Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, my hair looks better but still pretty poofed out at the end. I keep finding lost of small sections too long; I kind of get the stragglers probably under my mask but in the back doesn't make sense. It seems to take a few days before it kind of falls in to place. I might look for another hair stylist. I could see my earring on my right ear and sometimes on my left ear though. Good luck with your appointment tomorrow.

I wonder if you could use something to scrape that plastic off your door? Probably not worth the effort though. I bet your niece faces things we never dreamed of at 17 years old. Social media makes things so personal and in your face. It does sound like walking at work is easier than from home. We have a lovely greenway on 2 sides of our house but no matter which direction I go it's uphill one way or the other. I could walk maybe 1/2 a block then repeat several times but like you said that gets boring.

I hope the rest of your patio furniture shows up; I am sure Matt will do fine with some assembly required. Enjoy your steaks for supper. Did the rain let up so you could go for a walk?

I was totally bored at work today. A guy on our floor tested positive for Covid (asymptomatic). He and my boss and another guy are all working from home for 2 weeks. I stopped him on Tuesday when he walked by my desk to chat and even got close enough to see a picture on his phone. Great. That will teach me to sociable.

Today is our 29th anniversary. We swapped text messages. Marty was gone when I got up and won't be home from the gym until about 8:30. Marty had suggested we take the Porsche to the mountains this Saturday for a drive. Once i realized that is the 4th of July I'm saying no thanks on that idea.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Deegee, the one walk I do is pretty much exactly 10K steps start to finish if I do all the cul de sacs in both directions. The other day I counted and that makes 13 fingers (if you count the last spot where I turn around). I kind of which I hadn't counted because 13 seems like sooooo many, LOL.

Curby, I can't think of the last time I had a haircut that I didn't end up touching up myself at home. Eventually I'm going to have to go and get my haircut, but since my office isn't even't thinking of opening again for almost three months I'm not in any real hurry.

So I am absolutely SLAMMED with trying to get this annual review done. There's another part of my job that has ramped up significantly and it requires me to be on calls for sometimes several hours a day. Once I kick them off I don't really participate, but it's impossible to deeply concentrate on anything else at the same time so I really don't get much done during that time. We have an option to outsource this thing but the consultant wants to charge $350 per hour. I've got seven calls on my calendar this week, and it's a light week because of the 4th of July. Once you do the math we'd be well of $100K per year for this. People are going to sh!t bricks once they start looking at the math.

Not much else to report since all I do right now is work. Sorry for the boring fly-by!

 

[deegee]

Marcy-Oh no for the guy at work testing positive! I think when I go back, I’m going to be a recluse. I’m going to squirt people who try to come in my office with a water gun. Or hand sanitizer. Do you have to isolate or do anything different? I decided not to get my hair cut, just colored. I go through spells where I’m going to let it grow, then get annoyed and get it cut off, then let it grow again. I’m sure by the end of summer, I’ll be ready to have it chopped off! Happy anniversary! You’ll have to do something to celebrate!! Matt and I are not far behind you with 25 1/2 years.

Dee*Jay-your annual review sounds like a nightmare. I have several things coming up all at once in July and I have a tendency to get panicky. I’m going to have to delegate a few things, and that makes me nervous. I like to do everything myself, but that’s not possible right now since I am at home and can’t get to the database I need. Argh!

The rest of my deck furniture was delivered today, but they neglected to include instructions or hardware in either box. I talked to a rude guy on the phone. I’m really an easy going person, until you tick me off! I tried really hard to be nice, but he wouldn’t let me get two words out without interruption. After not letting me get a full sentence in, he told me to check again because the hardware packet had to be taped to one of the pieces and call him back. No way buddy! I made him stay on the phone while I proceeded to check every single piece and declare, “Left leg, nothing! Left arm, nothing!” This was Amish made in PA. That’s what I get for trying to buy American! It took 9 weeks to get here and it’s not even complete, plus rude customer service to boot! Gotta laugh. Matt and I pledged to get off our lazy butts and get back into our walking habit. We took a halfway decent walk today and we’ve eaten pretty light the last few days. Have a great Wednesday!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, that’s great you have 10K steps figured out for your walk. I’m dizzy thinking of that many turns though.

I was toying with cutting bangs in last night but I resisted. You may as well put off getting a hair cut as long as you can since you aren’t going in to the office for months. I like my new do a little bit better today.

Sorry you are so slammed this week and have to participate in those long conference calls. Yes, those fees will add up quickly. Good luck with that.

Deegee, I love the idea of taking a squirt gun in to your office; good way to tell people to back off. I wasn’t asked to do anything after talking to that guy the other day. Maybe he hadn’t been sick or exposed the day I talked to him. I don’t see how the company can possibly know who he came in contact with. I go through spells too about growing out my hair or cutting it about chin length. If I cut it short I could see my earrings but don’t like it short on me. Thank you for the anniversary wishes; yes you and Matt are right behind us.

Oh no your office furniture finally arrived and crap the necessary instructions and hardware packet wasn’t included. Hopefully they can ship it right away. That is pretty rotten you had to deal with a rude person on the phone. I LOVE how you went through every piece and said no nothing there. We love our Amish bedroom set. The only piece Marty can lift is the nightstands.

I finished my 3 book series today and have 4 more books of that series to go. I had to do the work for my one person team today since she had the day off. Gave me something to do. Apparently I have to fill out development plans for my 4 employees by Monday. At least being down 2 employees means less HR work to do. Ha Ha.

