Saturday and The Rummage Sale.

I slept well last night despite the fact that Missy woke me up at 1:00AM crying. I got up and looked around but could find no reason she was upset. She had used the litter box so I cleaned that up.  Then I went back to bed.  I even got back to sleep. Then I woke up at 3:00AM but just went to the bathroom, took my med and went back to bed.  Again, I went back to sleep and woke up the next time shortly before 5:00AM, my regular time to get up. I don't feel too bad.

I fed Missy and myself and gave her some clean water.  She wanted to go outside but it's still dark out there and I told her "no". After that, she went back to bed.

I have a big day ahead of me with that rummage sale at the senior center. I hope my stuff sells. I would hate to have to lug it all back home. I will take my boxes up there at 8:00AM and get it out on the table. Bob will come help until time for his class reunion meeting.

Cyndi contacted me this morning to tell me she could vacuum for me next Thursday afternoon at 1:00PM. I told her that would be good. I did it myself this week but I would rather have Cyndi do it as long as I am dealing with this sore arm.

More later...

The rummage sale was a bust. I made $13.50. Bob made $5.00. We all decided that two weeks following the 100 mile rummage sale was not the best time to have a rummage sale at the senior center. There weren't more then a dozen people in at all. We left at 12:00 after eating a little lunch. It was a waste. We donated everything left to the Episcopal church. Kay and Sondra took it over there. I brought home one small box of real good stuff. It's in the living room closet now.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading my book. At 5:00PM I turned on the TV and watched part of a football game then at 7:00PM, I took my bath and turned to Amazon Prime and Missy and I watched Forensic Files. I went to bed at 8:30PM.

Friday and Preparing for a Rummage Sale

I slept well last night. I was exhausted and went to bed at 8:00PM. I didn't take any type of sleep aid and I didn't wake up in the night at all and woke up at 4:45AM and took my med and just got up. I got myself  ready for the day and fed Missy and myself. This morning I have good TV for some strange reason. I hope it stays that way through the CBS news.

Today I will mark all the things I am putting in the rummage sale at the senior center tomorrow.  I hope to clear out some stuff I no longer need and am not using. I will load everything in my car today and see if Janet will let us set it all up this evening. If not, I will do it tomorrow morning early. Bob wants me to watch his stuff too because he has his class reunion meeting tomorrow. He will loan me his cash box. I will need to get some change too.

I found some price stickers but I may need to buy some more. I have texted Bob and he is not quite ready but will be by the time he needs to have everything ready. He will also bring me his leaf blower so I can blow off the drive here. There are lots of leaves on it and they just keep blowing and falling. But the weather has cooled down so I don't care. I haven't had my air conditioning on for several days now.

More later....

Bob dropped by and brought me some $10.00 in change and the leaf blower. He has coin change in his cash box which he will bring me in the morning.  He will take his own items over in the morning at the senior center.

More even later..CBS news in on now.

I worked for an hour or two to box up and price stuff I want to sell at tomorrow's rummage sale.  I have the car loaded. I hope it all sells. I would hate to bring it all back home again and try to find a place to store it.

It's 10:10AM now and I'm already getting hungry. I guess I will go to the market and get the stuff I need from my grocery list. I will perhaps look for some more rummage later.

So more later...

I did go to the market and bought the few things that I needed. When I got home, I warmed up the tomato basil soup I had yesterday. And I ate the last ice cream bar in the freezer for dessert.

Missy is still sleeping in on my bed. She thought she wanted to go outside but when she went out she learned it was chilly and damp so she came back in the apartment. Poor kitty.

So more even later....

I got out Bob's leaf  blower and the long power cord and blew all the leaves off out driveway. That took awhile! At least temporarily, it looks a lot better.

I read the rest of the l afternoon and then about 6:00PM I took my bath and got ready for bed. Then I turned on Amazon Prime and ordered a video of a concert by John Denver. That lasted two hours and was very good. At 8:00PM, Missy and I went on to bed. I was very tired.

