BEST-LAID PLANS CANCELLED

        

When I got up Monday morning, my temporary crown came off. I called my dentist and left a message, but didn’t call the emergency number. It didn’t hurt. When I returned from my walk, I called again and Dr. Nina herself answered. I told her about my crown and laughingly said I had some gorilla glue. I expected she would see me right away, but because of the restrictions from the Department of Health, it will probably be mid-May before she can reopen her office and see me or any other patient.     

      

         Dr. Nina told me gorilla glue wouldn’t do the trick, but I should go to the drug store and buy a product that would allow me to glue my temporary crown back on. So, mask in place, I went to the local drug store, and sure enough, they had a product called Recap-it. I bought it, came home, read the instructions and replaced my temporary crown. The only problem is that the tooth is now a bit sensitive. I’m hoping that sensitivity goes away. Meanwhile, I won’t be chewing on that side for however long I have to wait to get the real thing installed.

          I wrote the above this morning before I made my beef stroganoff and went out into the garden. My tooth seems to be okay, but I’m certainly more aware of it than I was yesterday. Am definitely not chewing on the right side. So, hoping for the best. 

          To change topics, Robert Burns is the individual who said, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Well, I didn’t exactly have the “best-laid plans,” but I did make some plans and I do believe they are all going to go “awry.” 

          If you remember, I planned to have a huge garage sale the end of July, beginning of August as well as look into selling my house and moving. Well, I don’t think either of those plans are going to see fruition. With everyone’s finances in jeopardy, it’s not likely anyone is going to be going to garage sales to buy more stuff. And, who knows at this point what will happen with the house market. It’s also not like I can get out there and see what’s available.

          As for E-Bay, I did put three items up for sale. There hasn’t been a single nibble. I looked for other items similar to the ones I put up and made my price less. I wonder if there’s some way to find out if E-bay sales are way down during the pandemic? Anyway, I’m not going to relist anything at this point in time. It’s really kind of disappointing because I was feeling very gung-ho about my plans.

           I’m not alone though because everyone who had any sort of plans, whether it was to get a permanent crown, visit Europe, have a potluck, has had to cancel those plans. I’m lucky to have a home in which to shelter, a television and computer to keep me updated, amused or entertained, a smart phone if I become desperate for the sound of someone else’s voice. If I absolutely have to have something, I can order online and have it delivered.

          So, plans awry or not, I’m very fortunate and am counting my blessings…just hope one of those blessings is a very quiet tooth for another month or so.

PLEASURE FROM GIVING

         Yesterday I did something that was really fun. It also made me feel very good. I wish I had done it nine years ago when I first retired. I actually had the idea some time ago, and did it first with my granddaughter. She took some of the items offered, but not many. Perhaps in time her tastes will change and she’ll inherit what was once Nana’s from her mom.

          In my 74+ years of life…well, okay, more like 60 since I quit making purchases of this sort some time ago…I’ve acquired quite a bit of jewelry. Some of it is very nice, but in any case, I liked everything I had. I wore jewelry every single day when I was working. now retired, the options for jewelry wearing just don’t arise that often.

          At Christmas time, I gave Angie a necklace and earrings my boss had brought me from Africa. I also gave daughter-in-law Amber her first pieces of amber…necklace and earrings. It made me feel very good to see Angie wearing her gift on Christmas day. I asked my first daughter-in-law, Angie, if she’d like to go through my jewelry and take whatever she liked. At some point, the second daughter-in-law will be invited to do the same.

So, AJ, Angie and Haley all came over (We’re safe because we’ve been sheltering at home and taking extreme care to stay healthy.) late Tuesday afternoon. AJ and Haley came to set up the have-a-hart trap again. I’m sad to say not only has another rat come to visit, but he’s apparently brought his wife and child. There’s the big guy and two smaller ones. So, we’ll see if any of them visit the inside of the trap tonight. I’m sure we won’t be lucky enough to get all three in there at one time.

          Anyway, while AJ and Haley stayed outside to rat watch and set up the trap, Angie and I went through my jewelry boxes. She was amazed at my memory of almost every piece of jewelry. I so enjoyed going through it and telling her who gave it to me, or where I bought it and how much I liked the various pieces. It probably took more than an hour.

          For some of the pieces, I offered the box in which it had been kept. With the exception of two boxes, she declined the remainder. It got to be kinda funny when I’d open the box, show the jewelry which she’d take and then go, “How about the box?”  I even offered to give her my largest jewelry box for all her new treasures. She declined that, but said she’d let me know if she changed her mind.

