diary of an Endorphin Junkie

Tomorrow there is nothing on the calendar. Not even a baseball game. Today I have a baseball game (both my teams) and the Google event and the car repair guy all at the same friggin' time! Geesh. Also a Food and Beverage meeting.

I told the car guy that anytime Thursday or Friday was best. So he picked 10 am today. ??? Whatever.

The Google event is at 1 pm eastern time which is 11 am here. BUT the Google store has a countdown timer for when the phone will be available to order and it says that there is 1 hour left. Meaning 9 am. Which would really suit me better. I am going to buy a new phone and trade in this cracked one. I would love to get my order in before the car guy comes. (The sooner you order, the better your color choices are and the sooner your delivery date is.)

I put in a load of laundry last night and set the machine to start this morning. It's got 10 more minutes. Then I fold and put away.

Also today, they are coming around to change the batteries in our thermostats and clean out the HVAC filters. I don't need to be here for that. Last night Joan stuck her head in the door and yell 'ARE YOU GOING TO BE HERE TOMORROW???' She always does that. Are you going to Safeway? Are you going to be here this weekend. It annoys the shit out of me. I have vowed to answer 'why do you ask, Joan' but last night I put the game on mute and said that mostly I would be. "WELL I HAVE A 1:30 DOCTORS APPOINTMENT IN CASE FACILITIES COMES AND WANTS TO KNOW". OK. 1. They don't need you here or care. 2. Neither do I. 3. Tell Bonny, not me! She's working my last. and 4. Don't yell at me ever.

Ok, laundry's done. Folded and put away. So at least there is that. So far, so good.

I bailed out of aqua yoga. The instructor, I don't think, has ever been in the water. I'm sure his instruction is great if you are 1. on land and 2. really into yoga. I am not on land and I want to stretch, not breathe. The stuff he has us do mostly works meh in water. He does not use the water at all so mainly we fight to stay and not float away. And also the 45 minutes are spent 15 minutes moving slowly and 30 minutes stationary and just breathing. The water is warm unless you are just standing there breathing and then it gets cold fast.

So. Yesterday was my last class. I will spend 30 minutes swimming laps on Sunday mornings instead.

Volleyball was also kind of meh today. One of our best players is hooked to a heart monitor for the next week and a half so can't play. The asshole was there today being very assholey. But, it's over and I didn't say anything I wanted to so I'm glad of that. My lips are getting better at staying zipped.

Watching the Phillies play the Mariners was really weird. Kind of like when you catch an NPR person talking on TV. The sound is right and the lips are moving in sync but my brain just can't handle it. The Phillies ate up the Mariners and then spit them out. Because of MLB blackout, I could not listen to the Phillies broadcasters so I'm listening to the idiot Mariners guys who are clearly rooting for the wrong team. It was beyond weird. There are two more games and then everyone goes back into their assigned corners. They will probably meet again in a few years but not before.

Today is house cleaner day and so errand day.

John's still dying. Joan is in bad shape but not dying and, I think, pretty pissed at John for stealing all the attention. Hazel is holding up kind of. She's getting a lot of attention from a wide variety of people and she's trying to keep everyone happy. Including John. It's kind of a mess.

Oh wait. Breaking news! Hazel just came in and sat for a chat. Her son has been working with exactly the right people here at Timber Ridge (which I had hoped was the case but didn't know) and they have a room in the nursing wing for John to move into tomorrow. This is perfect. This is exactly the way things should work around here and usually don't. But this time. Hazel does not have to do a thing except walk over there to visit. He'll even be on this very floor.

She said that the doctors told the both of them that they don't know if John has a day, a week or a year. But now he'll be comfortable and she'll be able to be with him whenever she wants on her own. I am very relieved. And so is she.

Oh and now I'm getting sucked back into aqua yoga. Maybe. I sent a note explaining why I was quitting and now Erica (the fitness person) is asking 'if we do xxx' would you reconsider. Sure.

As always, stay tuned!

But now it's nearly 10 and I'm not dressed yet!

