Sleepy Kitten Time

Not all the kittens were sleepy when I was there yesterday. I had Peter going all over after the fishing pole; he's still a little watchful, but much less scared, and he loves that dangling toy. I had to be careful: once I almost sent him head-first into his water bowl, and another time the bowl of crunchies almost got tipped over.

Plotting his attack.

Daring to come close after it. (That's my leg along the bottom.)

Everyone else, though, was winding down.

There's a new group of five grey babies. This one was playing.

And so was this one.

But the other three were pretty much lights out.

In the bigger enclosure, I got some cuddles, but more sleepies.

Aren't they darling?

I still want an adult for myself, though. Maybe this weekend: paws crossed!

That's Different

This is a nice place to live, don't get me wrong, but there are parts of the city that are considerably more chi-chi than where we are, and that was brought home to me (so to speak) as, while I waited for the valet to bring my Kia Soul around, I was standing next to a Rolls Royce, and then I passed not one but two Bentleys on my way back to the main street.

The cost of living is actually lower here than it was where I lived in Massachusetts*, but these are not things I saw up there. Like my mother's story of coming out of the grocery store once to find her car was between two powder blue Bentley convertibles... it's different!
*This comparison tool is really quite interesting, if you want to look at two places that way.

Not Pulling Their Punches

I'm going to get a bit political here tonight, something I don't often do, and if you're not in the mood, I understand, and you're excused. Come back for the knitting and hockey talk.

If you know me in real life, and possibly also if you don't, you'll realize that I have many issues (so, so many) with the president. I feel retroactive guilt for laughing at my aunt, many years back, for saying that she couldn't hear President Bush's voice without wanting to throw up, because now I know just how she feels.

So that's an everyday feeling, and every day there's another awful story, every day you think he can't get worse, and just about every day, he does.

Then he's an embarrassment on the world stage, and I cringe again and again about he represents this country so very poorly. It seemed this weekend like France was pretty much over the "trying to get along" stage, and I don't blame them a bit. But today, they made it even more clear.

You may have heard that the president couldn't be bothered to go to Arlington National Cemetery yesterday, to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, as presidents traditionally do on Veteran's Day.

But today the French embassy tweeted out photos showing that they went out and did it themselves.

Yesterday we participated in a ceremony at @ArlingtonNatl to honor the sacrifices of soldiers during #WWI by laying a wreath on the tomb of the #UnknownSoldier. #VeteransDay pic.twitter.com/ZQPbZwMSf6

— French Embassy U.S. (@franceintheus) November 12, 2018

And to them I say, bravo. Well done, mes amis.

Not My Doctor From Now On

All right, as I mentioned, I have a story about why one of the doctors I chose after moving down here is now (already) off my list.

One of the umpty-seven kinds of doctors I needed to line up after I moved was a gynecologist. I'm on the Depo shot, which is given every three months, so I really wanted an office close by, and it turned out that I had one, count them one, to choose from (on my insurance, anyway). Here was an unexpected feature of moving to an area that is demographically older: not as much call for the gynecologists, apparently. I wasn't thrilled with the practice, for two reasons: one, it's a single-doctor practice, and after having a few gynecologists retire on me in the last decade, I'd rather avoid that happening again soon, and two, this doctor also runs a diet center out of the office, which (two-A) I worried meant even more pressure than usual to lose weight, and (two-B) sounded a little twinkle-ding-dong to me. But in the interests of convenience, I decided to give them a try.

As I mentioned back in June, I asked and they were willing to give me the next shot I was due for, in July, before giving me a full exam (since I wasn't due for my annual until a few months later), so that was good. I was disconcerted to show up on the day we had made the appointment for and be told I wasn't on the schedule, but in fact they did get the shot done, so no big deal, right?

{ominous foreshadowing}

When I had an appointment with my new PCP in September, she mentioned that she had heard he was moving his office farther away, which I wasn't happy to hear about. (She also said she was willing to give me the shot at her office, but it turned out that she meant they would administer it, not that she would prescribe it, and I still don't understand why another doctor would prescribe it to me only to take it to another doctor's office to be given). I called the gynecologist's office later, and the receptionist-person, K, told me that the doctor was looking into moving, but that it wasn't a done deal yet.

