Maybe I should leave the house more often

 I've stayed at home for days, it seems, with little reason or motivation to go out, but this morning I had a doctor's appointment. I wasn't eager to go because it was a referral to an ENT from a few months ago, and I figured  the reason would not still be apparent, and not worth treating. But I went anyway. The doctor was attentive and, as they say, treated me with respect--and success. He cleared the obstruction, advised me how to prevent future occurrences. And he didn't even suggest I consult the associated hearing aid office there, saying  my hearing loss was mild, and would probably improve with the treatment.

Enroute home, I stopped at the well-stocked Walgreen's in Mechanicville, and was able to purchase what I wanted, including a Coffee Lattee Ensure. Moreover, the very helpful clerk redeemed my $10 AARP coupon which had been negated at the Schaghticoke store. She was happy to do so, saying all it needed was to be scanned. 

As I was driving to Clifton Park, the warning light for low tire pressure appeared again on my dashboard., just days after the car passed inspection which included tire check and the plugging of a nail hole in one tire. The light was constant all the way home, so I stopped at Valley Auto, intending to leave my question at the desk there, as to what to do about the light. Instead, they dealt wih it right then, despite being very busy, as usual. Kyle said the tires were fully inflated, and the light is on because the battery in the sensor is wearing out, but won't need to be replaced until much later. There was no fee charged. 

  So today, within a span of a several hours, I had 3 positive encounters, with 3 friendly, helpful people in 3 different cities. A trifecta, I think it's called. 

New Expressions, new to me...

 I've always had a penchant for words and how they're used. The first time someone responded to my expression of "Thank you" with "Of course" I wasn't sure whether it was a polite or snarky rejoinder. I found it is now a widely used response, and noted that a doctor just said "Of Course" when I thanked him for his offering to call me on receipt of results. 

  I just heard another remark repeated which I found rather offbeat the first time I heard it, several weeks ago at Stewart's. Apparently "His (or her) hat's too tight"  is a thing. Language does continually evolve.

Check your treads here:

 

King and X

 I read that Stephen King finds twitter to be too toxic an environment, so he's leaving. He denied saying that Elon Musk is Trump's First Lady, but does acknowledge he would have said  so if he'd thought of it. 

Furnace

My eyes are burning and  I'm thinking I can smell oil, but it could be my imagination. If not. sue somebody. 

Thinking of cats...

 When Danny was about 3 years old, my mother designated a cat for him, to be kept at her house where he spent considerable  time, as I substituted at the school. The cat was a small black friendly little kitten,  which Danny named Cutie. It lived quite happily in the barn with the other cats and enjoyed being held and cuddled.

   One day I received a call. The cat was badly injured and needed medical intervention. There were several rogue dogs that lived somewhere upstreet but would roam in a pack, bent on trouble. On this day they had chased Cutie who ran up a tree  in the adjoining back yard, but not before one of the dogs managed to grab her as she fled and mangled the rear of her body. No one could bear to look.

 I agreed to drive her to the nearest vet, who was Dr. Livingston Smith in Stillwater. I had the cat carrier in my car but was filled with dread, not wanting to deal with the poor mangled but stilll alive little animal. Who stepped forward but 11-year-old Kathleen who cradled little Cutie in her arms before putting her in the carrier. When we got to the vet's, she carried Cutie inside where Dr. Smith, a seasoned animal caretaker, looked appalled at the sight--the dogs had torn off the back half of the cat's body. 

   Dr. Smith did of course euthanize Cutie, but not before saying that Kathleen was " a brave little girl."  I remember thinking she might grow up to be a veterinarian. 

Just releasing thoughts--don't bother

 I write my thoughts to you, Blog, because I know you are non-judgmental, and I'm to be the  only reader of note. I'm fully aware that I have no power and and nothing I say or do will matter in the grand scheme of things. But from my  working mind and a muted voice, I have to ask, how any thinking human could have been inspired to support the candidate who will, if fate prevails, lead our country for the coming  four years. Of course, every human being has weaknesses, as witness out present leader's troubled crack-head son,  albeit he has acknowledged and admitted his transgressions. But when if ever have obvious weaknesses ever before overruled common decency? 

