life in the old lane

 

I didn’t step outside the apartment today. I have no need to find out what 2.8° feels like.

No jury duty tomorrow. No trials tomorrow. More plea copping. Weather permitting – I’ll go to the volunteer job tomorrow.

There were 30 of us – potential jury members. Only one trial today. And the miscreant copped a plea. So, after hanging around for 4 hours we collected our $30 (in cash) and left. And, I can use the $30 to replace upgrade my USB ethernet dongle to a Thunderbolt version.

We don’t have to show up tomorrow. Tomorrows miscreants decided not to trust their fate to a bunch of latte sipping, Wall Street Journal reading Boomers and one 20 year old college student. So, no trials tomorrow. Which is good because it is going to be really cold. And, I wasn’t looking forward to walking the 3 blocks from the subway to the court house.

The coffee in the jury room was excellent and the wifi was wicked fast. The $30 lagniappe. All things considered – an OK way to spend Monday morning. Since I don’t have a paying job to go to, that is.

 

 

Jury duty tomorrow. Next time I get called, I can tell them I am over 70 and they should pick on someone younger. I could have played the “caregiver for sick old dude with cancer” card… and if they saw this picture – I am sure they would believe me.

If I have to do a jury – I hope it involves ladies of the evening. And, I hope I don’t get called for Tuesday – when the weather is going to be really unfortunate.

On Xmas Day we had fluffy little ice crystals in the big cracked living room window (we haven’t had it fixed yet – would you want an 8 foot hole in your wall when it is below freezing?). And this morning we had ice crystals again.

I bundled up like Nanook of the North and trudged over to Harris Teeter – it was “Double Coupons up to $2 Day. I know – pathetic – but old habits are … well … old habits. I had a $2 coupon for a Phillips LED light bulb. I am old, but I like to think that I am a modern sort of old. I check out LED light bulbs. They are expensive and right on the package it says “Lasts over 22 years”. Exactly how is this going to help me? I’d have to amend my will: “And to my beloved grand daughters I leave my LED light bulbs per stirpes”. Sticking with our CFL’s for now.

The driver didn’t fix my ethernet dongle/Mavericks issue. More work required.

Mr C is still bright red.

I had a perfectly delightful “snow day”. Got my taxes started. Well, I finished the “deductions” – now, I just have to wait on the income statements to show up. Read some. Did my humiliating Yoga app. Made potato, broccoli and cheese soup.

And, I researched the problem I am having with my USB Ethernet thingie. It worked fine. I used it to down load Mavericks. BUT, I haven’t been able to connect to the LAN since then. Maybe, Apple didn’t include a driver for the thingie? Maybe I am supposed to spend $29 for a Thunderbolt LAN dongle? But, would it work? I think I ran down a driver that should work. Guess, I’ll back up the system. And try to install the driver next on our next snow day. I wasn’t supposed to have to run down drivers for my Mac. If I wanted to run down drivers I’d install Linux!

Oh, and Mr C. One week away from the Death Star – he is still red. Very red. And he says it hurts and is getting worse. Well, I guess that is what you get after a month in the microwave.

The weather-persons on TV are hyperventilating about our coming snow storm. But, hey, it is a slow news day. And in the North East a weather-person’s reputation is only as good as their last snow storm prediction. I am guessing that in the South East it is based on their last hurricane. Hawai’i – a weather-person is only as good as their surf report.

My snow preparations – I already called in “wimpy” for tomorrow. And tomorrow, I plan to make potato soup. I might even go up to the gym. But, I’ll try to resist that temptation.

For now Mr C and I are just hanging out in the living room with our robes on over our clothes. Thinking about Hawai’i. By this time next week – I should be almost finished jury duty and Carlton should have is new crown installed in his mouth and his last stitches out of the skin graft on his hand. And… then we can really think about Hawai’i.

Here it is: the long awaited 2014. There were fireworks last night. I was awake to see them. Carlton missed them.

Reflecting on 2013. The year wasn’t all bad. Carlton is still alive. And doing pretty well. Our relationship changed over the year. We are closer the bond is stronger. Little Carlton-isms just don’t bother me anymore.

Being old is hard. Having a partner makes it easier. We are explorers in a fearful wilderness. Nobody gets out alive. It is good to have someone to snuggle up next to when you get scared.

Other than keeping Mr C alive – my best action of 2013 was moving my IRA monies to a professional manager. It wasn’t easy – but it was a step towards accepting the time when I’ll not be able to safely manage my money. I like doing these things early. The money guy knows he is being taken for a “test drive”. Speaking of driving, I stopped driving when I was 65. There is absolutely no reason I can not drive. I just wanted to get that “giving up the car” thing over. Over while I am still able to figure out how to live car-free. The final piece of this exit planning will be moving to an old folks asylum.

Resolved for 2014

1. Stop saying/thinking “when I get old…” Face it: I am old.
2. Do Yoga 6 times a week
3. Read 60 minutes a day. This is uninteruppted. I have become scattered. I hope this will sort of get me re-focused. No more wandering over to Twitter mid-sentence. That is the plan.
4.  15 minutes decluttering everyday – my eternal battle with stuff.
5.  Cook more. Using “real” ingredients. Not frozen, boxed, canned, jarred or picked up at the deli.
6.  Get 10 pounds off. This is not a vanity thing. My knees and hips are starting creak. I imagine that having less Peg to haul around should help.
7. Keep walking.

Think it is time to put the reindeer theme back in the barn for another year.

We’ll be having our normal New Year’s Eve celebration. With Kindles and iPads. And coffee and beer.

If we are awake – we can see the fireworks at midnight. Carlton doesn’t like fireworks very much. But, I love fireworks. I might set an alarm in my iPod so I don’t miss them. They are being fired off  from the river in Alexandria. I am just assuming they will be visible.

At this instant – Carlton is watching his college team lose to UCLA in the 2014 Sun Bowl. And, the Sun Bowl is at UTEP – where I went to college.  Sort of circular.

Absolutely nothing, zero, zip, nada going on. Mr C continues to suffer from fatigue and a seriously toasted surface. I continue eating everything in sight.

We need a little Hawai’i. Coming soon. Coming soon. I hope. I refuse to do any planning. Some fine day – we’ll say – let’s go to Kona. And then, I’ll get tickets for as soon as possible. Who knows… They might even we go first class. Or not.

Here he is. The radiated Carlton. You know what happens when you leave stuff in the microwave too long!

I sprung for the SD card reader gizmo for the iPad, and the picture is my first use of it. I can see how it will be handy if I travel sans MacBook.

Speaking of travel, I am so ready to go somewhere … Even Woodbridge. I may be almost 70 years old, but I still have as serious case of “jackrabbits in my boots”.

Using the iPad today. And I just installed Tunnel Bear as my VPN. I am sure there are better VPNs but I doubt there is an easier one.

Carlton’s last treatment was delayed until 7PM. The machine was broken. But, it got fixed and he went over for his last treatment.

They hugged him and told him bye-bye. They also gave him a little gold plated angel lapel pin. That is a little disconcerting. Is he going to turn into an angel? I hope not! He got 5,000 centiGray units of radiation around his arm pit and right tit. Plus another 5,000 units directed to his sternum.

They told him that he will continue to get worse – fatigue and burn-wise – for about a week or so. Then – the recovery will kick in.

Maybe I get a picture of him tomorrow.

Over the last couple of days – this well uh art – has appeared in the next block. Photo was taken from my front porch. Will check it out in person soon.