Nobody is Promised Tomorrow. . .
My old apartment building had a Starbucks on the ground floor. The asylum has a church. Well, maybe it is a “chapel”. What is the difference between a “church” and a “chapel”? I feel sure that one of my chaplain friends will enlighten me. All things considered – Starbucks is better.
Mentally – I am already in Kona. Just gotta get the body over there!
Took the day off from work. Mostly to finish up loose ends from the move. Decided that I don’t want to come back home in March and still have to deal with move stuff. The asylum thrift shop accepts donations for a couple of hours every month. This morning was one of those times. I went down to my storage unit and took everything – except a box of papers – to the thrift shop. I didn’t even look at the stuff.
Then I walked to the post office to get a flat rate box and some envelops. It was about a mile – but without such amenities as sidewalks. I never had to actually walk on the highway – I walked through gas stations, stip malls and weedy fields. It wasn’t all waste land. One of the stip malls had a Trader Joe. I wandered around – admiring all things pumpkin.
Think I have figured out dining at the asylum.
Breakfast is a fine meal – most people don’t eat breakfast – so it isn’t crowded. And most of residents just mind their own business and read their papers and eat their food. However, most days I leave at 6AM for the office – and breakfast starts at 7:30
Lunch is good – if you wait until 1:30 or so.
Dinner is a zoo. There is the dress code issue in the “formal” dining room. I haven’t figured out how to get an acceptable table even when I get in.
The “informal” dining room has the potential for better food. But, it is crowded, noisy and you frequently end up at large table with 7 of your new best friends.
However, the secret seems to be to land in the “informal” dining room between 6:50 and 7:00 – they stop serving at 7. But if you sneak in under the wire – most everyone is finishing up. Of course, they might have run out of what you want – but, it is a chance I am willing to take. Especially on “free wine” nights.
And, $5 gets me room service.
This might all change over the next four months while I am off to the beach. And, if that is so, I’ll just sort things out again.
Walked home from work today. That would be 3.2 miles. And, I wandered past a fine ginkgo tree. Love ginkgo trees. They turn a splendid yellow in the fall. This one has split lob leaves that look like yellow butterflies. But, most interestingly – the ginkgo is a living fossil, with fossils recognisably related to modern ginkgo dating back 270 million years.
Glad that Joe Biden decided not to run. A good and decent man. Much too nice a man to enter the lists.
Lessons I need to learn. Dementia. I have more than a few neighbors who are heading down the dementia road. These people are still charmingly social. THey still live in their own apartments – not in Alzheimer’s Lock Up. They just have ZERO short term – as in the last 60 seconds – memory. They will ask you the same question over and over again. And, each time you answer – it is all new information to them.
What is it like – inside their brains? We can imagine blind by closing our eyes. We can imagine deaf by stopping up our ears. We can even ride around in a wheelchair and experience physical frailty. But how can we comprehend what it is like to sink into the the abyss of increasing mental frailty?
Living in the asylum – opens up different avenues of wonder.
I hope to avoid the dementia ramp to oblivion.
Busy day. Busy at work, then I hit the buses to get to and from my doctor. My glucose level was a little high in the spring. I think it was caused by having a lot of brown sugar with a little oatmeal before my appointment. We’ll see when the numbers come in tomorrow.
I was glad to toddle into the OBC in the late afternoon. The fitbit was happy. I was tired.
Lots of roses around the asylum. It was 35 degrees this morning – so I imagine the roses will be ending soon. Maybe they will last until I leave of Kona.
Called the hotel this morning and talked to my friend the night auditor. She signed me in from October 30 to March 2.
Feeling a little strange since I dropped my financial stuff off at the CPA’s office. For two years I worried about and took care of Carlton. And, for the last 12 months, I worried about and attended to the widow woman paperwork and I downsized and moved into the Asylum. And now, I don’t have any of those things left to do. Heck, I don’t have to clean, change sheets, grocery shop or cook either.
Now I realize why they have so many activities at the asylum. Don’t want to have 500 old people with nothing to do but look for things to complain about.
Last time I felt like this was waaaay back in the early 90’s when I shuttered my consulting business. I sort of bounced aimlessly around. Then, Carlton and I went on a winter road trip to Key West.
Anyhow, something snapped inside of me on that trip – and was able to slide into our strange retirement. I am hoping that I winter in Kona will help me slip into my new old bat life.
