My everyday life

I keep the current weather with 7 day forecast on one of the computer screens mounted on the wall. I just glanced over and see 4 days with temperatures at 80 or above. And no clouds. This is not good. But, it is for sure only psychological. I'm not going outside anyway so what the hell difference does it make?? I annoy myself sometimes.

I finally heard from cable company Katie. She apologized for taking two days off. Silly. She should figure out auto email responses, tho. I am, however, just grateful she's still there.

I'm not terribly chipper today and for no reason. I slept fine. I get to swim in 3 sleeps. My social security deposits are fixed. I have HGTV again. I feel good physically. I got nothing to be dumpy about and, yet...

Biggie comes and goes out his little cat door flaps a dozen times a day. I'm so glad I figured out that hack instead of just removing the insert and making him stay inside til fall. And, btw, thank the apes for Gorilla Tape. That stuff is magic.

Wow! I just got a call from Melissa at the gym. I had sent her a note asking about pool chemicals. She wanted to suggest that she hold off charging my enrollment fee until after my first swim. What a great idea. It's not a fullproof plan but it's a good one anyway. So she's sending me an email that will get me in without being a member on Tuesday and if all goes well, she'll charge my card after that. She was very cool to talk to and I learned a bit about the club and their precautions and restrictions. All good.

I'm beginning to feel better about the day.

I think maybe I might treat myself to a salmon bagel sandwich today for lunch/dinner. And maybe some more Krispy Kreme minis (KK is across the street from the bagel place. KK is drive through and bagel is outside pickup. Both safe enough, I think.)

My brother (bill_schubert) has gotten me hooked on a podcast Hacks on Tap. It's mostly two guys who have lots of legit experience in putting people into power - one liberal, David Axelrod and one conservative, Mike Murphy.

My brother is convinced Trump will lose in November. I worry about that because I know he's wrong and I worry about how disappointed he will be. But, listening to this podcast gives me hope that maybe I'm the one who is wrong and shows me where my brother gets his hope. It's really nice to hear intelligent, thoughtful insight into the behind the scenes of what's going on.

I have the latest episode to listen to now and I think I'll do a hall walk and then listen to them tell me that there's a chance at a brighter future.

I never heard from Katie. So I called the cable company. Not that many years ago, they just answered the phone. Now they have a tree that leads you to another tree and then they have - I swear this is true, you can call WAVE Broadband yourself - a 3 fucking minute COVID announcement that says absolutely nothing that my dead grandmother doesn't already know and then you get another tree and then you get hold.

I could feel my blood pressure rising. They do have very active Twitter. So I went over there and, in a direct message, asked them if there was another way to add channels to my account. Hailey responded within 2 mins and had the job done within 5. Note to self: Do not ever call that number again.

Meanwhile I'm watching the Mariner game and it is different. I kind of like the no crowd noise better than I thought I would. The behind-the-pitcher camera shot shows my seat!



See that dude up there with the dark hat and the white mask on that last row of cushioned seats? He's sitting in my SEAT!! And I don't even know who he is.

I have not done my hall walking today. Bad me. But I did find another sweet little flower growing in the concrete on my morning walk. It's next to a planter but the planter has no pansy's.



I got all my swimming stuff all decanted and charged up and organized and ready. It seems like a long time until Tuesday. For some reason I have no doubt I'll be able to swim enjoyably for an hour after a 5 month break. I hope I'm not wrong. And even if the chemicals hate my lungs, I know for sure I'll have one good swim. (it does not hit me until about an hour to several weeks after swimming) My fins are crossed.

Tonight I need to set up TiVo to record the crap out channels I will only have for 2.5 months. Might as well stockpile stuff before I turn the channels off again. I enjoy having them but without baseball, it's not worth the $80 extra bucks a month.

So I heard from the Ballard gym! And they do have swimming! It took a biscillion notes back and forth to get and understand all the details. But, they have half off the enrollment fees and until Phase 3, there is no monthly fee. We are not likely to see Phase 3 around here for months.

Interestingly, the other gym, much closer to me, told me today that the governor's orders prevents them from opening the pool until Phase 3. Somehow I think there's some confusion somewhere but I don't care as long as I can swim.

