I do not recall having a memory problem.

I want to stick these silly things in my journal before I forget them. They are too good to lose!

The reason we were in AZ in the hottest time of the year was so Late and Son could do what they needed to do for Son to start college. I had to drop them off in downtown Tucson two days in a row and entertain myself for many, many hours.

The first day I sort of hung around campus. Eventually I got a phone call from my gynecologist's nurse. My answers got to the point where I had to clearly state that I was in a public place and had to be careful on my answers. Mostly, it had to do with my estrogen levels and my testosterone cream. Even so, it was a bit embarrassing. Then I realized I was probably paying by the hour to park so I went in search of directions to the mall. Hey, it was 110 degrees. Where else was I going to go?

Late assumed I needed directions only to the mall when we discussed it later. I had to clarify that I needed very specific directions as to how to get off the campus, also.

Keep in mind, I-10 has most of the exits closed in Tucson. The second night I missed the last open exit and had to frantically call and get directions in the dark to backtrack. Scary stuff, for me!

The second day I decided to go hiking in the morning before it got "hot." I hit the Catalina State Park around 9 am. I had a nice talk with the ranger at the park regarding what I needed to worry about. I felt I had enough water, but he said once I got past the "wilderness" sign, if I got injured, my only hope for rescue was by helicopter. Since there were few cars in the lot, I was concerned. If I lost my balance and got hurt, who would know? I had a mirror, but in the sunlight, who would have any idea there was a hiker in distress?

By that time, I was out of the car and thinking I needed to pee first. I hit the outhouse in the park first, rather than find a nice rock later on. I am a setter, not a squatter. That particular place had nothing to set on, so I proceeded to squat uncomfortably. Sure enough, I peed all over the back of my shorts before I realized it. Luckily, I was in the desert so I was dry in ten minutes.

I stopped by some picnic benches to put my backpack on. I noticed "things" by my feet, and it wasn't too long until the term "fire ants" hit my brain and I hurried up. Red things. Nope, don't want to try to make friends with those little buggers.

I started up the trail on my own. By that time, it was over 100 degrees and the sun was harsh. I put on my hat, and headed up. After only a few miles, I realized I hadn't seen another living human and I was a bit, well, dizzy. Off balance. It seemed a bad decision, so I headed back down.

I was ashamed of myself for letting heat get to me, but proud that I was being sensible. I enjoyed the hike, but not nearly enough of it.

I tried not think about having peed on my pants. I really lack the squatting skill.

I went and walked around a nearby store. I was still sweating and still thirsty, so I figured all would be well within a few minutes, and it was.

More stories to come later - it's 5 am and I need a shower! Molly is getting her last shot at 8 am from ST. After this, I need to find a new "vet tech" to help me for her monthly shots. He is moving out of town in a few weeks.

I am very sad.

 

 

suzypwr at 5:03:45 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 6 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Pearl:

If you meet a nice, sweet, sexy, brilliant man who tells you he will eventually move to another state due to his career, well, then, believe him.

Try not to fall in love in the interim.

 

 

suzypwr at 3:30:37 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 5 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Today was my lucky day to see the neurologist. I got to him via the ENT and the ear specialist. Once we knew it wasn't an ear problem that makes me feel like I am sitting in a rowboat in a storm all the time, I was told to go posthaste to see the neurologist.

I was not looking forward to this appointment. There was nothing he could say that would make me feel better. True to form, he didn't. He said I have ADEM, or acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. This makes me off center balance-wise, causes me to have a crappy, inconsistent memory, and all kinds of lovely other effects. It seems that after I had that pneumonia vaccine, something happened that triggered my immune system, which woke up long enough to attack my brain. How rude is that? What did my brain ever do to my immune system? Maybe since I never get sick my immune system decided it might as well find something to do. Luckily, it's usuall monophasic, meaning I should not ever go through that again. Unluckily, the changes in my brain are probably permanent.

