first half 2024
Here is my journal for first half of 2024
Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024
Nice day today. Started with breakfast
at Hy-Vee. Two eggs over easy, links, pancakes, fruit cup, and coffee. After, Dawn
took me to Best Buy to return DVD player. Lady was nice, but gave me the
run-around, and told me to call Sony, and they would provide the remedy. They
will no doubt tell me to take the unit back to Best Buy. Dawn's fiance is going
to handle that for me ... thank you Carl. From there, Dawn drove me back to the
condo. I left my keys in the car, so of course I couldn't get back into the
condo. Another tenant let me in, then I went to Cheryl's office and she lent me
her master key to get into the unit. Another example of how I want to stay on
Cheryl's good side. I'm back in the unit now writing this journal entry. Dawn
and I spent considerable time on getting Julie and I checked in for our cruise
on Royal Caribbean. For dinner I made chicken breast chunks (pan fried) and a
lettuce salad. Watched Family Guy on TV until about 10 p.m., and then to bed.
Watched "Captain Phillips" on my Amazon Fire tablet.
Friday, Jan. 5, 2024
Up at 8:45 a.m. Breakfast of
strawberry/banana smoothie and coffee. Perused the State Journal down in the
lobby and found this funny story about a guy who is suing Dunkin' Donuts over
an exploding toilet that left him covered in feces at a location in Orlando,
Florida. He is suing for $50,000.
No eating out today, which is fine
because it saves me money. Chicken soup for lunch with some extra chunks of
chicken thighs. Nap in the afternoon, followed with a visit to see Deacon, the
rat terrier. Watched the 5:30 news. Dinner was a pork chop and lettuce salad
with tomato. Then, more TV (Family Guy) and to bed around 9 p.m.
Saturday, Jan 6, 2024
Up at 6:45 a.m. Showered and shaved,
and got dressed. Injected Trulicity and took my meds. I think I am down about
20 pounds, but haven’t been able to weigh myself lately. But the jeans are
loose and I’m on the last couple notches of my belt. Made breakfast of two
eggs, bacon (2 strips, Oscar Mayer thick slice), 1 slice toast, fresh
strawberries and a pot of coffee.
Cleaned up the e-mailbox, read the
news. Took out a pound of hamburger and Ciabatta rolls from the freezer for
hamburgers tonight. Been eating a lot of chicken lately and need a change of
pace.
Read a chunk of my blog from several
years ago of my winter in Florida. Lots of fun stuff, including my brief
romance with Carol (aka Catwoman). Also painful reminders of my ordeal with cat
Phoebe and her escape from my Florida condo. This is where she got into a fight
with another cat that resulted in multiple trips to the vet and over $500 in bills.
Speaking of cats, I am soon to pick
out a cat (or the cat chooses me?) to keep me company. I have decided to go
with Angels Wish, where you make an appointment to see your chosen cat. I am
looking for an adult female. We’ll see how it goes.
Life has certainly taken a turn for me
with sister Dawn meeting her boyfriend, Carl, who turned into her fiancé,
following a brief (about a month) romance. I don’t deny her anything. I am
happy for her, and Carl is a super guy. But it has certainly changed things for
me. She is sharing Carl’s apartment, and while she visits daily, she spends the
nights at Carl’s and I must put myself to bid every night. While it’s nice
having the whole apartment to myself, it gets lonely sometimes, hence the
reason for the cat.
Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024
Up around 8:45. Have to get coffee
made because CBS Sunday Morning starts in 15 minutes. Show is entertaining,
with David Pogue talking about call centers, a bane of modern living. He
interviews three call center reps, who discuss frustration on their end. Some
companies are using AI that simulates human conversation, right down to voice
inflection and so forth. If a problem can't be resolved, you are then
transferred to a human being. For example, they set up a mock demonstration
where Pogue tells the AI he's traveling with an assistance animal, fine with
AI. But then Pogue says the animal is a Bengal Tiger. At this point, the AI
transfers him to a human being. Also, segments on tourism in Red China,
Rapper-turned-country singer Jelly Roll on his journey from jail to the biggest
stages in the world, and late-night comedy's newest host, Taylor Tomlinson.
There is a Packer football game today,
so I go down to the community room, and there are all kinds of treats. There
are six of us watching the game. We agree to have a hot chocolate party on
Tuesday to watch the snow fall, of which a foot is predicted. I will bring milk
and hot chocolate mix.
No dinner tonight as I am full of
goodies from the Packer party. To bed around 9 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 8, 2024
Up at 8:30. Breakfast of eggs, sausage
patty, toast and coffee. Toenail appointment is canceled due to snow. Dawn,
Carl, and I go to Woodmans to stock up on provisions. The store is busy but not
impossible. I buy some produce, meat, and a few other things. Dawn and Carl
fill a grocery cart. I think the total bill came to $180. Back home and Dawn
puts away the groceries. I have beef tenderloin for dinner along with a fresh
Bartlett pear. The boxed set of Breaking Bad arrives in the mail, and I watch
three episodes. What a great series this is, and very raw and gritty. to bed
around 9 p.m. No movie in bed tonight. I must get back to getting a full
night's sleep.
Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024
Up at 8:30. A full breakfast of
scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, fresh fruit, and coffee. There is a good
foot of snow on the ground, the plows are making are making a near-constant run
along Whitney Way. I call Mario, and he is out having pickup truck serviced
(recall notice), so I talk with Barbara for a while and give her some
information about Carl so we have some talking points come Friday.
I head down to the community room. Not
much going on there, so I go up to Carl's apartment to visit and see Deacon. We
decide to go out to lunch at Jason's Deli and load up on the salad bar.
Afternoon is pretty typical, playing
Wizard and so forth. Supper is a pork
chop and salad. I watch a few episodes of Breaking Bad, and then to bed.
Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024
Up at 8:30. Light breakfast of
smoothie and coffee. No Roosters today because it has snowed, and more snow is
on the way. So we decide to do a Woodman's run (Sun Prairie) and stock up on
groceries. Store is moderately busy and our tab runs about $150. Back to the
apartment to put groceries away. Typical afternoon of reading and playing
Wizard. Steak and tossed salad for supper, TV and to bed around 9 p.m.
Thursday, Jan 11, 2024
Lots of snow, about a foot. Snow plows
running constantly, and Hy-Vee lot being cleared. Full breakfast of eggs, hash
browns, sausage patties, toast, orange, and coffee. The Ore-Ida frozen hash
browns are in a big clump, so I leave them on the counter to thaw. Dawn talks
with her shrink this morning, and the guy is so annoying, I must go to the
bedroom and put the headphones on. Lot's of "ums" and
"ahs," much different from Paige, Dawn's other therapist. But
according to Dawn, the guy is very thorough, and Dawn likes him OK. I announce
to Dawn today that I would like a cat when I return from the cruise. I need
some company because Dawn is spending most of her time with Carl. No lunch
today; the Trulicity is really working well to curb my appetite. Dinner is a
hunk of tenderloin and salad. A few episodes of Breaking Bad, then off to bed
around 10 p.m.
Friday, January 12, 2024
Up at around 8:30. I have a potato
that I shredded yesterday for hash browns, but it turns into a big mess because
the potatoes have oxidized and turned brown. Into the garbage disposal with
them. I eat rest of breakfast which consists of eggs, toast, fruit and coffee.
No lunch. A bit of visiting with fellow tenants down in the community room.
Nice group of people. We haven't quite "jelled" yet like Roosters,
but it is a nice group of people, and we have had several nice get-togethers,
like hot-chocolate day, potlucks (including Chili) and various appetizers. I
bring milk and hot chocolate and am hailed a hero. The usual TV viewing and
then to bed. Try to play with Kindle, but the damn Internet is out (again), so
off to sleep.
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Shower day. I do a "deluxe"
which includes a haircut and toenail trim. Breakfast is a milkshake, using up
some Breyers choc. chip ice cream, yogurt and milk. I have that with an apple
and coffee. The Internet is back up. Read the news and am updating the journal.
Dawn and Carl are going to West Towne and Dawn asks if I want to come along,
but I decline. Too cold. Currently 20 degrees and the mercury is going to
really dip tonight; predicted to dip to minus 4. I pass the afternoon doing the
usual ... reading, playing Wizard. Dinner is a pork chop and some salad. I
binge on a few more episodes of Breaking Bad, and then to bed around 9:30.
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Up at 7:45. Just enough time to get
dressed and make coffee before CBS Sunday Morning. David Pogue is the host,
subbing for Jane Pauley. Interesting segment on pee recycling. I've got a bunch
of pee for ya, how about that, David? Very cold out. A fellow in our apartment
fell on the ice and laid there for 45 minutes until an ambulance arrived and
took him to the hospital but not before he lost consciousness. I hope he sues
the apartment owners. Packer game today at 3 p.m. Went down to the community
room and ate three bowls of chili that Ginny brought (excellent) and a slice of
pear/cranberry pie. Went back to apartment at half time to take a nap, but
later found that Packers beat the heavily favored Dallas Cowboys 48 to 32 (on
the Cowboys own home turf no less). No supper. Binge watched Breaking Bad
again, and to bed around 9:45.
Monday, January 15, 2024
Colder than a well-digger's ass. High
today of zero. Madison streets are glare ice. Breakfast of bagel with cream
cheese, fruit and coffee. Reading a book I haven't read in a long time ... How
to Survive Without a Salary, about living the conservator lifestyle. Also
catching up on the journal. Counting down to the cruise. Julie leaves for
Madison on Wednesday.
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 no entry
Wednesday, January 17 – 25 The cruise.
See separate entries on Blogger.
January 26 – February 10: no entries.
Recovering from cold. Numerous doctor visits and even trip to the emergency
room.
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Up at 7:30. Breakfast of pancakes with
real maple syrup and bacon. Watched CBS Sunday Morning. Particularly enjoyed
the segments on Paul Giamatti and the Vincent Van Gogh exhibit. Amazing AI
where Vincent “talks” to you. Cleaned up the kitchen, talked with Mario on the
phone, then took a nap. Did my pills for the week. Had lunch of chicken on a
biscuit. Next, filled out an online
application with Angels Wish for adopting a cat. Going to a Superbowl party
today in the Community Room at 5:30.
Went to the Community around 5:00.
Brought Mounds Bars and Hundred Grand bars. Everyone brought lots of food. Especially
liked the meatballs. But there was also chicken tetrazzini, cheese, pretzel
bites, fruits, and tons of desserts. I put $2 in a football pool for the Super
Bowl and won $26. Good food and good company. Game went into overtime, so
didn’t leave the party until 10:00. Kansas City won the game. Half time show
was pretty good, featuring Usher. Lots of video shots of Taylor Swift in the
stands, rooting for her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. (Man I am getting tired of
her. Nice gal, don’t get me wrong, but enough already.) Enjoyed many of the
commercials. I had restless night’s sleep due to too much food.
Monday, February 12, 2024
Up around 7:00. Breakfast of Swiss
cheese omelet, toast, orange, and coffee. Caught up on emails (tossed the junk) and news. No word yet from Angels Wish. I
went to Hy-Vee for lunch. I got some Sushi and a Pepsi. The dining room was in
chaos, as usual, so I didn’t pay for my meal (about $10) so fuck ‘em. I did go
into the grocery and bought cough drops and a package of Jiffy Pop microwave
popcorn. Dawn visited and started getting our taxes in order. She worked on
those while I sat and played on my Amazon tablet. Then a nap. I skipped dinner
because I was still full from the Sushi. Watched Family Guy, and then to bed
around 9:00. Watched The Lost World” movie for about the umpteenth time. The
main character, “Challenger, is the same guy who played Sallah in the original
Indiana Jones movie, John Rhys-Davies. Interesting supporting cast. Many of
them went on to future fame. But the woman who played Malu, Nathania Stanford,
was never heard from again. I found out she was hired from a modeling agency.
She did an admirable job and was very pretty in her little two-piece outfit.
Tuesday, February 14, 2024
Up around 7:15. Breakfast of coffee, toasted
Ciabatta roll with peanut butter, and a banana. Read Google news, then called
Angels Wish again to ask about adopting a cat. Turns out they are only open 4
hours a week on Saturday. How the hell am I supposed to get a cat? Then went
down to the community room to read the Wis. State Journal. Several dog visits,
including Deacon and Fuzzy. Had a very nice conversation with a woman named Rose
(82 years old) who worked in retail for many years (upscale womens clothing shop
in Milwaukee and then at Hilldale, Madison) and also worked at JC Penney for a
time. She had experience with Hospice, having put her father there. She said
she was/is a lawyer, and I meant to ask her why she went into retail versus
practicing law. You know, if you go down to that community room and just sit,
you’ll pretty much meet everyone in the building, at least those who come out
of their apartment once in a while. Hamburger patty for lunch, and then a nap.
No dinner, the Trulicity seems to keep
me feeling full; it doesn’t seem to do much for Dawn. Watched TV and then to
bed.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024 …
Valentines Day
Today is Roosters day, so Dawn drove
me to Cottage Grove. Kind of a low-key gathering today. I am concerned about my
friend, Herb Everett, who continues to deal with cancer, and had a biopsy
performed on his liver. No results yet, but he remains positive. Dawn picks me
up at 8:00, and from there we go to Dean pharmacy to pick up some meds, then
back home. Breakfast of an egg/bacon/cheese croissant and orange juice from the
Kwik Trip. A nap, and then down to the community room where I run into a
Valentines Day party and Bingo. Cake and ice cream were delicious. Didn’t win
anything at Bingo. Back upstairs. Steak and hamburger patty for dinner. TV, and
then to bed around 10 p.m. Kind of a sleepless night. Don’t quite know what’s
going on there.
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Today is toenail trimming day and a
good thing, too, because my toenails have become gross. The clinic today is at
Lake Edge Lutheran, and the nail tech is Sue, who is unusually in good humor
today. Back to the apartment after yet another stop at the Dean pharmacy for
needed meds. Back at the apartment, I call Joe for my next toenail appt.
because they get booked up so fast and Joe schedules me for March. No lunch,
but Dawn and I head over to Hy-Vee to score some discount Valentines candy, Also
picked up a ready-made roast beef sandwich because Hy-Vee doesn’t make
made-to-order sandwiches any more, more fallout from COVID. Back home, I get a
phone call from my buddy, Chris Vandall, and we're still planning to go to Chattanooga for the NAWCC national in
June.
Nap and
then I eat my sandwich for supper. It is icky. All I taste is salt. I swear I
will make my next sandwich from scratch. Usual TV and then to bed by 10 p.m.
Friday,
February 16, 2024
Today
is tax return day, so Dawn and I head over to the Richard Dilley Tax center on
South Park Street. We are assigned a very nice lady. Dawn’s tax return takes so
long that a nice young fellow takes over for me and does my return in about 15
minutes. The forms (state and fed) are proof-read and I sign them. No refunds,
but no money owed. Uncle Sam and Tony Evers are satisfied for another year.
From
here, Dawn and I go to Imperial Garden for lunch. I have been coming here for
more than 25 years. Great Chinese food.
I order Kung Pow shrimp and have an eggroll as an appetizer. Sitting on a table
not far from us is a table of ladies who work at the Dane Co. Expo center,
including Jan and Minnesota Sue from Drumlin. They are being let go in favor of
cheaper help and they are plotting their next move, as most need additional
income to augment Social Security. Back to condo for nap. No dinner for me as I
am full from lunch.