It's $15 to swim for 60 minutes so I won't be doing it every day. Plus there are not slots open every day. I could not even get the first one until Tuesday. Happily, however, the other swimmers are not big on early morning swims.

Here's what I bought so far:



I can cancel any of these with 24 hours notice.

There are some pools (I've found 2 so far) that my lungs do not like one bit. So there's a chance, this could be one of those. And I will have just blown $130 enrollment fee and $15 swim fee. But, I honestly have no way of knowing until I try it out and that's the cost of trying it out. So...

I got out my swim stuff. Whoa. Pretty musty smelling so now I'm airing it out. And charging up my swim music player. It took me a little bit to discover where I stashed my swimsuits but I found them.

I've paid the money... now I just have to wait until Tuesday!!

I discovered a deck leak in the unit above me. Water dripping into my unit. Several emails finally got me Jason who works for the company we pay to manage the building. Jason promises he'll get right on it. A week goes by. I send him an email. He says next week or the one after, promise. Two weeks go by. I send him an email. On it, he says! Can I send photos of the damage? I look back through the thread. Three times, I have told him that so far there is no damage to my unit. I make it four. Can I send him details about where the leak is? I look back and only two notes up is the floor plan of my unit with a red dot and an arrow and the words LEAK HERE. I resend.

I still haven't heard from Christian the designer I emailed a week ago.

Yesterday morning I sent an email to Katie at the cable company. Crickets. But, in fairness, she has, in the past taken 26-30 hours to respond. And it's been worth the wait.

When I was working, my managers always gave me high marks for responsiveness. I've always felt like when asked to do something or for information, it was a priority to provide that as soon as possible and, if soon wasn't possible, an update on the progress was often nearly as good. Unrealistically, I expect the same in return. I'm so often disappointed.

But still I let it frustrate me.

I am out of orange juice and really want some. I thought I had one more bottle left but if it's in there, I can't find it. Whew Amazon has some they can deliver tomorrow. It's probably more expensive than buying it at a store but 1. safer and 2. cheaper because no temptation to buy pick up anything else while I'm there. I think I've saved a bundle this year on the latter.

I think we had a Mariners game or two before they shut everything down in March. Maybe not I can't remember back that far. But today we do! They are carving out 2 teams - Rainiers vs. Pilots. A baseball writer on Twitter this morning promised walk-up music, crowd noise and the whole bit. Radio and Youtube. 2:45. Should be interesting.

Also from Twitter a bit about the poor Blue Jays. Canada has different (and way more effective?) Covid-19 rules and they will be confined to their stadium/hotel this summer. "Per multiple sources, players have been told penalty if seen outside ballpark is $750,000 fine and potential jail time." Yikes!

Yesterday, I discovered that one LA Fitness location in Washington State is now open and it's one with a pool. It's an hour south of here. And, I just called. The pool isn't open. They are doing repairs. I'd be very annoyed if it were closer. They couldn't do repairs in the months they were closed???? But I don't think I'd do the drive anyway.

However, that did lead me to check on a gym with a pool in another part of Seattle. They are actually open with 'scheduled adult lap swimming'. It's about 20 minutes from here and I'm sure there are more wrinkles that would prevent my swimming there but I filled out their online form to request info anyway. With my track record, I should hear from them sometime next month.

My July Social Security payment was in my account this morning. It was due on the 3rd. Today is the 9th. I am astounded that it got resolved so quickly. And so relieved. I am still clueless about how the problem happened but I really no longer care. I know a lot more now than I did and plan on way more frequent checks over at ssa.gov! I am so relieved and grateful. I had reconciled myself with losing at least July's payment and maybe August's and living with the stress until August when I knew for sure. I feel rich and totally unstressed.

Now I can concentrate on the stress of the bathtub/shower job. Why the hell hasn't Christian replied to my email??? There's a national company that advertises every night on the news Their business is what I want - bathtub out/shower in. They are offering all kinds of deals and say they can do it in 2-3 days. Call Us Today!! I would call except... the HOA. My project is 50% bathtub/shower and 50% HOA hurdle jumping. Or maybe even 60/40. So I'll wait.

