Month: October 2024

31 October 2024

Happy Halloween!

I managed to not cancel on friends for a dinner! Originally, Jim, Holley and I were scheduled to go to Olive and Sea for happy hour until I noticed the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show was this week and anything east of highway 1 would have been a traffic nightmare. The Hilton, where Olive and Sea is located is one of the five or six locations of the boat show.

We quickly changed plans and headed to Ethos in Wilton Manors and totally ignored the fact that it was Halloween in the gayest neighborhood of the state. They had most of Wilton Drive blocked off for the gayborhood stroll. We did managed to find a parking spot and walked the rest of the way to Ethos.

We sat outside and got a curbside view of people getting ready to stroll Wilton Drive. We were a little early for the main event but we still got to see a few costumes.

There’s a new law in Florida that requires you to ask permission to photograph anyone. He generously posed for us.

Ethos was running a prix fixe special menu for $24 which included a salad, an entrée and a dessert. I chose watermelon salad with chicken thighs and chocolate cake. We all agreed it was delicious.

I had intended to treat Holley and Jim tonight and we had dueling credit cards waved in front of the waiter. He normally said he always accepted the first handed to him (me) but since it was my birthday tomorrow, he took Holley’s.

We had a great time and I made it back in time for any trick or treaters. However, what I did was put out a bunch a candy by my pumpkins and said help yourself but think of those behind you. Hopefully, that will cut down on the number of doorbell rings I get.

Tomorrow, I get to go get my fingers injected with steroids. Later, Joel, Keith, John and I will have dinner at J. Marks (if I don’t have to cancel).

Stay tuned!

30 October 2024

I think I have a new speed record for the Federal government. I sent off my passport application on 19 October and received it on 29 October. So much for the 4-6 weeks suggested for processing. It looks the same as the old passport but has a chip in it for scanning. All I need now is some country to try it out on.

I took the day off today and idly went through my routine knowing there was no hurry. I probably read a few more online articles than I normally wouldd and killed some time with today’s crossword. Lunch was a banana.

Earlier, I used Instacart to order groceries from Publix and they delivered them around 12:47 – yes, they are that exact. Tonight I plan to try the Panera Bread Company’s microwavable Mac and cheese. It looks good but I’ve never had it at Panera and there’s no telling what their commercial version will be like.

We’re having windy weather this week and people are getting nervous about a low in the Caribbean which might turn into two storms. It’s already been suggested hurricane season might extend into December. What a holly, jolly Christmas that would be.

Tonight is movie night and it’s Chris’ turn to select the movie. I always love Wednesday’s when we both are up to viewing a movie, giving Tucker treats when he plants those soulful eyes on you, and our equally long catchups after the movies. Of course, the wine doesn’t hurt either.

Tomorrow, Holley and Jim and I will try to get into happy hour at Olive and Sea – one of our favorite happy hour spots that overlooks the intracoastal. It’s fun to pretend to be rich and look down on the mega-yachts below us. Sometimes they have parties on the decks as we sip cocktails and have appetizers.

Friday, John, Keith and Joel and I will try to have dinner at J. Marks. I am partial to their bang bang shrimp appetizer. I could dine on that alone.

Sunday will see Joel, Keith, Barbara and I will have lunch and the newly redone restaurant at Birch State Park. You sit under the tree size sea grapes and can hear the ocean roar if it’s still windy. It’s a really cool, laid back place to have a meal.

From all the activity above, you probably can guess it’s getting close to my birthday, All Saints Day. Yes, you’ve often thought it but I will now confirm I am a saint. Of course, you might think badly of me and associate me with Dia de Los Meurtos day. Then there’s Hockey Mask Day and National Vinegar Day. For a complete listing of November 1 holidays, click here and pick your favorite to celebrate along with me for my birthday. I guess you could say I celebrated National Zero Tasking Day today.

Stay tuned!

29 October 2024

It’s been a blah morning. I’m still recovering from the bout of diarrhea and just before I was heading out to Tom and Kurt’s, I heard the gurgling sound on my guts. I put on my big boy Depends and decided to chance it.

I met Tom and Kurt at their apartment and we headed to drop off their ballots at a polling place near city hall in Wilton Manors. Next we headed to Walgreens where Kurt needed to make a few purchases. From there, we headed to happy hour (3 pm!) at Phat Boys. We ordered some happy hour appetizers and we all had a cucumber martini. We ordered Tokyo French fries, cauliflower, and torpedo shrimp. The best dish was the Tokyo French fries which had a spicy sauce on them.