Saturday,
February 17, 2024
It’s
Saturday, shower day. I sleep in kind of late. I have a large breakfast of
eggs, bacon, biscuit and coffee. Dawn calls and invites to join her and Carl for
pie at the Norske Nook, We have to wait almost an hour because there is a large
group of horse enthusiasts having some sort of awards meeting. I have lemon meringue, Dawn
has banana cream, and Carl has peach. Carl treats. Back to apartment. Usual
afternoon. No supper, then TV of Family Guy, and just for kicks, watch again
the final episode of Breaking Bad, where Walter White settles the score with family,
friends, and enemies. What a great show. To bed around 10 p.m.
Sunday,
February 18, 2024
Up
around 7:30. CBS Sunday morning is a mixed bag. Big news about Russian dissident
Alexei Navalny who dies in Siberian prison. What a monster that Putin is. I
think he’ll go down in history as evil as Stalin. Segments on aging (ala Joe
Biden). Actress Hillary Swank, and more misery in Ukraine. Breakfast afterward
of raisin bran, apple, cherry yogurt, coffee.
I do my pills for the week and order refills.
A very
quiet day of reading (mostly my journal of wintering in Florida), playing Wizard,
and cleaning apartment. A restless night’s sleep, spent partly in chair, partly
in bed.
Monday,
February 19, 2024
Presidents
Day. I head over to Hy-Vee. I have a Bucky coupon for 2 breakfasts for the
price of one, so I order fried eggs for one and an omelet for the other. Carol
is the waitress who brings me my food. I also pick out some sirloin steaks.
Back to the apartment.
No
lunch or supper due to big breakfast. Dawn and Deacon come to visit. Quiet
night watching Family Guy. In bed, I watched “Brannigan” starring John Wayne.
Must have been one of his last movies. I think it’s kind of funny because I
always think of John Wayne in Westerns, but it has received good reviews from
viewers, and even Roger Ebert gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
Tuesday,
February 20, 2024
Woke
around 7:30 and had leftovers from yesterday’s breakfast (ham/cheese omelet
with toast, orange, and coffee). Went down to the community room to read paper.
Finally got a callback (message) from “Lois” at Angels Wish. Called her back,
and she told me she never received my application. So I sent it again. No
lunch. Nap and then playing Wizard. Steak and ½ baked potato for dinner.
Watched TV and then to bed.
Wednesday,
February 21, 2024
It’s
Rooster Day in Cottage Grove. Nice cinnamon roll and coffee and Dawn picked me
up a breakfast sandwich and OJ at Kwik Trip. For fun, I brought a photo of my 1st
grade class picture from Lincoln Elementary with Miss Dean. Lots of laughs, and
everyone picked me out right away and they say I haven’t changed much! Everyone
started talking about their grade school experiences, and Dwight said he
started out in a one room country school. Back to the apartment. Lazy day.
Still no firm plans with Angels Wish. No dinner. Trulicity really working and I
wonder how much weight I’ve lost. TV and then to bed around 9:30. Watched “The
Lost World” for the umpteenth time.
Thursday,
February 22, 2024
Up
around 7:30. Usual a.m. routine. I decide to go to Hy-Vee for lunch, but forget
my wallet, and a fiasco ensues. I finally convinced one of the gals to let me
eat my cheeseburger and fruit salad and I promise to go back to the apartment
and get my wallet, which I did and squared up with them. A tip of the hat to Beth,
who knows and trusts me. Nap in the afternoon and dinner, followed with TV and
then to bed. Spent part of the night in the easy chair. Don’t quite know what’s
up with that. I’m fairly convinced that sleep apnea is the main culprit.
Friday,
February 23, 2024
Lazy
day today, more or less a carbon copy of yesterday. On the plus side, I finally
schedule a visit to Angels Wish, and have sent an email to Lois Lawrence at
Angels Wish that I am interested in adopting “Mabel,” a five year old cat who
looks interesting and appropriate to my needs for a companion.
Saturday,
February 24, 2024
Shower
day. Breakfast, then Dawn and I head over to Angels Wish in Verona. After
checking in at the welcome desk, we find Mabel in a cage close to the front,
and we have staff unite Mabel with us in a private “meeting room.” Mabel is a
bit shy, but soon warms up to us and I decide to adopt her. She is sweet and
has a very nice disposition. We have the staff put her in the crate we have
brought along, and we proceed to have our “briefing” with an AW staffer who has
us sign and initial all sorts of things promising we won’t have her declawed
and assuring we’ll give Mabel a loving and responsible home. The drive home is
uneventful and she hardly meows. When we get her to the apartment, she spends
little time getting herself acclimated to her new surroundings.
She
takes to her scratching post and litter box with ease. She sits with me in the recliner.
She sleeps with me in the bed that night. She is a joy.
Sunday,
February 25, 2024
Today
is CBS Sunday Morning, hosted today by Moe Rocca, who is not my favorite, but
he is OK. Segments on Billy Dee Williams, U.S. Army corrects miscarriage of
justice in Jim-Crow Texas, Rod Stewart shifts gears from rock to singing
American standards. All very interesting. I play with Mabel and she is
adjusting to her new life very well.
Monday,
February 26, 2024
Today,
me, Dawn, and Carl meet Mario and Barbara in Belleville for a meal. We get
there about noon and we each order our food. I have a fish sandwich and a cup
of chili and a Coke. We have a wonderful conversation, and Carl seems to be at
ease talking about Deacon among other things. Mario and I of course discuss
watches, but he also brings me up to date about Nathan, who is still on the
outs with Andy. Much of our conversation revolved around the new cat, Mabel.
Also pets, Deacon (for Carl) and one of Mario and Barbara’s first dogs, Emmy, a
Chinese Shar Pei. We adjourn, and then Dawn, Carl and I head to Woodman’s to do
some much-needed grocery shopping. Dawn and I rack up about $100 worth of
groceries, and Carl loads up on pizzas and diet Pepsi, which seem to be his
“go-to” meal. Back home, Dawn puts away the groceries for me. She leaves the
kitty treats out, and I proceed to introduce Mabel to them, and she loves them.
So much so, I must lock them up after she tears into the bag and helps herself
to multiple treats. I guess she never had them before.
Tuesday,
February 27, 2024
Dawn
has a morning Zoom session with her shrink. This guy has an annoying habit of
saying “um” every fourth or fifth word, so I go into the bedroom and close the
door during her session. After that, Dawn schedules a vet appointment for Mabel
to do a general checkup. She has a bald spot on her tummy that we want to check
out. Also, there is quite a bit of licking going on with her coat. We will see
the vet on Thursday and hope it is not too traumatic for Mabel.
Wednesday,
February 28, 2024
Today
is Roosters, and I have a very nice session with the boys … a full house today
with 10 people there. Dawn picks up my usual breakfast sandwich and OJ from
Kwik Trip. Someone burned the crap out of the sausage patty. A light lunch of a
salad with oil and vinegar dressing. I
need some roughage after a couple of hard stools. For dinner, I have a hunk of
tenderloin and another salad. TV and then to bed.
Thursday,
February 29, 2024
Leap
Day. Breakfast of 2 eggs, bacon, toast, coffee, banana, and grapefruit. Today
is vet appointment for Mabel. A very thorough and expensive exam …$516. Blood
and urine workup, checked her ears which were quite crusty. Vet sent me home
with the “cone of shame,” and ointment for her ears and irritated spot on one
of her nipples. She was a very good girl during the exam. But holy cow, $516?
My visits to my doctor aren’t that expensive. I put the bill on my Payal credit
card, so at least I’ll get a little rebate (I think).
After
that, I ask Dawn to stop at McDonalds for a couple hamburgers ($2.50 plus tax),
and then back to the apartment. I eat my burgers, and then Dawn puts the cone
of shame on Mabel and also applies the ointment.
Friday,
March 1, 2024
Mom’s
birthday. She would have been 104 had she lived. Up at 7 a.m. breakfast of omelet,
apple, toast and coffee. Dawn comes and we do the ointment on Mabel. Games
(Wizard) and reading. No lunch today. More games and reading. Evening meds for
Mabel. Dinner of steak and salad. Family Guy, then to bed. Sweet Mabel kept me
company the whole night.
Saturday,
March 2, 2024
Shower
day. Breakfast of giant blueberry muffin procured at Hy-Vee for 50 cents and
coffee. Dawn and I give Mabel her meds. Today is maid day. Monica and son Evan
(pronounced e-VAHN) arrive. Dawn and I retire to the community room and play
Cribbage. Dawn has bought pastrami, Swiss cheese and croissants at Hy-Vee, and
we make sandwiches. Apartment is beautiful and smells of Pine Sol. Fresh
bedding. Day three of medicating Mabel. Dinner and then TV. I try something
different for bed. I lay on top of bedding with clothes on. Mabel joins me. I
watch “Return to the Lost World.” Part way through the night, I switch to
recliner, and then back to bed.
Sunday,
March 3, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. CBS Sunday Morning. Kevin James is the featured profile. Two researchers
who came up with the Covid vaccine and won the Nobel prize (very humble),
tilting architecture in Italy, and artist Mark Rothco, who painted squares, and
a Steve Hartman episode about a coach who helped a boy survive cancer. The Rothco thing was unremarkable, I thought.
Yet his original paintings sell for millions of $$. Breakfast of another 50-cent
banana nut muffin from Hy-Vee and coffee. Dawn came up and we did Mabel. Sat
for awhile out on balcony. Near 70 degrees, but awfully windy. Lunch of ½
pastrami and Swiss cheese sandwich. Nap in afternoon, followed by dinner, then watched
Addams Family DVD on the TV. Raul Julia is a stitch. Then off to bed.
Monday,
March 4, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Smoothie for breakfast. Dawn came over and we medicated Mabel. She is on
to us and puts up quite a fuss. Went to Hy-Vee and scored some bargains (two boxes
of Kraft Mac ‘n’ Cheese for 50 cents apiece!) and some Honey Crisp apples for
89 cents a lb. and three oranges. Sat in the café for awhile and then back to
the apartment. An afternoon of reading and playing Wizard and also Solitaire on
the Kindle. Many variations on the game from different companies, all designed
to suck you into paying for the “full” versions of the games. Dinner of pork
chop, mac ‘n’ cheese and salad. Watched Family Guy until about 1 a.m., then off
to bed.
Tuesday,
March 5, 2024
Up at
7:30. Breakfast of bacon, eggs, and an orange. Started reading my emails, including
a nice post by my friend Craig Pittman from Florida. Dawn came over and we
medicated Mabel. Caught up on news, and then took a little siesta and happened
upon a website, WatchCarefully.com, by C. Bradley Jacobs, who I recognize from
Oana’s Facebook page. Some very well researched articles on watches which
Jacobs has placed in various magazines. I stumbled on this while trying to find
out if the Rockford watch chapter still meets, and I emailed Matt Clark to see
if he had any info on upcoming meetings, deaths, new members, etc.
Dawn
calls and tells me the vet called and said we could remove Mabel’s collar and
see how she is doing. Great news. Dawn will come down and help me with that. We
also ordered a litter robot because Mabel is making quite a mess with the basic
litterbox.
No
lunch. Salad for dinner. TV and Raisin Bran for bedtime snack.
Wednesday,
March 6, 2024
Roosters
today. The main topic is peoples’ service in the Coast Guard, Army, Navy, etc.
Myself and Bill are pretty much left out of the conversation because we didn’t
serve. Dawn picks up my usual breakfast sandwich and OJ from Kwik Trip. The
usual check news, play games, write emails. I go to Hy-Vee and get a couple
pounds of snow crab legs using a $5 off coupon from the Bucky Book. They come
to $31. I spend a good chunk of the day fiddling out the crab meat and I had a bunch
of the meat for dinner. Yummy. Dawn comes over and we medicate Mabel. She seems
to be getting better but is still obsessed with licking her belly and cleaning
her ears. To bed around 10 p.m.
Thursday,
March 7, 2024
Big day
today. Road trip to the Log Cabin in Baraboo for lunch and a trip to Ho Chunk
for a little Blackjack. Getting to Baraboo was horrendous. The major highway
(State Road 33) is under construction. Took us forever to get to the Log Cabin,
and Dawn had to call them three times for directions. But we finally made it.
Dawn had chicken noodle soup and chicken ‘n’ biscuits. I had meatloaf and
mashed potatoes and mac ‘n’ cheese. Dawn had a slice of pie for dessert.
From
there we went to Ho Chunk. They gave me a wheelchair (no charge) and we played
some Blackjack on a machine for $2 minimum. I won $8; Dawn broke even. From
there we went to snack bar and I had coffee while Dawn had some type of energy
drink. I seriously needed to take a dump and so spent 15-20 minutes in the
restroom wrestling with a giant turd. I was gone so long that Dawn called into
the bathroom to make sure I was OK.
Returned
the wheelchair and started for home … this time on Highway 12 (the scenic
route) versus the Interstate which we took on the way up. We stopped at Culvers
in Sauk City for a cone. A very pleasant day spent reminiscing. I was very
tired by the time I got home and fell asleep in the blue recliner. No supper
and no TV. To bed around 8 p.m.
Friday,
March 8, 2024
Up
around 7:30. Bacon, eggs, toast, apple, coffee for breakfast. Cleaned up the
apartment including loading the dishwasher, filling the kitty bowls, and
cleaning the litter box. Dawn came over and we medicated Mabel. I went over to
Hy-Vee to buy some supplies because I want to make crab cakes tonight. Got an
apple fritter and coffee in the dining room. A very nice lady by the name of
Jeanie joined me in the booth and we had a very nice conversation. Turns out
she is a veteran (served during Vietnam) then got a job inspecting underground
fuel tanks at gas stations and so forth. She was looking forward to getting
fitted with hearing aids from the VA. She is also enrolled in Weight Watchers (she
didn’t look very heavy to me) and was shopping for ingredients for some WW recipes.
I told her about my experience with WW some 40 years ago. A very pleasant
conversation.
I
picked up needed items, including celery and Old Bay seasoning (for the crab
cakes) and cheese dip to smear on all the celery I bought. I also scored a loaf
of expired bread for $1. Back to the apartment and to the community room to
read the paper and talk with the folks there. I signed Dawn and myself up for
the St. Pat’s Day potluck. Had a slice of apple pie that somebody brought.
Saturday,
March 9, 2024
Shower
day today and Trulicity. Amazing what this drug does in curbing my appetite. Bacon
and eggs and coffee for breakfast. Then perused the news and played Wizard and
did some reading. Mabel continues to scratch/lick herself, so I have to keep her
in the cone of shame.
No
lunch, a nap, and some spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner. Then some Family
Guy on TV and to bed.
Sunday,
March 10, 2024
Breakfast
and then the usual puttering around. CBS Sunday Morning, with emphasis on the
Oscars. Dinner and then Oscars. Kimmel does a fine job, but still way too much
Barbie stuff, which I could care less about. Oscars show was great. Oppenheimer
is the big winner, including best picture. Robert Downey Jr. wins his first
Oscar and is very deserving. Emma Stone had a dress malfunction but handled it
brilliantly. Oscars ended at 10 p.m., and then to bed.
Monday,
March 11, 2024
Up
around 7 a.m. Bacon and eggs for breakfast. Then the usual reading emails and
playing Wizard. Dawn and Carl went to Woodmans and got me some fruit and
various other groceries. Dawn and I continue to medicate Mabel. She is getting wise to us. No lunch. Reading
in the afternoon, then dinner, TV and to bed.
Tuesday,
March 12, 2024
Typical
breakfast. Big day today. Litter Robot arrives. Dawn and I get it all set up. It’s
really cool how it operates but Mabel is afraid of it. Light supper, TV and
then to bed.
Wednesday,
March 13, 2024
Big day
today, starting with Roosters. Dawn picks up breakfast for me at Kwik Trip.