I am working at home tomorrow and Thursday. Sweet.

I need to find 2 more articles and get the July newsletter posted tonight. Best go work on that.

Take Care.
Marcy / Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

All things being equal I'd rather work at home. I can get so much done between meetings, emails and the break room is way better stocked here. I'm not freezing either.

I slept in a bit, Marty grilled my burger for lunch, I played cards online with a friend of mine during lunch and plan to go downstairs and lift before I check out. Life is good.

Have a great evening.

Curby / Marcy

 

[marcy]

I am so excited - I found this ring that my mom bought me. I didn't want a class ring when I graduated HS so my mom bought me this birthstone ring. It is a created emerald in YG. I haven't seen it for maybe 8 years. I have kind of been kicking myself wishing I still had it since it was a gift from my mom. I used to sell jewelry just to get money to buy new things and figured that is where it went. Glad I didn't sell it. I found it in my bag that has pearls in it. Sweet.

 

[deegee]

Marcy-we had the same thing for lunch! Matt grilled hamburgers and they were quite tasty. I’m glad you like your Amish furniture. I can tell this is very nicely made and heavy. I just need the hardware to make it complete! Matt says I’m all sweetness and light until somebody says that thing that ticks me off, and then watch out! I’m kind of writhing I had gotten my hair cut yesterday. It’s kind of busy on the ends and that needs thinned out. I once said my hair grows into the shape of a Christmas tree. One of my employees drew an isosceles triangle with a face in the middle on our dry erase board and wrote my name above it. Smart Alec!

Matt and I made it to the park for our 10,000 step walk today. It was too freaking hot! 92 degrees and humid, but we did it. I worked a few hours extra today, even though I SWORE I’d never do that again. I need to post interest for individual accounts in one of our retirement systems that operates on a fiscal year, and I totally forgot about it until this week. The first test attempt failed so I lost an entire day to test while the IT department figured out what went wrong. I got pretty far with testing this evening and then the test system crashed. I’ll try again in the morning and hope to get it posted by afternoon. For dinner I made a baked chicken & rice meal that mom used to make when I was a kid, along with carrots and green beans. We really need to get to the grocery store. Have a great pseudo Friday! For me, anyway, since I’m off Friday. How about you?

 

[deegee]

Awesome ring, Marcy! I’m so glad you found it!! That has great sentimental value, I’m sure. So glad you didn’t sell it. And it looks like it’s in great shape for wearing. I got a birthstone ring instead of a class ring. It was a garnet, and I have no idea where it went. I do have a ring my dad bought for me one year because he knew I loved rings. I wore it for a long time. I do still have it and have considered having the cluster of diamonds made into a charm for a bracelet. It isn’t great quality, but is very sentimental.

 

[marcy]

Deegee what lucky ladies we are that the guys grilled hamburgers for us for lunch. It sure hit the spot. I hope you love your desk. We are loving our bedroom set. I bet our Amish furniture will last for centuries. Marty ordered one of those gentlemen chests and it's so tall I can't see on top of it. They couldn't get it in our bedroom through the living room so we had to move a stand out of our laundry room and take the doors off of our laundry room, closet and master bath to bring it in that way. Based on the scraps along the way that was a very tight fit.

That's not a bad thing for you to be all sweet until something gets you going; I am like that too. There are just times I'm not going to remain silent. Good for us!

Too funny about your employees drawing a triangle and naming it after you. My hair flattened a bit on the ends today. i think that is what i don't like about mine either - it poofs out in one spot.

Woo hoo for getting in your 10K steps especially in that heat.

That sucks about the system crashing on you; I hope they get it figured out tomorrow for you. Yes tomorrow is pseudo Friday for me too. We get to take off 2 hours early as well. Sweet.

Chicken and rice is one of my favorite dinners. We need to go grocery shopping too. I might start dipping in to our meat stash downstairs; we picked up extras when they said there was going to be a meat shortage. We have orders coming from Kansas City Steak House and Omaha steak. We ordered some picanha from them and can't wait to try it.

I was delighted to find that ring. That's cool your ring was a birthstone ring too. That is a great idea to have the diamonds in the ring your dad bought you put in a bracelet. Those sentimental pieces can't be beat.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, I love your ring! Where did you find it? I had a sapphire ring when I was in about 9th/10th grade that my grandmother had gotten me (I think ordered from an ad at the back of the Parade "magazine" in the Sunday paper). It was a marquise shape in a silver setting. I work it 24/7. One day I looked down and one of the pointy ends was gone... If I ever found it again I'd be THRILLED, if only for the nostalgia factor!

Deegee, I was thinking, OMG, poor DG for a 92 degree walk! And then I did about the same thing myself this morning. UGH. I started out too late (not that it was any cooler at 7:30 than it was at 8:30 LOL), and the sun was just blazing. When I got back I headed straight for a cool shower. I have no idea what my body temperature was at that point, but I'm sure it was HIGH!

My progress this week has been hampered by all the calls I have had to be on. The only way I have any hope of getting done is to work outside of the calls and do any house stuff that needs to be done (like laundry) while I'm just in listening mode. And listen to the bone-headed thing I did yesterday: I agreed to a 9 am call and a 10:30 call. Well I didn't realize the person setting up the 10:30 call was using Eastern time. At the last second I realized I had an overlap! That was confusing beyond belief, having them both running at the same time (thank god I have two phones!), AND this was one of the handful of calls I've done over the past many years where something was said that I had to step in on. The whole time both calls were running my brain just HURT!

