Tuesday, March 28, 2023

 Tuesday, March 28, 2023

I was overcome with sadness again this morning. The weird thing is it clears up at night.  

  I had an appointment with the chiropractor for twelve-fifteen. I diligently set my alarm for half an hour before to make sure I was there on time, even though I was sure Lisa would be running late. I have little grounds for complaint. I am also a beneficiary of her long, indulgent sessions.

As I was heading down Kaiminani, I got a call from her. She was running half an hour late. Did I have a chore I could do in town? I thought of stopping off at Home Depot to pick up a gardening tool but decided against it. There was a chance I would wait fifteen minutes in the parking lot before I got a space. That's what happened last time. Today, I got a space right away.

 I spent my wait time sitting in the open-air atrium in the center of the building, watching a Yoga-go video. Of course, I couldn't do all the postures under those circumstances, but I couldn't do them anyway because of my rib problem. Just watching someone go through moves triggers mirror neurons and has an impact. I did a little more than that. I made small moves following the directions of the model. I should do it every day. While limited, I still execute a range of motion I wouldn't get in otherwise.

  When the video finished, I read more of Times of the Magicians. The section I am currently reading details Wittgenstein's frustration with getting his work understood and accepted. Man, I sympathize with his dilemma.

   When I walked into the office, Lisa was still finishing with her previous client. She was about to wipe down the table and then run off to pee when her phone rang. The conversation went something like this. Is your situation desperate? Can you wait an hour? She hung up. The phone rang again. "You need me to come now? You think they're going to kill you? Have you called the police?" When Lisa got off the phone, she explained the situation. Her friend became a companion to a dying older man worth thirty-nine million dollars. She was in his will. She believed his relatives helped him on his way by overdosing on his medication. When she called Lisa, the woman was hiding in the bushes, saying she thought his children were trying to kill her.   

    I asked Lisa if this was a friend was somewhat off the mark. No. She wants me to be a witness. Lisa was casual. I told her I thought she should go. I left the office. As I drove out of the parking lot, I saw Lisa was still in her office. She didn't seem to be in a particular hurry. I headed home. Only afterward it dawned on me that sending her into a potentially dangerous situation was ridiculous. The woman needed the police, not a friend.

  I had third-grade Kps at four p.m. We worked on long division. I gave her a problem to solve to see what she did with it. She was completely off the mark. Then, after five or ten minutes, she did the problem perfectly and said, "I always knew how to do it." I asked her why she didn't do it correctly the first time. I felt tricked.

  I talked with her grandmother after the session. Her son, Kps's father, died of an overdose. He had been drug-free for 4 years. He lost his job due to Covid. She found him dead in his room downstairs. Kps lived with him in the basement. She said her son and Kps were very close. Fortunately, Grandma found her son before Kps did.

 I also learned Kps's mother is into alcohol and possibly drugs. She prostituted herself for a while. It sounds like she has a history of sexual abuse.

 I got some work done on the will. I checked a newly printed copy against the others I had already checked against the original. It looks reasonably good. I ran into a problem with the formatting of the document that threw me off course.

  Yvette called. She was at Costco. Would I share a sweet kale salad package with her? They come in two packs. I buy them regularly. If left in plastic bags, they spoil quickly. I take them from those packages and wrap the salad fixings in a kitchen terry cloth towel. It lasts a long time that way.

 I went to get the charger out of my car. The charger no longer released at the injection site. I had to open the hood and pull a release button. I had fun doing that. The button didn't work this time. Now what? I had a hairdresser appointment on Thursday. I stayed calm and started thinking of alternatives.  

    When Scott came home, I told him about the problem. He said he would look at it immediately. It was already dark. I told him to wait till morning. He went and figured it out in two seconds. The emergency pull cord was not designed for repeated use. I had been pulling on the orange knob with one hand while holding up the hood with the other. I had to prop the hood, hold down a black plastic sheath with one hand and pull the orange knob with the other. The plastic sheath was pulling up with the knob. He rescued my car and me. He is a delight to have around. He is considerate of me and has a great understanding of mechanical objects. He's very helpful.

   Paco, the guy Mr. Lemus had recommended to fix my irrigation system, called back. He said he would stop by sometime next week. I prefer to wait for Mr. Lemus. When he surveyed the job, he explained his plans and why. My kind of guy. Also, he has tried to find someone to do the job for me when he couldn't. He has been very considerate and reliable.

  Around five-thirty, while I was sitting in my old-lady chair typing away, I heard someone at the front door. It was Lutz with my dinner. He had made a lamb and green bean stew and was bringing me some. He said it had started to ferment. He made a large pot of it last night. It hadn't cooled enough to refrigerate when he went to bed. It sat out all night. He told me to freeze or boil it immediately to kill the fermentation. I boiled it. I went out to join him and his son Brian for my evening walk when it was through.

  Lutz worked as an X-ray technician for Kaiser for years. He is a glutton for scientific information. I asked him how it could be that I had severe osteoporosis at fifty, the bones of an eighty-year-old, and now, at eighty-two, I had osteopenia. He asked if I had taken any medication. Yes, I had taken Boniva and been on hormone replacement. He said, there's your explanation. I still want to know why I lost so much bone mass before menopause.