The Fifth Risk

I am reading a very interesting book written by Michael Lewis, who also wrote Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Big Short, The Blind Side, and The Undoing Project.

For the first section of the book, The Fifth Risk, he interviewed John MacWilliams who worked at the Department of Energy at the time of the transition of the government. Lewis asked MacWilliams what he considered the five biggest risks in today’s government.  Lewis soon learned the first two are nuclear weapons (there have been at least three very notable nuclear waste accidents as risks..especially Hanford Washington) and of course, climate change.

Trump appointees were few and far between. Those who did show up were shockingly uninformed about the functions of their new workplace.  Some even threw away the briefings books that had been prepared for them by law. Across all departments of the government similar stories were playing out

In the Agriculture department, for example, the funding of vital programs like food stamps and school lunches is being slashed. The Commerce Department may not have enough staff to conduct the 2020 Census properly. Over at the Department of Energy, where international nuclear risk is managed, it’s not clear there will be enough inspectors to track and locate black market uranium before terrorists do.

Lewis asked MacWilliams, who was the chief risk officer, what the top five risks facing us were.  The first was the management of nuclear weapons and climate change, the second largest risk he listed was North Korea. Iran is the third biggest risk. Fourth of the top threats is the electrical grid. But the fifth risk is “Project management”

Willful ignorance plays a role in these looming disasters, if your ambition is to maximize short term gain without regard to long term cost, you are better off not knowing the cost. If you want to preserve your personal immunity to the hard problems, it’s better to never understand those problems. There is an upside to ignorance and a downside to knowledge. Knowledge makes life messier. 

I suggest everyone who cares about the kind of world we live in and work in,..read this book.

There is a telling example of this Trumpian impulse. ….the desire not to know…in a small DOE (Department of Energy) program that goes by its acronym ARPA-E. The program was conceived by the George W. Bush administration as an energy equivalent of DARPA ---the Defense Department research-grant program was trivial…$300 million a year. It made small grants to researchers who had scientifically plausible, wildly creative ideas that might change the world. Much of the time, ARPA-E was your only place for a resource. 

There are lots of seriously smart people with bold ideas that might change the world.  The idea behind ARPA-E is to find the best of those ideas that the free market had declined to finance and make sure they were given a chance.  Only two out of each hundred who have applied,  have been approved. 

The Trump administration unveiled its budget for the Department of Energy. ARPA-E had since won the praise of business leaders from Bill Gates to Lee Scott, the famous CEO of Walmart, to Fred Smith, the Republican founder of FedEx, who said that “pound for pound , dollar for dollar, activity for activity, it’s hard to find a more effective thing government has done than ARPA-E”

Trumps first budget eliminated ARPA-E altogether.  It cut funding to the national labs in a way that implies the laying off of six thousand of their people. It eliminated all research on climate change. It halved the funding for work to secure the electrical grid from attack or natural disaster. “All these risks are science based” said MacWilliams when he saw the budget. “You can’t gut the science. If you do, you are hurting the country. If you gut the core competency of the DOE, you gut the country."

But you can. Indeed, if you are seeking to preserve a certain worldview, it actually helps to gut science.  

Trump’s budget, like the social forces behind it, is powered by a perverse desire….to remain ignorant. Donald Trump didn’t invent this desire. He was just its ultimate expression.   

Thursday and Amazon Echo Fixed

I took some ZZquil before I finally went to bed last night at 11:30PM. It was late but I was frustrated that I could not get my Echo to turn the lamp on and off. I slept through till 5:00AM this morning when I finally got up and dressed and got myself ready for the day and got Missy fed and gave her her treats and made up my oatmeal, coffee, juice, and Chai Latte.

Then I began again working on the Echo. Finally, I got it working again.  Whew! I bought a kindle edition of a manual for it at the Amazon site.

Today, I will wash the kitchen and bathroom floors and if my arm holds up, I will also vacuum. I never did hear back from Cyndi although I had texted her yesterday at 4:15 to see if she could vacuum for me. I haven't heard again from Darrell, who was supposed to have cleaned my carpet last Monday. I hope his gout is better. I don't know when he will reschedule me. Whenever it is, Missy will not be happy with wet carpet and the noise.

