She's back.

Well, let me bore you with my fun day on Wednesday.
My poor husband had the worst birthday ever!

I had lunch Tuesday at 11:30am - I was not allowed food after 12pm.

I could drink only water and clear liquids not red.

Tuesday night I was told to do this before my testing on Wednesday.

5pm - 3 ducolax pills

7pm - 8.3 oz miralax mixed into 64 oz of Gatorade. Mix until dissolved and take 32 oz of this fun stuff. (God Gatorade is soooo sweet it's awful)

3:30AM - 32 oz of the above. 

BUT DO NOT DRINK ANYTHING 4 HRS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL TIME.

Okay, I am as good at math as I am spelling but 3:30am and then have to be there at 7a doesn't give me 4 hrs as requested.

I show this to Rick and ask, "I know I'm bad at math but this doesn't compute does it?"  He laughed at me and said, "Good girl, your math skills are getting better.  Besides don't wait until 3:30a or you'll be unable to make it to the procedure! Take it earlier and be done with it - your ass doesn't have a time stamp. They don't know. They only care you are cleaned out"

Well, that time stamp comment made me laugh and he was right they won't know.

So I did it my way.

I took the 3 pills that were to be done at 5pm at 2pm

I took the first 32 oz at 5p instead of 7p

I took the last 32oz at 8pm instead of 3:30a.  I thought I'd be able to go to bed at midnight this way. Oh no. I did not sleep. I was up all night.

You know what I learned?  

• I love the color of the walls in my downstairs powder room. 
• I did a damn good job painting it.
• I think the mirror in that bathroom has something wrong because it never looks clean no matter how often I do this. 
• I realized I also needed to take the sculpture off the wall and hose it down, obviously, my dusting isn't working on this metal piece of art. 
• Our floors look good in this room.
• Charmin is still the best.

That is what I learned spending a day and night in a small powder room.

At 4:30am I thought I was done. I took a shower and got myself presentable for human consumption. No sense in going to be for 1 hour.  I was told no jewelry, makeup, or personal items. Okay, that makes getting ready quick. 

We had to leave at 6:20 so we could be on time.

I was ready at 5:30p. Rick took the dog for a walk and I made him some coffee. We 3 left for the hospital at 6:15. 

I had to make a stop back home. We got 4 whole blocks and back into that pretty colored bathroom AGAIN.

Back in the car - oops, gotta stop at this Lowes.  

Back in the car. Get to where I had to be. Whew, made it. 5 minutes late but we made it and I did it without soiling myself.  That for me was by far the best part. They won't let Rick in so he and the dog parked under a nice big shade tree and both napped.

I get inside and I think they took the covid stuff a bit far. I couldn't walk in I had to knock. Someone came to the front and handed me a mask. I had one on. She said throw yours away and pointed through the door to the wastebasket. I threw my new blue paper mask in the garbage. I put on the one she handed through the slot. Then I was allowed in. 

What was that about? I guess my mask had cooties.  I had another mask in my purse that someone made for me and I wondered if she just didn't like my blue paper mask. It was brand new. But she gave me one that was the exact same as what I had on. 

I got in & had to answer all the covid questions and have my temp taken.

Then I asked where the bathroom was.  Being in a waiting room of people who are having this makes the bathroom popular. I had to wait. I couldn't wait. They showed me another. Whew.

I was worried I'd be unable to get this test because I took this stuff so late. Honestly, if I could not have done the procedure while there I was never rescheduling this thing!  

Finally, I get called to go back. Why did I have to be there at 7am when I didn't get back there until 8:40a?  Oh, I know, so I could finish cleaning myself out. Geez. 

IV's and more questions and then I am given a lovely robe and hauled off to the surgical room.  I have had both of these tests before. This time everything from prep to the actual day was so far different.  I don't remember anything until they came back and yelled my name. I was now awake but loopy. Last two times not loopy at all.

I don't remember a lot. They called Rick and he pulled upfront and they took me out to the car. Apparently, they spoke to Rick about findings and the next 24 hrs. I don't recall anything of that. I got home and I remember telling Rick that I feel so out of it.  He told me to lay down for a while. I slept for 3 hrs and awoke and didn't know where the hell I was at first. Then I realized how late it was and I thought I'd work 1/2 day. HA.  No, I did not.  I was still so out of it.

I went downstairs to find Rick and Izzy napping. I put an out-of-office message on voicemail so if I didn't work people would understand after I decided I could not work. Seriously I felt loopy this many hours later. 

Every other time I have had this it is just like a really good nap and I feel refreshed. I was reading my paperwork I brought home it said I had general anesthesia. Why? Why not just the one that begins with the letter P.  

I had that the last time. The stuff that killed Michael Jackson. Is that why I feel so out of it? Or maybe that P drug whose name I can't think of, is the same as general anesthesia, who the hell knows. Not me. I just know it affected me very differently than the other 2 times.

I was so damn hungry I can't tell you. At the hospital, they gave me gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. I don't like chocolate chip cookies but yet I devoured them. They gave me two small bags. I brought the other home for Rick. There are about 10 cookies in the bag that were the size of a nickel and he kept saying these are so tiny you can pop a few in your mouth. Okay, knock yourself out.  I was more coherent now with better food choices available so I didn't want choc chip cookies.

