Back on the bus and Train

 It seemed all the what the guys could talk about last night and this morning was to be how cold it was going to be. How the temperature would be down below freezing and we all should be careful and I kind of bought into it actually- - and I'm smarter than that seriously I am. So I was kind of surprised this morning when I took off and rolled out of the morning sunshine and boy it was brisk and I had on my red warm coat I wasn't too cold actually and I rolled up to the bus stop and hung out there in the Sun for about 15-20 minutes before the 47 came to pick me up and it wasn't too bad. There was no wind and we're no clouds to block what little radiant energy was coming down so I just sort of laid myself back in the chair and enjoyed the morning watching the Jets come in from the East 5 to 10 minutes apart as long as I was sitting in the bus stop. I really believe- - and I've talked about this before I know - - that the weather guys just try to dress up the weather as much as they can to make it as significant to them and they're viewing public I guess but kind of is a disservice. Now, the cold systems passed and the next couple days are going to be warmer than normal which is pretty exciting to me because I don't think I have anything scheduled so maybe I can go out and do some rolling to a limited degree because I'm seriously suffering from Battery fatigue. The good thing about my battery fatigue is that I got word today that I am approved for new batteries as well as some upgrades to the chair that needs definitely to be fixed. Of course, that also means I have to give up my chair for a 24-hour period which means I have to schedule time with my caregiver to get me out of my chair the night before they pick it up. Turn around will be 24 hours so I won't be that big of a deal. They're picking up my chair 3 days before Thanksgiving and should have it back bye Thanksgiving not that matters but having some extended battery time would be great. Today I went just under 3.5 MI before I started getting the flashing signal that I'm running out of energy and I should be charging fast luckily I was nearly home when that happened and I was able to charge up enough during my arm bike hour to give me enough charge for the rest of the day since I wasn't going anywhere and just hanging around the apartment. Unless I get called out for something else in the week like a restaurant run or or something I need from the market I don't plan to be out too much unless I end up taking my charger with me. This is certainly awkward but doable. What I would do like if I were to go up to watch the movie or something drag the box with me then plug it in while I was at the movies to make sure I had enough power to get home. I might be overreacting..

Ps this image has nothing to do with today's post except that I stopped at fast food joint after I had finished my volunteer time at ASSIST inc you can't see it but there's a corn dog buried underneath the packets of mustard of course which I cannot use but the onion rings are great as was the corn dog

Mondays chill

 It's cold outside feels like winter is finally arrived. I really wouldn't know because I haven't been outside today. I've spent the day trying to stay warm looking outside the window of my apartment. It's not like I haven't done anything. I worked out on my own bike pumped for an hour then I had my friend/cleaning person come over worked on my kitchen for a little bit I made my place look a little bit more presentable. Between my caregiver in the mornings and my cleaning person I kind of keep a fairly decent apartment. There are nooks and crannies however where things get so piled hot these folks refuse to touch it. So one of these days I'm going to have to just get a trash can or bag and just start going through these nooks and crannies and throwing crap in the bag. I have been trying to go through all my stacks of mail much of which I've never opened and feeding it directly into the shredder. I have a small Shredder and so I often worry I will burn the engine out by feeding in too thick of pieces of mail so sometimes I will take the time and open thick pieces of mail like from the government or the insurance companies and feed the shredder much more edible pieces. Trouble is it's not a industrial Shredder so the little bucket that the shreds fall into gets full quite quickly and then it's a matter of waiting around till the naval body person is around that can lift the bucket of shreds into some sort of garbage disposal thing that I can get on with my shredding. This means again I have to wait until one of my people shows up who can assist in this project.

I love the time right after what am I clean people get done with part of my apartment. I like to sit in the clean space and pretend that I'm not going to mess it up but sooner or later life gets in the way and entropy begins to take its toll whether it's me piling stuff on the table when I come in from the market or tipping over crackers, cookies are potato chips by the computer/ flat screen which eventually falls to the floor where I will further Crush the item adding to the chaos which entropy renders. But for the first few moments, hours the apartment is a delight to sit in and enjoy the clean Stillness.

As I remarked earlier it's cold. Tomorrow's Tuesday and I've already been notified that we will be having a meeting of The Advisory Board tomorrow which means I need to dress warmly and head into the city. A roll to the bus stop then a bus trip into the train then to the library across the street to assist ink. Yes, it'll be cold but I think I can dress warm enough to get through the next couple hours it'll take two go to the meeting and Back Again.

Sunday shorty

 I had to take a break from the television screen / flat screen because the Utah Jazz are looking like they're going to choke again it's not pretty but it's the Utah Jazz. I muted the screen and decided I'd go ahead and update the blog for today. I actually did two things today to count as Sunday socialization. First I went to the restaurant up with Marc Anthony and we had a great breakfast and some great conversation and then I went to the coffee shop and hung out there for about an hour visiting with a few people. Following that event I just basically came home and hibernated the rest of the day watching my netscape, Disney Plus accounts. Couple interesting movies one that I've seen before and the other I'm still sawing through. I thought about jumping the bus and going up to Walmart and pick you up a couple power strips but that didn't happen. I figured that rather than go out and spend some money and make somebody work on the Sabbath I would wait till tomorrow if tomorrow looks like a good day then go up to Walmart to see what they've got in that selection. I would like to pick up at least two power strips and maybe three. That way for sure I'll have enough power to get done what I need to have done. This is going to be a short one tonight. For some reason I'm exhausted I'll finish watching the Jazz lose and then hit the sack more tomorrow…

Something special

 I cannot believe that it's Saturday night and once again I'm sitting home quietly waiting for 8:00 when the Utah Jazz Hall tip off another basketball game. At least I guess that's something to look forward to. I don't know if I like basketball or the Utah Jazz but I'm finding them somewhat entertaining even though there's somewhat disappointing at the same time. This seemed to be a bit of a loser team for one reason or another whether it's players that are on the sick list mending trying to get well again enough to play or good players being traded out or however that's all done the other teams leaving us with folks that seem they could be great but just don't get around to becoming great. Perhaps I'm being too naive and too impatient for them to grow into greatness or grow up into something that some of the team wants to purchase away from the Jazz. It's Saturday night that means I have to get up early tomorrow so I can meet Mark and the kids for breakfast so I'll watch enough of the game to let me know what's going to happen. If the Jazz could generate enough lead they'll probably win I hope. Otherwise if it's halftime and they're down 10 20 points I just shut it down go to the bed so I can have enough sleep to get up tomorrow morning to meet the kids for breakfast. Either way it still leaves me home on Saturday night not doing anything better than watching the flat screen and I'm thankful for that actually. Luckily for me Mark was able to come by and fix it up the other night.

I actually don't feel as bad as I usually do when I don't do anything on a Saturday or a weekday or whenever. This morning I got up early enough dressed ready to go and went I'm at my friend Janet at the coffee shop where we enjoyed some coffee and did some gossiping about the people we live with. I was waiting for this big snowstorm to wander through which never really did and later on in the afternoon when I figured that the storm was not going to come in I saddled up and went over to the market looking for a few things to get me through the evening. I was going to go to Walmart and get another power strip but that didn't happen. I was able to get some popcorn however which I figured would be my treat for the Saturday night. I actually got a bag of popcorn as well as a box of microwave popcorn. Remember years and years ago and I moved in here I purchased a real life popcorn popper pan the kind you put over a fire or the heat of a stove and it pops the popcorn just like it used to do in the old days when I would have popcorn on Saturday night with my big sisters and watch how we Patrol when it was first done? Maybe that's what I was chasing today some of those feelings of the old days of popcorn in the doing something special on a Saturday night…

Finally Friday

  I am so frustrated I just finished the seven hundred and fifty word blog and lost it all when I went to transfer it over to the online blog. I haven't done that for years it seems like. Somehow when I went to copy the document and erased itself- - I'm sure it's something that I did no question in my mind but still it's so frustrating I ain't never get another blog as good as the first one but I'll try.

