Oh, New Mexico......

This photo, and the next few are pics of New Mexico's beauty, posted on Memories and Photos in New Mexico....I apologize that I don't have their names, nor did I write down where they were taken.  But their beauty is undeniable....

I am still having trouble with the unemployment web site, and cannot get through.  

My office is having a virtual meeting today at 10 am.....I assume we will be informed that we will be closed for another week or two.  New Mexico has over 83 confirmed cases ~ a testament to our low population, lack of big cities, a large rural community.  The weird part was that on Bing (who has a daily corona virus update) it listed 83 and then (+26).  Are they expecting there will be 26 more confirmed cases?  No explanation.  

Yesterday I went for a hike with a friend ~ we are lucky in that the Sandia Mountain foothills are right up the street from me, tons of open space ~ 5 miles later I was exhausted but felt better.  However, our impending meeting has made me anxious and nervous.  I hate watching the news, but feel if I don't watch at least some of it, I won't be aware of what's happening.  

I hope all of you are well, and taking care of each other......don't forget to check on your neighbors!

Love, 365

P.S. I was finally able to get in to the unemployment web site.....it's a miracle!

It's bad enough living next to a lunatic......

Actually it should read: out there.......

You know, we live in a pretty nice neighborhood.  Everyone keeps things kept up and looking nice.  Even my wacked out crazy ass neighbor's front yard looks ok from the street.  But when you creep up closer you notice a few oddities, like a lawn mower under their huge tree.  They don't have any grass.  

But first a quick review: 30-40ish son still lives with his mother, because he's mental.  He hasn't had a job since we moved here, 20 years ago.  As time goes on, his quirks get quirkier.  This past year he bought drums and has taken to practicing them out in the back yard.  Then he got a guitar.  Now he's playing music ~ you know, regular songs ~ and tries to play along with it. 

His poor mother has no friends.  Although she did manage to evict him once, that only lasted a year and he was back.  I think she feels as though she can't kick him out because he would have no where to go, and she has no backbone, so doesn't put her foot down when he does stuff that she has to know is not fun for us neighbors.

Today took the cake.  Last year he had a small motor bike ~ not a dirt bike, but sort of like a mix between a vespa and a kids motorbike.  Apparently he had quite the accident on it and was laid up for awhile, but today he was revving the engine and riding it around their tiny little backyard.  And here I had hoped that the damned thing was totaled.  He did used to be a mechanic, so I guess he repaired it.  But honestly!  In the back yard?  

We will never be able to sell this house as long as those two nut jobs are living next door.  It's a good thing we didn't have that in mind, although that was my thought as I was trying to watch tv with all that racket going on.  Romeo said he has made complaints before and the city did nothing, but I'm going to try again.  

Hope you have better neighbors than I do.

Love, 365

Governmental agencies that make isolation even more aggravating.....

Sioux, and the black blob is Brodie.......

Hello friends!  Well, I've just had all kinds of fun today.  Actually, part of it was fun, we took Sioux out for a walk....but it was colder than I anticipated so we only went out for about a mile or so.  My hands were both sweaty and cold, it was odd.  She does love to go out, Romeo made her a super long leash that lets her run (albeit in circles kind of like a horse running in a corral).  After that I ate some avocado toast, which I love and is a good thing because right now we have 8 avocados that need to be eaten.  I have the sourdough starter refreshing to make bread tomorrow, because what we have will be gone later today.  

I think I mentioned before how thankful I was that my medicare insurance started on January 1, and 7 days later I fell playing racquetball and broke my left arm.  What I didn't know until December was that I need to pay for Part B, which comes to about $144 a month.  Which is sure cheaper than any other insurance I could get!  But why they want me to pay 3 months in advance is a mystery to me.  I'm sure it's to make things easier for them.  At any rate, I called them on Wednesday to discuss setting up "easy pay" so that they will simply deduct it from my account on a monthly basis.  But.  And there's always a but!  I will still be required to pay the 3 months premium in order to set up easy pay.  The rep I spoke to said she couldn't recommend I pay one month at a time, but she didn't say I couldn't.  So, after much deliberation (due to the uncertainty of finances at this time) I decided I would just pay one month at a time, making certain it is there by the 20th.  Well, except for this time, which gets there on the 25th.  Why do they have to add anxiety when we are all already experiencing so much apprehension?  I guess that's the government for ya.  