          I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to seeing Angie wearing jewelry that gave me so much pleasure over the years. I’m also looking forward to remembering from whom or where the particular pieces came when I see it again. It was so fun and enjoyable to walk down that memory lane with Angie.

          There were some pieces I didn’t offer because they still give me pleasure and I do wear them on occasion. I also didn’t offer the various gifts that John made to me over the years. I do still wear those gifts because they mean so much to me and hold such memories. Those rings, earrings, and pearl necklace were appraised when we had our Estate Plan done (I have to laugh every time I see the Estate Planning Portfolio. That sounds like something folks like the Gates and the Bezos would have, not a simple middle-class couple.) and will be inherited by our granddaughter and grandson when I join John and all our pets under the apple tree.

          It is true…there is great pleasure to be had in giving.  

SURVIVALIST TIME???

         On Friday, I went to the grocery store. Actually, I went to three of them because I wanted to purchase some yeast to make bread. The first store, I did my actual shopping. The other two, I walked in, perused the aisle that held baking materials, found empty shelves. There was no yeast, flour, sugar or whatever else usually went on those shelves. 

          Now, I knew people were buying huge amounts of stuff, but I thought it was pretty much limited to toilet paper, cleaning products and hand sanitizer. I guess I just hadn’t been aware of the baking items because I hadn’t needed anything in that aisle in the past. I did notice on past visits that some of the other aisles with things like dried beans, rice, pasta, all that sort of stuff was pretty much gone. But, there again, I didn’t really need any of those products.

          On Saturday I talked to a friend and was complaining about being unable to find yeast. She said her daughter had a lot of yeast and was searching for flour. Later on, she texted to tell me her daughter’s husband had scored huge bags, like 100 pounds each, of rice, beans, flour and sugar. She also texted that he was going to build two large greenhouses. I told her she wasn’t going to have to worry about food with them living in the same city.

          All this served to remind me of a good friend we had long ago. He became sort of a survivalist. He bought some land, built a house and a barn and planted a variety of trees and crops. He also had well water. His explanation was that when there was no more oil, trucks wouldn’t be able to supply the grocery stores. Plus, we wouldn’t be able to get to the grocery store to purchase food. When that happened, he’d be able to take care of his family. He also had a rather large arsenal, so he’d be able to keep those of us who hadn’t planned ahead from trying to take advantage of his efforts. This friend is no longer with us, but I wonder what he’d have to say about the way things have developed in the first three-plus months of 2020?

          Meanwhile, I’m left wondering what the heck is going on. Has everyone decided to become a survivalist? Is everyone suddenly baking bread and cookies and a variety of other things that utilize those products? Is everyone suddenly cooking meals from scratch and looking up recipes on the internet? I’ll admit that I’m cooking more than I did before and putting the extra in the freezer to utilize later.

          Today, I’m making stroganoff and will have it for dinner today and tomorrow, then the rest into the freezer. Later in the week I want to make 15-bean soup as well as bake some onion-dill bread. My walking partner is being kind enough to give me enough yeast to make the bread. In return, I’ll give her one of the two loaves of bread. After that, I think I’ll eat out of the freezer for a few days since I seem to be running out of storage bowls.

          My walking partner also made me a mask which I wore yesterday when I went out and about. We also wore our masks this morning when we walked. I was amazed to see so many people out and about both yesterday afternoon and this morning. Everyone must be getting cabin fever. And the reactions of the various people are different from person to person. Some say hello and smile, some just smile and nod and others walk with a scowly face and don’t acknowledge that you are even there. I’m sure the virus cannot be spread with a smile and head nod. How hard is it to be kind?

          I don’t know about the majority of you who read my blog, but each morning when I watch my 20 minutes of Good Morning America, my terror/anxiety level rises. So far, it hasn’t risen far enough to keep me from going to the grocery store, but that’s as far as I do go. I’m beginning to wonder if I should start ordering what I need on line. How about all of you? Are you wearing a mask, using hand sanitizer every other minute, ordering in instead of going out? Are you, like me, getting more and more concerned about when this will end? Will it end? It seems like its been going on forever. I’m ready for this virus to disappear. I’m sure you are too.  