Then:

• On 10/10, I got a call from an unknown number, so I didn't answer it. The message revealed that it was K from the doctor's office, telling me that we would have to reschedule my 10/23 appointment after 10/15 because they were moving their office and wouldn't be available then. I was confused (remember I was in week one of that cold), so I called her back, and it turned out that she couldn't get into the scheduling software that week to reschedule it. I guess she thought that telling me I would have to call the next week to reschedule, instead of just calling me the next week to reschedule, was helpful in some way. 
• On 10/17 I called, and after way more discussion than I needed ('we can do it whenever you need it' and 'that's a bad time for us' don't really go together; also, I don't care about the new counter tops you're getting done, or any other workers doing whatever to the new space), we set the appointment for Tuesday, 11/6; I'm quite certain of the date, because she offered me Monday, but I had a colonoscopy scheduled, so we went with Tuesday instead. She said that she would have the prescription called in so that I could get the shot to bring to the appointment.
• On 10/22, she called me, sounding confused, to ask if I had an appointment scheduled for 10/23? I said well, I did, but we rescheduled it for 11/6. She sounded very relieved: oh good, we're set for 11/6 then, that's good, and what about the shot? I said that she had told me she would get it called in, and she said right, right, the pharmacy should have it then ... but she didn't sound sure. I said that I had to go to the pharmacy for something else anyway, so I would check and let her know if they didn't have it; otherwise, we'd be good to go. She said fine, and when I went to the pharmacy, they did have it, so I thought that was it.
• {more ominous foreshadowing}
• On 11/6, I took time off from work and drove to the new office (now a half-hour drive instead of ten minutes away), only to find the door locked and no one there.
• I called the office number, and could hear it ringing inside. The message gave the info for the new location (and there were handwritten signs, too), so I left a terse message about the situation.
• The appointment was at 10; I waited until 10:15, thinking that perhaps I would get a call from someone tied up in traffic but on their way, then left when nothing came.
• On the way home, I stopped in at the PCP's office, and they gave me a nurse's appointment for the following day, so I did get the shot, finally.
• After I got home, I looked at the website to see if there was any useful information, and no, in fact it still listed the old address, nothing about the move, and still with the formerly appropriate information about how convenient they are, you don't have to go all the way into the big city....hmmm.
• After hearing nothing the rest of the day or most of the next day, on Wednesday evening, I got a very apologetic message from the nurse, saying my appointment had been in the system for Thursday, to please let her know if I still wanted to come in, and by the way K is no longer with us. Which I did appreciate getting, but too little, too late.

So now I have to go doctor-shopping again. Cross your fingers for me, would you? I've already found that the nearest other providers according to my insurance aren't at the address my insurance has listed, so that's annoying, and I suspect it won't be the end of the annoyances.

Sand and Purrs

It's been a good day by any measure.

This morning I went for a walk on the beach.

It wasn't the best time for shelling, which meant it was excellent for walking (there's always a bright side.) I picked up this little shell, which was (obviously) no longer occupied, but there were hundreds and thousands of occupied ones along the tide line.

The water would roll  back, and they'd start digging themselves back into the sand. It's pretty wild to watch.

Just beautiful.

And warm. I was so hot when I got home (dripping sweat) that I took a dip in the pool, which felt marvelous.

After lunch, it was time to go visit the kittens! And someone was ready for the attention.

While someone else was out like a light.

There are seven babies in this one enclosure, and although they're quite tiny (foot for scale), they're close to being old enough to go home. Quite a few of them are pre-adopted, which is great!

While I was holding another kitten, this one decided that it was really his turn again, and climbed up the wiring behind my chair onto my shoulder to state his case.

Meanwhile, in the bed under the chair, a group nap was starting.

So I went to the other room to spend time with Peter. Remember him from a few weeks ago? He's doing so much better! Came right over to meet me, mewing for attention, and demanding pets and head rubs. He didn't quite want to be picked up, but I was very pleased with how much less shy he was.

"Certainly, I am handsome."

"What are those nuts next door doing?"

So that's been my pleasant Sunday so far. It beats the hell out of last Sunday, when I got a terrible migraine and was throwing up ... but it wouldn't take much to be better than that.

Books!

I've been reading a bunch of really different, really good books lately; shall we discuss?

