Raincharm’s Weblog

We have both soccer and baseball activities both days this weekend.

So we started by retrieving the car after they fixed whatever was wrong. No charge this time. I think it was related to an earlier fix of the electrical/computer system.  At 247,000 miles, some hiccups are to be expected. Because they ran through a long checklist to test and identify the problem, a lot of things were not at their normal settings. I spent each red light on the way home resetting things.

And then we were off. Two busses to our first destination, Rueben’s Brews, in Ballard.

The Champions League championship game was fun. Paris-Saint Germain beat Inter-Milan 5-0. But PSG was great fun to watch. Lively play, lots of passing, and goals. Plus, we got to enjoy lunch from the brewery’s food truck. The rueben I had was very satisfying.

From there, we set off in a light rain to the next bus. Followed by a short walk to the light rail and another short walk to the stadium.

The baseball game started at 4:15, which was good because it dragged on for 3 hours and 46 minutes, spanning 11 innings. The Ms did win in the end, so that was exciting. They called up a rookie, Cole Young, and he managed a walk, his first major league hit, and in the bottom of the 11th inning, hit a weak ball down the first base line, which allowed the runner at 3rd to score, barely under the tag at home plate. I’m not sure it counts as a hit, but it secured a walkoff win. What a way to experience your first major league game.

Tomorrow’s weather is supposed to be improved, and we will once again be heading to the ballpark. First for the Mariners game, and we’ll leave that at some point to walk across the street to the Sounders soccer match. They start about 2 hours apart, so unless the Ms play a really short game, we’re going to miss part of one of the games.

Today, I got something I last got when I was 16. Braces! Invisalign, actually. Very high tech stuff. Scans you do with a thing you attach to your phone. An accelerator that vibrates your mouth for 10 minutes each night.

This all has to do with a tooth that must be removed, in a few weeks.

I have had the Invisalign “trays” on since late morning, except for lunch and dinner. They don’t hurt, but my mouth is tired.

If you’ve ever been in a mascot suit maybe you have experienced a similar feeling.  You’re supposed to entertain, be peppy, and make others smile – without talking. You find yourself smiling  widely, to encourage others to do the same, even though nobody can see your face.

Everytime I have been a costumed mascot I end up with a tired mouth from smiling so much. This feels almost the same. I assume I will get used to it after a few days. I hope so because this will go on for more than a year.

In other news, this greeted me on my drive home

If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

Since I was sick last week, our pantry didn’t get used as much or in the normal way. Therefore, there was food that needed to be prepared so it didn’t turn into compost.

Stuffed peppers to the rescue.

Another walk, watering the veggies, and I made an appointment for myself to meet a new doctor. In October! 4-1/2 months to get an appointment as a new patient is ridiculous.

We have 3 rhododendrons in our yard. One front, one back, and one side. They all bloom at about the same time, now.

Side yard, and the most interesting look.

Other than checking the flowers, gardening today was limited to watering the vegetables planted yesterday. This afternoon, we took a walk. The real excitement was in the morning when I confirmed our Medicare Part B, made a likely decision on Part D provider, and explored dental insurance options. What I didn’t tackle was trying to line up more new doctors. But I’m not as frantic as I was a few weeks ago. I understand it will not meet our expectations for timing, so am just moving forward as best we can.

Understanding all of the requirements for care as a senior without job-based health care is a form of elder-abuse. Luckily I can just keep working until it’s all figured out.

I put shoes on for the first time since last Friday when I got home from work. Technically, my isolation ends after tomorrow, but I have been temperature free since Wednesday and am feeling relatively normal, albeit tired.

My first trip was to weigh in, masked, and did not stay for the meeting.

Our second trip was a walk to the farmers market to get some tomato plants. We snagged two and a cucumber as well. I’ve never killed a cucumber plant, because I’ve never had one in the garden.

This meant that said plants needed to be planted. Retrieved the hose and tomato cage parts from under the house. I managed to get them all planted and watered.