Noelle has taken to leaving me little notes on my shelf. Yesterday her first one was a long rambler about how she had baked something - I forget what - for Hazel but couldn't find her and wanted to know this and that. I sent her a text and said talk to Bonny. The second one was 4 hours later and even longer about how she had run into Hazel ramble ramble and then "I'll let her tell you what they decided but her husband wants to come home" and then some stuff about God's will. I texted her "thank you for the note." Leave me alone, Noelle. You have Jesus. You don't need me.

Martha popped in last night and said she had run into Hazel at Costco - her son had taken her.

The Phillies won. The Mariners lost. Today (tomorrow and Wednesday) they play each other.

Today is aqua yoga. Tomorrow is volleyball and house cleaner day. Wednesday is the Food and Beverage committee meeting. Thursday is volleyball. Friday is pretty open if you want to schedule something.

Also Wednesday is the Fall Google hardware announcement. I'm on the fence about a new phone. So I'll watch the announcement and decide.

Yesterday, at elbow coffee, Ingrid showed up for a while. She comes late, complains about the latest Timber Ridge insult, and then leaves early. She once screamed at me, during elbow coffee, because I did not check on her when we had an alarm go off. "You are my neighbor! You are supposed to look out for me!!" It was ridiculous. Yesterday, her complaint was that every time she forgets to open her door, Timber Ridge calls "or worse yet, comes to my door". This is a horrible thing to her. She has now lived here more than 5 years and this has been going on every single day for those 5 years but I guess, yesterday, she couldn't conjure up any new offenses.

Others tried to jump in with solutions (which she did not want) and I just kept my lips zipped. Finally she finished ranting and left.

Joan called last night clearly looking for me to say 'if you need anything, let me know' but, aha! I have successfully wiped that phrase out of my playbook. I listened and ummed and aha'd at appropriate places and then said goodbye.

Yesterday, Jim (across the hall - not the Jim of Jim and Gail) came out while I was puzzling. He had his TV remote with him. Jim's problem or part of it, is that he cannot express himself. He says all the words correctly - he does not mumble or slur - but the word strings rarely make sense. I explained that there was no joy unless we were in front of his TV so we went there. He really couldn't tell me what he wanted. There was a ribbon on last watched channels that seemed to bother him because of the six, he only wanted 3. "I want to watch the UC one there on the far right." The one on the far right was NBC. He said his buddy who helped him set up was coming over today and he'd show him. I did remove some of the last watched. But never did figure out what he wanted. But he had a car race to watch so when I left he was happy. He never wants much and is always so pleasant.

Martha says that the neighbor care requirement here is greater than the rest of the complex. She thinks it's because we are on this shorten floor. Most floors have 20+ apartments and we have only 10. But, I'm learning how to do it. Lips zipped, hands not raised, response, not volunteer. I think I can do it.

My friend, Steve, told me yesterday that he turns his thermostat down to 65 at night and then up to 72 during the day - every day. Seems like I tried that when I first moved in and it did not work. I was getting heat when I wanted cool. But, hey, Steve's been here for a lotta years. So I tried it last night. Heaven. It was just perfect for sleeping. My bed said 92 out of 100. This morning I turned it to 72 - too hot. So back down to 70 and I opened the door to the patio which thrilled Julio.

The Phillies game is about to start. The Mariners are playing at Williamsport, PA - the home of the little league world series. I might watch some but for sure on mute. I do not approve of baseball games in these silly places like car racing stadiums and little league parks.

No big plans for after the game. Just the usual. I might run a couple of errands and I might save them for next week.

John is giving up treatment. BUT Bonny has picked up the support wagon. She and Hazel agreed that Hazel is going to keep Bonny updated and Bonny is going to report to everyone else. This is a fabulous arrangement. For me. Ok so new news, as I type that sentence, Bonny just came in to say that John is going to have some sort of treatment today to look at his stomach 'so he's not pulled the plug yet'.

Joan did not spend the night at the hospital. But she did not come to elbow coffee. Her grandson and grand-daughter-law and her son have all arrived today. No word on that. But, I am not on the hook there, either.

