went for a walk.
3. Resigned from the weedlot work detail. For me, it wasn’t fun. It was work. Not fun. Not satisfying. There is a reason that I always hired my yard work done. 
4. Had breakfast.
5. Went for another walk.
6. Worked on my annual donations.
7. Did proforma run at 2018 taxes.
8. Put peanut butter on a roll and called it lunch.
9. Read for a while.
10. Go hunting butterflies.
11. Napped
12. Having a glass of wine. And here we are…with 4.75 miles on the fitbit.

I keep hoping to capture a good compound bee eye. Don’t think I can do it anymore handheld. 

Note to Carlton: It is not pretty in America politically these days. “I am now quite certain, that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but by blood.”  Again – Damn it. You would be more interested in the dynamics than I am.

No, not the newly minted Supreme Court inJustice, but my day. Totally wasted.

What did I accomplish? Let me count the ways:

1. Drank the coffee that made itself
2. Took shower and washed my hair
3. Butt dialed a friend in Hawai’i – it was 2AM or some such time in Kona
4. Ate breakfast
5. Read dead-tree newspapers and took same to the trash room
6. Put peanut butter on a roll and called that lunch
7. Read a book
8. Took a nap
9. Strolled over to the shopping center to pick up BP meds
10. Only 1.5 miles on the Fitbit and it is almost dinner time.

Oh about that rock. The hospital chaplains cleaned out their office and put a box of rocks in the trash. Being a long time urban recycler – I decided that the biggest rock could sit on my window ledge. It is about the size of a big mango. 

I have considered the possibility that the rock belonged to a Wiccan, and maybe it has “powers”.  According to the internet – so you know it must be true: Clear quartz is known as the master healer. It amplifies the energy, thoughts, and vibrations of other crystals. It’s used for connecting you with your higher self, intuition, and spirit guides. It doesn’t seem to be working. Unless my spirit guide is a slug.

Any day that you can walk 2.8 miles to see your doctor – you most likely don’t need to see the doctor. But, that is what I did today. I hired her when Carlton was still alive and I was having such a hard time getting everything coordinated. When I didn’t want to be the only person worrying about ALL of Carlton – not just his various parts. And she also looked after me too, because I was a wreck most of the time.

I am a really bad patient. I am sure that I know as much as she knows. And, I am not one to go looking for trouble. But, she sort of jollies me into doing some of the things that she thinks I should be doing. And other things, she knows are going to be non-starters – so she doesn’t even go there. 

I agreed to a mammogram, a sonogram of my thyroid, an EKG and some blood work. She gave up on the colonoscopy and the statins. Getting old is such F-ing fun.

I did not walk 2.8 miles back from the doctor – UBER.

Best part of the day was visiting my friend Kay who is a world class quilter. She showed off “a few” of her quilts. Ones of all sizes from big bed covers to table runners. 

And, this is really cool. Her husband has a mountain named after him in Antartica. Isn’t that great? 

Note to Mother Nature: Time to roll out those apple pie kind days – you know crispy around the edges and warm in the middle. 

Note to Carlton: As you would say: “Now that I am well into the 5th year of my widowhood…” I am happy to report that I bought some Virginia paper yesterday because the yields looked OK-ish. And today’s WSJ headline was “Bond Yields Hit Multi Year High”. But I still have more in cash that you would think is wise.

Today’s butterfly hunt went well. 

And this is where Carlton played tennis (and won) on Oct 3, 2014. 

I spent a little while this evening, after dinner looking my photos of Carlton. We had a great life together. We still have a great life together. It is just a different kind of “together”. 

In Kona, as at The Asylum, I am totally dependent on the kindness of friends, buses and feet. Plus the rare taxi/uber. So, it is good to see that the bus option still runs. 

Another busy day at work. And another yoga class. Not the brightest idea to have back to back yoga classes at my age. But, I was always a few screws short of a hardware store.

Then for excitement – I went hunting for signs of autumn. All I found was more butterflies. 

This time I was able to sneak up on on the sulfur. And capture his/her yellow spotted eyes. 

Best part of the day (so far) – French press Kona coffee.  

How did October sneak up so quickly? October used to be one of my very favorite months. And then Carlton died. But I still look forward to October. 

Busy day today. Slept late, lots to do at work, Rushed home, just in time for yoga. Then a little rest and first thing you know, it is dinner time.  Busy is good for this old woman. 

Last night at dinner we remarked that the menu was getting a little tired. I think it is time for a new menu in more ways than one. But, I really have no complaints about our food here at The Asylum. Gee, in just a month – I will be responsible for feeding myself 3 times a day for 4 entire months. Wow. Fortunately, my kitchen will consist of a tiny fridge and a microwave. So, not much actual cooking will happen. I will also be the dishwasher. And grocery shopper.  

Yesterday, I checked the webcam outside of my lodgings in Kona. And, I was stunned by the quality of the light in this image from a $99 web cam. Photography is all about capturing the light. 

Oct 1, 2014, Halloween Day 1 of 31, I was happily starting a series of Halloween photos. All things considered the series came out pretty good. Hopefully, the weather will allow some Halloween shots this year. I think I’ll have to return to the old neighborhood for them. Not a problem.

The common sulfur wasn’t too happy about getting photographed. But, it was another nice fall day for butterfly pictures. And hanging in the Old Bat Cave with the windows open. 

Spent rather a lot of time reviewing my finances. Figure that Carlton will be expecting a full report – since I have now been in complete charge of the finances for 16 quarters. 

And I discovered that my phone – the corded on that The Asylum insists that I have doesn’t work. Methinks it got fried in out last thunderstorm/power outage. People lost TVs, microwaves, etc. So, why shouldn’t my phone line have gotten fried? I never use the thing. I use the cell.

Also, did some origami. Fish  Went for a nice walk. And, was able to fix a problem at work without going to the hospital. 

The best part of the day – hopefully, a nice al fresco dinner with the Asylum sisters in a little while. 

Went back to the old neighborhood today for a little walkabout. Well, also a little scootabout. I played millennial and picked up a Bird dock-less scooter for a short trip. No selfies or other pictures. My little liver spotted hands had a death grip on the scooter. I just wanted to do it. I will not try it again. Figure I just about used up all my luck with that mode of transportation today. To crash one of those things when you are 25 is a minor thing at 75 it could be serious. Very serious.

Mostly just a gentle lazy day. Interspersed with extreme worry about the future of our country. 

Best thing today – surviving the scooter ride. It is always better to be lucky than smart. And, I have been damn lucky. 

I walked 5 miles today and worked in the weedlot.

Also finished my technology fall change over. I now have the latest versions of everything on everything that is new enough for the latest. Pie on Shamu 2, iOS 12 on the iPad and Mojave on Forbin. 

Guess I should check the firmware on my cameras – just in case. Likewise the Kindle. 

And, I took some bug pictures late this afternoon.

Best thing today – my housekeeper has learned how to use my Alexa to play music while she is cleaning. 

Alexa just reminded me – Dinner Time. How easy it is to get used to just going downstairs and eating. No muss, no fuss, no bother.

The lites could have gone out for life on the planet as we know it on Sept 26, 1983. Oh, you have forgotten, that was the day that WWIII did not start – thanks to one Lt. Col.  Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov. Read about it.

Our glorious sunny day ended in thunderstorms last evening and another power failure here at The Asylum. Fortunately, I was finished dinner – so, I played with the phone and read my kindle. Most of my neighbors moved chairs out into the passways and read dead tree books. I stayed in my apartment. In my recliner.

And, it is raining again.