Yesterday, I had breakfast with one of the oldest residents. He was born in 1911. Do the math. He lives in “assisted living” but still makes it to the regular dining room for most meals. One day there was a bit of a kerfuffle when he showed up for lunch. Seems like he had already had lunch. Someone said “He is 105 years old – let him eat lunch again if he wants to”. He was a physician. You wouldn’t want him doing brain surgery. But, he can carry on a modest conversation. I am not counting on being here in 2048. Damn, that is f-ing scarey. Still being here in the OBC or the assisted living OBC in 2048. Nobody is promised tomorrow. The trouble is – we think we have time.
El Capitan seems to be doing fine on the Airness. I love the expanding cursor. (I am fairly superficial.) I cleaned out my application folder too. If I didn’t remember what the app did – out it went. Some things like “Garage Band” went out just on general principle.
The clouds were practicing for winter today. Summer clouds are all fuzzy and fluffy puffy. With the occasional thunderhead. Winter clouds are more sinister, stuffed with snow and freezing rain.
At this instant, El Capitan is installing on the airness. Hopefully, it will go nicely.
iOS9 seems to be playing nice with the iPad.
Now, question is, should I leave the airness home and just wing it for 4 months with just an iPad.
El Capitan wants me. Hope to post from the airness tomorrow.
The boss and me: wearing our 10 year anniversary shirts. Now, we just have to make it through the next 14 days – we’ll be trying to get 4,000 employees, contractors, doctors, and volunteers flu shots. My job is record keeping. It used to be just the two of us – boss gave shots and I entered data in the computer. Now we have a host of nurses to give shots and they are all armed with “point of sale” iPads and badge scanners to capture data. I “just” have to keep the technology going these days.
Weather is getting cooler. So, I was out and about today looking for fall colors. Not much yet.
About this Lamar Odom character… man runs up $75,000 tab in a whore house – and is found unconsious – and people are surprised???
Updated my iPad to iOS9. The Phone is still waiting for Marshmellow. Have to seek out better internet before moving the Airness to El Capitan.
And for your viewing pleasure (weather permitting): On Saturday morning – October 17, 2015 – Mars and Jupiter conjunction. It hasn’t happened since July 22, 2013. The next conjunction of Mars and Jupiter won’t be until January 7, 2018. So, if you are up early. Look up.
Fifty three weeks ago, Carlton put in his final COA. Three weeks ago I moved into the Old Bat Cave. In two weeks I am going to Hawai’i. And ten years ago, I started my lucrative career at Virginia Hospital Center.
Much to my surprise – my office had a party for me this evening. Complete with cake and presents. (Also beer, steak and crab cakes) And I was picked up and delivered and returned home.
Walked my tax stuff up to the CPA afterwork. Then hiked to the nearest stripmall and waited for my big red ride home.
And while I was waiting, I realized that for the first time in over a year – I have NOTHING that needs doing. I handed the last death duty/move task over to the tax guy. I felt a little lost. What now? And, here at the asylum Bingo is cancelled tonight. What now?
Well, I can always upgrade The Airness to El Capitan and the iPad to iOS9. The phone is patiently waiting for the arrival of Marshmallow.
Change is good, right?
My purse – a case study in excess. 4 bus schedules. 3 tomatoes. 2 socks. 1 plastic spoon. Don’t need any of those in my purse. I had a purse intervention this afternoon.
Halibut for dinner again tonight. Hey halibut are big fish. It might be up to me to eat the whole thing. I might be called upon to eat halibut again tomorrow. The “regular” prix fixe menu selections are $14. The “special” prix fixe menu selection is 2 bucks more. I’ll gladly spend an extra 2 bucks for a big chunk of halibut.
Columbus Day, or whatever happens is what you planned. Gotta be suspicious of a holiday celebrating a man who was F-ing-A lost. Being a guy, he didn’t ask for directions.
Not a holiday for me however. Hard to get to work today – buses are on “holiday” schedule. Fortunately, I figured that out yesterday when I was going ride-about. Walked home.
Spent some time this afternoon getting numbers together for the accountant. I am adding an accountant to my “team”. I want to assemble (and test) this team while my brain still works. I have a lawyer and an investment guy. The cpa should just about complete my team.
Halibut for dinner tonight.