Just need to talk to my friends (223)

NannyG55

Good Afternoon Porch Friends!

I’m reading every couple of days but no time to post.
Here’s a short update from North Alabama :

The hurricane no one can pronounce changed course but gave us a bit of much needed rain.

Homeschooling has evolved to include cooking and caretaking for Aunt J and Uncle R. Little Man loves them so. And they dote on him and fuss at me if I correct him 😂 And, he’s very proud of the cupcakes he delivers. We go deliver on the golf cart.

Aunt J is in the hospital with her second brain bleed in 6 weeks and Uncle R has a tonsil biopsy tomorrow for cancer and is in the middle of a work up for an aortic aneurysm that is huge.

Today I am on my way to Arlington to inurn my late father in law and his final service.

The goats are fine, dogs are fine and chickens are still laying.

God is good, we are blessed and you each are in my prayers. Is it too much to sayI love you all? Because I do ❤️

NannyG55

Lorita

Beth, I saw that episode of Jeopardy. I had never seen that happen before either.

If you want fairly casual, wear well and well fittiing, pretty clothing watch Denim & Co. On QVC. I have worn their .clothes for 31 yesrs. In fact, most of my clothes are Denim &Co. They're pretty much my style, wear and wash well and are comfortable. One of their regular two hour shows is on Tuesday from 9-11 here. Channel 70 on Directv. You can order and have 30 days to return if you don't like the or want different size or color.

We had a little over an inch of rain this afternoon - no wind. Sunny now. I transplanted Bee Balm from our meadow years ago and they came back a few years.but with spraying most of our wild flowers are gone.

Lorita

Think about this — 400 beautiful trees, some maybe as old as our Country- cut down for a golf course. Some of the tree trunks were massive. What a shameful thing. I hate to lose one tree - cannot imagine cutting down 400.

Iris L.

I had started wearing my winter pj's but now it's gotten warm again, so back to summer pj's.

Good night.

Iris

GothicGremlin

Beth and HB - I can't carry off a French tuck. Billowy things (even when tucked) just billow around me. It's one of the hazards of being five feet tall. I might be able to pull it off with a t-shirt - but if they're no longer a thing, then I'm good.

And - no one has ever accused me of being a fashion plate. 🙂 I'm good at gothic looks, but not so great with regular clothes. My go-to for everyday wear is a sweater and yoga pants.

HB - I'm impressed by your son! IKEA anything is a mystery to me, and Death Metal (or metal, in general) is not my favorite genre. Does your son know Sunn O)))? (yep, I spelled it correctly). They're metal, sometimes classified as "dark ambient", but they're metal. They're kind of interesting. I only know of them because my much younger cousin gave me some of their music to listen to.

Is your DH's former employer trying to move people into Medicare Advantage?

Beth and Lorita - I've never seen a tie like that on Jeopardy! That's kind of exciting.

Nanny - So good to "see" you! I'm glad all is well in your very busy world. I'll think positive thoughts for your aunt and uncle.

Lorita - I'm with you about the trees. 🙁

I guess my eye exam went well today. My eyes are still healthy except for the cataracts. I didn't realize that contact lenses will mess up the eye measurements, so because of that I'll need to do the final scan on Monday. They want a full week without contacts. The rest of the scans were fine.

On Monday when I go back in, we'll set up the time for the surgery. It turns out that you can get one eye done on one day, and the next eye done on the second day. If all goes well with the first eye, I plan on doing the next one the next day. I'm definitely springing for the astigmatism enhancement. I'm on the fence about the multi-focal lenses, but I'm leaning toward it. If all goes well, I might be able to have this done by the end of the month.

And Beth - I can't do any exercises, except walking (not running) on the treadmill. Absolutely no boxing or kickboxing. No sit-ups … really no nothing. I only have to refrain from that for about a week. Then they'll check me out and see where I am.

GothicGremlin

I almost forgot! They let me look at all of the scans, and I found the topographical map of my eyes really interesting. Here's a page on it. So cool. Maybe you've all seen that before, but it was new to me, so I got excited.

harshedbuzz

Good morning. Sunny and warmish today; we'll have rain tomorrow. Leaves are approaching peak color. Of course, you can barely see them for all of the political signs along the roads. Yesterday, PennDot sent a couple of trucks to clear out some intersections as things had gotten out of hand. I live in a swing county (PA District 1) in a swing state about a mile south of where things start to bleed purple. We get a lot of attention.