It seems I rattled on for some time about how I woke up early this morning around 3:00 a.m. worried about the president-elect and how fast he's filling out his cabinet and with some of the weirdos he's put in there. I mentioned how weird it was to wake up early in the morning and be filled with Dread and somewhat Terror of the thought processes you having about what's going on in your life only to realize that they may not be as terrific as you felt that they were on first waking. I think my waking was direct result of visiting with Marc Anthony the night before when he came over to work on my electric setup and my power strip that failed and he spoke about how Rudy was about the country and the new president and he seems to be doing to the country. Luckily is the day goes on I begin to put things back into perspective and the fear that I was having tends to evaporate and I'm able to get on with things. I do know however people are really quite concerned about what's going on and well they should be. A visit with Diane this evening for some time and she's quite concerned about the whole electoral situation. I let her know about one of the shows I listen to on educational radio about Mormons in the heavy duty Mormon states of the West and how they're going after the Democratic Mormons who put support signs in their yard. That was pretty interesting segment that's on Radio West if you're interested in it and it would be end of today's date. I guess if I really knew my stuff I would be I would put a an electronic link onto it but I'm not going to go through that now after losing my first writing of this blog for tonight.

The afternoon was pretty nice actually kind of warm comparatively speaking especially when the sun was out. It was quite Breezy however with the new storm coming in tonight over tomorrow, the storm is not huge but it will snow and rain and be miserable for a while. I went to the market so I would have provisions to get me through. I seem to overreact on these kinds of things to make sure that I have enough food to get through these days of weather stress. But I got some things that will make it enjoyable to get through the next couple of days. Tomorrow I still plan to go to the coffee shop with Janet even if she doesn't meet me there it would be fun to drink coffee and watch the snow …

My chaos corner

 

The chaos you see in tonight's image is what I've done today trying to re-establish connection with my internet and television/ flat screen. This morning when I tried to start my system so I can listen to the morning news and such it was on for just a second that suddenly that whole section of the room was off. I have a lot of devices plugged into a power strip I have secured to my tray that I work off of and I think what happened was a power surge or something came through and knocked everything off the power strip. In an attempt to at least get my flat screen operational again so I can have some sort of contact with the local news and stuff at least visually I unplugged the flat screen from the power strip and tried to connect it straight to the wall which I found a plug that wasn't being used. I tried all morning I moved everything away from the walls much as I could and I just couldn't get the plug into the plug in I even resorted into dragging one of my neighbors over who has really good hand function to see if she could pop the plug in to no avail. It's just these little things that quadriplegia really messes up quality of life. Actually I can't complain too much I do quite a lot with what I've got and I truly am thankful for the options that I have open to me but sooner or later they run up against the wall and I have to ask for help. So this Thursday evening and patiently waiting for my son to stop by and see if he can get some of my things operational. I noticed on the power strip there's a red reset button on the end. I'm hoping that if I can get Marc Anthony to push that little reset everything but of course this is a two-edged sword does this also mean that it will power off again the next surge it comes through it may. I just have to be patient and hopeful. I also have to get on the ball and do some major cleaning and reorganizing this corner as well as a large part of the rest of the apartment. I have my quasi cleaning person maybe coming in on Monday and she'll do a little bit of cleaning and that'll be great but if it's going to do some real deep cleaning and start throwing away a lot of stuff that I've dread along the last couple decades.

In a bit of a side note I might mention I did get reconnected to the internet and at least I'm able to dictate on my various handheld devices around the apartment which saves me having to try to put this stuff on my little cell phone which I must admit was a champ...

internet frustration

 This is going to be a short blog tonight because somehow I've lost connection with the internet and so I'm having to write this document on my cell phone which leaves a lot to be desired as far as trying to write something of any length. Something happened to my internet connection that I have hooked to my table by my flat screen. I think it has something to do with the power strip I have connected to the table. I confess I may have it overloaded and it tripped the power source to the the internet. It's too late to try to get anybody over to try to reset the modem and there's just no way I can get there with the disability being as it is. I'm really surprised I haven't written down the place to be honest with you. I just had to figure out a way to be more independent that's all. I guess this is a blessing because I really do have that power strip overloaded.

All it's been a pretty decent day. I actually got out on the bus and went and had my podiatrist appointment which is quite a jaunt especially with the condition of my batteries. I was totally surprised I was able to get there and back again before the warning light started flashing. I was able to get home plug in and be able to work out at the same time and charge the battery enough to get me through the rest of the night. I've spent way too much time trying to figure out what's wrong with the flat screen television which I have connected to the internet. So now I have to calmly just get ready for bed and hit the sack without having to wait for the end of a show or something. Sadly it must also confess that I didn't fold the clothes like I should have. I just didn't have the time following my visit with my caregiver and been able to go catch to the bus to get to my appointment on time. Clothes can be folded tomorrow. I have one major appointment that will take me out of the apartment to a meeting uptown. Worst case scenario I attend the meeting over the internet.. oh crap I guess I can't do that if I can't get on the internet huh? I guess I could try to run the whole thing through this is silly little cell phone. I'm surprised at how well it seems to be holding up.

I had roast beef and vegetables for dinner tonight they were great. I was a little worried I didn't know how well they would refrigerate but they seem to do just fine. I made a cute little plateful of the roast, carrots potatoes and of course onions. I flashed them in the microwave and had a bottle of horseradish standing by which really rounds out the dinner. That was a little dismayed the horseradish was not nearly as hot as the bottle led me to believe it would be. But the taste was great the flavor was perfect the heat was missing but that's okay enjoyed my second roast beef dinner this week..

Snow day cook day

I am so glad that we canceled the assist meeting today, they canceled primarily because the meeting would be coming off the national holiday which means it would really put a lot of stress on the folks to get ready for the meeting so no meeting today and that is a major blessing because of the weather. Low pressure system came in last night drop the temperature down about 10 points and provided a lot of rain and snow even down on the valley floor. Not a lot of snow but it laid down a little bit and it would have been cold had I been out trying to get back and forth to my meeting so instead I enjoyed myself in the apartment, in the kitchen prepping and cooking my brains out. I cooked the roast I purchased on Saturday and it was a lot of fun actually as far as the prepping went it was hard. I can see it's getting harder for me to do stuff that kind of freaks me out but such is life. I'm just having a more difficult time peeling potatoes and even carrots than I used to. My first knee-jerk reaction would be it's the wheelchair it's making me difficult to sit up and let allowing me to peel these vegetables as I used to do without nearly the problem that I had today. I got the vegetables peeled however and chopped pretty much. I was able to use the carrots that I purchased yesterday are Friday Saturday I mean. I peeled them toss them in the vet then did the same with the taters. The taters are a little hammered but they tasted pretty good in the end. I ran a couple hours on the low temperature then I ran a couple hours on the high temperature which I finally got the roast finished. I had pieces of roast and vegetables for dinner it was a nice dinner and I felt accomplished having dealt and done something. I don't know how much I enjoy eating the production as much as actually doing the production. And I guess it would be nice to have somebody around here to do cook for but I'm happy with what I've got and I'm happy I'm able to cook these items. I am also spending a lot of time on the kitchen too trying to clean up after myself and do some washing of dishes and cutting boards and things of that nature which I've sort of let get out of control last couple weeks. I don't know if it's time to call Gloria to see if she's up for any cleaning but I may be getting close. I haven't heard anything from Gloria in a long time which kind of worries me I hope she's doing okay and I hope she's not in trouble.