We have invited a friend of mine over for a steak on the deck tomorrow night. The ferals are spending the night at some friends' house so it should be fun. The whole place has to be cleaned in advance though because it's an absolute wreck here. I used to do a much better job of keeping the place clean, but frankly I got tired of being The Maid.

I made a $350 trip to Costco yesterday. Oy. And that wasn't even for everyday food type stuff, it was restocking TP, paper towels, keleenex, etc. -- stuff we haven't bought for 4-5 months. Today TR is supposed to go to Meijer on the way home from work. I sent him a list in the order that the stuff is stocked in the store, back to front. I think I put the shredded cheese in the wrong order or who knows if that will make it into the cart, ha ha.

OK, the call I'm on is coming to an end so I better see if I can get some work done...

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I dug out my bag of pearls and found the ring in a baggie with my pearls. One of Marty’s watches was in there too. I am guessing I put them all in the cosmetic bag when we were packing to move - so that tells you I haven’t worn my pearls for almost 6 years and Marty hasn’t missed his watch in that same amount of time. That is awesome you had a sapphire ring from your grandmother you loved. I hope you do find it again some day.

Sorry it was so hot for your walk. I bet your body temperature was up for sure.

Oh no for having overlapping conference calls. Sounds like you juggled it well but it had to be a challenge. I hope you rest up this weekend; you deserve it.

That will be nice to have a friend over tomorrow for dinner. Phooey to needing to clean though. All I managed to do today was shopping and a few loads of laundry.

That isn’t difficult to spend that much at Costco on those necessities. I am stocked up again on those necessary everyday items. I plan on replacing those things when I think of opening them after the TP “scare”. LOL. I hope TR was able to follow your grocery list even if the cheese is out of order.

I - doing my impersonation of an oblivious person going to the grocery store at 2 pm the Friday before a holiday weekend - went shopping in a very busy grocery store, stood in line forever, then packed my car with my treasures while thinking dang it’s hot out here - then checked my phone to see it feels like 91 right now. I packed everything in the house and took care of everything then sent Marty a text - call the medics - I’m not and sweating. I turned on the ceiling fan and dropped the temperature on the AC. I was cold again in about 30 minutes.

I met Marty for lunch and spent most of my time reading today. Marty had to work today so he’s been at the gym all day. I had popcorn for supper. I’ve been craving salty food this week for some reason. I think I’m good now.

I “might” consider getting up at 4:45 tomorrow to look for a comet in the morning twilight. Or better yet maybe I’ll tell Marty to look for it if he’s up already and wake me up if it’s worth seeing. Ha!!

I ordered 2 photo masks from Snapfish with some of my teddy bears on it. People at work keep telling me I should tie a teddy bear on my face to use as a mask so I figured I’d amuse myself with a bear mask.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, did you get up at 4:45 to see the comet? And I'm glad you survived the Friday Of A Long Holiday Weekend shopping adventure. Nothing will ever beat the time Bill decided we HAD to go to Costco... on Christmas Eve. And the thing he wanted was a totally standard item that we could have gotten any day of the year. I was ready to strangle him by the time we waited through the ridiculous line and made it back to the car!

It was so much fun having my friend over last night! This is only the second time he's done anything social since the beginning of March. The whole time I kept thinking, I sure hope TR and/or I don't have the virus and we unknowingly end up giving it to him!

We cleaned the house up like crazy before he came and it looks GREAT. If only it would stay this way. I'm trying to figure out what to do about decamping to my place. My plan was to do it today, but it's so nice here in the clean house right now I hate to miss out on it! Maybe I'll load up the car tonight and then go into the city in the morning. Or not...

The dryer is buzzing; laundry is a-callin'!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, the trip to Costco on Christmas Eve for a regular old item does not sound fun. Marty doesn't mind shopping on those busy days but definitely told me never again when he went grocery shopping on the day before Thanksgiving. I warned him it was a bad idea.

I didn't get up until 5 and forgot to get binoculars out last night so by the time i was looking it was too bright. If I open my eyes at about 4:45 tomorrow morning I'll try again.

Glad everyone enjoyed the evening with your friend and wow he hasn't done anything social since March. I am confident all of you will be fine and virus free. I saw were the fatality rate has dropped enough the CDC will soon no longer refer to COVID 19 as an epidemic. That will be GREAT news.

Sweet for having a clean house. I would stay there and enjoy it for the day. I have had to dig out the Swifter several times the past few days and it looks like I need to do it again. The worst mess was I bought a pancake mix and after making a batch yesterday morning I was going to put the rest of the dry mix in a small canister. Well since Marty and I don't think alike (shocking) he dumps the entire box in the canister and of course doesn't pay attention to if it's too much for the canister. What a mess!!!! He put coarse ground salt on the steaks he grilled yesterday and there was more of it on the floor than the steaks and today we had tacos and i have no idea what is on the floor over there but I can see something.

I have 3 more books to read in that 11 book series.

I lifted this morning.

Take care.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, I had not seen that the CDC was no longer going to refer to covid as an epidemic. So... they're up/down grading it to "clusterfvck"?! LOL to Marty getting stuff all over. TR does that too, but maybe not to that degree!