Dick (of Jan and Dick) has found out that instead of an outpatient procedure to work on his heart, he now needs a bypass or stent or something, they haven't decided, and has been told to be careful about exercise.

Jim got a paper cut from his airline luggage tag at the airport last week and, thanks to blood thinners, nearly bled out standing in the TSA line.

Elbow Coffee was interesting today - at least no one bitched about the weather.

Yesterday we were in the hallway discussing Joan and I could tell that I'd lost her attention. She reached up to the back of my head "oh I think I missed a spot." Then she smoothed it down and declared that it was fine after all.

It's one thing to get a good barber but it's the creme dela creme to get one that will always be on the look out for when a trim is needed.

I got a call yesterday from a woman who lives on the other side of the complex. Their son is married to Joan's daughter. She called to tell me that Joan was in the hospital. "Her daughter's with her but she wanted me to call you because she didn't see anyone else on the hall to tell when she was leaving."

I get that. Particularly when I head out for Bellevue or some other place and am going to be gone longer than 30 minutes, I always think I need someone back here, on the hall, to know. No reason but I always think that. So I get it.

Joan has many many problems but lately, it's her back. It doesn't help that she is 92. But she has very active family and she has every single on of her marbles. Nothing to be done by us but I went to tell Bonny and she and I went into Joan's apartment to make sure all was fine. It was. Bonny also told me that John had his first massive drug treatment and it went fine.

10 minutes later she was in my apartment to tell me that 'fine' was apparently short lived and that now he was in the same hospital as Joan.

Elbow Coffee will be sparsely attended this morning. Jack is on a cruise and Jim and Gail are off somewhere again.

I love my new coffee table. I have a power brick and charging cables that I use for computers, watch, cat toys, phone. And I have all my knitting stuff. I finally decided that the charging stuff needs to go into the table. I have two cables, then, that need to come out. So last night I grabbed my handy dandy drill and the biggest drill bit I have and dug out a hole. It was a lot harder than I expected but I managed to get a slot exactly the right size.

I did trip over the power cable twice so I looked into a cable cover. My first try was a total fail - going back to Amazon. But then, I thought, why not a throw rug?! Like the one I have on the other side of the room?? PERFECT and they are on sale. It will be here Monday. So I just need to be extra careful til then.

And speaking of charging, I see that Julio's favorite toy needs more juice.

My two games are on at the same time again today. Yesterday, they kept pulling ahead and then falling behind, both of them. So I'd keep the sound on the one that was behind until they pulled ahead and then mute it when they got the needed runs and listen to the other game. It worked out fine.

Martha and Bonny both wanted mini monsters in school colors. I complied.

I was exhausted last night. Between losing two baseball games, building a table and cleaning up after, etc. I slept good. (Now, why is 'slept good' acceptable when it's a clear violation of the verb modified by adverb rule???? and why am I just noticing this now?????)

So, I'm reading this book that I'm not that into but can't quite find the spot to abandon. It's about two grown sons and their mother. The mother character has - in the first half of the book - been drawn as very old and so fairly demented and failing in health of body, mind and spirit. Then last night, the author finally mentions her age - SIXTY FUCKING TWO!!! Holy crap. Seriously. Insulting. I'm pissed. But, still reading, of course.

But, people, 62 is not old. Late middle age, maybe, but not old at all.

I love my new coffee table and the uncluttered look it provides. And the pop up bit is wonderful. I moved the massive knitting bag off the couch in yet more uncluttering. This morning, I learned that the cats both appear to approve. And there is still room for me!



I got an email last night from my guy at Crate and Barrel saying my new couch cushion was underway and including the invoice again but this time it said delivery ETA mid-September.

It's a rainy day and later on, we're supposed to have REAL rain. Now, it's just wet and misty.

I might do laundry. I might not.

This morning after volleyball my heart started racing. It happens from time to time but today I could not make it stop. I went on with my regular stuff, including hauling the heavy table bits up and then going back to return the cart I borrowed. Still it raced. So I didn't rush anything and rested a bit before I opened the table box.

