Category: Everything Fred

30 July 2024

Pay day! The Florida Retirement System deposited my check a day early and with a $122.46 increase (our 3% annual increase mandated by state law which, after taxes is really 2.5%). Let’s face it, Florida doesn’t pay teachers well. Our community college in Broward was paid less than K-12 teachers in the same county. The one thing Florida had going for it was the state retirement system and it’s nice to get an inflation raise every year.

I was a little lazy getting out of bed this morning – around 7 am. My morning walk was a shorter route than normal which I do occasionally to see what’s going on down a street I usually miss. In this case, I walked 1.16 miles. Along the way, I saw a very pretty shrub I used to have in my yard but eventually died out.

You might be able to tell from the specific epithet that it is native to the Philippines. A red variety is known as Bangkok Rose. It’s a member of the coffee family (Rubiaceae). What’s unusual about this flower is the very large, showy sepals. Normally, you think petals are the showy part of a flower or bracts, not the sepals.

Last night’s dinner with Joel, Keith and Barbara was fun. We shared a huge chopped salad and ordered 20 wings (10 original with caramelized onions and 10 garlic Romano). We decided not to order a pizza after stuffing ourselves with salad and wings. It was a very cost effective meal at $12 per person before tip. It was good to catch up with everyone and Barb and I had to regale Joel and Keith with tales from our trips.

I managed my yoga stretches this morning. It took a great deal of thinking to remember the order I usually do and I could tell that it had been a while since I last did yoga. There was some real muscle burn. I count that as a good thing.

In for a penny…. I decided to try my hand at swimming laps. I managed to get through three sets of warmups when I realized I was getting some pretty sharp pains in my right thumb. Looks like I might be at another watershed moment and have to start doing water aerobics instead of laps. Both thumbs have arthritis and it’s strange the right one is the one giving me pain and not any pain in the left.

I could do without some of these watersheds. If I’m not careful, I’m gonna watershed out of existence.

Stay tuned!

29 July 2024

Around 5 am my iPhone alerted me to low blood sugar from the continuous glucose monitor. It read 53 mg/dL and anything below 70 is considered low. I popped two Tootsie Roll minis and got out of bed and started my day.

After overnight oatmeal with peaches, blueberries, and strawberries and my first cup of coffee, I set out on my walk along Riverland Road – in the dark.

I met a few joggers and a few dog walkers to and from. The temperature was bearable but the humidity was 90%.

Next to a yard with a lot of Areca palms, tree frogs were going nuts. There must have been 30 of the little buggers singing their hearts out for a mate. I started to record them but the traffic along Riverland had picked up significantly and it would have been a wasted effort.

Sunrise was a nice affair, particularly along the canals.

Looks like dock space is at a premium. If that low pressure system develops eventually into a hurricane, this area will be loaded with boats trying to get shelter. Hopefully, that will not happen.

My glucose is stubbornly low. It’s now up to 58 and that’s after the overnight oatmeal, coffee with sugar, pony Gatorade, grapefruit, and coffee with sugar again. I’ll certainly need to keep an eye on it today.

On the glucose front, I finally found my old test kit with test strips and lancets. When I tested it this morning after breakfast, it was 149. Later after I got back from the doctor’s appointment, it was 94 with the test strip. There’s something wrong with the sensor so I called Abbott Labs and they will send me a replacement and I have to send them the bad sensor. I run into this problem frequently. This is the third sensor they’ve had to replace.

As far as the doctor’s appointment, he was an hour late in seeing me. He showed me the MRI and carefully explained what I was seeing. In essence, he said there was no need for surgery and he recommended a solid AFO brace. His office would be happy to have one form fitted to me for $800 or I could order one off the internet for $43 but it wouldn’t be form fitting. My insurance would not cover it unless I contested the wrong size boot I was given. I doubt I’ll do either. I’ll just rest it and let it heal on its own. This happened to me several years ago and it took months for it to heal even though I was hiking every day. This doctor said it would be 3-4 months if I didn’t stress it. I’ve got to figure out a new way to tuck in the sheets on the bed since sitting on my heels is now a no-no.

