mollywheezy | Reading

Dreamwidth just ate the entry that I was in the middle of creating. That rarely happens but is very annoying when it does.

Oh well.

I got up at 4:30 and picked up a very stressed Bonny in the elbow and off we went to the hospital in Bellevue. Except... the garage door was locked. I knew they locked it down at night and should have figured out that it might be locked in the morning and then moved my car to the street last night. But, I did not. It took two calls to Security to get the door opened. (Yes, at 4:45 in the morning, we are not out for a leisurely drive but, in fact, are on a timeline that does not allow for us to idle in garage.)

Anyway, there was, wonderfully, no traffic at all. It was sure different. We got there with 10 minutes to spare. She just wanted a drop off so that's what she got and I was home by 6. And the door opened.

Today I'll pop into the security office and get the exact garage door hours.

I had an early and long, lovely swim.

Now I'm dressed and breakfasted and ready for the day and it's not even 9 am yet!

I am signed up now to go to the alpaca farm on Thursday. I marked today as the day I would decide to bail or not. I am not wildly enthusiastic about going but I think that's just laziness. None of the others signed up are particularly annoying. The weather is supposed to be dry and cooler (it's been way too hot for a couple of days). There is no reason for me not to go so I guess I will just do it.

Biggie and Julio have just joined forces to request Breakfast Number Two. So I guess I'll go do that.

susandennis

Sometime yesterday the crew arranged the outside terrace furniture. It was all kind of piled together from when they did a big landscaping a month or so ago. Now it's all back the way it is for the Summer. Next they will bring out the cushions. I'm guessing they are shooting for this week. It's supposed to be very warm today so they will have complaints.

Old people LOOOOVE to complain - especially about stuff they used to control and now no longer do. When they had their own homes, they did it this way... When they hired their own services, they made sure...

Bonny and Joan both get newspapers delivered. The security staff does the door deliveries. And, according to Joan and Bonny, they NEVER get it right. Sometimes they leave it on the floor. Now, in fairness, neither Joan nor Bonny can pick up shit from the floor easily. So I made them signs taped to their shelves in English and Spanish asking that the newspapers be left on the shelves. This has worked flawlessly.

HOWEVER, yesterday at Elbow Coffee they were both bitching because they leave the paper vertically when they should leave it horizontally. WTF??? I give up. I'm going to train myself to ignore all complaints except mine which, of course, are always valid.

This is NOT a complaint. I weigh myself on my Wyze scale every morning. It sends the data to Fitbit and the weight then goes to Trendweight.Com where I can easily see progress and trend. The Wyze to Fitbit transition is true but nearly every single day, a 10th of a pound is lost between Fitbit and Trendweight. It amuses the heck out of me and I appreciate the gesture. If it added a 10th of a pound, I'd be using the pant off of both of them for false data manipulation. If that is not a thing I'd make it one. ha!

The Mariner game started late thanks to The Big Eunuch celebration and so ran late. They played great until the end of the game when they made not one but two stupid and, turns out, fatal, errors and lost it in the 10th. They deserved to lose. And, honestly, I blame The Big Eunuch. And just love using that nickname.

Today's game starts at 1. And, at least my favorite announcer is doing the color.

Our pool has 4 lanes and today there were swimmers in 3 of them! That's as crowded as I've ever seen it.

Tomorrow is the Bonny to the hospital at 0 dark 30. Should be fun.

Oh, I finally got into the new MyChart. I had to verify with a text about fiftybigillion times but I finally got it done, got my brother access, set up my notifications - never call me and never send me snail mail. My money says within the next week, I'll get a letter in the mail and at least one robo call welcoming me to the system. MyChart is now Epic and Epic says 'come link all your accounts at this umbrella site!!!' I got the one linked but, of course, the new one is listed as a non-linker. Thanks for that help.

Also the software now offers up no way to change your password. At one point I was allowed to set a passkey but, there does not appear to be any way to use it. And two factor authentication goes to both my email and my phone number with no way to change it.

They have some details to work out but the funniest one is this...

Those are ALL the options. Seems like they might want to think about adding at least one more.