First up is Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep. It's a fantasy, written for adults (as opposed to young adults) but possibly young-adult-appropriate, though certainly not without violence, and features a main character who is strong (and funny) without being too perfect.

I may have seen a review of it, but the first thing I remember coming across was a column about how it was much better than its cover, and that caught my attention. Either at that point, or sometime shortly thereafter (I bought it a few weeks later, anyway), I looked into it further, and found an excerpt on the author's website (at the bottom of the page here), which promptly hooked me.

I like the writing, the characters, and when I got the full book, the pace pulled me through so fast that I'm quite sure I missed some details in my rush to Find Out What Happened. I have to read it again.

(It's the first in a planned trilogy, and when I praised it on Twitter, the author replied to tell me the second one comes out in July--isn't modern life funny?)

Another race-through-it read was Tear Me Apart by JT Ellison, a thriller that was twisty and had a lot of improbable to it, but was still very enjoyable. I'm not sure I would enjoy reading a lot of hers, since the frequent perspective changes might get old, but it was certainly nice for once. Good library book.

Fantasy author Martha Wells wrote a four-novella sci-fi series called the Murderbot Diaries, and the final one, Exit Strategy, came out in October. I loved them all, both in book and in audio, and am delighted that she is writing a full-length book in the setting as well. I can go on and on about this if anyone is interested.

Switching to hockey now; if you're a sports fan, you may have heard about a new thing called The Athletic, which is a subscription-based program that has been gathering a lot of good sports writers (not just for hockey, though of course that's what's on my radar). I first noticed them when they hired Fluto Shinzawa away from the Boston Globe, and I kept seeing more writers who were going to work for them, so this summer, when I ran across a half-off deal, I decided to try it out.

I've been enjoying it since; they go really in depth into the NHL coverage, from a variety of perspectives, they can really delve, and it's nice that I can customize it to my interests (1: the Bruins; 2: hockey generally). One of my favorite writers so far has been a guy who goes by Down Goes Brown (actual name Sean McIndoe). He's both knowledgeable and very funny, which gets me right where I live, of course. When I learned he had written this book, I knew I would have to get it.

This was before I had even finished it, and look at all the flags on funny bits. Definitely recommend for the hockey fan; you'll learn a lot, and enjoy it all the way.

Next up is a middle-grade novel (what we called an 8-to-12 when I worked in bookstores, meaning the general age guideline) called The Collectors, by Jacqueline West. I think the first I heard of it was the PW review, and I decided to give it a try. It's a quick read (at least at my age), and I quite enjoyed it. Over halfway through, I paused to tell my mother that, unusually, I couldn't tell which side was the good guys and which the bad, since they were both making convincing arguments for their side, and without giving anything away, I will say that I appreciated the way that went by the end.

Up next is Kate Atherley's latest, which I was pleased to see got a starred review in PW:

She's the one who taught the War and Peace socks class I took in 2014, and I look forward to digging into this one.

What are you reading?

Zzzzz

It wasn't until someone at knitting last night mentioned how hard she as finding the time change this week that I put it together with how badly my sleep has been disrupted this week.

Part of it is that I had a terrible migraine on Sunday, so the whole falling-back thing didn't make much of an impression over the pain and vomiting. Then, my doctor has prescribed a sleeping pill that she says is better for me than taking Unisom, but I am definitely feeling slow to adjust to it, so even before this week, I was having nights when I'd be awake for an hour or more, meaning that waking up ultra-early this week could have been more of that.

But more likely it's both, so hopefully things will settle down a bit soon. Meanwhile, early to bed for me!

A Quick Pop In

In my new normal schedule, on Wednesday nights I am extra-tired from having two aqua fit classes in under 24 hours, but I wanted to pop in and say that I'm here, things are as mostly fine as one might hope, and I'm making a list of things to blog about, including:

• books I've been reading (hint: some good ones!)
• how the knitting is going (hint: pretty well)
• the latest WTF from the office of one of my doctors, now on the list as a former doctor

Anything else you want to know? Questions, suggestions?

Three of Four

I placed a book order today that covered two parts of my blog name, and since a third part is reading, well, 75% checked off is not bad.

My guess would be that these two are not frequently ordered together, but I'm looking forward to both!

