Random stuff in my boring life.

Timber Ridge - the place where I live - is in a small kind of bedroom community of Seattle called Issaquah. Issaquah has a population of about 40,000. It's been raining here in the Pacific Northwest. A lot. But, Timber Ridge is on a hill. And, yesterday, I went to the vet's and back and only saw large puddles.

But, last night, I was watching the national news on ABC when all of a sudden they were showing a national news guy standing in water reporting that Issaquah Creek (which runs through the town) had overflowed its banks and folks downtown had been asked to evacuate! Then I saw several photos of places very nearby that I know well that had replaced their parking lots with deep rushing water.

So wild to be so close and so surprised. I do feel isolated here in the cult but I thought that was my imagination. Turns out, nope.

Thinking back yesterday, the vet did ask me if I had had trouble getting there and I just kind of brushed it off as weird. Sorry, Dr. Vet.

So now I'm high and dry as usual but also way grateful.

Biggie seems fine. Normal. Yesterday morning when I got up, I gave him gabapentin which the vet techs really appreciate as he is not very fond of stuff they do to him. Usually, it just makes him a giant stuffy after about 2 hours and he stays that way for the rest of the day. Yesterday, he never really settled down. He was staggering when he walked so I know he had it in his system but he was feisty as ever and the tech did report he was not happy with their working on him. Last night all he wanted was to sit on my lap which is not handy or usual but fine. This morning he seems back to usual. And is still peeing just fine. And eating fine and now waiting for his morning Temptations. Sorry, buddy.

Chewy is being a little slow to fill the order for his new food and it's beginning to piss me off. They need approval from the vet which they got yesterday. And I uploaded again this morning. And still the order says 'pending approval'. Even if they ship it today and it arrives this weekend, it will still be Monday or Tuesday before it gets up here. Maybe I'll go back to the vets and buy some there to tide over. The problem is they only sell 7 lb bags of the kibble. I don't want to store that much. Plus I have 4 pounds being delivered from Chewy. Ok. am in chat with Chewy now...

Hazel stopped by last night. She had somehow gotten her tablet into safe mode. Easy fix. She plays solitaire on it a lot. It's one of the few things left that she can see enough to do. Then she asked me if I'd come help John with his computer. I used to do this quite a bit BUT then their son took over and I was happy to relinquish. I do not know where son is now but Hazel said they had gotten scammed by BECU and gotten it all fixed but then it happened again yesterday. The way she was saying it did not make sense but that's Hazel for you. I told her that no, I would not be able to help. I learned my lesson with Myrna's computer and Myrna's son. She assured me that this was different. But, touching someone's banking on a computer leads to nothing good. I told her to contact Brandon or Michael (our two IT guys) and they would help him. She was ok with that and I was so relieved.

Someone (son?, Timber Ridge?) tried to talk Hazel to moving into Assisted Living. John is still living in the nursing wing. She refused. But she really needs it. She keeps locking herself out of her apartment - multiple times a day. Now they apparently are having banking issues.

While I have sympathy, their problems are not mine to fix. And my trying will only make things worse. I learned my lesson the hard way. But, at least I learned it.

Ok Chewy was able to remove the 4 lb bag from my order so I'll go to the vet's today and buy some there.

But, after I swim. My leg does not hurt today so I need to get back to walking. Walking to the pool counts.

Yep, that's Biggie's Latest Adventure. The vet did an ultra sound and you can see one big one. She was surprised that Biggie didn't have any symptoms. It should be painful but while he considered it an indignity and annoyance to go the vet, he's not showing any signs of pain. But taking him off the medicine and back on to Very Expensive Prescription Food turned out to be the best option. We go back in 4 weeks and do another ultra sound. Unless he shows distress or can't pee and then we go back immediately. And, even if all goes smoothly for 4 weeks, if the rock is still there, probably surgery. Again.

Both Biggie and Julio like the expensive food, very much. so there's that. Do not tell Biggie, tho. but Temptations are a thing of the past. As are lickables. I bagged up the food and treats. I'll take them to the cat food bank.

The vet gave me some food samples. And I stashed some cans away when I switched them last year. So I've got enough on hand til the Chewy order gets here. I hope. All I've got now is canned stuff. No kibble, no treats but, hopefully, the Chewy order will be here soon.

Why in the heck did I not remember to get some grated parmesan when I went to the store to get the grated cheddar??

Also today I have a pain in the leg. It's in the middle of the thigh of my left leg. The right leg is usually the one that hurts. And this is a very weird pain plus a fair amount of weakness. The chairs at the vets are all really low to the ground and I was not sure I'd ever be able to get out of them once I sat down. It feels like if someone were to massage my thigh really hard, it would fix it. Hopefully it will fix itself today. I can at least walk around the halls here safely as they all have nice railings.

I was downstairs yesterday before the festivities but they had already lined up all the chairs. It was a weird sight.



It looked very different and couple of hours later. It was really fun to watch the parade. The employees dressed up either in costume or in really nice non-work clothes and they merrily high 5'd the old people. And, according to accounts, had a marvelous time. Very fun.



The Timber Ridge dog park is like a dog pond today but the rain has kind of stopped a little. All around us there are massive floods. The interstate is closed just north of here due to a giant mudslide. We're breaking water records all around.

I need to get a load of laundry started.

My legs and my back are very whiny these days. There are three things causing this. 1. I'm old. 2. I'm fat. and 3. I'm lazy. The first one is absolutely not fixable. The second one is fixable but the sacrifice is not worth the fix to me. I'm not at all interested in changing the way I eat or what I eat.