Lorita— Jubilee TV is an interesting product. It's sold to older people as a way for their adult children/grands assist with complicated TV broadcast, cable and streaming options and sold to those "kids" as a way to spy on grandma. A win/win in my book.

I just found out that mom's ISP offers a motion detection through some of their modems as part of their internet service. This could save me a lot of angst. Mom would not allow the intrusion of me "dropping in" via some sort of camera (and I'm not there either) but knowing she's up and moving around would probably be more effective at lowering my BP than any medication I take when she doesn't answer either phone. I'm planning to set this up once I get a breather.

I'm sorry about the trees and the golf course. It does seem preferable to the solar farms and data centers except for the runoff from chemicals used to groom them. I am always a little surprised anyone is still building golf courses. I mean, who has that kind of time? Where I live, builders of course were extended certain tax breaks as courses put a lower burden on school districts and municipal services than housing does.

Iris— I remember my grandmother having an opener like that but mostly we all used the ancient Swing-a-Way mounted on the wall in her pantry. That things was like the Jaws-of-Life. Jars and screw tops are my nemeses. I went a couple rounds with a new bottle of Tide yesterday. Oof.

Beth— I like your new term— Life Gym. Membership fees (the house and garden) are a little steep.

I hope your plants do well. Trillium are my crazy aunt's favorite and she had them around the pond at her camp in Maine.

Nanny G— I hope your travels to Arlington go well. It seems like you've been waiting to close this loop for so very long. My bestie's brother's ashes are at Arlington; she said the ceremony was very moving and was glad she attended.

I love that your little pupil gets to visit with your aunt and uncle. That's so good for all of them. Two of the Quaker CCRC near me have very nice day care programs onsite that offer interaction between the generations which is pretty cool.

Gothic G— DS did not know of that band (but he said he'd check it out).

Ironically, the former employer is offering a chance to move from a MAP to traditional with Medigap and Part D which is a good thing. I know there's a lot of hate (justifiably) on MAPs but the one we're losing was great. The NJ Retired Teachers one mom has is excellent. At any rate, I've never had to think about this stuff and it's hard to plan when you can't know what the future holds. It was kind of funny to hear DH's colleagues (A bunch of PhD scientists) grumbling about drinking from a fire hose after the information meeting.

That's pretty cool that you have the option to do your surgeries a day apart. DH had his 2 weeks apart and he was at loose end visually for about 2 weeks which made reading (his pastime) more of a challenge. I do remember the ban on physical exertion especially around lifting things. I freaked out because DH picked up some stomach bug and have violent vomiting the night of his first surgery and I was convinced the effort would impact his outcome. It didn't. My dad (El Cheapo) didn't think mom needed her astigmatism addressed through $$$ lenses so she didn't. She has regretted since. The first thing she did after he died was go out and get the dental implants, he always said she didn't need because she was "going to die soon".

Cool imaging. It's like a topographical map of your eyeball.

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DS wrapped up his first course and starts clinicals on Monday at 6:30. We managed to get the hemostat, bandage scissors, and notebook he needed. I got a watch at Costco, but it's so tricky neither of us could figure out how to set it. It works through an app even though it isn't a true smart watch. The instructions offer a QR code to set it up, but the link is broken. Entering the URL brings me to a site written in Japanese with an option to translate which gives a 504 error code. It's going back to Costco. We ended up with a Timex from Amazon. We still need a lab coat/jacket. The store was out of his size.

DH is getting a permanent crown this morning and a couple fillings replaced. When he gets home, I take mom to the pulmo/sleep specialist and then the Doctor of Optometry for a vision check. Her retina specialist wants to see if new glasses improve her vision. If the prescription changed, she'll want to get new glasses, so we'll go to the optician after.

I hope all have a pleasant one.

HB

Lorita

Afternoon,not meaning offense to anyone who might wear/like front or side tucks - to me it looks like you dressed in too much of a hurry to finish dressing correctly. I would never tuck- I prefer longer tops so front tucking defeats that.

GG, did they dilate your eyes? How long did that last? As far as I.know around here they do one eye and the other two weeks later.Did they scan both eyes yesterday? I have some astigmatism so guess I would need that correction. What is the multi-focal lens and is that something the doctor recommends? I'm going to ask you a lot.of questions along the way so hope you won't mind.