The rumor among Mariner sports writers on Twitter is that some of the pre-season games might be televised so I wrote to Katie at my cable company to turn the channels back on. To get the channel that airs Mariner games I have to buy their biggest package. When no Mariners, I can easily get by with their smallest. Katie is the person I contact to flip the switch on or off. She makes it so easy. I could get a cheaper overall package with Comcast but then I'd have to deal with Comcast. When Katie leaves, that's probably what I'll do. She was there last April and I just sent her a note today. Hopefully, she's still there.

There are no plans for today or todo items, no calls, no nuthin. Just a free and open day. I like it. I thought about taking Biggie for his annual checkup and shots but it can wait until next week and I think it would be best to give the vets office some more time to heal.

This is day 3 of the new food plan. It still feels good and doable. Basically what I'm doing is shifting the bulk of my eating to the front of the day. And replacing my traditionally biggest meal in the evening with lighter fare or even just snacks. Yesterday after 2 pm, I had a bowl of cereal and milk and a piece of cheese with some apple slices. It was fine and plenty.

Also I'm still hall walking. Yesterday I only went once but picked up a bunch of extra steps while I was out and about. Today I'll need to go at least 4 times, maybe more.

I think I can work that into my non-schedule!

It's been several days now since I sent an email to Christian looking to hire him to replace my tub. Crickets. I have not called. If I don't hear by next Monday I will. Maybe they are on vacation or something weird like that. He has minimal online presence which doesn't surprise me. The only real thing of consequence I could find was the obituary of his father. Christian is apparently one of 7 kids born and raised in Seattle to first generation Italians. His dad died of Covid-19 in April at 90 years old. He was in a senior home.

This not hearing from him, I keep telling myself, is exactly what this whole project will be like - wait, wait, wait, wait. So this is practise.

And also...



This was the weather map at noon today. And, also, why I love Seattle.

I called the Seattle Social Security office this afternoon. I wanted to make sure the August payment was heading for the correct account and I wanted to see if I could find out the fate of July's.

I got the greatest woman. Kind and clear and calm and very cool. She first checked my account and August's destination. It is destined for the correct account. WHEW!

Then I explained about July's special trip to no-account land and asked what might be done about that. She said that it should have bounced back from the credit union and end up in my correct account. "But, let me check and see what details I can find for you."

I was on hold for a long time but NO MUSIC! so it was lovely. And then she said:

"I was able to see that the funds, did, indeed come back from the credit union so you should see them in your account very soon. 3 to 5 days at most."

I could not even believe it. What last Friday seemed like a disaster of great proportions is soon to be a mere totally forgettable blip. Wow. I can hardly believe it.

I did have kind of a frustrating morning. The housecleaner is supposed to be here by 10 so I left the house about 9:40. I got a text from her at 9:50 saying she would be here at 10. She got here at 10:53. Plus, I'm not 100% happy with the job she did. But, I just think my tolerance for imperfect is a little broken. And that's surely not her fault.

I did some Goodwill and then dropped that key thing that Mercedes left in my car off at their place. Then I went to Uwajimaya. It really felt weird just shopping like normal. Once back in the car, I could see on the web cams that she was still here so I just read for a while and played with my phone until she left.

When I got home, I had a nice dinner and cleaned up and by the the mail carrier had arrived and brought the Etsy order I placed on May 15!!! It was in pristine condition. Wild.

Then I got caught up on stuff and decided to call the Social Security office and that's where this entry started. Big day here!

Day 1 of the new eating plan went well. I so love my ruts. My routines. My every-day-I-do-this-when... But I do know that I can switch to new ruts, new routines and I think this is going to be an easy switch. It was delightful not to spend last night all stuffed with dinner. My evening 'lunch' was plenty satisfying.

Also I think the walking the hall trick paid off. My walk this morning was better than yesterday's.

Today is housecleaner day so I'll be going out. To the usual haunts. Goodwill and Uwjimaya and maybe Daiso. And then, probably, just kill time in the car until she is done. I do need to find a new book. I listened to 3 different contenders last night and on my walk this morning. All were rejects for one reason or another.

Google just sent me my June timeline.