Splash, Splash

The Y changed up the pool class schedule in October, something that didn't fully impact me until this week (I never went last week, due to going to the doctor's office and having zero energy from the cold; the week before, I went to one class). Yesterday, I went to the formerly-9am-now-2pm aqua fit class, which was fine. But the formerly-9am-Thursday class is now at 8am on Wednesday, while the now-2pm-Thursday class is aqua jogging instead.

Did you follow that?

What it boils down to is that instead of going Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I'm going Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. I might try the aqua jogging some day, but in theory it doesn't appeal to me as much as the aqua fit. I'm going to ask around at class to see if anyone can tell me what the Saturday aqua Zumba class is like, but the description of it scared me off. Do I look like I want high intensity? I'm also going to ask around about a seasonal class they have starting in November, because I am cautiously intrigued by what Dragonboat Paddling might entail.

But for now, Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning it is. I was a bit nervous this morning, since part of the appeal to me is being out in the sunshine, and it has been getting cooler here in the mornings--no, not cold, I'm not trying to say that, but I have switched back to hot coffee, and need pj pants and a robe to sit on the lanai, so I wasn't sure how getting in the water would go.

The second hardest part was making myself take my sweats off to get in the pool. Being in the water wasn't too bad; I don't think they're heating it yet, but it wasn't colder than the air was, anyway. The hardest part was getting out again, since with the wet skin and swimsuit, the air felt even colder despite the sun having come up during the class. Not pleasant, but it didn't reach the "I am never doing this again" level, so for now, we persevere.

It's a bit odd to get my two classes a week out of the way in under 24 hours. My pool shoes from yesterday hadn't even dried off in time for time, but fortunately, I have a second pair. And now, I'm off the hook until Tuesday, which I am okay with.

What's Really Important Here

So, yeah, I could complain about still being congested, or about how badly I slept last night for no discernible reason, but let's get to the fun stuff: new cat plans.

Last Friday night, the cat shelter where I've been going kitten-socializing had an event for the volunteers, and I made sure to speak with Jim, who is one of the founders and very involved. He was very supportive of my quest, in terms of knowing what I want:

• an adult: no kitten hijinks!
• a single cat who is okay being an only cat, or possibly a bonded pair, like siblings, who already get along
• a laid-back, relaxed, friendly cat; I know I can't replicate Carlos, but I want those features--don't give me a cat who won't be picked up, and never wants to snuggle

Jim said that he would be glad to go with me to the Humane Society and talk to the people there, who he knows well, to make sure that I get what I'm looking for. I really appreciated that he wants to make the right match for both sides; of course that's how a good adoption process should go.

He said that going on a Sunday would be fine with him, and we laid the framework: I couldn't do last Sunday (theater with Mum), nor next Sunday (day before colonoscopy, ugh), and he said he thought the following weekend he had company in town, but I'll touch base with him in a few weeks and we'll figure out the day. Maybe by Thanksgiving, I'll have a furry friend to be thankful for!

Still Flat

I'm sure it's totally normal to still be this tired, three weeks after getting a cold, right?

Yeah...

So I have plenty of things I could be writing about, and virtually no energy to do so. I will show you these instead, in the nature of a pre-announcement.

Meaning, I don't have a new cat yet, but I'm getting ready to get one.

Oh, Wow, Look at the Moon*

(Considering all I had to say about my dentist experience yesterday, I found it hilarious that I received an email from them today inviting me to "provide feedback" on the visit. Oh, yes, let me do that.)

I have a couple of crappy photos to share, which illustrate just how little I understand the movement of the moon in the sky.

This is Wednesday morning.

It's dark when I take my coffee and the paper out on the lanai these days, but I noticed an unusual glow to my right, and when I stood up, I could see the moon next to the building.

Now this is Thursday. Do you see how in the Wednesday photo, there are two parallel lights just above and to the left of the moon, and in the photo below, they are lower than the moon?

Roughly the same time, and the moon was much higher. Huh.