At least there is an explanation for my personality changes, my sudden inability to maintain proper records and files, my loss of memory, my reaching for words I just knew an hour ago. I took notes while he explained things to me since I knew I would not remember.

My sleep issues of course excited him. I tried to dissuade him from delving there, but he wants me to have a sleep study (again). Again, I am being accused of having narcolepsy. I disagree, but I am not a neurologist. I need to find a dog sitter for an overnight - I will actually be gone about 24 hours. I have to do the nap-thing the following day. I think they expect me to nap for them. Right. That won't happen unless either a) they give me napping drugs or b) I am in the middle of some serious chronic fatigue. If I get upset worrying about the sleep study, I can probably satisfy them via option "b." At least this time the rules are I try to go to sleep when I am ready to. The other place made me try to sleep at 9 pm. That is just a joke - I normally lie down closer to 1 am. But, this one will also get me up at 6 am. Yuck.

He mentioned a few new medications. I balked, and he sent me home with some brochures on the drugs. I will read them. If there is some obscure little side effect that one person got and it's hideous, I will get a second hideous little side effect that no one else has had yet.

Off topic, on my way home I drove by a telephone pole or whatever they are called now and one of the little round gray things hanging on it was smoking. I don't know what the thing is called - the word "transformer" came to mind, but it's probably wrong. I see these things all the time, but never saw one exhale before. It's half a mile from my house, unlike the neurologist, who is a mile away. I decided to call someone regarding the smoke.

First, I thought, call the police. Then I decided no, fire station. Then I wished I had the phone number on me so I didn't have to remember to look it up, etc - eventually it hit me that the correct number is "911" and I called it in, sounding very ignorant since I didn't know what the thing is called. If they go look for it, they will find it. It's the only telephone pole in the area with smoke coming out of it and lots and lots of wires nearby. It's over 90 degrees and very humid outside, but I hope someone goes to look at it anyway.

I need to go read up on these potential medications. One is for improving memory and one is for sleep, but isn't a sleeping pill. I know nothing about either one, but I will in 15 minutes.

More to follow later regarding my trip out west. This was just an annoying medical bulletin so I can come back to it later and say Oh wow, I forgot all about that!

 

 

suzypwr at 3:28:43 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 9 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Everyone else goes on trips and comes home and describes all the fun things they did. I didn't go any place new except the caverns, and I will instead write about the Other Things, the things people also have happen to them but try to pretend they didn't. I will start with the ending, from when I got home, and work back. I find these things amusing, and they do not ruin my travel experiences. They just make them more unique.

Even some of the worst housekeepers still have some little thing that they are retentive about. I never had a stainless kitchen sink before, and I can't stand seeing water drops on it. I keep my sink clean enough to, uhm, eat off of. I constantly wipe it, and never allow water drops on it, or on my faucet. Ever.

I don't like a dirty bathroom, either. What with two dogs and my own (odd looking) hair, that means daily sweeping to get the hairs off the bathroom floors. The mirrors get wiped daily to avoid looking at spots on them. My bedding is washed religiously at least once a week, and the spread sometimes several times. Vacuuming is done generally more than once a week. Dishes are not allowed to pile up. Laundry is never more than one load behind. Ever. Even after my shoulder surgery, I carried items one at a time to the washer if necessary.

I was gone ten days. My home was inhabited by three nieces, one not even quite to her teens yet. The amount of neices here varied daily. Sometimes one, sometimes all three, sometimes maybe more. All of them live in very nice, neat, homes. Obviously, the cleaning is done by their parents at home, and while they all love dogs, none have any at home.

If anyone has a secret recipe for getting dog poop out of white grout on a bathroom floor, please share. Otherwise I have to go get grout cleaner and sealer. I hope to replace these tiles fairly soon as I hate them, but just knowing I have tried to clean those stains with a toothbrush and several chemicals isn't adequate. I know the floor is clean, but the stains are not sitting well with me. The dogs have lived in this condo almost two years and have never once gone in the front guest bathroom. All three rugs were stained. I am still working on the rugs. Diarrhea.