I do have a handy but reliable??? ECG app on my watch and it wouldn't work because my heart rate was 141 and it can only measure under 121. Whatever. It slowed down a little and I got to work.

The table was a little more complicated than I expected but I took it slowly and got it all built. And the box tossed and the old C table put into the storage area and my stuff moved to the new table which, actually, I like quite a bit. It pops up to the perfect height for typing and eating but then down low enough to make a nice footrest and it has lovely storage.

My heart rate is down now but still wonky. If I die, feel free to pass on these dets to anyone who wants to know.

Next up. Vacuum. Table building is messy.

I finally tracked down the coffee table that Fed Ex delivered yesterday. Most of Amazon's deliveries go into a set of lockers. I get a bar code when they are put into the locker. Easy peasy. Great system.

The rest of the packages do not have such an easy birth. They get delivered to the front hallway and then, mostly but not always, get moved to a locked room in another part of the building. From there, they get delivered in the afternoons, sometimes. Often as not 'ooops, the delivery guy was off today' or 'ooops the delivery guy forgot to pick up the second run of packages' or 'ooops we didn't have the staff'.

The system used to be that you could pick up your package at the front desk if you didn't want to wait for delivery. That was great. But, alas, that process got killed off. About a week ago, I wrote to the head guy and asked him to think about giving us a pick up window. An hour/half hour every day when, if we want, we could go get our packages ourselves.

Then yesterday my coffee table got delivered to Timber Ridge at 10 am and to me at ... never. After volleyball, I went by the office of the guy whose job it is to handle packages to see if I could get some info. He wasn't there but my package was! So I wrangled it up here.

BREAKING news! Just as I was typing this whole boring story out, I got a note from TylerThePackageGuy, saying they were going to institute a package pick up time from 1-2 every day! Woot!! And nice. Very nice.

So that's my day today - putting together this table. First I want to get dressed and return the cart to the front desk and get the Timber Ridge Times for our floor and distribute. Gotta get my chores done before work. Today's Mariner game is at 10. The Phillies aren't til 4. Both of them lost yesterday and not because they were playing better teams. Neither game was good. Hopefully today is better.

Oh, the annual car visit was the easiest, best yet. $150. No big issues. They were done before lunch. I swung into the car wash on the way home to celebrate. Now you need sun glasses in the garage. Most all the cars around mine are owned by people who no longer drive so they are covered in dust. Mine shines!

I love my car repair place. They always welcome me and my Smart Car with open arms and take very good care of me. But, BrianTheServiceAdvisor (I have his card so I know his title) isn't their star. They open at 8. They want you there at 8. But if you get there before 8, you have to wait outside. I got there this morning at 8:02. Door locked. So I went back to my car to get the mileage which I'd forgotten to jot down. 39925.

When I got back, the doors were open and Brian was waiting. I handed him the letter that shows I get %30 off and pointed to the mileage. The correct answer was "Oh, thank you!" What I got was "oh, I don't need that". I do need the key. "The key is in the car." The correct response is "oh, great. we really rather you bring it in so no one can nip the car while you are in here! But, that's for next time. I'll go get it right now." Brian says "don't ever do that!!!".

It's a tone, Brian. A tone makes the diff. Didn't your mother teach you that?

(The Mercedes place in Seattle had a fit if you didn't leave your key in the car BUT, in fairness, that was after you drove into their massive windowed garage.)

Brian told me to have a seat. They have this fabulous snack basket/coffee area and I had already eyed a little package of iced cookies BUT before I could get my ass into a chair, a really nice voice behind me said "I'm actually ready to go if you are." And I was home by 8:15. Realizing that Brian had not asked me if there was anything special I wanted them to look at or described the services they will perform. I trust them. I just don't like Brian.

But, it will be fine.

It's not nearly as cool out as I was expecting. And my a/c is acting wonky. Right now, it's too hot in here. In about 10 minutes it will be too cold. I suspect we're now dealing with residual building heat after the last few days of too hot. This, too, shall pass.

