"Doctor, My Eyes", part 6

I had the surgery on my right eye earlier today. Nothing much to report about the procedure itself; I went in, they poked around for a few minutes, and then we were done. I got my favorite cabbie to pick me up and bring me home after the procedure, because he's cool like that.

Now my right eye feels like it has something in it, and there's a peripheral reflection there, but I'm given to understand that's normal, and will fade in a few days. Likewise the blurred vision that I currently have in that eye. I guess it takes a little while for the eye to adapt to the new lens. Meantime, I can definitely tell you that I no longer seem to be looking through dirty glasses!

(For parts 3-5, check my blog on Communities, where I'm known as MagpieCat. I know I should have cross-posted them all here, but I didn't. Oh, well.)

"Doctor, My Eyes", part 2

Well, since it's an outpatient procedure, the insurance will cover 90% of the amount over the $300 deductible. Ouch. Well, I spent 3 times that on the cats' health in January, so it's more than reasonable that I spend this on my own health. Usually Honey's the expensive one for health care. (femme that she is, when she said she was high-maintenance, I always thought it would be clothes. sheesh!)

Anyway, next Tuesday morning, I have the pre-op appointment with the ophthamologist to see whether "the lens is ready to come out", whatever that means. Then in the afternoon, I have an appointment with my primary doctor, so that he can assert that I'm healthy enough to undergo cataract surgery. I think I'll be able to schedule the surgery once we've done that.
Now I have a week of waiting, before then next stage of the process. I hate waiting. I'm nervous, but I know that worrying won't help at all.

Doctor, My Eyes

I went to see the eye doctor today, because I need computer glasses. I need distance glasses, too, but my old ones are still okay for that.

I've been noticing lately that my vision is blurry, as if I'm looking through dirty glasses. Today I found out why: I have cataracts. I can't see them in the mirror, but I definitely have them, especially in my right eye. So I'm not getting glasses until I get at least the right eye taken care of, because my eyes will be different - literally. The doctor says that they basically open the cornea, slip out the bad lens, and put in a prosthetic lens. He gave me contact info for a couple of surgeons who can do the surgery.

Now I have to contact my insurance company to find out what hoops I have to go through to make it happen. You know, am I allowed to go directly to the specialist, or do I have to get a referral from my primary doctor, or is the referral from the eye doctor enough? If I have to go through my primary doctor first, that adds a whole other layer of delay to the process. He's a great guy, but he's not the easiest man to get hold of in a hurry.

Here's hoping this will be pretty straightforward.

Ah, Spring!

I love living in the San Francisco Bay area. It's nearly 6pm, and it's 71 degrees and sunny. I have all the doors and windows open to let the fresh air flow through my little house, and I'm sitting in my sunny corner listening to the birds outside discussing who gets to nest where this year. An ice cream truck drove by a few hours ago. I know that the price of such lovely weather is that we'll probably be rationing water this summer, but right now? I'm loving it.

7 Ways to Nourish Your Spirit

Many of us spend much of our time taking care of other people, or operating at others' direction. Whether it's taking care of our families or working for a boss (or both), the point is that we spend a lot of time and energy putting other people first. Now and then we need to put ourselves first for a little while. Here are some of the ways that I do that.

1) Meditate. Even just a few minutes of focusing on nothing more than breathing slowly and deeply can be quite refreshing.

2) Find a piece of quiet. There are many ways of doing this:
a. Take a long bath, with candles (lock the bathroom door)
b. Take a walk in the park.
c. Go to the library.

3) Take yourself out to dinner. Never understimate the therapeutic value of an hour spent interacting only with someone whose job it is to take care of you. Trust me, this is huge.

4) Do something creative. Whether it's writing or practicing an art or craft, creating is very good for the soul.

5) Get lost. Go for a long drive in an area that either:
a. is lovely, or
b. you haven't explored before, or
c. both

6) Explore your world. If you can't spare the gas for aimles driving (understandable these days), take transit or walk to explore where you live. Is there a museum (art or history)? Is there an old part of town with interesting architecture or funky shops? Take a camera or sketchbook to capture what you see, or take a break at a cafe to write down your impressions.

