life in the old lane

Yesterday, after dinner there were lots of fine crows outside my window. This evening I was ready for them. 600mm lens. Monopod. All ready to “shoot” some crows.

And not a single crow flew by. So, you shoot what you get. With what you got. 

I decided to stay in Tokyo. I like Tokyo. This way I can just stay in one place for my 5 days and not waste too much time moving from location A to location B.

Getting really lost in Tokyo is a given. So, I booked at a hotel between the main Tokyo train station and The Godzilla Statue. I hope that “Konnichiwa. Gojira. Domo arigato” (“Hello. Godzilla. Thanks a lot”), might help get me home some rainy evening. Rain in Japan in June is another given. Lots of Rain. 

I would not say that March is going out like a lion. More like a polar bear. 

But today it was back to wearing fleece and socks. And eating indoors.

And, I noted that 10 of our residents put in their celestial change of address forms in March.  At this rate, we will have 25%  resident turn over in 2019. 

Only thing I did today was thinking about what to do in Japan. Thinking about getting a hotel near a train station in Tokyo. I can get to downtown Tokyo from my incoming airport by train. And, the outgoing airport I can get to by monorail that I can get to by train. Most of Japan is very confusing because Japan doesn’t really have street names/numbers/addresses. And, I don’t want to spend but so much time being lost. Train stations are pretty easy to find. If you find train tracks – sooner or later you will find a train station. Once you have found a train station, you can usually get to the train station that your hotel is near.

Japan Plan B is to take the train from the airport to some small rural village. Hang out in the country from 5 days. Train back into Tokyo. Check into a “capsule hotel” for one night then head to the outbound airport on the monorail. Not sure I would like to spend 4 days in rural Japan. Pretty sure I like urban Japan more.  I am an old city woman.  Besides, they don’t have baseball in the country.

Starting to think about what I am going to do with my 5 days in Japan. I sort of cheated myself out of a day in Japan because I forgot about the International Date Line. AKA lose a day. 

I think I will pick a city and just stay there. The city might be Tokyo. Or Osaka. Or Kyoto. I did discover that outside of Tokyo there is a Hello Kitty Theme Park.

Japan is stuffed with wildly wonderful things like  Hello Kitty Theme Parks. And The Cup of Noodles Museum.

Ten years ago I went to the Ramen Museum in Yokohama. Maybe I should find the town with the most weird museums and set up camp there.  Oh and there is Japanese Baseball – I had forgotten how much fun that is. 

Act your age woman. You are 75 years old. Grow up. Do sophisticated adult stuff. Not happening. It’s still rock and roll to me.

 

Walked by this “transformer lot” on my way to the doctor this morning. Now, I walked 2.5+ miles to see my doctor this morning. Mostly to complain about my crappy legs. Legs that made it 2.5 miles can not be but so crappy – but what concerns me is how they are now compared to 2 years ago. The doc wrote an order for PT. Last order for PT I got, I chose to ignore. This one, I may actually carry out. 

Was kindly lectured by my doctor “Now, Peg, your only job is to take care of your body. We need to push you.” Whatever that means. Guess it means that PT is going to whoop my ass. 

Finally got a place to stay in Honolulu. Decided on the Ilikai Hotel, where I lived in the late 60s or early 70s. I am sure, that like the Old Bat, the Ilikai will be a bit shabbier than it was back in the day.  That will be OK. 

I don’t have a career ahead of me as a concert photographer. Opening act was John Smith. Both Mulvey and Smith spent a lot of time detuning, tuning and retuning their guitars.  An evening well spent.

Going off to see my doctor tomorrow. Most likely I will be reprimanded for some sin of omission or commission. But, I should be cut some slack – because I am actually going in to see Doctor just because she told me to and not because I think anything that I choose to have fixed is broken.

Dragging my feet about lodgings for the RTWB4EXIT trip. I really like to just arrive and dig up some place to stay then. But, that seems a little irresponsible now that I am 75 going on dead. 

 

Today, I put some of the caregiving skills that I learned (from Youtube!) while Carlton was dying to use  on the living. One of my friends has a PICC Line and didn’t know how to protect it so she could shower. I have that trick down cold. Glad Press-N-Seal. Lots of it. And some rubber bands. 

