Closing

 My treatment went fine on Wednesday, aside from the treatment room nurse having a hell of a time with my port....but some stressful news came from the clinic.

I got a bankruptcy notice in the mail on Monday, so I took it with me, and talked to doc and Jamie, both, at some length.

The clinic is closing its doors on Oct. 2nd. My last treatment there will be that day, even though it's two days early for my three week rotation.  

Doc was pro-active when word of the bankruptcy first came to him, and has been asked to join the practice at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences.  The Stevenson Cancer Center is closer to home for me, and could provide a broader spectrum of treatment options, going forward.

The scary part is that he isn't 100% sure that he can take Jamie with him, and she is our ROCK.  She does all of the research, and asks all of the questions.

She's also the only one who can access my port without problems.... so.... yeah.

Hopefully, by the 2nd, we will all have more information about what happens next.

In the meantime, they are pressed with the responsibility of notifying all of their patients...especially the ones who only go once a month, and have already been for treatment, and don't KNOW yet that their next treatment won't be at the clinic they know and love.

This short notice is unfair and unethical.

In other news, the weather has shifted, and we got a little bit of rain, but it will be back up in the 90s this coming week.

We did finally get into the hot tub last night, and were visited by a skunk while we were out there.  He/she seemed oblivious to our presence, and the outside cats presence, and just went about its business of being ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE, and eating up the cat food!

This skunk was all white down its back, where the one we saw last week had two distinct stripes.  I need to look up the different species we have here.  They're SO cute....I just wish they didn't have that little defensive mechanism!!

The one last night had a MAGNIFICENT tail, which was held high, like an umbrella.  

Oh, and forgot to mention last week that our new manager at work is gone already.  Of course, we will never hear why.... guess it wasn't a good fit!

We have some house and yard chores to do today, and I am working on seasoning my fire pit dutch oven in stages, but we will go to the woods first. 

It's been months, and I feel a total disconnect from nature.

Given my Spiritual proclivities, this is NOT GOOD....so off we shall go while it's still cool out.

Have a good week!

 

The end is near

 They are saying that we will have a "summer ending cold front" tonight.  It's to be cooler today, too, than yesterday.

Next week, it's supposed to actually rain, and be 30 - 40 degrees cooler for highs!  

One of the weather guys gave a total number of days over 100 since Mid-June, but I don't remember what it was.  It didn't break any records, because, of course, the official readings are always different from real life.

Not much to report for our first week after vacation.  

Sammie and the kittens are still here, and the Humane society is ignoring our application to get another appointment.

We were going to go to the woods this morning, but we slept late (8:15!) instead.

I have my office day tomorrow, labs after work on Tuesday, and my next treatment is Wednesday.

Can't remember why they changed it to Wednesday, as it has been on Tuesdays since January.  Fortunately, it doesn't interfere with Dave's standing appointment on Wednesday morning.

My cooking project for today is to attempt to make Pork Carne Adovada.... New Mexican style braised pork.

Hopefully, it will be edible.  I got mild chilies, so fingers crosssed.

Have a good week!

Home again, home again

Our little trip to Santa Fe was mostly really good.

There were problems with our Air BnB RV rental, which were partially blamed on US, so I only gave them a 3 star rating.

The hot water, for example, only ran for about 3 minutes at a time when we first arrived, and then it stopped working entirely the second night while we were trying to do dishes.

The host was a management company, with a local individual, "Charles," who lives in the house on the property.  

Despite him being right there, no one could come to fix the hot water until after we had already left for our Wednesday planned activities.  

Dave was able to take a "navy shower," and I just heated water on the stove and did a "sponge bath" before we left.

The hot water failing was blamed on us.  No.  You just DO NOT do that, AND it wasn't working the moment we arrived, so how was that our fault?

The other major issue was that the website didn't make clear that the interstate was about 350 feet away.  The noise was CONSTANT and LOUD, and I got almost no sleep the first night, even with running fans to try to get enough white noise to block it out.

And, there was also a minor issue with the pedal that operated the toilet.  It got progressively more difficult to operate, which is not good! "Charles" said that he wiggled it back and forth when he came to fix the hot water, and that it was fine, but it had not been touched..... By the time we left, we had to get down on the floor, with our faces in the toilet, basically, to get it to flush properly.

It was disgusting.

We knew we were renting an RV, and that the accommodations would be modest, but we DID expect everything to work properly, and for the lodgings to be serviceable, but certainly not luxurious!! We don't need luxury, but we needed to be able to stay there without having any struggles, and without being blamed for any of those struggles. 