7) Run away from home. We always have reasons why we can't take a full vacation right now, but how about a weekend? You don't even have to leave town. Just take a weekend at a nice hotel, or a bed and breakfast, or even a funky little motel. The point is to be somewhere other than home for a little while. Sure, the messes at home will still be there when you get back, but give yourself a break. Let someone else pick up after you for a couple of days. Enjoy any (or all) of the other activities listed, without anyone around clamoring for your attention.

What's cool is that if you and your honey need some bonding time, you can do any of these activities together. The point is to give yourself a brak from the routine, so you can recharge your batteries.

45 Things About Me

My sister sent me this in an email. One is supposed to pass it on, but I decided to post it here instead.

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? No
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? NO
3. Do you own a gun? No, because I'm too likely to use it.
4. What's your favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee. In the winter, Double Decaf Mocha; in the summer, Strawberries & Cream
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Sometimes
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Good in Mac & Cheese
7. Favorite Christmas song? "St. Stephen's Day Murders"
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Decaf Mocha
9. Can you do push ups? Um, that would be NO
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding band (my DP has its mate)
11. Favorite hobby? Knitting, Quilting, Crocheting, Cross-stitch, Beadwork, Embroidery. (do you sense a theme here?)
12. Do you have A.D.H.D? Quite possibly -- what was the question again?
13. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? I'm too willing to please other people before myself, but I'm working on that.
14. Middle name? Suzanne
15. Name three things you're thinking right now? I want to resume my current stitching project, I'm probably going to post this to my blog instead of sending out email, why isn't my satellite working today?
16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, Milk, Decaf coffee
17. The friend you had the longest? Julie, since 1998
18. Current hate right now? Hearing the English language mangled by people who should know better
19. Favorite place to be? In my sunny window, playing with fabric (or yarn, or beads, etc)
20. How did you bring in the New Year? Honey and I watched old movies until we fell asleep
21. Do you like to travel? Yes, but it's such a hassle these days.
22. Name three people who will complete this: It depends on who reads my blog post
23. Do you own slippers? Yes
24. What color shirt are you wearing? Purple
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I've never tried it.
26. Can you whistle? Not really, but that doesn't stop me
27. Favorite color? Rainbow
28. Would you be a pirate? That depends; can I be Will Turner?
29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Random bits of stuff
30. Favorite girl's name? Ariana
31. Favorite boy's name? Geoffrey
32. What's in your pocket right now? A patch
33. What is the last thing that made you laugh? An e-mail about an elderly Wal-Mart applicant.
34. Best bed sheets as a child? Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how long ago that was?
35. Worst injury you've ever had? I broke my ankle skiing, at the beginning of the best snow season ever. I was in a cast until spring.
36. Do you love where you live? I like it better than the last place I lived; it's a walkable neighborhood, and I have no upstairs neighbors
37. How many TVs do you have in your house? Three
38. Who is your loudest friend? Julie
39. How many pets do you have? Four cats
41. What is your favorite book? "This Alien Shore", by C.S. Friedman
42. What is your favorite candy? 80% cacao dark chocolate
43. Favorite Sports Team? PITTSBURGH STEELERS!
44. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping
45. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Mmmm, Saturday (roll back over)

Tell me 45 things about you.

Really Simple Goal Setting

Leo Baubuta of Zen Habits, has written another excellent post, this time on making goals more manageable.

It's Been Awhile...

Boy, it's been quite awhile since the last time I posted here. Sorry aout that. I've been busy, and a little down. I felt as if I had nothing to say, so why post?

I suppose the biggest news is that i joined WeightWatchers in late September. As of last Saturday's weigh in, I've lost just over 20 pounds. I've got quite a bit more to lose, but I'm well on the way. At first, I was just doing it online, but last month I started going to meetings as well; I figured I could use the extra help, especially during the holidays.

Blog the Environment: 3 Green Things Anyone Can Do.

Good morning and welcome to Blog Action Day.

Here are some of the things that I do to help the environment. They're all pretty easy; anyone can do these things.