My living room carpeting had three red stains on it. I was told they were from Baby having thrown up. Dogs don't throw up that kind of red stain. Yes, it was Baby who got sick. My 7-year-old beagle who never gets sick, got sick. About 2-3 days into my trip, I got a call, "Aunt Susan, Baby is throwing up and won't eat." I was in the car, luckily riding instead of driving, and I had to give the niece explicit directions on how to cook and prepare plain chicken and brown rice only for Baby. The refusal to eat worried me almost enough for me to leave and go home, but by that night Baby was eating again, and the limited diet did the trick. Did she have diarrhea, I asked? Oh, no, I was told. I was told neither did the whole time. If Molly has diarrhea, her medication is not being given correctly and could lead to her death. Baby never gets diarrhea. She is like a machine - healthy as an ox, no health issues. Molly, the 9-year-old beagle, is the fragile one. Just don't tell her that during her nightly 2-mile walks.

The nieces were advised to curtail long walks due to Baby's problem. I also didn't want them walking Molly during the sunny part of the day. The nieces love my beagles, so I don't really worry about their care of the dogs, unless they love them to death.

So, red stains on carpeting, poop in the bathroom on the floor and the three throw rugs. I wandered into the kitchen (remember, I had been up about 30-35 hours by this time). The sink had obviously not been washed or wiped in ten days. The dishwasher was full. The dishwasher had been run, but not emptied. The rest of the dishes from 10 days were in the sink (I don't put dishes in the sink), on the counter, and elsewhere in the kitchen. My blender base was on one counter, and the glass part on another. I asked where the niece found the blender, since I hadn't used it but once or twice since I got it and didn't even know where I kept it. She couldn't remember. I realized a few days later that the connecting piece is missing, and so far, I haven't found it.

The top sheet off the bed was on the sofa for the dogs. A very old single bed sheet was on the bed. When I removed that, I realized one niece had encountered her time of the month while I was gone. So did my sheet and mattress pad, and no attempt had been made to wash it out, as far as I could see. I am still working on that, too. I am very grateful to my friend Cindy for teaching me about waterproof mattress pads several years ago. Thanks to having dogs, I use nothing else. I would have gone ballistic to find blood stains on my new, expensive mattress set.

Usually I come home to find all my towels in a soggy, wet, mildewy pile on my laundry room floor. I will happily toss them in the washer and listen to the pleasant swishing sounds. Not this time. Well, there was a pile, but smaller than usual. I checked the linen closet. They had actually done a load of laundry! Towels were oddly folded in strange piles and put into the closet. Even a kitchen towel was in there. Nice attempt! I refolded the towels, moved them around, and dragged the kitchen towel to the kitchen.

There is something on one of my windows, but I am not sure what it is. It's not water, or it would have evaporated by now. Oil? Jello? I am not sure what it is, or how it got there. It's a large area on the window, and will remain one of those mysteries of life until I get around to washing windows. I hope this happens soon.

The nieces happily gave the dogs a shower in my bathroom. I am not sure why, although Molly does have something stuck on her fur. My guess is syrup, but I could be wrong. The shower was not cleaned once, nor the floors swept or vacuumed any where in here, for ten days. Does anyone wonder what an opaque mirror looks like? I had no idea the shine on a sink could be entirely obliterated. I have two mats on my shower floor. They were some very interesting colors, and I had no idea that much dog hair could harbor underneath them. They went in the washing machine too, after I did the towels and sheets.

My two new All-Clad pans that I have carefully bought on sale because they will last me forever? All-Scratched pans. Next time I will ask them to use only non-metal on the pans. If they can make that one little change, I will be happy. I had meant to hide those two pans in my car when I left, but I just forgot. One of them did pull out all my pots and pans and lids and put them in neat piles, so I guess that was a reasonable trade off. I wonder what prompted that? I hope nothing fell on any toes.