I wanted dinner. Rick had made some beef skewers with red onions and peppers on the skewers. He made rice. He even marinaded the skewers. So I devoured a skewer and some rice like I have never eaten before. Then I was so darn full I felt uncomfortable but it's better than hungry.  We ate an early bird special at 5pm. I was fast asleep by 6:30pm.  I remember saying I need to be sure the game is recording because I don't think I can stay awake to watch it. (glad I did record it, a no-hitter game)  

Rick said I was talking to him, he responded and I had already fallen asleep on the sofa. He turned around to see this and laughed he told me. He came over to me sitting upright on the sofa and pushed me on my side and put a blanket on me. I slept there until 11pm and woke up to a dark house and climbed upstairs to my bed. I slept until 7 this morning. 12 hours of sleep. It felt wonderful. I awoke to feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

I don't know what the hell they gave me but it was never ever like this before. Rick said maybe because I'm older. I don't think so. I really think it was just done differently. Normally it's just the best nap ever. This was like real surgery where you are groggy for a good long while afterward.

Anyway, I have what we thought. Most brought on by inflammation which has been haunting me now for years and can't get rid of.

So to answer your questions.

I have:

Diverticular colitis is the term used to describe a particular pattern of active chronic inflammation in the sigmoid colon affected by diverticular disease, namely the occurrence of luminal mucosal inflammation, whether or not there is evidence of inflammation within and/or around the diverticula themselves.

I have a cyst on my kidney but it hasn't grown since the last CT scan but a biopsy was done anyway.

Due to inflammation, I have to take an antibiotic which will do nothing but I can't tell the doctor that. But I know that. I've been dealing with this for so long. Look, this damn inflammation gave me "betty" on my eye so I know that an antibiotic won't make it go away.  But she thinks it could be from an infection. It's not. But again I can't tell the doctor this because she doesn't listen to me about this stuff as my others drs will.

Two things were biopsied and I should know in a couple of weeks about that stuff. Overall nothing new to report.

She doesn't think I should avoid certain foods. She feels that is "old school thinking" I have not found one thing that bothers me more than another so she may be right. But at least I don't have to eat all that dairy and stuff she had me on prior to these procedures. I gained 5lbs in 5 days eating that way. I can't do a lot of dairy and a lot of grains. In small doses but certainly not every day and not in the volume she had me eating it. So I am happy to report I can eat as usual, protein and veggies, with a side of wine🤣😂 I actually want a salad, I can't wait to eat a big salad!

Heading north tomorrow for a quick trip up and back. We have so much happening here that having to make this trip does make me a bit angry. But I have to do it because my time apparently is less important than everyone else's. Family!

Throw Back Tuesday

 Since I am out of pocket today I am putting up a post up from 10 years ago.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Brown Eyes and Big Tits

Everyone has talked to my tits like they were microphones the majority of my life.  It drives me mad and it always has.

When I was 9 I was wearing what I called a serious bra by that time.  

I skipped "training bras" and went into full combat mode with no training. How will the "girls" know how to stand at attention with no training? 

I always thought the term, "training bra" was funny. Don't you?

When I would say these things my mom would laugh at me and say, "You'll be happy about all this someday."  She lied to me. 

I noticed that old men (you know like 20) looked at me weird. I hated it. But 9-year-old boys did too. They would snap my bra on the way to gym class. I spent most of those years crying. It wasn't fun. What was the big deal is what I didn’t understand! I longed to be flat-chested since the age of 8. It never changed.

Cheerleading in high school was horrendous. Jumping with these things I could blacken an eye. There were no sports bras just one to train your girls. So I would ask to be wrapped in an ace bandage to keep them tight so when I jumped, did cartwheels, and backflips everything stayed where it should stay. 

No flipping and stopping while my boobs were still going, boing, boing.   

Yes, my high school boyfriend thought it was silly. Then one day he was over and I did some of those things in the backyard without the ace bandage and he laughed. Okay he told me, I see the issue but honestly, I don't mind as he laughed. I know he doesn't mind but I do. 

He understood the need, he finally got it. Now, if only we'd been smart enough to invent the sports bra. I could be rich! So before games, he or another cheerleader would help wrap me up in an ace bandage. 

Ah, high school when they are all new and pert.

Fast forward to age 28/29.
My best friend Melanie and I were heading over to her date's apartment for a double date. The guy I was dating, Eddie, was fixing his best friend up with my best friend. 
We were meeting at the apartment for some drinks and to chat a bit to get to know one another before we all went out.

Eddie and I went into the kitchen to refresh everyone’s drinks and the cheese and cracker platter. I was wearing a man’s style white shirt, a pair of jeans and high heel ankle boots. (jewelry) 

Nothing fancy because we weren’t doing anything fancy. 

The white shirt was not tight and pulling at the buttons with my bosom dying to escape a la Pamela Anderson.
Oh no, it was normal. I never wore things like that to draw attention to them….ever. 
Yet Eddie was staring at my boobs all night as often was the case.

Now as we are in the kitchen making drinks he is once again talking to my boobs and not me.

“Hey, Ed, These are not microphones,” I say as I touch my boobs and lift his chin. (that was something I had to say way too often to way too many) I remind him I hear with "these" as I point to my ears.

I closed my eyes and continue on, “I bet you don’t even know what color my eyes are, do you?”

He laughs. I laugh too. 

“Well, I'm waiting Ed? What color are they?”

I've gone out with this fun guy for a few months now and he doesn't know the color of my eyes!  I didn’t have to open my eyes to know he is really hoping I will open them because he has no fucking clue as he stares at my eyes.  I can "feel" him looking at my closed eyes, the hopeless idiot.

He says, “They’re green. Yep, green. I’m sure of it!”

"Are you sure? Because we have been going out now for about 3 months so you should know what color my eyes are."

I open my eyes and he is actually looking at my eyes for a change and he says, “Damn it!...not even close, they're brown!” 

No, not even close. But I laugh because he was sincerely shocked by this.
He tries to tell me that most people don’t notice other people’s eye color.
Oh, come on now Eddie that is just a lame-ass excuse! 

Yes, normal people do notice other's eyes.