My measure of a good hair cut is when I roll out of bed in the morning and there are no stickie-outies. I can just smooth it out with my hand and I'm good to go. Bonny did an excellent job yesterday. It was perfect when I rolled out of bed this morning. She now has a permanent job.

I'm still stressing about my banking situation. BUT I've decided to hold off doing anything about it for now. I've still got my main accounts and a small backup checking account at another institution and probably, really, that's all I need.

No plans for today - well, TV, puzzle, baseball, knitting... the usual. And go pick up the car when it's ready.

Wild.

I started bank dancing yesterday. I'm currently happy with BECU but I do hate having all of my eggs in one basket. My backup basket has been Key Bank but I'm pissed at them again. I'll leave a little in a free account there, but then I went trolling for high yield savings. I started the process of opening a new account at a new place but, today I've decided that if I do move some funds, it won't be there. They have no chat. It's called or nothing. Nope. I will make one call, if necessary, to back out of the process but, I think if I don't report my .23 and .13 and .09 the application will die on the vine. As long as it dies.

I'll stick with BECU for now.

My hair is getting too long. This is measured by sticky-outy-ness. When I wake up in the morning, if I have to touch it - comb down one bit or another - it's too long. Myrna used to cut it for me. Actually she usually told me it was time for a cut and then cut it. I thought I'd get Bonny or Martha to do it. I started with Bonny and texted her this morning. The good news is she's happy to do it and will come on down before lunch. The bad news is she reminded me that today is the 3rd floor meeting. I intend to pass on it but she thinks I should go. This will take some maneuvering. But, it's fine.

The meetings are always dreadful but this week is Yet Another Emergency Preparedness meeting. This is a topic that has no right answers and plenty of ???? and everyone thinks they are correct in their plan. It always leads nowhere and I've been there and don't want to go back.

Both my baseball teams are on the east coast for the next 10 days or so and so it will be two games at once for most days. They, in fact, play each other starting Monday. Since they are in different leagues, they play each other very rarely. Should be interesting.

My baby brother turns 72 today.

I did not leave my apartment yesterday and I ate way too much and it was a lovely lovely day.

Today I have nothing on the calendar. No clue why aqua yoga was canceled but I'm delighted. I will probably go out and puzzle some. I might order a meal for pick up. I will watch the Phillies game (the Mariners are off today) but, that's the entirety of the plan.

Looks like my new coffee table might get here on Wednesday which means I might actually have it on Thursday. They used to let us come pick up packages after they were delivered but now you have to wait for them to bring them to you and that's generally not until the next day. Annoying but not a huge issue most of the time. It will be a huge issue when I order a new phone or some other new tech gear. I'm not sitting around waiting for it. BUT I want to use my special case begging for exception for special cases. And Thursday will be fine for the table.

I started a one line a day journal in January of 2023. It's a 5 year book. and I noticed last night that I am now more than half way through the book. I do my entry when I get into bed at night. It is interesting to peek at what happened last year and the year before. This week two years ago I was just about to start thinking about CCRC's for real and looking into places like Timber Ridge.

This morning I went through another round of stressing about my backup email. All it takes is a glance at a random tail about someone losing access to their google account and boom - into a tailspin I go. The last round - not even that long ago - sent me to set up a backup situation where all my emails were sent to my susandennis.com hosting server. But, turns out, that's just not practical for several reasons. So now it's back to outlook.com. It cost me $20 a year and Microsoft is about as dodgy as Google if my account gets hosed but at least I now have two places - cloudwise - I can find out what size swimsuit I bought from that place where I used to get them way back in the before times - easily.

I somehow forgot to do laundry. I remembered last night but it was too late to start so that's what's happening now.

We're going to have a few days of really hot weather here this week but it's fine. I do have to go outside on Wednesday but it will be in an air conditioned vehicle. We're almost done here. The days are getting shorter and if/when more heat comes, it will only really be for a few hours. I can handle it.