The weather must said Hinton, Okla. Has had 11" of rain. When I.checked yesterday we had about 1.25"- not sure about last night. Supposed to be about 48 in the morning.

Need to stop and trim toenails for Stormy and I.

Iris L.

Good morning.

Another beautiful day in SoCal.

Iris

jfkoc

Here…..

Lorita

My nails are trimmed and filed and Stormy's trimmed.Looks like one set of dewclaws weren't trimmed last time at the vets. Glad that's done. Boy, they grow fast.

Glad you're having a pretty day, Iris. Nice here- 72 degrees. Tomorrow supposed to.be in the 50s- almost time to break out the thermals.

Carl, did you get much rain?

Ron, hope you're feeling much better by today. Let us know.

Sandy, talked to our Election Board. If you are incapacitated or a caregiver you don't need to have the ballot notarized, otherwise, you do.

Carl46

Lorita, we had the same storm you had and got about the same amount of rain. Had a few twigs with leaves blown down but no damage so far as I know. It's 73 and mostly cloudy today, and is expected to be chilly tomorrow and over the weekend. Back to 80 by Wednesday, so we're in whipsaw season. Sweaters one day, T-shirts the next. Or better, wear layers. Weather around here is just like a box of chocolates.

I received a text that the shingles to repair the April 25 hailstorm damage will be delivered to my roof November 16. Some of my friends are still dealing with damaged siding and roofs and gutters, and I still see cars on the street with cracked windshields and plastic covering the rear window openings. I don't know if they were uninsured and didn't have the money for repairs or if their windshields are still on order. We need to get all squared away so we'll be ready for April again. I lost trees in April 2025 and a roof and car in April 2026, no telling what April 2027 will bring.

jfkoc

Lorita…instructions for absentee ballots are online. It says you must have 2 witness signatures.

Nanny…thanks for the update

GothicGremlin

HB - The Jubilee TV instinctively makes the privacy advocate in me die a little. But I totally get it. And, I allowed motion cams in Peggy's room in memory care (to detect falls), for all the same reasons as you with the TV. Being able to remotely check on vulnerable people is a good thing.

The eye imaging is very cool. We've come a long way.

Lorita - they did dilate my eyes. They used a half percent solution instead of a full percent. They said that half is just as good as the full percent, and the effects don't last as long. And it was true. The effects lasted maybe an hour or so?

The eye exam itself was much like any other eye exam, except there were a couple of other specialized machines that I hadn't seen before, like the one that gives you a topographical layout of the eye.

About the astigmatism - mine is really bad … I don't know how bad yours is, but if it's not that bad, you might want to skip it. I think it depends on how you feel about wearing glasses. If you don't care about that, you can get just the cataract removal, which removes the cloudy lens, but you'll need readers, and you may need glasses for distance.

The multi-focal lens corrects for astigmatism, plus it corrects for distance vision and near vision. Supposedly, you won't have to wear glasses at all. My cousin told me (and the doctor told me) that with multi-focal lenses there's a risk of having halos. They also both told me that the halos decrease over time.

As far as I know, medicare covers the basic cataract removal, and there's no cost to you. Correcting for the astigmatism isn't covered, and costs around $2,500 per eye. The multi-focal lenses aren't covered either and cost around $3,000 - $3,500 per eye.

I haven't decided if I want the multi-focal ones yet or not, but for sure I'm getting rid of that astigmatism.

So that's what I know so far. I'll know more on Monday afternoon.

Ask me anything, I don't mind.

harshedbuzz

Good morning.

Lorita— Medicare pays for a basic one-size-fits all kind of lens which typically corrects distance vision if needed. Anything else is an upcharge. My DH picked the "freebies" because he has always worn glasses and would probably feel naked without. He got a new prescription since his first post-cataract extraction glasses, and he did have a change which makes me wonder now about the multifocals. My late BIL got the multifocals (ER doc before that he wore trifocals for work) but always had those reading glasses that snap together at the bridge around his neck.

