Wednesday, May 10, 2023

 Wednesday, May 10, 2023

      Today, the scale registered the same as yesterday, 146. No change.

     When I sat down to my Apple MacBook to post the May 9, 2022 blog entry, the computer was dead. I tried to get Zoom on the tablet, hoping it had self-corrected. It hadn’t. Brian had already told me he couldn’t help with my Zoom problem. He tried with the Apple MacBook. Is the computer plugged in? Yes. I checked all connections. Hold down the start button. Had done that already but tried again. Now press the start button once. That did nothing. Press the up-volume button. That was the end of his suggestions. Sorry, contact Apple Support. I texted asking if he was advising against my taking it to a local computer repair store. He told me not to go to the one I had used before but to go to Jack Be Click; Bailey was amazing. 

     I had a two pm appointment at Kaiser with my GYN doctor. I left at one pm to drop off the computer. I had some trouble finding the shop. The GPS gives confusing directions. I made my left-hand turn too soon and got stuck in an alley. I called the shop. He told me he was on the road parallel to the alley. I turned right onto a one-way entrance, a right onto the roadway, and an immediate right into the strip mall parking lot to find Jack Be Click.  

     Bailey took my information and issued me a ticket. He said the diagnostic would take a few hours. I hoped he would get back to me before the end of the day, but he didn’t. 

     I have many files on the computer that are not on iCloud or OneDrive. I would have to get that information off the hard drive if the laptop died. I know that can be done; I’ve done it before.

     I made it in plenty of time for my appointment at Kaiser. My breasts hurt, both of them. I wasn’t too concerned. Cancer doesn’t happen in both breasts at the same time. Yesterday, I figured out what the problem was. The doctor had prescribed an estrogen cream a while ago. I hadn’t been using it the way it was prescribed. Last month, I started following directions. That meant I got a higher dose regularly. I figured out that my discomfort corresponded with my increased drug use. I used a lower dose last night. My breasts hurt less this morning. That was a pretty good indication I was on the right track. n

       I told her I had figured out the problem when the doctor arrived. It was the estrogen cream. She said she was going to tell me the same thing. She apologized for not warning me. Not everyone has that reaction. I am peculiarly sensitive to all medications.

   I was going to stop at Costco to pick up the lemons I couldn’t get yesterday. There was a shipment either last night or this morning. Wednesday and Saturday are the best days to shop since there’s a fresh shipment the day before. We live on an island. We are dependent on boats bringing us stuff from the mainland. We would be screwed if that supply chain was interrupted.

     When I got home, I tried to get Zoom working on my tablet. Zoom stopped working about a week ago. Good luck getting help from Zoom. The community tries to solve problems. Many people complained about Zoom’s dysfunction on their computers. When I initiated a Zoom meeting, either the New Meeting icon was grey and inoperative, or I got on, and the screen was black. That’s what I got the first time I signed in. I called Mama K to tell her I thought sharing documents with the kids and speaking to them would work well enough. I didn’t need to have my image visible. When I signed in again, the New Meeting icon was grey, and Zoom was unavailable. I called Mama K to cancel for the day.  

     Scott finally solved my Zoom problem. I tried to follow the directions Zoom had provided. They thanked the community for all the feedback and posted possible solutions. Delete all cookies, etc., and firewalls. That didn’t work. Scott restarted the computer. I shut it down and restarted it. Apparently, that is not the same thing as a Restart. You have to press the restart function. You could see the computer processing the updates. When it was done, Zoom worked just fine. Holy cow! Thank you, Scott.  

    I had a session with Adolescent D today at four pm instead of our usual two pm time because of my doctor’s appointment. I could meet with him on the phone without using Zoom. I asked him if he had completed the notetaking assignment we had started working on. Yes, and he had handed it in. Did he tell his mom? No.  

    I asked him if he had a list of all the assignments he hadn’t completed. Yes, on his computer. The school, which combines online and in-person, lists them on its computer site. He had fifteen unfinished assignments. I told him to print them out. He had trouble with the printer. We just looked at the list. I told him to pick one assignment and highlight it. Whenever you have an overwhelming task, you must break it down into manageable units. Everything is made up of steps.   

     Washing the dishes is made up of steps. 1. Turn on the water, 2. Pick up the sponge, etc. 3. Wet the sponge, 4. Turn off the water. 5. Put soap on the sponge. 6. Pick up a single item. 7. Scrub it with the soapy sponge 8. Turn the water back on. 9. Rinse the item.  10. Put it in the drying rack. It’s easy to skip listing a step because we take so much of it for granted when we’re used to doing it. How else would you do it? But we each had to learn or devise steps to complete a chore.

     He picked an assignment to write answers to questions in a book. These were personal questions: What habit would you like to acquire? What are the barriers to achieving it? What reward would motivate you to do it? Who could help you be accountable for getting it done? We worked on the first two. He said something and then didn’t write it.  

     He explained that he usually dictates it into the computer and then copies it. I said fine. I helped him revise his first answer. “I want to be able to do my homework when I come home from school.”  When he stated the barrier to doing this, he said, “I’m nervous.” I asked, nervous about what? He didn’t know. I gave him a few suggestions. He said he feared he wouldn’t do a good enough job. Well, that’s an excellent answer. I’m glad he said it. I’ve been working on helping him recognize that for quite some time.  

     He agreed to finish writing the answers to the questions. We could go over it together on Friday. I could help him revise his answers to sound better. I told him that I used to ask my father for help all the time. I felt I couldn’t do the work at all on my own.   

     This was great work! Maybe I can help D learn to tackle these scary projects. His mother or I can help him refine his work. We’ve both volunteered to help him. Maybe I’m better suited to this task because I can help him learn to break the work down into bite-sized pieces he can manage.