Now I think I'll go brush my teeth and then watch my Sunday morning Tia Watson YouTube update.

bill_schubert

I've mostly reached my physical goals. Mostly. Still some improvement needed for conditioning but it is more maintenance than muscle. I still want to be able to climb more stairs but I'm working on the problem and will continue until I can't do it any more. My weight is where I want and seems to be happy to plateau there. My belly still has 3 inches to drop but that is just going to take a while and will be in lock with my being able to climb stairs. And my grip strength is better. The right side legs and grip are still weaker than the left but that too will take a lot of time.

So the big thing now is to be sure I stay at this plateau or better. No back sliding.

Chat GPT created a number of set points that I can check, a scorecard, and upper limits that if I hit I go into hard recovery mode. For instance, 187 (two pounds up from my plateau) for 3 days at which point I'd get serious again with lowering the calories. Until then I eat what I want keeping up protein and fiber and enough calories to be sure I can workout and keep up the muscle mass.

Today was the first day of the score card. I still have the exercise portion to do (10 sit stands from my low chair, grip measurement, lay on floor and get up without external assist). I'm going to add a few things but it gives me the freedom to both not obsess and stay on track without worry. I've got Sunday morning set up as the day I fill it out and a spreadsheet connected to a calendar entry set for every Sunday until my calendar runs out (6/26/2043).

I started to wean myself off of semaglutide by moving the weekly injection to 8 days, then 9 and then 10 BUT doing it that way means my body goes through the nausea that came with the first dose. It isn't bad but basically my body has gotten used to being without it after 10 days and then it starts all over. So I'm switching tactics, lowering the dose over time. I've got months left to do it and, really, after 10 days I'm eating about the same so I could likely just drop it altogether and be fine. But I've paid for it and will continue for a while with a lower dose just to be sure.

This week is going to be kind of a PIA mostly in the way it ends, in Houston, at the Baylor hospital there. We're getting a diagnosis for Dana's vascular issue. It appears that she may have something called FMD which is an issue that is mostly women as a result of hormones gone wild. It manifests as blood vessels having weakened walls and bulges. I don't think there is any cure but knowledge and solid diagnosis is power and they are one of the few specialties in the country. So Thursday morning to Houston and back on Friday. The dogs will kennel where they did last time, in a pet place across the street. Convenient and I think they don't much mind for a day.

I'm hoping that the appointment is a one off as the trip to Houston is painful, boring and long. We have a VRBO apartment reserved for a reasonable amount of money so it should not be too bad as a single one day trip. Fingers are crossed that it is just that and nothing more complicated or lengthy. The communication from the doctor's end is minimal and sketchy, laden with standardized emails.

susandennis

Volleyball is done. Elbow Coffee is done. Lunch will be ready for pickup in 30 minutes. And that's it for today's commitments.

Today is the day to sign up for the new MyChart from my doctors' office. Earlier the URL would not work. Now it works but not for me. Verification Denied. Try again or call ... 3rd try, same results. NFW am I going to call any time soon. I'll wait.

Today is also the day they retire The Big Eunich's number. Last night's game was an Apple TV game so not a lot of discussion. I thought the ceremonies were going to be last night but they are tonight. S'ok. My mute button still works fine.

I think Julio has a tooth problem. He keeps trying to chew on things like the metal door handles on the kitchen cabinet. He's too old for teething but maybe they are kitty wisdom teeth. Julio will never allow himself to be caught to be put into a carrier so he will never go the vet. If he has a tooth problem, he's going to have to figure out how to fix it himself. Or maybe he's trying to get into the cabinet.

Lots of good TV to watch and a good book to listen to. My day is set.

susandennis

Bonny asked me a while ago if I would drive her to the hospital for her surgery on Monday. She said it would probably be early 'and you are always up early anyway.' Whatever. Then she said her friend Chris would take her and then she said her son would take her (she's still not speaking to her daughter). Then yesterday afternoon, I learned it was back to me. She said she would find out today exactly what time. Fine. I don't care, really. She's going to the same hospital I took Myrna to a million times. It's not convenient but at least I know how to get there.

She just texted me that her check in time is 5:20 am. Honestly, I would not have enough nerve to ask anyone to take me somewhere 30 minutes away at 5:20 in the morning. God made Uber and Lyft for that. But, I'm not Bonny! It's fine. And as I pointed out, at least we'll dodge the morning rush hour. Her son is on the hook to pick her up after which is a relief.