"I'll prove to you that most people don't Peg."
He then yells into the living room, “Melanie what color are Peg’s eyes?”

Without missing a beat Melanie yells back, “Hazel - greenish”

He says, “Ah-ha! See? You've been friends for 10 years you told me. 

So you think she’s just staring at your tits too?”

Damn it. So with that we both laugh. Honestly, how could SHE not know?

Now that I am old. They have deflated. All women understand this. 

Men don't normally get the deflated part.  Men have hanging not deflating right? 

Yep deflating is as bad as falling.

So number one is that I am now old so I am invisible to the majority of the population. 

Because they have deflated they don't look as big. That's good.

BUT they are and I still have to roll them up (😮) to get them in the same size bra.  So this is the only thing about aging that may be okay for me.

I am not ogled, stared at and people now look at my face to talk to me -if they see me.

So what color are my eyes?

Wrap It Up

Hey, Female Readers do you remember a thing we wore back in the 70s called a Wrap around skirt?  Wrap-around skirts were all the rage when I was in high school.  They were sometimes called Wrap skirts. If you ever watched 'That 70s 

Show' the girls wore them a lot.  I had a few and I loved them. 

I got a feed on my Instagram for a Rip Skirt. It intrigued me so I went to view this.

Basically, it's a wrap-around skirt, only instead of it tying or buttoning inside, it is velcro.   Here it is. 

I love wearing skirts in the summer over shorts. Or I like skorts. 

The ease of a skirt in the summer is great. There are 4 lengths for these Rip Skirts. 

I chose "lotta leg" because I'm short and by the time I put it on it will be just above my knee or to my knee. If you are of average height "lotta leg" would be pretty short. If I wear a maxi skirt then I get lost in the fabric and look ridiculous. Rick never believed me so I put one on once in a store for him, he laughed so hard he choked. Yes, It's official I can not wear maxi dresses or long skirts. 

I looked at these and flipped through colors, prints, and lengths and left. The next day I got a coupon. So I put something in my cart. Then a week later I got a better coupon so I ordered one to see if this is going to be what I need. If so I'll buy more.  I didn't mean to not buy but at times I am browsing and then I am interrupted so I don't go back. But let me tell you I may do that again to get that discount!

I've got a very busy week ahead. My procedures are on the 19th. I have to be at the hospital at 7:30am. God that's out of the house early. Rick's birthday is this day and how horrible for him that he has to drive me. He said he wasn't working so he was fine with this but I feel so bad about it.

I've had to be on a low residue diet since the 14th. No veggies except the dreaded canned beans or carrots. Eeew - that's baby food. So no veggies for me. Basically, things I can eat or will eat are not on the list. It's mostly things I never ever eat. Grains, like white rice. (no brown rice) lots of carbs are allowed. I don't normally eat carbs because most are gluten and being celiac I can't eat them. So I had cottage cheese. I had ice cream. But dairy isn't my friend in large doses either so basically, I am hungry and trying to eat very little because it is just for a few more days.  Nowhere on this list does it say I can't have rosé wine so I had some. Oooh, one small glass knocked me on my ass from not eating. I'm a cheap date now. Rick said, "one glass? who are you?"  I'm loaded Peg that's who. No food, no wine is my new rule even if I am allowed to have it. 

Geez, you'd think I was a silly 20 something doing something like that. 

Idiot Peg.  I slept well though. 

😉

Then the dreaded 18th, or tomorrow.  

On that day I can eat my lunch at noon of this diet and that is the last of solid food until after my procedures on the 19th. 

Just clear liquids that are not red. 

Now if you've had a colonoscopy you know the fun I'm going to be having on Tuesday. They say to start this drink and pills at 7pm. No way in hell. I did that the first time and I was up all night. I will start about 4 hours sooner than that so I can go to bed and actually sleep for a couple of hours before all the fun begins. 

I don't mind the endoscopy. A bit of a sore throat after but no biggie. No prep. Just knock me out and shove a long camera down my throat. And then I awake from a great nap and go home. 

But no, they have to do another colonoscopy. After this one, I hope it's my last. I hate these. 

But then again, does anyone ever say, "oooh yippee I'm having a colonoscopy, and the day before I can't eat and I will be on the toilet most of the day. I can't wait!!"  No, no one says that, and if they did I'd have to have them committed. That would be one weird fetish!

So if I'm not around the next couple of days you'll know where to find me.

In one of our bathrooms...fun, fun, fun.

_________________________________________________

Because Bob just turned 76 and I just can't even believe it!

No Gas, Just Food & Wood Porn

On Monday Rick was working in someone's bathroom. 
He went out to his truck as he does to mix some chemicals and when he came back into the house the homeowner told him that she left him something on the bathroom vanity. 

She was leaving for an hour but she'll be right back.

His first thought was, "Oh, this isn't good" 

When he got there he found this on the vanity. She told him later that she thought he looked like a milk and sugar kind of guy. And he is. So she looked at his big ole belly and thought this guy likes all the fattening stuff so let's load up the coffee.

He found that humorous as well. And the coffee was very good - not as great as the cinnamon roll which I have heard about for a couple of days. Homemade no less.

What is funny is he said he could smell the cinnamon rolls and thought to himself, gee why do people do this to me? The Friday before it was bacon. The smell of bacon is an aphrodisiac to him if you ask me!  Wasn't this nice of them? (do you remember the people who fed him and he was at the wrong house? why does everyone feed him? he doesn't look like he's starving)

Older people feed him. They see that big ole belly and probably think, I can get to him by food. Younger people offer tips. Funny how that works.  And now that I think of it when the floor people were here I fed them too. I'm old. So guess that does work that way.

In other news, my husband as I have mentioned watches a lot of woodturning.