FALLING TO MY KNEES

         Sunday morning I fell out of bed…literally!!! On Saturday, I cleaned my bedroom from top to bottom, removed, washed and replaced all the bedding. The one thing I didn’t replace was the rug that rests alongside my bed. The floor was clean, my feet were clean and apparently when I put the two together, one or both was slick, so I fell…to my knees.

          I may not have been quite awake before my knees hit the floor, but let me tell you that pain has a way of really opening your eyes. I moved so I could sit on my butt and put my shoes on. It was certainly harder getting up than it was going down. The good news is I didn’t break anything. The bad news is that some skin was removed from each knee, due to sliding on the slick floor I guess, and I’ll most likely develop a bruise or have sore knees for a while.

          In all seriousness, I wonder if my body isn’t trying to tell me something, i.e., DO NOT WASH FLOORS ON YOUR KNEES!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s how I cleaned the bathroom and my bedroom floors. I guess my body, especially my knees, was not happy with that decision. For the remainder of the floors in the house, I guess I’ll have to go back to using the steam machine which I hate.

          On Saturday, I also noticed I have a huge purple bruise on the inside of my thigh. I have no memory of pinching myself there or running into something with that portion of my anatomy. In fact, I’m not sure you could run into something with the inside of your thigh. Since the bruise is about the size of a small lemon, I think the injury would have had to hurt. But, I have no memory of any pain or discomfort associated with this bruise. 

          Now I have to wonder if my brain or memory is having difficulty as well. Will I wake up tomorrow and wonder why I have bruises on my knees or why my knees are painful? I know I’ll continue to wonder how that thigh bruise originated. They (whoever they are) always say you forget the pain of childbirth. Well, I’m here to tell you that isn’t actually true. I do remember the pain, but I also remember it didn’t last all that long and the result was worth it. I’m sure there are women out there who will disagree with those statements, but it’s my reality I’m writing about.

          Fortunately, neither my thigh nor my knees resulted in my being unable to get up and move about. I do know as I sat on the floor putting my shoes on, I did think about how long I would have had to stay there were I seriously injured until someone came along and found me. I did laugh at the image of myself saying, “Help, I’ve fallen and can’t get up.” I also had my cell phone nearby, so I could have called for help if needed. Still, living alone is certainly one adventure after another.

          I also had a kind of waking weird dream before I fell out of bed. I could hear my kitty, Zooey, meowing very loudly. She’s able to get into the attic and would sometimes sit on the door to the attic and meow for John. The weird part is that I heard John’s door open and footsteps down the hall. I remember snuggling back into my pillow thinking, he’ll take care of her. Then, poof, my eyes flew open and it took me a minute or so to remember that he was no longer here. I have to admit that during the time I thought he had opened his door and was walking down the hall, I felt very secure and comforted. I find myself wishing that warm snuggly feeling could have lasted longer. It would have been even better had he been able to come to my aid as my knees began to throb. It would have been really nice if he’d been here to help me get to my feet.

          Still, I did manage on my own. That’s more than enough to be thankful for this Sunday morning.

WALKER WARS OR HEY MARK BURNETT/JEFF PROBST CHECK THIS OUT

         The following is something I wrote about six years ago. It’s not exactly as I wrote it then. I’ve updated it to be more current, although it’s highly unlikely any of us could resort to something like this during the pandemic.  

No matter what happens, I generally try to find humor in most situations. Over the last six years, I’ve had two total hip replacements and a shoulder repair. John was my caretaker for the hip replacements, but not so much for the shoulder repair which took far longer to heal. It was fortunate my surgeon didn’t see or meet John or I might have been sent to a rehab facility. It’s not likely the surgeon would have wanted me to have a caretaker that had been using a walker in the house for more than a year. That’s not to say John couldn’t get around because he could…slowly but his walker makes him appear less capable.
         

 I didn’t have a choice about using a walker after the hip replacements, and brought my own home from the hospital. Our house is conducive to walker use except for a couple of places. One day, as I rounded the door jamb into the kitchen, John was poised to enter the kitchen from the other end. I exclaimed,

          “Oh no, we’re going to crash.” And laughed. John wasn’t amused.

A day or so later, I came out of the bedroom into the hallway just as John prepared to come down the hallway. I squared my walker off, twisted my hands on the handles and made motorcycle sounds. I coined the term Walker War, and again, John was not amused.

During a phone conversation with our son, I told him about our Walker War and elaborated on how there should be a reality show called Walker Wars. My son was also not amused…where were their senses of humor. 

