Tuesday June 9th 2026

Went to sleep by 12:30 last night, and slept one hour, got up and had a small peanut-butter and marshmallow sandwich, then went back to sleep. Woke up at around 6 AM, tried to sleep again, but ended up getting up for coffee and my AM meds. Now it is 7:30 AM, and I have started in on the second cup of coffee.

You know how it is said on the news that ticks are "bad" this year? It's true! When I walk Tinker I am sure to NOT brush up against bushes or walk under low tree branches, but somehow at least two end up on my scalp at some point during the course of every day. I feel "that tickle" and go in search of, find the little sucker, put it in an ashtray and torch it with a lighter, which gives me a great deal of pleasure. I got some Deep Woods OFF to spray around my ankles and the hems of my jeans, but I don't know if they work their way up from my ankles or not, though I do not tuck my pants legs into my socks. Tink doesn't seem to get nearly as many as I have been finding on myself. Or maybe she becomes a mode of transportation for them and they transfer to me later. At least I am not afraid of them any longer; when I was a kid, the discovery of one ANYWHERE made me panic. Now I just cuss every time I get that tell-tale tickle. Of course sometimes my scalp tickles anyway, of its own accord, without a nasty insect being the cause. I wouldn't say I'm obsessive, but I don't let the sensation go before I do a thorough investigation. SO FAR, nothing has sunk itself into a deep-feed!

I think it is supposed to rain today; haven't checked the weather report yet. I hope to go out and take care of some more things on my list. I also have calls to make and more gathering of stuff to pack into boxes later, and the little piles grow slowly but surely. I DO have to call about a POD, but I'm not sure how much is required to be paid up front. I won't get my SS check deposited into the bank until the 22nd. The site says more PODS are in use at this time of year, but I don't have the option to wait until autumn to get one; I HOPE there is an 8 x 8 available to be delivered here when I 'plan' on loading it up. (fingers crossed).

Tinker thinks it is entirely too early to get up and go out; she no longer follows me down to the kitchen when I go for coffee.

Okay, I'm going to go forward with my "leisurely" waking up process and wait for the AM meds to kick in. If I keep repeating myself during these next several weeks, bear with me! Some of it is thinking 'out loud' on the page, and I also am posting to my sibs and forget who I've told what.

"Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Tonto racks the Lone Rangers balls". I can't recall where that quote comes from, but it is funny to me, and I may share it a little too often. Hope it does not offend "the community"!

I'll likely be back later to recount my days accomplishments.

That's the first time I've heard that little quip, and it made me laugh. But then, I used a word I seldom ever use -- in front of by boss! -- yesterday. He looked surprised, but then repeated it in his own comment.

Ugh, the thought of ticks just grosses me out. We don't have many here, although I developed a suspicious rash a few years ago after hiking. Did you know there is no definitive test for Lyme disease? Anyway, I was given a course of doxycycline.

I feel a little better today. I'm going with Dh to the plant clinic for a few hours. The weather is clearing up. We have a heat wave moving in, meaning 80 degrees which is nothing to most of you.

Never heard that quote either.

J22, glad you're feeling better.

My overtime shift was a mess. My patient came back from surgery with a fast running CBI that the urologist said to not titrate. It as a pain.

Off tomorrow. Really need to sweep and mop the house with is one of my main goals for tomorrow.

Best friend sent me an article that it's best to cut coffee consumption nine hours before sleep according to some studies. Bleh

It's kind of late, so I don't want to recount everything, but...... here I go:

I got in touch with AAA and they are going to mail me a triptik within the next few days. I also got in touch with the POD people ( that sounds like a sci-fi movie!). Anyway it's both good and not the best news, but it will all work out. They will deliver it here on June 30th, and leave me a lock to put on it. They are scheduled to pick it up from here on July 7th, by which time I will have packed it. On July 8th I will leave here, having packed enough things in the car to get me and Tinker through until the POD will be delivered to J's driveway on the 14th of July. They won't be taking it directly to her house; something about schedules, they said. It stops at the Orange Park facility before it goes to J's, I guess. But that's the day they said it can be delivered, so.... I will have to deal with it.

Other good and bad news is the room hasn't been cleared out yet and neither J nor S can move things out, so one of the nieces is going to do it. But since I won't get my bed until the 14th, I said to have the niece to just leave the mattress on the floor and move the rest of it out, and if they can get it done by the 8th I'd appreciate it. I can deal with that until the rest of my stuff arrives. I couldn't drive a moving van and tow my car behind it, so I have to go with what is the least problem for me, since I am essentially doing this on my own.

J said there is something on one of the walls she doesn't want to take down....something about grey and black roses (??) and somebody else who had that room once and she feels it would be disrespectful of her to move it and she doesn't know where she'd put it anyway because it is big.(???) {Maybe it wouldn't be 'disrespectful' if I affixed one of those "India" cotton bedspreads from the '60's over it? Black and gray roses don't really appeal to me! She also has a piece of her artwork on another wall that is 'supposed to show' (??) a woman and two girls walking down the road (??) which she also wants to leave on the wall. Huh, I reckon I will see what I see when I see it. She does sound like something of a DINGBAT sometimes.🙄

The POD People gave me a discount that takes $454.35 off the total, so I only have to pay $1,602.74 when all is said and done, which gives me enough time to get my SS check deposited to the bank from whence my debit card originates, because they'll take it out of that when I call and tell them they can come and get the POD. J said something about someone has a truck in part of their driveway and she's not sure if (?whoever it belongs to?) will be able to move it . Oh well, oh well. Little bumps in my path that are unavoidable.

I have to remember to fill out my change of address card. The PO says they don't give multiple CoA cards for people to mail out to everyone any more. Huh. My lawyer is supposed to call me tomorrow about what I need to do to, I dunno, void or cancel the will I made that gives step-dgt everything, But if I make a new will from here, it will go to this courthouse, which would gom up the works should I croak down there. The bank here can take care of getting the SS check auto-deposited to the same bank down there, so I don't have to go to the SS office here to arrange that in any way, which is very good news to me! But I'm not sure exactly how that works if I haven't yet opened an acct at the bank down there! And I may be able to get a loan to consolidate what I owe on the credit cards, so I don't have to go through the Financial Debt Relief Agency that has been handling paying them a little bit at a time (having negotiated with the debtors). And I've started a list of what to pack into my car to tide me over until the POD is delivered there.

I have three notebooks over which all this info is scribbled down, plus the wall calendar to keep track of myself. There is SO much to do! It is not sounding exactly as 'ideal' as I first imagined it would be, but I am telling myself it is kind of like the time I said I wanted to 'do something different' and ended up living in the dorm, at the age of 32, at the college I went to for two years near Asheville.

My 'new' life will unfold as time goes on, but I hope I won't have to go live in an Assisted Living facility anytime soon, because right now that is my only other option. But it is an option if I end up not staying as long as I thought I might at J's house. Could be worse, though. I could be trying to find just the right size appliance box to place under the best location under an overpass somewhere!

So I have written so much more than I was planning to, and now I am a pumpkin, as it is 12:30 AM!

Good Night and Good Morning!