Making bowls vases etc. There is one person on youtube who he watches and I tease him about it. You see most are a bunch of fat old white guys. One guy from Canada is just a hoot because he is damn funny and I happen to love his accent. I believe he is from Saskatchewan. There is the big man from South Africa that works in a lot of wood I have never seen before because they are endemic to where he lives. But some are so gorgeous. Anyway, there is a lovely blonde thing in America who he watches. Besides doing great work, she gives great tips on tools and if you don't have this, try this, type of thing that he finds very useful being a beginner.  

Now Kim is blonde, blue-eyed, and as pretty as can be. 

So when I first saw her that is what began me asking him if he was watching wood porn. 

Rick follows some of these guys on Facebook. They share ideas and comments on the work. They ask questions and learn new things.  

Rick wrote on one post yesterday that his wife walked in while he was watching Kim and asked if he was watching wood porn to which he replied, "yes dear"  Well Kim actually saw the post and loved the comment and wrote back.  All the guys got a kick out of this. OOooh Ricky the pretty girl liked your comment & wrote back to you. (yes that was me saying it like a 5th grader to him all sing-songy)

Kim is a bible thumper and brings something about that up in each video. 

When she starts that stuff Rick says he can't take it and will FF through her religious stuff. 

I said, "Well, I have no worries now do I?  You'd never leave me for a person who tells you that Jesus saves every 10 minutes."  

He laughed and said, "She's so pretty you knew she was either crazy or a bible thumper."   What? 

In all seriousness, why do men think if you are gorgeous there has to be something wrong with you?

So what is wrong with George Clooney then?

Got gas? Not here.

Going to get gas this morning. 

Tried yesterday but it was scary shit at the pump.
Lines, people screaming at one another. 

I was fearful of some redneck from the outskirts pulling out a gun or something. 

This is so frigging crazy. The damn Russians. 

If not back by dinner time - send a search party. 

Old lady and her old dog gone missing.

The southeast and east coast is under attack. 

__________________________________________

Just returned from 9 locations. No gas to be had. :-(

Can't go to work without gas. I have less than 1/2 a tank.

Can't get to people's homes to do our job without gas.

Gonna be a crazy few weeks I see. 

This is the pipeline that supposedly feeds 45% of the east coast.

I could use scratchy cheap TP when Charmin was out. But I can't move my car for work or groceries without gas. I may need to invest in a wagon to pull behind my bike. Oh yea, I need a bike.

Moms and Dads

The weekend of Mother's day I had so many people, stranger people, wish me a Happy Mother's Day. 
I have a fur baby but strangers don't know that.

Do strangers walk up to random men and say, "Happy Father's Day"?

I bet the answer is no. I don't think anyone has ever said that to Rick other than his daughter.  

I walked into a Mcdonald's while waiting in the car for my dog at the vet. (no other bathrooms around) 

We still can't go into the vets - they walk out to fetch your dog from your car.

 As I walked in 2 women were waiting in the vestibule and they were so animated and were saying Happy Mothers Day to all females walking in. I smiled and said thank you and hope they enjoyed their day. But...

When I was young it bothered me so much I normally said something like, "thank you but I'm not a mother" But then you'd see the person who thinks they are being nice look deflated so I just stopped saying anything other than thank you. I mean they think they are being nice so it's not their fault this bothers me. But I admit it REALLY bugs the shit out of me. But why? 

When I was young I get it. 

I was bombarded with everyone coming at me for not choosing to have kids. ALL the time. 

It was everywhere and why everyone thinks they should comment on one's reproductive choices is beyond me. I have never walked up to someone and said, "Gee don't you think you've had enough kids already?"  

Yes, the bubble over my head may be thinking that but I would never say it. It's their choice. The only time others should comment, intervene or say a single thing - is when a child is being abused or hurt in some way. Otherwise, be quiet.  

Do you know that no one has ever said to Rick, 'Oh you've had a vasectomy and you're so young, don't you want more children?"  He was in his 20s. 

I guess having the vasectomy doesn't make them see how dumb that question truly is.  If I had ever had my tubes tied when I was 28 I would have had to lie to survive the family wrath!

I wonder how women who long for kids and can't have them feel when strangers just say, "Happy Mothers Day" to other random strangers.

I bet that stings. Or someone who has lost a child. 

I think we need to keep that phrase for mothers you know, your family, etc. Not strangers who happen to look female.

I got back to my car after the McDonalds scene and I asked Rick if anyone ever says Happy Fathers Day to him that are perfect strangers. He sat and thought about it for a while. Yes, he says, Doggy Day Care remember?

Yep. He got a paw print framed of Izzy from Doggy Day Care for Fathers Day. I said, "I think that is a bit different. They are playing on the Fur Baby aspect and it's cute.  I mean random strangers like I just encounter at the Mickey D's, does that happen to you?  

Never.  

Just as I thought. But why?

Tuesday

Thanks for the good wishes for my cousin.
His wife sent a photo of him sitting in a chair with his entire head wrapped in bandages. I told him, "nice hat" 

Rick of course told him he looked like he rides the short bus. 

Apparently, that made him laugh his ass off according to his wife. 

We did not ask about the tremors. We just asked about how he was feeling, doing, when he goes home, etc. I'll be up there in a couple of weeks so I will stop in. 

But it just didn't seem like I should be asking that at that point. 

But it sounds like it went well.  It was all in-text so when I see them I know it will be different.  I will get the scoop and let you know.

We finished all work needing to be done on the outside of our home for sale.

Everything has been power washed (new power washer since the last one died) 

We took off all the covers to the outdoor furniture. We pulled all the cushions out of the rubber-made box they are stored in. Everything was power washed and/or scrubbed. 2 outdoor doors were painted by me. I love to paint. Good thing I have some to do inside. Nothing big but it must be done. Rick power washed the front of the house as much as we could get being a 3 level townhome. 