Following that conversation which had me laughing until my eyes teared, I gave the Walker Wars idea even more thought and think it could be a reality show gem. I mean really. Back then (and maybe now) people actually watched the Kardashians, some other show about extreme cheapskates, Tiger King, and a wide variety of others where the commercials for them make me wonder, “Who the hell watches that stuff?” How could my Walker Wars program possibly fail?

Here’s my concept for when our lives return to normal. Nursing homes/skilled facilities/retirement homes around the country could vie for a spot on the show. The contests could be held either in the homes or at some nearby facility that would be conducive to this program. Winners of regional contests would move to state and the winner there to nationals. The national winners would receive a million dollar renovation for their home or some kind of reward that would benefit the residents.

Can’t you picture a wide hall in one of those homes, both sides crowded with wheelchair bound residents and the spry contestants at one end with their walkers all gussied up. In fact, that could be a separate contest which could include walker users that don’t wish to compete in the war. There are people who really like to fancy up their walkers, so there could be prizes for the most beautiful, disguised or decorative walker…how fun would that be?

Back to Walker Wars. The MC, (ala Jeff Probst) would be stationed on a small slightly raised platform in the middle of the hallway, maybe in a doorway. He begins by raising the crowd’s excitement level, identifying the contestants and providing some background for each. Then, it’s time. The MC says,

            “Walkers ready?” and following a brief pause, shouts “GO!!!!!”

Immediately, the walkers at the end of the hall begin to move forward. The MC encourages and provides commentary:

          “Look at #5, already ahead of the pack. Oh, #11, you’re going to have to pick it up if you want to stay in the game.  Oh no, looks like Walker #8 has fallen and can’t get up…staff are rushing to the rescue. It’s #5 and #14 at the midway point. Who’s going to make it to the end first? You better increase your steps #14 or #5 is going to get there first.”

The commentary can continue in this vein until one of the walkers reaches the other end of the hall. Imagine the excitement which could include heart attacks, strokes and who knows what other problems all these thrills might bring to the residents and participants. Most likely the greatest exhilaration anyone living there has had in a very long time. I’d be willing to bet the majority of the residents would absolutely love to participate in such an experience.  I know I would if I were there.

So, that’s my idea for a reality show that anyone of a certain age could really get behind. For that matter, it could appeal to the younger generations as well, sort of an encouragement program to show them how to age well. I’m sure the majority of us would much rather watch something like this than something called Tiger King or Growing up Hip-Hop or the Kardashians. 

Wonder if Mark or Jeff will catch this and make it a reality. I know I’d tune in every single week to watch my contemporaries duke it out with their walkers…hell, I’d even join them with the most customized walker ever when the time came. How about you???

AUTHORS' IMAGININGS NOW REALITY

        Earlier this week, I did something I’ve never done before. I went to an author’s website and left a message. The author was Stephen King and the message had to do with his book, THE STAND. It was first published in 1978. I copied and pasted a short summary: 

The plot centers on a pandemic of a weaponized strain of influenza that kills almost the entire world population. The few survivors, united in groups, establish a new social system and engage in confrontation with each other. In writing the book, King sought to create an epic in the spirit of The Lord of the Rings that was set in contemporary America. 

As with many of the books Mr. King has written, I loved THE STAND. Subsequently, the book was reissued in 1990 with an additional 150 pages that had been deleted from the original. I read it again.

The reason I sent Mr. King a message, although I don’t know if he’ll actually ever read it because his web person takes care of the site, is because there hasn’t been a day for more than a month now that I haven’t thought about this book. What’s happening these days is exactly what happened in his book, although his virus originated in New Mexico or Arizona rather than China. But, it did go worldwide as the Coronavirus has.

His book concerned survivors, both good and bad people, who lived in the United States. There was no internet or major news sources or daily updates about what was going on. In some ways, I think I’d prefer to be living in King’s book. What the positive or good survivors had going for them was a dream they kept having about a woman in Colorado. They absolutely had to travel there. Thanks to my computer, television and phone, if I’m going to have any dreams, they’re going to be nightmares.

I know there have been other books and movies about a variety of viruses or diseases that decimate the population. In fact, I just used the internet to look up books with this theme. I found a list of 152 and recognized some that I’d read during my lifetime. THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, THE HOT VIRUS, OUTBREAK, THE MAZE RUNNER, THE PLAGUE are all books about society being affected by something like coronavirus. Albert Camus’ THE PLAGUE was published in 1947, and there may be books that a were published even earlier with this topic. A number of these books have been made into movies.