Diane has been in the boot for the last couple days spending the last days with her mother. It seems like the whole family came together which is good. I got a couple of emails from DD this morning indicating that Mom seemed to be getting weaker and weaker and then this afternoon I got words  mom passed. DD's mom was a good person who I liked writing to once a month. She was always good to me and I'm glad to see that she's left she was in rough condition there towards the land I wish that she rests in peace …

Veteran Day vulnerabilities

 You know what's weird? It's Veterans Day a national holiday and really in Salt Lake you would just about think it's a regular day. Early on I noticed the buses were running chances are they're probably running on a weekend schedule but they're out there running and that's okay because if I need a bus I want to make sure there is a bus. Even the place next door whether redoing the park I was surprised when my caregiver indicated they were hard hats out there working on the project. I told her no they could not be because it's a holiday, a national holiday! What kind of Unions would let their people work on the national holiday? But surely my caregiver was right once I focused for a little bit I could see the white helmets that all the workers wear and some of their Orange vests that protects them I guess from wayward backhoes and other Earth moving devices. I was totally shocked but see in the white helmets. Granted, these working veterans we're not working very hard. They look like they could be on vacation the one sort or another but who am I to judge? I don't think I mentioned it yet but they've opened up the sidewalk to the park that's been being remodeled. The project has been the focus of our attention for some time. And with the opening of the sidewalk means that they are getting close to finishing this project which will be great but that's another rant for another day.

What really kind of threw me however was I looked up my old high school or rather I checked on it to see if they were going to have the old Boise Borah game today. The Boise Borah game has been across town rival for decades. This was the way for a long time because they were the only two high schools in town. Boise high it's been there since the turn of the other century and Bora has been there since the fifties. Such a classic and they would battle out the crosstown rival ship every year on Veterans Day. It was a big event for Boise after Capital High was built things begin to unwind on that level they tried to keep up the tradition but with capital having to fill in the bill every third year or whatever just wasn't the same anymore except for the fact that the B&B game was tradition and the two Rivals still had strong feelings against each other. However I noticed this year the game was played in late September which means it was treated just like another high school football competitor. It's kind of sad but I think it's the way things are Everything Changes which I think and of course football changes too.

Tomorrow is Tuesday of course and that's the regular day I go in for my volunteer board at assist ink. However, due to the holiday, we're not meeting tomorrow which is good for me. There's a storm coming in, a small storm but promises to bring much cooler temperatures and rain and possibly some snowflakes. I'm thankful because I didn't want to go out tomorrow in the elements. My stomach's gurgling tonight that's not a good sign. I'm going to see if I have any anti-diary stuff and see if that will get me through till Wednesday but Melissa will be here in the morning to do the toilet thing..

1 Sunday morning breakfast

 I made garbrock this morning! The making of this dish, one of my favorite dishes, was the high point of my day. The weather lady said the day was going to be beautiful and it looked like it was actually from what I could see out my windows of the apartment. I made garbrock because I didn't go out to breakfast this morning cuz the kids are gone on vacation and Thanksgiving dinner- ing. I was feeling pretty good because I woke up and the clock said 7:00 a.m. and even though I went to bed around 1:00 a.m. finally I never sleep that long uninterrupted. I wish I knew if this could be programmed into regular sleeping Cycles cuz it was great. Because I've been doing this breakfast thing with the kids for a bunch of months now haven't been doing my regular morning Sunday morning cook thing. I do like to cook and many times on Sunday mornings it seems like the right thing to do on that part of the day.

I us used e the Frozen hash browns type potatoes in the freezer actually tater tots, and frozen broccoli. Typically I like to use fresh broccoli but I bought the frozen broccoli specifically for a test to see how well it worked in my dish. It's been up there for 4 or 5 months now and I'm glad to report that the frozen broccoli work just fine now I want to use the other half of the package to see if I can make some beef and broccoli Asian. I love beef and broccoli from the restaurants when I go Asian I would love to know how to make it. I did come across the recipe couple days ago on my internet feed that looks like it wouldn't be too hard. The only drawback is that I gave away my Asian type sauces that I've been carrying around for decades I've never really used. Now I'm tempted to go out and buy at least the sauce that isn't fish sauce per se. I wish that didn't intimidate me so much the fish sauce. I think I would try to use flat steak or flank steak. Maybe marinate it the night before and soy sauce or are the Asian Sauce and see how well it works in the broccoli and beef. I was thinking I could even use just a can of gravy and mix in the Asian Sauce and how about that would really work well with the broccoli and beef make a pot of rice and I would be set. Now I just got to get up the courage to do the whole cooking thing. Tomorrow however I plan to bake a roast or roast a roast or whatever the verb is for processing a hunk of beef sitting in my refrigerator. I need some carrots I should have got some the other day and I don't know if I will get them tomorrow before I start the roaster start the roast run across to the market and pick up four or five carrots and then threw them in the Crock-Pot when I get back. I have the taters and whoever else I think I might need. I'm not sure what's provoking this severe strain of Domesticity maybe I'm just prepared for winter…

Securely bind me

 

Once again it's late Saturday night and I'm only now doing my blog. It's close to bedtime but I realize I don't have to go out to breakfast in the morning since the kids are vacationing and traveling for one reason or another. So if I were able I would sleep in in the morning enjoy the time. I can almost guarantee you now that I won't be able to sleep in, I've never really been able to sleep in unless I'm just way tired from the night before. I might want to do some cooking for breakfast I have ingredients for one of my favorite dishes garbrock. Not as much garlic as I would like but I think I have enough garlic to get by. I could just have cold cereal which would be good too cold cereal and toast with lots of butter- - that would be kind of a treat. I don't necessarily like cooking or doing a whole lot of work on Sunday, I think I've gone over that before a little bit in the blog, but for something like Garb rock or something like that it would be fun and I wouldn't be too worried about breaking the Sabbath rules of work. I did purchase a roast today and again I would hate to cook it tomorrow but maybe I will as opposed to the holiday on Monday. I think it would be nice to have a cold roast peace on Monday.

I went shopping today at the market down the street. Groceries basically like I said I got the roast, juice, fruit like bananas just a number of awkward things to the point where I was beginning to look like a grocery basket myself with all the food piled on top of me and my leg binder kept coming apart when that happens my legs widen spread wide and I lose a lot of stuff either between my legs or on the side of the chair. Today I dropped hot dogs or sausages, roast, and a couple other items that I had to wait around till someone came by that I could ask them to pick them up put him back on my lap. I think I really did look quite pathetic. I didn't take my black basket I wish I had I did have my sock with me or grocery bag but that didn't have anything in them at the time. I've got, and I think I've spoken about this before, three leg binders all together all for the same company and only one or two work decently. The one find her that does look like it should be the best of the three is really the worst. I don't know what's wrong with the the velcro attachments or whatever but when I try to use the good looking binder my legs just come apart at the least appropriate time usually when I put some weight on them like groceries that's what happened today. I came home from the grocery shopping and ultimately switched out the new reminder for the old binder which I knew at least would keep my legs together for the rest of the day. Invariably when I haven't used the new binder for a period of time I always think it's going to work but after a few minutes to an hour or so using that binder the vehicle seems to let go and my legs spread and I  become a great example of self-loathing.  I'm even toying with the idea of sending for yet another binder to see if that would act better and have a stronger grip. There are some thoughts in the binder community that suggests that if someone were to vigorously wash or rub or brush the binder pads they might get a better grasp. I haven't gotten that route yet I think I would invest in a hard bristle brush like a paint remover brush or something to scrape the pad off the velcro binder. It's kind of a happy problem. I would just like to have a binder a leg binder that holds tight until I don't need it the whole tight so like having a shirt tail on it short sleeve or long sleeve garment that won't show any body Flash. Sometimes I think I'm just really weird..

Let them eat cake!

The sun was out today quite bright as I left the apartment for my trip to my bank to get cash for the coming month. It's hard to believe that the month is nearly 1/3 over but I was feeling pretty good after a good shower and dressing and in my chair I thought I'd get the chore done early in the weekend. I was wearing one of my heavy hoods, I learned from yesterday that or maybe Wednesday that even though someone says that it's cold enough to go with something lightweight it's best to wear the heavy garment if you've got it. I've got it I've got a lot of foods these days more than I've ever owned before in my life and a couple very nice heavy ones. Even in shorts the weather was not bad especially with the sun shining. I didn't have to wait long but I was still glad to enter the bus and it's Heat.