I went TEN places! I was shocked to discover this. But, there was the eye doctor and Costco and Uwjimaya and Goodwill and T-Mobile Park and Amazon and Mercedes and that time I went to the recycle crafts place on the wrong ay. I'm just a freakin gadabout!!

The big news of today is the package that is Out For Delivery! It's my order from Etsy that has done the 8 week crawl from England. Wonder if it will be battered or just tired from all that traveling.

The Mariners will play an intersquad game on Friday that will be broadcast on the radio. I'm ready.

From this couch, out my front door, down the hallway to the end, turn and go down the opposite way, turn, back to my house and back to the couch...

Takes 15 mins and is 352 steps. EDIT: NOT 15 mins. More like 5.

But, most importantly, is doable. No stopping needed, no catching breath and that's with a mask on.

I think I need about 4 or more of those little forays every day.

I logged on this morning to discover that the bank information for my Social Security direct deposit had been changed. The last our digits now match my account number AND it says Scheduled Update 8/03. Yesterday they were the wrong digits and the update date was 9/03. So progress. In the right direction.

Tomorrow or Thursday I will call again to make sure that on 8/3 the "update" is updating to correct info and to see if we can find my missing July payment.

But, in general, I'm feeling better about the whole festuche. It could have been so much worse.

And in other good news, I got an email from one of the contractors about my shower and it's better news that I expected. The contractor sounds very willing and says that he works through a designer who lives here in the building and he copied the designer. So that answers/solves several issues for me all at once. Whew.

Christian has lived here for nearly as long as I have. We are not best buds but are friendly. I've been in his unit and we do NOT share the same design style but whatever. He's been in the game forever and he knows this building and how to play the HOA game (he was a board president for a couple of years) and the last time saw him, it was to do him a favor for which he was very grateful. So good good good good.

He can plan the shower, help me make the decisions - storage, no storage, curtain, door, etc. and direct the contractor who clearly likes working with him. Whew!!! This may yet come to pass!

On the not good news side, my walk this morning was horrible. My body ached and I had no breath. I finally made it the entire mile but it was torture. I'm just not moving enough. That has to change, today.

Tangentially, (whoa, I can't believe I spelled that correctly first time out! go me! my body's dead but the brain is still cookin!) I am toying with the idea of moving my meals around. I have no interest in healthy eating. I eat what tastes good to me and I plan on continuing that. But I'm thinking of changing the when I eat.

I grew up with breakfast = eggs,etc. lunch = sandwich or something light dinner = big old hot meal with dessert. I know several of my LJ friends have a bigger lunch and little or no dinner and that's what I'd like to shoot for. Just swap lunch and dinner or just have dinner at noon and snacks in the evening.

My reason for not doing it is social and habitual and mental. Changing a habit of 70 years is a little daunting. But, doable. Going out with friends dinner would be in the evening and lunch will be regular lunch. But, who the fuck is going out any time soon anyway??? By the time I get my routine changed, making an exception will be a no brainer. (Also my Mariners tickets include a lavish buffet meal before all games which are usually in the evening - so dinner but, again, there will be none of that this year.)

It seams counter intuitive to be cooking a hot meal in the middle of the day in Summer but, I eat dinner early anyway and it's just as hot then. And, except for a freezer of meals that need to be eaten hot, who says a dinner has to be hot. Maybe as I eat up my current stash, I'll change what I eat anyway. Mainly I think I'd feel more comfortable not having a big meal at night. And maybe even eat less over all.

I think the thing to do... the thing I'm going to do... is just start with a big lunch. Today. So, dinner at mid-day today. And then well see how things shake out at dinner time but I'm guessing that will be the easy part. Lately I've been starving at lunch time and eating dinner mainly because it was time.

Tomorrow is house cleaning day but the house is pretty tidy already so no prep needed. I have a zoom meeting today with the data folks at UW. I even have some prep I need to do for that. Otherwise, the usual.

I have my watch set to ping me if I have not completed 250 steps in any given hour. I am spectacularly good at ignoring those pings. Starting today, I am not going to ignore. When I get the buzz, I'm going to move. If only to walk from one end of the house to the other and do a couple of arm things. I am going to atrophy if I don't do something. Today's the day to start. You heard it here first.