Staying the Course -- July 28, 2020

[Superbob]

Well, Happy New Week, you unsinkable Stay-the-Coursers, you. Only 40 more days til August. Ah, okay, make that 4. It just seems like this has been the longest July ever. Seems that way to me, anyway. What about you?

I mean you know all the turmoil -- I don't need to chronicle it here.

So thanks for those lovely Nature pix in last week's thread -- they were a pleasant diversion.

And thanks, Jill, for those ideas about types of generators that could help with keeping us powered up in an emergency, such as a hurricane. I especially liked the one that could rock music for an outdoor barbecue. Weber is finally shipping me the parts that were missing from a boxed grill I ordered online six weeks ago, so may be time to party-grill this weekend, and music would be great. (Country is my preference.)

Hard-pressed to pen this week's starter without being depressing, so let me search for bright side. Today, I completed purchase of new, state-of-the-art hearing aids for my DW after finding through some research that my Medigap health-care plan offers a big discount for them. Roughly they were half the standard price. A big help. Medicare itself helps with a lot but nothing for hearing aids, which are important to quality of life. My Dear Wife is now hearing all sorts of sounds she hasn't heard in 20 years. She's had other hearing aids, but not as great as these. The only downside for her is that now she will hear my sarcastic mutterings about various happenings. Oh well....

Another: My long-awaited cardiologist's checkup is only 3 weeks away. I hope to find out through imaging and checkup how well my heart is doing a year after the aneurysm & valve surgery, and whether any additional procedure might be needed to correct an incisional defect. So that's a weird positive, I suppose, except that it is is good to take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. BTW, my old dawg and I survived a morning walk today with the real-free temp at 100F, so hooray for survival.

Okay, let's have your reports. You can do better than this, I know.

Cheers,
Superbob

 

[Superbob]

http://www.brevardtimes.com/2020/07...isaias-track-to-florida-spaghetti-models/amp/
Now in the "cone of uncertainty" here along the SE coast. You know this old weather freak loves it (as long as we're talking no more than minimal Cat1).

If my ticker ticks its last, I would like my ashes scattered in one of these magnificent storms.

 

[tom in MO]

Well, Happy New Week, you unsinkable Stay-the-Coursers, you. Only 40 more days til August. Ah, okay, make that 4. It just seems like this has been the longest July ever. Seems that way to me, anyway. What about you?

I mean you know all the turmoil -- I don't need to chronicle it here.

So thanks for those lovely Nature pix in last week's thread -- they were a pleasant diversion.

And thanks, Jill, for those ideas about types of generators that could help with keeping us powered up in an emergency, such as a hurricane. I especially liked the one that could rock music for an outdoor barbecue. Weber is finally shipping me the parts that were missing from a boxed grill I ordered online six weeks ago, so may be time to party-grill this weekend, and music would be great. (Country is my preference.)

Hard-pressed to pen this week's starter without being depressing, so let me search for bright side. Today, I completed purchase of new, state-of-the-art hearing aids for my DW after finding through some research that my Medigap health-care plan offers a big discount for them. Roughly they were half the standard price. A big help. Medicare itself helps with a lot but nothing for hearing aids, which are important to quality of life. My Dear Wife is now hearing all sorts of sounds she hasn't heard in 20 years. She's had other hearing aids, but not as great as these. The only downside for her is that now she will hear my sarcastic mutterings about various happenings. Oh well....

Another: My long-awaited cardiologist's checkup is only 3 weeks away. I hope to find out through imaging and checkup how well my heart is doing a year after the aneurysm & valve surgery, and whether any additional procedure might be needed to correct an incisional defect. So that's a weird positive, I suppose, except that it is is good to take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. BTW, my old dawg and I survived a morning walk today with the real-free temp at 100F, so hooray for survival.

Okay, let's have your reports. You can do better than this, I know.

Cheers,
Superbob

What brand of hearing aids did you chose? My DW needs them too and I'm on the train for them in the future. It's a hard choice to make.

 

[Superbob]

We got them through a little company here started by two young ladies whom we trust. And with a discount offered through our health plan (final price still a hefty wad of money but a nice savings off starting price). The brand we chose is Starkey. Love that they fit neatly in a case at night for recharging and protection from humidity (which is fierce around here). We've been paying a small fortune on batteries. I don't know pros and cons of the many different brands but the hearing gal thought this model fitted my wife's needs particularly well, and indeed it seems to. This morning she had a doctor's appointment and could hear every word without having to turn to me to relay the doctor's observations.