Tonight is dinner with Joel, Keith and Barbara at Antony’s Coal Fired Pizza. According to Barb, it’s National Wing Day and Anthony’s is known for their wings. We’ve had a couple of rain storms today and we will probably have a couple of more tonight. My yard could use the water.

Stay tuned!

28 July 2024

Three in a row! I feel like I’m on a roll. This morning I was a little lazy getting out of bed and it was past 8 when I started my morning walk. I managed 1.5 miles. Along the way, I found out one of the neighbors was having to put their dog down today and another neighbor hates picking up trash in his yard (he has a corner lot at a busy intersection). I found 4 houses for sale on the stretch I walked which could be either bad or good. Morning walks are very informative.

For those of you who are tired of my plant photos, I thought I would show you some of the animals in the hood.

I had just finished a finger isle when this popped into my view.

The owners pulled up just as I was walking away and I turned around to make sure they saw him. I reminded the driver they did not carry rabies. Normally, I see these walking across the cable lines in my backyard at night. The O’p0ssum was the first animal I learned the tracks of in the field. I still don’t want to cuddle one – those needle like teeth!

Day before yesterday I was visited by a lone ibis. Normally, they run in small groups or as many as 15.

There are two species in Florida: white ibis and glossy (sometimes called a black ibis). The immature white ibis is not white but brown and grey. The ibis is the mascot of the University of Miami, probably because we have so many down here. I’ve seen the glossy ibis in the Everglades.

Once home today, I noticed something really unusual.

When I moved to Florida in 1985, these were a lot more common. They are native to the southeastern U.S. However, invasive species out competed the population of green anoles and they became difficult to find. I’m glad to see this one back, however, he/she needs to be careful.

The black spiny-tailed lizard is omnivorous and that little green anole would make a tasty snack.

After cleaning up breakfast and making the bed, I headed to the pool. The temperature is a balmy 89°F. Any warmer and it would be like a hot tub. It was very relaxing. I have an outdoor shower set up that I used and then headed inside for lunch.

This afternoon I plan to read a little and nap a little. Dinner will probably be left over pizza.

Stay tuned!

27 July 2024

Another good day! Two days in a row where I feel great! I haven’t had that in a while. I managed 1.48 miles today and had short conversations with four neighbors on my walk. As I passed my favorite sidewalk, a tropical red sage called to me.

That’s one of the deepest reds I’ve seen in flowers. Red is difficult for humans to produce. Some of the rarest glass in the world is Venetian red glass. The Venetians seem to have found a secret. Red beach glass is the rarest of the rare and when you see someone selling red beach glass, it’s probably not from the see but some red glass that was polished to look like sea glass.

After my second breakfast, I cleaned the bathroom, changed bed linen and began to wash. It took me most of the day because my washer kept getting unbalanced. I guess it’s good that it shuts down and tries to rebalance the clothes but it does take a long time.

I finally took a towel out and let the spin finish. I then put the towel back in on its own. I got through about 4 pm.

After folding the clothes and putting them away, I jumped in the pool and listened to music from my iPhone connected to outdoor speakers. I’m sure my neighbors think I’m uncool with my play selection but they are the classics from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. You can’t beat Skeeter Davis, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Whitney Houston, Crosby Stills and Nash, etc.

Next was cookie time. I was hungry for some type of cookie and I found a recipe for ginger cookies. They turned out more like ginger cakes and not ginger snaps but boy are they good! I scarfed down 5 before they cooled off. I now weight 4 pounds more than yesterday.

I’ve continued to make overnight oatmeal. I add flax seed, chia seed, pipitas, and Italian farro. Then I doctor it with blueberries, peaches and strawberries. I have no idea of the caloric intake but the taste is worth it.

I think tomorrow is going to be a pool day, nap day, read a book day and all round goof off day. I’ll probably talk to my cousin Jimmie in the afternoon but otherwise, nothing on the agenda.