Today is baseball and knitting. AND I have the gift of nothing on the calendar tomorrow. Nice. They had meatloaf and chicken on the buffet last night. I got both. Ate the chicken and plan to see that meatloaf on a fabulous sandwich today. Last night was my last night for this month's $600. I had $3.00 left after the buffet. I breezed into the bistro (our 7/11) and told Nohn who was on duty, my problem. "What you need is a toffee ice cream bar. Yep. He was right. It's in the freezer now for this afternoon and my account is $0.

Time now to watch Tia Watson's Sunday morning video. She bought a house for $1 and is fixing it up. She is as good as house fixing up as she is at video editing and it makes a delightful way to start my Sundays.

The pool has been so cold and then, Thursday, cloudy. So when they sent the announcement that it was closing for maintenance, we really didn't think it was going to open any time soon. But it did! and this morning, the water was crystal clear and plenty warm and volleyball was very fun.

Elbow coffee was fine. No big news. Just comforting neighbors comforting. Everyone's really concerned about John. It's kind of like a wait before the wake.

Now I'm home watching the Braves and Marlins game because one of the umpires has a vagina! So far she's doing great. And they gave her a nice, but not overly nice, welcome. Deft.

So I added risers to my couch and that made the chaise piece look funny so I moved it to storage and then I discovered that there was a mess of wires under the table that just looked horrible so I plugged and unplugged and replugged and then eliminated a couple of cables and bundled the rest and it now looks much better. But, really, one thing and then another and then another...

Spacefem has another one of her financial entries up today that has me thinking. She has vastly different goals and needs and financial requirements than I do but her thots on her own finances always get me to rethink mine. Today I'm thinking about my Amazon purchases which I do not track in a lot of detail but want to start (or restart - I used to). I don't know that I'll make many changes, I just want to know for sure, what I'm doing.

And... here's a shocker... I have no Amazon returns!

The new coffee table won't be here Monday, it will be here a week from Monday. Fine. I did figure out where the other stuff will go. And how to add electricity and charging ports to it. So I'll be ready.

I went to Daiso and to Goodwill. It's so weird to go that far away. But mission totally accomplished. Daiso has far more things than it did last trip which was more than a year ago. And the prices are higher, of course, but it was fine and fun.

My 1st priority at Goodwill was a tissue box holder for the bedroom. Really. It had to be heavy and dark. I had one but in a mad chase one night about a month ago, Julio knocked it off the nightstand and it broke into more pieces than could be put back together. It's a difficult thing to shop on Amazon for because I wanted the cheapest I could find and heavy and, preferably not breakable. I found exactly that at Goodwill. $5. It's dark, it's kind of heavy like stone and feels like stone. And now my tissue box won't go flying every time I try to pull out one to blow my nose!

I also found some good hair colored sweaters to unravel and, best of all, ran out of steam before I could cause much more financial disaster. Home and lunched now.

I did get a text from Steve that the pool may be reopened today so volleyball could be back on tomorrow. I'm ok with that.

Mainly, I'm pretty sad this morning about my brother's wonderful dog. The two are spending their last weekend together and it's just sad. I'm getting used to seeing the old die but it's still mostly sad.

I have a fair number of friends here who are turning 89 this year. 1936 must have been a great year for sex. Several play volleyball. Last night I went down to scoop up some take out dinner from the buffet and ran into Steve (who's only about 85, I think) and Wally (one of the 89 year olds) and his wife, Marilyn. They were getting ready to go into the dining room and asked me to join them so I did. It was lovely. Wally had spent the afternoon watching the very long Mariners game that had just ended - as had I.

After dinner, I picked up my new sofa feet - the 2"ers to replace the 4"ers. Steve offered to come back and help but I said I thought I could do it and I did get them swapped out and, turns out 2" was right. Just enough height to make getting up easy.

Now I'm considering replacing my ottoman and c table with a coffee table that pops up. Actually, I just ordered it. Be here Monday. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the ottoman and c table. Well, the table will fit into storage but the ottoman... It will all work. And look less hodge podge.