Anyway, we had planned to go to the local mall on Tuesday, our first day there, and get pedicures, visit a thrift store we'd been told about, and then go to lunch in The Plaza.  We had planned to take it really easy, to adapt to the altitude.

Fortunately, we both did REALLY WELL with the altitude.  My ears even worked better than I expected, going up and coming down.  That was such a relief, as I was worried about having ear problems the whole time.

Anyway, when we got to the mall, the pedicures were $7 MORE than advertised on line, and our budget for this trip was TIGHT, so we skipped that, and wandered the mall for a little while.

The thrift store had nothing we couldn't live without, so we went on to The Plaza for lunch, which was AMAZING!!  

If you're ever in Santa Fe, eat at The SHED! It's in a building that was constructed in 1692, and the New Mexican food is SO good.

More wandering, to the song of over 9,000 steps!  We found the gallery where the largest in-town collection of Maria Martinez's pottery is, and I cried a little.  

My sister and I each inherited a piece of her pottery.  They were purchased by mom and grandma in 1955, from Maria directly, during a desert south west vacation my family took. This was before Maria was famous, and she was selling her pottery herself to tourists. For something like $2.00  

Having seen her work in a gallery, with prices, we now understand that we should probably take out insurance on the pieces we own!

The next day was the Georgia O'Keefe museum, and then more of wandering The Plaza.

That day, we had lunch at the Plaza Cafe, which is the longest continually operating restaurant in Santa Fe, and it is a classic American diner inside, with traditional New Mexican cuisine, as well as diner fare.  I had the pork and red chili soup, and it was phenomenal. Dave had a diner style breakfast for lunch.

As we wandered, I bought some earrings, and Dave bought a hoodie, because he forgot to bring a jacket, and the evenings were blissfully cool.

We sat out and looked at the full moon and stars before bed.

Thursday, we HAD been planning to meet up with the cousin of my dear friend, for an early morning hike, but I wasn't feeling well (guess that delicious food was too much for my digestion), and Dave was wiped out from TWO days of over 9,000 steps.

So, we opted for a visit to the local living history site, about a half hour south of town, later in the morning.

Unfortunately, our cool weather failed us that day, and it was nearly 100 degrees, so we didn't make it through the entire place, but what we did see was fascinating.

We started out in the 17th century area, with the original buildings from the 1690s, and then moved to through the 18th, and just barely into the 19th centuries, before we had to call it a day.  There was also no food available there, and we had not had lunch yet, so we went to the nearest, air conditioned place we could find.

Not everything has air conditioning in Santa Fe, because, like everywhere else this summer, it hasn't been THAT HOT for, well, ever.

Welcome to climate change.

Lunch was nothing special, and some of it was way too spicy, even for Dave. 

We just lazed about on Thursday afternoon and evening, me doing a little packing up as I felt the urge.  

Because it had gotten so hot that day, it took a LONG time for the RV to cool down

It was 100 degrees INSIDE when we got back, and running the air conditioning on high tripped the breaker, too.  Fortunately, that was an easy fix, with no need to contact the hosts!   

Unfortunately, the reason it was still so hot in there, even into the evening, was because the rules are that you can't go out and leave the roof vents, or any windows, open, or the a/c on.  

Thankfully, even though it was hot, there was a breeze, so I sat outside most of that time with a cold drink.

We didn't see much wildlife on our trip, but there were mule deer that we saw in the area of the RV, as well as bird varieties that were new to us, ravens, magpies, a jack rabbit, and a couple of different kinds of small lizards. 

We got up and out on Friday morning, and made it safely home, taking our time, by about 6 pm.  Traffic was really pretty good both ways.

Sadly, we stopped in the famous town of Tucumcari, NM on the way home, and, while we saw all of the really cool, original neon signs (during the day, of course, so they were not turned on), along the streets, nothing was open, and we didn't get to visit the Route 66 gift shop.

The website said OPEN NOW, but it was closed up tight, and there were no cars in the lot. 

I had really wanted to explore the town a little, but it's become very shabby, and looked forgotten. 

This is a three day weekend, and so yesterday was laundry and cleaning day, though the house was still pretty clean, and Dave went to the pet store to re stock cat food.

Momma and four surviving kittens are still here, and this coming week, we hope to find a way to get them to a shelter, IF anyone will take them.

I also got groceries ordered yesterday, and we just relaxed the rest of the day.

Today, we are finally going to get those pedicures, and do some more relaxing.  

Tomorrow?  Who knows?  It's hot, of course, and will the hottest tomorrow, but I want to grill some bratwurst.  Maybe have our house sitter come and get her gift.