          In thinking about the authors of all these books, I wonder what they think or feel to see this kind of a pandemic affecting the entire world. They were using their imaginations to create a different take on the world. I enjoyed reading what they imagined and never believed that I’d actually live during a time those imaginings became my reality.

          Instead of another interview with some talking head or another press conference by our “fearless leader,” I wish some enterprising reporter would contact Stephen King or Robin Cook, or Michael Crichton or James Dashner and interview them about how they feel seeing their imaginations brought to life. I actually don’t know who is and isn’t alive in the names I just typed (except for King), but out of a 152 books there has to be more authors than King that are alive.

          Meanwhile, I think I’ll save that list and see if the library can provide me with ebook copies of ones that sound interesting. Perhaps if I read another person’s imaginings, I can pretend or forget that I’m currently living the real thing…at least for a little while.

UPDATES

        

Hunter & Trophy

RAT UPDATE – We caught the rat in the have-a-hart trap Tuesday night. He pretty much ignored it until after dark. When I went out to lock the chicken up, both Karma and Kaizer were fascinated by the rat in the trap. It made me wonder if their rat terrier DNA had surged to the forefront when they could actually see him. I also didn’t realize rats made noise, but apparently K&K terrified him and he sort of screamed…not loudly, but I could hear him.

          He was still there Wednesday morning, so AJ and Haley came back over to take care of him. AJ dispatched him and Haley took the photo you see here of the big hunter. In addition, AJ and Haley went around the yard with a shovel and cleaned up after K&K. I just did it Sunday afternoon and it’s only Wednesday afternoon, but I swear those dogs poop every single time they go outside. It doesn’t surprise me about Kaizer because he’s a little fat pig. Karma is very picky about her food and I worry sometimes that she’s not getting enough. If I don’t watch, Kaizer sneaks over to her dish and finishes it off before I can pick it up.

          So, the rat has been expeditiously sent on its way to that big rat heaven wherever it’s located. Now, if only the squirrels and birds come to help Mabel eat her chicken food, that will be a very good thing.

          FOOD UPDATE – I believe Wednesday’s post told you I had takeout from Briley’s BBQ on Tuesday. For Wednesday, I went online and ordered from MOD Pizza. I had a Caesar salad as I think I indicated I planned to do as well as pizza with my favorite toppings. Unfortunately, they didn’t understand that I wanted additional mozzarella on top once they’d finished adding the toppings. I missed that, but it was still very tasty. I had it for linner, but could only eat half, so I finished it off before I went to bed later that night.

          Thursday, (yesterday) I decided to cook for myself since I had a salad I’d already made, some potatoes I could cut up and mix with onion, garlic and a bit of taco seasoning and bake in the little oven. Today (Friday), I’ll need to go to the grocery store, but I’ll put it off until after noon and then pick up either Thai or Panera.

          HOUSE CLEANING UPDATE – I know, who really cares about this, but I did finally finish cleaning the bathroom. It only took me most of this week, so it’s probably time to start over in there. In any case, I removed all the glass, ran it through the dishwasher, cleaned the windows and mirrors, replaced glass, vacuumed and then, oh my Lord, I washed the floor on my hands and knees, so it’s really clean and sparkles. (By the way, that's how I actually dress when I'm cleaning!!!)

          I figure if I take one room a week and clean from the ceiling to the floor, eventually, I’ll have everything super clean inside. On the other hand, the weather forecast calls for temps in the 60s beginning next Tuesday, so I just may have to forego any further cleaning until the weather sucks again. I really want to be outside in warm sunshine.

          Finally, at the beginning of the week, everyone on Good Morning America was talking about the show Tiger King on Netflix. I watched a few episodes Wednesday night, and was left wondering who these people are and why we would want to watch their antics. The animal rights activist doesn’t seem to be any better than the Tiger King who breeds big cats and then sells the right to play with the kittens. As a former zoo employee, both of them raised my hackles and I would love to see one of those big cats turn and show them who’s actually boss. I’d also like to smack those folks who pay for the right to have their pictures taken with the kittens and the right to play with them.

          Anyway, I’m sure there are people who love these kinds of shows and watch them faithfully, but I don’t believe I’ll watch any further episodes. There’s a lot of truth to that old saw, “It takes all kinds.”