Tuesday May 19, 2026

Tweety that's good that your schedule is stable

NJ22 glad that your ds has no neuro impairments, I hope his recovery is quick

Ado that sounds like a nice memorial garden

Stars that is odd you're getting all those calls

Work was initially fairly stressful, trying to get caught up and getting a whole bunch of emails in addition to all the other work. By the afternoon things had calmed down again. Rest of the day was pretty quiet, just exercised. Due to some expected bad weather I put the car cover on, but it turned out not to be that bad. Had a Zoom meeting with the events committee of the gay group that I almost forgot

Today should be calmer at work, although I will need to work on the side project. Nothing going on after work except grocery shopping and exercise. Have been coming up with dates for my Madison trip in October, will need to email my cousin to see if she's interested and if so which dates work for her

Going to be cooler today, upper 70s with some rain

I wouldn't mind cooler weather here, but as I predicted yesterday, it did get hotter than they said it would. But it did get more tolerable by 5-6 PM and there was still a good breeze. The weather guy confirmed what I also predicted about today and tomorrow; he cheerfully said we may get close to record-breaking temps. I'm not sure when rain is supposed to occur, but there were a few days on the 7 day forecast where there were raindrops illustrated. It "don't make me no never-mind" because the only outdoor activity I have is walking the dog. The other things are the usual dish-washing and laundry, and maybe I'll get around to some of the other tasks, like putting away clean laundry and possibly sorting through old bills and separating the shredding from the recycling, or vacuuming my room.. So exciting! (huh.) I don't have scheduled "wash the floor" days like you do, Tweety. "DISHES AND LAUNDRY WAIT FOR NO WOMEN" And it does no good to specify a day for washing the floor because..."My Name Is Stars,(the group echoes 'Hi Stars') And I AM A SPILLER."

So last night I watched two Steve Martin movies which I have never seen. It seems there are MANY movies I have never seen! I watched the one where it is filmed in bl + wh, and he is a detective. I can't believe I never knew how he and Carl Reiner had folded in all the segments of movies from the 1940's to make it look like former Hollywood stars were part of the plot and were talking with Martins' character. Since I have always liked so many of the movies from those days, and was not aware at first how in this movie, it was done, at first I wondered what Burt Lancaster and Bogart were doing in the movie, but realized it was just some smooth and VERY cleverly done bits and pieces. I really enjoyed it! Then I watched another one I can not believe I'd never seen....the classic THE JERK. Quite amusing, and the movie's dog made me laugh the most, as if he/it understood everything the Jerk said, and reacted appropriately.

So I was up watching movies until close to midnight in spite of Tinker stretching and groaning during the last hour. I ended up not going to sleep until 1:20 AM, catching up on The WEEK magazine I had not yet read, but this time I did skip some of the stories as some were kind of repetitive news-events which I didn't have the patience to read through.

Slept MOSTLY well, except I do know I changed position frequently trying to accommodate those aches in my hips and legs. Once again coated myself from the hips down, with Lidocaine roll-on. Still kinda achey as no position really seemed to alleviate things for very long. Woke up at 8 AM and decided it was time to make some coffee and take my medicine. Now I am waiting for the arthritis meds to kick in. Tinker said it was too early for anything and went back to bed while I was making coffee; she ignored her breakfast. She is now curled up under the covers and attached up against my right hip. Ah, a living "hot-water-bottle!"

SO FAR today, the calls have not begun YET, I am going to just hang up on them today; it is tiresome trying to get them to interrupt their 'scripts.' The last call I received last night was one of the 'record-checking' people who, when I said, "No damages, no injuries, therefore no claims," he answered with enthusiasm: "It doesn't have to be anything big, maybe...(this or that)" I could not believe he was trying to convince me to make a claim and lie about something that didn't happen! I was so disgusted, I YELLED at him: "STOP CALLING ME!" and I hung up.

Gonna be a HOTTER day, I can already feel the house getting warmer in spite of the AC. And since I am thinking again about a cigarette as my after-breakfast 'dessert', I will , instead, now get dressed and take Tinker out for her morning walk! And if I get any more cravings, I will slap a nicotine patch on my upper arm. Too bad smoking is so bad for a person, because I really did enjoy it ....I know it is an addiction, but mostly, I have to admit, I NEED TO SAVE MONEY and that is my major reason for quitting, because it's like flushing dollars down the toilet.

Happy birthday, Tweety!

