I’m trying an experiment—I’m composing this in Word and then I plan to copy and paste it into Typepad’s (ridiculous) composer where I’ll add any photos (hopefully). Word is similar to Open Live Writer, with much easier access to formatting functions and editing tools without having to scroll to the top of the page. I received a reply from Typepad after submitting a Help Ticket, where I complained about the RSS feeds not working. I’m encouraged that they may eventually fix this because they had a security threat a couple of weeks ago where they responded by shutting down some of the third party elements, like the feeds, connections to social media, and also to OPEN LIVE WRITER. So this crappy problem just may be temporary. (Hopefully!) C’mon, Tech Department!
I got home from the dentist a while ago and I’ve been sitting here stewing. I went in with the sole purpose of having a checkup and then arranging to have my teeth cleaned, which apparently is a freaking issue these days because so many dental hygienists never returned to work after Covid. Their appointments for cleaning are well into 2024!! I have decent teeth, only one cavity in my life, but they are in need of cleaning—again, my sole purpose. Well. After the full panoramic x-ray and then the individual x-rays, they determined that two of my front teeth are abscessed and require root canals. I could see the shadowing from the x-ray screen in front of me, that matched the shadowing prior to the root canal I had soon after we moved here. They were amazed that I wasn’t in pain from it. Honestly, I haven’t felt anything. So then they did a “cold” test, touching areas on and around different teeth with something very cold and I couldn’t feel anything on those two teeth, meaning that the nerves are DEAD. Well, shit. And get this: those two teeth are capped and there’s no guarantee that they won’t break from the root canal. So, I’m looking at thousands of dollars for something entirely unexpected. Oh! And I have a cavity in a molar! AND, my bottom front teeth are extremely worn and need a matching-color filling across the tops of them to prevent them from wearing further. AND WE HAVEN’T EVEN GOTTEN TO THE CLEANING PART. I guess the only good news is that my gums look great.
John's been working on getting the deck ready for staining, which first requires stripping the old stain. What a job. He's been very lucky so far with the dry weather, and I hope it continues because this will take a while. Peering out the window right this minute, it looks like the clouds could unload pronto. (Update: it's raining)
That's not a shadow beneath the dormer roof—that's where the newly stripped wood meets up with the old stain.
We met our new next-door neighbors! They arrived this past weekend from southern California in their 35-foot fifth wheel (!) and camped until their moving trucks arrived yesterday. Sunday, John invited them to our place for a drink and snacks on the deck that evening (I was a bit in panic mode because the house was NOT clean, so guess what I did that day), and we had a really nice time. They are newly retired (she was an elementary school teacher and he was a mechanical engineer) and they were friendly and fun. She even wants to join our little neighborhood Book Club! It still shocks me that our long-time neighbor in that house moved away, but it was understandable since her husband had passed away a year and a half ago (also shocking), and she wanted to live closer to her daughter and grandkids. She said she may call in via FaceTime for our book clubs. I hope she does! But in the meantime, it is nice to have good new neighbors. I’ll bet John recruits him to the Hydroplane Museum…
Yesterday was Quinn’s 6th birthday! The box of gifts we sent him arrived THAT DAY. I’d been gnashing my nails about it. Instead of just ordering stuff from Amazon or wherever and having them directly shipped (which would arrive piecemeal), I had them shipped here where I wrapped them and then put them all in a pretty good-sized box. Since there’s no UPS Store around here, we had to ship USPS, and it cost $100!! Gawd. There was nothing particularly heavy! And that was by Ground! The fact that they arrived on Quinn’s birthday was a pleasant surprise and relief, but I don’t think I’ll do that again.
Here he is opening one of his presents with his puppy plopped beside him:
And I'll leave you with this Blue Heron down on our beach!
"Those who want us to work to age 70 and the ones who won’t hire us after age 50 are the same people."