And real soon now, I am going to listen to music and drink in Vienna with a friend. Might eat dinner too.

Not my usual day. But, all good. 

The forsythia may not mind the cold – but I do. 

Not much going in. Trying to finish up all the medical appointments that I scheduled for myself. One appointment sometimes leads to another. But, years ago Carlton and I had an elderly neighbor – and she said that she packed as many medical appointments as possible into March – because it was such a hateful month. In recent years, I have adopted that plan.

Also trying to resettle into going to the office. Remember, my plan was to retire in August of 2017 or was it 2018? For years they needed me. But, now it is me who needs them. I think that only an old person would understand that.

Last summer I rescued this rock from the trash. I believe it had belonged to a Wiccan. Not sure if this is a good thing or not.

 

Took the scenic way home from work today. Spring was everywhere. 

I even found a pair of mallards. Hope they have a nice family of ducklings. And that the family survives our foxes and raccoons. 

Two months from tomorrow I will be leaving on my ‘Round The World Before Dementia adventure. If I don’t get on the stick and reserve some rooms, it might be more of an adventure than I bargained for.  

By way of trip planning, I took my PenF camera with my new unloved lens with me to the hospital today.  These two images – plus the one up top (if you are looking at the blog on Monday) were taken with that gear. I am serious about keeping my stuff minimal on this trip. Thinking of doing a Jack Reacher. Just dispose of dirty and buy new clothes as required.  But, Jack never seemed to need “technology stuff”. Maybe I don’t either. Yeah, right.

 

Everyone was outside today. The sidewalk cafes were bustling.  The dogs were getting extra long walks. The bike trails were overcrowded. 

I wandered around outside for about 4 hours.  Now my cranky old legs are tired. but it was all good. 

Found myself grumbling at breakfast this morning. The waffle iron was broken. So, I couldn’t have a waffle.  Get a grip woman.  It is just a waffle. 

I wonder if I will run out of “Application Memory”? I guess that it will be called dementia. 

The sun was out today. But I was in. Working on this graphics project for the Asylum residents group. A couple of years ago it was “The Last Great Photo Shoot”. This may well become “The Last Mediocre Graphic Design Project”. Mediocre is as good as my graphic design skills get. 

It doesn’t look bad in this photo, but it was very impressive in real life.  It happened at just about the time I was doing my two hefty block walk from the bus stop yesterday. Very glad to have just watch it.

I got the OBC all spiffed up today for the “open house”. Lots of old people trooped through to look at it. But most of them couldn’t imagine living in JUST ONE ROOM. Well, I don’t know about you, but I can only use one room at a time. So, these people will continue on the waiting list. Waiting for their ideal apartment – which may not become available in their lifetime. None of us are on “the 30-year plan” anymore.

I did discover that as apartments are renovated now, the popcorn ceilings are replaced. I wish my popcorn ceiling had been replaced. But, seriously, this is a first world problem.

Anyhow, I played the “gracious” host to people all day. And fiddled around with the little project I am working on. And, now, I am tired. Being gracious just sucks the life force right out of me.

And, this afternoon when I was coming home from the dentist in a rainstorm, I discovered why it is called the Worm Moon. Our sidewalk was covered with little earthworms. It was slick with worms. It was also cold and wet. Not spring. 

Hey, way back in 2009, I was culling and cataloging photos. (culling and cataloging will follow me to the grave.) I was processing 2006 – and found this little collection – still intact and viewable. 

Best of 2006 

A LITTLE REFLECTION ON BEING OLD

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Dropped $600 at the dentist today. Add that to the Shingles shot bill from Tuesday, I have spent almost $800 trying to keep the old body going for a little longer. Best be careful not to step off the curb in front of a bus!

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Had wonderful grilled sea bass for dinner this evening. And I got a take-out order of “donut bread pudding”. Will divide that up for several little treats.

And, tomorrow the Old Bat Cave is on the Asylum’s annual Spring Apartment Tour for folks on the waiting list. Some people have been on the waiting list for years. This is to encourage them to “love” what is or might be available rather than wait for the “perfect” apartment which might not ever show up. So, I had best get cracking and spiff up the OBC.