I came downtown fairly early yesterday... and didn't really accomplish much. I did try laying out the mosaic that I want to use for my backsplash and found that some are bigger than others. That actually worked OK because there is one spot on the wall that is a tiny bit wider than the others so I can use the "biggest" one there. I'm going to have to use caulk at the edges to perfect it and I watched a bunch of videos on that. TR also mentioned a different kind of cutting tool that what I ordered from Home Depot so I got on the site and ordered that for home delivery (it will come tomorrow). The tool itself was only about 7 bucks so I had to add enough other stuff that it would qualify for home delivery, so that caused me to go all over the house ticking off other things I needed anyway (spackle, small paint rollers, etc.). Unfortunately all that jacking around took me too long and I missed the delivery window for today but I think it will come tomorrow. That's OK, I need to WORK today anyway!

Last night I fell asleep OK... but then I work up at 3:15 and just drifted in and hour until I finally hauled myself out of bed. I hate it when that happens!

Have you looked at the Pier1 going out of business sale BTW? There are some things I would like to get but their prices frankly aren't great -- really no better than when they would have a regular sale... ? Hopefully I remember to keep checking the site and see if prices drop, but so far I'm not hitting the "buy" button.

My kitchen is all cream and stainless and I've been trying to think of how to bring some color in It came to me this morning that one of those big colorful Mexican pottery vases on the counter might be cool. There is a place about an hour from TR that does all sorts of imports like that and maybe I can find something there. I'll save that for a nice day because it's a pretty drive. Unfortunately I can't take Billy Ray because if I do buy anything big it won't fit!

OK, off to finish a big pieces of testing, I'm actually about 3/4 done with it, and then I just need to write it up.

Onward ho!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, what I read said the CDC hasn't changed COVID-19 yet but because of reducing fatalities it will no longer be considered in the range of being an epidemic. Of course they make changes and never annouce them. Go figiure.

Marty is not very tidy in the kitchen - he's too sloppy and I'm too OCD. I'd rather waste paper towels and not clean up a mess to begin with. When we were first married he ate 4 pieces of toast for breakfast everyday. It looked to me like he buttered them vertically over the countertop and moved to the right after buttering each piece. I asked him one time - do you even have any toast left after you are done buttering it? I swear that countertop was nothing but toast crumbs. Now it's eggs for breakfast. He breaks them on the granite countertop so gets egg white on it and doesn't clean it up. Then he drops the shells in the trash he's put in front of him and dribbles eggs down the front of the cupboards. I have a few Gordon Ramsey outbursts at times when I come home and see the kitchen.

Glad to hear the different sized pieces of backsplash will work. Such a pain when you find little differences like that. Darn for missing the window to get your stuff delivered from Home Depot today, but glad it can be there tomrrow. Best you stay inside anyway - holy cow the shootings in Chicago and NYC were HORRID this past weekend. That is so scary and quit a few kids were shot too.

Darn that you didn't sleep well. I keep "thinking" I'll get up about 4:30 to see that comet and don't wake up until about 5 and it's too bright by then. For the last month I've woke up at both 1:30 and 4:00 but NO not this week. I hope you sleep better tonight.

I did see Pier 1 is going out of business. Darn they don't have big mark down yets. All of the stools and chairs in the man cave are from them. I should go see what they have in our local store. I usually find something I want when we go wander around there.

I think a big, colorful pottery vase would really add to your kitchen. Good idea to look for one. Darn you can't take Billy Ray to go look at that import place. I did get an appointment for my oil change / factory maintenance on the Macan. It's next Friday. I picked the 20,000 mile maintenance since I only have 26,000 miles. Not sure if they did it already. I guess if they find something wrong they'll still fix it. Saving my pennys now. I am getting my teeth cleaned Friday and made us both eye exams for August 1st. All of this is months behind so I figured I'djust get them done.

Did you get your testing and write up done?

It's been very quiet at work. My boss was exposed to COVID so he is working from home for 2 weeks. His boss usually hovers when my boss is out but he has the day off. It's been nice.

I brought in the leftovers for 2 tacos for lunch - I was so proud I didn't smash my shells getting them in to the office today. I'm stuffed now though I had more hamburger than I normally put in 2 shells. Oh well, easy supper that way - toast.

Off to do something constructive now.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, my Lexus is due for a 50,000 maintenance. I really read to see this number coming up on the odometer because that's when the warranty runs out and I'm still super nervous about the whole fiasco of breaking down and having to get towed multiple times in November and December. I've hardly driven much since then!

Well... I have to confess that I *may* have done a lot of house stuff and not a lot of work stuff today. My delivery from Home Depot finally came and I set out on a spackling and painting adventure. There are a couple of areas that I need to respackle, sand and paint tomorrow. Ugh. I think after I finish dinner I'm going to try scoring the tile with the glass cutter and see how hard that is to do. If it's "easy" I will be one super happy camper!

TR's childhood best friend's mother is likely to pass away any day now. He'll have to go home to Iowa, so I'll need to decamp here in a hurry. No matter where I am in the house process I'll do that and just pick up again when I come back.

OK, off to see about this tile cutting!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, oh no your Lexus warranty will be running out soon. My Porsche has only 26,500 miles but it's 4 year warranty runs out September 30th. Don't know if I should trade or risk it. What shall we do?

I am sorry to hear about TR's best friend's mother. That is really sad.

Glad you got some spackling and painting done today. Good luck with the tile; I hope the tile cutter works for you. Looking forward to pictures.