Back to apartment. We decide to go to Oakcrest for lunch. We didn’t realize
today was fish day in honor of Lent so place is crowded. I had a cheeseburger
and Dawn had a Rueben, and we split an order of onion rings.
Back at
apartment, I tell Dawn I need to go to Urgent Care because I’m tired of being
tired all the time. I feel like I’m slogging through a foot of wet cement. We
get to Dean, and they send us to the Emergency Room at St. Marys. What a
cluster fuck this turns out to be. ER waiting room is packed, including a
couple who have been waiting for over 5 hours. The couple finally bailed. We
also meet a nice man whose motorcycle fell on his leg. He was supposed to go on
vacation to Morocco in about a week but now will have to cancel his plans. They
put him in one of those “boots.” They do an EKG on me and also a chest X-ray.
I
finally get to an exam room, and they draw blood to see if I had a heart attack,
which thankfully I did not. Doc thinks sleep apnea is to blame and we talk
about a C-pap machine. We don’t get back to the apartment until almost 10 p.m.,
and I fall into bed exhausted, even forgetting to take my bedtime meds.
Thursday,
March 14, 2024
Today,
Dawn and I take Mabel to the vet for a followup. They manage to rack up a $140
vet bill which I put on my Paypal Visa. They suggest a few more tips for
getting Mabel to use the litter robot, but I fear it is going to be a lost
cause, and I’m going to put the litterbox on Craigslist to recoup at least part
of the $350 I spent on it. Back to the apartment and a usual afternoon of
playing Wizard and reading.
I do
get a little industrious in the afternoon and arrange a bookblogger of some of
my watch articles from the last several years. It ends up costing me about $70,
but is worth it to have another book to read and possibly promote.
Dawn
picks up a few grocery items for me, including eggs, some sliced deli ham, and
fruit. I spend the evening watching Family Guy with sweet Mabel in my lap, and
then to bed. I watch “Lost World” for the umpteenth time on my Kindle and then
fall asleep.
Friday,
March 15, 2024
Up at 8
a.m., and breakfast of bacon and eggs. Checked the emails and read the news.
Nothing much of interest there ... Donald Trump, blah, blah, blah. I am trying
to wean Mabel off the “cone of shame” because it bothers her to have the thing
around her neck, though she seems to be a good sport about it.
I go
down to the community room to socialize with the other tenants and find out how
the festivities for St. Pats day are coming along. There are a few folks there,
and there’s lively discussion of the food that people will bring, including the
traditional corn beef and cabbage.
The
rest of the day and evening are pretty typical.
Today
is shower day, so I get all cleaned up and into some fresh duds. Breakfast and
then the usual emails and catching up on day’s news, if you can call it that. I
play around with Chat GPT and marvel at this technology of artificial
intelligence. I go down several rabbit holes including Rolex founder Hans
Wilsdorf, why do cats clean their butts, and the history of Culvers
restaurants. Rest of the day is a pretty
standard Saturday.
Sunday,
March 17, 2024
St.
Pat’s day. I start out with CBS Sunday morning. Good episode. Martha Teichner
did an episode on Haiti, the country that has been in constant turmoil ever
since the U.S. govt. installed Papa Doc Duvalier as president (why do we keep
fucking around with countries to be our buddies and then they turn on us; history
keeps on repeating itself), Conner Knighton explores his Irish Roots, Steve
Hartman does a nice segment on a grade school where the kids all dress up one
day a week.
But the
big event for the day is the gathering in the community room for St. Pats Day.
There are about 25 of us. We bring a cheese and sausage platter. Dawn and I
enjoy corned beef and cabbage and a host of other treats. The mood is very
festive, and I get to meet some new folks I have not seen before, including a
lady who is all decked out in green, right down to her toenails. She lost her
husband quite tragically when a transit company forgot to secure him during
transit. Very sad, and I hope she was awarded a ton of money for their
negligence.
Back to
the apartment and to bed about 10:00.
Up at 7
a.m. breakfast of bacon and eggs. Check emails and the news. Dawn comes over
and we give Mabel her meds. I clean her litter box and refill her kibble and
water. I play Wizard and Solitaire. I have a light lunch of cheese and sausage.
Nap in the afternoon. No dinner tonight; Trulicity is doing its thing. I watch “Big
Trouble in Little China,” one of my fave movies starring Kurt Russell doing his
swagger thing. To bed around 10 p.m., turning the thermostat to 68 which turns
on the AC.
Tuesday,
March 19, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. and today I have breakfast at Hy-Vee. Eggs, links, pancakes, fresh fruit
and coffee. I see my pal, Juanie, and ask about her name. She is part Hispanic,
very nice lady and always gives me a hug. I enjoy a leisurely breakfast and
shop for some much-needed groceries, including produce, eggs, milk, bread,
raisin bran and Lucky Charms (St. Pat’s closeout) for Dawn. I drive the Camry
over there, which is good so I don’t completely lose my driving skills, though
I find myself taking shorter trips these days.
Back to
the apartment, and I put perishables away in ‘fridge. Dawn comes over and we give
Mabel her meds. Dawn has called the discount vet, and we meet their low-income
requirements so we can take Mabel there and get discount treatment. Hooray. No
more $500 vet visits.
No
lunch or dinner today because of large breakfast and Trulicity. I play on YouTube
for a while, and go to bed around 9 p.m.
Wednesday,
March 20, 2024
It’s
Roosters Day today, so up at 6 a.m. and Dawn drives me to Cottage Grove to meet
with the boys. Most are here today, including my hero Herb. Also Don, Bill,
Darrell, and Doorknob Jim. Dawn picks me up and we go to Dean pharmacy to pick
up Trulicity.
Back at
the apartment I have my Kwik Trip croissant and OJ that Dawn has picked up for
me.
No
lunch. I play with Mabel. Dawn will be late tonight, she is having dinner with friend
Gail. They have pizza, and Dawn brings me a slice. I pick off as much of the
Feta cheese as I can because it is not my favorite. I watched “Alien” tonight
on the DVD player. Very scary movie, right up until the end. You think Ripley (Sigourney
Weaver) has made it safely to the escape pod, but the alien has in fact followed
her. The cat, Jonesy, makes it.
Thursday,
March 21, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Bacon and egg breakfast. Read emails and the news. Played Wizard and
Solitaire. Took care of Mabel. She is such a good girl. Maintenance came and
fixed the intercom, finally. That only took four months. No lunch. Small nap,
then dinner of shrimp tempura and chicken firecrackers from Costco. Watched
Family Guy DVDs and then to bed.
Friday,
March 22, 2024
Up at
6:30 a.m. Dawn surprises me and asks if I’d like to join her and Carl for pie
at Norske Nook. I reply yes, and think I will try breakfast … never had it
before at the Nook. It’s snowing like crazy, but Dawn takes it slow and we make
it OK, but notice a semi off in the ditch as a reminder to be cautious. Dawn
and Carl have pie, and I order a full breakfast, including pancakes with
lingonberries, 2 over medium eggs, sausage, and hash browns. And I take a slice
of banana cream pie to go. All very delicious, and the ‘Nook isn’t too crowded.
And Dawn treats. While seated in the restaurant, Dawn calls the discount vet
and schedules an appt. for Mabel.
Back at
the apartment, and I visit Deacon, who is also wearing a cone because he is
licking one of his paws to the point of bleeding. I go back to my unit and do a
cleanup of the dirty dishes in the sink.
Tonight,
I watch “Animal House,” and it is very amusing. A lot of talent, And music by
Elmer Bernstein (Huh?) A very fun documentary about the making of Animal House is
on the DVD as well. To bed around 10 p.m.
Saturday,
March 23, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Today is shower day, and I do a deluxe of shit, haircut, shower and shave.
Breakfast of smoothie and coffee. Dawn comes up from 2nd floor and
we “do” Miss Mabel and then she leaves. I decide to return a call from my
Atlanta buddy, Dan Denning. We play a few rounds of phone tag. I put the ball in his court and am waiting for
a callback while I freshen up the blog. I discuss possible Easter plans with
Curt and Karen. Nieces Kris and Kathy are not possibilities because they are
each remodeling their homes. One possibility is meeting Curt and Karen at
Cheesecake Factory, which will be open on Easter Sunday. Cheese sandwich and ½
apple for dinner. Watched “Blast from the Past” starring Brandon Fraser and
Alicia Silverston and supporting roles with Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek.
Great movie. To bed around 10 p.m.
Sunday,
March 24, 2024
Mabel
was a little shit during the early morning hours. Knocking lots of stuff down
and managed to remove the cone of shame and licked herself raw in a couple
places. Made coffee. Put cone back on Mabel. Watched CBS Sunday Morning. Not a
very good show. I realize lots of bad stuff is happening in the world, but I
rely on CBS Sunday Morning to provide a little relief. The segment on Steve Martin
was very enjoyable. Breakfast of 2 over easy eggs, bacon, toast and ½ apple
left over from last night, chilled in fridge. I fried the remainder of the bacon
so it wouldn’t go bad. Dawn came over and we fixed up Mable. I scooped her
litter, lots of clumps, so she is pooping and peeing well.
Called
Curt and Karen and left message for them about Cheesecake Factory. Waiting for
callback. Dawn and Carl are going shopping today for a nightgown for Dawn. Dawn
called me from the road and said they found nothing at Lane Bryant suitable. So
they went grocery shopping at Woodman’s instead. Dawn called me from there to
see if I needed anything. I had a list too long for her to remember, so she is
taking me to Woodman’s tomorrow to shop. They decide to go to Macy’s and find a
nightgown. I need to call Foodstamp people to find out status of my my benefits.
Confusion because Dawn reports there is $127 benefit on my card, so perhaps I
will let sleeping dogs lie.
Dawn
came over at 6 p.m., and we will medicate Mabel again. No dinner tonight as I
am full. Need to find the remote control for the DVD player because once again
Mabel has knocked it down. I watched “Blues Brothers” on DVD tonight. Amazing
movie. Belushi was reported to be coked up most of the filming. Lots of Blues artists
including John Hooker, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway (Minnie the
Moocher) etc. To bed around 10 p.m.
Monday,
March 25, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Mabel gives me a break from the ruckus this morning. Coffee, orange, 2
eggs, bacon, toast, for breakfast. Check emails and find out that Darrell (one)
has died. First Rooster to go. Poor fellow never really recovered from his
cancer surgery. He put up a good fight, doing his beloved hiking in the Grand
Canyon almost to the end. Got a call from Joe at Newbridge reminding me of toenail
appointment tomorrow.
Dawn
texts me that she will be late coming today (1 p.m.) because she is shrugging
off the Ingrezza. We’ll medicate Mabel and then go grocery shopping. But first
to Portillo's West Towne, for lunch and each get a hot dog, fries, a soda, and
a slice of their delicious chocolate cake. After that we go to Woodman’s west
and stock up on groceries. I have a fairly extensive list and drop about $120, mostly
paid for with food stamps (thank, you Gov. Tony Evers). We bought a spongy chew
toy for Mabel so she has something to play with instead of batting around the
remote controls for the TV and DVD player. Back to the apartment and unpack the
groceries.
No
supper tonight as I am still full from Portillos. My friend, Dan Denning, calls
again and I decide to bite the bullet and call him back. I finally get a hold
of him and we have about a 30-minute rambling conversation about watches, the
old CUNA days, and the upcoming national NAWCC convention in Chattanooga.
I hit
the sack early tonight as I still have not found the remote control for the DVD
player mentioned earlier.
Tuesday,
March 26, 2024
Up at
6:45. It’s toenail day, First, breakfast of 2 over easy eggs, sausage patties,
naval orange, toast and coffee. Dawn comes down and we medicate Mabel. Big news
day as there was a collapse of the Frances Scott Key bridge in Baltimore
Harbor. A big freighter ship hit it, and the bridge collapsed within seconds of
the impact, plunging several bridge workers into the water and to their death.
There
is also news of a Madison restauranter scamming food-stamp vouchers to obtain
food for his eatery, the Kingdom Restaurant at Sherman Plaza. It’s an African
themed restaurant, but also has family favorites. Guess he won’t be serving any
more kabobs.
We take
off for the toenail clinic which is at Lake Edge Lutheran Church in Monona. Sue
cuts my nails and does a nice job. Afterward, Dawn and I have breakfast at the
Coppertop. Place is packed. Dawn has a Mediterranean omelet, and I have a bowl
of fresh fruit. Back to the apartment, and Dawn throws in a load of laundry.
The search for the remote control continues.
Where
is my damn book about watches from Blogtoprint? Post office says it’s on the
way. I should have used upgraded shipping. TV is mostly lousy tonight, but I do
catch an episode of the original Star Trek and part of a PBS show on the man
who invented the PAP smear and paved the way for cervical cancer prevention in
women. To bed around 9 p.m.
Wednesday,
March 27, 2024
Big day
today. Started with Roosters. Still no
news of an obit for Darrell 1. Pretty big attendance today including Herb and
Don and Darrell II, who now is just Darrell. We turn Darrell 1’s coffee cup
upside down in tribute. Big topic of conversation is the bridge collapse in
Maryland.
Back to
the apartment for Kwik Trip croissant and orange juice. Sat with Dawn a while,
then loaded up Mabel for trip to the new vet on Emil Street, WisCares. A vet
student from the UW School of Veterinarian Medicine did the initial check on
Mabel, then took her to the main vet for examination and prescription of meds,
which included a shot which will supposedly take the place of applying the
salve for a while. We will continue with pills. Mabel will likely continue
being susceptible to skin rashes around the nipple and anus for the rest of her
life.
From
there, we rewarded ourselves with donuts and coffee at a Dunkin Donuts across
the street from the vet office. Then, back to the apartment for a nap and a
chance to get Mabel settled down from the vet visit. Bingo at 2:00 down in the
community room. Biggest prize winner was a visiting granddaughter who was off
from school. Back at apartment and watched nightly news with David Muir.
Biggest story continues to be the bridge collapse. Divers found two bodies of
bridge workers, still in their pickup truck. Steak and salad for dinner. Dawn
came and pilled Mabel. My book on watches has finally arrived from Blog2print,
which Dawn brought with her, but she forgot the remote control. Carl is giving
it to me in the hopes it will work with the DVD player because we still cannot
find it. Mabel has apparently hidden it well and has no intention of telling us
where. I read my new book (no TV) and hit the sack around 9 p.m. I watch “The
Lost World” again for the umpteenth time.
Thursday,
March 28, 2024
Up at
7:30 and head over to Hy-vee in the Camry for breakfast. Two over-easy eggs,
links, potatoes, pancakes and coffee. I buy some Pringles, regular potato
chips, and Fritos because Dawn keeps eating my snacks. I return to the
apartment and Dawn visits to pill Mabel. I’ve taken the cone off of her to give
her a break. Dawn takes off to have her toenails done. She remembers to bring
the remote control, but it does not work with my DVD player. Damn. No lunch
except for a few Pringles. Reading, chair nap and the 5:30 news.
Dawn
comes down to pill Mabel. Then I cook dinner of pork chop, baked potato, salad,
celery stalk with cheese dip, and diet Coke. No TV tonight; still haven’t found
that damned remote control. To bed around 8:30.
Thursday,
March 29, 2024
Up at
8:00. Breakfast of smoothie and coffee. Google news and NPR. NPR has story
about chocolate shortage. Damn! There always seems to be a shortage of
something these days. Dawn finally arrives and we pill Mabel. Dawn brings April
newsletter and small bag of Easter candy from Cheryl. There will be a
demonstration of a drone by a Madison police officer in the community room on
April 17 that should be interesting. We’re also having an apartment-wide
rummage sale this month. Chance to trade our unwanted crap for other crap.
