With the minor exception of the bag of dog shit, and the becoming-not-so-minor pain in my feet, yesterday was a good and fairly productive day. Perhaps the only thing I didn’t accomplish yesterday afternoon was getting a haircut. While making my way toward Barb’s and Allan’s I stopped at Total Wine, Target, Aldi, Goodwill (the only place at which I purchased nothing), and the fancy-pants new Kroger on Powers Ferry in Marietta. I bought things I needed, things I didn’t need, and three bags of dried spaetzle noodles because they were marked down to 35¢ from $2.19 at Aldi. I like these noodles but rarely bought them because I thought they were priced too high. I also received a call from the Florida funeral parlor and hammered out those final details, and made an eye exam appointment for January 9th, 2024.
After my shopping extravaganza I was fed a lovely dinner with Barb and Allan while watching three episodes of Survivor.
Today is “More Chores and Cooking Day”. Due to the quantity of food in my house currently I am going to do some kitchen reorganizing today, and a refrigerator clean out. In the process of doing this I will be making a squash soup for dinner, and eating leftovers for breakfast and lunch. It is my intention to not to go grocery shopping again for the remainder of the year, unless, I need something perishable called for by a recipe. Wish me luck… 🙂
Wordle: four, my starter was CADET
Connections: three mistakes, Green > Yellow > Blue > Purple (the Blue and Purple killed me)
Nice to be hanging out at the beach. Island time is the best. Only plan today is a run on the trails at the State Park. Wordle in 3 starting with CRAZY. One mistake in Connections. Yellow, Purple, Blue, Green.
I need to watch 3 episodes of Survivor to catch up with Barb and Wee.
Sounds great.
What is wrong with your foot? What kind of pain?
I have pain around the ball of my feet. I have also had some stiffening of my toes. Could be “hammer toe” even though I don’t have constricted shoes? Will finally have to go see a podiatrist at some point since they don’t seem to be able to heal themselves.
Yeah….that could be a lot of things from bursitis to arthritis to just inflammation. Amble room in your shoes is key. Might try wearing an insert to see if that helps. If not, definitely get checked out by a podiatrist.
It’s another “this is weird because it just came from nowhere” pain. I’ve had too many of those in the past couple of years.
Paulie –
Random aches and paints, that seem to appear out of nowhere (and most of the time disappear 2-3 times longer than you’d expect), just go with the territory.
Routine stretching and strengthing seem to help prevent many of them.
As my orthopedic surgeon told me (as he lifted and stretched my leg around my neck!): “You don’t stretch enough, do you?” 🙂
You best get used to all of this, I mean you’re not…..40 (50?) anymore. 🙂
Getting old is not for sissies Paulie.
Not everybody gets the privilege.
RIP, Jim Duckworth, a great photographer, and better father, husband and friend.
Here’s you you Jim!
https://flic.kr/p/aW29d6
Yeah, I know.
Nice shot of Jim. He was a decent man and always willing to share his knowledge.
Wordle in 4, fuck that Conniptions shit.
Thought I was going to fail in Connections today, and I probably should have.
Surprisingly the Marriott in Tucson doesn’t charge for using their laundry machines. I have’t used public laundry machines in forever. It was an interesting glimpse into your process. Among other things the dryer door was sketchy and popped open during my first drying attempt. So much for returning to a batch of nice, warm clothes. I managed to get the dryer to work. Nonetheless, I was glad to not have to fly back with my nasty Grand Canyon clothes.
David – we matched –
Wordle in 4 – CONNIPTIONS totally today. I had no idea after yellow
Exactly, it was 100% too cute today.
I hope Kaiser’s healthcare is better than their online account creation. Holy Christ. I had to limit my password to fifteen characters (In 2023? Why?!?!), enter an answer to a “security” question (note: these have been proven to be useless), and enter my credit card number *twice* without the benefit of being able to copy into the field. WTF, yo?