I got up at 4:15 and I was definitely rewarded with seeing a naked eye comet. I could see a coma and slight tail naked eye; the comet looked great in binoculars. It even showed up on a picture i took with my cell phone. I hope it continues to hold the same brightness or even gets brighter over the next few weeks. It will be moving in to the evening sky next week and be in darker skies. It will be closest to Earth on the 28th. I recorded it in my tattered observing journal and counted - that is my 33rd comet. Sweet. I am tired but will probably get up again tomorrow.

Work was boring again so I got a lot done - not work mind you - but I'm on book 10 of that 11 book series now.

Marty's mom called today to tell us Marty's brother might have cancer. He is or was a serious smoker and he has always sounded like his lungs weren't in the best shape anyway and frequently sounded like he is coughing up a lung. He has been weak, anemic, part of one lung has collapsed, has COPD and is so weak he can't work for more than a few hours a day. He has a fever at night. They have checked him for COVID twice and did so again today and are running tests for cancer on Friday. I am guessing he is in his late 50's; not sure. I'm bad at ages.

Take care.
Curby

 

[marcy]

See that tiny white dot and hint of a tail? That's it.

 

[marcy]

Here is the comet this morning

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

I got up at 4 am and the comet was better than yesterday. This shot was with my cell phone. That camera is magical. We need to get our DSLR charged and try for a better picture.

I tried to go back to sleep but of course only fell asleep right before my alarm went off.

I met Marty for lunch today and just finishing lifting, That 110.5 pounds I dead lift is really hurting my crooked arthritic fingers on my right hand (my index finger and "message" finger). Marty didn't think a glove would help me. We hope they just adapt.

Off to figure out something easy for supper (only dishes that go in the dishwasher).

Take care.
Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy-yay! I can see the comet! Thanks for getting up and spotting it for me and taking pictures. I don’t get up that early for any reason, unless it’s to go to the bathroom and get right back in bed. I’m so sorry to hear about Marty’s brother. Hopefully it’s better news than they’re probably expecting. Matt is awful in the kitchen too. I have shown him many times how to put things in the dishwasher. He leaves cabinet doors open, empty containers on the table, and a mess everywhere. It’s already time for a new car? I’m about a year behind you, I think.

Dee*Jay-I do need to see your tile handiwork and I’ll probably have questions about those cutting tools. I tried to drag Matt into Lowe’s last weekend to look at tile, but it was too crowded. We tried to go to Sams too, but the line to get in was all the way down the side of the building. Forget that!

Matt pressure washed the deck on Friday, and I decided to do yard work because I felt bad not being able to help with the pressure washing. The landscaper is working out of town, so I got impatient and decided to give everything a good haircut while I waited for him to get back with me. Holy cow, I screwed up my hands. Marcy-crooked index and message fingers for sure! Both hands plus my thumb joints, wrists and elbows. It took nearly 5 full days to be able to stretch out my hands, and wow! They hurt! My left hand is much better, but the knuckles on my right hand are so swollen and sore. I hurt from head to toe when I was finished. I don’t feel like I’m old enough to be this broken down! The key is to pace myself, and I always forget. But hey-I did a fabulous job getting everything trimmed and cut back, if I do say so myself. I will leave the rest to the landscaper. I bet lifting would be hard on your hands. I have discovered painting (as in walls, not art) is also a problem for my fingers. Getting old... Boo!

 

[deegee]

Howdy! Matt and I were wild today. We went grocery shopping and then to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Exciting times! It was our first trip out since the mandatory mask order where masks are required at indoor public places. That doesn’t bother me since I was wearing one anyway! It was 96 today with the heat index in the 100’s, so we walked early and after dark. My right hand was worse today. I didn’t recognize it when I looked at it. Ugh. Tomorrow is my last day working from home, unless that gets moved out again. Our state more than doubled its active cases in less than a week, so getting bumped out again is a possibility. Yay for Friday!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, I don't like to get up early either but I will to see something cool in the sky. And sadly too frequently to visit the little PS room as well. If you have a clear NW horizon the comet will be visible starting next week after sunset.

Marty talked to his brother and it sounds like they are suspecting colon cancer. Scary.

LOL Marty and Matt sound like twins in the kitchen.

I did write my dealer today for an extended warranty; looks like Porsche offers one now - they didn't then 4 years ago. Marty got rather excited today when I mentioned you know my warranty runs out in September.

Sorry to stores were so busy there. It seems like things are really crowded here too. People are sick of staying home I guess.

I hate to hear yard work really messed up your hands. I hate to hear they hurt so bad and take so long to recover. At least your yard looks fabulous with your landscaping. Those same 2 fingers are bad on my left hand but not nearly as bent and crooked. I told Marty when they started bothering me lifting those 2 fingers can cause some of the most intense pain I have. It is heck to get old. I feel it more so every day.

Nice that Matt got the deck power washed. Marty needs to do that and the garage. i should make up a honey ignore list. He still hasn't done the bug spray.

That is HOT there today. We were in the 90's again. You and Matt were wild and crazy going shopping and dining out. I wish we had a cracker barrel.

I hope you get to work from home longer.

This getting up at 4 am is making me tired. I go back to bed but it takes a while to go back to sleep. The comet moves to the evening sky early next week but there is no way I'll be able to see it from our house. Bummer.

I started my day at the dentist. They have changed their policy recently in that you can go in to the waiting room (masked and social distancing) if it is already your appointment time. Before they were calling you on your cell phone to come in and go straight to your room. The dental hygienist wore a plastic jacket, a mask and a face shield. The only thing they do different is they won't spray the water in your mouth to rinse it out since it splashes. Since they have to clean between clients the appointments get behind quickly.