Proceeds will go toward a pizza party or other benefit for the residents. Pork
chop, baked potato and salad for dinner. No TV again tonight. To bed around
8:30.
Friday,
March 29, 2024 No entry
Saturday,
March 30, 2024
Today
is shower day, so I get all cleaned up, and have a large breakfast of eggs,
sausage, home fries, English muffin, orange, and coffee. Dawn comes over, and
pills Mabel while I hold her down. I check news and emails as usual. Dawn
leaves and I do pills for the week. For lunch, I have a ham slice with American
cheese. No dinner. TV (Star Wars and Family Guy) and then to bed around 11:30.
I watch Lost World for the umpteenth time. John Rees-Davies is quite good and
I’m fairly certain his acting ability got him the part of Sallah in the Indiana
Jones movies. Eric McCormack went on to co-star in the TV show “Will and
Grace.” Tamara Gorski added some nice eye candy to the movie. I’ve already
commented on Nathania Stanford playing “Malu.”
Sunday,
March 31, 2024
Easter
Sunday. Up at 7 a.m. Coffee and then CBS Sunday Morning. Good piece on Michael
Douglas. My, he’s getting old (aren’t we all!) Dawn treats Carl and me to lunch
at Cheesecake Factory. I have meatloaf and Dawn and Carl each have a salad. I
have Godiva chocolate cheesecake and coffee for dessert. I take ½ meatloaf home
for dinner. Family Guy in the evening, and off to bed around 9 p.m.
Monday
April 1, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Breakfast of eggs, sausage patties, toast, and coffee. Off to Hy-Vee for
some post-Easter bargains. I score several, including a 1-pound Reeses peanut
butter rabbit. I also buy a salmon filet for dinner. Coffee and treat at the
Starbucks inside Hy-Vee. Back to condo, where Dawn discovers disturbing news
about my Paypal (PP) credit card. Someone has hacked my account to the tune of
$4,000 over the course of the last four months. A one-hour phone call ensues
with PP, and Dawn finally resolves the issue, and I am getting a full refund.
Turns out some hacker is to blame, and this surprises the hell out of me,
because PP is difficult for ME to access, and I am the cardholder! Anyway,
thanks to “Iris,” the PP rep for digging to get the bottom of this.
I whack
off a piece of the bunny for lunch, and now I am catching up on the journal. A
little nap, and I am ready to prepare a deluxe dinner of Panko crusted salmon
and rice. I haven’t done this dish in a while, so it takes a little longer to remember
the steps, but I get ‘er done, and it is delicious. Next, I watch “Austin
Powers: International Man of Mystery,” starring Mike Myers. Kind of an
interesting story here. In real life, Myers suffers a mental breakdown, and turns
to Shep Gordon, a trusted friend, to help him get back on track. Myers finally
rebounds, and produces a documentary (Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
(2013), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival) highlighting
the life of Gordon as sort of a tribute and thank-you to Gordon (a talent manager)
for getting Myers’ life back on track. Myers goes on to reprise his role in
Waynes World, among other projects, though he hasn’t been in the spotlight for
years. To bed around 9:30.
Tuesday,
April 2, 2024
Up very
early, around 4 a.m., because for some reason I am restless and too many
thoughts swirling in my head. Breakfast of scrambled eggs and ham, toast with
apricot jam, apple, and coffee. Catch up on news and cleaning up my email. I
decide to plunge down the rabbit hole and download a sample book of how to
think like MacGyver, as in the TV series starring Richard Dean Anderson. It’s a
fun read, but I decide not to buy the full download.
I try
to contact Dawn, and find out she has taken an Ingrezza and doesn’t roll out of
bed until noon. She finally makes it up here, and we pill Mabel and discuss
strategy for tomorrow’s doctor visit, my followup to the trip to the emergency
room for constant fatigue/heart issues. Watched “Avatar” on the DVD player, and
then to bed around 9 p.m.
Wednesday,
April 3, 2024
No Roosters
today due to snowstorm that dumped half a foot of wet, heavy snow. I make a
custom breakfast sausage by grinding up a boneless pork chop and mixing it with
1 pound of Jones sausage. Very good, with two eggs, and toast and coffee. I
have a doctor appt. at 11 a.m. Dawn goes with, and we discuss options. I am
going to bite the bullet and do a sleep study for sleep apnea, which the doc
thinks is the root cause of my fatigue. I tell her I will do the study if I can
use the Inspire implant, the therapy that works inside the body to treat the
root cause of sleep apnea. I don’t want anything to do with a C-pap machine,
based on Dawn’s experience with the machine, which she stopped using due to all
the frustration with the device.
We
leave, and pick up burgers and orange Frostys at Wendys for me, Dawn, and Carl
for lunch. Back home, we have lunch at Carl’s apartment, then Dawn comes up and
we wrestle Mabel and give her the daily pill. Dinner at 6:30, and I have
another sausage patty. Watched “Airplane” on DVD. Never fails to bring a laugh.
(“Don’t call me Shirley”) and the shit hitting the fan. Leslie Nielsen as Dr.
Rumack is a stitch playing his deadpan humor. With a career spanning 60 years, Nielsen
appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more
than 220 characters. Many of those were serious roles, but he is best
remembered most for his comedic roles that he played later in life. To bed
around 9 p.m.
Thursday,
April 4, 2024
Up at
7:45 and head over to Hy-Vee for a deluxe breakfast of eggs, links, fresh fruit
cup, toast and coffee. Did a little shopping and picked up a few things: 2 maple cream-filled Bismarks, some cashews, 3
candy bars on sale for a buck apiece and a small Heinz beef gravy, because
tonight I am making Loco Moco, a Hawaiian dish with rice, sausage patty, egg,
and gravy.
Back at
apartment, I rendezvous with Dawn, and we pilled Mabel. I pay my Visa bill for
nearly $600 which includes the vet bill for Mabel at the Cat Clinic.
We find
out Curt was taken by ambulance to UW Hospital for possible heart attack. They
will hold him overnight. Dawn calls him at the hospital and he seems in good
spirits.
Loco Moco
for dinner and then Pirates of the Caribbean on DVD player. To bed around 9
p.m.
Friday,
April 5, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Breakfast of scrambled eggs and ham, ½ apple, toast with jelly and a
dollop of peanut butter filling from a Reeses PB bunny, and coffee.
Dawn
comes up and we pill Mabel. Lots going on with Dawn today, so she is unable to
have fish with me, for which I have a sudden craving. She has a phone
conversation at 1 p.m. with her friend Jennifer from Milwaukee. And then at 2
p.m., she has a doc appointment to be examined for a yeast infection,
apparently from playing “hide the sausage” with Carl, which is way more
information than I need to know.
I text
sis-in-law Karen and ask if she would like the remainder of my San Francisco
decaf coffee pods, as I don’t use them any more, preferring my Costco
full-throttle coffee beans. She declines the offer.
I text
Dawn to ask her to pick me up a fresh pineapple from Hy-Vee on her way back
from the doc. I plan to have that with round two of Loco Moco.
Dinner
as stated, then TV (Family Guy) and to bed around 9:00.
Saturday,
April 6, 2024
Up at 8
a.m. Shit, shower, and shave. Breakfast of bagel/cream cheese, banana, and
coffee. Check the news; the big story is the coming solar eclipse. I wonder how
many people will actually see it. Clouds are predicted for most of its path. I take
a morning nap, and then text Dawn. She is really sleeping late today. Lunch of
cheese, ½ apple, and a couple more pineapple spears.
Large
dinner tonight of beef tenderloin, baked potato, and vegetable medley. Watched
“As Good as it Gets” on the DVD player. Greg Kinnear and Helen Hunt do a good
job holding their own against Jack Nicholson, who is a force to be reckoned
with. Kudos to Cuba Gooding Jr. also. To bed around 9 p.m. Restless night
tonight. Part of the problem is that Mabel was especially affectionate this
evening and wanted attention and slobbered me with wet kisses. She is a lover,
but I finally had to move out onto the recliner and spend part of the night
there.
Sunday,
April 7, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Made coffee and then watched CBS Sunday morning. Enjoyed the show for the
most part, but muted the segment on menopause. I take cone off Mabel, and she
immediately starts licking. I will have to put the cone back on, and I fear the
cone will be a lifelong thing. Dawn came over and did some bookkeeping on my
behalf, specifically looking at my Chase Visa debit card. Lots of debits from
Amazon that I can’t remember making. We are going to Chase bank tomorrow and
simply request a new debit card to stop all these crazy Amazon deductions.
Honestly, Amazon designs their website with traps you can fall into by simply
making one wrong click. Bastards. Dawn and I then went on several errands,
including the main post office on Milwaukee Street, the Dean Pharmacy, and then
to Burger King on Odana Road for lunch. I had a “twofer” coupon for a Whopper
meal, and honest to God, the bill came to $16. I thought they had forgotten the
coupon, so I sent Dawn back to the cashier to check, but the bill was correct. I
seem to recall a Whopper combo meal cost in the neighborhood of $3 back when I
was a Junior in high school and me and my buddies used to drive to the BK at
East Towne Mall as an occasional treat to eating in the high school cafeteria.
Of course gasoline was a quarter a gallon back then, too.
Anyway,
I got a double Whopper and took the extra hamburger patty home for another Loco
Moco for dinner which will use up the rice, gravy, and the pineapple spears, which
I’ll have on the side.
Monday,
April 8, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Breakfast frittata of one egg (my last one), potato, and tomato, toast and
coffee. Today, Dawn and I are going to Chase in Sun Prairie to straighten out
checking account and all the mysterious charges. Dawn wants to do this by
phone, but I want to talk to someone in person. I also apply for a Chase Visa
credit card. A very nice rep by the name of J.C. helps me on both counts and
even gives some advice that is helpful to Dawn. I apply for credit card, and am
approved for $5,000.
From
there, Dawn and I go to Rocky Rococo because Dawn is hungry for lunch. She gets
a one-trip salad bar and a lemon ice tea. No pizza. From there, we go to
Woodmans where I shop for much-needed groceries. The store is not too busy, and
we get through with little hassle. I buy a couple of frozen dinners for a
little variety. Bill comes to $75.
Back
home, Dawn stores the groceries for me and leaves for Carl’s apartment. I pass
the time in the usual fashion. The 5:30 news is filled with stories about the
solar eclipse. Very fun stuff.
Dinner
is one of my frozen entrees … chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes, courtesy
of Boston Market, along with lettuce salad. DVD movie tonight is “Best in
Show,” which never fails to bring a laugh about the crazy people and their pet
dogs. To bed around 9 p.m.
Tuesday April 9, 2024
Up at
7:45 a.m. Breakfast of ham/cheese omelet, orange, and coffee. Today, Dawn and I
are going to Monroe and to Baumgartner’s for lunch. Beautiful day for a car
ride. Scenic drive along Highway 11. Got to the restaurant around 12:30. Had
Salami and Muenster cheese on rye, and a cup of chili. Stopped at Culvers in
Monroe for a cone. Drove home via Highway 69.
No
supper. Watched “The Big Easy” on the DVD player. Memories of New Orleans not
so great with stay in hospital and all that. To bed around 9:30.
Wednesday,
April 10, 2024
Roosters
this morning. Pretty full house, including Jim and Mary Schnitzer back from
Arizona. Lively discussion. Cinnamon rolls were shitty. Drumlin is getting
cheap on us, and they don’t even pay for them; Dwight Huston buys them, but of
course Drumlin staff has to bake them. Back at apartment, and Dawn has picked
up my usual from Kwik Trip.
We
celebrate birthday month in the community room. There’s lots of April
birthdays, including Dawn. We have cake and ice cream, followed by Bingo. I win
the final game, cashing in on $16 prize. Back at apartment, and I have an itchy
butt. Gonna give it a good cleaning and creaming, and hope that helps.
Thursday,
April 11, 2024
Up at
7:30. Butt feels much better. A light breakfast. Going out to lunch with Mario
and Nathan. Usual browsing Internet and game playing. To the Asian place across
the street where I catch up with my buddies and order fried shrimp with a white
sauce and honey glazed walnuts, served with fried rice. Delicious. I split an
eggroll with Nathan. Mario gives me a ride home. No TV this evening; I play Wizard
and surf Internet instead. To bed around 8:30.
Friday,
April 12, 2024
Up at 8
a.m. Breakfast of English muffin with peanut butter and jelly, and banana.
Monica is coming today to clean the apartment, so I strip bed and get the
dishes in the dishwasher. I go down to the community room for a while, and have
a very pleasant conversation with a woman who grew up in Chicago, but came to
Madison in 1948 and was very active with the civil rights movement in Madison.
She is fascinating and I told her she should sit down with a historian and a
tape recorder and do an oral history.
Monica
and helper arrive at 1 p.m., so Dawn and I head down to the community room and
play a couple rounds of cribbage. Carl comes down and joins us and we have a
chat. Carl has a new cowboy style hat, and he’s happy to wear it because he got
a shitty haircut, and the hat covers it up. Shrimp skewers and green chile
firecrackers for dinner. Try to keep the kitchen clean for a little while; it
seems to get dirty and greasy so fast. To bed at 8:30.
Saturday,
April 13, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Shit, shower and shave. It’s also Trulicity day. Breakfast of bacon, 2
over easy eggs, fried potatoes, toast, and coffee. Read emails and the news. Played
with Mabel. Went down for a nap. Lunch of ham ‘n’ cheese rollup, cheese spread,
Ritz Crackers, apple, and diet Coke. Did pills for the week.
Sunday,
April 14, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Made coffee in preparation for CBS Sunday morning. The Money issue,
featuring copyright expiration (Mickey Mouse [Steamboat Willy] The Great
Gatsby, and others), Jerry Seinfeld’s new movie about Pop Tarts, homelessness
in Houston, and more. Then breakfast of over easy eggs, toast, and fruit.
Games, reading, nap. For dinner, hamburger patty and salad. To bed around 9
p.m. Big day tomorrow at Chase bank to straighten out fraud.
Monday,
April 15, 2024
Up kind
of early because Mabel was in a playful mood. Light breakfast because Dawn and
I are off to the Hilldale branch of Chase bank. We talk to a VP named Ivanka
who is very helpful and she gets our fraud forms filled out and closes my
checking account to open a new account. This crook has managed to steal $4,000
from my checking account. Turns out previous guy at Chase (J.C.) wasn’t very
helpful and did not get to root of the problem.
We get
this straightened out, and then head to Metcalf’s market for a treat of morning
buns and coffee. Except there is no coffee and no place to sit. They have done
away with the little coffee area they used to have. Apparently, they want you “in
and out” and do not wish you to linger, unlike Hy-Vee, which has a nice
restaurant onsite.
So we
take our morning buns to go, and head to the Odana Golf Course to pick up Carl,
and then back to the apartment. I have the morning bun with my own cup of
coffee. No lunch. Games, reading, and nap in the afternoon. For dinner,
hamburger patty and salad. Family Guy and then to be around 9:00.
Tuesday,
April 16, 2024
Up at 6:30.
Mabel has managed to remove and hide her cone and did some further scratching/licking.
So I put the “old” cone on her, and it’s probably the better fitting cone
anyway. I go to Hy-Vee for breakfast and have my usual 2 eggs, links, pancakes,
fresh fruit and coffee. I see my Hy-Vee friends, Beth and Juanie. Jaunie shows
me picture on her cell phone of a black woman who had her ass surgically
enlarged to make it puffy. I did a little shopping and bought muffins with a
2-for-1 coupon from Bucky Book and a few other things, including a small bag of
something called “Yips,” which are chips made of dried yogurt and banana. They
are made here in Madison by a female health nut, who I’m guessing got a
government grant to start this company. They are awful, and I predict they will
be on the clearance rack soon.