    To quote the words of Leonard Cohen's song, "Everybody knows..."  Everybody has to know that "he", a convicted felon,  is a liar, an egotist, a cheater,  a failure in business and  marriage, a coward who promotes violence against others, a boor who calls others vile names, one who has disgusted those who worked closely with him, one who dismissed John McCain's heroism because he was captured, one who sullied  veterans as suckers and losers, who stood by watching as violence erupted against his own vice president and listened to the calls of the rioters to hang him, one who spreads in public oration the unfounded rumor that illegal aliens are eating our pets, and, when confronted by fact checking, says he heard it somewhere, One who promises to be dictator for one day when he will get revenge on those who crossed him. One who shows a lack of education or knowledge of past and present. One who is basically so insecure that he sucks up to Putin and the billionaires who funded his campaign. One who belittles the workers whose efforts don't satisfy him. One who promised that when he won, no more votes would ever be necessary. 

  I could go on, but why? EVERYBODY KNOWS. 

Criminal History

 A while ago, I used to casually watch "COPS" the allegedly real-life tv show depicting  police encounters, but the show was cancelled after one of our national tragedies which made police work unpopular. A short while ago, I came across Cop-Cam on the internet, and started indulging in the   somewhat guilty pleasure of viewing it  when I can't sleep. 

 I feel compelled to relate my own encounters with the traffic police. 

    The first encounter was an accident after I had driven Dorothy to the doctor's office in Stillwater late in the evening hours.  I'd stopped at the  Stop Sign at the end of the street and had just proceeded to drive forward to make the right turn toward home when a large sedan came barreling down the hill and smashed into the left front side of my car, ripping off its outer surface. The driver, a portly man clad in a business suit, and apparently inebriated, got out and spoke with the local cop. I believe the driver was the owner of an insurance company or maybe a lawyer, someone of importance, and known to the cop.  His car was in the road. My car was just a few feet out on the street I was leaving. I remember the oficer measuring the distance. There was a bustle of people standing around the car in the road, when another car approached from the rear and smashed into the rear of the car in the road. With considerable force, actually moving the struck car forward. That driver was staggering drunk when he exited the vehicle. 

  Both of those vehicles were disabled.   I was able to drive my car home and must have gotten a citation of some sort, but Dick Lohnes did what he did so well, and nothing ever came of it that affected me or my driving record, just a repair bill.

  I worked at the Telephone Company in Troy for  a time, and called in sick only one day when I had an appointment for a job at the State Education Building in Albany. As I was driving somewhere in the vicinity of  Mario's, I was pulled over by a motorcycle cop--for speeding. I said I thought I was out of the 30 mph area, but he said "The Troy speed limit applies from when you enter Oakwood coming from Valley Falls."  I must have thanked him because he let me go ---with that warning.

I  had finished my final paper toward my Master's Degree one fine summer day and had driven to  Albany in my new Chevrolet Impala Convertible, accompanied by the 2 Bartholomew girls, and submitted the masterpiece.  I drove home through Stillwater and smack into the rear of a car that was stopped in the road. In my defense  there was a huge tree on the right where the road curved which blocked the view on approach.The occupants were a honeymooning couple from out of the area, unfamiliar with the road, and had stopped in the road to figure out whether they should make a turn off to the left. I was issued a ticket for following too closely. ( I really wasn't because I hadn't seen them until my 8 cyl. engine couldn't stop in time.) Again, the ticket was dismissed thanks to the liking  the Stillwater Town Justice seemed to have for Dave and his defense  efforts,  and the vehicle charges were  dismissed through the efforts of Dick Lohnes. 

  When Ma died, her dog Jumbo disappeared and I drove to the Menands Animal Shelter to see if  anyone might have found him and turned him in there. I was driving Dave's car and was issued a ticket by a Menands cop for his expired inspection sticker, which was just a few days past due.  BooHoo

And there was the time when Dorothy, Dave and I had dinner at the Eagle Bridge Restaurant and Dorothy and Dave were feeling good and when we left they decided to dance along the top of the low rail fence at the front of the restaurant. The cops must have been targeting the place because I the driver was pulled over right away. The cop said because I was weaving, which of course I wasn't drinking or weaving. My dear sister, chortling in the back seat,  offered to the cop that "She always drives that way, hee hee, hee."  I don't think he even asked for my license. It was obvious I was the designated driver, for the dancing drunks. It was fun though.

My latest traffic stop was several years ago when I was driving to the VVH one  cold day to visit Dave. I was pulled over by Pine Lake for an expired inspection sticker. The cop asked if I knew why he pulled me over. I said no. He told me, and said I should have it inspected asap before someone else issued a ticket.

Of course, 2 State Troopers were later to come to our house and make an arrest, but that's a different story..

  (When you live alone, you become prone to talk to yourself. Or write about things.

  

And I dream of the dead...