There are a lot of layers here. 1) the pink traditional cages. 2) the Gardeners Blue Ribbon “cages” that are more free form, and can be modified to align with branches that need more support. 3) a 1-inch square fabric that gets wrapped around everything to keep the critters at bay. I’m looking at you, raccoons. I don’t usually put up all layers at once, but I may get distracted later.

As a bonus, I got to see a Dark Eyed Junco. I heard an unknown bird yesterday and used the Merlin app to identify the stranger. Today, I saw one, at least based on the picture supplied by Merlin.

While wandering the garden, I noticed that 3 of the 4 iris I planted a month or so ago were still alive. And one threw up a flower stalk, which I dutifully cut, per the first year instructions provided by Seattle Tilth. They can be allowed to bloom in year 1, but may not survive or be as strong in year 2 and beyond.

I checked the strawberries, and there are flowers and early fruit. We’ll see if there is any harvest this year.

Finally, the raspberries are blooming. The patch needs a lot of work to rein in both the weeds and rogue plants. To that end, I ordered several more of the flexible tomato cages to create a fence with big openings. My years of wrangling with bamboo lengths may be at an end. Every year, they have to be reworked, and it always feels like an “it’ll do for this year” solution.

This is more effort than I have put out since I last had shoes on. Ready for a break.

Our extended family has cabins on the shore of Lake Superior, technically the St. Mary’s River until you are a bit further up the lake. The lake freighters that ply the great lakes come upbound from the Soo Locks, pass behind Round Island, and turn to head up into the big lake. Downbouund boats do the reverse, heading straight at our shore before turning behind the island.

Many of us who grew up spending whole summers at the cabin have had dreams about boats missing the turn and running right up onto the beach.

Apparently, this actually happened in the early morning hours in Norway. The cabin owner slept through the approach until his neighbor woke him to the spectacle.

Admittedly, the depth of the water near the shore is dramatically different than our bay. But still.

Carl has been diligently working in the yard this week. The weather is cooperating, and the Mariners are out of town.

He is a busy guy, though. Yard work, walking, shopping, throwing buckets of balls to many folks who play in the local baseball leagues, and working on his baseball projects.

He has made a new baseball pal, Bill “Spaceman” Lee. He’s called a few times, and they have exchanged letters. If he ever gets to Seattle, he says he’ll look us up.

I have been privy to his schedule in depth this week because I have been home every day.

I felt poorly on Friday, spent Saturday sleeping, managed to get sitting and ate a bit on Sunday. I thought I had the flu and not likely to go to work on Monday. Since I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled on Wednesday, I wanted to verify I didn’t have Covid. Except that I did.

Canceled blood donation, doctor’s appointment, soccer game attendance. Working remotely has kept my hand in, although the early days were not as productive.

Every day since has been a bit better, and I no longer have a fever. But it doesn’t take much to wear me out.

I have been keeping my distance from Carl and sleeping in the guest room. He has been doing a great job of caregiving and so far has tested negative.

Well, that’s the exciting news from our corner.

On a more somber note, my brother-in-law’s father passed away earlier this week. He was a really fine person and lived a long and productive life. More on Mark’s blog.

Rhoddie in bloom, camellia out of control and blooms gone, strawberries starting to flower.

This time in a car place, waiting for them to figure out why I had no heat in the car this morning. They had just replaced the coolant something or other and think the coolant line just needs to be bled.

I brought some work, but can’t quite focus enough to be sure I should manipulate data. Instead, I played most of the NYT puzzles.

This week has had a few moments of elation, but many more of frustration. To the point where I had to stop trying to complete some needed steps. Just to take a break and get my head level. Who knew it would take literally months to get an appointment with a new primary care provider. This hiccup will have far reaching consequences, for me.

In the end I am sure it will work itself out, and I have obviously been coddled by having stable healthcare through one organization for several decades. And there are still more medicare steps to complete to avoid all of the potential penalties. Weekend work.

I have become a champion at waiting on hold. And not just for the federal offices. Trying to get through to appointment schedulers has actually been more daunting.

On a brighter note, the Mariners are not in last place. The FC Ballard (soccer) season has begun. And it’s not raining all of the time.