Carl— "Whiplash weather" is spot on. We had a whiplash day yesterday. It was warmish and muggy when I left to take mom to the pulmo around noon. By the time we got to the eye doctor, the humidity was gone and there was a refreshing breeze. By the time I got home to collect the boys to go out to the local pub for burgers it was chilly enough that DS heeded my advice to put on long pants. He was resistant at first but did a U-turn on the front step.

I think sometimes side windows can take some time to come it. My neighbor drove around with various tarps and cardboard panels in the side window of his minivan for about 6 months. Based on what he spends on lawn care, the number of bags his wife hauls home from TJMaxx, and the many visits from the Amazon trucks they could afford the repair. Still, since April seems awfully long. When my old neighborhood was destroyed by hurricane remnants, a lot of my neighbors really struggled (I know DH and I did, too) and a few turned to benzos which kind of got in the way of getting back to normal.

Gothic G— I don't have the Jubilee at mom's house. I don't have it in me to surveil her. It's a shame because being able to control her TV remotely would be useful given her tech adverse nature, tremor and poor vision. Poor thing can't even work the "on demand" features of her cable box and loves some streamed content on Netflix and YouTube.

The Comcast Xfinity modems can interconnect via Bluetooth and detect movement which is about as invasive as I'm willing to be. One of the hardest parts of dad's dementia, for me, was having to get all up in my parents' business. Ten years on, it still feels icky. That said, mom has had a couple of hospitalizations where her roomie was an elderly lady who fell at home and was on the floor for over 24 hours.
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I found out at the pulmo's office that mom isn't using her bi-pap. I knew she was having trouble removing the humidifier reservoir a couple months ago but assumed we'd resolved it with a new part. The doc wasn't all that concerned, but he's scheduled her for another sleep study. We opted to do the at-home version which means we're having a sleepover and then a follow-up appointment. That should happen some time next week.

The eye appointment went pretty well. I took her to the young woman I see. I'd looped her in about mom's AMD w/GA and the treatment she's doing. The doc's grandmother has the same and will be starting so she was very interested to hear how mom was doing. The doc also shared some low vision resources that are only a few miles from me. I've been there before— they have the best thrift store in the area and I've work with a couple scouts on Eagle Projects with them— but I didn't know they had help for mom.

Pizza night here. Dough is rising but I'll need to run to the grocery store later from some spinach and mushrooms for me. The boys will do pepperoni. I'm meeting friends for Thai at a byob tomorrow, so I'll need some kind of beer to go with my spicy noodles.

My bestie and her people are all sick. I wouldn't wait on flu shots. It's among us.

For those following the saga of my student nurse—

While we were in the waiting room at the pulmo, DS sent me a text "I'm going to need a BP cuff". The old school kind. Evidently, it's the hospital he'll be training in that is making the requests not the college. I made a mad dash between lungs and eyes to the scrub store where I got the last plain black one. The rest of the cuffs had prints that my DS would have deemed "girly". His watch is out for delivery. Fingers crossed it's simple to use. I still need to take the other back to Costco.

HB

Iris L.

Good morning.

The weather is warm with clear skies and somewhat breezy.

This month is National Pasta Month and tomorrow is National Pasta Day. I think I'll have spaghetti!

Yesterday was the Great California ShakeOut Day, to prepare people for earthquakes. I didn't know about it and missed it, although 11 million people did participate in schools, businesses and on transit. The advice of standing in a doorway is obsolete, now we are supposed to drop, cover and hold.

The ShakeAlert Early Warning is functional in California, Oregon and Washington, and will expand to Nevada soon. The last big earthquake was in 1994, the 6.7 Northridge quake.

An autopsy was done on Jackie, the eagle. It turns out she had highly pathogenic avian influenza, aka bird flu. This is usually seen in waterfowl and shore birds. The flu had caused a bleeding ulcer which caused her anemia. She also had developed bacterial sepsis and blood clots, so she was a very sick bird. She did have some rat poison in her body, but the vets believe it was not contributory to her death. Due to the infectious nature of her illness, her remains were cremated and not distributed to Native Americans.

Iris

jfkoc

We have been weather whiplashed here too!

HB…I have never ussed the water tank on my cpap. It really is a lot of trouble.

Lorita

It's 58, cloudy and windy here. I have on a fleece jacket. Will need to get my.propane tank filled next week.

Thanks for the call, Sandy. Much appreciated and always good to talk with you. Good luck in filling out a new wardrobe- that should be fun.