As I drove them back to their place, we stopped and got their mail and mailed some letters. Tom is doing better but is still concerned about his walking and his double vision. Hopefully both will be better as time passes. He did well today on a walker.

Tomorrow, I have the day off! I think I’ll sleep late, goof off, maybe try to get the sliding glass closet mirrors off the track. I think I finally figured out why I’m having the trouble. When they replaced the bamboo floor in the house, they replaced it under the track. When I originally did the flooring, I didn’t remove the track and put flooring under it. Therefore, the bottom track is a few millimeters higher than it was. The crew who worked on the house must have really manhandled the doors to get them in place.

The weather the last few days has really been nice. The humidity is low and we are only reaching the low 80’s during the day. Of course, it’ll be nicer once the temperature drops. The only question is will it rain on Halloween. It’s about a 50/50 chance based on prior Halloweens.

Stay tuned!

28 October 2024

The gurgling gut continued all last night. I had a normal-ish bowel movement after coffee and cereal but after the second coffee and grapefruit, the dam broke. I’m back on Pedialyte. I canceled the infusion today (didn’t want to make a mess of their new chairs) and also canceled with Nancy and Michel. We were scheduled to go to dinner tonight.

The three of us have birthdays close together and we try to celebrate all three of us. It’s led to some fun times. One year we went to Key West for our birthdays.

The above was at a fancy hotel and bar (which we didn’t stay) and we couldn’t resist the chair. Key West has great memories for me and that’s where I saw Nancy for the first time outside of her professional role as a McGraw-Hill representative. We’ve been friends since. I think that was either 1985 or 1986.

A frond from the Royal palm fell yesterday and I spent a little time cutting it up for the yard waste bin. Those things are certainly large. Not only do you have to watch out for falling coconuts and iguanas, but you need to look out for falling Royal palm fronds.

I also cleaned out the pool basket. Those two acts sapped my energy (or the diarrhea did) and I had to sit down for a while after the exertion.

I got up this morning with the intention of doing my morning walk along Riverland Road but after thinking about it, I didn’t want to mess my pants on the walk and have to walk back to the house in shame. It’s a good thing I have plenty of Depends. What’s the old saying? You start out in diapers and end up in diapers.

I spent a little time this morning rescheduling appointments. I had two blood draws scheduled and, of course, confused them and called the wrong physician. After figuring that out, I made the correct call to reschedule. It seems I spend a lot of time either scheduling or rescheduling.

I was notified my passport application was approved and it had been printed and sent in the mail to me. The time line they quoted was 6-8 weeks. It looks like I made the rapid response team. Good for another 10 years!

Life and diarrhea go on. Stay tuned!

27 October 2024

It’s been a back and forth day. I went to bed last night at 9:30 with the intent to get up early and eventually do my morning walk. I was out of bed by 6:30 and my first breakfast done by 7:30 and on my walk by 8 am. I managed to make 1.5 miles on my second longest route. I actually felt pretty good afterwards. My energy level was up.

I tried to store the box with the Christmas tree in the guest room closet. I need to take the mirrored doors down but I have yet to figure out a way. I should know how since I installed them years ago but I still haven’t figured out a way. I have plenty of time before I need to have it “hid.”

Tonight is play night and as I was getting ready (shower, shave, etc.) my gut started gurgling and I started belching. I knew what that meant. A bout of diarrhea was on its way. I called Holley and Jim and canceled. This s**t is getting old.

I took an anti-diarrhea medicine but my stomach and gut are still arguing with each other. I guess I should be thankful that I’ve been diarrhea free for 8 days. I don’t think the cast of the play would appreciate my gurgling intestines nor the passing of gas nor me rushing out of the theater two or three times to make it to the bathroom.

So tonight, I’ll stay close to the bathroom, read a little, watch a little television and hopefully make it through the night with minimal disturbance.

Stay tuned!

26 October 2024

The week caught up with me and I crashed today. My energy level is low and I seem to be depressed. I slept until 9:30 this morning and then had a 1 1/2 hour nap. What can I say? Bipolar disorder runs in the family.

The house didn’t get cleaned but I can live with it for another week. I did strip the bed, remake it and washed, dried and folded clothes. I told Jimmie I wasn’t up for FaceTime today nor tomorrow but we plan to connect sometime this week.

Yesterday, I did stop at Whole Foods and purchased a few heirloom pumpkins for the front porch to encourage Halloween trick or treaters.

Who knows? I might cut out the light and move the pumpkins inside and eat all the candy for myself.