I just quietly sighed, and thanked the girls for taking good care of my dogs. That is what counts, right? I can clean and repair everything else. I know they weren't drinking, partying, taking drugs or having unreliable boys over. The nieces are good kids, and love my dogs. They just don't know how to clean, or perhaps considered themselves on vacation too. I get frustrated, but I am OK with it.

Meanwhile, I was rushing into the (dirty) shower as ST was expected within the hour, and the nieces were enjoying my high speed cable access, wirelessly. I had had to show them how to use it, which surprised me. They had to use their own laptop. Ruining my laptop would have made me cry.

Luckily, they decided to pack up and move on back home before ST showed up. I was exhausted. I took him on a tour of my home, saying, "Just in case you think I never do anything around here...." His good manners did not allow him to comment on the shower.

The toilet. I guess one of the nieces had some sort of explosive issue. At least twice, since I have two bathrooms. I cleaned that up, and tried not to think about what she might have eaten to cause that sort of disturbance. ST didn't have to deal with that surprise. At least it missed the walls.

After he left, I crashed and slept hard for two hours. In the middle of the day! Me! I needed it. The next day I got up at 8 am, took care of the dogs, curled up on the sofa with them, and slept until noon. The day after that, same thing. I napped until the child called me at 11:30 am. We went out and had fun for a few hours.

No, I didn't take any pictures of my home. I just did the tour to see what needed to be fixed and agreed again to fix the dress the one niece tried to make. She obviously never sewed before. It will take me hours just to remove her stitching. She must have used heavy thread and a backstitch set too tightly on the machine, but I think I can fix it. I had needed her to try it on before I was willing to redo it. The pattern was not her size, either, but I think I can work with it.

I will try not to dribble any Red Pop on the fabric.

 

 

suzypwr at 12:33:06 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 12 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I came back from AZ on Tuesday. It was a red-eye flight that was to leave there at 10:30 pm. However, seeing as how Murphy was an optimist, I was prepared to camp out as long as necessary. I knew we would leave late because for the first time I convinced Late that we should be at the airport at least two minutes before our flight was due to take off.

A woman on our plane on the flight to AZ decided the rules do not apply to her. She went in the tiny little airplane bathroom before takeoff and had a cigarette. Then, in the air, she had a second. There was a delay in deplaning so the police could politely escort her smoked ass off the plane and take her to new accommodations. Eventually, they shuffled us on, about an hour late, and we sat a long time. The woman next to me was chewing gum with her mouth open for the entire time, and just as I was reaching for either my iPod to drown her out or the cord for it to wrap around her neck, they decided to explain the problem to us.

A fuse was not working properly. A mechanic was needed to "sign off." Personally, I would rather have the fuse working as intended. Mechanics are required to be available 24/7, but "ours" decided to go home and was not responding to calls. We were eventually deplaned and told we would be put on another plane. That took another two hours or so.

Once we got on the second plane, and all settled in, I considered removing the gum from my seatmate's mouth. I didn't want to be escorted off and have her fly home, so I was reaching for my iPod again, when we were told that we were delayed due to, I think, missing fire extinguishers, and the mechanic needed to....

We eventually flew out four hours late. I don't mind late flights as much on the way home as I do on the way out, but it's painful for most people on a red-eye flight. Me, I don't much care where I don't sleep.

Just before take off, my cell phone rang (just as I was reaching to turn it off!) and Late said she had a spare seat next to her in the front exit row - did I want to move up? I did, yes, and after we were in the air a flight attendant approved the move. I was then sitting between Late and a Very Large Man who told me he was going to snore, and I should whack him if he gets too loud. I happily opened my book, clipped on the reading light, and read quietly all the way home, between two snoring people. To me, that is almost as good as listening to my favorite CD. Peaceful. So the guy snorted loudly a few times - he didn't mind my giggles.