Monday I meet again with Dr. Mills about my ankle. He’ll interpret the MRI and let me know if surgery is needed. He’ll be upset I’m not wearing a boot but that think is a tripping hazard.

Stay tuned!

26 July 2024

I feel great! The only way to describe it is exhilarating! I haven’t feel this good in 1 1/2 years. I have no idea why other than the trip did me more good than I thought – or the antidepressant is just now kicking in. Regardless of the answer, I’ll take it.

I managed 1.3 miles on the route this morning and could have gone further. Tomorrow’s walk is longer so I ‘ll find out if that is true.

On the way back, I passed an autograph tree (Claudia rosea). I’ve shown a picture of this plant before when it was in bloom but this one had fruit.

Clusia is native to the Caribbean and Florida and the Bahamas. It’s called autograph tree because if you “write” on the leaves, your writing will stay on the leaf until the leaf drops and decomposes. The leaves stay on for a very long time. It develops into a tree but some people train them into hedges.

When the fruit ripens (it’s poisonous!) the capsule opens and birds often eat the seeds and further distribute the plant. When the seeds germinate, it behaves similar to the strangler fig until it gets established.

As you can see, the capsule is very woody. This one has dried up but when it was open, you can image what it would look like – a sunburst.

I did have one unfortunate surprise this morning. There was a great deal of blood in my stool. I texted my oncologist and he wanted to know if it was black or red and I told him red. I asked if it was possible the ferrous sulfate he wanted me to take to bring up my iron levels was the cause. I haven’t had another response from him yet. This is a side effect of ferrous sulfate that you are to immediately contact a physician. I’ll find out more tomorrow.

I felt energetic and got to the Friday chores. The first thing was to rake leaves since it had been two weeks between ratings. I had a bumper crop.

I admit to having to rest several times and make Gatorade breaks but I got them into the yard waste bin eventually.

Next it was cleaning the pool filter, watering the plants, washing down the pool deck and patio. After all that, I was a sweaty mess and jumped into the pool to cool off. The water temperature was a balmy 86°F. I had a quick outdoor shower and an indoor shave and headed to Walgreens to pick up 4 prescriptions.

I gave Judith and Chris a call to see if I could drop off some chocolate from the trip and I got a yes. It was really good to visit with them. Judith is having significant eye trouble and Chris is hale and hearty and playing golf again. We, of course, talked medical conditions like our grandparents used to bore us with.

It’s good to be home. It’s good to visit with friends. It was even good to go to Walgreens where the staff recognize me and wave at me. Life is good.

Stay tuned!

25 July 2024

I slept 9 hours and 50 minutes last night. Seems like I need a little R and R from my R and R.

It’s funny how quickly you get back into your routine. There were a few times this morning that I had to think “What’s next?” but I got coffee brewed and overnight oatmeal eaten. Normally, I would walk after that and have a second breakfast but I had a lot of chores to do this morning.

First up was to fold the clothes I failed to take out of the dryer last night. What are a few wrinkles between friends? I even ironed my bluejeans.

From clothes it was to picking up palm fronds in the back yard. That took a while. There were only two fronds – one very small and one very, very large (Royal Palm frond) and then tons of little pieces of fronds all over the yard. I decided to do that before the sun got too high in the sky. Tomorrow is yard waste day and garbage pickup so I needed to get that done.

After a second breakfast of half a grapefruit and a second cup of coffee (and the Thursday crossword puzzle which I solved!) I started unpacking the gifts I purchased for friends and started organizing that. There’s nothing expensive in the gifts – just enough to let them know I was thinking about them and thanking them for all their support this year.

From there it was the mail. Apparently Florida Power and Light is going to put our power lines in the Flamingo Park neigborhood underground. I had several questions and I called the person listed on the packet. I will incur no costs. It seems I’ve already paid for it with an additional few dollars to my electric bill over the years. I don’t even have to pay for the power line to my house. I questioned him about my pool, my palms along the pool and the fence. From what I gathered, it’ll be done from the front yard not the backyard and they will be tunneling, not digging trenches. I also asked about my generator and he told me that would be rewired without cost to me. Yea!