I have good TV reception this morning. I messed with the antenna rotater yesterday evening trying to get some CBS news on TV. This morning sometime I will watch last night's 'CBS news on Amazon Prime.

Missy is wanting to go outside but it is only 43 degrees outside. I doubt she would be happy out there.  We will wait and see if it warms up later.

I finally got the "all clear" from 811 to dig for the antenna base John wants to cement in the ground today. The City of Coffeyville doesn't participate in the 811 program so I don't know yet about the electric. The office up there opens at 8:00 so I will try to reach them after that.

More later....

I finally got the electric company to come give me the "all clear" on the electric.

John came before lunch and brought his brother-in-laws post hole digger and dug a hole to put the base of the pole for the antenna in and cemented it. Then he put the bracket up near the roof to hold it steady. He is going to get my grandson, Jeromy, to come help him put that pole in the base where it belongs. He says it is very heavy. Jeromy will also climb into the attic and get that antenna and help John put it on top of the pole. It will be interesting to see how much that antenna can get. It has a 150 mile radius and has it's own amplifier.  I am hoping it will work since Tulsa is 75 miles away to the south and so is Joplin/Pittsburg but to the east.  Here is the base and under that near the roof is the bracket to hold the pole.





 If this works, Merrill, my neighbor, may do the same thing. He spends $135.00 a month for cable and says there really isn't anything he enjoys watching except the news. Programming is terrible anymore.

I got the entire apartment vacuumed by myself using my left arm. It worked!

More later...

Wednesday and Another Juanita Doctor's Appointment

I slept poorly last night I woke up at 1:15AM and went to the bathroom and took my med and melatonin. It took me a long time to get back to sleep. Then about 3:15AM, I woke up again. This time, because my arm was hurting, I got up again and took an Aleve. This time I slept until 3:45AM and finally just gave up and got up.  I dressed and got ready for the day.

Missy had wet on another bathmat that I put under her litter box to keep her from wetting on the floor. I realized today, for the first time, that the reason she does that is that she can no longer squat. She even has a terrible time trying to lie down. She generally just flops down.

I will need to be in Independence at 9:15AM. Juanita's appointment is at 10:00AM but, since she's blind, it takes awhile to get her in and out of the car.

I have fed Missy and she is back on my bed taking a nap. By the time I get Juanita back home, I probably will be very tired. I'm glad I took that Aleve. She always needs to hold on to my arm.

More later...

I texted Bob and asked him he would like to go to breakfast at Eggberts. He agreed and I picked him up at 6:40.  Soon after I got him back home, I left for Independence.

I got Juanita in and out of the doctor's office. It was a hassle since she can't see. He tried to treat her depression over her blindness with some good advice and the hope that she will enjoy being with her son and his wife and no longer be alone all the time.   She will be leaving for that Chicago suburb where they live about the last week of the month.

I got her back home and did a few errands for her there. Then I came on back home. She has one more doctor's appointment later this month on the 23rd. It's with her local nurse practitioner. He is not a doctor but the next best thing.

I stopped at Dr. Barta's and bought Missy's flea and tick med. I need to put that on her today.

When I finally got home I read awhile. Then Missy and I watched some TV before bed.

Keith called this evening and I had a nice visit with him while Missy and I were watching Amazon TV.  He is in San Diego until the 18th.

My Echo stopped working at putting out my lamp and I finally called Amazon and talked to a young man with an accent. I had to ask him to slow down and speak distinctly several times. I went on to bed even though I never got the Echo fixed. I will work on it again in the morning. It is 11:30PM now.

Tuesday and A Hair Appointment

I slept poorly last night. I awoke about 1:00AM and took my med and a melatonin tablet but I was drowning in my sinus drainage so finally just got up again and took a benedryl capsule. That time I went back to sleep eventually and woke up at almost 6:00AM. My arm hurt a little but not enough to take an Aleve. I must had lain on it during the night.

