Author: Peg

It just gets better and better.

• • News from the Asylum: “We are currently experiencing several cases of gastrointestinal illness on the Health Care Center which has been confirmed as Norovirus. We currently have 14 residents and 4 team members experiencing symptoms. ”  Note that 18 = several.
  • RFK, Jr was just confirmed as Sec HHS. When Mitch McConnell votes “correctly” you know you are in deep trouble.

Gratitude

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It can’t be that hard, woman. You must be grateful for something—something positive. Okay, grateful that the sun made an appearance this afternoon, that I was able to take a walk outside this morning, and that my  Kindle is stuffed with books. I am truly grateful that I moved myself into the Asylum in 2015 when I was still young enough to do it. Grateful for my afternoon coffee and cookie. Is that grateful enough, Carlton?

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Whenever I was grumpy Carlton would tell me to make a Gratitude List. 

And for the good news. . . At least according to one of my brokers:
Life Expectancy: There’s a 50% chance Peg will live to be at least 90 years old.

Or maybe that would be the bad news. Just think. In 10 years, I could still be sitting here in this same damn chair wondering who ever thought that black-eyed pea and spinach stew was a good idea for dinner.

Gratitude

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Grateful for my good chicken soup, an excellent brownie, and coffee. Grateful that I got a nice cardio workout using the stairs and hallways. There is no need to experience winter firsthand. 

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Spent most of the day cleaning up after the huge slideshow project. I had 640 photos in my catalog and on my computer. Needed to package them up and put them on an external drive never to be seen again. I couldn’t manage to put them in the trash. I am a digital packrat.

The good thing is The Nation’s Capital has vanished! Unfortunately, I suspect that it is still there. Fuck reality.

Gratitude

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Grateful for zoom yoga, good soup, coffee, cookies, afternoon naps, cosy blankets

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When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. T.J.

The Princess Cat, who is in kitty-paliative-care, was looking very kittenish yesterday.

Today’s exciting old woman adventures, working on the taxes. And going for a nice outdoor walk. Tomorrow promises snow. 

Never fun paying taxes. I used to take comfort in Justice Holmes: I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization. That’s not working this year.

 

Got our friend out of the Emergency Department “Observation” Unit this afternoon.

Got all the orchids watered and fertilized.

Didn’t kill anybody.

A good day. Oh, and there’s a football game tonight.

Off to the ED this morning with a friend. The results of her tests were coming into her phone long before a doctor showed up. So, we reviewed her labs, ekg, and cat scans. We decided she didn’t have a stoke. (Never mind what we decided, they are keeping her overnight anyhow!)

Take care of each other. Each other is all we have when we get old. Each other is all we have when we are young too. But we don’t realize it. At least I didn’t.

This was a post-Covid memorial service. It was at the UU church. Live streamed back to the Chapel at The Asylum and I presume to friends all across the country as well.

My photo slides looped before the service, they were live streamed afterwards and were shown continuously at several locations. I was gratified to see people  watching rather intently and some were surprised to find themselves a part of the show. 

This young guy made it all happen. He had a ton of gear. And was wise enough to hire an assistant. We talked while waiting on 5PM to come. When we could pack up and go home. All I had to do was disconnect my computer from the church’s huge TV in the reception area. The kid and his assistant had cases and bags and more cases of stuff to pack. Apparently, it showed up very nicely at The Asylum. Big thanks to Looks Great Productions. He made my job much easier.

And playing with the light. Isn’t that what I always do?

And here is the newest orphaned orchid. I feel sure that it came from the grocery store next door. I repotted it this morning. Trimmed it up a bit and gave it a hit of fertilizer. For now, it is in quarantine. I think it’s OK. But, better to keep it away from the rest of the orchids for a month or so. I am a tiny bit sorry that this one came with blooms. I always look forward to seeing what my foundlings grow into. It’s even a big deal to me when they produce their first new leaf. 

Gratitude

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Hot showers, hot coffee, dark chocolate, bar tab at The Asylum, avocado toast.

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Chipping away at my taxes. My guy is 100% online. You can not even pay him by check. Zero Paper.

So, what am I going to do about the current state of the nation? I am going to run up my bar tab! 

It’s gray and chilly with an ice storm promised. But, I made it outside for a couple of fast laps around our “wilderness trail”. And a faster dash over to the grocery.

Working on the taxes today. And wondering when the revolution is going to start. And who will start it?

Tuesday is yoga class day. And, our frog-loving flower arranger – has yoga frog out on display this week.

And another orchid also showed up at the door. It’s a large-ish white one. It arrived with 3 blooms left. I just read that phalaenopsis orchids live 15 – 20 years. My life expectancy is 9.23 years if I don’t buy a one-way ticket to Switzerland sooner. 

The other day, a friend said “I want to see a puffin”. Well, so do I. I know there are puffins in Northern Maine. And, I think there are lots of puffins in Iceland. But, I have never wandered out of downtown Reykjavik.  I am not too old to go on a Puffin Quest. Am I?

This memorial service is being streamed back to The Asylum from the church. Today was a test. It’s all about me. I wanted to see how my FCP Slideshow looked. It looked OK. And the A/V production guy is really in charge of it now. Everything will be fine.

This is a sign of creeping senility. I told a dear friend I wouldn’t set up her new Windows computer and printer because I don’t feel that I have it together enough to do the job.

I know stretching myself and trying new things is good, but I no longer have the skills or patience required to set up a brand-new Windows computer and printer.  Especially for a dear friend. She deserves better. 

Memorial slide show is up on Vimeo and in the hands of the A/V production crew. Come Friday, I’ll take my Mac to the church and loop it on a screen there during the reception.

It was a big job considering my age and the current state of my trigeminal neuritis.  About 200 photos over 10 minutes. But no audio. I hate doing audio. But, it was all good. Because, January was a pretty shitty month. And I could drink coffee, listen to the Dead, and wrangle old photos. Better than doomscrolling. 

By the way, boys and girls, Elon Musk now knows all about you. If you get social security – he knows your bank account number. That’s bad enough. His “tiger team” of 20-somethings know all about you too. 

This isn’t funny anymore. Seriously. 
Interesting times.