Wednesday, March 23, 2022

 Wednesday, March 23, 2022

 

  I called to speak to a Kaiser advice nurse before 5 pm last night. I got a call back from Maria. I told her I suspected a UTI and wanted to get a test. It was too late to get hold of a doctor. She told me not to act until I heard from her, saying the order had gone through. I got that call at 8:30 this morning. I assured her I would go down to Kaiser when I hung up. I did that. 

   The Kaiser setup was streamlined. Instead of waiting until a tech called me, the lab receptionist handed me a cup, told me to use the public bathroom and place the filled cup in a towel-lined basin on her desk. Great, I was in and out in minutes.

    I went home to complete my blog entry for March 23, 2021. When I finished that, I explored finding the blog. I typed in something about Mike's death. A blog came up called Mike's Death; Betty's life. It had a picture of Mike and me and the format I preferred. On the right side of the screen, the entries were listed by year. If you clicked on 2019, the months were listed. If you clicked on the month, all those entries came up. The blog site I currently have automatic access to is different. It's called, With Mike; Without Mike, it doesn't have a picture of us, and you don't have unlimited access to the entries. I have no idea what happened.  

      At 9:30, I was off to Kona Vet for Elsa's appointment.   She was six months late for a vaccination. I discovered this because Petco required a vaccination certificate before grooming her. The vet receptionist told me they had told me I had to come back in three weeks after my last visit. They told me to bring her back in three weeks after a visit but not why. I assumed it was to assess her skin lesions. They hadn't given her the vaccine because they had given her an antibiotic.

   Today, the doctor came out to talk to me. I didn't particularly like her. She hadn't read the notes before she came out to examine her. I wanted her to check her ears as well as give the vaccination. I also requested another tube of the salve to treat her lesions. It works. When the tech came out to return Elsa, she commented on what a dream dog she was. She didn't need someone to hold her while treating her ears. Elsa stood still. Then she handed me a bottle of antibiotics. She said the doctor prescribed them because she wanted to get on top of the infection before it got out of hand. The woman hadn't heard a word I said. I refused the medicine and made it clear that I wanted the salve. I got what I wanted. The tech asked me if I wanted Elsa to get an injection for her ear infection or did I want a seven-day treatment I had to administer. I chose the latter. The less medicine I pump into her, the more I like it.

    I had Mama K's crew this afternoon. I only had the girls. Third-grade K had fallen asleep and was out. While the girls had no idea what they wanted to write about, it was easy to pull something out of them and develop them.

     I had two more chores on my list for the day. I had to get more Kangen water from Paulette and go to Peter's to help him set up my new Surface Pro tablet.   I asked him yesterday, and he said he was happy to do it even though Mei had volunteered him. I dropped it off yesterday, but he needed me to complete the setup. It all took about an hour. Mei said, "She was making 'something." She was trying to say dumplings. She was going to give me some.   

   I asked her if she wanted me to show her how to improve her pronunciation. Sure. I knew the /d/ sound existed in Chinese. It probably never occurred with a short /u/ after it. I showed her how to do the crossbody blending exercise. You must say both phonemes separately repeatedly, alternating between the two. In doing that, you are both making the sounds and experiencing the transition in slo-mo. Your tongue has a chance to practice. After a few passes, she could say 'dumplings' without looking like she was wrestling her tongue to the mat. 

       Peter said he and Mei were too old to learn to pronounce English. I told him no. Most people correct pronunciation by repeating the whole word. "No. Not something, dumpling." That doesn't work for two reasons. It reinforces the incorrect pronunciations.   Saying the whole word forces the student to associate the sound of the word with its meaning. The meaning is strongly associated with the person's native pronunciation. Second, repeating the whole word doesn't isolate the troubling sound combinations; it doesn't give the student a chance to focus on that change. Changing pronunciation is a physical activity. It's like learning a new acrobatic move, only with the tongue. It requires the same degree of focus. The motor strip needs time before it makes the necessary changes.

   When I got back from Peter's, I called Paulette. Did you get my messages? Nope. I wanted to come over to get water. She was coming home from PT. I should come up. I packed the bottles into the car, Elsa and the trimmers Paulette had lent me.   Today, we made sure Elsa didn't get locked in Paulette's house. The last time we were here, Elsa pooped. 

   Paulette, Judy, and Judy's seven-year-old grandson worked on a jigsaw puzzle. Paulette always has one going. Leon has learned skills doing these puzzles with Auntie P. His visual perception skills are off the chart; he can articulate why a piece might or might not belong in a particular section. I didn't participate today. I just watched the three of them interact. It was lovely.

   The days feel thin. I often want to do nothing more than sit and nap or meditate. When I napped earlier, I had that lovely floating feeling. I thought I was somewhat depressed. While I enjoyed being with people, the thought of getting together felt like an effort.

   I continued watching Brokenwood Mysteries- just right for me.