My credit card has been charged $780, lets see if Kaiser acknowledges the payment.
And a lot of things with passwords have become frustrating to me in iOS 17 and Sonoma, this just added to my frustration.
Wordle in 4, Connections had one error.
Ball of the foot issue could be plantar fasciitis, too. But I agree with Dr. Brooking, go see somebody.
A semi productive day, followed by dinner out with Debbie, as neither of us had the energy or interest to cook.
Sally, I’ve wanted to go down to St. George Island. Where are you staying and what are your suggestions?
-FP
I will see someone about this, I am navigating the frustrating waters of American Healthcare first…
I would say it’s PF but he is feeling pain in the ball of his foot. PF is more painful in the heel, first thing in the morning. Staying in a rental house. Most of these homes here are rentals. What are you looking for as far as suggestions? Janice has a lot if you can narrow it down as to what you want.
Steve, St. George Island is pretty long, and what little bit of commercial stuff there is resides in the middle. A state park takes up one end of the island, and a gated community takes up the other end. I like staying near the middle because that means I can walk to get coffee, pina coladas, groceries, etc. I’d say where you stay on the island depends upon what you’re hoping to get out of the experience. There’s a pretty long fishing pier near the center of the island that makes for a nice walk, or if you’re in to attaching food to a piece of string and waving it around in the water, apparently people do that out there too. 😉
I was just looking for some quiet beach, maybe some bikeable roads, walking distance to food… Pensacola was nice but it’s a zoo.
St. George Island fits the bill on all of that if you stay in the middle of the island. It’s really lovely.
Listening to the latest “Bobby & Jens” podcast. In this podcast they are talking to former RAGBRAI chief TJ Juskiewicz. I guess that I forgot that he also went to the University of Florida.
Fro his LinkedIn profile it appears we overlapped in Gainesville. If I had to guess he was born in the range 1964-1966.
Well, my boss had a head cold last week and it looks like I’ve caught it. Doesn’t seem very serious, but it’s definitely annoying.
Our contractor lost the key to our house so there was zero progress yesterday. He dropped off a lockbox yesterday so hopefully the key will stay in there. Meanwhile the house is wrecked. Ugh. It will be worth it in the end!
FYI for David/others, regarding “free” GA driver’s license, auto tag, etc.
> Free GA veterans driver’s license:
I tried during several periodic DL renewals to get my free veteran’s DL. Renewal over renewal, I never happened to have all the right paperwork in hand. One day, I decided today was the day and went to the VA on Clairmont Road, just north of Decatur. It took a few hours, but I left with “authorization for free driver’s license stuff” in hand. (Your mileage may vary, this may no longer be required.) That VA authorization, and my venerable DD-214, were all I needed.
A free GA DL with “Veteran” shown therein gets you decent discounts (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.). And free parking in the adjacent deck at the High Museum!
> Free GA Veterans “Commemorative” license plate:
Being a Federally licensed Amateur Radio Operator (KE4ENI), I’ve always had a (free) Georgia License plate with my Ham Radio Call Sign. Easy to remember, however, apparently at some point (when I wasn’t paying attention!) Georgia dropped the “free” aspect and now charges $55.00! $55.00!! Forget that! So….
From the Georgia tag website (https://dor.georgia.gov/military-veteran-license-plates):
“Anyone who served during active military combat is eligible for a free commemorative service license plate if he/she is Georgia resident on active duty or a veteran with a discharge from the armed forces of the United States under honorable conditions.”
Note the “active military combat” detail.
However, further down in the fine print:
“Honorably discharged veterans who did not serve during one of these conflicts may still qualify for a Commemorative Service License Plate under the “General Veteran” category.”
Your DD-214, showing activity duty period, (active duty combat details), etc. was all I needed. My local Dekalb toffice typically has these plates in hand (I always go in person), but they were out of “Vietnam” tags the day I went, so I received my tag in the mail 2-3 weeks later.