After the dentist I ventured to the grocery store. We are having a couple over tomorrow for supper and cards. I totally figured out to to keep it pretty safe. Our table is about 4.5 x 9 feet so we'll set at one corner to eat and they can set at the other corner. I didn't buy any snack food to put out at all. It took me a while but I came up with a safe way to play cribbage. One person will run the scoreboard. We will all have our own deck of cards and turn over 4 cards at a time for our next hand. One person will have another deck of cards to turn over for the bonus card we all can use. We'll forget the crib. Marty's poker table is pretty big so we can all take a side and be good there. I think I'll fold some paper towels up for the guest bathrooms so community towels won't get used. That's probably as safe as I can make it. We are having tenderloins, asparagus, potatoes and mini cheesecake.

I enjoyed my day off of work. I met Marty for lunch again and informed him how lucky he was to have lunch with me 2 days this week.

I did amuse myself tonight while making Bing cherry compote for the cheesecake; I told my friend coming to dinner tomorrow it took me forever to chew up all of those cherries to spit out the pits. I actually wore some food prep gloves; what a mess but at least my fingers aren't stained.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-that’s a great idea for your cribbage game. You can definitely pull that off. Have fun! And your menu sounds delicious. Too funny about the bing cherries! Your friends will be eyeing their cheesecakes suspiciously. While they’re in season, mom usually adds them to fruit salads and I always think it has to be such a pain to pit those things for a fruit salad. They’re so good though. I bought some last night.

You made me check my next dentist appointment. It’s August 14 at 8am. They start at 7, so they’ll likely already be behind. I didn’t think about the water. Sheesh.

I know what you mean about the sharp finger pain. My very important message finger has felt like an electric shock has gone through it a few times this week. I have to get it rested up for when start driving regularly again. Do you take any kind of arthritis medicine? The dr has prescribed different things over the years because of my spine, but nothing seems to help and I usually get the pleasure of experiencing the side effects. I have what amounts to a high dose of ibuprofen for flare ups, and pain medicine if it’s really bad. Being able to take good walks helps manage it. I think I’ve been feeling worse because I haven’t been walking like I should. The heat and the rain are getting me.

I’ll have to take a picture tomorrow of my view to the NW. You’ll laugh and tell me not to get out of bed for the comet. Glad you had an enjoyable day off. Marty IS lucky to enjoy your company for lunch.

As expected, my return to work date has been pushed out. WV now has the highest transmission rate in the country. Not the direction we want to go! They didn’t give a new date for us but those of us who have not been ok’d to go back are completely able to do our jobs from home, so I guess there’s no hurry. I made homemade pizza for dinner and cherry cobbler for dessert. Canned pie filling...not the good stuff like Marcy made! Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy rainy Saturday kids!

Curby, I'm loving all the comet pics! Too bad you won't be able to see it in the evening. And what a great solution for your dinner and cribbage with friends! See -- social distancing CAN be figured out and people CAN still have a good time. It's just not rocket science, and yet too many people are aren't doing it. Uh.

Deegee, congrats on getting all that outside work done! I hear you (and Curby) on the hand thing. I've go Dupuytren's contracture at the base of the pinky and ring finger on my right hand. It's hereditary and seems to have been pretty stable for several years now, but eventually it could get worse. My doctor said I don't have to do anything about it until I can't lay my hand and fingers flat on a table. I get occasional pain if I overdue stuff, but not enough to make me want to have surgery at this point!

The Tile Project... It turned out 80% ok. I need to redo the bottom two rows (it's mosaic) in front of the sink, which I'm sure will be a HUGE pain in the a$$ even though it's really a small area, and will also require redoing the caulk right there. Oh well, now I know better what I'm doing. Live and learn, right?! I don't want to post pics now, but I will once I fix it (whenever that is...). So my three days in the city turned into two days of house stuff and not a lot of work -- which was THE POINT. I ended up decamping back up north on Wednesday night because of that, and also because there was a lot of rain in the forecast starting Thursday and I didn't want to drive Billy Ray with his wide shallow tread tires in wet weather. Even though i didn't get as much done as I wanted on Thursday back here at the house I did one HUGE piece of testing yesterday, start to finish, and now I've only got three questions for the finance folks.

Today TR is off at an auction and one of our friends is getting 40 goats -- you read that right: FORTY GOATS!!! -- on their property for a week to eat all sorts of underbrush, including a lot of poison ivy. Well OF COURSE I need to go and see these goats!!! The arrival was already delayed this morning because of a lightening warning, but hopefully this will pass quickly and we can go over after lunch. I'm so ridiculously excited about this, LOL!

Between now and then I'm going to work on the Annual Review some more since I've got a lot of testing done that just needs to get written up. I had a moment of Absolute. Panic. when I tried to get into the file this morning and it was "gone." I tried a few different things with the same results. Eventually I figured out that my VPN connection had dropped and therefore it wasn't reading the drive. O.M.G. I damn near had to go pour myself a water glass of whiskey when that happened!!!

Alright, off to swap some laundry from the washer to the dryer, and then annnnnnnual revvvvvvview... !

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee I am a total fan of bing cherries; I wish they were in season year round.

I hope your 7 am dentist appointment means you are first in line for the day. Next appointment I’m dreading is my oil change. Joy.