I thought Billy's foot was much improved.but he's limping today so gave him more medicine.

I have a loaf of bread baking in the bread machine and an angel food cake in the oven so better stop and check on them.

Carl46

It's chilly here in SW MO, low 50s and 15 mph breeze from the NW all day. I'm having a taco bowl for dinner with shredded chicken, rice, beans, and corn plus spices. Not bad for a cool, cloudy day.

Cowboy complained to me today that the woman he's been seeing wasn't at the sr ctr as he expected. He suspects she was out spending the money he gave her and also suspects her various stories (like her alleged heart attack) are less than true. I suspect he might be right. She looks about ten years older than her stated age, for one thing. Not my problem. I have several female friends, but our relationships are of the kind in which no money changes hands.

GothicGremlin

Carl - Maybe Cowboy has met his match? 🙂

HB - Obviously I'm right there with you (re surveillance). I had huge issues taking over Peggy's finances. It was the right thing to do, but I always felt a little queasy about it. And like I said, only motion cams in her room, no actual cameras, like some had. I hear you on the ick factor, even now.

Iris - National pasta month!? And here I am still on the ABCs (until Thanksgiving). Oh, well. We always have spaghetti for Christmas, so I won't miss out. My sauce will cook for 5 or 6 hours.

The weather today was 74 degrees! Summer's last gasp. Everyone in the gym was talking about it, as in - "go outside and enjoy it!" It gets substantially cooler tomorrow, and it'll rain tonight.

I talked to Peggy's friend D today (core Team Peggy). I'm so worried about her. She had another TIA over the weekend. She's still slurring her words a bit. This marks #5 by my count.

Other than that, it's been a pretty quiet, yet sunny, day.

Iris L.

GG, does spaghetti squash count as pasta?

Many households in my town have a lot of enthusiasm for October 31st. Tomorrow will be the Howl-o-Ween Festival for dogs to dress up and prance around.

Here is a house with guests.

A good time was had by all!

Temp=97 today.

Iris

Lorita

Iris, to me, that is beyond creepy. Halloween has never been a favorite holiday for me but is to many.people. I think I have heard more money is spent for that holiday than most others. As Karen would have said."whatever floats your boat". Good night, everyone.

GothicGremlin

OMG! Those skeletons are so great! I especially love the DJ skeleton with his sunglasses. I guess the only song he can possibly be playing is Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo. 😄

BethL

Iris, thanks for sharing the skeleton party! Pretty cool! There are several houses around here that have those tall, maybe 8 or 10 feet tall big skeletons who hold a leash with a skeleton dog. Also a few have skeletons sitting on their porches on a bench. Our neighbor's pickup has a full size skeleton across the front of it.

Lorita

it's 47 degrees and sunny, no wind. I had to find something warmer to wear. Turned on the bathroom stove for the first time this year. Max was ready. Supposed to be 80 by midweek.

jfkoc

OKC is decorated to the hilt too…

Lorita

Iris, poor Jackie. With all that was wrong with her it a wonder she made it as long as she did. Hurts to think how much she suffered but still took care of her little ones. Has Shadow found another mate?

Zetta, so awful what happened in your old hometown. I can't imagine what could make someone do something so awful.

harshedbuzz

Thanks for sharing, @Iris L.. Skellies rule the day around these parts as well. The neighborhood seems split between young families with ghosts, goblins, spiders and skeletons and empty nesters with tasteful tin fall decor. I have a mere holiday tablecloth and 80 full-sized candy bars. Is there a Halloween version of "Bah, humbug"?

My favorite is a family on one of the backroads who have their big RV parked along with road with a family of skeletons sitting around a campfire.

I'm laying low today. DH and I have dinner with friends at a Thai place tonight.

I managed to pull off a rare trifecta on Monday. Mom sees her endo, psych and cardiologist. I'll sleep over to do her sleep study and then run her to the lab for a fasting blood draw. Thursday, she sees the dentist and maybe the optician for new glasses. She hasn't decided if she wants to bother; her prescription hasn't changed much, and her vision is so poor it probably won't improve things drastically.

Be well.
HB

Iris L.

Good morning. GG, this article about Goth plants is for you. Go to page C 6 to read the article about "Goth gardens".

Press-Telegram https://share.google/vKTDLen9mghkltDWy

Iris