After a break

After eight days in the hospital (👎) I am finally home (👍). Not eating food yet, unless you consider broth a meal.

I missed my resident mischief maker. I took two pictures just now I wanted to include on this page, but I couldn't find them.

Still up to her nonsense, but  Tulip missed me too. She is more affectionate. For most of yesterday, she slept on my lap. 

Not so much today. 

I heard various things falling from the kitchen counter behind me.  There are four things found on the floor; a plastic drinking glass didn't fit in the shot.

Tulip was once again pushing the toaster lever up and down. At least it is not plugged in.

My plans for the next few days include ordering groceries for delivery and driving to Cleveland (North Carolina) to pick up my warranty-repaired leaf blower (for the second time).

Hopefully, I'll be able to eat by Thanksgiving. 🦃 I'm not cooking.

#Tulip

#Tulip_tales

Death of the Remote

Today I went to the Benson Center for Active Aging an hour late for a free volunteers' lunch. I brought home a cup of unsweetened iced tea.

Sitting in my chair, I noticed that the Amazon TV remote had moved...

...half-way into the iced tea. 

I'm not going to blame Tulip for it. It could have been my negligence that caused the soaked electronics.  So I took out the two batteries and inverted the remote to let the tea drain out. It was amazing to see how much liquid was in there! Two paper towels were used to mop up the cavity.

Now I'm leery of using the remote at all. Should I put it in a bag of rice?

Or just go to Scrabble and hope the remote will work when I get back home?

...to be continued.

#Remoteterror

#Remotelytea

#ClickerTdoff

NCWN Conference

Just got home from Wrightsville Beach (or was it Wilmington Beach)?  Dr. Wanda and I shared a room and split hotel costs. We had a wonderful time, we met a lot of authors, and I ate a lot of food. 

On Friday, we ordered dinner from a menu without prices. We knew it would be expensive; it was a Hilton Resort, after all. The dinners were $40 plus tax. After tip, my shrimp and garlic grits cost $50. They were delicious!

Saturday we had three individually-chosen classes, which was fine. Entertainment for the evening was square dancing. Wanda and I were happy to watch many attendees do the Virginia Reel and do-si-do in the first square dance.  Neither of us volunteered to go out on the dance floor. Just like the grammar school teacher wrote on my report card, "The student does not follow directions."  

Wanda and I took part in an Open Mic. I was the only one to sing my rendition of Morning Has Broken.

I did not sleep well on Saturday night, 💤  😴  💤  😪 💤  but I thought little of it. Until...

1.    I got scalded by the paper cup of coffee I'd prepared when it lost its lid. Coffee splashed on a few old copies of the Greenville Review (which, thankfully, were free). I got help in mopping up my mess.

2.    Then I returned to the Lumina ballroom to eat my breakfast. Spilled my coffee AGAIN. Got help in mopping up that much-larger mess. Was a bit drowsy during the agents' panel discussion.

3.    Got too comfortable in the next class about freelancing. Luckily, there was much less coffee to spill in there; at least it was now a drinkable temperature. I felt like asking the person next to me if I had snored. 

4.    In the last class of the day, I felt as if I were a full-on narcoleptic. My pen must have fallen from my hand at least eight times. Wanda sat beside me in this class. She said I wasn't snoring. 

On our way home, we stopped at a Wendy's for lunch. That must have revived me because I drove us back to Benson without incident.

I checked my sleep score on the MyAir (CPAP) app; last week I had 2 incidents an hour; total sleep averaged 80%. Saturday's score was 41% and I experienced twice as many events per hour. 

I feel ready for a nap right now, at 7pm.  🛌

 

Mercy Me!

I am going crazy over how many computer passwords I have. Google password isn't the biggest help either. Among the "my charts files," do I use the same password for every health system?

MyChart (capefearvalley)

myhcnnetwork

mymedicare    (obviously SSN)

myuncchart.org

I try entering the last known successful password, but something inevitably goes wrong. Now I'm totally unsure which hospital or network the myhcnnetwork is supposed to be.

I go back and forth between my passwords, getting the second notification messages, etc. 

Nothing seems to work. Then I am rejected and have to start anew. At that point, I give up. 

Outgoing Mail

 

This envelope was sitting on a counter, minding its own business. It has since been taped up, ready to go into a mailbox. 

Tulip is unbelievable!

Mom Slips and Slides

Tulip enjoys flipping over her food bowl, which frequently ends up on the floor. And of course, the mat under the dish also gets flipped whether or not her bowl is still on it. This should have alerted me that this was a transferable skill Tulip might replicate elsewhere. 

I'd noticed Tulip liked to grab and drag the rubber mat in my shower (not while the water was running). It was amusing while, simultaneously, I was totally oblivious to the dangerous implications of her actions.

Unbeknownst to me, the rubber anti-slip mat had been flipped. When I took a shower a few days ago, I was surprised when the bathmat slid beneath my feet. 

How it usually works: The plastic mat's top section is as smooth as a baby's behind. Its suction cups on the reverse side attach the mat to the shower floor. 

However:  I was standing on the bottom side, feeling many ridges under my feet. The mat's slippery top was now face-down. It was quite possible that (knowing me, just as likely) I could end up on my behind.  

Now:  I need to get behind Tulip's motivation. Is she trying to kill me or what?

Is Tulip hungry or just needy?

Yesterday I was trying to speak with a customer service rep. As is her style, Tulip was making a pest of herself by getting into the dishes, batting at the venetian blinds, and dumping stuff off of tables. Those are the same actions a two-year old toddler would make: "Mommy, listen to me!" 

I apologized to the person on the other end of the phone as I ushered the cat into my bedroom and closed the door. 

Finally, PEACE REIGNS (if only for the duration of a brief telephone call)!

~~

Today between 4:30 and 5:00 PM, Tulip began to act up, as if she needed more food. Wanted is more like it. Of course, some kibble remained in her bowl. Thinking to myself, "This'll show her," I made a point of emptying her bowl onto her placemat. Was she even watching me?

Suddenly, Tulip was no longer interested in eating. Instead, she took a nap.

😼

This got me wondering. Is Tulip lazy, not wanting to fight to get at the kibble sitting on the bottom of her slow-feeder bowl?

In about an hour, I'll refill her dish as I heat up leftovers for dinner. Hopefully, Tulip will have eaten some more food by then. Right now, she's making a point of ignoring it and me.

When I judge Tulip's behavior, there are at least three justifications: 

1. She might be hungry, 
2. She may require my attention simply because she is needy, OR
3. She is just being an obstinate two-year-old.

More justifications may exist, but I'm no Cat Whisperer. Your guess is as good as mine.