Next week looks a little busy. There’s a play tomorrow, dinner with Michel and Nancy on Monday and a doctor’s appointment on Friday. Then there’s Halloween to consider.

While folding clothes, I managed to watch the last half of the Ole Miss/Oklahoma game which Ole Miss won 26-14. There was an article in the New York Times on the 24th that talked about how the college built a $10 million fund to “compensate” athletes for a run at the college football playoff. That’s the effect of NIL (name, image, likeness) that allows college athletes to be compensated for their time. It’s not quite like the football of the 50’s and 60’s. It’s more like semi-professional football.

Something like this has always occurred. It’s rumored that Adolph Rupp, the famous Kentucky basketball coach sent players to Itawamba Junior College in kind of a farm team system. The result was IJC had some pretty talented basketball teams for a small community college who just coincidentally transferred to UK and became superstars..

When the television did panoramic shots of Oxford during today’s game, I could tell the leaves had not changed on campus. Everything was still green. Usually, the first frost is the last of October so they should be getting close.

My freshman year at Ole Miss, I had a thermometer outside the window to check the temperature so I would know how to dress for classes (before cell phones and Apple Watches). It was in April and there was a Red/Blue spring football game scheduled for the day. When I checked the temperature, I did a double take. It had snowed! Not only had it snowed but it was about 6 inches of snow. Classes and the game was canceled (that was back when they had Saturday classes).

There’s not much more to tell from Fort Lauderdale. Stay tuned!

25 October 2024

I was so tired when I wrote yesterday’s post I forgot Wednesday night was movie night with Chris and Tucker. It was my choice so I went with Christmas in Connecticut (194 5) with a very young Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginal Gardiner and S.Z. Sakall.

Stanwick portrayed Elizabeth Lane who writes of her farm home in Connecticut and publishes recipes for Smart Housekeeping. What her readers don’t know is she has no farm and Felix (S.Z. Sakall) does all the cooking and recipes. Reginal Gardiner (John Sloan) plays her love interest who is constantly trying to get her to marry him – who coincidentally has a farm in Connecticut.

Enter Dennis Morgan (Jefferson Jones) a sailor stranded at sea. The owner of the magazine that Stanwyck works for is Sydney Greenstreet and thinks it’s a great idea to invite Morgan to a country Christmas at Stanwyck’s nonexistent home in Connecticut. Gardiner rallies to save the day to provide the farm and Felix the cooking. There’s multiple babies involved, a judge for a marriage ceremony and Machusca the cow. It’s a great rom-com.

Sakall and Greenstreet are prominent in Casablanca. Tucker had a great time and Chris and I had a great time after the movie with great conversations. We always talk about what’s going on in the neighborhood.

I admit to being very tired after yesterday. I slept for over 8 hours and I needed it. I actually feel pretty good this morning and need to clean the pool filter. However, Don Hillman, Inc. has sent a person to service my generator. I don’t think it’s a good idea to be spraying water while he’s operating the generator. Once he leaves, I’ll get to the pool cleaning. It’s an absolutely gorgeous day outside and I don’t plan to be anywhere near a hospital.

I do have several things I want the dermatologist to freeze off when I visit today at 1 pm. Once that is done, I’m heading back to the house and crawling in bed with a book.

If any of you wear a continuous glucose monitor (cgm) you know they can be a pain. Mine lasts 14 days. If you are too far away from your phone, it loses signal and the phone starts beeping like crazy. This current one went off line and didn’t come back on until I rebooted my phone. Sometimes the monitor simply comes off. It’s just another thing to cope with when you are diabetic. Some argue it’s better than pricking your finger every day. I’m still undecided on that.

As far as my diabetes, my glucose and A1c seem to be under control. However, that’s because I take metformin and insulin daily. I admit to not being too cautious about eating sweets, especially this time of year.

Speaking of Halloween, I hope to buy a few pumpkins today after I leave the dermatologist to put on the front porch as decoration. Apparently parents with kids don’t stop by unless you decorate the front. I have Snickers, Baby Ruth, and Butterfingers to hand out (or eat myself if no one shows up).

Stay tuned!

24 October 2024

It’s been a long day. I drove to Hollywood Memorial Rehab Hospital – South to pick up Tom. I got there at 10:30 and I think they released him around 12:30. Tom came home with a lot of equipment, prescriptions, and dirty clothes. A little after 1 pm I headed to Judith’s to pick her up to carry her to Hollywood Memorial – Johnson St. to see Chris. He was doing better.