I also decided I would work on applying for unemployment, as apparently they are allowing us to file if our hours have been cut due to COVID-19.  The last time I was on their website was over 5 years ago.  I had deleted (drat!) my login/password about a year ago from my password program, thinking I wouldn't be needing it again.  So I figured I would create a new account, but NO they won't let you do that.  To get help with that I have to call them ~ the last 3 times I tried to call they were/are/will be so busy they tell me to call back later.  Who knows how long it will take me to get through.....

So, other than doing a little walking on the treadmill and some reading, and occasionally calling  the unemployment office, I guess I'm done with productivity until tomorrow.

Don't forget to check on the people around you!

Love, 365

Our undiscovered country......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fOqE8ToGEY

If you haven't seen this video, & it doesn't play, just download the address.  Go ahead, I'll wait....hahaha.

Apparently this is the work of someone who has been in self quarantine for a couple of hours.  

I, unfortunately am not that creative.  I've been reading blogs and walking on my treadmill ~ I have a self imposed goal of walking on it at least twice for 30 minutes today, and going with Romeo to walk the dog.  Who is happy that everyone is home, and can take her on multiple walks a day.  I wasn't quite ready at the first one, but we'll go out around 2 pm or so for another.  

Yesterday, at the morning staff meeting, we were informed that our office is "closed"/"open".  We have cancelled all hygiene appointments and all non-essential dental treatment.  But the doctors are there, doing crowns and root canals and extractions.  Today the doctor I work for didn't really have enough treatment to warrant going in, so we're off until Tuesday.  We moved a lot of essential treatment to yesterday, which had us there until 6 pm.  We have patients scheduled for Tuesday, where we will work on the schedule for the rest of the week, answer phones and see emergency patients.  The other dentist is there today, and one of my co-workers texted me that one of their patients wasn't feeling well, and had recently traveled to New York.  Sheesh.  I don't know if they worked on her or not, but they should have given her a mask and sent her home.  I hope that's what they did.  

It isn't easy to make a 24 hour transition from utter chaos to practically nothing to do.  I certainly don't want to sit and watch tv all day.  I've lost a tiny bit of weight on my diet & exersize program and I don't want to gain it all back on my first day of self imposed exile from the world!  

On Monday I paused our gym membership ~ I hear they are going to close anyway ~ which was a hard decision to make.  Here I am, I have plenty of time to really hit it at the gym....but I'm not going.  They don't provide anti-microbial wipes, they are only for "cleaning".  They do offer hand sanitizer, but it's really just too much to expose myself to.  Most of my racquetball friends are still going.  To each their own, right?  But, Romeo is 70.  I don't want him to expose himself to that, nor do I.  I don't have enough vacation/personal leave time to get sick.  

Who knows if this two week shut down will be enough.  We may find ourselves shut down for longer.  I'll be registering for unemployment later today too, won't that be fun?

Take care and be safe. 

Love, 365

The shower and the *&H^%$# virus.....

No wine for me, but beer works!

All of my habits are nearly back to normal.  I can do my own hair.  I don't need the handicapped chair in the shower anymore.  I still need the shower brush (wow, my back doesn't itch anymore, those are wonderful), and the handy little paddle for putting lotion on my back.  

But ever since my accident, I've been showering in the evening.  Mostly it was a necessity because it took too long, and I didn't want to have to get up that early.  This morning was the first time I showered in the morning since January 8th.  Last night my sister called and we chatted so long I decided to go for it in the morning.  

In retrospect, it was probably not a good idea to take my first morning shower the week after the time change....I could barely get myself out of bed.  Plus, I think I've become accustomed to that extra half hour of sleep.  The other coincidence was that I had my physical yesterday, where they gave me a pneumonia vaccine shot.  In the other arm of course, which was also a mistake.  Now both arms hurt to put pressure on, and I didn't really feel so hot.  

But I am now a firm believer in evening showers.  It's worth it for the extra 1/2 hour of snooze time. :-)

****************************

I have reached maximum saturation on news reports on the Covid 19 virus.  Although I appreciate the updates on a purely planning level ~ for instance I am putting off my Texas trip until things have settled down, unless our office is shut down for a week or so..then we'll just drive there ~ the hysteria that is occurring because of it is simply another example of how reactive people are.  Stupidly.  A couple of people in my office have gone to lengths to go out and buy those things that are flying off the shelves.  Not that they need them, but simply because everyone else is doing it.  Sigh.  