Before I stopped at the branch for out the cash I went over to this store not far from the bank branch it's a super discount type store more than a dollar store however. This place has lots of interesting items that could be used for gifts and such. It's all pretty cheap but I like going through what they have it's all one of a kind. You got to buy it now or you'll never get it the chance again. I really buy anything from this place I just like to roll up and down the aisles seeing what's to be had. Once I was satiated with cheap Goods I made my way over to the credit union pulled out my cash and went back to the bus stop. It was a bit of a longer wait then the bus coming over but the good old vehicle pulled up and once again I enjoyed the Heat Rush which comes on boarding UTA bus in the winter time. I was excited, I am still excited this morning when I went to the bus stop from the apartments I noticed that the sidewalk which had been torn up report and then fenced off was now available for use. I was having to cross the street first going up to the corner where the light is at crossing the street then back tracking to wherever I was going whether it was the market or to catch bus 47 inbound or outbound for that matter. But now the sidewalks open again and I'll be able to go straight to the bus stop. Today however I caught the 217 which takes me straight into the Community College where I can pick up Route 47 westbound or outbound which takes me directly to the credit union. That way I let the gas powered vehicles do most of the transporting saving my battery for my own transportation and today I spent a good amount of time traveling and yet my batteries are still intact almost as a full charge this is good.

I've had a box of cake mix out for the last couple of days with the idea I was going to bake a cake. I was just having to get everything out where I could reach it primarily the cake pan/ dish this morning I had Melissa Fish Out the cake dish and I was going to bake the cake afterwards but she went ahead mixed it together and then stuck it in the oven and it cooked while she was working with me in the bathroom. This is great! I gave her half the cake as payment for her added work assignment. I don't need a full devil's food cake with white frosting. I just want to taste of something sweet and Rich and covered with white frosting …

Sleepy, why not?

 I woke around 3:30 a.m. this morning and I couldn't get back to sleep. All this it is besides a little yawning and stuff haven't felt that bad today- - I felt a little sleepy that's for sure and there's days when I get better sleep I feel better but today wasn't bad. I think the biggest reason I couldn't sleep was that last night I realized I still had clothes in the dryer - - didn't I discuss this a little bit and last night's post? . Anyway I wanted to make sure I got up early and hustled down to the laundry and get my clothes back to the apartment . I hate it when the washer or dryer I want to use is being tied up by somebody who's not there . I was able to get the clothes and it didn't look like anybody had been in the room since I left it last night after I started my clothes on the second dry cycle . I did notice I wasn't able to interact as well with the folks at coffee that I usually do when I get better amounts of sleep but today wasn't that bad either. You seem to be a bit of a contention? I'm not sure what I would call it but not contention but I stifling quietness perhaps I think from the results of the last election. I know that for sure there are a couple of Trump people there but everybody was civilized nobody brought up the election at all I thought that was kind of sleepy. I think I'm ready to move on myself and not try to focus on the loss. My friend who is a big Trump supporter was acting very quiet as well during the coffee session. We talked amicably and kind of enjoyed each other's time but I don't think we just knew how to communicate regarding the results of the election and how they affect us. I was open however I would gladly visited with anybody to let them know how spooked I am regarding Mr Trump's next try it being presidential. And I didn't hear of anybody else bringing up the election either. I think if we're going to survive the next couple of months everybody's going to have to do exactly that forcibly open up channels of conversation and have those conversations and assess whatever the president's going to do. 

I had a conversation this evening with my old boss and friend from Blackfoot Idaho and a number of decades back and we talked in depth about not being part of a electoral backlash with the way that the election had gone especially in contrast to what happened during the first Trump election. It would be great if the whole thing just blew over and things went on their way but with election of trump along with losing either the house or the senate or both it's going to make a very very active couple of months politically speaking. I don't think we fear the Revolution and fighting in the streets as we had anticipated had the president lost but still there's a lot of stress bubbling out there and I don't really want to be part of it..

Powerless

I'm sorry I'm sitting here hooked up to my charger trying to get a fast charge to make sure I have enough power to let me finish doing the things I need to do around my apartment before bedtime. I only need to let the charger work for an hour that will give me enough juice to make sure that I don't get stranded somewhere between here and my bed. However because my chair has run down on power as quickly as it has I have a load of blocks in the dryer waiting to be picked up that I will not really consider picking up until tomorrow. I think I'm okay regarding the safety of my clothes unattended in the dryer. I'll just sneak in there tomorrow before coffee and get my clothes in the basket and drag it back to the apartment and fold the clothes sometime tomorrow afternoon. My odometer are mileage whatever reads I've only done 2.1 miles today and I charged it all last night. Fortunately those miles took me up to the bus stop into the hospital where I met with my physician and home again. That's all I really wanted to go to today it's really cold outside however still that's really not very far for a full charge on the batteries. So tomorrow one of my phone calls is going to have to be to the wheelchair shop to see if they've got an approval on another set of batteries. This should not really be a problem with this what it wouldn't tell me giving up the chair again for another night while they take my chair in and stall the batteries and bring it back. Seems like it's always something really gets tedious.

I suppose you've heard the news Trump won last night and that really is kind of dreadful if not frightening. I'd like to just shrug my shoulders and say oh well that's politics but that being politics is that it just might get me involved in the backwash. If this guy does what he says he's going to do or what he wants to do which is basically carve up the social services programs in the country IE Social Security that could have a major impact on me in my lifestyle. I just don't know how far the idiot will go. In fact I'm thinking of ordering a number of my supplies just to make sure I have a year's supply in case things get little dicey. I'll have enough stored away to be able to develop a survival plan if there is one- - survival plan. Everything from housing to transportation to Medical could have an impact on me if things start being cut. I think I'm most hopeful that my housing will stay intact. I think I'm okay with my pension as far as some of the money goes again the big issue is going to be Social Security and well let's stay intact and if they start cutting how much are they going to cut? I've got my my food supplies in my closet is most of you know so I think something were to happen I'd be okay that way and I can live out of cans for a while. Medication could be an issue hopefully I'll be able to get by. Hey saw my position today we went over some of my reports I've gone from  diabetic the diabetic. I'm not hardcore and it seems like I can still maintain with drugs and that's cool. I am going to have to start looking at possible Lifestyle Changes particularly in the area of food as far as starches and sugars go that could be a pain in the ass.

I've been charging now for about 20 minutes I think I've got enough to get through the rest of the evening and let it charge all night and hopefully I'll be okay tomorrow. I've pretty much got all the things I need to have done out of the Apartments done for the week. Only have to go across the street to coffee with Janet on Saturday then up to D's restaurant for lunch with Marc Anthony on Sunday. I'll get by..

I'm so tired

 I don't think the Democrats really even had a chance this election. There's just too many things against the possibility. This of course means that Trump's probably going to win at this point I don't know and who knows how long it's going to take before the whole thing settled. All I know is I don't know what it's going to be like living in the world ruled by Trump and it's the world it's not just the USA it's the whole world. I don't know what I'm going to do regarding benefits being cut or anything like that. I know this guy's going to do it he's out of his mind he's a wacko and they're going to elect him it just blows me away. The last time I didn't think it could happen so I didn't really spend a whole lot of time thinking about what might happen but having lived through the four years of his Reign and then gone through this election cycle the guy's a lunatic the guys totally off his rocker which means USA is probably off its rocker as well. So maybe the place is true the country gets the person they want or how are that question goes you get the government you want or you get the governor you want I don't know either way it's we're goiq

ng to get this person and I think it's going to get really ugly- - and who knows I may be totally wrong we can hope so. I'll follow up with this in the next day or so.