I literally “sort of” feel your finger pain. I hope your finger is up to driving soon. That’s great walking helps you but hate to hear you get side effects from pain meds. Heat and rain definitely don’t help either. I was on anti-inflammatory medicine for about 5 years but my body quit tolerating them, they initially made me sick then started giving me severe abdominal pain. The last one I tried was Meclomen and I broke out from head to toe in a rash - it was so bad it looked like burns and the itching for about 10 days was awful. I take aspirin regularly and take ibuprofen when I need something more and hope for the best.

Sounds like you’ll be home for a while. Is the death rate going up there too or just cases?

Pizza and cherry cobbler sound great!!

Dee Jay, I have been enjoying the comet but that 4 am crap sure caught up with me yesterday. Glad it’s moving to the evening sky. I’ll probably have to cruise down the road to see the comet in the evening but I’ll certainly do that a few times.

I had to go look up your finger condition and I hope it doesn’t progress to the point you need surgery or have more trouble with it. You never know how much you use your hand or certain fingers until they hurt.

Well darn you have to redo some of the tile over but you will be faster at it now that you have done it before. Oh well you didn’t get much work done while decamping. Yay for getting a big piece of your testing done though.

Did you get to see the goats? The city moves goats and or cows around town to eat down the weeds. Works pretty well and it is kiind of fun to see them.

I am so glad your missing file was only because your VPN dropped; I’d be drinking whiskey too if I lost something that was so important and took so much of my time.

We had a good weekend. Yesterday Marty went hiking in the morning so I did laundry and got things out for our dinner with friends. I went and got Arby’s for lunch and read in the afternoon. Dinner and cards went well. The “new” cribbage went okay but the vote 3 to 1 after one complete round was play the game as we usually do. Either way it was still fun. Marty shuffled and dealt for me since my fingers are so sore.

Today I finished up dishes from last night and lifted. Marty picked up lunch for us from Culver’s on his way home from the gym. We also had a mini cheesecake since I had some cherries left.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-goats!! I love them! Many times I’ve told Matt we need them to take care of the very steep hill behind our house. I don’t think the HOA would approve. Haha! Did you get to see them? My mom had surgery on both her hands for Dupuytren's contracture many years ago, and is having trouble with fingers on her right hand again. I don’t blame you for not wanting to have surgery. That should always the last resort.

Marcy-the reaction you had to that medicine sounds HORRIBLE! It’s been 22 years since my accident, and I’ve just learned to live with it. When I have flare ups, I always think, we’ll this is it. This is me forever now, but then the flare up calms down and I get back to what I’m used to. I’m glad you had a good evening with friends! Matt and I played cribbage this evening, and I asked him to shuffle for me since my fingers hurt. Glad you mentioned it because dippy me probably wouldn’t have thought of it! Our death rate hasn’t gone up, but the number of cases more than doubled in less than a week and hospitalizations nearly tripled. The state COVID dr said they expected the numbers to go up, but we need to manage it and buy more time for hospital capacity. We’re a small, poor state with an older and unhealthy population, and it wouldn’t take much to overwhelm us.

We had a very relaxing weekend staying in. Pre-pandemic days, we never ever ate in on any weekend night. It’s funny that we’re now cooking in and don’t even think about it. Today was Matt’s birthday, & we made steak, baked potatoes, salad and fresh (bakery) bread. We didn’t make it to the store for a cake mix, so we made ourselves tasty ice cream sundaes and ate them on the deck. We have become such homebodies! I am on day 4 of taking my souped up ibuprofen and I increased my turmeric dose. My fingers still hurt but the swelling has mostly gone down and I can make loose fists. I’m happy for any improvement. I’m off to bed. The weekend went entirely too fast!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee the goat would work great on your steep hill. Good idea. Darn those HOA rules. I am starting to think ours is a waste of money and a PITA.

I have always had problem tolerating medicine and told the doctor those pills were making me sick. He insisted I need to be on them so they started switching them around to see if I tolerated one better than the other. After that horrible rash I said I’m done. Not going to take them. I totally get the flare ups, is this it? That’s my right knee. We are touch and fighters, right? We will be fine. Glad you had Matt deal and shuffle for you. Who won?

Sorry the numbers are rising there for COVID. I thinks the COVID numbers and stories are so skewed and distorted it’s hard to believe any of them. We get tougher restrictions for less deaths? Our state has 17 people in the hospital most not even in the ICU. Like my boss said if wearing masks and shutting things down worked how did it ever get out of China? Good point! If we heard the numbers daily for influenza we’d probably all be concerned as well. Numbers are high but percentages are not yet they aren’t presented that way. I’m ready to go day to what I called my normal life.

Glad your hands are doing better. Happy Birthday to Matt. Your dinner sound great. I heard yesterday they have single serving microwave cakes. I know they have muffins like that. I’ll have to try one sometime. Mmm cake. Of course ice cream is delicious too. That’s nice you are enjoying cooking at home. We are doing more of that ourselves but I miss dinner out.

Not much new with me. Finished book 11 of the 13 series. I swear they just keep me interested. Worked in the office yesterday and today. We had some thunderstorms roll through and dropped out temperatures 30 degrees yesterday. I was really gimpy walking out yesterday and this very nice man rushed outside and offered to go get my car door open for me. That cold rain was pelting both of us but I really appreciated his help. I was able to find the comet last night from my light polluted front porch using binoculars. Marty saw it naked eye this morning again. From our deck we don’t see a lot of lights. I work from home tomorrow and Thursday then head to Colorado Friday for an oil change. I am hesitant to go anywhere down there. They are having protests many of them blocking roads. My bright blue Porsche sticks out like a sore thumb. I know it’s not like some of the big cities with lots of crime going on but I sure don’t want to run in to anything.