Today I'm going to the Goodwill in Bellevue. I have two things I want and I think I can find them there rather than go into Seattle. It's not that much closer but a little easier to deal with maybe. And I might stop at that big Daiso store on my way home.

The shade rehanging was done gratis as it should have been. I swapped notes with the sales guy and thanked him and then revised my previously revised review - back up to 5 stars. All is good.

The shades have been rehung. The same guy who hung them originally was back. Nice and efficient. This time I knew what to look for and change before he left. This time he did not clean up his mess but it wasn't a big deal. Hand vac did it. The original installation left scars which he didn't even mention. Like I wouldn't notice. I noticed. But, decided not to worry about it. If it bugs me, I'll fix it OR put it on the list of projects we can do when my brother makes his next visit in January.

My Amazon deliveries should be here within the hour.

Aqua yoga was canceled for next Monday. No reason given. This was in the weekly newsletter. BUT then we got an email from Erica, the Fitness Director, that the pool was closed til further notice. This morning we noticed that it was not as clear as usual. Last time they lost control of the clear, the pool was closed for six weeks. But, this time, they caught it much earlier so maybe it won't be so long.

It does mean, however, I need to find a volleyball substitute. :( Probably I'll go get on one of those bikes or the elliptical machine. Which I hate.

It's still cloudy and so dark. When I got back from volleyball, just after 8, it was very dark in the living room. I got two wall sconces last Spring for just such dark mornings and, this morning, I fired them up for the first time. Perfect. Just a splash of soft light which is all I need and want first thing. And, they have a 1 hour button so I can just press that and forget about them. I charged up both last night so I'll be interested to see how long a charge lasts at an hour a day.

It's warm in this living room this morning so I opened the door to the terrace which I rarely do. Both cats are fascinated with the smells and sounds.

Amazon is sending my lower risers today. I have a plan for swapping them out. But, Plan B is text to Steve who's ready if Plan A doesn't work.

The shades installer/reinstaller is on tap to be here sometime between noon and 3. He needs to take down and rehang the window shade. There will be holes. I should dig out the paint pot I have for that wall color. But, mainly I want him to be a little tidier this time in how the middle meets and the ends align. We'll see. I do still love the look and the function of these blinds. They are so much better than the ones I had in condo - as far as smartness is concerned. The only problem I have is trying to remember if telling Alexa to raise them to 75% means they will go mostly up or mostly down. Usually, I tell her 50% because that one's easy for both of us.

The checkup light on my car's dashboard came on yesterday. This is how I know it's time for my annual visit to the nicest car fix it place in the world. I called yesterday and they are going to fix me up next Wednesday. They are always so lovely to deal with. After years at the hands of the snotty, rude Mercedes people, these folks are a joy. I don't expect any big issues. It's running fine and does not yet have 40,000 miles on it. It will turn 14 years old next week.

I was working from home using Comcast internet and they had an outage and I couldn't do any work things so I got into my Ford Fiesta and drove to the Smart Car dealership. I'd been thinking about it for a while but had yet to actually go get into one. It was a blistering hot August day and I thought, if the a/c works, I'm buying it. They had several ready to sell and two in excellent colors. I picked the green one. Handed the guy my cash and my Ford keys and drove it home. I love it as much today as I did that day. About six months later, Mercedes bought the brand so I never went back to that dealership.

We had another Comcast outage the next week and my boss asked 'so... what are you buying today? a horse?'

The Mariners are playing a day game today and the Phillies aren't playing at all.

Last week, I emailed the guy who sold me my couch to ask if I could buy a seat cushion. He replied really fast and said 'sure. let me look up the price and get back to you'. And then he died, apparently. RIP, Todd.

Yesterday I sent him another email and crickets.

Last night I texted to the text number on the Crate and Barrel website. A few back and forths let to my being told I had to use their chat or call the 800 number. This morning I chatted and was told I had to call the store's Spare Parts department.