Now a little bit back to my reality. Last week I contacted a company that's supposed to know what they're doing when it comes to working on my bed my electric bed remember how it broke on me and I was going to get the company to at least eyeball my bed to see how bad it is. Actually just to bring it up to date funny as it is the bed is actually been working to a certain degree. I have figured out how to very gently raise the top part of my bed- - that's correct the motor for one reason or another will raise the bed up to a certain point and then crash back down. I don't know if the raising mechanism is on a screwdriver something and that's what broke and that it will kind of reset itself then raise up to a certain level and at the end the teeth do longer are there which causes it to crash back down to the flat of the bed. This is very noisy, it's quick and it's always unnerving. But then I think it's totally broken it comes back to life again and now I've learned pretty much how to manage the raising portion of the head of the bed just to the point of where it's going to crash. The best part is that it raises me up high enough that I can make the transfer from the bed to the power chair. I don't know how long-term safe this is. Oh, what I was going to tell you is that when I called the company I purchase the piece from that fixed the bed the last time back in March they said they were going to send the technician out today. Of course, the technician never showed up and I ended up calling them a half an hour after his arrival time was supposed to be and then they informed me that it was going to cost something like $72 for him to come out and check out the bed. Well this was way last week when this whole thing began and I've been surviving quite well and I also spoke with my friends over at ucat and they figure that they can find me a a similar bed for a way way less money than they were charging me. So that stress points past I just hope the bed will continue working until I can get something else in here. I'm tempted to have Carl come over and look at it to see what he might say. I have to admit however it really wears me out…3

Praying for safety

 I have to admit I'm kind of spooked. This is the eve of possibly the greatest election of this century. That really sounds dramatic but it really kind of is true as well. I'm bracing myself for another Trump win. The first time he won it was quite a sucker punch for me because I figured he would lose I went to bed not thinking about anything waking up to find out Donald Trump is the new president of the United states, my president who I didn't want at all there. I suffered through that first term and I should say I even suffered through the second term that he lost because he was such a baby about the whole ordeal refuse ing to accept the the results of the vote. I mean it contested influenced and colored the whole term. I was just aghast. But I woke that morning following the election I thought it was a mistake I thought it was a classic joke. And here I am now totally contemplating the fact that this country, the backwards snowball Hicks who support Donald Trump are probably getting everybody in her duck out to vote and they might just win this election again. I'm not going to do anything dramatic, should that happen, like move to Canada or Arizona or somewhere other than Utah. I of course will not do such a thing for a number of reasons. The disability certainly limits my ability to do something like this cuz if I could get down to Arizona where this support is supposed to take place. I was kind of surprised that's how many people here at the apartment complex are Trump supporters more than I anticipated which I learned early on. Then if the crazy man decides he wants to overthrow something he'll just tell his people to go out and start shooting people or whatever and they'll do it! Just like he did at the Capitol building A couple of years ago. The former president has uttered such bizarre words that he can't be taken seriously he's totally out to lunch. I can't believe anybody on that side of the aisle recognize that this or doesn't care enough to come out and say stop being our representative!

There of course is little much I can do as far as I'm concerned. I did register and I went out to vote and I did vote. I don't know how good it's going to do but I filled in the spaces and I think that I held it up right and it should just hang out there acting as back up to the other items. I think the former president and his supporters really see this as a giant game that they really can't lose as long as they play. For the longest time I thought that there was no chance that he would come back and he would actually get the votes needed to win this competition. I could save my hook or crook but that would be an understatement. I am just totally blown away at how seemingly bright intelligent folks have jumped onto the Trump bandwagon and are trying to visualize what a another four years of the presidency might render. I don't I will go past the boundaries of this state- - I just don't have a way to travel, sad as that is. I watched the Jazz game tonight and son of a gun the team didn't win what a shock!  I would love it if the country can keep this momentum going and thrash mister Trump down into the grass where he couldn't rise up again. The whole country is worried that he's going to challenge the vote and surge his troops forward after the obvious comes to be calling that nobody wants him particularly in this position. I pray every night it's just something that makes me feel decent and good and believe me I need that. Tonight I'm going to pray for safety in this silly election and hopefully we'll be able to be a better Nation..

Slacking Sunday

 I'm a little upset because the weather folks said it was going to be a horrible Sunday especially this morning. Last night I contacted my son to inform him that we were going to cancel or I was going to cancel the Sunday morning breakfast that we usually have. I did this primarily because he was feeling sick he's been ill for the last week and he was still doing his little side hustle job but I didn't think you needed to be up early in the morning if you didn't want to or have to. He really needs to rest take it easy for a little bit. My granddaughter who usually joins us on these Sunday breakfasts is on a cruise with her boyfriend and some other friends. And I know the weather is going to be as good as it was I probably would have gone to the breakfast but I stand by my decision to keep him out of the cold and early morning air. He really does need to rest. However, because of that that leaves a big hole in my Sunday. It's not like I win anywhere. That wasn't eager to get out in the cold weather and it's now cold tonight it's going to be in the 30s supposedly. And I don't want to be out in the weather anymore than I have to. I spent the day basically watching my big flat screen enjoying Gray's Anatomy reruns and the documentary or two. I enjoyed breakfast actually. I do miss making breakfast for myself. I usually don't do that on Saturdays which I should cuz I really enjoy the cooking or on Sundays but that hasn't been an issue for the last year or so. But today I did scramble some eggs with cheese had some toast and opened up a can of spam fried up a couple pieces it was a grand breakfast I thought totally enjoyed it made enough eggs that I have another breakfast for tomorrow should I desire. But that's been about my Sunday not a whole lot but the important thing was that I was able to watch these pieces of entertainment while sitting back in my chair taking the weight off my butt but still being up and being able to move around should I need to or want to. Return the clocks back last night it was kind of strange to see how dark are quickly it got dark or how early they got dark that's the whole thing of daylight savings and going back to real time. So it's not a bad day just to relaxing day and maybe that's what it's all about..

Saturday at the movies

I felt a little antsy this morning felt like I needed to get up and do something. I knew I had coffee so after getting dressed and such I headed over to the coffee shop and Janet was there a few minutes later we had a good discussion and gossip time over coffee. The day was deceptively nice this early in the morning as I rolled back to the apartment I figured I didn't want to end my day just yet and spend the rest of the day inside hunkered down watching the flat screen are doing housework. I wanted to go out and do something so I got one of the heavier hoods wrapped around my neck and took off to the bus stop. I checked the movie schedules and the one movie you have been meaning to see and just have not been able to get around to it concave was about ready to start at least they would start seeding people I still figured I had good 30 to 40 minutes before the movie actually started so I caught the bus and got there in time actually it was just barely starting. I thought it was a pretty good movie I probably should sit through it again just to see if I've missed anything - - which I'm sure I did. After all those Catholics are pretty intense. I'm not sure how much I missed as far as understanding what's going on that's why the second viewing might be worthwhile but I just don't know if I have the patience to sit through the whole thing again. It's kind of a slow moving movie but they did kind of cover the selection process and I think if I sat through the movie again it would give me better feeling for what's going on and what they did in that movie. Seemed a little convoluted to me. I was so surprised when I got finished with the movie and I checked what other movies are playing that the other movie I wanted to see with Tom Hanks the new one called here was just about to start so I rushed up paid my ticket and rolled in and sat through that show which was okay I wasn't all that impressed with it as much as the people who put it together were impressed with themselves. It was kind of weird because the whole thing was shot with one camera and one basic scene just evolving from one scene to the next it was a little scattered but somewhat enjoyable. I do think that Hanks did a good job in the movie though again like I said it was a bit disjointed for me but I'm sure everyone else is going to love it. I don't think I will sit through this one again probably not even if they paid me but never say never. As is always the case when I got out of the movie the weather was much different than when I went in. Cloud said moved in the temperature dropped and there was a threat of precipitation. I didn't feel like I wanted to wait for the bus in the cold weather so I basically wrapped my hoodie around my neck as best as I could and took off and pretty much got home without incident but I felt comfortable going in and then just turning on the heater and just slowing down for the rest of the evening. Basically I was waiting for the Jazz game to start that's a late start off at 8:00. Of course they're choking at halftime they were way behind and I don't know if they're going to be able to bring it out. Anyway Saturday night that's what it is tonight sitting down watching the Jazz drinking some coffee and maybe a cookie or two …

November now!