We have some flowers to plant but it's getting there. We want it to be that extra living space that everyone loves and hopefully, they love ours. It's not finished but soon enough. That door you see open to the garage was just painted as was the one leading out to the patio.

I posted this because he's damn cute. Now even with his white hair. 

My husband saw him in this shirt years ago and said he wanted one.  Typical.

I saw this lady on my way to the doctor's office the other morning. I sent it to Rick and asked how the hell she got my name!

This made me howl thinking of Bill Gates trolling for women who have been vaccinated.

I so loved this retort. Or as my favorite phrase says, "This is a special kind of stupid"

Reviews

I firmly believe there should be a place to review customers.
Boy that would make them behave. 

Customers have Yelp, Google and Angie's list, etc. 

Customers even say well, if you don't do this then that won't help your review.

We will not be bullied by reviews. Period. 

But I honestly think contractors should have a place where they can go and review customers. I would see that Nancy is a major difficult person and trouble maker and I could avoid working with her if I so chose. Just like any reviews you take them with a grain of salt. But after you see that Nancy has 5 contractors saying the same thing it's a red flag you need to stay away from her.

Sounds crazy right? But today after dealing with a Grade A horrible human I just thought it'd be a good idea. Especially when a contractor working at her home said he would NEVER work for this @#$! again. I laughed and said you too?

He saw our work and called me to get some pricing for a job he will be doing beginning next week. He had all the same issues with this woman that we did. 

He was just vomiting stories to me without me saying a word. 

I felt vindicated - it wasn't just me. All the same issues, her M.O. apparently. 

What is funny is Rick is at the end of his rope. He was so tired of her bitching he said if I give you your money back you have to promise to never call us again. When he did this I about fell off my chair. That is sooooo NOT like Rick. But it shut her up and she got what she wanted even if she didn't ask for it. We just wanted her to go away forever. To me it was worth it. It was a small job. A major headache for 3 weeks but the smallest of all the jobs we do. 

I admit it felt good. Boy, this retirement is bringing 2 different people out of us isn't it? 

This woman told me I was talking to her like her peer. She shouted I AM YOUR CUSTOMER. Now after 4 weeks of her crap I said, "Oh so you wish to talk down to me then."  It went over the airhead's head.  I honestly don't know what talking to her like her peer meant. I mean she asked a question and I answered. Not like I said, Nancy c'mon I've told you this three times you fucking airhead"  No I said, "sure we can go over this again and I did...." Then she said I was talking to her like a peer. I did not know what that meant. It was professional and very much not familiar. I do believe she wanted me to be afraid of her. I was not afraid of her. She was a realtor and dumb as a box of rocks and a Grade A bitch and liar. Why would that make me afraid of her? She lied about everything, thankfully I had it all in email. After seeing the email she still said she never wrote that. Who did then? She said I don't know maybe I've been hacked. She was serious like I'd buy that. OMG. I think she thinks I'm as dumb as her.  You either laugh or kill her. I had to laugh, unfortunately. 

Hours later a plumber called who was working at this home site. Saw our work and asked if we could do an estimate at a job site he's been at when not working for Nancy. We made arrangements to go to this location for an estimate for tiles etc. 

Then he said, "This woman has been a walking nightmare for us, how about you?"  I just laughed. I mean it could have been her brother in law and they were testing me for all I knew. He said, "by your laugh, you know what I'm talking about." 

He told me he would be done on this day and he hopes to never ever see this witch again. Again I laugh but I did say, "I think you're safe, doubt she will haunt you."  He said, "Wanna bet?" Again I just laugh.

I honestly think if we could review the Nancy's and Bob's then they may behave better. But then again the way people behave today who the hell knows.

Here's to this week being calm. 

Brain Stimulation

My cousin is having something inserted into his brain to stop his tremors. He has Parkinson's. He 62 or 63. I think he is 2 yrs younger than me. 

I should know but I don't. I know his birthday does that count?

He will be awake while they perform this surgery on his brain so he can tell them and show them his tremors to make this work for him. 

I believe they do things like touch your nose, button your shirt. Which are becoming difficult for him of late so once they hit the sweet spot he will be without tremors. He has been putting his hands in his pockets and things like that to not deal with everyone asking him questions. I know that makes him think we don't notice but it's not the reality. But we all do things like that don't we when we have something we are insecure about?

When I saw him last it was my dad's funeral. The rest of his body wasn't that bad regarding tremors. I only noticed his hands. His hands were very bad hence why he was always putting them in his pockets. But his wife has shared that it's gotten a lot worse so they are trying this option they were given. 
I've seen this on TV and think it's amazing. 

But I know me, being awake knowing my skull is wide open kind of freaks me out. I wonder if I could ever get through this.  

The time I saw this on TV the man played the violin and the tremors kept him from playing or at least playing as well as he did in the philharmonic. So he had his violin in hand as he laid on the table and they would tell him to play and they would see the reaction and they'd move it and continued doing this until he was tremor-free. When he was tremor-free they knew this was the sweet spot and it was implanted. It was a fascinating documentary. 
So having seen this I do understand what he is going to be going through at least as much as I possibly can without going through it. 

The surgery was to be Tuesday so I text him after work Monday and he told me it was postponed until Thursday. I just so wish for this to go very well. He is a bit scared but he is also tired of the tremors. He was an electrician but he can't anymore. He owns his own company so he has others to work for him but he wasn't ready to retire. 

I assume this deep brain stimulation works like my tens unit on my back. 

I think the wires put into the brain send electrical pulses to the brain to help control motor symptoms. 