Back to
the apartment, and Dawn visits. She pulls up my Chase account, and wonder of
wonders, my $4,000 has been recovered! Now all that remains to be done is to
call Social Security, MG&E, and Aetna to advise them of the new checking account,
so they can credit and debit the account properly. No TV tonight, as batteries
for the remote control have gone dead, and I have no replacement batteries. To
bed around 8:30.
Wednesday,
April 17, 2024
Up at 6
a.m. to go to Roosters. Outstanding cinnamon rolls after last week’s travesty. Dawn
is a little late picking me up due to Cozy Nook being closed and she had to go
to Dairyland for breakfast. Stopped at Ace Hardware in Cottage Grove for
batteries … 4 double A’s and 4 triple A’s. $14.75. When did batteries become so
expensive? Back at apartment, Dawn got me my usual egg/sausage croissant and
OJ. Working on the computer and phone, we got the remainder of my accounts
straightened out with Social Security, MG&E, and Aetna.
Checked
news and played Wizard. Dawn left for Carl’s, and I left for Hy-Vee to pick up
a few groceries and a light snack at Starbucks. Bought a couple of frozen
dinners: a Healthy Choice meatball marinera and Marie Callanders turkey tetrazzini.
Attended a demonstration at 2 p.m. in the community room put on by the Madison
police department showing how a drone works in various situations to track
criminal suspects, find lost children, and so forth. It’s too windy to have an
actual demonstration, but we see video footage of the drone in action,
including monitoring the Mifflin Street block party, and a UW football game.
Very informative. For dinner, I have the meatball marinera. Watched Family Guy
tonight, now with a working remote control.
Thursday,
April 18, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Breakfast of chocolate chip muffin, orange, yogurt, and coffee. Dawn visits
at around 10 a.m. A little nap and then we decide to have lunch at TAIS Asian
Bistro across
the street, and I treat. Dawn had beef lo-mien and I had beef broccoli and we
each had an egg roll. Back at apartment and did some online banking with Chase.
Transferred $10K from checking into savings per advice from Ivanka. No dinner
tonight. Family Guy and then to bed.
Friday,
April 19, 2024
Up at 8
a.m. Bacon and eggs for breakfast. Today is rummage sale down in the community
room. Went to look but didn’t buy anything. Sat in the reception area and
talked with a couple of the gals. Had big discussion with them about sleep
apnea and use of C-pap machine. At 11:00 Dawn and I went into Cheryl’s office
and met the new resident manager, Beth, submitted our application for another
year at Oakridge. Sent registration for NAWCC National in Chattanooga and made
hotel reservation at Marriott for one night. Will likely call the back and stay
for one more night.
Dawn
went to vet and picked up special food for Mabel and also a Frontline flea
collar, although I don’t know what prompted the latter. She’s not an outside
kitty. Also a play tunnel, which Mabel doesn’t show much interest in. Lunch of
ham ‘n’ cheese sandwich, chips, pickle, and diet Coke. Nap, Wizard, blog,
Nightly news. No dinner. Family Guy, popcorn, and then to be around 9:15.
Saturday,
April 20, 2024
Up at
6:30. Shower and shave. Injected Trulicity. Made pancakes using the ill-fated
banana yogurt chips I bought. 2 strips of bacon. Pancakes not bad, but not particularly
good, either. Checked news and email and then cleaned up the kitchen. Dawn
sleeping in late this a.m. due to Ingrezza. Typical afternoon. No dinner.
Family Guy and then to bed around 9:00.
Sunday,
April 21, 2024
Up at
6:30. Bagel with cream cheese and jelly. CBS Sunday morning was enjoyable. I
liked segments on wildlife crossings, online dating (rise in scams), Julie
Andrews, and Steve Hartman segment about the little girl with the lemonade
stand to pay for her mother’s headstone. Then had the rest of my breakfast with
2 over-easy eggs, bacon, orange, and coffee.
Gail
Hummel (travel agent) called with prospective itinerary for cruise, but I
missed her call, and now we are playing phone tag. Also, I need to modify the
hotel reservation for an extra night in Chattanooga for the NAWCC National. I
will do this tomorrow. Did my pills for the week and called in four refills. Summer
sausage and brick cheese for lunch. Will have a Marie Callendar entrée for
dinner. Dawn’s birthday is tomorrow, and I’m taking her to Copper Top for
breakfast, and we are going to Woodmans and Costco for needed groceries.
Monday
April 22, 2024
Big day
today. Dawn’s birthday. Up at 6:30. I called Dawn and left Happy Birthday song
on her voice mail. No breakfast, just coffee because I’m treating Dawn and me
to breakfast at the Coppertop. I have a Denver omelet, potatoes and fresh
fruit, while Dawn has a Greek omelet with toast and fresh fruit. Came to $40
plus $8 tip. Even Dawn was surprised at the amount.
From
there, we went to Woodman’s Sun Prairie for some much -needed groceries. I got
fruit, salad fixin’s, meat, dairy, frozen, soda, snacks, and candy. Dawn bought
a few things for Carl. From there, we went to Costco because I needed coffee,
but ended up spending $40 for other stuff, including some yummy bakery stuff,
which I split with Dawn, including cookies and a coffee cake.
Back
home, Dawn put the groceries away, then put a load of clothes into the washing
machine and then left. I called Marriott and extended the stay in Chattanooga
for the NAWCC National. I fell asleep in the blue chair, but then was awakened
by a call from Gail Hummel, the travel agent, about the cruise. Now that she
has the details confirmed, she will work on the hotel and airfare. Dinner is a
hamburger patty, baked potato, salad, Sprite, and a Costco cookie for dessert.
TV, and then to bed.
Tuesday,
April 23, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Breakfast of Costco coffee cake, yogurt, fruit, and coffee. Getting cruise
plans finalized with Gail, playing Wizard, checking emails, surfing Google
news; the usual. No lunch. ABC news, Family Guy, and then to bed around 9 p.m.
Wednesday,
April 24, 2025
Up at 6
a.m. Roosters today. Lively conversation. Bill from Janesville gets me a cup of
coffee and spills half of it on the way from the kitchen due to uncontrollable
tremors. He’s very embarrassed but I tell him it’s OK. Dawn picks me up and we
go to Dean Clinic to pick up Rx’s for me. Back home I have a breakfast sandwich
and OJ and a sweet roll that Dawn has picked up for me from Kwik Trip.
Bingo
at 2 p.m. down in the community room. I win $6. Theresa brings cookies and ice
cream. Nice group of people. Back upstairs for 5:30 news on ABC. Hamburger
patty, salad, and Sprite for dinner. Family Guy, and then to bed around 9 p.m.
Thursday,
April 25, 2024
Breakfast
of lemon-blueberry quick bread and coffee. Dawn texts me to take a ride because
Carl is playing golf. I suggest the Sassy Cow creamery in Sun Prairie/Columbus.
Dawn has grilled sandwich with potato salad, and I have peach ice cream and
coffee. We buy some Uncle Muncles caramel corn for myself, and one bag for
Carl. Back to apartment. We decide to medicate Mabel with the flea/tick medicine
to see if it will help with her constant scratching. No dinner. Family Guy and
then to bed around 9 p.m.
Friday,
April 26, 2024
Up
around 7 a.m. Breakfast of more lemon-blueberry quick bread (from Costco) and
coffee. I go down to lobby to see if there’s any activity. None, but news of a
potluck dinner in the community room May 9. Beth, the new resident manager, is
gone today, reportedly at a training session according to a note posted on her
door. I check out the library, including using the community computer. A check
of the browser history reveals someone has google searched “shemales.” What the
hell is going on here at Oakridge Apartments? Anyway, I check out a book from
the community library, “Connected,” by Steven Cassidy.” The book is subtitled
“How Trains, Plneapples, Piano Keys, and a Few Disasters Transformed Americans
at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century.” I am currently reading the chapter about
pineapple. It wasn’t until the dawn of the 20th century that Dole
introduced canned pineapple to the American masses. It was a near instant
success, bolstered by an aggressive marketing campaign. I remember this well,
growing up in the ‘60s, when canned pineapple appeared in recipes from baked
ham, to crushed pineapple mixed with lime Jello for an “exotic” side salad, to
pineapple upside down cake with ring pineapple with Maraschino cherries in the
middle.
For a
long time, I thought canned pineapple was the way pineapple was supposed to
taste. Then in 1973, our family traveled to Hawaii, and I got to taste fresh
pineapple for the first time. Holy cow! What a difference. I feasted on fresh
(and free) pineapple at a Dole plantation until my tongue bled from the
acidity. It forever spoiled me from eating canned pineapple again. Of course,
fresh pineapple is now readily available at the supermarkets.
Salsbury
steak frozen meal for dinner, then Family Guy on TV. To bed around 9 p.m.
Saturday,
April 27, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Shower and shave. Finished lemon-blueberry quick bread, banana, peach
yogurt and coffee for breakfast. Checked email and farted around with Google
News. Played with Mabel and then napped. Ham ‘n’ cheese rollup, chips, ½ apple,
diet Coke for lunch. Dawn came over and we logged onto MyChart to follow up on
this sleep study business. Still no contact from Dean. Reading, playing Wizard,
etc. Watched Family Guy and then to bed around 9 p.m.
Sunday,
April 28, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Made coffee in time for CBS Sunday Morning. Enjoyed segments on taking it
easy (and not feeling guilty about it), segment on Dan Rather, and Steve
Hartman. Downloaded “Do Nothing” book sample by author Celest Headlee. Enjoyed Erik
Larson’s segment on his latest book, “The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris,
Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War.” Also enjoyed segment on actress
turned songwriter/performer Kate Hudson. All in all, a great show. Breakfast of
eggs and bacon. Off to HyVee for chocolate pudding and Redi Whip to make a pie,
which I did and invited Dawn to come up for a slice. Light lunch of snack pack
ham ‘n’ cheese on crackers and the pie (delicious). No dinner, and Family Guy and to bed around 9
p.m.
Monday,
April 29, 2024
Up at 7
a.m. Breakfast of Malt O’ Meal, fruit, and coffee. Perused the usual news
sources. Did big load of dishes in the dishwasher. Dawn visited, and we left a
message with the sleep center. They called me back and we set up an appointment
for an initial consultation. We smeared Mabel’s butt with more ointment. We
talked about the possibility of another road trip to Baraboo and the Log Cabin,
this time taking Carl with us. National news at 5:30. No dinner. Trying to lose
weight as an alternative to C-pap machine. Watched Family Guy and then to bed
around 9.m. Watched “Return to the Lost World,” the sequel to “The Lost World.”
Much fun and we get to see a very short sequence of Malu (Nathania Stanford) naked as she takes a swim
in the lake.
Tuesday, April 30,2024
Up at 7 a.m. Smoothie and coffee for
breakfast. Check emails and the news. I go down to the community room to see
what’s up and I find Mary and Deb working on a puzzle, and Art joins us shortly.
We have a nice chat. Back to the apartment, and I get a call from Gail at
Burkhalter Travel and we seal the deal on a hotel reservation at a Holiday Inn
for $200 for the night before the cruise. Resident manager, Beth, is after us
to finish the paperwork that will enable me to keep Mabel as an emotional
support animal and avoid the rental surcharge. Waiting for Dawn to visit so I
can turn this project over to her. I have lunch of cheese and sausage,
Triscuits, apple, grapefruit sections, and Diet Coke. This will be my main meal
today, as yesterday, in an effort to lose weight. Usual news, Family Guy and
then to bed.
Wednesday, May 1,2024
Roosters today. I took my article on
head cheese for show and tell. Made a hit. Several people even remember eating
it. I ate breakfast in the car because we had to rush home and immediately take
Mabel to the vet for continued problems with licking her fur. They sent us home
with more medicine and advised us to keep the cone on her. Damn. We went to
Dunkin Donuts after that and tried their new watermelon jelly filled donut,
along with a couple of other favorites. Watermelon tasted true to its namesake,
but too sweet. We won’t be having another. Missed the national news tonight due
to nap. No big loss, it’s the same old crap. No dinner; big food day tomorrow. Family
Guy and then to bed.
Thursday, May 2,2024
Big day
today. Had coffee and bagel for breakfast. Then toenail appointment. Sue
breaking in a new technician, Antoinette or something or other. Sue did a nice
job, showing the new gal best practices. Sue even advised putting Vicks
Vapo-rub on one big toenail to make it less thick. Great. I needed another
chore in preparation for bed.
Next,
road trip to Baraboo to have meal at Log Cabin, one of Dawn and my favorite
places. We took Carl along because he has never been, and besides it is a rainy
day, precluding Carl’s golf outing. Dawn and I have lunch, me pork ribs, mashed
potatoes and corn, and Pepsi to drink. Dawn, chicken and dumplings. Carl, some
type of eggs that weren’t very appealing. Dawn later confides in me that Carl
is not very well versed in ordering food at a restaurant. My share of the bill
came to $32. Back home and Dawn calls to make doctor appointment for my left
ear, filled with fluid so that I cannot hear out of it. Also, email to Beth, our new resident manager,
who claims we never submitted lease renewal, which we did (Beth and previous resident
manager, Cheryl), were both there when we signed. So this does not bode well
for Beth’s competence. Nap, news, and then leftover ribs for dinner. Family Guy
and then to bed.
Friday, May 3,2024
Up at 7
a.m. for doctor appt. with Aaron Koerten. Plugged left ear. The Usual steroid
spray. Followed this with breakfast at the Coppertop. Denver omelet with home
fries, fresh fruit, raisin toast and coffee. Back to apartment. Usual news
browsing, emails and Wizard. Saga continues with Beth from Oakridge. Nap,
played with Mabel. Package arrived from Amazon containing cashew juice. The nut
is just a small part of the plant, the part most people recognize. But there is
a very fragile part of the plant that most people don’t recognize, and from
this part I have purchased two small bottles of the juice, which has been
concentrated. I thin a small glass of the concentrate with some ice cubes and
drink it with some pretzels. Very interesting. Not sweet, so I add a packet of
Splenda. Confirmation from the NAWCC National in Chattanooga arrived. No dinner
tonight. Family Guy, and then to bed.
Saturday, May 4,2024
Up at 7 a.m. Bacon and eggs, coffee
for breakfast. The usual reading and playing games. Dawn comes over and bakes a
cake for the pot luck this evening … a yellow cake mix with chocolate frosting
and sprinkles. Nap and then down to the party. Everyone is watching the
Kentuckly Derby. I couldn’t care less, but I watch to be congenial. After the
race, we dig into the eats. Lots of hot dishes, scalloped potatoes and ham, and
deviled eggs. Dawn’s is the only dessert, so it makes a hit. Back to the
apartment. I watch Family Guy and then to bed.
Sunday, May 5, 2024
Up at 7:30, made some coffee and watched
CBS Sunday Morning. Good episode on Randy Travis (I didn’t know he had suffered
a stroke), Karen Johnson (aka Whoopie Goldberg), Tom Selleck. Breakfast of a
smoothie, and I used some of the cashew juice for this. Not bad, but not really
my cup of tea. I fear some/most of this is going down the sink unless I can
find some kind of recipe for it. Some reading, and then I decided to make a
Hy-Vee run for lunch and groceries. I get a one-item Chinese lunch (orange
chicken), egg roll and Pepsi. I get the “senior discount” on the meal, which
means I get it for free. Then, I do a little shopping and get a salmon filet,
some granola bars, a Vicks Vapo-Rub stick and some 50 cent candy bars on
clearance.