So, yesterday, I went into the storage room to find one of my swiss army knives to keep in the car. I found one but I also found my glucose monitoring kit. A few years ago, I got a wild hair to monitor my glucose daily. Then I had my annual doctor visit and my numbers were down and he didn't even mention diabetes or pre diabetes so I abandoned the effort.

My numbers were back up this past January so I decided yesterday to see if the Wegovy was making a difference. My kit is a little stabber and then a little reader and an app. I remember from before that the instructions were confusing and incomplete and the app sucked and it was incredibly difficult to find out what my readings indicated. That's all I remembered. I opened the kit and found the stabber, the little stabbing pins, the strips and the reader. The reader wanted batteries. I couldn't get the pins into the stabber so I just jammed one into a finger. Then I could't get the reader to read. I tried this several times until I was out of fingers. Finally, I went to gemini. Oh that stabber is WAY easier when you know how to load and operate it! And, the little strips do not go in blood first. And, I should have done a fasting draw. Otherwise, all was good. hahahahha

My fasting draw this morning was 111 - I was expecting much better. But, I was also expecting to have lost more weight so whatfuckingever. The glucose kit goes back into the storage area this morning.

Friday is menu day and next week's selections are dreadful. Next week is also the last week of the meal allowance month. So, this morning I ordered 3 dinners. 2 for the freezer and 1 for me. That leaves me enough for necessities (yogurt, quiche, eggs) next week and lunch tomorrow. This week they had decent lunches and dinners. So I took advantage.

The Mariners game tonight is the start of the whole retirement of the asshole's jersey. I'm thinking it will be a good game to watch on mute.

Meomensteeen - a fellow Mariner fan - left a comment on yesterday's entry which turned my asshole pitcher's frown upside down. The asshole's nickname is The Big Unit. She said "Once my grandma misheard my dad when he was talking about Randy Johnson. She asked me, "What is this big eunuch your father keeps talking about?" Ever since then, my family has called him The Big Eunuch."

I am so so so so sorry that my Mom died without hearing this.

I just ordered more yarn. I have a house full of yarn. I have yarn for the blanket I just started. I have yarn for the vest I just started. I clearly have a yarn problem. But I found this yarn and put it in my basket and waited for a free shipping deal. I got the free shipping code so what was I supposed to do??

Ok, enough. Before I spend another penny this morning, I need to get dressed and make up my bed. Them's the rules.

This is the project I settled on for this yarn. It's one of those go until it's big enough or you are tired of it projects.

bill_schubert

I agree with Fogerty's ideas and his stance in Fortunate Son. But, there's no way around it, I'm the antagonist in his son. I was born on third base and have felt like I should have done more with it. But I've brought along some people who needed help and still do.

Two lunches this week. On Saturday I met with two of my previous employees. We still get together on occasion. One of them has a fiance who also comes to the lunch. On reflection I'm the only one without PTSD and all the resultant symptoms. We talked about that. It is an open group. The couple are both refugees from Johova's Witness families and have been excommunicated and no longer have any relationship with their families. The other two had bad childhoods. Really bad. Everyone's gotten to the point they can talk about it over lunch but it is a bit weird for me.

Then there is today's lunch. Polar opposite. It is with the three business people I met at networking years ago. We meet every month and discuss business and families. The three of them are wildly successful and the same age as my two kids. An insurance agent who has enough money to throw a bunch into another business, which will also be successful, just so his wife can have her own business. They are just taking off and learning what they need to know about the food product business but it will be a million dollar business soon enough.
Then there is the pest control guy whose multi million dollar business is growing by 30% per year. He no longer really needs to do anything with it now as he's done all the work to make it operate on its own, the way business should be He does the marketing and some sales because he wants to buy will soon be staying home more. He has three adopted children in addition to the natural ones. The three adopted ones need some more hands on so he's going to do that more. He's got all the choices he could ever want.
Then there is the woman who owns her own bookkeeping service with half a dozen employees and enough income to employee a consultant, me, to help her grow and get more of her businenss as a process than it is now.

All the people of both lunches are happy, growing, and doing good things in their own area.