Then there was a new credit card (United Airlines Visa). I called the number on the letter and got disconnected. I called the number on the card and got disconnected. I went to the website and got shifted around and had to log in twice. It was finally activated.

I also received my ballot for the August 20th primary. I knew who I would vote for the larger offices but when it came to all the judges, I had to dig it out from the internet. I really take this seriously and review all their bios and with whom they do service. That took about two hours.

For dinner tonight, I wanted some beans. I chose green beans and used a recipe I found on YouTube. You empty three quarters of the liquid in the can and then put everything left in a pot and start to slowly cook them down after adding a pinch of sugar. You evaporate all the liquid and when you begin to hear the beans pop, they are done.

I caramelized some onions and then added that to the green beans. I’ve gotten addicted to caramelized anything and the two worked well together. My major professor, Dr. Pullen, hated green beans. He grew up in the depression era and green beans were a bountiful crop for his family and they had them every day. He refused to eat another after he left to go to college.

Tomorrow, I need to go pick up three different medications from Walgreens. Apparently, the automatic filling system works well with them while I was away.

It’s good to be home, back in a routine, and in my own bed.

Stay tuned!

6 Jul 2024

I went on a cleaning frenzy today. Partly it was due to my trip tomorrow. I’ve always liked coming home to a clean house after a long trip. Mostly it was due to a burst of energy that appeared out of nowhere.

I cleaned things that I haven’t done in months. There were dust bunnies scampering all over the floor to get out of the way. I hadn’t done my deep monthly cleans in so long the dust had gotten pretty deep.

I started with the shutters in my bed room which seem to take forever as you clean individual slats. I took rugs and an air mattress from under the bed and cleaned the air mattress which seems to be a dust magnet. Then it was the book cases in the house, the coffee table, side boy, and dresser on which I have my TV. It was then time to oil the rattan in the bedroom (two dressers), the rattan chair in the living room and my pie safe.

Once that was done, I pulled everything off the floor of my closet and cleaned that. Next it was time to vacuum, dust the floors, mop the floors, and clean the bathroom. In the utility room, clothes were washing and drying. Let’s just say it was a productive day.

Now that everything is washed and dried and folded, I can begin packing the suitcase. I figure to wear mostly shorts on the trip and pack maybe one pair of long pants. I think comfort is the rule of the day, particularly with summer temps seeming to creep even into the mountains.

My first two nights is in New Smyrna Beach. Check in is 3 pm so I may explore things as up move up the coast. It’s only a little over 3 hours to New Smyrna.

Time to pack. Stay tuned!

5 June 2024

I really didn’t want to do my morning walk this morning. I don’t know why because I was in bed by 10 and asleep pretty early in spite of the fireworks. I think my neighborhood had a bigger show than Fort Lauderdale’s.

Any way, I got up and started to head to the third finger isle when I ran into Chris and Tucker. I was saved! I only walked around 0.8 miles but enjoyed talking with Chris and Tucker. You could smell the gun powder from the fireworks in the air as we walked. I made it back to the house and realized I was very tired from the walk.

After breakfast, it was time to clean the pool filter, patio and pool deck and then kill weeds. I also needed to pick up some fireworks residue in my yard as well as some palm fronds. That went pretty well but I noticed I was really beat afterwards, more so than usual.

While walking past my wild lime, I noticed a small, giant swallow tail caterpillar on the lime. These are dangerous plants with long, recurved thorns waiting to catch you as you walk by. The only reason I have them in my yard is it’s a favorite food of the caterpillar.

If the above looks like bird droppings, that’s the point. It’s how the caterpillar can feed and not be eaten by birds. When disturbed, it projects two fleshy lobes, the osmeteria to mimic the split tongues of snakes.

I’ve not seen the pupae but hopefully, I’ll see some on my wild lime later this month.

After getting all my Friday chores finished, I showered, had 3 cucumber sandwiches and a glass of lemonade and then crawled into bed to read a little. A very little. I napped for about 2 1/2 hours. Maybe the fireworks kept me up more than I think they did.