Stars, that has to be really annoying to keep getting those calls. Reminds me, though, that we need to search for a solution to our car insurance crisis. I don't remember much about The Jerk -- but I do remember him being excited "I'm a real person" -- when his name was in the phone book. I remember that feeling. Kids today say, "what's a phone book?"

My health insurance plan provides a weight-loss plan so I am going to try. The idea is to promote weight loss and prevent/reverse diabetes. They use a low carb plan and this will not be easy for me. BUT I'm willing to give it a try. I was reading the recipe/idea book last night and it suggested making pizza -- one with a cauliflower crust for me, one with a regular crust for the rest of the family that doesn't want to participate. And using cauliflower rice or veggie noodles for my own servings of pasta or rice dishes, while they get the "real" thing. OK, I can try that. We shall see.

I did get one call today, saying "Do you remember I talked with you before about the Medicare plan, blah,blah,blah?" I simply said "No comment." and hung up. Maybe it worked, as no one else has called about it. Of course the phone did ring two different times and after I said a third "hello" with no response and nothing happened, I just hung up.

Did I remember to wish you a "Happy Hatchmark", Tweety? That would be the day you were born, when you hatched out of the shell. If I didn't say it, then consider it said now!🙃

Watched a movie this afternoon that had Mario Lanza in it. Not very good, but the only movie he was in that I liked was The Great Caruso, made in 1951. The quality of the TV sound, probably due to the films poor sound quality, wasn't too exciting. Anyway, oddly enough, this movie had Zsa-Zsa Gabor in it; I THINK she was interested in him as a love interest, but he was in love with a deaf girl who could not hear him sing. It was quite a sappy movie and neither Zsa-Zsa nor Mario are very good at 'acting', per se. I looked up Mario Lanza on line and found out he died in 1959, of a heart attack. They also said he had a big positive influence on future opera tenors, so I asked how so? Apparently because he had 'perfect' technique, clear enunciation or pronunciation, and connected with his audiences emotionally. (It also said he had a 50 inch chest. I have always described him as barrel-chested") Anyway, that's my movie report for now, I guess.

A movie with Ezio Pinza (another opera tenor) followed, but he didn't have anywhere as near a good voice as Mario did. So I am not watching that one. Sure didn't hold a candle to Pavaroti! I'm not sure he was considered a tenor or not, but he sure did have a POWERFUL voice. I remember watching a thing...maybe on you-tube...where teenagers who scoffed about opera, and then they heard him sing for the first time. At first they were laughing, but by the time he got to the pinnacle of the song, they were VERY awed by him, practically falling out of their chairs! If you can find it on you-tube, it's worth watching even if your aren't fond of opera.

I ate some lunch, and I know that because my stomach feels full, but I don't know (ie can't REMEMBER) what I ate, so it wasn't anything worth anything, except it filled an empty hole.

I am going to find some of my pain patches (lidocaine) to slap on my right hip which aches in two places, maybe three! Bear with the non-medical explanation: front hip bone, lateral hip-bone and the 'sit-down' bone (but not the tailbone). If I can beat it back, maybe it won't ache so much when I go to bed.

OH! And after I was lounging in bed for a couple of hours this AM, with my knees up, using my thighs as a lap-board while I did some crossword puzzles, when I rolled out of bed and stood up, the pain in my left knee was so sharp I gasped and immediately dropped back onto the mattress. But when I was lying down again and moved my knee around without any pressure on my foot, and THEN stood up, the pain was GONE! That's the knee that makes a lot varied crunching when I bend over and reach down to the floor; it sounds like some wooden things moving around. And THAT does not hurt, it's just noisy! All those "-itis-es" doncha know. Not into investigating it further and definitely not interested in any kind of surgery or replacements. There is nobody here who could "take care of me", anyway, and it isn't really bad enough (except like this morning), to need an injection in the knee. But if I needed just a shot in my knee I could do that, just nothing further. I don't intend to live the remainder of my life hobbling, and being as how I am close to turning 77, I think to myself, "why bother"? There isn't too much of anything in my life that urges me to stick around. Well, yeah, Tinker, but you know what I am saying.

I read in a poem, by whom I do not know, this line: "Free-fall is falling, but at least it's free." 😄

And with that, I will go wash those stupid magically multiplying dirty dishes! (Had a teacher in grade school who was from Wis-cahn-sin, who pronounced it as "warsh")

PS, Just now got a call asking me if I remembered having a car accident in the last year or two, where I didn't get hurt? I said, "Yes, but I've had more than 27 calls about it from your 'department' and I really think it is time for y'all to quit calling me." And then I hung up. I am sure it was triggered by me applying for a warranty renewal for my car.

Ppfftt!