Yesterday's Boynton calendar cartoon was pretty apt.

~~~~~
*Recognize the quote? The title comes from the classic 1979 Doonesbury strip with Rick and Duane.

Whining and Moaning

I went to the dentist this morning, which was unpleasant in all the usual ways. Let me enumerate.

Filling out all the damned forms. I have had too many appointments lately, and I am OVER the forms.

X-rays. I'm never good with those (sensitive gag reflex), but I had to stop him after a while because the roof of my mouth was really bothered by the pressure of the thing you have to bite down on. Probably it's extra-sensitive because of the cold, coughing, etc., but, you know, ow. Let's leave some for next time, since you said that was an option.

(Side note: I went to the doctor's office yesterday and saw the PA, to see if this really is just a cold or is something else. Apparently it's just a cold, or at least it isn't the flu or a sinus infection, but it turns out that I have some fluid in my ears and an infection there, so, hello antibiotics. Please let them help somehow.) (Back to the dentist.)

The scraping of the cleaning part. My gums bleed a bit, as they always do, and since I was honest that I don't floss daily (since I figured that they would be able to tell, so why lie), I got an ongoing commentary about how my gums wouldn't be "inflamed" and they wouldn't bleed "when I touch them" if I flossed--as though by touch, he meant with a gentle finger, instead of reality, which was jabbing the gums with a pointy metal tool. Does anyone not bleed at all when they have that done?

Also, whatever happened to the days when they handed you a cup of water and had you rinse and spit? He sprayed inside my mouth with water and then suctioned the liquid out, over and over, until I felt like I had been pressure-washed internally.

And then he mentioned that if I wasn't going to floss, I might think about getting a water pik, which isn't as good as flossing, but is better than nothing, and you know, I feel as though the water pik would also leave me feeling pressure-washed. It looks messy and unpleasant, is what I'm saying, though it's not like I've tried it. Anyone here use one? Thoughts?

The dentist came in and looked things over, and showed me where I have one filling that needs to be re-filled, and then there are two others that are starting to go, and are so large that instead of being re-filled, they have to be crowned. Oh, great.

(I was looking back in the blog to see if I can find when I had other crowns done, and ran across this, if you will forgive me quoting myself:

At one point, when I had flinched a little, the hygienist said, "What's wrong?" and I wanted to say, "Oh, did you not realize that you're poking my gums with a sharp metal stick?"

So at least I'm consistent.)

From there, I had to talk to the office manager about costs and my insurance and so on, so they took me to a small room for that, and oh my GOD it was like walking into a refrigerator. The rest of the office wasn't warm, but I had been okay, wearing a t-shirt and capris and sandals. This room was frigid.

I waited there a few minutes until she could come in, and when she said, "Let me turn my computer on," I wanted to walk out. But I waited while the computer woke up (and she took a couple of phone calls), and while she poked at it and muttered to herself and made notes, and finally she told me that my portion of the bill for this unpleasantness would only be $1,500. Great. And she was going to give it to me in writing but the computer was acting up, so she said she would go to her computer and I could go to the waiting room, which wasn't quite as cold, since she could tell that I was verging on hypothermia.

And it was better out there, but then they were having computer problems and she couldn't get in, and the receipt printer didn't want to print, and eventually she said that she would email the paperwork to me*, and I could go.
*By 5 today, she said, and guess what? Nothing so far.

And when I got outside, it was so nice and warm! And I got into my car, which had been sitting in the sun for those totally unpleasant two hours, and honestly almost cried at how good it felt.

Then I drove around the block to Starbucks and got a large hot drink. And I went through the drive-through, which I almost never do, because I couldn't stand to get out of the car.

Once home again, I put on long leggings, and slippers, and drank the nice warm latte, and made a note on my calendar to wear warm clothing when I go back for this nonsense.

Animal Scale: Taking Ideas

I've been describing my energy level with this cold as snail (or slug), down from my usual energy level, which is sloth. So today, I put together a little chart.

But that's just the beginning. What other creatures belong on the chart, and where would they fall? Like, is a cheetah faster than a hummingbird, not literally, but in the impression it gives? Talk to me!

Kittening!

Well, slowly getting better, slowly, slowly. The last bit of congestion lingers, giving me a runny nose and tickling cough, and wow, is the gravity turned up high in here or is it just me, but I feel slightly better than I did yesterday, so perhaps I'll be all right.

I did summon the energy to go kitten-visiting today, which was very therapeutic. This little handful purred and purred.

