December chitchat

[agate]

This last month of 2024 might bring some bad weather, or maybe if you enjoy snow and cold, you'll enjoy it. So far this area hasn't yet had any freezing days yet.

What has been going on in your life? Have you gone somewhere unusual? Have you gone to the usual places?

Or did you mostly stay home?

I've mostly stayed home lately but have had plenty to do right here at home. I just acquired a colorful mat to go over the carpet where I usually sit at a desk. The carpet has become worn and ugly with the passage of time, and this is a coverup. So far, it's working well. It's 36"x48" and very lightweight. I don't usually like rugs over carpets (something else to trip over) but I couldn't think of anything else to do.

On Thanksgiving Day for some very odd reason this building suddenly started cleaning the gutters and downspouts, a job they do from time to time but hadn't done in quite a while. No advance notice about this was given, and I was out on my patio at the time. Suddenly mud and water began raining down, some of it on me, along with twigs, pine cones, and other debris. It was quite a loud and dramatic scene, and I could see the men way up on the roof with all kinds of equipment.

I have never known any work whatsoever to be done in or on this building on a major holiday. It was really extraordinary.

I keep wondering how Virginia's skylight situation is doing, now that there must have been some rainy days.

Some people who were here regularly in the past are checking in now and then but not saying anything. The cat has their tongue.

Cats will make off with just about anything.

Anyway, you have the right to remain silent. But we continue to care here.

Some fall foliage from the local Japanese garden:

[Virginia]

Agate, thank you again for starting December off.

Let's see, what has been going on. Well, I've been eating this week thanks to SILs. One sent Thanksgiving dinner by my nephew. So, I ate on that Thursday and Friday. Other SIL made two different kind of soup early in the week. She sent me enough for 2 servings of each. Just had to thaw and heat.

This morning I am not sure what time I got up. I woke and looked at my clock and saw the time was 1:00PM. I immediately thought "what is wrong with me". How could I sleep until one o'clock without even waking up. I got up and got bathed and went in the kitchen to get some food. I had turned the dishwasher on when I went to bed, so I took the dishes out and put them away. I kind of stood around thinking about what to eat since I thought it was afternoon. I finally decided to fix some oatmeal in the microwave. I got everything out and put it in a bowl. When I finally turned toward the microwave I saw that it was only 9 o'clock. I stood there a minute and figured it out. I have no idea what time I got up, but I was very tired today.

Tomorrow I have two things lined up that I need to do. First I need to order a copy of my driver's license. I lost mine and only realized it when I went to the doctor on Nov 20th. I last saw my license on Oct 14th when I went to make a copy in order to vote by mail. I have been meaning to order a copy since I missed it but keep forgetting.

Second thing I have to do is send a message to neuro's office pleading with them to ask my insurance company for an exception to their formulary. Then I will have to wait to see if I hear back from them. More stress there.

It has not gotten down to freezing temperatures here in the daytime. It has been in the 20s overnight. I enjoy turning my gas logs on at night.

Nothing really going on here. I had flu shot when I went to the doctor. Still need a COVID vaccine.

[agate]

Virginia, I hope the doctor will come through, and soon. You might need to nudge them with a call if you haven't heard anything in a reasonable length of time. Office people find it all too easy to lose track of things, I've noticed.

Good luck with the COVID vaccine. I understand that people over a certain age are going to need another one in about 6 months instead of a year.

I've been too busy today, getting together a grocery list to give to the caller who will call for my order tomorrow morning, then paying several bills--and then I realized that I was supposed to pay for cellphone service yesterday at the latest and it had completely slipped my mind.

I tried for over an hour to pay on the company Website. I was in chat sessions with them twice. They kept telling me they couldn't accept my credit card, that it was locked. It wasn't locked. They've done this before, but I can't recall how it got resolved. As I was getting tired, I gave up. Now I have no cellphone service and will see if I can straighten this out in the next couple of days.

I'm thinking of changing plans and was looking into the Jitterbug phone, now called Lively. It looks simple enough and is meant for people who don't use their phones so much. Tracfone is what I have now.

"You can't teach an old dog..." The problem was that I had free cellphone service for several years thanks to an assistance program that I think came along with the pandemic. That just recently ended but I'm so slow at changing gears that I neglected to notice that due date even though I had it written on my calendar.