Back to the apartment, and I go down
for a nap with Mabel. Up, and then dinner of a granola bar and glass of milk.
Guess I will save the salmon for later.
Monday, May 6, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Breakfast of bacon and
eggs. Spent better part of the morning trying to arrange a scooter for the
Chattanooga NAWCC National, but to no avail. I am convinced the Scootaround rep
was/is a dipshit. Dawn and I will try them again for a scooter rental for the
cruise in Jan. 2025. Dawn and I eat lunch at Rocky’s, each having a slice and one-trip
salad bar. Then, onto Woodman’s for much needed groceries. Produce, meat,
dairy, diet Coke, salty snacks and M&Ms (plain and peanut). Bill came to
$75. Back to the apartment. National news. No supper because I am full from
Rocky’s. Family Guy and then to bed.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Ham and scrambled eggs, orange,
and coffee for breakfast. Quiet morning. Ham and cheese slice for lunch. Quiet
afternoon, except for reading Erik Larson’s book about the Civil War. Salmon
filet and salad for dinner. Family Guy and then to bed.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Big day today. Up at 6 a.m.. shaved,
then Dawn drove me to Roosters. Most of the talk revolved around military
service. That must be a hallmark moment for many people. They seem to remember
events in the military for the rest of their lives … even those who served in
the dreaded Vietnam conflict. Dwight told us of a visit to Halverson’s Supper
Club and joked that my name was up on the wall from my organ playing days. It’s
now a venue for catering events. Back to the apartment and had my egg sandwich
and OJ from Kwik Trip.
Rest followed, and then Bingo in the
community room. I didn’t win any money, but there were cupcakes from Theresa,
and some grocery store donated a carrot cake that was delicious. Nap, no
supper, Family Guy and then to bed.
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Breakfast, and then the
usual checking emails, reading the news, playing Wizard. Nice visit from Dawn. Ham
‘n’ cheese rollup and Diet Coke for lunch. Nap, played with Mabel. Dinner of
brat with onions and sauerkraut on a hotdog bun, and a second bun-less brat
with more ‘kraut and onions and a diet Coke. TV, and then to bed.
Friday, May 10, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Bacon and egg. Walked
over to Hy-Vee. Too many damn flowers and potting plants, hanging baskets.
Never been a fan. Takes up too much room inside the store and crowds out the
merchandise, particularly the clearance items that I like to shop. A short
repast in the Starbucks kiosk where I have a slice of lemon loaf and a couple
cups of coffee. Back to apartment and I text message to Dawn that I want to
have lunch at Moo-Yah where I have never been. I have a 2-for-1 coupon from an
Advantage magazine for one of their burgers. We go to one of their locations on
the far West Side of Madison and each get a burger and we split a chocolate
shake. All very delicious but it still ends up costing $18 even with the
coupon. I don’t think I need to come back to this place, but it was worth a
try.
Beth from the Oak Ridge apartments is
still after us to verify our renewal documents to prove we are still low-income
and haven’t mysteriously won the Powerball Lottery or anything. It’s our
understanding that we won’t have to go through this annual exercise any more
after this. The problem seems to lie with Chase bank not getting back to Beth
about verifying the amounts in our checking/savings accounts. Dawn contacts
Chase directly and gets the documentation that will hopefully satisfy Beth.
Back to the apartment for a nap. 5:30
news. No dinner, but popcorn during Family Guy, and then to bed.
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Shower day. Fresh outfit, inject the
weekly Trucity, squirt Fluconizil up my nose. Bacon and eggs for breakfast. I
decide to invert the cone of shame onto Mabel, and it works like a charm. Why
didn’t I think of this before? It’s practically impossible for her to get it
off (but she eventually does anyway). It covers her bald spot on her chest much
better. It still keeps her from licking her bung hole, and appears more
comfortable overall. White Castle sliders for lunch. The usual afternoon activities (reading,
playing Wizard, napping). Brat with kraut and onions for dinner, Family Guy and
then to bed.
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Up at 7:30. Made coffee, then watched
CBS Sunday Morning. Mothers Day theme. Segments on paper flowers, Bill Maher.
David Pogue’s segment on keeping things simple as our devices grow ever more
complicated was interesting. Didn’t care for segment on Amy Winehouse. Never
cared for her. Muted that segment. Josh Seftel's segments on his mom, Pat, was
touching.
Breakfast of bagel with cream cheese
and jelly and grapefruit. Dawn called from Norske Nook and offered to bring me
a slice of pie. I chose rhubarb and it was delicious as usual. She stayed and
visited a while. The elevator is broken today, which I’m sure is causing quite
a stir.
Mabel continues to lick herself, and I
fear this will a lifelong thing with her. Kittly Prozac has been suggested, but
I really don’t want to go that route if I can help it. Would rather see her
playful than drugged up, not to mention the daily pilling. Finished the shrimp skewers
and chili poppers from Costco for dinner.
Monday, May 13, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. breakfast of bacon and
eggs. Dawn came up and we did a little bookkeeping. We have given up trying to
get me a scooter for the NAWCC convention. It will save me $200, which is good
because there are plenty of other expenditures. Along the same lines, Chris
Vandall calls me about setting up a meeting to discuss our plan of attack for Chattanooga.
We set a date for tomorrow. Dawn and I
also talk about Ishnala and taking Carl along so he can experience it.
No lunch, as Trulicity is doing its
job. 5:30 news, dinner of tenderloin, baked potato, salad and diet Coke. Family
Guy, about half of the original Star Wars and then to bed.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Light breakfast of bagel
with cream cheese and jam, grapefruit cup and coffee. Checked email, news, and played
Wizard. Set out for Hy-Vee to meet with Chris Vandall. Got an apple fritter and
coffee. Chris had a Starbucks. We nailed down most of the details. Chris will
pick me up at 8 a.m. on June 13. Back at apartment, I play with Mabel. Her
constant licking shows no signs of abating, so we are going to have to put her on
kitty Prozac. Light supper tonight, as I know tomorrow will be a big meal at
Ishnala. TV (rest of Star Wars, one DVD of Family Guy) and then to bed.
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Up at 6 a.m. for Roosters. Good group,
jovial conversation. Back to apartment. Usual activities. No lunch. Dawn, Carl
and I leave for Ishnala at 3:15. We arrive at 4:15 and place is already busy,
though nothing like it is after Memorial Day, the official start to the summer
season. They give us a pager and tell us the wait will be approximately one
hour. We set ourselves up at the main bar and order up cocktails and appetizer
of cheese curds. We are paged and taken to our table. I have a slab of prime
rib and prawns. Dawn and Carl each have a steak. Salad and rolls of course, and
Carl and I each have another cocktail. Dawn keeps working on her bloody Mary
which I have to say is darn near a meal in itself, what with pepperoni slices,
olives, celery stick, dill pickle spear, cheese chunk, and shrimp. We also share
a chocolate mousse for dessert. In all, the bill comes to $300 and Dawn and I
split it, giving Carl a free ride. We leave tip in cash for the excellent
service. Bob Posser (Ishnala owner) visits our table to ask if everything was
OK, and of course we tell him yes, and I tell him that my dad used to occasionally
bartend here. Nice fellow. He started as a busboy and he must now be worth
millions, but still shows up to work to kibbitz with the guests.
One bad thing: I aggravated my left knee
due to the uneven flooring and all the stairs involved at Ishnala. It’s not a
handicapped friendly place. But we enjoy a quiet ride home. A most enjoyable
early dinner outing. TV and then to bed. Even though I brought half my prime
rib home, I still have to take a couple of TUMS before to quell a moderate case
of heartburn.
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Bacon and egg breakfast.
Knee is throbbing. Dawn comes up and I ask her to get me some Aspercream. She
and Carl go to lunch and then to drugstore and get me some Aspercream and also
Carl gets some Icy Hot which has Lidocaine in it. I put both on my knee and
experience some relief.
Birthday celebration in the community
room, so I go down at 1 p.m. for cake and coffee. I inquire about options to
cash in this big bag of change Dawn and I have. Deb offers to call her credit
union and see if they still have their counting machine. If they do, she will
take the change in for me.
Afternoon nap, 5:30 news, light
supper. Family Guy and then to bed.
Friday, May 17, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Light breakfast because
today Dawn and I are meeting Mario and Nathan at the World Buffet in Monroe for
lunch. They are doing a gun show together. We leave about 10:30 to arrive in
Monroe at 11:30 to get there when they first open and everything is fresh. I
partake of a great quantity of Chinese dishes, fresh fruit, rice, and a couple
of Pepsis. Full as a couple ticks, Dawn and I return home, where I proceed to
go down for a nap. No dinner, then I watch Indiana Jones and Raiders of the
Lost Ark, and then to bed around 10:00.
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Up at 8 a.m. Shit, shower, and shave. Fresh
duds, and then breakfast of bacon and eggs, followed by weekly Trulicity
injection. Dawn calls about a Woodmans run, and I reply with a grocery list but
do not wish to go, given it is a Saturday. Lunch of a ham slice with Owls Nest
cheese, Triscuits, and Diet Coke. Dawn
returns with my much-needed groceries. Nap, light supper, and then Family Guy.
To bed around 9 p.m.
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Got dressed, made coffee,
and watched CBS Sunday Morning, “By Design.” I enjoyed the segments on the “planned
city,” though I feel it will never come to pass due to objections by the NIMBYs
(Not In My Back Yard), zoning permits, legal battles, etc. There is just no utopia.
Also, segments on Courtney Cox, who in my opinion looks absolutely anorexic. Tie
dye shirts, and weather veins. Really enjoyed the segment of bidets. I would
love one of these. Saves money on toilet paper, and gets your bum really clean,
which has always been a problem with me for some reason.
Bacon and eggs for breakfast. Reading,
nap, and playing with Mabel. Dawn comes over and I make her one of my special
“pizzas” made with flour tortilla skin, Prego, pepperoni, and mozzarella
cheese. Delicious. Nap, reading, playing Wizard. White Castle sliders for
dinner. Family Guy and then to bed. I watched “The Lost World” for about the 39th
time, and then at 11:30, the guy upstairs decides to play his electronic
keyboard (and he can’t play worth a shit) so I am forced to the recliner and
have a bowl of Grape Nuts. I fall asleep in the blue recliner with Mabel on my
lap and sleep ‘til about 3:30. I crawl back into bed, sleeping until about
7:30.
Monday, May 20, 2024
Interesting morning, to say the least.
I decide to have breakfast at Hy-Vee, even tough I have plenty of food at the
apartment. I drive over in the Camry, and have a delicious breakfast of eggs,
sausage links, fruit, and pancakes. I pay with my collection of loose change. I
have decided this is the best way to dispose of my fairly large accumulation
(probably $50 or more) of change. I’ll
be damned if I am going to pay a Coin Star machine 20 percent of its face value
for the privilege of converting my change. I don’t even think they give you
bills; they give you some kind of gift certificate or prepaid Visa or Master
Card. In any event, I have a nice breakfast. Carol, the wait person, isn’t even
fazed with the change; she understands my stance on this and takes the change. After
breakfast, I do a little shopping and pick up some items, including a couple
mini-loaves of quickbread, frozen corn dogs, frozen White Castles, and
Pringles.
Then Dawn texts me and says she is
getting ready to leave for her dentist appointment. Shit. I forgot all about
this. I tell her the car is over here and to come and get it, and I will walk
home. Then it starts to pour rain, and I decide to hang out at the Starbucks
inside Hy-Vee. I pay for a tall coffee with more change and hang out. It
finally stops raining, and I hoof it back to the apartment.
Once again, Mabel has wriggled out of
her cone. I get it back on. Dawn texts me to tell me that, once again, Beth
from the office has contacted her and needs Dawn to stop by the office and fill
out/sign more paperwork. Will it ever end? I take a break and have a corn dog and
Pringles for lunch along with a Diet Coke. Nap, and then national news. Sean
“Puffy” Combs is in deep shit for beating up a former girlfriend. I hate to
sound racist, but hello? A tryst in a hotel. And on top of that, a disingenuous
apology. Combs is finished. Good riddance. Family Guy and then to bed.
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Up at 8 a.m. Muffin and coffee for
breakfast. Mabel is OK and has managed to keep her cone on all night. Read news
and played Kindle. Cleaned the litter box. Read another chapter in Erik
Larson’s book. I feel the need for some protein; feeling sluggish. So I cooked
a hamburger (sans bun) and had that with some Pringles, ½ apple and Diet Coke.
Nap, 5:30 news. Bad storm tonight. Lightening, thunder, tornado sirens. Dawn,
Carl and Deacon went down to basement. Fair number of residents down
there. I stayed in apartments and watched
Family Guy. And then to bed. Storm continued into the night.
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Up at 6 a.m. Roosters today. Dawn
drove me to Cottage Grove. Conversation started with the storm. Kind of bizarre conversation about toilets and
bidets, which unfortunately, I started. It kind of turned off Dwight. Fairly
big discussion about the Hydrite Chemical Co. and fact they are good neighbors.
They regularly test wells for contamination, among other things to assure they
run a clean operation. Madison Newspapers even came to town to try and dig up
some dirt on them, and they couldn’t find anyone, including Dwight Huston, who didn’t
say a bad word about them. They had to kill the story. Back to apartment. Dawn
picked up my usual breakfast of sausage/egg sandwich and OJ. Storm cleared.
Carl went golfing so Dawn was able to stay and keep me company for a while. The
usual games, Internet surfing, and nap. Family Guy and then bed around 9 p.m.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Bacon and egg breakfast.
I decided to boil the remaining potatoes because they were growing eyes. Read a
bit of Eric Larson, played Wizard and surfed the ‘Net. 5:30 news. Same old
stuff there. No lunch or dinner, but munched on Pringles and M&Ms during
Family Guy. To bed around 9 p.m.
Friday, May 24, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Light breakfast and then
the usual of checking emails and Google News. Wizard and surfing. Decided to do
some blog entries, so I turned to GPT chat and had them write me a couple of
articles. One on “Getting Out of a Funk,” and the other on "the Pros and
Cons of Being a Starbucks Barista.” The funk article I intended as an update to
my book, “The Sweet Life on $15K a year.” Some neat ideas that dovetailed with
my own. This Chat GPT is a wonderful thing. I’m thinking about using it again for
a follow-up book … there is no need to use Fiver again like I did for the Sweet
Life. Might use Fiver them for formatting, we’ll see.
Made a turkey meatloaf for a recipe I
remember from the Weight Watchers days. Middle part has broccoli and mozzarella
cheese. Had that for dinner.
Saturday, May 25, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Shower day. Large
breakfast of bacon and eggs, hash browns, toast and coffee. Dawn came over and
made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting because she and Carl are going to
Dawn’s friend, Amy’s house for a cookout. The usual stuff after that. No
dinner, Family Guy and to bed.
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Up at 6:30. Coffee and a piece of cake
that Dawn saved for me. Watched CBS Sunday Morning. Enjoyed all segments, but
especially the segment on the WWII veterans that you can “talk to” via
artificial intelligence. This set up is located at the WWII museum in New
Orleans, which I have visited with sis-in-law Julie.
After the show, Dawn and I went to
Lake Mills to visit Arta at the Café On the Park. Place was hoppin’. I had a
Gyro while Dawn had a turkey melt sandwich, and then we went to the McDonald’s
for a vanilla cone. Rain all the way home, and looks like it will be an all-day
soaker. No dinner. Family Guy and then to bed.
