Cut Loose in Everyday Ramblings

It is Friday afternoon, and I just recently received an email about the work on my outside wall…

“I am writing to inform our residents that there has been a delay in the exterior repairs scheduled (at my address) due to some additional City requirements. I am currently working to form a new repair schedule and will let you know as soon as it is set and what to expect.”

At least I have finally given up on sequestering the cats when I go out and they are happy about that. One of my students did tell me that permitting has become a nightmare lately. Everyone is having problems getting their projects going and completed.

Things did most certainly change during the pandemic. We are not going back to the way things were. It is all these subtle shifts that are maddening. Considering what happened to the building codes in Turkey, I suppose in the long term I could choose to be happy that there is oversight. It is just that I would like my wall back, here in the coldest part of winter.

I had my annual get naked skin check this week, and the good news is there is no sign of a recurrence of the melanoma. They (there was a team with my doctor) spent more time on my genetic anomaly, which has been in recurrence since October. I had an expensive antibiotic lotion that I have been using for 3 months that wasn’t making any visible difference.

They offered a steroid shot, In my 20’s I used to get these fairly often. They shoot it into directly into the affected area. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but the Family Medicine student and my dermatologist each held one of my hands and talked to me while the male resident administered the shot, and it wasn’t bad at all. Particularly compared to, umm, the recent dental surgery. My dermatologist is the best. Sensitive and empathetic.

Those of you with chronic conditions know you learn to manage the oddest medical situations to get the care you need. Stating the obvious, decent health care is such a crapshoot. I feel very lucky with mine.

Even if they did give me a cream for a pre-cancerous thing on my face that cost $182.00. I have already had it zapped at least twice.

Walt’s nonprofit board did decide to ask me to join. And I got an amazed and positive response yesterday by the board member most resistant to my joining when making a point to the coffee guys about how all of us have cars (he came on his bike, even though he himself has a car, and has got to be close to 90 and worked in the higher echelons of the environment movement in his professional life), and I said I don’t have a car and never had.

I had given up a long time ago thinking I would ever get bonus points for this as I know for most of the folks close to me it has been considered an eccentricity and at times an annoyance.

Walt asked me to write something for the meditation and mindfulness dialogue group basically overnight and I did. You can find that here

It was just me and the 8 guys again yesterday and for some reason, after all this introduction to the group and these fabulous discussions about art and the things we love I had a big dose of social anxiety yesterday.

Now that I am almost able to eat normal things again, that lead to me indulging in a couple of pieces of cinnamon bead and diving into an audiobook of this police procedural series that I have been enjoying… the DC Smith series by Peter Grainger. I am through the 7th book now. The humor is dry, the violence is modest, and the story is one long one with various cases.

I also attended my first board meeting for the Portland League of Women Voters. I am not on the board (thank goodness) but I was sitting in for the current budget chair who is (was) vacationing in New Zealand. There was some energy around a couple of issues that surprised me, but I was basically there only to observe and make notes.

Mrs. Sherlock and I were going to lift weights, but she just texted to cancel. I was looking forward to chatting with her. Oh well.

Maybe I will splurge on natural resources and take a bath. Or take an hour or two curled up with a blanket and the cats and a book. It is getting close to time to put some serious thought into planning out the garden plot this year.

Or I know, I could update my registration at the ministry of naps.

Last updated February 17, 2023