[Prot]

A lot of people I know use just their smartphone, be it I phone or other, for all virtual interaction with others . I'm something of a fossilised relic in that I only have a simple senior phone in order to get codes that are required for many online sites nowadays. Not much of interest happening with me, which is par for the course. I'm having yet another endoscopy next Monday. That'll be the 6th since March 2023. I'm still getting pain, even though the negligence claim failed because everything was supposedly done correctly. My daughter agrees that the paramedics lied. Deep down I'm still angry and hurt over it.

[agate]

Nothing like an endoscopy appointment to cheer a person up, right, Tim? Particularly if you've already had 5 in the last year! I hope you'll find on Monday that you're so experienced at this endoscopy thing that you can just sail on through it.

I'm very fossilized when it comes to phones. When cellphones came along I had very little use for them. After all, I wasn't at all mobile, and why would I need a mobile device? I was home 99.9% of the time. I coasted along on this attitude but lately have been finding that it's often assumed that a person uses a cellphone, even a smartphone. I'm about to get a simplified smartphone, just for seniors, that is probably easier than phones I've dealt with up to now. I hope so.

As for those codes, I always get them by e-mail. That's almost always an option. It's faster for me than turning on my phone and getting to the messaging screen. Of course most people have their phones on constantly but I'm just not in that habit. I don't like running the battery down, for one thing.

For another, I don't like having to keep track of the phone, making sure I don't drop it or get it wet. Phones cost so much that I feel obligated to take ultra-special care of mine.

[Prot]

I prefer to receive codes by email, but not all sites I go on let you receive codes that way . We are kindred spirits when it comes to not having our phones on constantly. It been 5 endoscopies so far in the space of 20 months.

[Virginia]

I can do better with a landline, but have an iPhone for codes and to take when I go out.

Is it cold where any of you are? The wind is blowing here which makes it colder than the temperature readings. It feels frigid.

[jingle]

It's been COLD here in Missouri - low teens in temperatures and high winds. But it's supposed to get into the low 50s today! That is nice, very nice. And today is our family Christmas celebration.

[agate]

Pretty cold here but not quite at the freezing level yet. I don't look forward to being snowed in. January and February can be, uh, challenging.

Good luck with the family Christmas celebration, jingle! The holiday season really does begin right after Thanksgiving for many people, doesn't it? I'm still assembling a few gifts for people and haven't begun wrapping them.

[Prot]

My daughter took me to have my 2 monthly haircut. She parked as near as she could, and then I used my stroller. It was cold and rainy.

[Virginia]

Looks like we all have experienced some not so pleasant weather.

I could hardly believe what happened today. I was eating a cookie and a tooth fell out. This makes the 2nd one in just a few months. The last one I could understand better than this one. I had to have a crown with the last one. I don't think they can put a crown on this one. There isn't enough left to work with. It looks like a permanent bridge might have been hooked onto it. I doubt anything much can get done before Christmas and it shows when I smile or talk.

My brother asked me if I thought this could be happening due to a loss of calcium. I am having a hard time keeping my weight up no matter what I eat. Since my weight loss is usually from the waist up more than the rest of my body, I have wondered if it is having an effect on the shape of my mouth. I am really upset about this coming so close to the last one. Like the last one, it did not hurt. I wonder if that side of my face has something like a dead nerve.

[agate]

A tooth fell out??? I didn't know that could happen. You could certainly try to get an appointment with the dentist, I think. Surely dentists aren't taking every day off between now and January 1.

I lost a tooth years ago and it wasn't feasible to replace it. The gap shows when I talk too but if anyone has noticed, I haven't heard about it. I think people don't notice the occasional missing tooth.

[Prot]

I had bad teeth for years. Some of it my fault. Some of it not. I now have no teeth and I'm waiting to get dentures. Dental care in the UK is in an abysmal state.

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register... I'm not sure whether it's due to dentists being greedy.

[agate]

Tim, you may recall that a long-time member of this MS board pulled his teeth with pliers, and I think that happened more than once. I'm not sure why he didn't get to a dentist. Interesting and alarming that people in the UK are doing home dentistry too. Is the problem that there aren't enough dentists in the right locations? Or is it that the waits are too long? Or both?

[Prot]

Tim, you may recall that a long-time member of this MS board pulled his teeth with pliers, and I think that happened more than once. I'm not sure why he didn't get to a dentist. Interesting and alarming that people in the UK are doing home dentistry too. Is the problem that there aren't enough dentists in the right locations? Or is it that the waits are too long? Or both?

There are hardly any NHS dentists now. Private dental treatment isn't cheap. That's if you can get on a dentist's list in the first place.
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