Friday, November 5, 2021
I lay awake before it was time to get up. I applied the acupuncture pen for about half an hour before I got up. It always helps. Amazing!
As I sat on my bed putting one my toe sling, Elsa sat at my feet, placing her ball confidently for me to see, pick up and throw. She is so clever. She puts her ball in my shoes or clothes (if they are on the floor) to make sure I see it. I had already put on my left pink Croc; the other leg was pulled up to access my toes. She put the ball in one of the red Crocs. Noting that I had a pink Croc on already, she took the ball out of the red Croc and moved it to the right pink one. She is so smart.
This morning, I talked with one of my walking friends who is struggling over her will. She has two sons: one is fiscally responsible, the other not at all. How to write the will? For reasons I couldn’t possibly explain, this situation came to mind this morning in response to a conversation we had several weeks ago. When I saw her this morning, I asked if I could share my thoughts. “Sure. I am happy to hear any suggestions.” Have you asked him if he is aware that he has problems with money and how he feels about having an executive control his funds? No. I‘m always in favor of asking people about their own thinking. I asked if this son has a history of drug use. Yes. Oh, boy. That changes things. This poor guy is screwed up six ways from Sunday. She told me he’s a fixer; he’s been involved with one screwed-up woman after another. He got involved with one who spoke about wishing she was dead. He finally moved her out; she was dead two days later. How’s this for a melodramatic history. As we parted, I said, “Ask him. Worst case scenario, he’ll tell you to go fuck yourself. I doubt it will be the first time.”
I had a medical appointment with Kaiser at 10:45. I wanted to get a few chores done before. I left the house early. My first stop was at Texture to pick up the granite slabs I ordered for Mike’s and my gravestones. They’ve been in for a while. Getting the necessary engraving winds up being more of a challenge than I anticipated. There is only one woman in town who does engraving; she doesn’t answer phone calls. I checked out brass plating. That has to be done on the mainland and will cost $1000 per. Then there is the inlay process which I am currently exploring, which will also run $1000 per gravestone, but it will be local. I have an appointment with the woman who does that process on Monday at 8:30. She sounds like she is easily flustered. I may have problems getting the information out of her.
Eli, who manages Texture, drove off in a forklift, left the property, and returned with a flat with my two slabs. He lifted them easily and loaded them into my car. He asked me if I had anyone to unload them when I got home. I can get Yvette and/or Adam to help. Not Scott or Josh because they are both dealing with injuries. I asked how much they weighed. Seventy-five pounds. Eli lifted them easily.
My next stop was at Farm and Garden. Margo recommended a soil amendment for my hibiscus. I had to ask her what a soil amendment was- a fifty-pound bale of something like mulch. I also picked up more honey. I have never been a big fan of the stuff, but I have discovered raw honey grown here on the island. Wow! What can I tell you? It’s up there with the surprise and delight I felt when I first ate a fresh-picked peach, and I do mean freshly picked.
Mike and I were at a party in South Jersey. The host invited me to walk down his driveway to show me something. He stopped at a peach tree, picked one, and handed it to me. Oh boy! Freshly picked anything is a horse of a whole other color.
On Paulette’s advice, I stopped off at Slumber World to check out their Murphy bed. I am not sure why a Murphy bed is better than a sofa bed. Theirs is a chest that opens up to a bed. I wanted one that had a sofa attached anyway. I like the kind where the mattress is a single piece that doesn’t fold. I would think you can close the bed up with all the bedclothes on. If you can’t do that, what’s the advantage of a Murphy bed over a convertible sofa? I will have to think about this. I am clear I want a Murphy bed made of solid wood. Anything metal rusts here and forget pressboard; it disintegrates in the sea air.
I had one more stop, Costco. I had never seen it so crowded, but I wanted to see if they had vinegar. They didn’t when I was in last week. Here you got to grab stuff when it is in. This has always been the case here; with the breakdown in the supply chain, it is worse. They had vinegar and also multigrain taco chips. Yay! They didn’t have it last time I was in either. So much better than the plain ones. I picked up more blueberries and two bags of lemons. The check-out lines were off the charts. I heard people on the line saying they had never seen it this bad. It’s the beginning of the month; people get their Snap benefits and hit the aisles.