Arizona itself was a good trip. It was hot, of course, running 105-111 daily. A dry heat, though, you are thinking. Well, dry is relative. It was dry to us, compared to the humidity we are used to. However, it is the rainy season there, and we had storms every day. It always rains when I go - they should send me a ticket whenever it gets too dry. This time we had an added attraction - sand storms. I hadn't run into this before. Late at night, I was driving us home from Bisbee (somewhere down not too far from Tombstone, I think?) and we had storms off and on all the way, about 100 miles or so. Thunderstorms don't bother me much. As we got closer, where there is still construction and some bare dirt, I would have a block of heavy rain, then no rain and heavy sand. Then heavy rain, then no rain and heavy sand. I was looking out for locusts, but only saw some harmless looking crickets. I couldn't remember the word for the events I was thinking of - is it the Scourges? Pestilence and all those nasty things?

We went every place. We went to a cavern that had 99% humidity at 71 degrees. Felt like home :-). We walked around Bisbee some, went to the Desert Museum. Now that was an interesting visit. I have been there maybe 5 times now, and I just love the place. However, the desert walk section was closed due to "a problem." Of course, I had to ask more questions. I had heard about a javalina biting someone, but now I know more.

It seems there was this wild javalina who tried to join the tame herd at the museum to look for a date. He was all nasty and stinky, and the females at the museum are regularly groomed by the vet. The wild guy was not accepted by the ladies. He became a bit irate about his rejection and ended up biting a human male. Jealous, perhaps? So far, the museum people had not been able to trap the wild guy and release him to another area where maybe he can find himself some nice wild gal to hook up with.

I rarely took my camera with me because it was too hot to leave it in the car and I am too lazy to drag it around all the time when we were some place I didn't need it. I did get a few pictures when we went to Mt Lemon and also when I went alone to Catalina Park. Late and Son spent two days at UofA for orientation for Son, leaving me to entertain myself. No problem, I am easily entertained.

What I came home to will have to be another entry. Let's just say for now I had multiple teenaged nieces in my home for ten days and a sick dog here with them, and no maid was in sight.

Sabino Canyon

Also Sabino Canyon

Catalina State Park

I think this was from our start up towards Mt Lemon, but storms sent us back down.

 

 

 

suzypwr at 12:27:31 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 14 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Do not try to describe a new haircut to a hairstylist to try the day before you leave for a trip out of town.

Just trust me on this one.

If you do try a new haircut, don't let her spray hairspray on it and then get you hair so sweaty it has to be dried with the hairdryer.

You will end up with butch hair and no time to have her fix the cut.

Not that I would know anything about a situation like this.

It's even worse for an asymmetrical cut.

I have no more to add on this topic, since it's theoretical.

 

 

suzypwr at 3:06:38 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 10 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Way back when my journal was just in its infancy I wrote an entry about a visit I once made to my doctor's off-hours clinic. I had thought I had an ear infection, and the nurse misunderstood me. I didn't understand why she asked me if it burned, and she didn't understand why I said loud noises were painful. We came to a meeting of the minds when she handed me a plastic cup. I then announced, "NO! Not a urine infection! An ear infection!"

This time I have been consistently saying my ear doesn't bother me, although the doctors have been telling me it does and is the cause of my vertigo. It doesn't feel like it's my ear, it feels more like the center of my head. But I figured the inner ear isn't that far from the center, so I must be off a few centimeters. Still, no pain or discomfort in my ear, although the vertigo can knock me almost off my feet at times. I cannot stand still - I weave like a happy drunk sometimes. I make other people dizzy who are trying to converse with me and keep eye contact.

So, today I went and had all the lovely, time-consuming tests for my ears. I had cool and warm air blown into each ear twice, and each time caused intense dizziness. I had been warned by others who have had this done that I might lose a meal. Or two. ST suggested I have grape juice and avacado after I mentioned that I might want to go for an interesting splatter pattern. Lucky for all involved, I didn't get very nauseated. I was glad for that, since I forgot to pack a second set of clothes, just in case.