And I get to hang out and watch and applaud and enjoy and occasionally make some pithy comment. Their token father figure Buddha.

I received a paycheck today from the bookkeeper. The first half of our agreed upon first initial project pay. There might be more projects but I said let's just go this far for this much and see what we thing. And so I received way too much, of course, for what I feel like I contributed but she's happy and I'm motivated to do more. And it is fun.

If I were one of those people who walked on eggshells waiting for the floor to collapse when things are going well I'd be terrified now. But I'm not. I lean into good fortune and opportunity so I'm pretty happy right now.

And very grateful.

I came home from lunch, opened the door, and was greeted by Beaux galloping towards me in his happy dance to see I'm home.

Icing on the cake.

susandennis

I've started this entry a half dozen times writing about different things and then wiped them out and started again. I think the reality is that I've got nothin'. I have a wonderfully comfortable life that just does not change. On the one hand, it's marvelous for living but, on the other, it sucks for journaling.

A few weeks ago, I bought an afghan kit from Herschners (online yarn store). They have a very nice, soft worsted weight yarn that is really nice to work with and this kit uses it in four colors that I like. So I bought it. But the pattern turned out to be not so interesting. So I made up a new one but then abandoned that one and tried another. Fail again. I think now, I may be on the right track.

I remember years ago, I had a friend who was trying to get into woodworking as a hobby. He was so frustrated by my knitting and crocheting in contrast. "If you fuck up or change your mind, you just unravel and start again. If I fuck up or change my mind, my wood won't go back to the way it was! Not fair."

The Mariners won again yesterday and now are off until tomorrow. After my Dad died and Mom had spare time on her hands, she would follow the Mariners with me. At that time we had a pitcher who was a massive asshole. And, together, we hated him. This coming weekend, they are retiring his jersey number* and all the recent games have been peppered with vignettes about what a miracle worker he was on the mound. I am so over it. I will be very glad when this weekend's games are over and I know Mom will be, too.

*After his career was over, Ichiro joined the Mariners and picked the same number - 51. Nothing to do with the asshole pitcher, it was just the number he had always had in Japan. Having that number was in his initial contract. They retired Ichiro's number a few years ago. So now asshole's number will just be a retirement repeat.

I have 3 Amazon returns. I think I'll take them today and stop into Safeway for a couple of things.

I forgot to suss out that sports car guy from yesterday. I'll look when I got down to the car today.

susandennis

After dinner or sometimes before, my Mom would go to her room announcing she was putting on her soft clothes. Sometimes it was sweats. Sometimes it was nightgown and robe. It was comfortable clothes, no bra and meant to be seen by family only.

I had a great swim this morning. The Mariners game is at 10:40 today. I have no other obligations or things I want to do outside this apartment and enough food so I don't even need to go get any so I have declared today a Soft Clothes Day. Sweat pants, a Mariners 3/4 sleeve t shirt and no bra. Cause, why not?

My doctors' office is switching from their own online portal which is kind of a dog to My Chart which is less of a dog. The switch over is going to take place on May 2 - Saturday. They have it set up so that on Saturday (or after) you can, apparently create an account but not until then. My doctor did make a remark when last we talked that finally she'll have a decent connection with her patients so I am interested to see what the differences are. I was one of the first patients to use My Chart when my Seattle doctor got it years ago. I wonder if it will remember me.

Ok so. I just logged onto the my old MyChart which now shows my current primary doctor! Her info is in shadow and in complete so clearly a coming soon situation. And there is an umbrella MyChart (now known, apparently, as Epic) where I can link my two accounts. So I'm now all set up on it and will add the new link on Saturday. It would be very cool if it also linked the info - like if I could see/compare 10 years of test results.

Oh! A silver Audi convertible sports car just left the garage with the top down. Old guy in ballcap at the wheel. Now there's a true picture of the much overused expression - living his best life.

Ok, time to get off the computer and empty the dishwasher, and tidy up before first pitch.

ofearthandstars

Getting to

thefridayfive late this week:

1. What decade did you attend/are you attending high school or college?
Mid-90s through early 2000s.

2. What clothing fashion from that time are you glad/do you wish went out of style?
Babydoll dresses. Every once in a great while I miss grunge before remembering that some folks just showed up dirty. Also there are far fewer folks wearing black lipstick these days.