Monday, May 27, 2024 Memorial Day
Up at 7 a.m. Made coffee, ate a cup of
Noosa yogurt that Dawn bought for me. Delicious. Read emails, news and drank
coffee. Then made a full breakfast of over-easy eggs, turkey meatloaf, orange,
toast, and more coffee. Updated the journal. Reading, Wizard. Nap, 5:30 news,
no dinner. Family Guy and then to bed around 9 p.m.
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Drove car to Hyvee at 8
a.m. for full breakfast of over easy eggs, links, fruit salad, pancakes, and
coffee. Gave Beth change and she balked at first, but took it and it was OK.
Shopped for some groceries including deli pastrami, Swiss cheese, a nice hard
roll, oranges, Pringles, and M&Ms. Dawn and I took an afternoon drive to
Cottage Grove to get some money at the Bank of Sun Prairie. Stopped at Culvers
for a cone. Rush hour and busy traffic on the way back. No dinner, but sweet
roll, Pringles and M&Ms during Family Guy, and then to bed around 9 p.m.
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Up at 6 a.m. for Roosters. Dawn drove
to Cottage Grove and dropped me off. Nice congenial meeting. Email from Jim
Schnitzer. Dwight is having elevator installed in his new building today. Back
home for breakfast of Kwik Trip goodies that Dawn picked up for me. We checked
Royal Caribbean and Dean websites for any possible updates and check-ins. We
are all up to date, except for making scooter reservations. I’m gonna try to go
sans eating today except for maybe an orange to make up for the crap-fest of
yesterday. Only partially successful. Had banana and M&Ms in the evening
while watching Family Guy. Night time grazing has always been my downfall. To
bed around 11 p.m.
Thursday, May 30, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. trying something new for
breakfast: Spam (that’s the new part) mixed in with scrambled eggs, American
fries, toast with jam, and coffee. Not bad. Spam is supposedly “low sodium,”
but it was still plenty salty. Did pills for the week and called in one
prescription. Dawn came over at about 9:00 and brought me a sausage and egg
biscuit from Burger King, courtesy of Carl. So I had that with an orange as a
second breakfast. Cleaned the litter box. Big news of the day is that Donald
Trump found guilty on all 34 counts of fraud in covering up the Stormy Daniels
affair. He can still run for president of course. Two pepperoni pizzas for
dinner made with tortillas. Brother Curt called during dinner, so I talked with
him and got caught up. Family Guy and then to bed around 10 p.m.
Friday, May 31, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Smoothie and coffee for
breakfast. Monica comes today to clean. Down to the community room. Dawn goes
to Hy-Vee for a Chinese dinner. We play a couple games of cribbage. Dawn
settles up with Monica and then we go to Culvers for a lunch for me. I have a
2-piece cod dinner and Dawn has a shake. Back to apartment and Dawn and I
prepare documentation for the annual Badger Care renewal for my prescription
meds. This includes a visit to the Social Security website to get my gross
monthly payment for the application renewal. Dawn leaves. No dinner for me,
then Family Guy and to bed. I want to keep the bedroom neat, if only for a day,
so I just lay on top with pee pad underneath me.
Saturday, June 1, 2024
New month! Up at 7 a.m. for shit, shower
and shave. Breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast and coffee. Checked email
and news. Downloaded sample of John Nance’s “Pandora’s Clock” to re-read his
novel about plane passengers being quarantined on a 747 for a deadly disease. Was
written 10 years before the devastating Covid-19 outbreak, so thought it would
be interesting to read again of how Nance’s fictional account would indeed come
to pass some 10 years later. Rest of meatloaf for dinner, then watch Bourne
Identity for umpteenth time. Great movie. To bed around 9 p.m.
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Up at 4 a.m. because I awoke to pee
and couldn’t get back to sleep. Peanut butter on bread and glass of milk. Then
fell asleep in blue chair for a while, and then back to bed, where I fell
asleep and missed the first half hour of CBS Sunday Morning. Will catch that
first half hour on their website. The big story I missed was about author James
Patterson completing the novel that Michael Crichton started before he died …
Eruption … about a cataclysmic volcano eruption in Hawaii. I want to read it,
but will order it on Kindle because I don’t have any more room on my bookshelf.
The Kindle version It’s not out yet, but will be soon, I’m sure.
Then Carl and Dawn took me to a
Mexican restaurant for lunch. I had an enchilada platter and a Margarita (I’m
not supposed to have caffeine prior to my tests tomorrow, so cola was out, but
nobody said anything about alcohol!). The usual activities and then to be
around 9 p.m.
Monday June 3, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Big day for tests at Dean
Hospital and Dean Clinic. First an EKG at the clinic. Then over to the hospital
for a stress test. A much more streamlined process than before. They even
manage to get me in an hour earlier to avoid the wait. First, they access my
vein, then put me the in tube for the sonogram. They inject me with the
medicine that makes my heart race. No more treadmill. Then a bunch of pictures
of my heart. Back to the waiting room, and Dawn wheels me outside and picks me
up.
It's lunch time and we decide to go to
Imperial Garden. Place is packed. We wait about 20 minutes and get a nice
table. Cashew chicken for me, and beef broccoli for Dawn, along with eggrolls
and hot tea. Food is soooo good. I don’t think I can order from Hy-Vee any
more. There is just no comparison. Back to the apartment and the usual stuff
and then to bed around 9 p.m.
Tuesday June 4, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Breakfast of bacon, eggs,
potatoes, toast and coffee. Usual morning routine. Dawn and I take Mabel to the
vet for injection and a new cone. They are skeptical that Mabel is allergic to
catnip but we tell them anyway. Then to Dunkin Donuts for a treat. Back to
apartment and we toss all the catnip toys. I skip lunch due to the big
breakfast and Dunkin Donuts. Carl orders some chew toys (sans catnip) for
Mabel. News, no dinner, and to bed around 9 p.m.
Wednesday June 5, 2024
Up at 6 a.m. for Roosters. Good group
today, but store-bought cinnamon rolls because Abdul forgot to order the
homemade ones. They weren’t too bad, though. Back to the apartment for sausage,
egg and cheese croissant and OJ. Dawn, Carl and I go to Costco for groceries
and have the usual hot dog and soda for lunch. At $159, you just can’t beat it.
We end up spending a bundle – more than $250 -- but we sort it all out back at
the apartment. I debone a Costco chicken for soup.
Bingo today, and I win one of the
final prizes for $18, and sock it away for an upcoming Dubuque trip. I finish the soup, using macaroni for the
pasta. Turns out really good. Even finished that “Better than Broth.” Karen
calls in the afternoon, and suggests a rendezvous for drinks and appetizers. We
meet at brewery across the street. A nice lager for me and Curt, soda for Dawn,
and virgin margarita for Karen. Hot pretzel with cheese sauce and honey
mustard, and fried cheese curds for apps.
We get the low-down on family news,
including that Steve was/is in rehab for drug abuse. What a waste. He’ll be back on crack (his current drug of
choice) in no time. Karen drives us back and is obviously disoriented. Chicken
breast and dried mango slices for dinner. TV and then to bed around 9 p.m.
Thursday day June 6, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Light breakfast. Check
emails and the Google News feed. Its 80th anniversary of D-Day. Dawn
comes over and we give Mabel some toys to play with and she had a great time. Dawn
calls Paypal to continue the saga with the fraudulent charges. Rep gets my
information and promises this will be the end of it. I’ll believe it when I see
it. I swap out the band on my Nivada Grenchen because this is the watch I want
to wear to Chattanooga when Chris Vandall and I leave next week. NBC Nightly
news I filled with stuff about D Day anniversary. Very touching. Still some
survivors which David Muir interviews. Dinner of chicken breast and mango
slices. A few nuts and a mango slice while watching Family Guy. I am trying to
cut back on night-time snacking because I seem to sleep better on an empty
stomach. To bed around 9 p.m., and I do sleep better and pee less often.
Friday June 7, 2024
Up at 8 a.m. Breakfast at Hy-Vee this
morning of 2 eggs, links, fresh fruit, pancakes, and coffee. Carol is the
waitress. Then grocery shopping for needed items including fruit, salad fixin’s,
shaved ham, club soda, Fritos, and some fruit rollups which were on clearance.
Back at apartment and put perishables away. Club soda is to mix with the cherry
juice I have on hand to make a fizzy beverage. Bachowar’s office called and wants to schedule
me for a heart cath based on less-than-favorable results of my MRI. This could
definitely be the root cause of my fatigue. I tentatively schedule for June 18
after my return from Chattanooga, because I don’t want to miss my travels with
Chris Vandall. When Dawn comes down, we’ll sort it all out.
Lunch of chicken/macaroni soup,
crackers, ½ apple, a few ham slices, and a diet Coke. Typical afternoon. 5:30
news. Made pizza for dinner with tortilla skins, pepperoni, ham, cheese.
Spilled one coming out of oven. Despite clumsiness, they were quite good. Family
guy until 9:30 and then to bed.
Saturday, June 8, 2024
Up at 7:30. Shower and shave.
Trulicity, and then full breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, English muffin,
and coffee. Played with Mabel, checked news and emails. Dawn came over and we
discussed various topics. She left and I took nap. Dawn and Carl went to
Habenaro’s for lunch. Dawn messaged and offered to bring me something, but I
demurred. Plenty of food at the house. I had ham sandwich wrap for dinner. TV
and then to bed.
Sunday, June 9, 2024
Up at 7:30. Made coffee in time for
CBS Sunday Morning. Excellent episode. I especially enjoyed the segment about
“We are the World.” Music and lyrics by Lionel Ritche and Michael Jackson. I
remember it well when it came out in 1985. I wondered how all those great
musical artists were gathered in one place at one time. The answer is that it
was done immediately following the Grammy awards when all the artists were
gathered for the awards ceremony. It was a feat that will never be duplicated
for so many reasons. One reason that particularly surprised me was that
portable cell phones were not yet around, so there were no distractions. Think
about it. Anyway, 39 years later, the song continues to inspire, and even raise
money. Way to go, Lionel and Michael Jackson. Jackson was surely weird, but he
did a good turn.
Also enjoyed Mo Rocka’s segment on
people who have aged gracefully. One was Rita Moreno (God, she looks great for
92.) Other good segments on the D-Day pre-invasion, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus
doing something serious after her career in comedy. Not even sure I could watch
that project without expecting some sort of punch line.
After CBS Sunday Morning, breakfast of
Spam/egg/potato frittata, orange, toast, coffee, and another hunk of the lemon
blueberry coffee cake from Costco. Usual Sunday after this. To bed around 8:30.
Monday, June 10, 2024
Up at 7:30. Full breakfast of eggs,
bacon, potatoes, last slice of lemon/blueberry bread, orange, and coffee. Got a
nice email from Cary Hurt with link to scooter company. Contacted them and
looks like I will have a scooter for the convention.
Dawn came over. Conflict with Dean
schedule. Too many damn medical appointments piling up. Heart cath and sleep
study consult on same day. Will have to reschedule sleep study consult. Chicken
noodle soup and cookie for lunch. Decided to take cone off Mabel and give her a
break. She is very happy about this. Usual TV, bed at 9:30.
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Up at 8:30. Raisin bran, orange, and
coffee for breakfast. Paid balance due on scooter. Toenails today at Methodist
church in Monona. Fraboni’s for lunch. Dawn gets a free sub which we split, and
we get several salads and I get a Dr. Brown’s diet black cherry soda. All
delicious. Back to apartment. Nap and then 5:30 news. Dinner of salad with
sliced chicken (from Costco) on top. Family Guy and to bed around around 9 p.m.
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
One day before departure to
Chattanooga. Up at 6 a.m. Roosters today. Jim and Mary Schnitzer back from New
Mexico. Good to see them. Lively discussion, in fact a little too lively and I
had a hard time deciding who to listen to. Back at apartment and Dawn picked up
my usual breakfast of egg, cheese, and sausage croissant, and OJ. Getting
packed including last of my watches, books, and company catalogs. Dawn doing a
great help getting all my meds together, along with clothes. Mario called and
wanted to come over to see what I was taking to Chattanooga, so we had a nice
session. He bought one watch, a Hamilton Raleigh plain bezel ($150) and a knife
($5). Tonight, Dawn and Carl toke me to Delayne’s for birthday dinner. I had
vodka Gimlet, wedge salad, ribeye steak, baked potato, and ice cream dessert.
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Off to Chattanooga at 8 a.m. Grabbed a
McDonald’s biscuit with sausage, egg, and cheese and coffee in Illinois. Long, boring
slog through flat Illinois. Passed time with music on the radio (Spotify) and
conversation. Chris and I both wanted help from phone GPS, but it didn’t work
very well and we only used it sporadically. Quite a few pee stops for me, even
holding back on the Furosamide. Stopped at a Steak ‘N’ Shake for lunch. Food
OK, but both Chris and I agreed that we never needed to go to Steak ‘N’ Shake
again. Back on the road. Through Kentucky, little bit of Georgia, then
Tennessee. Hit Nashville around rush hour so decided to pull off and go to a
Waffle House, mostly to just chill and avoid some of the rush hour traffic. I
had a waffle and bacon. Chris had a waffle and some kind of hash browns with
cheese, peppers and onions which he pronounced not very good. He took some of it
to go in a Styrofoam container, but later threw it out.
Finally arrived at the Marriott in
Chattanooga at around 11 p.m. Eastern Time. Checked into hotel and to our room.
Chris wanted to look at my watches, and bought a Movado automatic for $150 to
resell to a friend. Chris bought us a couple of Stella Artois beers down on the
lobby bar for a night cap, and we fell into bed. Up at around 6:30, Chris
showered, and then to lobby for a quickie breakfast of muffin and coffee, and
then over to the convention center.
Chris got registered, and also picked
up my badge, while I waited for the scooter rental. Fellow showed up around
8:30 with the scooter and I was all set. Into the mart room with Chris and to
our table, which was next to Cary Hurt and Kyle Rogers. Chris and I were mobbed
with buyers, all of them fellow dealers. I sold all of my watches but for one,
within an hour or so. I tooled around the Mart floor in my scooter, saying
hello to my various buddies from watch shows past. I also got a chance to see
and speak with Laura Taylor, editor of the NAWCC Bulletin. Nice gal, and I
reminded her to feel free to use anything from my blog for the magazine if she
needed filler. Also, a couple of nice ladies from the Horological Society of
New York, headquartered in New York City, which I knew nothing about, but has
been in business since 1866. I gave them two of my books for their library and
signed them. One of the neat things they are doing is training female watch
makers, which I think is really neat because this has always been a male
dominated trade, and females are ideally suited to this trade because of
superior hand-eye coordination, attention to detail, etc.
Lunch was a Philly cheese steak
sandwich and chips, and about all I can say for it is that would make a turd. I
sold a few catalog leftovers in the silent auction. Chris bought my last watch,
a Hamilton CLD, for $20. We left the mart room around 4 p.m. After checking
Reddit for restaurants, we decided on Bea’s for dinner. We had a helluva time
finding it, because once again Google Maps sent us on a wild goose chase. But
we finally got there. Excellent dinner of fried chicken, catfish, barbecued
pork, creamed potatoes, mac ‘n’ cheese, green beans, corn relish, pickled beets,
chow chow chow, and peach cobbler for dessert. Back to the hotel, and to bed.
Friday, June 14,2024
It’s my birthday. I’m 68 years old today.
Up around 6 a.m., and got ready to hit the road for home. Quick muffin and
coffee in the lobby, and we struck up a conversation with a fellow from New
York City, who is an authorized seller of reconditioned Rolex watches. Very
interesting fellow, and Chris quickly established a rapport with him and we had
about an half-hour conversation with him.