My question is the fatigue still from the Herceptin treatments or is it my heart isn’t pumping like it should. I guess I’ll find out when I get back because I’ll have another echocardiogram.

I keep thinking of things I need to pack for the trip but the major packing will take place tomorrow after I wash.

Stay tuned!

4 July 2024

Happy 4th!

I made my morning walk this morning and managed 1.3 miles. The humidity is continuing to weigh everyone down. It begs the question how early do you have to get up to walk without wilting?

I had a party to go to for the 4th at Catherines and she asked me to bring an appetizer. I spent the afternoon making cucumber sandwiches. I followed a recipe that said add 1/2 cup mayonnaise. After I got everything fixed, I felt the mayo overwhelmed everything. However, they must have been edible because the party put a pretty good dent in the sandwiches.

Catherine prepared hotdogs and hamburgers – a very 4th of July tradition. She went all out with American flags, banners, table cloth, and blue and white napkins.

It was good to get together and it’s always good to catch up with everyone’s’ summer plans. Of course, we spent a good deal of time on our ailments. We have become our grandparents.

All indications are we will have a lot of fireworks. They were certainly popping off at Catherine’s and they are starting here at the house. I feel for Tucker who has to go hide in the closet. Maybe there’s room for me!

I’m still waiting for my replacement oven glass. I keep having to reschedule the Sears appointment to install the glass that hasn’t arrived.

I did make some headway with packing but most will wait until Saturday after I wash clothes. There’ll be a lot I need to wash that I need to take on the trip.

Stay safe, don’t hold any M80’s in your hand while lit.

Stay tuned!

3 July 2024

I got out of bed this morning angry. The phone normally wakes me with a chime to tell me it’s time to take my medicine but I didn’t hear it because I was deep into a nightmare.

I was back at Broward College and for a change I wasn’t trying to find my office or the classroom or remember which class I was teaching. I was in the cafeteria trying to get lunch and couldn’t get served for over 30 minutes even though it was a buffet and I was the only person in line. I stomped out of the cafeteria and got to my office and was about to answer some disturbing emails from staff and faculty and found out the administration had removed keyboards and replaced them with something like flip phones so we couldn’t readily send emails college wide. Remember how you had to send a text with those?

I then decided to head home and use my computer but got waylaid by a student who wanted in my class and the department chair was trying to force them on me. The student was a nut case and I refused. It was at this point I became awake and realized it was a dream. It didn’t improve my outlook for the morning.

I suspect the dream came about from a dinner conversation last night with Joel and Keith at Flanigans. We were talking about how politics plays a role in every profession. Some of the most spiteful words and acts I’ve encountered have been academia.

I remember one time getting into a shouting match with the department chair at the Ole Miss Biology department. I forget now what we were arguing about but I was the graduate representative to the department. Later, after we cooled down, he told me he thought botanists were a quiet sort but I had proved him wrong. We later became friends and he even brought his traveling snake show to a place I was teaching.

After getting fully awake and realizing I had nothing to be mad about, I got in the Jeep and traveled to Walgreens to pick up three prescriptions. Eighty-three dollars later, I headed to a Mobil station and filled up with diesel for another $74 dollars. I figured I won’t use the Jeep much until Sunday and I always fill up before heading to the B and B.

Tonight, Barb and I have reservations at Olive and Sea for happy hour. They have great appetizers and I’ve requested outside on their balcony that overlooks the intracoastal so we can see the mega yachts.

I’m piddling around with packing. I finally got enough prescriptions refilled to have enough for my 17 nights and 18 days. I then bundled the packets based on the B and B. It takes more time to pack the pills than it does to pack the suitcase. The other major thing is collecting chargers and cables for the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple Watch and my laptop. I feel like a traveling circus.

Joel has agreed to look out for the house while I’m gone. The major thing is to water the one indoor plant and make sure there are no leaks while I’m away. We went over everything last night and he can always call me. I’ll continue piddling with packing this afternoon.

Stay tuned!