3. Do you still listen to the music from your high school/college years on a regular basis?
Sometimes I spool up 90s songs at the gym or in the car, but mostly I find it playing in public spaces. Hearing "Sex and Candy" at the grocery store (the original or as a Muzak version) or NIN's "Closer" while at physical therapy have been a little disconcerting.

4. What hairstyle/hair color did/do you wear during high school/college?
In high school I pretty much wore my natural hair color, probably fried a little with Sun-In because we were not a family that could afford salon highlights. In college, I probably went through 20 different hairstyles, from long to bob to pixie. I tried the Rachel but on me it just looked like bad layering. Also my hair color went from bright blonde to deep auburn to dark black. An old acquaintance once joked that I would change my hair after every major life decision, and she wasn't wrong. It may have been my way of trying to combat the depression I was in.

5. What was/is "the cool thing to do" while in high school/college?
Gods, I have no clue what this would be, I was a social outcast. I came of age in a podunk area and being an outsider to them, wasn't able to fit in anywhere. I spent a lot of high school lunches hiding in my teachers' rooms as the cafeteria was brutal. I had my first child early in college/at age 19, which is an entirely different story unto itself, so I didn't have a typical experience there, either. That said, that is the age in which I discovered Livejournal, and met several lifelong friends. ♥

susandennis

It's that time of year. The first wave of baseball managers ripped from the dugout. Alex Cora (whose little brother Joey was one of my favorite Mariner players ever) got the heave ho from Boston earlier this week. Today the Phillies canned their guy. Boston has won 12 but lost 17. Philly has won 9 and lost 19.

The Mariners have won 14 and lost 16 which isn't great considering they were supposed to be the top dogs this year but also not so terrible that their manager will be fired this week but... maybe... who knows?

And ballparks without roofs should be eliminated from Major League ball.

Volleyball was ok today. At least it wasn't cold.

Today is house cleaning day and I have an Amazon return which I think I'll take while the house cleaner is here.

I dreamed last night that I lost my watch and that my brother adopted a baby goat. Today, I have looked at my wrist a couple of times and been surprised to see the watch is back. Also I have thought of texting my brother to ask what he named the goat. Apparently these dreams were fairly Vivid.

Biggie is begging for breakfast number 2 and I need to get dressed.

bill_schubert

Beaux taking some after dinner rolls in my office

bill_schubert

I've got three things to do and I'm not doing any of them at the moment. One is some of the volunteer work. I'll be there in the morning but there is stuff I can do here. There is another volunteer that I've been working with to see if we can't improve their information flow some. I've not done anything with the project for a week or so and feel guilty. Then there is the bookkeeper I've been working with. They are about to execute a new system of information intake and categorization I've been helping them look at and I need to spend some time working on it. And I need to work out. I took a couple of weeks off for the most part with my cataract surgery and need to get back on the bandwagon.

That last one is kind of funny as I had an interview with the media person in the company last week. She had read some of my feedback and asked if I could go on record so they could use me in their promos. I love the guy, love what he does and feel really positive about his company so I was glad to help. About that time I decided to just buy into the company for a lifetime membership. It was about $1500 but they took $200 off when I offered to help with their media so that was pretty good. BUT now I've been lazy and haven't been doing the workouts.

Instead of doing all that I'm eating a blueberry muffin and typing this.

Good morning of pickleball, though. A couple of hours worth and I felt pretty good about it. Run around, whack the ball, win a few games.

I guess I'll get back to the more serious procrastination now.

susandennis

This week promises to be a quiet one with nothing to dread. In other words, lovely.

My swim this morning was wonderful. I think I was just so grateful that the water was not ice cube cold. I've added about 10 minutes onto my swim for really no good reason - it just feels right. I do need to charge up my music player and change songs.

They are still delivering a newspaper to Jim Across The Hall every day and nothing has changed. No one has come to take his things. This week will mark 30 days since they took him and so the deadline for emptying his apartment. I guess the plan is to pay for another month. Curious but none of my beeswax.

No sun out this morning - no rain - just an eye pleasing cloudy. It would be a good day to run errands but I don't really need anything.