But, there's a slim chance I could make inroads on the third one. Godknows I have the resources right here at my finger tips. My swimming laps is not really worth that much. I don't use my legs much at all and I don't swim fast enough or tight enough to even move the needle on the cardio scale. It's better than sitting on the couch but only marginally. I need to walk and stretch and walk and stretch. There are miles of weather controlled, flat walking trails literally outside my door. There is an entire gym of fancy equipment a short walk away.

Yesterday, I conscientiously walked away more than usual. I made extra trips downstairs to the lobby area and went the long way round on a few of them. I clocked maybe a third more steps than usual. Today the plan is to spend 30 minutes in the gym. 15 on the elliptical and 15 on one of the bikes (which are more chairs with pedals). I'm convinced I have the motivation to do this today. Tomorrow it may be gone but today, I'm going to do it.

This afternoon is the employee Christmas party. As is the Timber Ridge tradition, the employees gather in the back dining room by department groups. The residents line up on either side of the hallway between that dining room and the large meeting room. Then the employees parade through the cheering residents. It sounds cheesy and it is but also a big crowd pleaser with employees and with residents. Of course the employees get the afternoon off, a big party with music and dancing, a box of homemade Christmas cookies and... a cash bonus. So they are looking forward to it the most.

I woke up at 2 and had a bit of a problem getting back to sleep but then did and slept right through to 7 which is way late for me so now it's 9 and I have yet to even get out of my PJs. So I'm going to do that now!

I had a, mostly, online friend who died a few years ago. He was Jewish and always bitched incessantly about Jesus music this time of year. He always acted like it was an unexpected insult. It amused me every year. Now when I hear background Christmas music, I think of him. I'm pretty sure that would piss him off.

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I think I'm a fairly good communicator. I try to consider my audience and how they might receive what I'm trying to convey whether it is in writing or orally. This journal is a great test. I am surprised how often I totally miss the mark. I can tell by comments when the point I was trying to make landed somewhere off in never never land. It's humbling.

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I am soon to be 77 years old. Multiple times a day, nearly every day, I find myself thinking 'when I get old, I will...' or 'I'm never doing that when I get old...' And then I find the brake pedal and realize, doh!

Out in the wild, people drop dead of 'natural causes' every day at ages much younger than 77. Of course, here at the cult, where the average age is mid-80's, I'm quite young. I'm pretty sure that's how my perspective gets skewed.

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I am out of shredded cheese. Not out out but close to out and I use that stuff on everything so this needs to get remedied. I might wait until tomorrow when the house cleaner is here. Or Bonny usually goes to the QFC on Mondays because that's when the new flowers come in and she does love her fresh flowers and she could grab me some cheese.

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I've had my swim. I need to empty the dishwasher and probably get dressed. Oh and make the bed. And then...

When someone dies here, they put out a small frame with or without their photo and with their name and birth and death dates. It stays for a week. I have seen weeks when there were 5 or 6 frames out. But, lately, like since Halloween, deaths have been few and far between. It's been a few frameless weeks. Until yesterday. When I got out of the elevator on the way back from volleyball, there was a group of non-residents getting in discussing funeral plans so I knew the no deaths string was broken. Turns out it was Harriet's husband. Harriet was the first person who ever left me a thank you note for my creatures. I did not even know who she was then. But now I do. She's a force. She's in charge of the pea patch program and next year will be head of the Food and Beverage Committee. And she has a giant golden retriever named Apple. She and Apple sometimes visit volleyball on their way back from morning walks. Also Apple has a job visiting folks in the memory wing.

I never knew her husband but saw them at the Abba cover concert last year. He needed a walker to move but clearly was ready to boogie. He kept getting up to try and dance and she kept getting up to try and stop him. Over and over and over again. He looked like a ton of fun. As most of us here, I have a healthy stash of sympathy cards. I'll drop one off for her on my way to swim this morning.

It's still dark out and foggy. Perfect for swimming. I think I'll go do that.

Volleyball was a mess. We have one very bad actor and he was on his worst behavior this morning and several of the regulars were there so we quit early. Elbow coffee was not horrible but not great either. Again, good people missing and we did not quit early.

Sigh.

Yesterday I broke a light bulb and did not have a replacement but did have a couple of things on my list for Dollar Store so went there and got a bulb that kind of works. But mostly could not find stuff on my list. The Amazon smart bulbs do not work in my bedside sconces because they are dimmable fixtures. The bulb I got at Dollar Store says it's non-dimmable right on the box but I bought it anyway. Instead of stopping at Lowe's or Home Depot or even fucking Safeway, like a normal person, I just came home. The Dollar Store bulb at least doesn't flicker like the Amazon bulb but I still need better ones - one for each. Why am I being punked by light bulbs???

Anyway, Hazel and John need a new calendar and they always get their calendars at the Dollar Store and they came to elbow coffee to ask us to get them one next time we are there. So Bonny and I are going this afternoon.

I started writing this entry and hour ago and keep getting distracted - squirrel!

I have an Instagram account and scroll through daily. I rarely post anything but I do enjoy looking. There's a dude in London who has two sisters who sent him a giant box of advent adventures. Every day he must deliver a gift to the person on the card. Generally it's a first name and destination. He posts videos of his finding someone with that name in that place. It's charmingly delightful. fridgeplug

While I keep a short list of people I follow, most of my feed is people Instagram thinks I need to follow. I get a lot of 'babies with their Dads' and 'dogs with babies' and lately, it's Tai Chi for old fat people (kind of on point, that last one). At least, for now, I'm out of the fat boobs that need bras phase.

Dinner's ordered for pickup downstairs and Bobby's probably about ready to go so I'm done for now.