Have a good week!

 

Aaaand we're off!

 Today marks the first day we will see temperatures BELOW 100 degrees since something like the 9th of August.

It MIGHT just be in the 80s today... we shall see.

That will make it a good day to get the car ready for a road trip!

Heading to Santa Fe tomorrow for a few days. Just a short trip, because it was kind of "spur of the moment," and we didn't have time to save up much money.  We can never just go somewhere, because we have to save up first.

Living pay check to pay check, even now, at our ages, having worked our entire lives, with two full time jobs.  It's pathetic.

I sold a week of my vacation hours (was supposed to be two weeks, but H/R messed up, so we have half as much money for the trip as I had ASKED for), which will pay for our inexpensive lodgings.

We will take most of our own food, but hope to eat out at least once, maybe twice, to get the local flavor.

Other than that, the Georgia O'Keefe museum will be our biggest expense. 

We hope to visit the Santa Fe National Forest, and I have connected with a cousin of a friend who has promised to show us an easy hiking trail.

We will take our first day there to adapt to the altitude, and will play things by ear, depending on the weather, and such. 

Last Sunday, Sammie came back with all of the surviving kittens, who are all thriving and growing.  Unfortunately, NOW is the time for them to be caught, socialized, and adopted out....but the shelters are all full, and we have nowhere to take them. 

The family has been living under our car port, around/behind the trash cans, this past week.

Our house sitter is adept at helping our feral cats, so she will take care of them while we are away.

My treatment last week went okay, but I had to take an Uber, and get a ride home from a friend.  The kittens had decided to go up INSIDE of the engine compartment of our car to hide that day.

Dave saw one run under the car as we were trying to leave, and I got down on the ground, and could see up under the panel under the engine.  There was a tiny face looking out at me.

So, Dave opened the hood, and there were two more in there.... and they WOULD NOT leave.

I suggested the hose, but Dave refused, and I had to LEAVE, so he got me an Uber.  That was money we did not need to spend ahead of a vacation with a really low budget!

He stayed home, and tried for a few more minutes to get the kittens out of the car, but failed, and since it was 109 degrees he gave up and went inside.

When I got home from treatment, it was 111 degrees, but we went outside to try to get the kittens out of the car.  

I suggested the hose, and Dave refused again....trying everything else that he could think of.

Ultimately, our tempers flared, and he yelled at me, and I yelled back, and then I punched one of the trash cans (because I had just gotten home from going to chem alone for the first time ever, I was hopped up on steroids, it was 111 degrees, and DAMN, he had pissed me off!!).... and he decided maybe the hose was a good idea.

It worked like a charm. If only he had listened the first time, none of this stress would have happened.

We moved the car back to the bottom of the driveway, and set another plastic bin shelter under the car port. 

We saw the kittens going into the two shelters at dusk, and decided to keep the car down there until we could get that panel fixed.

Dave was to take the car the next day, but he was not able to, so he took it the day after that.  The oil change place we use had left it unattached the last time, so they fixed it for no charge.

This needed to be done before high speed highway driving anyway....so it's all good.

I'm off to make brunch for us, and then Dave needs to do all of the stuff he put off until the last possible moment to get ready for the trip.  

I can have an easy day, since I've done all of my chores.

Have a great week!

Not again....

 It was 108 here yesterday.  Likely to be again today... and the air conditioning isn't working!  

I noticed, in the middle of the night, that it was running constantly, and not cooling the house.

Dave is going to put a call in to our service and see if they do emergency repairs.  If not, we will have to go to a hotel tonight, and possibly cancel our trip to Santa Fe, because of having to spend the money NOW.

We shall see!

Sammie and her five surviving kittens showed up in the back yard this morning!  The babies all look pretty good, though their eyes are all crusty.

They are following her around now, and are VERY adept at running away and hiding.

They are all tuxedoes, three black, one grey, and one tabby.  The sixth one, the one that was all black, except for two tiny white spots on it's nose, is no where to be seen, so must also have died.

So, the two that I would have adopted in a heart beat, if it had been at all possible, are gone. 

We are hoping that we will be able to get her to continue coming to us with them, and maybe be able to catch them... but we already know that the shelters are over loaded, and we will have to keep them in a cage for who knows how long until we can get a freaking appointment to take them to the humane society.

Before the heat got so intense, we DID manage to get out and walk every morning last week (except my office day).  That was really nice... But, if we want to walk this coming week, we will have to get up before dawn, when it's only in the 80s.

Next week, I will NOT work in the office on Monday, because we have a mandatory meeting on Friday, and they're asking EVERYONE to work in the office that day.  