 That's it the calendars changed an hour into another month. The first of November this is really the gateway to the festive months of the year I think at least at the end of the year. You guys know how I feel about the 4th of July the 24th I love that part of the year but this is the end of the year the cleanup months. Holidays the big boys gift giving and gift-taking, parties festivals everything this month plus possible snow snow cloudy days and days to be inside with no judgment about have I done enough. Probably the most significant thing I've done today was take my rent check down to the office and cover my basic living space for the next month. Other than that are pretty much just stayed inside for the whole of the day. It's cool outside I wouldn't say that it's really cold actually now that I remember I did go to the market to pick up some mushrooms a can of actually a couple cans of and some bananas. I made spaghetti tonight. I've been wanting to do that for some time ever since I browned the hamburger. I kind of made a mess in the kitchen but that's what happens when I cook but it was fun I enjoyed it. It was dangerous of course but nothing happened I handled the boiling water with care drained the spaghetti out of the spaghetti sauce and the brown hamburger stirred rigorously and now I'm set for the rest of the weekend at least dinner wise or food wise. I still wouldn't mind ordering the pieces somewhere before there's lots of cheese still a little worried about my pooping when and where and how much. I'm on the long stretch now from this morning till Monday morning now I don't poop at least not scheduled. What used to be somewhat terrifying for me now it's become somewhat acceptable and basically if I poop my pants I poop my pants simple as that I figure out a way to get cleaned up and go on with my life maybe that's the lesson I really don't know. Sometimes I think something's changing with me again I've noticed the last couple days it's getting more and more difficult for me to undo the button on my shorts at night when I go to bed or I get undressed to go to bed. I don't know if this is something new or is that exactly what but I haven't had this difficulty in the past I've always been able just to get my thumb underneath the button push up and then it releases itself from the other pants other side of the pants shorts. Now it's not so easy I have not gotten to the point where it's undoable if I stick to it long enough I'm able to undo the buttons or button. It's just another thing to worry about I also seem to have a little bit more trouble pushing the pants off of my body when I get undressed it's not as quick and Swift as it used to me. It's easy to blame my chair which I do. But I think in reality something's changing and I think it's me.

Broken screen Blues

I really don't know how to convey the seriousness of this issue as far as the screen of this tablet that I've been using to do my dictation both on my blog and the letters that I write each month. But a few minutes ago I was trying to retrieve my tablet which had fallen on the floor and it was still plugged into the wall where it been charging all night and all day and the cord was still plugged in as I said, and I was trying to pull it up with one hand slow enough that the cord wouldn't come undone. I don't know what I did though because all the sudden I ended up slamming the tablet and sure enough it hit the floor in the screen kind of shattered. When I say shatter it didn't like fall apart or anything it just became covered with many spider web type cracks which I think is pretty common for tablets. This ends the streak with this tablet however the longest I've ever had a device like this and not totally shredded the screen somewhere along the line and I've dropped it significant amount of times and even roll over it once or twice inadvertently. But now it's a shattered screen but of course still works and since I don't really use this tablet for anything else but updating my blogs and other pieces of writing like the kid letters I think I'll be okay for however long it takes to replace this piece of equipment. Actually I think I've already talked about it but I actually have through a friend of mine who provided me two tablets actually one of Apple One like this one but they're very old but new so they work pretty good. He works with us state of Utah program that provides technology for people with disabilities and these are a couple of old devices that he's had for some time. He's got new devices that he's given out to folks that really need it but he gave it to me I gave them to me the two pieces that I can certainly work with until I have to get a new tablet or that I want to get a new tablet that's more powerful and has more space on it. This tablet I'm using right now keeps flashing me signs indicating that all of my space is almost used up and if I don't do anything quickly I'm going to lose the stuff I just written or dictated. So I'm not totally distraught that I've destroyed or at least marred the screen of this device. I'll get it taken care of one way or the other.

This is not the update I was going to write tonight but it seemed appropriate All Things Considered. Probably I was going to write something about Halloween and all the things going on in and around this building for the event. I of course I'm not really for taking any of this kind of stuff tonight I'm hunkered down and plan to turn on the television to watch the local professional basketball team choke once more. The season has been going now for a couple of days and we've already lost three games. I've always professed that I don't care for sports and games like this but you know what maybe I'm getting more mellow as I get older I don't know but all I know is that we seem to choke a lot …

Password Assword

 Have I ever mentioned how much I hate passwords and the fact that everything on the internet that you look at that you have established yourself as an entity with has to have a password to be accessed. For some reason this just terrifies me and I'm surprised at how much I've allowed myself to be compromised into developing the password then using it all the time and then freaking out when I can't remember it. I'm currently trying to find my password for Consumer Cellular which I run my cell phone through. Sad as it is I don't remember what my password is to get into this account and more importantly to get into the account so I can listen to my phone messages. I haven't gotten years without listening to phone messages just because I can't remember my password. Earlier this summer I actually set up a password and now I can't remember it. I used it so few times that I never really memorized the silly thing. I'm currently trying to reestablish my password and you have to go through this weirdly threatening procedure through the consumer cellular network where they ask if you want to create another password. When you do this they send you a text message of some sort that allows you to go into their system and develop a password. When this happens I swear I'm going to write the word down so this won't happen again and for some reason I never am able to find the the password I developed and had written down so this would never happen again.

Sometimes this method works but most the time it does not and luckily Consumer Cellular also publishes an 888 number that I suppose I could call eventually and have them assign me a new password. I really feel this is something I should be able to do myself and not have to be so freaked out about having to set up a new password because the second I know that I set up a good password I lose track of the password and I'm back to square one. The last couple of passwords have used information from the Marvel Universe I'm trying to develop a password from the superhero standpoint. Something cool and Unforgettable that's what I'd like to use but sadly the second that I do it seems that I lose the password or at least the ability to use it. I'm not one of those points right now where I've got to figure out how to use my saved phone messages so I can get back to the people that need to get a hold of me. Today for example I was strapped to my arm bike working out but my phone rang but I could not get to it in time and it gave the little signal that whoever had called had left a voice message. It was a call from my medical clinic and I suppose it was trying to get some confirmation that I would be to a medical appointment coming up in the next week or so. But they just like to hear the client affirm there attendance. I had not gotten anybody by the end of the work day today so I'll try again tomorrow at least to find when the appointment is and which doctor it's with. Before I trapse all the way down to the hospital/ doctors offices I want to spend some time. Hopefully the doctor's office will call again as we get closer to the supposed time of the visit. But I just want to be able to have access to this stored messages file so I feel like I'm on top of things. And halfway confident about things in the internet…

A cool and rainy day

 I was so glad to finally get to my apartment complex, to push through the gate then through the parking lot up to the back door, I did roll up to the front of the building just to check things out to see if I'm missing anything I was not so I ended up going back to the apartment going inside and then just feeling the heat from the apartment it was nice. I like the heat from the heater that I purchased a few years ago but I leave going by the television station where I watch my Netflix another piece of entertainment. But what I really like on a day when it's cold and wet like today is when the bus picks you up and you roll into the moving sanctuary of heat that the drivers maintain. I know I complain about the drivers having the bus too cold in early spring as well as through the rest of the summer but they make up for that inconvenience of chelliness by having the heat on full blast. It's just really cozy to be on the bus and I sort of hate leaving it when I have to but I make a fast Dash for my gate when I get off at the apartment complex.