 

[LoveMyBraveHeart]

Ah, my dad is also a weather enthusiast, so I know the appreciation for the Magnificent Mother Nature! The only thing we have to get excited about here in northwest WA though, is a piddly thunderstorm. Not the house shakers the east coasts gets, just a rumble here and there and some lights in the sky. I love what we do get, though. Me and the dog will often sit out on the back step and watch the storm pass...we live on the edge of very flat farm fields that butt up to the mouth of river that flows from the sound. Very fun place to watch storms, sunsets, and meteor showers.

The most exciting thing this week for me is some of the harvests I've had from my garden, including a 5lb head of cabbage! I was proud of that one. Also saw a friend of mine today that lives at the sight of an old plant nursery, so walking through her property of mature, native perennials was so beautiful and really helped ease some of the everlasting uncertainty I've had lately. Her and I had socially distanced tea and some wonderful vegan strawberry chia pudding, quinoa salad, and of course some of her garden harvests, like ground cherries, and blueberries, and sun gold tomatoes. I also got to see the special needs cat she adopted years ago that I cared for and kept the shelter I worked at from euthanizing due to his short-comings. I think he remembered me, we got to snuggle for a bit in the sun which made my heart happy.

A grill fest sounds like fun! I might do the same thing, though Mathias is working on Saturday, so perhaps we will make a Sunday meal on the grill. We have been getting out to do some crabbing for Dungeness lately which has been particularly peaceful on these mild days, the water is glassy and smooth and its relaxing to just troll around in the boat with him and Banks, our dog. Banks has proven to be quite the nautical mutt! I'm proud of his bravery. When we are successful crabbing, our dinner is quite tasty...loads of crab and garlic butter, maybe a loaf of bread on the side. It makes Mathias' gout flare up but now that we've discovered a good remedy for that, it's not too bad.

Next week will mark Mathias' one-year anniversary with the OnX, trying to decide how to celebrate him and his successes. I'm so proud of how far he's come and how he's handled it all with such grace throughout. He's a real trooper and we are so lucky to be able to have it all be a memory to look back on.

Heres a few photos of my week, if you care to peek.

As always, sending lots of love and light to you all!
Jill

 

[dornole]

All well here, have been in pretty good mood, enjoying kayaking and a bathroom painting project. Today though the shower leaked into the kitchen! I don't *think* it's my fault . . . anyhow the plumber is coming this pm. I think the next few weeks will be more stressful as my kids make decisions about going back to college or high school (online option? Hybrid? live at home, on campus?) My daughter in particular has been offered a fall part-time extension of her summer internship so she needs to figure out that angle together with her classes. Making a lot of decisions with imperfect info which is NOT something her math major self enjoys at all. So I'm spending time buffering anxiety and contributing "well, here goes!" energy and humor into all these decisions. Looks like you're living the good life, Jill, wish I could come over and eat all that yummy food. My sister lives in Portland and it seems like her garden just POURS food out of the ground. That's never been my experience so now I content myself with consuming the zucchini of others. Superbob, hoping your storm remains merely "interesting," not "Minnesota interesting" aka catastrophic.

 

[Superman]

Busy with work, transitioning our oldest to college, trying to keep up with younger kids schools gymnastics regarding how they will or won’t tackle school in the fall. Sadly, far to driven by union officials without regard for kids education. “Let’s not test this year because we don’t want to know how our decisions are adversely impacting your child’s education.”

Health is important. Education is important. Navigating the two is exceptionally challenging right now. I get that. But sticking our heads in the sand with respect to the impact of our health decisions on kids education won’t help anyone. If anything, test results are more important now than ever so we know if we are having success educating kids during this challenging time.

Bah. Okay. Off soap box. Superbob - I hope all are safe during the storm, but it gives you just enough for a good show! LMBH - add me to the list of failing at gardening. Looks awesome! We have a small patio tomato plant producing small tomatoes. That’s it.

We are, however, apparently successful koi breeders. We had our little backyard pond redesigned this year. Our three mature fish apparently had quite the housewarming party. In addition to the couple additional fish we bought, we have four small fry swimming around. Just about big enough now to avoid getting eaten by the big ones. Thinking they’ll make it.