And her brothers were friendly, too.

Paws up!

They're about four weeks old, and were rescued from a drainage ditch. Two of them are pre-adopted already, though, so that's the good news!

There's another litter of littles next to them. My mother pointed out that this one looks kind wolf-like, or maybe fox-faced.

You'd never guess that there were three kittens on top of the cat bed and one underneath until you looked closely.

Halp?

Watching me.

Yes, I know you're there.

That's Bailey, and this is Peter:

They're in a cage together, though not related, and Peter, who was veryvery shy to start, is coming out of his shell. They both love the fishing pole toy, and I sat in the cage and dangled it around for over a half hour (the kittens in the next cage over watching attentively), while they leapt and pounced and had a wonderful time. I imagine they were asleep shortly after I left.

Baby Steps. Baby Hobbles

The cold is slightly improved today, although this afternoon saw an uptick in "mild tickle of a cough that won't stop, ever," so that was annoying.

Meanwhile, I went to the doctor this morning to have a thing on the sole of my foot treated, so I have been hobbling around all damned day, trying not to aggravate it, and wow, am I ever tired of doing this. My foot, ankle, leg, and other leg are also tired of it. Getting in bed will feel mighty good, even more so than usual.

Though I am going to try to stay up long enough to watch at least a few minutes of the Bruins game. Which doesn't start until 9:30. Stupid road trip.

In summary: No big problems. Plenty of little ones. AKA, life, if you're lucky.

Slight Improvement

I wouldn't say I feel that much better, but I was able to go to aqua fit today, and it didn't kill me, so I guess that's progress. It was nice to spend some time in the sun!

Sick and Tired

I've probably written something along these lines every time I've been sick in the last few years, but it seems as though, whenever I get your basic cold at this stage in my life, it's less the regular cold symptoms that lay me flat than the all-encompassing exhaustion that comes with them. It's like:

• wearing a lead overcoat, 
• dragging a parachute behind me at every move, 
• too tired to keep sitting up, 
• who turned the gravity up so high?

 ... pick your description.

So that's where I still am now, entering Week Two. Still slightly congested, a little more prone to a cough than usual, but mostly just DRAGGING.

And how are things with you? Better, I hope!

Briefly

If you are currently not sick, then I would like to draw your attention to two things:

• How you are not aware of the energy required to remain upright
• How the inside of your rib cage does not feel bruised.

That is all for now.

Home

I'm back!

I had a good time, and brought home fudge, some pretty yarn, and a cold.

So, more details will have to wait.

Choppy Waters

Just by chance, before aqua fit started this morning, I heard the instructor talking to another student about how the times for the classes are changing shortly, which caught me by surprise. I mean, way to randomly and incompletely communicate, YMCA. (She didn't mention it to the whole class, either, which I was expecting her to do.) I looked at the schedule when I got home, and it's changing next week; if I hadn't happened to be where I was, I would have shown up for a class next Thursday and it wouldn't have been happening when I expected it. Surprise! (I went to their website tonight and signed up for the newsletter, in the hopes that it will communicate this sort of thing going forward. I checked their Twitter first, but they don't use it for anything like that.)

And yeah, next Thursday: I'm headed north to Apple Festival tomorrow, and though I come back on Monday, I had already given myself permission not to go to class on Tuesday, which will not only be day-after-already-sore-from-travel day, but also is my birthday. You're excused!

So, the classes I have been going to are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9; on MWF, they have aqua jogging instead, which I am not that interested in. Now the TTh classes will be at 2, and also the Wednesday class, which will be at 8 instead of 9 now, will be aqua fit too. Once I got over the shock of change (I just don't handle change well, and less so as I get older), I realized that this isn't a disaster; leaving work for two hours during the day is not actually more disruptive than starting the day 2.5 hours later than usual, and though I don't plan to up my attendance to three classes a week, having the earlier option on Wednesday, for weeks when I have a conflict another day, is a good thing. Though I won't be going to a Wednesday class for a while; next week is the next Newcomer's lunch, so that's enough work-schedule-tweaking for one day; the following week I have a doctor's appointment; and the week after that, it's the dentist.

It's just, you know, so much change this year, and I was just getting into this new routine, and bam, more change. Let me make, and keep, some routines, please.

A Kitten Extra

I know that I put up lots of kitten photos yesterday, but today I have a shorter kitten photo-essay, titled, "Let Me Grab Your Camera."