I was made to wear a high tech head piece during the air tests, and also during another test while I tracked a light on a light bar. I wasn't too far into the tests when I realized that as annoying as they were, both ears felt about the same. Uh oh, I was thinking, what does this mean? Am I off in my thoughts or are they both having issues, or neither?

I was wired up to electrodes onto my face, neck, hand, and throat. Some test was done that way to see something that happens on my neck muscles that relates to the inner ear. After that, I had another hearing test. Then the doctor evaluated me, at least 3 hours after the first test began.

There is nothing wrong with my ears besides some asymmetrical hearing loss. I have lost hearing in my right ear, as I already knew. My dizziness is not caused by my ears. Is that a relief or not, I wondered? He again stated that he feels my symptoms are consistent with encephalitis. I must see a neurologist. I asked if he could send me to one closer to my home, since it took me an hour to get to his testing site today. He said I could see someone else, but that if I don't see someone who is very investigative, I am going to have 15 tests and nothing will be found.

His words - "What you have is not common. I deal with dizzy people all over the midwest. You don't have an ear problem. This is something for a neurologist, something in your brain."

I have had two MRIs in the last 2 years - one for the sleep study, and one for the ENT in the spring. Both say, surprisingly, that my brain is normal. I was just happy they confirmed I have one.

Meanwhile, I am leaving for a long trip and I am off balance for hiking over rocks and other uneven surfaces. Maybe that doesn't matter too much, since AZ is having some serious heat going on. I don't mind, but Late and Son might balk on occasion.

Maybe I should change my hair color so I can be a dizzy blonde. Who ever heard of a dizzy redhead?

Really, though, I don't feel dizzy. I feel like I am riding in a rowboat in a storm. All the time. Or sitting on a plane in rough weather. The intensity varies, but never ends.

 

suzypwr at 2:33:12 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 10 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

All I wanted to do was wash my car. It wasn't hard to tell if it really needed to be done or not. The last time it was washed was January when I had the oil changed. Easy stuff, car washing.

It should be easy enough. The beagles like to go where I go, so I tried to stick a stake in the ground to tie them for safety. No dice. No matter how hard I pushed, I don't weigh enough to push a stake through whatever is in the ground. I hope there are no videos of that attempt. So, no dogs. Next - hose. Last year I was not thinking when I bought my hose and it's kinkable. OK, so am I, but it's not a good thing in a hose. I had to unkink it and try the squirter thing on the end. Hose unkinked, squirter thing squirted all over me. Eventually, after much tugging, I was able to disconnect the squirter thing and toss it into the garbage. Back the car out of the garage. Just barely miss three bicyclist going down the road. Some day I will adjust to a shorter driveway.

Dogs are pushing each other away from the little window next to the front door and whining. I sigh, loudly, and go inside to put warm water into a bucket. On second thought, I add about 1/4 teaspoon dishwashing detergent to the water. Six months without being washed? I figured I needed a litle soap, although I normally use only warm water in the bucket and rinse with the hose. I also break from my own beliefs and use a brush to scrub the car. We pygmys cannot reach the top of the car, nor can we reach the entire hood of the car. I can work with it, but I decided I needed to do this fairly fast before my vertigo knocks me on my backside.

I turned on the hose, and started to back up to get it all neatly unkinked, and I hit the curb with my foot. I danced to keep from falling because I was way off balance - I didn't fall, but I did rip the strap out of my sandal. OK, I decided to wash the car barefoot; no big deal.

Just as I got re-started, my neighbor, the one who owns the little puppy, brought her over. It seems that the little one, Maddy, was not producing any poop. There is something about my lawn that encourages dogs to dump, so she brought Maddy over. Maddy proceeded to lick my bare toes, which were now wet. Then she licked my shins, and that really tickles! Meanwhile, I turned the water off and started washing the car. Maddy continued to not produce.