So I'll stay in and puzzle and knit and watch TV. The usual. The Mariners play at 5.

I was thinking yesterday about the life I lead now. And how lovely it is. And what I thought it would be when I was in my 20's and 30's. I have not worked now for more than a dozen years. I loved working. I really did. But, I think I really do like this better.

susandennis

The pillow cases are in the washing machine right now. I just passed the bedroom door and saw this.

Nothing entitled about that cat!

The pool heater got turned back on or whatever the fix was, the water temperature was back up this morning. Woot! And my swim was wonderful.

I started a new book last night - I'm pretty sure it's one that I got from Jo's writing about it. A Killing in November by Simon Mason. It's extraordinarily written. Or maybe just well written for the ear. I was sucked in immediately even though there was no dead body in the first 40 minutes! I like my killings early on in the plot. But I'm totally sucked into this one - it kept me up late. AND... it's the first in a series. And there are already 5. Love that.

Yesterday was pretty much baseball, TV and knitting and today is likely to be the same and I'm perfectly fine with that.

My foot that the shots have helped fix is getting un fixed again and it's too soon. The nerves directing the toes get pinched and it's owwwwey to walk on it. I cannot match a shoe to the pain although this morning, my only shoes are the rubber sandals I wear to the pool, so maybe time to swap those out for something else - at least for a few days to test.

Ok the laundry needs folding and hanging.

susandennis

The pool water was a couple of degrees cooler than normal and the jets were shooting out cold water. This is has happened on the weekend so often, that a month or so ago, I asked the facilities lead what I should do when this happens and she had to contact Security and have them call her. I contacted security. The guy did not seem at all interested. I sent the lead an email. It could just be that the boiler needs to be switched on. If they wait until Monday, it will take several days for the pool to heat back up. It might be ok for swimming tomorrow but by Sunday, it will be too cold to be fun. Oh well. I've done what I could.

At least volleyball was good and not terribly chilly.

Today's Mariner game starts right after Elbow Coffee which starts in 30 minutes so that's my day!

First I need to get dressed.

ofearthandstars

There's a friending meme over at

3weeks4dreamwidth (which is starting today!)

Colorful image that says 3weeks4dreamwidth friending meme

susandennis

Jan and Dick Gram live in Myrna's old apartment. Jan just came to my door and asked if I was busy. Their printer was offline and they couldn't get it online. Windows and Epson. I last used a Windows computer maybe 10 years ago. I'm not sure I've ever used an Epson printer.

Dick has a very large voice and he wanted me to know that the printer worked two nights ago and he put in new cartridges and why does it not work now. What is your password, Dick. The printer worked two nights ago and he just put in new cartridges and why does it not work when you need it. So you don't know your wifi password? Why won't it work when I need it?

I learned a while back, by accident, that an iphone will give you the wifi password you are using if you dig deep enough into the network info. Then I remembered that Jan has an iphone and so I was able to get the password which is about 25 characters long and has 3 dashes. Of course the Epson keypad has no dashes. My looking for it erased all the work I had done so far.

And, I need to mention that this was in a tiny room that is stuffed to the gills with furniture and papers. There is barely enough room to stand, much less get to the printer and it's about 85 degrees.

So I bailed. Sorry. Call IT. If they have left for the weekend, send your documents to the reception desk. They will be happy to print them out for you. I felt badly about it until I got home and did a search on how to get dashes out of that stupid Epson keypad and Google didn't know either. Now I no longer care. Those Timber Ridge IT guys are not paid enough.

p.s. BUT Google did know how to find the wifi password on an Android phone. I never knew that either.

susandennis

I do not do well if I skip breakfast. So I don't but I also don't have a lot of patience with breakfasts requiring lots of ingredients, elaborate prep and/or dirtying of many items. I do have a tendency to find a good idea and have it every day until another good idea comes in to replace it. Currently I'm one egg scrambled with a fork full of cottage cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Except now I am out of tortillas. So a trip to the grocery is on the agenda. I think I'll go to QFC and score one of their poke bowls which will do nicely 1/2 for lunch and 1/2 for dinner.

I just picked up next week's Timber Ridge menus and there are a bunch of good choices. The past couple of weeks have been stinkers but next week... yum.