1. I don't own a car; I haven't done for years. Instead I take public transit or walk.
a. Four days a week, I walk to the BART (commuter train) station near my house, ride it for two stops (fare = $1.40), and then take an express bus to the office park where my main office is. This is made easier (and less expensive) because the office park sponsors a free bus pass for anyone who works there. That means that my round-trip commute costs less than a gallon of gas. Plus, taking transit means that I can spend that time doing what I want, instead of grinding my teeth because I'm stuck in traffic.
b. On Fridays, I alternate between having the day off and walking to an office that's about 1.5 miles from my house. Not only am I saving the environment, I'm getting some nice exercise.
c. The grocery store is a 20-minute walk from my house. I bought a folding shopping cart and assorted tote bags (including an insulated bag for cold/frozen things). The folding cart plays nicely with the store's shopping carts, and the checkers are getting the hang of pcking a lot of things into a few fabric totes instead of putting a few things in each of a dozen or more plastic bags.

2. I don't own a washer and dryer. I do my wash in the kitchen sink and hang it out to dry in the back yard. Yes, it takes longer this way, but I'm saving electricity, and I don't need dryer sheets to give my clothes that fresh-air smell.

3. I've replaced almost all of the incandescent bulbs in my house with compact flourescents. The exception is certain fixtures where they just don't fit, and which I'm not presently in a position to change.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I know it's been way too long since I've posted here. I'll try to do better going forward.

Meanwhile, the highlights of life since my last post:

• Honey wants me to side with her in "encouraging" my daughter to get a job and move out. Yes, I want my house back, but no, I don't want to throw my daughter out to get it.
• Honey has been having episodes of dementia; the most recent one lasted almost four days, ending late Monday night. I'm getting worried, because Alzheimer's does run in her family. I wasn't expecting to have to start looking for assisted living for her for at least a few more years, but I may have to move that up.
• On the plus side, I started WeightWatchers Online this week; I need to get rid of this excess I've been carrying around.

What part of "Spare the Air" don't you understand?

Here in the SF Bay Area, when the temperature gets (and stays) in triple digits, and the wind goes away, we get smog. Maybe not like LA smog, but bad enough. To try to minimize that, the worst of these days are declared to be "Spare the Air" days.

On Spare the Air days, we are asked to cut down any unnecessary power usage, and especially cut down on driving. Instead, we are encouraged to car pool or take public transit. To encourage this, all the local transit agencies provide free rides. Most of them are free all day on Spare the Air days. A few - like BART and the ferries - offer free rides through 1pm, and charge the regular fare thereafter. They started that this year, because last year a lot of commuters were unable to get on the trains and ferries, because those were full of people who took advantage of the free rides to spend the day playing in SF.

But an odd thing happens, and I notice this on almost every Spare the Air day: traffic is actually worse on those days, and it's mostly solo drivers. I've thought about why this might be, and I've come up with a few possibilities:

• They didn't find out that it was a Spare the Air day before they left for work
• They didn't feel that transit was sufficiently convenient for them (and maybe it wasn't - we have good transit here, but it's not perfect)
• They figured that everyone else would be car pooling and using transit, so they'd have the roads pretty much to themselves.

I think the last one is the most likely, and I think it's the most common reason for it. The trouble is that when everyone thinks that everyone (or someone) else is doing something, what usually happens is that no-one does it.

I haven't owned a car in over a dozen years; I've managed quite well using transit and the occasional taxi. On most weekdays, I walk to the BART station (about a half mile), take the train to the second station down the line from me, where I catch an express bus that drops me practically on the doorstep of my office. This has removed a major stressor from my life. Instead of spending an hour behind the wheel in traffic being mad about the waste of time, I can spend that hour reading or writing or just staring out the window - whatever, that time is my own to use as I wish. On alternate Fridays, I work at an office that's closer to my home - about 1.5 miles away - so I walk to and from work. Yes, it takes longer than driving, but it's free workout.

Anyway, if you have Spare the Air days where you are, leave your car at home!

Found Money

The other day, I found a nickel on the sidewalk. I picked it up, even though it was head-down. Some people will only pick up a coin if it's heads-up, believing that to pick up a head-down coin is bad luck. For that matter, many people don't think it's worth the effort to bend down and pick up any coin. My feeling is that if the universe wants to throw money at me, in whatever form or condition, who am I to snub it?

Don't be Eeyore

Don’t Be Eeyore - lifehack.org

A lot of what's negative in our lives we impose on ourselves. This article talks about how not to do that.