The air conditioning finally drove Judith away and we got back to her place around 5:30. Just as we were walking out of Chris’ room, Jim and Holley appeared to take our place. Holley taught all day and had a late afternoon class so I bet she was exhausted.

I got home around 6:30 and noshed a little and then decided to call it a night. I’m too tired to write much any more so this will have to do until tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

23 October 2024

I took Chris to the emergency room at Hollywood Memorial on Johnson Street last night. I don’t know if his GP called ahead or his son Alex at Tampa General called, or that he had an obvious case of jaundice, but they whizzed him through admissions and took him right back to an ER bay. I’ve never seen any who wasn’t brought in by ambulance be processed so quickly. Before you know it, he had a nurse (Daneb) and a doctor (Dr. Rubin). Blood was drawn and he was scheduled for a CAT scan. Hopefully, they will diagnose his condition, treat it and get him back home. Hollywood Memorial, in my opinion is one of the best hospitals in Florida. Holy Cross is another one.

I waited with him until 8:45 for him to be given a room but they were backed up and didn’t have one ready by the time I left him. He should be ensconced in a room today.

In any case, I slept late this morning and soon received a text from AJ that he would be delivering the Christmas goodies around 11. He actually was early and he just kept bringing boxes in.

I was mistaken. The tree is not a Belgium fir but a Royal fir. There’s a great difference in the price, so the price AJ charged is not too out of line. There were several spools of ribbon, glass balls ($62 for 9) and a lot of pic – which means sprays of cranberries, poinsettias, holly, etc. I’m learning new terminology.

The tree weighs a ton! Well, 40.9 lbs in the box. I got everything in the overhead of the utility room except for the tree. I looked at a video on how to disassemble the tree and store it in the bag that comes with it. I may de-box it sometime and store it in the overhead in its bag. Either that or get Trevor to give me a hand in getting it up there. The other option is to lay it flat in the box in the closet of the guest bedroom.

I’m taking the rest of the day off. I’m tired. Tomorrow, I pick up Tom and take him home. Friday I have a dermatologist appointment. Sunday I have a play. Monday is an iron infusion and dinner with Nancy and Michel and on my birthday, I get to go have injections into my hand for arthritis. Life is good!

Stay tuned!

22 October 2024

There were several rain showers this morning, none of which were predicted by my weather app. At the moment (5:45 pm) it’s overcast and very windy and spritzing rain. I wonder if any of it is due to Oscar out near the Bahamas?

I headed to Kurt’s at 12:30 this afternoon and was there for him to safely take a shower. From there we headed to Spencer’s for lunch. We both had the corned beef on rye. I think it’s the best I’ve ever had. It had some secret sauce and Cole slaw on it. I could only eat half and took the rest home for lunch tomorrow.

After lunch we picked up a prescription for Kurt at Walgreens and then we made a stop to pick up his mail at the complex. It pretty much filled a tote bag. Hopefully, Tom will be coming home Thursday. Before I left Kurt, we pulled out a wheel chair they have in case Tom needs it when he gets home.

I got some bad news after I got home. Judith called and said Chris’ bilirubin levels were really bad and he may be headed for another hospital stay. Poor guy can’t catch a break.

I ran across another Christmas ornament on the L.L. Bean website. I don’t really need another but I couldn’t resist.

Too cool! I doubt I’ll do much more camping since I got rid of all my tents but I certainly intend to continue to explore.

Supposedly, A.J. is delivering the Christmas tree, ornaments, ribbons, and “pic.” I found out what pic means in the industry. It’s the extra stuff you stuff onto a Christmas tree like flowers, birds, or anything that isn’t really an “ornament.”

I’m having nightmares about where I’m going to store this stuff. I can always do a short term storage contract to get it out of the way for Thanksgiving but after the new year, it means more ruthless removal of stuff I no longer need.

My very long time friend (since 1972) Joyce turned 90 today. Amy took on the role of compiling videos from everyone and putting them together into a video for her where we all send salutations, reminisce, and say happy birthdays.

Joyce and Fred pretty much adopted me when I was stationed at the Coast Guard Communications Station in Belle Chase, LA in 1972. I ate many meals at their house, slept over several times, and survived a wallpapering episode and a banquet building episode. I’ve maintained the friendship ever since. After Fred passed, Joyce married Alfred and I got to know him. Sadly, Alfred has now passed but Joyce has her son Reed close at hand in Asheville. I think making 76 next month is an accomplishment, I can’t image 90!

Stay tuned!