 Last night I dreamt of ELO, the first time ever in all these bygone years. He was sitting in a room, perhaps the lobby of a hospital. He told me his time on earth was limited, and he offered some advice, which has disappeared into the ether. He did say the doctors told him he was 16 pounds overweight. I said he didn't look it, and he launched into a scientific explanation of how the doctors had not accounted for the physiological causes which were not true weight gains. Others were present, but who they were and what they said has evaporated like water being thrown into the ocean. 

I see dead people...

 well, at least I think about them. In view of political manifestations of late, I remember how I got involved in "politics."  Jack Brackley, then Committee Chairman,  called me and asked if I would be on the Pittstown  Democratic Committee, which had lost a few of its small membership. At first I said I coudn't because I had a young child, but when he called back later and said my duties would take minimal time, I agreed. And so began my memebership on the Pittstown Democratic Committee.

  Jack rarely was able to attend meetings because he worked nightshift, but he kept advised of the happenings. Eventually he decided to resign, maybe because of health reasons. And a new Chairman was elected, Jim D.  He was a charismatic and efficient person in his capacity as Chairman, but he had never had the opportunity to meet with Jack. The PDC had many proactive exchanges and encounters during those years. But there was one unnoticed event. After a lifetime of being a Democrat, Jack abruptly changed his enrollment to independent or maybe blank. I was never told by him, but heard from  another that Jack had felt insulted because the new Chair had not contacted him as the outgoing Chair. In  hindsight, I'm sure Jim would gladly have met with him and even celebrated Jack's service, but I guess circumstances did not promote what Jack had perceived as protocol. 

  Some years later, Jack's health in further decline, he called me one day and asked my help. He asked if I would bring a voter enrollment form to his house in Tomhannock. I did. He and Carol were there, along with his mother, who was situated in a chair near the doorway, her health in rapid decline. Jack filled out the enrollment form registering him as Democrat, and I mailed it, as he had asked. When he died, not long after, he died as he had lived, politically speaking. 

Bad Cess Day

 No biggie, just annoying. This morning I put a load of laundry in the washing machine, and nothing happened when I pressed Start. Of course, I pressed several more times and still nothing.The washer is only several years old and has been working fine till now. I pulled out the wall plug and re-inserted it. Nothing. I turned on the dryer to see if there was power to that outlet. There was. I removed the load of laundry, dripping with the detergent, and prepared to call appliance repair. But I decided to give it one more shot and pressed Start again. Voila! The light came on. I threw the laundry back in, and ran upstairs, hoping the machine would do its job. I'm assuming it may have, but I haven't gone back downstairs as yet...

...Because I needed to go to Walgreens to pick up  a prescription  in response to last week's call from them. But the prescription can not be renewed now without an order from the prescribing doctor, who happened to be the hospitalist from a year ago, and with whom I've had no contact since being discharged. I was advised to call my doctor and ask for a Rx for this med. OK, I can do that.

Before I went next door to the grocery store, I decided to return the bag of empties which I keep in the trunk of my car. I bring them over to the bottle return only to find a note that the machine is out of order. As I'm going back to my car, a sudden gust of wind inverts the paper bag containing the returns, and the wind carries the freed cans and plastic bottles across the parking lot, and some underneath cars. (None are glass.) I retrieve a few, and decide to defer the visit to the grocery store. I had been planning to drive to McD's and indulge in a Happy Meal, but decided to just go home. 

Home, I'm carrying the bag, also paper, which contains the Ensure purchased with my discount coupons and a few other items. Just as I step inside my front door, the handle on the bag gives way, and the contents spew out. Those 6-packs evidently exerted more  stress than the bag could bear. 

Since my days are now very quiet, these events account for the most activity I've experienced in a long time. I fully realize their insignificance, and know worse things have happened---think Tuesday----and the  one-year anniversary of my brush with oblivion.

  So now I'm about to put the washed clothes in the dryer. Perhaps.

  

O.K., Its official

 The doctor called with the results of a test he'd ordered.  I said Thank You for calling.  He said:  "Of Course."   (He's 45.

A Shortage---For sure

 I received a call today cancelling Monday's appointment because of a shortage of IV fluid.  But the caller said there was a cancellation so I could reschedule  on Tuesday.  They have a few IV doses available. 

 So if Tuesday's cancellation freed up an IV dosage, why not use it for the Monday appointment? Why cancel and then reschedule for another day if dosage is available on Monday. 

I suppose there may be a valid explanation, but for sure I'm not going to pursue it. Let the chips fall where they may.