I dressed and texted Bob to see if he was up for breakfast out. He had awoken at 3:00 and had already had his toast and coffee so I ate my oatmeal and stayed home. I also had a breakfast bar. I had some TV this morning and was watching the news when Toni called. I had forgotten my hair appointment. Bob was just coming in to visit and so he left and I jumped in my car and took off for the beauty shop. I really needed it this week. My hair was a mess. I stopped on the way home at Dollar General and bought more litter. That cat really goes through the litter.

I need to go to Walmart.  I am out of frozen meals and also need a cake pan for next week's cake for my cake for the First Christian Church in Independence.  I definitely need my Clean and Clear that I use for a face wash.

Now I need to go to Walmart if I am going to have anything for lunch.

So more later...

I got six frozen dinners at Walmart for $1.88 each. Plenty of food for me. Also, I stopped at Dollar General and bought more litter.  So Missy and I should be fixed for awhile. I had the chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy and corn for lunch. I will also eat an ice cream bar and perhaps another of those breakfast bars.

We have been under a tornado warning for the past hour but nothing came of it. The sirens went off but it just looked like wind and a hard rain. I didn't panic. I thought if I heard something like a freight train, I would go to the closet in my bedroom and take a large sofa cushion with me to protect my head.  But the warnings off now and I didn't have to make a run for my bedroom.

I have read all afternoon and Missy has been napping on my bed. I had one of my Walmart Great Value single frozen dinners for my lunch. Tomorrow I may have some soup. I bought some that Gay recommended. I think it was called Amy's Tomato Basil Soup....sounded good anyhow.  I had some up at her place last spring. I like Schwan's Tomato Basil Soup but it comes in too large a container. Leslie gave me some of that last spring.  Amy's comes in a soup can...just the right amount for one or two bowls with crackers and cheese.

It's 3:40PM now and I won't eat again until later. Then I will have yogurt.

At 7:00PM or so, I will take my bath and put my PJs on and watch some more Forensic Files with Missy. 

I did that and had my yogurt and watched TV with Missy until almost 8:30PM and then tried my best to stay awake until 9:00PM.

I must remember to take Juanita to the doctor tomorrow in Independence. I believe her appointment is at 10:00AM.   I will check my calendar in the morning. I guess I will go on to bed now even though it's not yet 9:00PM. I am very tired.

Monday and Up At 4:00AM

I slept well last night until 3:45 when I finally awoke and took my med. It was too late to take the melatonin by then. I lay there for 15 minutes and then just decided to get up. I have made my bed and got myself around for the day but I believe I will tear the bed down and wash the sheets today. Since Darrell called last night and canceled the carpet cleaning because of his gout, I have nothing else on the agenda today.

I have fed Missy and she seems happy enough. She has followed me around the apartment and is lying here beside me on the floor.

I'm not sure what I will have for breakfast. I have one piece of coffee cake left from yesterday's church school class. I also have some breakfast bars I bought at Walmart last week. I have used a few of them for a snack this past week. I have oatmeal but no milk. I don't get my social security until Wednesday and I just have enough cash to pay for my hair tomorrow. I need to get Missy some more litter sometime soon.  I have been charging groceries and gas on my credit card.

I had better get my own breakfast together. I didn't eat anything for supper last night and I took an Aleve this morning. I must have lain on my right side sometime last night. The arm was sore again this morning.

So, more later...I will go watch last night's 60 Minutes news on my Amazon Prime and eat something.

And that's what I did. I had both a breakfast bar and the rest of the coffeecake and I also had some cranberry/grape juice, a cup of coffee and a cup of Chai Latte.. a fine breakfast.

It's still dark out at 6:40AM and Missy is in on my bed napping. Until I can get her off, I can't wash the sheets. I have all day so I won't move her.

More even later...

Missy got off the bed and I washed my sheets and dried them and then put them back on the bed.