I didn't call Todd's store because there is one closer so I called it. Spare Parts was busy with a customer could he call me back? ARUGH. Fine. I gave him my name and telephone and told him exactly the item I wanted to buy.

And then figured out a not too satisfactory but very easy Plan B and decided I was done fucking with it.

I had just started this entry when John Spare Parts called me. He had his shit together. He had looked up my original invoice and had all the details. $360. 5-7 weeks. I said book it, John-o. He did say that for some reason he could not fathom it was delivery only. "you do not want to pay those charges, trust me" so I told him I'd pick it up at the store.

Done. Whew. Thanks to my Amazon returns, I had a $250 credit on my credit card so the cushion only cost me $110!! Very reasonable if you think of it in foo foo math terms.

Hazel came in a while ago "I'm only here to update" meaning she did not have a problem she needed me to fix which was cute. She and John now both know this is the end. "They will give him a bunch of pills that might make improvements but also might make it worse." They have asked John to decide his next steps. He has until Monday. Well, that's his next appointment when he tells me pills or no. We chatted for a while. She's in as good a place as she can be.

Then about a half hour later, I ran into the Health Services Director coming up to visit with him. We had a long chat about the two of them and my concern for Hazel. I did ask her how Timber Ridge and Hospice work together and she said great. Some people have Hospice while they are still in their apartments and some when they are in the nursing unit. Works fine either way. This was a relief to me and I don't know why I never thought to ask before.

No need for Hospice for the Phillies even though they did play miserably this morning. They are still on top of their division. OH but in other big baseball news, a female umpire will work the first ever MLB regulation game this weekend. Braves vs. Marlins - a double header on Saturday and then behind the plate on Sunday. Very cool.

I really do not like being hot. Really. So Summer is not my favorite time of year. Of all the country, I live in the one area that is rarely hot and still, too hot for me. I also don't like the sun. I like light but direct sunlight hurts my eyes and makes me hot. For two+ months out of the year are days are so long that it's light out when I go to sleep and the sun is shining brightly when I wake up. And I really don't like any of this.

My ideal would be days with highs in the 60's maybe 70's once in a while. Dark by 5 and light by maybe 7/8ish. In other words, The Pacific Northwest - 6 months out of the year.

BUT this morning, I woke up at 6 and it was really overcast outside. Inside, I had to turn a light on to feed the cats - haven't had to do that since DST started. It's now 7:30 and still cozy in and cloudy out with a little rain! Actually, more of a random spitting but, hey, beats the fucking sun!!

It's also coming into a crowded part of the year. Dick is very into puzzles and we are working on a rhythm. Yesterday morning, he actually called me to say he had his puzzle ready but they were going out (he and Jan take long, involved walks every morning). I told him I was going out myself but would be ready to start when I got back. "Well I'll put it on the shelf, I don't want anyone to start it but you."??? Ok. So I felt compelled to go get it started yesterday afternoon. And I also had two baseball games.

Today is the same. The Phillies game is at 9:30 so I can get it over with and have puzzling time this afternoon before the Mariners game tonight.

I am very very very glad that Dick is so into it. Myrna and I spent hours and hours out there working on the puzzles. Other neighbors would come out and chat and it was such an easy way to people. Dick is stepping right into that role and I'm delighted.

My neighbors on the hall are all nice people with one exception who, happily, rarely leaves her apartment. The others are fine but just not people I want to spend concentrated time with. So seeing them randomly out there in the elbow is perfect. I can catch up. They can see me. Everyone feels in the know. Plus, yesterday, Bonny came out and brought me some delicious tangerines.

This morning before the baseball, I need to go back to UPS. I bought some shoes from Orthofeet that I have tried to wear several times. Fortunately, around here, you can wear shoes for days and many steps without ever going outside. Great place for shoe trials. I really really wanted these shoes to work. But, alas, they are a fail and were more than $100. BUT they are one of those Happy Returns, so while it will likely take a while, they go to the same UPS store as my Amazon returns. My buds.

But we're not friends enough that I should be showing up in my nightgown so I'd better go get dressed first.