Now I could be wrong on this - I am certainly not a doctor. 

Hey, 35 yrs ago it was the 5th of Mayonaise so what do I know? 🤣 

If I weren't so lazy I'd google it for you, but I'm lazy.

I only watched a documentary several years ago on this topic.

I know that not everyone is a candidate for this and not everyone can even benefit from this. 

I am hoping this works out for him because it has changed him. 

He is far quieter. Quiet and Frank were not two words you'd put together normally. A very smiling, laughing, gregarious kind of fella that everyone loves. He is normally very social as well. But now he's quiet and reserved and he is staying away from people. Just the opposite of who he is. 

I don't know if there are side effects but I would assume so. 

What doesn't have a side effect? But if I were him and I was told this could work for me and my disease I think I'd have to try it. 

Then again I don't know the side effects either.

We text back and forth late Monday night and he said, "Boy remember the good old days when I would come to you and Doc's house and we'd party like the stupid kids we were and I'd pass out on your sofa and you'd all go to bed? " Of course I remember those nights Frankie. (I was 24-25) He laughed and said, "Do you remember the notes you left on me?"   
Now that made me laugh because I forgot all about that until he reminded me. But it all came back to me and boy did it make me laugh. 

Frank was always first to fall asleep. I mean to tell you he was 22 years old and couldn't stay awake after drinking, or smoking pot, hey it was the early 70s. Don't judge.  

That night he was drinking and he just laid down on the sofa as everyone else had gotten up on a commercial break went to the bathroom and kitchen. We all come back to find him out cold on the sofa. We tried to wake him. He was completely out of it. 

So being the bad friends we were, we wrote notes. 

We actually taped them (before post-it notes) all over his clothes, put some in his pockets, taped some on his face. Oh, some were filthy, some were just funny, some were weird. But there were 3 of us that did this to him while he was passed out on my sofa. We felt he deserved this being such a lightweight going to sleep at just before midnight on a Saturday. 

The rest of us were watching SNL (this was the 70s before it could be taped) 

But without a sofa to sit on, we just sat on the floor and let him have the sofa. Aw, my 20s.

When we went to bed I put a blanket on him and left him there.

We tried to wake him but he wasn't budging. 

In the morning we got up to find him gone. 

He left us a note and it said - very funny you guys. Talk with you later.

He said he found the note in the pocket of his jeans only when his mother went to wash them. She was mortified and as she was yelling at him and waving this note at him he told her she shouldn't read things that belong to him. Then she told him to do his own laundry then if he didn't want her to clean out his pockets. Ooh good one Aunt Filomena. 

She really wanted to know who wrote that filth. She assumed it was female for some reason. But it was my ex who wrote it while Craig and I laughed looking on. Ooh, she was so mad at him. What kind of girls are you seeing? You know, that line of questioning. Poor Frank.  Aunt Fil was barely 5' but you didn't want to mess with her.

Thankfully he did not wish to tell his mom that my husband (ex)must have written that because he knew his mom would give Doc (and me) grief forever so he said, I don't know.  She did not buy it but let it go for some reason. Then he stopped by our house and we all had a good laugh.  We know his mom well, of course, and we know damn well it would have been pure hell if she knew either of us had been involved.  She got over it and we all have a funny memory.

He was like my little brother. When young we tormented, teased each other and as we got older became the best of friends. Oh, the teasing didn't stop he was always busting my chops. But I also knew it was with love.

He taught me to water ski.  I was so afraid to fall that I never did. 

I'm not the best swimmer and lake Erie is huge and I was scared but I gave it a go. He explained how to fall. No, not gonna fall. I will stay up. 

By God, I did and became quite a good skier. Who says fear doesn't help?

At my first couple lessons with him, he just kept telling me I had big buoys so I'd float if I fell.

Yes, he was like a pain in the butt little brother. Guess his teasing just got me ready for Rick. Then again it could be why these two like each other so much. When they are together no one stops laughing and I am certain there will be stories about me and teasing involved.

Do you know anyone who has had this deep brain stimulation done for tremors?
Would you do it knowing you are awake through the whole surgery?

5th of Mayonnaise.

What did you do for Cinco de Mayo?

I spent hours looking for this subject because I assumed I must have written about it, in fact I swear I did. But it can not be found.

I grew up in a small town. It was a very damn big deal when the restaurant Chi-Chi's came to town. Back when this happened there weren't a lot of food choices in town. No Thai, no Mexican, no BBQ etc. 

Chi-chi-s was my first introduction to Mexican food. Hard to even imagine today but this was many moons ago.

Everyone went to Chi-Chi's if for no other reason but to get a margarita and eat some chips and salsa. Authentic Mexican cuisine, I think not. 

But I did not know that then. It was all new to me. 

When I made the move to a bigger city I was exposed to so many more food choices. When I began working in the travel industry that helped expose to a lot of foods and people which I loved!

But this day we were visiting Seattle.

We arrived at a Red Robin for a quick lunch in Seattle. 

On all the tables there were little placards saying Cinco de Mayo.  

From 6th grade Spanish I knew Cinco was 5. 

But 5 of mayonnaise? I didn't get it. 

I kept reading the placard and Rick asks me what is so interesting. I say, like a fool, what the hell is the 5th of mayonnaise?

He looked at me and in all seriousness says, "Margaret, you die your hair brown don't you?"  I know that meant to him I'm being a dumb blonde.

Nope, being a dumb brunette!  

Again I ask, "well, what is the 5th of mayo? I don't get it."  

He is laughing like a fool. I was getting a bit perturbed by him. 

When he came up for air he told me it was The 5th of May. He went on,

"It is a Mexican celebration about a battle they won over the French empire he thinks in the 1800's.  So it is celebrated on the 5th of May. 