I had time to go home, unpack my purchases, put the blueberries and lemons in the refrigerator, and take a nap. Then I went out again for my appointment at the Cryotherapy Clinic.
Yvette has been singing the praises of her Cryotherapy treatments. I was impressed when she told me of the impact on a friend with serious anxiety. Assuming I don’t have a heart attack from the shock of the severe temperature drop, it seemed worth a go. I had a choice of working on a specific area or doing a whole-body treatment. I wanted to start with the smaller option to see how I felt about it. I had thought of my hip or my right wrist, which has been giving me some trouble. Nikki asked, “Where does it hurt the most?” Actually, my mid-back. I think it has suffered because of the impact of the walking stick and my attachment to FreeCell. I chose that. She had me sit on a stool with my back bared. She stood behind me and moved a stream of nitrous oxide over that area of my back. It didn’t feel particularly cold. She did it for between five and seven minutes; I can’t remember what she said. At the end, she announced that she was unable to get the temperature to the target goal. I knew my back hurt at times, but I had no idea that I was dealing with that order of inflammation. She said she hoped it would do something. I felt confident that the full body treatment wouldn’t be too much of a shock; I made an appointment. Nikki showed me the tank and gave her spiel. I will step in basically naked except for gloves and socks. The base platform will be raised so my head will be above the tank. I will be in for three minutes. She will be with me the whole time. She can stop the process at any point if I experience discomfort. Yvette said the process got her temperature down to 380. I assume that was a skin temperature, not the core. Having lived in Madison, Wisconsin for five years, I adapted to 20 below when it felt like 60 below with the windchill factor. Of course, after living in Hawaii for six years, I now wear sweatshirts for a good part of the year.
I was exhausted after the busy day. I was supposed to have an appointment with the sister M & W. Damon called just before I had to sign in. I had only five minutes to talk to him. Then they didn’t sign in in a timely way. That was weird. Mom usually asked for the link minutes before the session. Today I was unusually late and no word from her. I called. They were at a doctor’s appointment. I called Damon back and headed out for one of my walks. I much preferred doing that today. When I read the whole text message, Mom was only asked for a 15-minute delay. Opps! When I contacted her, she said they were having dinner. We were all happy with canceling for the day.
I received the ‘certified check’ in a UPS envelope from my scammers. It’s like certified mail; they have proof of delivery. Now I have to figure out what to do with it. No, I have no thoughts of cashing it. I called the police station. The desk clerk recommended that I take it to the post office. I’m hoping I can take a picture of me handing it over. Darby told me when they got involved in a similar scam, the people threatened to call the police on them if they didn’t follow their directions. In Darby’s case, the check was for a service. In my case, it’s for a piece of furniture. I’m concerned the “movers’ that I’m supposed to pay will wind up at my house. I will have to be careful that I lock up everything before I leave.
The police officer I spoke to didn’t understand what I was saying immediately. Some of this was just a misunderstanding. I started by telling him I had spoken to someone at the station, probably too much information. I must have sounded agitated; I’m sure I was. He responded by telling me he was not the one I had spoken to. I must have sounded annoyed. He said, “If you don’t stop yelling at me, I will hang up.” I apologized. I’m well aware that I’m not if understood, I do something unpleasant with my voice. A very bad habit. Poor Mike had to suffer it. I don’t think I yelled, but my tone of voice changed. He would tell me not to speak to him in ‘my teacher voice.’ I try to avoid talking to students that way. I have worked most of my life to overcome this behavior. I didn’t have children because of it. It was how my mother responded whenever she didn’t get what she wanted. I hated it. I swore I wouldn’t pass it on to another generation.
When I took my evening walk, I could feel this difference in my posture as a result of the Cryotherapy. I felt particularly in the right side of my jaw.
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