We got on the road about 7 a.m. and
made good time to a breakfast stop at a McDonalds. Sausage muffin and coffee
for me, bagel sandwich for Chris. Back on the road. Various pee stops and
vending machine snacks. Nothing very memorable. We just wanted to get home. Chris
especially, because it was his daughter Chanya’s 18th birthday, and
he wanted to make it to her party. We got to my place around 7 p.m. Carl and
Dawn helped me up with my luggage, considerably lighter now on account of sold
watches, books, and catalogs. Dinner of leftover steak and fried potatoes. A
little TV and then to bed around 9 p.m.
A few observations:
1. What the hell is up with Google Navigation? Am
I using it wrong? It wasn’t much help. Has Google tweaked it somehow, trying to
make it more “useful.” I think in the end, Chris and I used common sense
(compass direction) combined with memory of past trips to find our way.
2. Expensive. Hotel, meals, scooter rental, show
registration. I think I spent around a thousand dollars, made a little better
by Chris and I sharing expenses on the hotel and table fee.
3. Show, overall, is getting worse and worse.
Fewer attendees due to increased expenses. It’s a vicious circle. Getting
harder to find speakers, especially about watches. Plenty of clock speakers.
They are, and have always been, passionate about their love of clocks.
4. I will probably go again to the National if my
health holds up. Location is York, PA, which is going to be a bit of problem
with logistics. I’ve already found there are no flights to York. But on plus
side, I could visit nearby NAWCC headquarters in Columbia. I have nothing more
to sell, but still would go for the camaraderie.
Saturday,
June 15, 2024
Up
at 6:30. Injected Trulicity and made coffee. Breakfast of raisin bran. Read
emails and news. Got email from Dale Beske, confirming 2025 National will be in York. Played Wizard.
Skipped lunch. Tenderloin and fried potatoes for dinner. Family Guy and then to
bed around 9:00.
Sunday,
June 16, 2024
Up
at 7:00. Made coffee in time for CBS Sunday Morning. Fathers’ Day episode. Pete
Buttigieg, Kevin Costner, Dr. Anthony Faucie. Why are so many picking on him?
He did a good job and kept Americans informed. Did anyone know he played
basketball. He is only 5’7”. He made a better doctor. Made frittata with last
egg, potato, and Spam. Did a little more unpacking from Chattanooga trip. No
dinner. Family Guy and then to bed around 9:30.
Monday,
June 16, 2024
Up
at 7 a.m. Raisin bran and coffee for breakfast. Dawn, Carl and I are going
grocery shopping today, so I made a list. Bread, fruit, salad, onion, potatoes,
ground turkey and hamburger, yogurt, deli ham, milk, eggs, cheese, Diet Coke,
Snapple, Prego, angel hair pasta. Came to $70 with $1.50 coupon for the yogurt.
Back to apartment and made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Family Guy and
to bed around 9 p.m.
Tuesday,
June 17, 2024
Up
at 7 a.m. Strawberry/banana smoothie and sesame bagel for breakfast. Dawn and
Carl want to go to Habaneros for a late lunch. I have a shredded beef burrito
bowl and Pepsi. I bring about half home because it is a generous portion. We
deal with a little bit of rush hour traffic on the way home. I have the rest of
the burrito bowl around 6 p.m. Family Guy and then to bed around 9 p.m.
Wednesday,
June 19, 2024
Juneteenth,
at rather obscure holiday when the slave emancipation finally caught up to
Texas. Up at 6 a.m. for Roosters. Kind of a quiet day. I attribute it to the
“dog days of summer.” I ask Herb about bringing in a birthday treat on a day
other than Wednesday so as not to compete with the cinnamon rolls, and he
suggested a Monday. On the way home, Dawn and I stop at the Ace Hardware in
Cottage Grove to redeem a $5 gift card for my birthday, and I use it for
four-pack of AA batteries. They cost me $2 to boot. When did batteries get so
G.D. expensive? Dawn and I had an 11:00 appointment with Beth, the resident
manager, to renew our lease. Our rent went up $65. No mention was made of
Mabel, emotional support animal or otherwise, so we didn’t say anything. Don’t
ask, don’t tell. Bingo at 2:00. I didn’t win anything this time. Perfectly OK.
I don’t want to be a constant winner, or the other players will start teasing
me. Two meatballs and a Nathan hotdog (no bun) for
dinner. Family Guy, and then to bed. Difficult night sleeping due to noisy
crickets How can two lousy crickets make so much noise. I’m sure part of it is
that this apartment doesn’t have a lot of noise insulation.
Thursday,
June 20, 2024
Up
at 7 a.m. Busy day. Started with breakfast at Hy-Vee. Two eggs, two links,
pancakes, fruit, and coffee. Beth waited on me, and I also got a hug from
Juanee. Did a little shopping and picked up a couple doughnuts for Dawn and I,
a pound of butter, and a container of honey butter that was on clearance for a
buck (normally around $5; good score there). Back to apartment. Dawn did some
phoning and got my Foodshare account straightened out. I’ll get $27 for the
remainder of June and $67 a month beginning in July. One-half meatball sandwich
and diet Coke for lunch.
Dawn
phoned the vet regarding Mabel, and they are going to put her on Valium to
curtail her scratching. Three ears of sweetcorn for dinner, OK but not great.
Have to wait for the local stuff. Then Family Guy, and to bed around 9 p.m.
Crickets continue their noise, so slept in Dawn’s bed again.
Friday,
June 21, 2024
Up
at 7 a.m. Breakfast of two eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice-like substance, and
coffee. Dawn comes up and we go to vet to pick up Prozac for Mabel. Donut and
coffee at Dunkin. Stopped at HyVee on way back for some Fancy Feast to conceal
Mabel’s pill. 5:30 news. Another mass shooting in Montgomery, Alabama, three
dead, over a dozen injured. The shooter is still at large. Meatballs and salad for dinner. Watched “Groundhog
Day” on DVD. Great movie and great piece afterward on the making of the movie.
Don’t hear much from Chris Elliott these days. To bed around 9 p.m. Rough
night. Cricket chatter continues. Slept on Dawn’s bed, blue chair, and finally
my bed with the headphones on. Internet went out so no games or movies.
Saturday,
June 22, 2024
Up
at 8 a.m. Shit, haircut, shower, shave. Trulicity for me, Prozac for Mabel. Oatmeal
with pecans, Craisins, and maple syrup, apple and coffee for breakfast. Internet
is back up so played Wizard, checked news and emails, nothing much of interest
there. Spam, eggs, and tomato scramble for lunch, with ice tea, and 2 cookies
for dessert.
Today
is root beer float day in the community room, so I head down about 5:45. The
usual friendly people are there, including Theresa, who is sort of in charge of
this event. The floats are very good; I wanted to bring my A&W mug that
Curt gave me, but couldn’t find it. There is music and prizes. The mood is
generally festive, but several people revealed their darker sides, most notably
Deb and Art. They have a level of cognition better than many of the other residents,
and I think they forget this and fail to cut some slack to the other tenants
here. In any event, I left the party around 8:30 and after a short reconnoiter
in the blue chair, went to bed, watching “The Lost World” for the umpteenth
time.
Sunday,
June 23, 2024
Up
in time for CBS Sunday Morning. But first I gave Mabel her daily “chill pill”
and made coffee. Of most interest were the segments on the Sopranos (which I
never actually watched, but knew of the basic premise), the segment on the
movie “Thelma,” and the segment on Jude Law. Also David Pogue’s segment on this
Internet site that archives just about all the web content for posterity. The
site is called “The Wayback Machine” (https://wayback-api.archive.org/) and I’m almost afraid to access it because
I’ll lose myself falling into that rabbit hole. Just for giggles, I checked to
see if my old website, thewatchstore.com was archived, and indeed it has been.
The reason this website was created is that so many websites “vanish” so
quickly, and this is a way to archive them. Even though the site is nonprofit,
it has many copyright holders upset, and there are lawsuits active (and
pending) that threaten the website’s existence.
After Dean CBS Sunday Morning, I have breakfast
of bacon and French toast. Dawn came up and we did the usual visiting, with emphasis
on a post-mortem of the party of the night before, and my procedure tomorrow.
Monday,
June 24, 2024
Up
at 5 a.m. for my trip to Dean/St. Marys hospital for the heart cath procedure.
Arrived in good time, checked I, and stripped down. Nurses checked blood,
inserted the IV for administering fluids and anesthesia. They rolled me into
the cath lab about 7 a.m., cand proceeded to tie me down for the photographs.
Doctor Bachuwar and his assistants took very good care of me, and I remained
conscious during the entire procedure (some people fall asleep). They put a
plug in the hole in my groin where they inserted the catheter and wheeled me
back to my “room” (very tiny) where Dawn was waiting for me.
Laying
still as I can for about an hour, then I finally got some food, which consisted
of scrambled eggs, turkey sausage links, one piece of toast, and a small bowl o
=f fresh fruit. Then, nurse took me on my first walk. All OK. Second walk is
OK, so I was discharged with instructions to walk (exercise) and a new
prescription for Eliquis. Eliquis is to thin blood to prevent clots. There was
a possibility that my insurance would only pay for Warfrin, but they approved
Eliquis, so no (or at least minimal) bruising. No stents in the arteries
(thankfully), but the Doc Bachuwar is pretty sure the “timing” is off in the
aorta and my heart needs to be shocked“
to reset” the timing which he feels will improve my chronic exhaustion. This is
done with a defibrillator, but the voltage/amperage is set to a milder setting
than the “full shock” that is given when someone is in full cardiac arrest that
makes the body convulse.
Recovery
at home was a bit of chore. I felt somewhat disoriented and “’out of body” for
a couple of days, enough that I didn’t feel I could update the diary until
Wednesday. I didn’t sleep very well for a couple days, either.
Tuesday,
June 25, 2024
Up
at 6a.m. because I couldn’t sleep. Disoriented, foggy continues. Coffee and big
smoothie for breakfast using an orange that pithy and not very good. Smoothie
turned out fine, using bananas and strawberries. Surfed internet and emails. I
need project to keep my brain moving, so I decided to make a blog based on
Grandma Quam’s recipe box. Perhaps 3X a week, along the lines of Julie Powell,
who cooked her way through Julia Child's recipe book, "Mastering the Art
of French Cooking." Only I'll be cooking Grandma's recipes from her recipe
box.
I
start with a recipe called “Roman Holiday Casserole" as follows:
1/4
cup Crisco 1 tsp.
salt
1
onion, chopped 1/8 t.
pepper
2 cups cooked spaghetti
1-1/2 canned tomatoes
1 lb. hamburger
3/4 cup grated cheese
Fry onion in fat, then add meat and
seasoning. Cook 5 minutes. Make a layer of spaghetti in baking dish. Add meat
mixture and its drippings. Then add another layer of spaghetti. Pour in
tomatoes. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Cover dish. Bake in oven 35 minutes.
Remove cover. Bake 10 minutes more.
The recipe was no-doubt inspired by
the 1953 Romance movie "Roman Holiday," starring Gregory Peck and
Audrey Hepburn. The recipe is about as Italian as a can of Campbell's
Spaghettios, but it was satisfying nonetheless. Decided to do next recipe on
Grandma’s Fudge Bottom Pie. It’s actually a recipe from UW chef Carson Gulley. TV and then to bed. Another restless night. For
a movie, I watched “The Ninth Gate” on Kindle, starring Johnnie Depp and Frank
Langella. Roman Polanski was the director. Kind of ridiculous movie about
Satanic worship, (Roger Ebert gave it only two stars), but had enough to keep my
interest because there were lots of rare books, rare book dealers, etc. And it
was kind of fun to see a young Johnnie Depp (boy, did he smoke a lot of
cigarettes). A nice nude scene of Emmanuelle Seigner (who plays Satan), fucking
Johnie in the cowboy position. (Seigner is Polanski’s wife, by the way). One
thing I thought was not very true to life is that Depp smoked while he was in
the bookstores, in people’s collections, etc. Not cool. I know of no bookstores
that let customers smoke, especially where rare books are concerned.
Combustible, fragile paper. Hello?
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Up at 6 a.m. for Roosters. Lively
conversation starting out with my adventures at the hospital with my heart
procedure on Monday. Herb had a couple of interesting articles, one about a
special Naval ship that looks like something out of Star Trek, the other about
how of plastic are showing up in the human body, some fragments as big as a
pencil eraser. All part of the environmental disasters we have created. Dawn
picked up my usual breakfast sandwich and OJ.
Back to the apartment. I have decided
to wean Mable off the Prozac. It has turned her into a zombie kitty. I’ll go a
quarter of a pill for the next two days, then stop altogether. Next story in
the recipe lineup will be Grandma’s “chow-chow.” I remember canned jars of this
in her root cellar. It is a blend of finely ch/opped vegetables, mostly
cabbage, that are pickled and used as a relish. It keeps a long time and used
up surplus vegetables from Grandma’s garden. For lunch and dinner I ate the
last of the “Roman Holiday” casserole. Family Guy in the evening, and then to
bed.
Thursday, June 27, 2024
Up at 7 a.m. Breakfast, and then I
decide to tackle black bottom pie, made famous at the U.W. Memorial Union. Very
complicated recipe for a seemingly simple dessert. Dirtied a lot dishes, and it
still didn’t turn out quite right, but it tasted OK and I had Dawn over to
sample it. Ham rollup for lunch. Pork chop, fried potatoes, and salad for
dinner. Family Guy and then bed around 10 p.m. Watched nudie scene in the Ninth
Gate again, along with The Lost World for what has to be the 100th
time.
Friday, June 28, 2024
Laid back day. Up at 7 a.m. Breakfast
of bagel with cream cheese. Smoothie with leftover pithy orange. Google news,
emails. and exchange with Laura Taylor at NAWCC. She is going to run my article
on novelty watches. Watched the 5:30 news with Witt Johnson subbing for David
Muir. More fallout from the Trump /Biden debate. Pork chop, American fries and
salad for dinner, along with more black bottom pie for dessert. Family Guy and
then to bed around 10 p.m.
Saturday, June 29, 2024
Up at 8 a.m. Shit, shower, and shave. All goes
well. Injected Trulicity. I will have to up the dose on this. Might make me a
little nauseous, but that’s what keeps me feeling full and losing weight.
Breakfast of two eggs, bacon, toast, apple, and coffee. Mario calls, and I have
fairly long conversation with him and try to help him with battery replacement instructions
for an Accutron 218. I also owe Jim Jerving a call-back, but I must save that
for another time. Lunch of half a sandwich, Fritos, and Diet Coke. Nap. No TV
tonight; I’m declaring a TV-free night. To bed around 8:30 and watch that damn
Johnny Depp movie again.
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Up at 6:30 a.m. because couldn’t sleep.
Gave Mabel a treat of Fancy Feast. Made coffee, and bided by time reading
emails and checking news until CBS Sunday Morning came on. Not my most ‘sfavorite
episode. More coverage of the Biden/Trump debate debacle. Enough, already. The
Paul McCartney art exhibit was a repeat. Light breakfast of bagel with cream
cheese and jelly because Dawn and I are going to Lake Mills for lunch at
McDonalds. Sometimes, you just gotta have it. Drive to Lake Mills was pleasant enough,
but eating inside McD’s was a circus of Ritalin children and confused Seniors.
I went with their special $5 meal that corporate has come up with to counter the
claims that McD’s is no longer a cheap place to eat. Now for the big news: Now
that the year is half over, I am going to try to put journal in printed book
form. Bogtoprint is not longer in business, sl have to find an alternative.
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