Bob A. came over and we looked at my tires. he suggested I take the car I went over to Gary's and asked him to take a look at my tires. I think I need some before winter.  He looked them over and came to the same conclusion. I came back home and called Walmart and got an estimate and then told Leslie about it and asked her for advice. I have only bought tires once before and that was for the  little green Civic I sold to Denise.  Independence's Walmart's were Goodyear Assurance and they would run $464.20 with the lifetime warranty and balance. She suggested I call Tate Boys in Bartlesville. That's where they get theirs. I did that and they gave me a really good deal. Theirs are Firestone Champions and they offered me just as good a deal as Walmart's. Their promotion price until November 5th is $533.79 and if I use their interest free credit, I would get a $100.00 rebate. That would be $433.78. That's $30. cheaper then Walmart too. That includes a lifetime warranty and balancing. I told Leslie about that deal and she said she would make the payments! I had not intended for her to do that but she said I was having to cut my money too close and she would be more comfortable making the payments. We will go down to Bartlesville on Monday next week at 10:00AM to get the tires on and eat at McCallister's across the street from the Tate Boys Service.

My kids! The are so good to me! She said John was working on putting together the TV antenna pole the kids are going to put up for me when Keith and Esther are here in November. They will attach it to the side of the roof like Bob and I did when we lived out on 2nd street in the 80's.

I called 811 to find out where the utility line are located. They are to give me a ticket number and we have ten days to get the digging done.  I went to Dollar General and bought some white spray paint to mark the hole location then I went out and sprayed an X where John had marked it.

More later...It's almost 7:00PM now and I should take my bath and watch Amazon Prime TV with Missy. I may still go to bed at 9:00 even though I had a nap this afternoon.

Sunday and Another Long Day

I awoke at 2:00AM this morning and went to the bathroom and took my med and a melatonin tablet. But I never did get back to sleep. At 3:30, I just gave up and got up. No sense in just lying there wide awake.

I found I had a message on Messenger from both Gary and Keith. I had signed back in on facebook so I could read my kids posts and they were commenting on my having left. I am no longer familiar with Messenger so it took me awhile to figure it out.

I don't hear as much from them anymore since they are all so busy and facebook was one way I could keep track of them. I found once I had signed out of facebook, though, I could no longer access their facebook accounts to read what they were doing. So I signed back in. I was reading the news this morning and noticed that facebook is even less secure now. When I was at the retreat a couple of weeks ago, I, and a million and a half others, were hacked and that created a huge mess that it took me awhile to get straightened out. I wish the kids would just read this blog and comment if they can't find time to call. Then I wouldn't have to be on facebook.

It's 4:10AM now and I will go lie back down for awhile before I get ready for church school and church and bake my coffeecake. I will undoubtedly have another exhausting day. I hate to take a nap because that keeps me from sleeping at night.

More later...

My son, Scott, called a half hour ago and talked to me for quite awhile. That was a great visit! He also left a message on this blog for me. He has a terrible time sleeping too. He always has since Iraq and Afghanistan.

The coffeecake is ready to be taken out of the oven now so I'd better go get it out.

More later....

The coffeecake is iced and ready to go. In about fifteen minutes I will call Phyllis and tell her I will drive this morning. It's 7:45AM now. I have texted Bob and he is going with us today. Last week he went with Joanne, his girlfriend, and her daughter, Nancy.

We will decide together where to have lunch after church

So, more later..... after church..

We ended up going to Cherryvale to "Just Us" for lunch. I took Phyllis and Bob home afterward and came home to read all afternoon. I finished the library book and made some notes.

Later this evening, I took my bath and lay down with Missy to watch Forensic Files.  Darrell, the carpet cleaner, called while we were watching the program and said after his brother and family left he had developed a reoccurring health problem...gout... and was not going to be able to come clean my carpet tomorrow. I told him to just call me back when it cleared up and re-schedule.  He said he would do that and thanked me for being so understanding about it.

About 8:30, we finished the programs and I prepared to go on to bed. Missy is still in on the sofa but she will be along soon. In fact, here she is now. I am going to take an allergy pill this evening to dry up my drainage and it may help me sleep too.

I am going on to bed now. It is 8:45.