Another neighbor stopped by on his bicycle to critique my work. We were talking, enjoying the weather, waiting for Maddy to produce, and I finished the washing and decided to rinse. I had to turn on the hose again. I apparently had missed a kink, because suddenly the hose went flying and hit the neighbor, soaking his left flank quite thoroughly. His yelp caused Molly to start banging on the little thingie that keeps doors from whacking the walls. I call them bawoingees, but I don't know what the real word is. She was in the laundry room, banging away on it. Maddie continued to not produce, but she was having a great time. I have told her mom that she won't produce because as soon as she does, her mom takes her back inside the house. Neighbor on bike decides to go back to riding with the hopes that he dries off. I hope I don't get an email from his wife about that.

Just before I finish the car, the neighbor across the street wants to borrow a lawn tool. I found one, handed it to her, and she and her roommate proceeded to dig up their yard with it. I finished drying the car. Molly was still banging on the bawoingee. I walked with Maddy and her mom to the side of my yard and Maddy produced. Mom was all excited - a double load! *sigh*

I went back inside to put things away. The beagles started to carry on, so I had to drag them back outside. Maddy's mom is back, trying to get her older dog to produce :-). I dragged the beagles around for awhile, he got all excited watching that lovely female beagle bitch form walking, and he produced too. I dragged the beagles back in, changed out of my car washing clothes, and put on my dog walking clothes.

Yeah, it wasn't tiring enough to wash the car, I had to walk a few miles. We got partway around the complex and picked up another beagle and her owner, who walked the rest of the way with us. 

I hope it's less eventful when I clean the inside of the car.

 

 

suzypwr at 9:44:38 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 11 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Last night I put leftover angel hair pasta into a glass container with a lid that just sits on top. I prefer glass to plastic, when possible. I balanced it on top of a dog food container. Does anyone else have trouble organizing a refrigerator? I seem to always be putting things in layers on the shelves. It was late when I did the balancing act, and laughed at myself, saying I would probably open the door too fast in the morning and it would fall on my foot. I went to bed.

This morning I got up and opened the door to get out the dog food. No problem, no spills. I was proud of myself. Later on, I went back in the fridge for veggies. I have to make extra dog meals this week since I will be in AZ next week. The glass container fell out, landed hard against my ankle, and spilled all over the inside of the fridge and on the floor.

The decision as to when the fridge and the floor get cleaned is an easy one, this time. Molly and Baby did their best to help me out, of course, attempting to eat the pasta out of the fridge and off the floor. I just watched them while keeping my other eye on my ankle. I never really noticed bruises can sometimes present a green hue first. It's currently a pleasant shade of blue/purple, and swelling up to be sure I don't forget about it.

I have been wondering for a while how we know when it's time to do something. Cats will sit in a room, sleeping peacefully on the floor for six or eight hours without barely moving a whisker, when they will suddenly jump up, all alert, and skitter sideways at high speed to another location. There is rarely any obvious reason to us for this action. How do they know it's time?

Remember how your mom could be reading the newspaper and she would suddenly jump up and corral you to help her clean the linen closet? How did she know it was time to do it? Does some little timer go off in our brains?

When we are hungry, our tummies growl and complain. If we continue to ignore them, they get louder. When we are tired, our eyes droop. If we continue to ignore them, they close. But what calls us to the windows? The linen closets? The drawers?

Just how do we know it's time to clean the basement? Or the garage?

Some people are very regimented and actually do plan out things like, "On the first of every month at 6 pm I will clean the garage. Rain, snow, sleet. Doesn't matter." Most of us are a little more lax.

I am guilty of this too. I can be contentedly reading a great book, curled up with the dogs, having a nice glass of something wet and cold, but suddenly I will decide it's time to vacuum the carpets or I absolutely have to be sure the bathroom is presentable.