Be safe.

Love, 365

Thank you James Joyce......

James Joyce was Irish....that explains a lot :-)

His genius: "you're getting on my nerves" ~ an expression that will likely never go out of style.

I'm willing to bet y'all know what's coming......yeah, it's Ms Loud again, comin at ya with her big ol' boots, smiling while trampling on my last nerve. The very last one.....

Which began right off the bat on our first day of work this week, pretty much at 8am.  Timing is everything, right?  She then had the audacity to continue trampling through for the entire week.  By Thursday afternoon I was looking for 5pm to come along so she would go home, not to be seen again until next Tuesday.  ARGHHHHH  

You've heard the recommendation of our medical professionals on preventing the spread of infection of the good ol' corona virus, right?  DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE

oops

oops again....

In 2015 someone did a study on how often we touch our faces (I know, what a waste of money, right?) and it turns out that in one single hour, the average is 24 times.  Mostly of our eyes, nose and mouth.  I was listening to a radio program where they were talking about avoiding touching your face....this was while I was rubbing my eye, and the itchy nose.  They even admitted that it's nearly impossible to just stop touching it.  They recommended you become aware of how often you do it, which when I paid attention was pretty terrifying.  Now they are calling the virus COVID-19.  I don't know~ are they trying to make it sound more horrible?  A later radio broadcast featured a physician discussing how the corona virus doesn't transmit as easily as say, the flu.  

Although it is nice to have a break from the childishness of the current political situation, I think the media is fueling fear of the illness.  I have been unwittingly drawn into it, wavering on when I should go to Texas to visit the family.  I had planned on going in May.  Now I wonder if I should just wait until August........

So, I haven't decided yet.  I should just go ahead and book it since it's Southwest.  I've rescheduled flights before without penalty.  Ahhhhhhh, my indecision is driving me crazy.  And I'm not excited to spend time in a closed environment, breathing in everyone's crud.  Almost tempted to drive it.

Enjoy your weekend!

Love, 365

How time flies...........

I've watched this You Tube video a few times and find it hilarious.  Especially the lady on the sofa who keeps asking Alexa to turn up the heat.....reminds me of my Mom. :-). If the video doesn't play, put this URL into your browser:   https://youtu.be/YvT_gqs5ETk

We have a couple of Echo units, one is in the living room ~ where the typical question is what the weather forecast is for the next day or two, or when our favorite series will start up again with new episodes.  Or, if we are watching a history program we might ask Alexa a question or two.  Really, I have discovered they are a waste of money, although we do use the timer function when baking, and I play music when I'm doing a onerous task (like dishes or making Christmas cookies).  I've asked Alexa to tell me a joke a time or two.....but none of them (so far) were funny enough to repeat.  Ah, well.  

I have not been in my office for anything other than cleaning things up, and keeping my laptop charged for the past two weeks.  Romeo has had enough of me being sequestered in here to study and if I tell him I'm going to my office he will tempt me with a movie or a new episode of a series I watch.......I know what he's doing.  The funny thing is I'm not sure he realizes what he's doing ~ it's kind of sweet, but this morning I managed to get up here and write before y'all think I've passed on or decided not to blog anymore :-)

Update: my broken arm is so much better.  I was able to use my flat iron to curl my hair yesterday without too much trouble ~ well, except I wasn't able to do too much with the back of my head.  Soon I will be able to dry my own hair and use a new hair dryer/brush contraption I bought because I thought I could do my own hair with it with one arm ~ but no.  Nearly everything I use to style my hair requires the use of two arms, assuming you can raise both arms to above my head.  I confess that I have not been doing much of the physical therapy I was given, because it would make my arm ache for hours afterward.  So instead of doing it 3 times a day, I managed to do it once a day and then take an advil.  I still have another month to go before my next orthopedist appointment, where I am hoping he gives me the ok to play racquetball again. 

I am already tired of politics.  I haven't watched any of the debates ~ at least not on purpose.  I did see a few clips on the news, and was disgusted by their childishness.  Honestly.  There's not a single person I'm excited about voting for.  I am not a democrat, nor am I a republican.  And forget about independent, that's just a platform for politicians that simply don't want to compete against our two major parties.  The worst of it is still to come.  Maybe I'll take up knitting while listening to opera, lol.

I wish all of you a great week ahead.....
Love, 365