Take care
Marcy / Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I am with you on the numbers thing. Just what I know from my area, the data is unreliable. Our state health officer was forced to resign because of inconsistencies with the data she was reporting to the gov. Upon being questioned during a press conference, the Secretary of DHHR admitted they had discovered false positives in certain areas (like nearly 100% positive rate), so they retested everyone, then did a third test on those with a positive and negative, and came out with overwhelmingly negative results. Yesterday the huge news headline said our county had alarming numbers over the weekend. You really had to dig, but it was 37 positives over 3 days out of 1500 tests in a county with 200,000 people. My sisters coworker got a call from the health dept that she was positive, and she had never been tested. The mother of one of my nieces friends worked in a building where someone tested positive, so they made everyone and their families get tested. My nieces friend tested positive and it made the news that a teenager tested positive and they closed all school practices for 2 weeks. She got retested immediately...negative. Tested immediately again...negative. Was this on the news? Nope! Did they reverse the no practice thing? Nope! I watched a press conference with our county health officer, and later the news reported exactly the opposite of what she said. I even had Matt go back and watch it and then read the article just to make sure I was’t being dense. I could go on...So I have serious doubts about these numbers! I will distance (I don’t like people anyway) and I have no problem wearing a mask in public indoor places, but I really hope things don’t start getting closed again. Sorry to rant.

I’m also with you on the medicine. I was in physical therapy for about two years after my wreck, so lots of doctor visits then. Once I graduated from PT and still had to keep going to the dr to try different medicines, I said forget it! I decided long ago that I wasn’t going to live that way as long as I could do okay on my own. I think it makes us stronger as we go! I’m on the last day of the anti-inflammatory. I can go about a week before I start noticing side effects and I don’t want to push it. I don’t blame you a bit for stopping the meds after a bad rash. That would be miserable.

What series did you say you we’re reading? The next book I need in the In Death series and the last book in the Harriet Blue series are both checked out, so I have holds on them. I have holds on 2 other books too. I guess everybody is reading these days. And BTW-I crushed Matt the first round of cribbage, he won big the second, and we were neck & neck the third. He won, but only because he got to count first. That was really nice of someone to help you in the rain. It means a lot when people go out of their way. I don’t blame you for not wanting to go near any possible protests. I don’t know how I’d react if something bad happened. I see me panicking.

Not much to report today. I took an hour of vacation this morning to sleep a little more. I took my sleeping pill too late last night and couldn’t wake up! I should tell my boss there was a traffic jam on my way to work. You know, a cat stretched out in the doorway. Matt and I went to the park for a good walk after work. It was steamy hot, but our entire walk was in the shade. Yesterday our walk in the park was miserable and I was afraid we’d all pass out. I can’t get up early like dee*jay to walk. I am NOT a morning person! Have a great Wednesday!

 

[marcy]

Deegee, that is crazy about all the false reports and tests there. Sadly, I think that is going on everywhere. Seems like the politicians want to shut everything down again. I was just reading online that a local news channel in Orlando has a story that the numbers in Florida were like 10 times over reported - things like 100% of those tested were positive - yet that place only tested one person. Hospitals said they had 98% positive cases then had to revise their numbers down to 9.4%. A Veteran's Medical Center said they had 76% positive cases that turned out to be 6%. The original numbers were reported but the corrected ones just slip under the radar. I know Colorado, Pennsylvania and Washington all had to reduce their number of deaths because they weren't COVID related. Our 3rd local fatality occurred here last week and our local news said a 63 year old man with no underlying health conditions died from COVID. One of Marty's clients knew the guy and he worked with asbestos for over 40 years. The America I know doesn't stay home and cower in fear, we face things head on and deal with them. Rant away lady; I'm right there with you. I also am a natural at social distancing; I kind of enjoy it. I listened to a video last night about masks. She tests and regulates PPE and pointed out operating rooms are controlled environments that pump in extra air / oxygen so those wearing medical masks still get the proper amount of air. She sad they wear masks to protect the patient from them coughing, sneezing or spitting on them in surgery. The N95 masks stops anything from 3 microns or above from coming in or going out, the COVID particle is .125 microns so it would get through anyway. She tests things for OSHA and said that OSHA has always had regulations (may be unique to states I don't know) that any business requiring employees wear a mask MUST have the employee tested to see if they can medically handle wearing a mask. The carbon monoxide you breathe back in can cause heart attacks. She also said the cloth masks don't protect you or anyone else. My logical brain just keeps crying foul. I also just complained to Marty i thought by now I'd be able to go to Denver and get a new sapphire - I know real world problems NOT.

That's good you know when to cut off the anti inflammatory medicine. I'm like you I'd rather just tough it out. I started on Clinoril then went to Naprosyn then tried a few more before that massive reaction. I itched so bad I could hardly stand it. My temperature shot up too.

The series i am reading is the Jack Noble series by L.T. Ryan. I can usually kind of predict who done it but he is always finding himself in a mess and someone he cares about is at risk or gets killed.

That's good you and Matt came out even on cribbage. I am sometimes really lucky at it and Marty isn't amused.

I think a cat stretched out in the doorway counts as a traffic jam. It's good you got to sleep in though.

I hope you take a "cool" walk tomorrow and I'm not a morning person either.

Laters,
Marcy