My little backup chair did good today. I cannot say I really enjoy the ride and the fact that it really sits me up straight and puts a lot of pressure on my isshiels and driving my chair any distance at all is very squirrely. When you stop your Forward Motion the chair continues to move quite a ways one has to be careful not to crash into other people as well as other pieces of property as well as traffic. Took me forever to get undressed last night and actually I was surprised that I was able to get dressed this morning as quickly as I did. I was able to get through the bus and get to the library hang out there for a while then over to my assist meeting. So it was a pretty functional day and mind you all this was happening while it was raining outside maybe not very hard but uncomfortably wet and uncomfortably cool. I wore one of the shirts that I purchased which is really too small which wore me out all day trying to keep it pulled down over my belly but I also wore one of my big giant hoodies that was kind of a mistake I didn't know what else to wear but I did good and finally had Jennifer at the assist Office zip me up for my return trip which is much nicer than my trip in as far as closing the hood goes. I was able to do my 1 hour workout though not as efficiently as I usually do but I was able to do it no I'm just at the end of my day finishing a few things my dictation being one of them. I watched the Jazz lose again tonight as much as I could take finally I turned the volume on the big screen down and then with the aid of my tablet was able to print the letters for the envelopes which I should and probably will stuff tomorrow for the mail out on Halloween day after tomorrow. I am totally pleased that I am now done with the most strenuous part of my week- - that I am aware of now. They brought the power chair back tonight from the wheelchair shop. They fixed a couple things on it which will get me through until they have to take it again and then I'll be in this chair again for a day. I suppose that's As Good As It Gets for a Tuesday with raining clouds…

Backup chair Blues

 The wheelchair shop picked up my power chair tonight. Tomorrow they'll go over it and see what needs to be done and I assume will contact my provider to make sure everything's covered. They do this you know they won't even lift a finger to fix the chair until they figure they're going to get paid. This used to really frustrate me a lot but I've gotten used to it. Hopefully they'll bring the chair back tomorrow evening. I've sat in this chair all day since my shower this morning and I had my caregiver switch out the chairs it's been a bit of a challenge but I've made it through the day the question now is will I make it through the night? Remember I almost had to call 911 earlier in last week. This was when my foot fell between the football and the bed getting up. So I've got a challenge of a bed sometimes the back works sometimes it doesn't and it's a bit of a challenge getting into the other chair this chair should be a real hoot to get into in the morning. The arm of the chair doesn't go down like the other one does this one goes straight up I don't know what that's going to do as far as my transfer. I shouldn't be so worried because I've gotten by with this chair before and now supposedly they've built up the footbox so supposedly my foot should be even more secure. I think the big challenge is going to be I'm going to be able to dress myself in this chair? I've had to lean the chair back a couple of time to cut the weight off of my rear end I can feel it getting more sensitive Plus whatever is wrong with the side of my foot bunion or callus or whatever it is I've been near sweating all day actually I have been sweating. I used to think it was so weird that people will spinal cord injuries often sweat when they get a challenge to their body one way or the other. I noticed when my butt is in peril or I'm sitting cattywampus in my chair and causing my spine to twist that nowadays I sweat not big bunches of gallons like I've seen some pair of sweat but just a damp uncomfortable moisture which tends to swell around my neck and head underneath the hat I'm wearing. It makes me wish I could see my old spinal cord friends and tell them I understand now why they would perspire when there was a wrinkle in there shorts are pants when they sitting in their chair or their shoes are too tight or something else which might cause the sweating but they would sweat and now so do I. Mainly just because my feet get very uncomfortable or that I'm sitting straighter in my chair this chair the backup chair that I do in my other chair where it looks like I'm laying down in the chair most of the time. Getting by in this life is nothing but a trade-off I figured.

I tried to print but the envelopes today and of course I was out of ink or the ink had dried up or something I don't know what all I know is that when my caregiver and I were trying to print envelopes this morning before we started my shower the printer wouldn't work and I'm pretty positive is because the ink is dried up since I used it last granted there probably wasn't a whole lot of ink in there to begin with. I think I've done two or three mail-outs which is very intensive as far as printing the envelopes as well as the documents. I was going to roll over to Walmart which would necessitate me crossing the street and they just wasn't enough to doing that in this power chair just yet anyway. I just don't know how well the batteries will respond. So in that vein I had my caregiver pack one of the many cloth bags that I have kicking around the apartment. I found one just right to carry the charger in. I I'm taking the charger with me tomorrow in this Canvas Bag hanging on the back of my chair. Tomorrow I must go over to assist for my meeting. I may have them unpack the charger while I'm at the meeting didn't charge my battery just a little bit. I shouldn't have much problem I don't think I'm pretty sure I can go a couple miles and then if I catch the bus outside my back door and go into the switch over place and then into the bus station and straight back to the apartment after the meeting I should be okay worst case I snagged somebody to push me the rest of the way to the apartment when the batteries cop out unless I can figure out a place to charge them on my way home and have the patience to wait until I get strong enough charge to get to the apartment …

Sunday Joys

 What a perfectly marvelous day I can't believe how well it I feel right this second- - I must be suffering from a second wind because I should be dead tired right now. I work this morning way early I don't know why I couldn't get back to sleep. I was quite tired when I first got up I finally got up at six something am. I would have been up a lot earlier had not I had a foot malfunction transferring into my chair my foot went between the chair and the bed and it took me at least 20 minutes to get myself free I was really frightened that I might have to call Marc Anthony or 911 the fire department or whoever can come over and pull my leg up. I'm still totally amazed that I was able to free myself by myself it only cost me time and some stress. I may have finally finished breaking the lift on the head portion of the bed maybe I can get it working tonight I don't know but it's felt like a big crash this morning I was able to make the transfer thank goodness after I got my foot back on the bed. So anything after that was a win today. A great event however was that after breakfast Jackson and Jasmine and me went over to the Burlington and actually did some shopping and I got three shirts sweater and shirts well sweater and a hoodie and a shirt I'm so excited I can't believe it they're big and they'll fit me and they'll let me have a little bit of styling. Jasmine is great at shopping and she takes the time to dress me and undress me and it works out really well trying on the clothes and whatever. Following that event I really was too tired to go out to the movies like I sort of wanted to. I just sort of dozed off and on this afternoon and finally watched a couple movies. After the news I watched a couple of Gray's Anatomy but I think I'm finally getting satiated on Gray's. I'm about 10 shows into the second season and I think I'm about had enough. I might drop in every once in awhile for another segment but overall I'm done with grace for a while anyway. Now I'm just in the process of printing envelopes for the mail out. Of course the first one I tried I got a paper jam that's what you get for using old envelopes I guess. I've got to go in there and open it up and pull out the offending envelope. So aside from that the day's been pretty good instead of making anything I ended up eating the last of the hot dog I got from Costco that Marcia picked up for me it was just about right. I might have some more of the vegetables but I didn't want to eat too much after the breakfast which was eggs and Ash corned beef hash which is pretty good but like I said I don't want to stuff myself still want to make it through the night without pooping in bed but I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll be okay until tomorrow. I got the apartment pretty hot tonight just because I felt like it was fall the day was cloudy all day but no rain or anything yet that starts tomorrow afternoon of course and we'll go through my trip into Salt Lake for assist. Of course it'll be raining on Tuesday. No I just talked to dictate a few more letters and then I'll be ready to either clean out the printer tonight or maybe wait till tomorrow and have Melissa help me.