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"should be" versus "is"

“Should” is the most stressful word I know. It is the sound of expectations unfulfilled.

“I should be able to handle this.”
“I should be a homeowner at my age.”
“I should be able to support my family on my earnings.”
“I should be cleaning the house right now.”

Unrealistic expectations are one of the biggest sources of stress in our lives, because we get all set up about what should be instead of dealing with what is.

One of the best things we can do for ourselves is to banish “should” from our lexicon. First, think about whose expectations are reflected in those “should”s. Now substitute “want” for “should”. Note that I said “want”, not “need”. If you have a roof over your head and are eating more or less regularly, “need” is pretty well taken care of. Treat anything else as a “want”.

When you put the word “want” in place of the words “need” or “should”, it’s easier to get a useful perspective on it. Who wants it? Do you? How badly do you want it? What does it do? Will a part of it serve, or do you want it all? What can you do to make it happen? This brings your head back to what is, and what you can do to affect it.

It may be that what is really sucks, and it may be that you can’t change it right now. In which case, how important is it, really? Can you get around it? Can you skip it? Is there another way to take care of that want? Can you get help with it?

All we can do is what we can do, and getting wrapped up in what “should be” doesn’t change that. It just gets us upset for no reason. When you hear “should” in your head, give yourself permission to say “Fuck it; I don’t need that”, and go on with your life.

Mother-Daughter Bonding

I love my daughter; I always have, although the whole mother-child thing was hard for us. Well, mainly it was hard for me. I've never really been the "mommy" type, but I did my best to give her the tools she'd need to function in the world, and I do seem to have done so.

Now that she's 21 (as of about a month ago) and officially an adult, we're free to just be the friends we've always been, and we like it that way. Instead of me telling her what to do, we can ask and offer advice of each other, and enjoy our common interests. This past Friday, we went to a local pub, for what we thought would be drinks and bar food. It's the first time I've been to this particular place, even though it's only a block away, but it won't be the last. It turns out to be a pretty good German restaurant, which carries imported German and Czech beers. So, it wasn't the outing we were expecting to have, but it was a nice dinner, and we had a good time. We'll do drinks and bar food some other time.

1 More Day!

One more day until my daughter gets here. At least, that's the last I heard from her. She called last weekend to tell us that her flight is tomorrow morning, and she's scheduled to land at about 10am our time. I should be doing housework, but I'm playing with fabric instead.

96iantSteps · GTD: 10 minute GTD crash course

96iantSteps · GTD: 10 minute GTD crash course

This is a really good summary - the "high points", if you will - of the GTD system. This is definitely the simplest, most straightforward outline of the key concepts of this system.

Rats!

Friday turned out not to be the day, after all. See, Honey has epilepsy, although it's been mostly dormant for several years. Anyway, Friday afternoon she started having seizures - with convulsions and all. Needless to say, I called up to cancel the procedure, and to make some arrangement for getting her prescriptions. Sadly, that's not quite what happened. Her pain doctor fired her - something about going against his beliefs.

On Monday, we'll be talking with the doctor whose office he uses, both to get her prescriptions and to get a referral (we hope) to a pain clinic that's closer to home.

Wish us luck.

Today's the day!

Honey's going in for the nerve-block procedure later this afternoon. She had it done last summer, and it knocked her pain levels way down. That pain stayed gone for over two months. We're hoping that this time it will work even better and longer. I'll post later to tell you how it went.

Guess who I heard from last night!

My daughter (who'll be 21 this summer) called me last night, for the first time in about six months. The last time we had talked, I got angry with her because it seemed that she only called to ask for money. Since I was trying to fend off eviction and still cover Honey's medical expenses, I didn't have it to spare, so I told her to call me back when she had something to talk about besides asking for money. That was it; I didn't hear another peep from her until last night. I had snippets about her by way of one of her local friends, but only scraps.

I'm not going to tell you all of what's happening in her life right now, except that she's finally becoming an adult and getting a handle on her life. I'm so glad that although she's made many of the same mistakes I did (isn't that traditional?), she also learned from my example how to correct them. I was never very good at the whole mommy thing, but I did try to teach her how to be a decent, responsible person. I'm glad to see that at least some of it took.

Anyway, you can go to her MySpace page to see what she's willing to tell about her life.