Nobody is Promised Tomorrow. . .
Off to the ED this morning with a friend. The results of her tests were coming into her phone long before a doctor showed up. So, we reviewed her labs, ekg, and cat scans. We decided she didn’t have a stoke. (Never mind what we decided, they are keeping her overnight anyhow!)
Take care of each other. Each other is all we have when we get old. Each other is all we have when we are young too. But we don’t realize it. At least I didn’t.
This was a post-Covid memorial service. It was at the UU church. Live streamed back to the Chapel at The Asylum and I presume to friends all across the country as well.
My photo slides looped before the service, they were live streamed afterwards and were shown continuously at several locations. I was gratified to see people watching rather intently and some were surprised to find themselves a part of the show.
This young guy made it all happen. He had a ton of gear. And was wise enough to hire an assistant. We talked while waiting on 5PM to come. When we could pack up and go home. All I had to do was disconnect my computer from the church’s huge TV in the reception area. The kid and his assistant had cases and bags and more cases of stuff to pack. Apparently, it showed up very nicely at The Asylum. Big thanks to Looks Great Productions. He made my job much easier.
And playing with the light. Isn’t that what I always do?
And here is the newest orphaned orchid. I feel sure that it came from the grocery store next door. I repotted it this morning. Trimmed it up a bit and gave it a hit of fertilizer. For now, it is in quarantine. I think it’s OK. But, better to keep it away from the rest of the orchids for a month or so. I am a tiny bit sorry that this one came with blooms. I always look forward to seeing what my foundlings grow into. It’s even a big deal to me when they produce their first new leaf.
Hot showers, hot coffee, dark chocolate, bar tab at The Asylum, avocado toast.
Chipping away at my taxes. My guy is 100% online. You can not even pay him by check. Zero Paper.
So, what am I going to do about the current state of the nation? I am going to run up my bar tab!
It’s gray and chilly with an ice storm promised. But, I made it outside for a couple of fast laps around our “wilderness trail”. And a faster dash over to the grocery.
Working on the taxes today. And wondering when the revolution is going to start. And who will start it?
Tuesday is yoga class day. And, our frog-loving flower arranger – has yoga frog out on display this week.
And another orchid also showed up at the door. It’s a large-ish white one. It arrived with 3 blooms left. I just read that phalaenopsis orchids live 15 – 20 years. My life expectancy is 9.23 years if I don’t buy a one-way ticket to Switzerland sooner.
The other day, a friend said “I want to see a puffin”. Well, so do I. I know there are puffins in Northern Maine. And, I think there are lots of puffins in Iceland. But, I have never wandered out of downtown Reykjavik. I am not too old to go on a Puffin Quest. Am I?
This memorial service is being streamed back to The Asylum from the church. Today was a test. It’s all about me. I wanted to see how my FCP Slideshow looked. It looked OK. And the A/V production guy is really in charge of it now. Everything will be fine.
This is a sign of creeping senility. I told a dear friend I wouldn’t set up her new Windows computer and printer because I don’t feel that I have it together enough to do the job.
I know stretching myself and trying new things is good, but I no longer have the skills or patience required to set up a brand-new Windows computer and printer. Especially for a dear friend. She deserves better.
Memorial slide show is up on Vimeo and in the hands of the A/V production crew. Come Friday, I’ll take my Mac to the church and loop it on a screen there during the reception.
It was a big job considering my age and the current state of my trigeminal neuritis. About 200 photos over 10 minutes. But no audio. I hate doing audio. But, it was all good. Because, January was a pretty shitty month. And I could drink coffee, listen to the Dead, and wrangle old photos. Better than doomscrolling.
By the way, boys and girls, Elon Musk now knows all about you. If you get social security – he knows your bank account number. That’s bad enough. His “tiger team” of 20-somethings know all about you too.
This isn’t funny anymore. Seriously.
Interesting times.
Wrapping up my memorial slide show this weekend. Hope to have it in the can by 3PM tomorrow afternoon. Then, on to the taxes. But, is there any reason to do taxes? Will the republic still stand on 15April?
The Asylum kitchen wasn’t at its best today. I had waffles for breakfast. Our waffle machine makes square waffles, but a round waffle arrived at my table—a very old Eggo Waffle. One side was burnt, and the other was cold and soggy. It cost $2.75. A dinner companion ordered cottage cheese to go with her dinner. She got about two tiny bites for $1.95.
On the bright side, I had a fine steak dinner with two glasses of wine for $18.60 this evening.
I haven’t been old before. It’s nothing like being not-old. My entire outlook seems to be changing. Some for the better. Some not so good. The physical changes are horrific. But the mental changes – baring dementia – are interesting.
I wonder if the White House got this advertisement?
I’ve never been so ashamed to call myself an American
I dropped my subscription to MidJourney about a year ago. I tried whatever it is that Photoshop uses for AI last night when I wanted a dragon-snake for Chinese New Year. It is nowhere near as powerful as MidJourney but the price is right.
Been getting all manner of warnings on my phone about evil weather in Hawai’i. A check of my favorite webcam shows an unfriendly Kailua Bay.
Nice retirement party today. I slipped out a little early maybe. But that is one of the prerogatives of age.
In these strange times – it’s nice to look at a bunch of peaceful fish from time to time.
Working on the memorial slideshow today. There is an OK Version. On my computer and on Vimeo. But, I wanted to fix a few things. And the family wanted some additional images.
The last 5% is a very dangerous time for me. I tend to forget: “Simple is Best” and “Eventually I have to do the work”. So, I spent the entire day thinking about how to do this or that “better”.
When I finally decided to do something to the slideshow, I completely destroyed a major compound clip. Fortunately, Final Cut Pro allows you to CNTL Z back to forever. Well, actually, back to when you last opened the app.
Which made me wish I could just CNTL Z the country back to last Halloween.
AND
AND
It is well over 40°.
AND
I have mostly avoided “the news”. Because what can I do about “the news”?
Went to yoga in person today. Walked a couple of miles. Also started on getting my tax stuff together.
Trying not to wallow in discontent. So far so good today.