What motivates us to suddenly walk away from something else to do a mundane chore?

 

 

suzypwr at 1:19:05 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 11 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I keep telling myself to just put on my big girl panties and deal with these calls I have to make. They get more interesting as time goes on. After repeated calls to Fisher Paykel, they are sending someone out tomorrow to evaluate my washer _and_ my dryer. My warranty will cover it.

How did I make this miracle happen? Big girl panties. I gave up on help from Lowe's, no matter how nice the people were on the phone. When I called one of the two appliance repair places that Lowe's told me F-P recommended, I was told sure, they will come out - but I have to pay an $80 service call fee. We talked, and he suggested I call directly to F-P, which I did. What can be more entertaining than New Zealand accents? My former neighbor is from New Zealand. I never did understand a word he said, so I smiled and nodded a lot.

The first lady told me I had to lean over the washing machine and give her the serial number. I advised her that I am 5' tall, and there is no leaning over a washing machine to get a number off the back for me. I added that I currently have vertigo, so I am not leaning over anything. She asked if someone else could do it. I said I live alone (notice, I didn't really answer her question?). I gave up, said goodbye, and paced the floor. I would never problem solve anything if I could not pace. I usually mumble and talk to myself too, but I pretend I am talking to the dogs, who pace behind me and make mumbling noises. No videos, please. After a few rounds around the condo I headed into the bathroom and grabbed a mirror with a handle on it, some paper, and a pencil. I hung the mirror over the back of the washer, and found the sticker with the serial number. It was backwards and upside down. I copied down exactly what I saw, because I never developed the talents required to read backwards or upside down. I then held the results back up to the mirror, and viola! A serial number!

I called back to F-P, and of course got someone else who knew nothing. I gave her the name of the first lady and tossed in the case number, but she could not find anything. Unsurprised, I again repeated my usual song and dance as to how I found myself in this pickle. She started to repeat what the first lady said, telling meI might have to pay for a service call. I pulled up my big girl panties, got a firm voice, and said, no that just wasn't right. I bought F-P appliances because I was told they are excellent products and that the company backs them up.

She put me on hold.

She came back. "Yes, ma'am, we will cover the needed repairs to your washing machine. Please call back the appliance repair company as we have just called them and they know what to do." Do I accept that? Yes. But, I added that when the original guy was to bring back the part, I intended to have him also look at the dryer because I thought it sounded a little noisy. I said this because it's true. She said yes, ma'am, we will cover any repairs needed to your dryer, also.

The problem with the doctor bill seems to be under control. It's paid in full and not going to a collection agency. However, their records show two co-pays for $10 each, and the statement they sent me shows $10 for one co-pay and $10 service fee. Creative accounting? I asked for a copy of their records to compare to the statement they sent me. Big girl panties are now firmly in place.

The next decision was to head to the gym and work my ass off. Literally. As I was walking in the door to return home, my cell phone rang. It was the appliance repair company, confirming my appointment for Thursday. I said no, it's Friday, but if you can come Thursday in the afternoon, I am good with that. She said yes, that works. And ma'am? There is an $80 service call charge. I pinned my big girl panties to my bra (remember, I am short) and said, "No. F-P called your company." After some more confusion, I asked her what company she was calling from.

It seems that helpful Lowe's had called the other appliance repair company and took it upon themselves to schedule me for an appointment and assured them that I would pay the service call fee. I canceled the appointment, explaining to the lady that Lowe's made a mistake.

No call back from Phils's, the first company that was out and doesn't remember when they stopped servicing F-P appliances, other than it was after they were out here and before this week.

No call back from the carpet people. It has been two weeks, plus two years since I first called.

Here I am with my big girl panties, and I cannot even launder them until my washing machine is repaired.

 

Thanks, Deb, for the graphic :-)

 

 

 

 

 

suzypwr at 11:06:51 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 11 comments: Show Recent | Add your own