Letters in Christmas cards

 I don't know what I was thinking but I was quite shocked this afternoon when I realized that next week was the first of the month and I had better get busy crafting my letters or I'm going to miss getting them out so the kids will get there letters in the first week of November. I don't know if it's because the end of the month or the first of the month is like in the middle of the week or what but for some reason I didn't register it that this month was coming to an end as quickly as it is. So, rather than doing anything else today after I gone to coffee with Janet as well as shopping for a few things for the weekend oh yeah and cutting my hair I've been working on the kid letters. You seem to be going well this month maybe it's just because it's Seasons changing, going back to regular time and of course Thanksgiving. I've got 3/4 of the letters written now. Just a couple more and then printing out the envelopes and Staffing I should be done for November. I'm still writing Diane's mother every month. She's becoming more and more frail and I don't know if she's very cognizant as far as even getting the letters but I seem to get feedback from Diane and she hears from her family who is with her mom that mom still enjoys the letters so I will continue to write until there's not a reason to. It's a small thing meant a lot to my mom I know that before she died and it's something that's easy to do once you get into the framework of writing on a regular basis. It's funny that with texting the whole concept of writing it seems to be going down the tubes- I mean physical writing like sitting down paper and pencil/ pen. I suppose being able to dictate the letter onto electronic tablets as I do hopefully that counts as much as a handwritten document. I swear that if I had to do a handwritten document no one would be able to understand or read the letters. I mean I shared before about I can't even hand address letters anymore because when I do all the letters come back to me. It's taking me two or three Christmases to realize this when I was still sending out Christmas cards there's nothing worse than sending out 10 cards and getting eight back as undeliverable. I think some of those cards were deliverable and the guy sorting just took the easy way out and send it back but I certainly got the message and I suppose if I really wanted to send the cards out I could figure out a way to dictate the printed document and possibly most important maybe print the addresses on peel off labels and just print the labels and apply them to the Christmas cards. Huh that may not be a bad idea. Maybe I'll go through the process one more year and see how that comes out if I can figure out how to print the labels. I've done it before another project so I know it's doable with this printer I just have to make sure I've got labels now I still have to figure out what to do for the message inside the card. Maybe it doesn't really matter if the people can read the message or not as long as I saw my name and they know that I tried to send them a Christmas card. We'll see more to come

Gamers Remorse

 I don't know what I was thinking. Hell, I guess I'm an incurable romantic at least that's what I think I need to designate myself as. I see these things that would be great to do and great to enjoy and then get myself involved and all the sudden I feel trapped and left wondering how stupid I am. The case in point this time is my new found appreciation and somewhat enjoyment of watching the local professional basketball team lose and sometimes win their games on National Television. We've just begin a new basketball season and first game was the other night we lost of course. The local team chokes very well. Now, we have this like television room upstairs of the third floor which is very nice. The entire time I've been here it's been used just a few times and I've used it a couple times. It's cozy it's small but can fit a fairly large number of people if you needed to. There's a large screen television there when TV screens were not so large and if they were it was something and this was a real nice little theater room at the time. Now however with flat screens everywhere and you get huge ones at a minimal cost the theater room reeks of old technology but it's now begin to be used again. And in my romantic mind I was thinking the other night while watching the local team lose this would be sort of fun to do in the big screen Theater room and open it up to anybody in the building who would like to come in and watch the local team play. We can even have a couple of pizzas sent in and make it a real enjoyable time. Then like the idiot I am, I bring this up at the coffee group on Thursday and all sudden everybody seems interested. Quite frankly my bit surprised and get the first hinges are twinges of you didn't really think this through did you? No I did not!

Since the possibility of a building-wide/group activity was only brought up once I don't know how significantly these other old folks are going to remember tonight when the local Utah Jazz tips off the ball for their second real game of the season. Quietly I could just roam the Halls today and hope that nobody remembers but what if somebody does and wants to know if we're still doing the function at the game room. I don't know what to say. What's the protocols? If it's your idea can you leave the event early especially if the team's losing? If it's your idea do you not show up to such an event and everyone's going to ask well as his idea how come he's not here? Not that I guess it makes a big difference one way or the other it's just some of the things I wodrry about and have remorse about seems like all the time …

Dogpile

Have you ever been the target of older brothers and sisters or friends that for one reason or another they feel it's appropriate and humorous and just plain fun to cause a dog pile with you at the bottom? That seemed to happen to me a lot growing up one way or the other and I hated being at the bottom of the dog pile Not only was it somewhat confining and therefore terrifying to me I couldn't move I couldn't breathe it was also somewhat humiliating but everybody seemed to enjoy it and I basically went along with the crowd that certainly didn't want to bring them down. I've tried as an adult stay away from that kind of behavior. But it still happens and it happened so quickly that I barely even recognize I was part of that issue issue and it's not as lethal and Cutthroat as what happens when you're a kid but it still happens. It happened today as a matter of fact

It's Thursday that's when we have what we call the coffee social it's a place where we always have coffee available Thursday mornings from 9:30 on and residents that are apartment complex can come and visit and socialize. The coffee group is kind of fun. One of the individuals, a really nice lady who is currently the person that facilitates the function just happened to mention at the end of the meeting that she was heading out to Costco and did she need  anything picked up at Costco?  It was pathetic like a group of vultures meeting over carrying in the jungle plains of Africa. It seemed like everybody needed something from Costco particularly the gigantic pumpkin pies. We decided we would get one pie and divide it up. My own weakness was asking her to pick up a couple of the $1.50 hot dogs which I think is one of the best deals still in the universe. I think I've even written about it in this blog somewhere. I didn't even care if I didn't get the drink but automatically comes with this hot dog deal. I figured if I got two dogs it would get me through the next two days dinner wise. I almost considered ordering a pizza but they pretty much talked me out of it because the only two pizzas that Costco offers are pepperoni or cheese but the price is fantastic no question about that. However I'll just wait and order Domino's whenever I get a hankering for the flat round pies. My guilt wasn't too bad at that point in time it's only been after I've had time to think about what I asked the senior person to do on my behalf that my guilt became more and more Sharp. Interestingly the person lives in the same apartment that my friend Billy lived in a number of years ago. She was the person that when she told me she was going out to the market or to Costco or someplace like that I asked her to get me a watermelon and then added that get me a righteous watermelon. Of course I meant righteous meaning a nice good round tasty sweet watermelon. Poor Billy thought it was a brand name of watermelon and she must have gone to five or six different markets trying to find a righteous watermelon and came back and reported that sadly she was not able to find any. She died a few years after that I've never really gotten over my guilt and humor of the situation.

I just noticed that Marsha just pulled in and I will go out and see if I can help her carry things into the apartment and claim my two dogs. She did not seem to be worse for wear and when I apologized she basically told me not to worry but I still have to think that it must have been a heavy request for someone that old to me everybody's pick up boy for the afternoon… 

Big Mac Filetaffish..

 

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Quarter Pounder french fry , you'll probably recognize that as part of the jingle of the McDonald's commercial and number of years ago. I memorized the jingle and I still like to spout it off every once in awhile. But tonight the Quarter Pounders totally Under Fire because of some health issues experienced by some McDonald's at franchise's here in the state and a number of surrounding states sounds like they got a hold of some bad lettuce or something and caused a lot of illness some of it pretty serious. So the quarter pounder and a couple of the other hamburgers been taking off the menu for the time being until they get to the bottom of what pathogens came from what and what is making people sick it's kind of a shame. I still think, for me, the Best Buy at McDonald's is the cheapest Burger they have the cheeseburger which now is not be coming so cheap anymore. I like to get extra onions extra relish extra pickles all of these things add greatly to the flavor of the little Burger I think it's still under two bucks which I guess is a deal in the Burgerville or any fast food places these days. My apartment sits a couple blocks from one McDonald's and six or seven blocks from another if you don't have your own transportation it's not an easy roll to these places. I'd probably wait for the bus which should really make me have to have some other reason to begin that area besides the McDonald's it's just a few of me taking a bus that far. The closest thing I had to fast food is a little joint across the street it's an Arctic Circle and their burgers are just cardboard hardly any flavor at all which is really too bad. I've even asked them to dress it up like I do my McDonald's burgers but they try to make the burger more appealing but it just doesn't work so I ditched the convenience of that joint and we'll wait till I get to a burger that I really enjoy before I have a burger. In the same area that the McDonald's just south of my place about five blocks is another little hamburger joint it's really really good. Their burgers are fantastic think they're called Five Guys Burgers or something like that. Their hamburgers are everything and hamburgers should be hot, juicy and Incredibly flavorful they're the kind of burgers that I order and sneak into the movies across the block and enjoy all through the movie. Well actually it doesn't last long when I start woofing on the burger. I know you all want to hear that bit of the commercial that I memorized so many years ago. So just for you here it goes” Big Mac filet of fish Quarter Pounder french fries icy Coke thick Shake Sunday and apple pies” I don't know why I think this jingle is so cool that I've kept it in my memory all these years I just like it's Cadence and it's rhyming and the fact that sheds a little light on all the good things McDonald's has to offer Lexus…,