Mayo= May Margaret. The 5th of May" Not mayonnaise.

Okay, who feels like the fool now. So of course I too am laughing at myself. 

That was so many moons ago but Rick brings it up every year. If you know him you are saying to yourself as you read this, "why of course he does"

Yesterday he text me and said since it is the 5th of mayonnaise how about taco's for dinner and some margaritas. Of course, that sounds fine to me.

But just once I wish he'd forget that I ever said that. But he won't. 

Picking on me is a sport where he is MVP.

So what did you do on your 5th of Mayonnaise? 

Next Door

Do any of you use the NextDoor App? Phone or on the web?  

Well, I do, and let me share with you my discoveries of this app.

Boy, there are a whole lot of people who want to vent and bitch. 

Guess they don't have their own blog like me.🤣

I get email notifications when something new pops up on the Next Door app.

If you don't have it, think of it like Facebook just for your neighborhood.

Where I currently live I signed up for this many years ago. 

It used to be, "hey anyone knows a good plumber?"

"Hey the new SR Bar opened, the burgers are good but the wait staff is so new and a bit slow, but give 'em a chance the food and ambiance were great."  Just nice neighborly things. 

As the years progressed it took an ugly turn. 

It's a location that resides all 'Karen's now. 

Paranoid of everything and anything others do is wrong. 

Oh my goodness the silly things these people freak out about.

• "OMG there was a person that looked suspicious over on Donovan Street and I called the cops"  I don't know what happened anyone know? Then it all begins, the fear gets everyone. Hide your kids and animals. Weeks later in small print, it was just a contractor walking from his truck to the back of the neighbor's house where he was working on their new addition. This lady thought someone looked suspicious but never followed to see where he was going. Just her neighbor's yard to work on that big addition you could easily have seen if you had looked out your window instead of calling the police. She did say he was dressed poorly and his clothes were dirty. So the contractor wasn't in a suit and he was getting dirty. She has never seen anyone work before apparently. Poor guy had to stop to talk to the cops and that had to ruin his day/week.  

• Then Karen got her panties in a twist because there were 8 yr old juvenile delinquents throwing rocks on their driveway and sidewalk and they could poke an eye out - but then it took an ugly turn - parental shaming, bad parents, did anyone call the cops? did anyone stop to yell at them?  You'd have thought those little kids were selling crack on the school grounds, carrying weapons, bullying and hurting other kids. The parental shaming was sickening. The poor kids were playing with rocks in their driveway and the sidewalk in front of their house. This feed went on for days and each day it got bigger and the parents were just shy of being tarred and feathered in the public square. They were just kids 8 to 9 at the oldest. On a warm spring day. Playing outside with rocks. Yes, that is worth getting everyone in a tissy about. 

• Then we got a pandemic and it was daily chaos. I turned off all notifications. It was nuts. People saw this person wearing a hoodie, or this man was walking between the houses. (it was a meter reader) I couldn't take it anymore. Oh, and the hoodie-wearing delinquent was a young woman who was cold and put her hood up. She apologized for scaring this person. I saw her photo. She's as tall as me and about 100lbs. Scary as hell.  I don't want to read their petty issues. We live in an area where no one locks their doors and nothing bad happens but they fear everything. Oh my God, the sky is falling!

•  Someone's mail was delivered and the box was empty. So now he is all about killing the mailman. He is convinced the mail carrier took the golf club he got for father's day and then taped up the box and gave him the empty box. This feed got long and wide and just when I thought I'm turning this off is when this happened. I got as far as postal employees giving their two cents. It was ugly and I shut it off and deleted our account.

Today I got a notification from the NextDoor App for the neighborhood where our lake house was located.

Here are their topics today. 

• Hey, the storm blew in 2 Adirondack chairs into our cove, if you lost yours on your dock these might be it - and the picture is inserted.

• Just had new pilings driven for a new dock. I highly recommend XYZ company, they did a helluva job and fair price. insert phone number

• Hey, that new restaurant allows you to get there by boat. It was superb. The wait staff was great and the food was excellent. And you can't beat the view!

• Any try that new high-speed internet they've been talking about around the lake? I need something other than cable or satellite. Any advice?

This guy got lots of replies. I had to read them because this was a huge issue when we had a home on this lake. Internet was so slow down there.

No one got mean. No shaming. There was teasing of this one man, Bud, who we all know, complaining about the speed. Another man told him porn was good on slow internet too. Oh, that got everyone laughing. No shaming, no gasping, no one being offended, it was all in good fun. Just a lot of smiley faces. (Besides Bud is 80.)

So I keep reading the NextDoor App at the lake but I don't anymore where I live. C'mon, can you blame me?

Ice Cream Signs

To me, there isn't much better than ice cream. I love ice cream. 
As a kid, I had a job at Friendly's ice cream as a waitress

Everyone told me I'd get sick of ice cream. Nope. 

At lunch breaks when other employees were having a tuna melt or some other food. I'd have a milkshake, (or a Fribble) or just ice cream. 

Why would I eat a tuna melt in an ice cream shop? 

The worse thing was being short and getting scoops from those freezers. 

I went home with ice cream all over my chest from leaning over to get the ice cream. More often than not my feet were not on the ground when I could finally reach the ice cream.  

Pain in the ass you say? You're correct, but I got free ice cream!

This Ice Cream shop has a lot of fun signs. I took a couple to post here.

I love this first one. Very true indeed.

I admit there is one site that makes me change my password all the damn time. 

The newest one I made is 'pain in the ass' because it is.

My Friday

I've debated whether to post this. Be kind.

Friday I had a typical day. I was working from home. Izzy was sleeping downstairs and I was on the phone. I hear my doorbell ring. I can't get it because I am on the phone.  So be it.  I hung up and the doorbell rang again. 