This morning was the first morning that I had to lower the shades to enjoy my coffee. I love my shades. This morning situation won't last long - a month or so and then the sun moves on.

I had a wonderful swim this morning. That forced week off has benefits of double enjoyment now.

The Mariners are in the Midwest for the week so nice early times.

I have a load of laundry that I put in before I went to swim. It's now nearly ready to come out for folding and hanging. And I need to get dressed. Time to get on with the day!

p.s. This past week, I misplaced a very handy metal retractable tape measure that I've had for years. Gone. Just gone. And now FOUND!! And it's very clean.

johncomic

my birthday!

For decades, I have usually treated my birthday as just another day, nothing worth making a fuss or big deal about. But, a couple of weeks back, I realized that I was genuinely looking forward to it this year.

And I don't know why. It's not like it's a landmark number, or like I have any unusual plans, or whatnot. I guess I'm just happy to be here.

Current Mood: jubilant
Current Music: Kay Hanley - Happy to Be Here

bill_schubert

The GDs haven't landed yet in Boston. Their flight was delayed half an hour or so but they easily made it through a mostly empty security line and onto the plane. At Juliette's age I'd already spent a summer on my own at a summer job in South Carolina. The gig and living arrangements were all made by my father but executed by me without much assistance when I was still 16. In retrospect my parents prepared me much more than these two for living in the world. I did not, of course, appreciate what they did but I sure as hell was independent.

I think what surprises me the most is that neigher of the girls use computers or actually know how to use computers. Other than getting to their games and texting systems they don't much know how to use their phones. They neither one had downloaded the SouthWest Airlines app and their father checked them in and texted them their boarding pass before I had a chance to make them do it themselves.

Younger than Juliette and Lil by a few years, my two sons travelled from Boston to Texas to visit my wife (previous edition) and me. Their flight was diverted and as this was before cell phones we were unaware that their flight was landing in Houston about the time we got to DFW. We found out when we were paged over the intercom. My sons had found a public telephone and called DFW, had us paged, and told us they were in Houston and what the flight was for the Houston to DFT leg. I'm sure they had help from the stewardesses but I suspect they would have figured it out.

Some of it is the male/female divide but much of it was just making them solve problems on their own.

We had the girls for two days so that is not even long enough to learn who they are much less do anything about it. I did discover that at 17 Juliette has neither driver's license nor permit. I'd had my own car and drove from North Carolina to South Carolina by myself before that age. She says she is too scared to drive. I bought her a journal for what will soon be her 18th birthday "Do one thing each day that scares you" and will send it to her once I've got it wrapped.

They don't like AI and seem to think that saying that absolves them of dealing with the issue. This is mostly Juliette who has some artistic potential. She's interested in medical art science and feels like AI has taken her future job. My thought was get over it and don't be a victim at 17. It stunts your growth. But I didn't say anything. They are standing on the edge of the pool worried that the water might be wet.

That age group and mentality does not happen in a vacuum. I suspect that the group of high school seniors she hangs out with share that view of their future being stolen rather than the fact that they have a new future that is open to so many varied possibilities that no one alive can envision what or when. That was true for my generation but is even more so for theirs.

As I write this I'm thinking that I need to write a letter to her to put with the book.

Anyway, it was fun. On the way to the airport Juliette, the 17 year old, asked if there was a Buc-ees we could stop at on the way. I had to tell her that there was one an hour north of us and an hour south but nothing in the actual Austin area. Had we another day we would have gone to see the dinosaurs with a Buc-ees stop on the way. Alas, their time was too short. Neither did we have Mexican food.

So we started a list for next time.

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mollywheezy

September 2024

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Planet Molly is a happy place!

Really, it is. Well, most of the time . . .

Reading

Well, crap on a stick

And so it begins

Scorecard

Saturday

(no subject)

Fortunate son

Misc

Soft clothes day

Friday Five: Dating Yourself Edition

Firing lines

I think he feels at home now

Delay delay

Monday

Little Mr. Muffet

More pool problems

3 Weeks 4 Dreamwidth

rant

Latest breakfast favorite

something I am grateful for today

Back to normal for a few days

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September 2024

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