I will go for my labs after work tomorrow, and have my treatment on Tuesday.

Please think cooling thoughts for us.... I don't want to have to go to hotel tonight!!!

UPDATE: a real human answered when Dave called the HVAC service line, and we are in the queue for an emergency technician to come out some time today.  I hope the repair is covered under the warranty, or, once again, bye bye Santa Fe.

ANOTHER UPDATE:  A/C was fixed by around 2 pm..... $200... not too bad. We can still go to Santa Fe!

Slow news week

 Not much to report here at Dragons' Roost.

Mama Sammie cat keeps coming around for her meals, but we have not seen the kittens again.  I hope they're doing okay.  She is clearly still nursing.

The house next door has been worked on a bit, and huge quantities of the junk that was left behind has been moved out to the curbside, and is falling into the street.  

"Trash pickers" have been by, and they sling stuff all over, looking for treasures, and then leave the mess all over the yard, and in the street.  Some of it was even in our yard this morning.

It's awful, but this coming week is "big trash day," so it will be picked up soon.

I am just glad I can open the shades in the kitchen again.  I've been keeping them closed, because looking across to that mess in the back was causing me distress.  I know there isn't a dog living (surviving because of us) out there any more, but it was reminding me of those stressful weeks.

We are having another respite from the heat this weekend.  It was supposed to be near-record-breaking heat, but there have been clouds and rain instead, keeping the high temp about ten degrees less hot than predicted.

It was only 95 yesterday, instead of 105.  This morning, it's cloudy again, so we're hoping for another less intense afternoon.

Since I now earn three weeks of vacation a year, and the only other co worker who has been there longer than I have gave me a heads up about that, I have scheduled a couple of weeks off.  

I have also cashed out some of my vacation hours, because, apparently, at a certain point, if you have too many saved up vacation hours, they stop adding them.

I think that's awful.... I mean.... I am earning that time....maybe I am saving it for a reason?  Like my co worker who THOUGHT she was saving up hours to go to Europe, only to find out that she hit her maximum, and the hours stopped accruing.

Grumble.

SO, since I had not been aware of that stupid rule, I have fixed my hours so that I am not in any danger of losing what I earn.  The extra cash from "selling" a week of vacation back to the company will help us pay for a little trip we want to take, so that will be good.

After scheduling two weeks of vacation (one now, and one at the end of October), and selling some, I still have two left in the "bank," and will be adding more to it every pay period.

Nothing much else going on here.... just working and sleeping, basically.  

My department has a new manager (it's the position I didn't apply for last year because it required a) a college degree, and b) occasional travel to the Tulsa office.

I can't quite make her out.... I definitely do not trust her yet.  

She is coming to sit with me again tomorrow, to observe one of my many, many concentration-intensive tasks.  

This one is one that was always only ever done by the director, or the VP...but was given to ME when the entire management team quit, because I was the only one capable of doing it.

I hate having someone watch me do these more difficult tasks, because I get nervous, and I am afraid of messing up.  It's more likely, then, that I will mess up.... Ugh.  

She doesn't take notes, and she isn't going to remember any of it.... because there are so many steps.  But, it is what it is, and I will get through it.

SO, on that note, have a good week!  

Back in the saddle

 SO, my echocardiogram showed not only no further damage to my heart function, but a 10% improvement!  

Treatment was resumed immediately, and onward we go.  I will now only see my doctor every other visit, and we will continue with treatment indefinitely, OR until I start to notice shortness of breath, or swelling in my feet, i.e. heart failure.

I guess I am sort of still a guinea pig....but we shall see.

Next echo, and scans, in December.

On Monday evening of this last week, the whole family (including Carlos), and extra helpers, showed up next door, with trucks and a trailer.

I watched the mom, with my own eyes, catch and carry the dog into the house.  The little girls were squealing with delight--hopefully excited that they could have their third doggie back with them again.

I contacted the city, the investigation was called off, and I've donated the food to a dog shelter.

All last week, there have been crews at the house, taking stuff away (our guess is to the dump), and working on the inside of the house.  

Yesterday, they mowed the back yard, which had not been done in months.

There is no dog there.... (we were worried that they had merely put him inside when they caught him on Monday night, but no, they took him.... somewhere.)  Our hope is that he is back with his doggie sisters, and the little girls who clearly care a LOT more about him that the parents.

It's a burden off of our hearts, regardless.  I hadn't realized how stressed I was about it until I burst into tears upon seeing him in the female adult's arms.

Not much else to report.... the weather has broken, so we are going for a walk in the "woods" this morning.
Have a good week!