I had on my headset as I ran down to the first floor to get to the front door.

A very nice-looking young man with an iPad or a tablet of some kind was standing there. I opened the door and said I was sorry it took me so long to get to the phone but I was on the phone. He pointed to my headset and he apologized and said, "no worries, I understand. Is this a good time for you ma'am?"  
The fact that he actually asked me made me want to say yes, it is. 

Then I asked what he was selling. He then had the biggest grin ever.  

I asked him into the foyer. He preceded to talk about the exterminating service he was selling...a contract type of thing.  I explained we were moving in a couple of months so this is not something I wish to spend money on right now. And no I don't have ants or issues. 

I have to tell you this young man was pretty. Yes, He had on a baseball cap that matched his company shirt but my God you can't deny his looks.  

He sure as hell can't hide them when you look like this.
When he smiled I swore I heard music. 

He told me that 99% of people who answer the door are extremely rude to him. 
He thanked me for being so nice to him. Why wouldn't I be? I hate when people are mean to me for no reason daily at work so I wouldn't do it to him.

He said something to me about being Dominican. He said, "You don't hear my accent," I said I really don't. Did you play ball? Of course, when I hear the Dominican republic I think baseball that's how I'm wired.  He laughed and asked some of my favorite Dominican players and when I told him he said, "Not Cano?"  I laughed and said, "not since he left the NYY"  The kid belly laughed and said, "Oh I see how it's gonna go." Then I said, "okay David Ortiz" then to show you it's not like that. He laughed and said how much they love Big Papi down there. 

Of course, he was selling me shit but I was asking him all kinds of questions. A nice break in my day that the poor fella didn't count on.  He came to America with his parents to get a better life. He ended up in Idaho. He married an Idaho gal and he flashed me his wedding band, all proud. God, he was cute. 

His dream since he was 5 was to be a pilot. He is working 2 jobs to pay to become a pilot. Just then I got a flash of something. I get these from time to time - no I don't talk about it here - but they are always spot on. But this time instead of keeping it to myself I blurted it out. I said, "You can be a family man and fly, I know a lot of pilots they all make it work! And just think once you are working for a commercial airline all of your family can come to visit the baby probably for free"

He stood there with his mouth open for a longer than normal time. 

I said, "did I say too much?"  

He said, "no but no one knows about the baby but my wife and me,"  
I said I know. He asked, "May I give you a hug. I've been vaccinated"  

I took the risk and I hugged this beautiful young man. 

He so wanted to tell the world but his wife says not yet. I told him it is all going to be fine. I don't know how or why or when, but I feel it for you if that makes a difference. Besides that great smile has got to win you some points. He blushed. 

I never heard an accent. I saw that he may have been biracial but who cares and that doesn't mean he's not from here. He was just a nice young man, who was respectful, hardworking, and good at sales (although I told him a couple of things that I could have jumped on but was being nice and suggested how he reword that so they can't overcome that objection and he was tickled) 
You can tell when someone has a good heart. 

This man was the poster boy for all that.

As I discussed this occurrence Friday with Rick he said why can't American young men be like this? I think some do but no, not many.  I said probably because they get everything they want and have never had to work for anything in their lives. That's my guess but what the hell do I know? I mean our parents came to this country with nothing - they had to have a work ethic to survive. No one needs that today, or they don't think they do.

I wish he could come back again today. He gave me a high. 
I hope it all turns out just fine for him. He seems to deserve it.

Rick said he found a mother figure, he may stop over to get fed.

That made me giggle.

Men

I am leaving a lot out here to save you pain. But trust me this was a doozy of a fella.

I have never been big on male-bashing until I worked with all men here in the construction field. 

I worked with mostly all men on an east coast team when in the travel software industry and I can seriously say I can only think of 3 jerks.  One that I am calling a jerk is just because he was a serious ass kisser. Everyone would tell you he was a jerk. The other two just had egos far bigger than their brains.

Now all I deal with all day every day are male jerks.

This man called me and told me his tub had lead paint on it so it needed to be encapsulated so he was told refinishing would do that. He also went on to tell me the porcelain is peeling. I said it sounds like what you really have here is a cast iron tub which is great for you and that it has been refinished before and it is now peeling.  There is no lead in refinishing coatings since the 1960s. I went on but won't bore you with it all.  He insists I know nothing about this field. I tell him to send a photo and the boss will review it and get back to him. (wouldn't it be damn fun to say, the boss has a penis so I am certain you will understand him and believe him.....oh my last day!!!)

Oh, and by the way, he called me three times. I think he thought someone else would answer and I gave him all the scenarios and suggestions all 3 times. I really felt this warranted an in-home estimate since the man was obviously not understanding what he had or what he needed. Which is fine, who else would, but then he says that an in-home estimate was not convenient for  him. He tells me he works from home but he's important.

Yep, said just like that. Who the hell says this shit to people?

(I believe I should be given an award for not laughing at that comment.)
No reason why he is important but he wanted me to know he was. Oy Vay!

It's something that I have found to be endemic to the DC region.

So the ass man sends a photo of a bathtub that is so obviously refinished by a DIY guy and they even refinished the overflow plate. It looked horrendous and God love the person who paid for this because I would never have paid for that sloppy work.  It was not lead paint, it was exactly what I told him. Rick had come into the office now and heard most of this conversation. I told him Rick would call him when he got to the office and viewed the photo. 

Rick asked what that was about and I told him. He viewed the pictures.

Rick called him and said he viewed the photos and gave him his findings. 

Rick told him the exact same thing. 

Know what he said when Rick said the exact words and used the exact example? 
Oh, that makes sense! 

What the hell is with these guys?