Note, paying your Ad Valorem tax is still required.
Lastly, double-check everything I have related. It’s been a few years and I typically have no idea what I’m talking about in the first place!
Come on Veterans! Discounts and designated parking spaces at Home Depot and Lowe’s!
Funny anecdote: On my last trip to Lowe’s, a lady that had cut me off as I turned into the parking lot:
“Excuse me sir, you have to be a veteran to park in those spaces!” ”
As she walked past the rear of my car: “Oh…..excuse me, thank you for your service.”
(As I left Lowes, I noted she had taken a Handicapped signed space, with no visible hanger or tag.). 🙂
73 de JG/HamWithCam
I thankfully threaded the needle on world conflict in the 80s, so I didn’t see any combat. Thank you for this background, I won’t hold my breath when trying to get a veteran’s license. It does feel like it’s worth the trouble, though. I’ll definitely take free parking in Midtown any day of the week. It’ll also be worth the trouble to get a free lifetime national parks pass, which was apparently enacted last year: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/11-8-2022-lifetime-pass.htm Besides, I have been through some shuck and jive on renewing my license. I got a 10 year license in 1991 that renewed by mail for a 15 year license in July 2001. Fast forward to 2016, I hadn’t been in a DMV office for 25 years. In response they immediately suspended my license for being a scofflaw on some ticket issued in Maine in the 80s. A couple of phone calls, my credit card number, and a fax from Maine cleared things up. I figure I can handle that pop quiz, I’m sure I can navigate through what’s needed to get a veteran’s license. I’ll look into the plate as well.
It’s funny, the government couldn’t produce my DD-214, so they gave me a certified letter that states that it takes the place of a DD-214. I needed it when I got a VA loan on my “wife’s” condo earlier this year.
And that woman calling you out…it’s yet another example of whatever we hate about ourselves is what we use as a cudgel on those around us. It’s sad, but also darkly funny to me, now that I can finally see it.
That’s a whole lot of info John. Wow!
Well, there went 30 minutes I’d sure like to get back. Chrome decided to unceremoniously stop playing audio this morning. Which meant I wouldn’t be able to use this computer to teach at noon today. Thankfully I poked and prodded around enough to figure out how to flick whatever switch back on again. Fucking computers.
Ah technology…
Well, I have emptied the pantry and have now self-identified as a “prepper”. Seriously, when I go to FL this month I am going to bring food with me and do something that house hasn’t seen in many years — cook from scratch. This will save me some money, and, might even help me not consume as many calories. While I intend to be physically active, working in and around the house, I also intend to use the time down there to do some reflection and self improvement since there is no internet at the house.
Have gathered all of the ingredients I will need to prepare dinner. Next, do the same for today’s lunch.
Sensibly-sized (for me) lunch eaten. Today’s meal was a burrito made from leftover “chicken” casserole I made last week and some salad greens.
Sometimes I think that I should start a YouTube channel to get companies to send me free shit. It’s amazing how many times I watch a channel and see the person get things sent to them.
Sitting at the dentist office in the dark, they just had some sort of power failure.
I think I’m going to go home, & hopefully reschedule some day soon.
Curious if you are feeling any affects from your vaccinations?
my arms are SORE, and I’m feeling a little run down, but nothing horrible.
That’s good!
YouTube has updated its AppleTV app, and it appears that they have once again made the length of time you have to watch an ad before you can skip longer? Well, I guess this means I will be watching less YouTube, which is a good thing for me.
I watch so much YouTube that I ended up paying for YouTube premium. Worth every penny and you can skip away all day long.
I’ve considered, but with no income another subscription is out of the question.
Wow. I got Connections with only one mistake: yellow > green > purple > blue.
It was my lack of knowledge about the blue group combined with the red herring which belonged to the purple group that set me back.
Yep, the red herring in the purple group was my only mistake!
I see that Hulu has a tv show about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. *barf emoji*