Tulip Time

 Tuesday tops the week with sun!  And it's going to be warm, with temps climbing into the mid 60s (F).  Sixpence said the temps were in the 70s (F) yesterday in the Chicago area, they should be our entre tomorrow... except thunderstorms are also on the menu, possibly a nice, booming desert before the temps drop back down to what is considered normal for late February.  However, according to the forecast, that chill will be only momentary.  We are in a transitional season.

I have an eye appointment this morning because I need to have the old ogglers checked.  I have borderline glaucoma, so I know my optometrist is going to suggest eye drops again, she does suggest them at every exam.  If I go on them, my appointments will be every 2 years, rather than every year.  If only I didn't hate having to put a drop in each of my eyes every day.  We shall have to wait and see.

Even though work was boring yesterday, I did manage to get 2 measures, my goal for the week... well, maybe I got 2 measures.  One of them hadn't been paid for.  The customer forgot his credit cards.  I printed off his appointment and told him that he needed to call in and pay for it within 8 hours to activate it.  He told me he'd call the store when he got home.  That was around 5 minutes before I left, so I won't find out if he called or not until Saturday, when I work again.

And I just zipped down to snap a pic from the side of the house to prove that we are rapidly approaching tulip time.

And, if you've been paying even slight attention to Trump's legal woes, you see that his team of lawyers are not quite firing on all cylinders.  His finances are liquid enough to cover appeals for the $454 (?) million he owes because of his crookery, and so those attempting to represent him are pulling flimsy legal straws out of their asses as they try to keep his ego from crashing into the wall of reality at a very high speed.  Perhaps if he did have his foot on the accelerator things might not be as horrifically terrible as they are, but this is a loser who can't shut his mouth.  They're trying to keep Michael Cohen from testifying at Trump's Stormy trial because Mikey's testimony will be a slam dunk for the prosecutor.  That case starts in a little over 3 weeks.

His niece says his sanity is dangling.  I don't doubt that, and I'm enjoying it.  

Borderline

 Friday.  Yesterday was somewhat eventful in that my eyes were dilated for my eye exam.  My eyes are fine.  They're still blue.  A long time ago an ophthalmologist diagnosed me with Glaucoma., the same doctor that Maddie's mother went to.  Laser surgery was done on both of my eyes and eyedrops were prescribed.  Getting refills was an aggravation because the prescription was always for a very expensive brand not covered by my insurance. I began going to the VA when the Doc retired and... what the hey!  I don't have Glaucoma.  The pressure in my eyes has changed in 4 years.  I am borderline.  Honestly, I don't think that should come as a surprise to anybody.

My Veterinarian's assistant finally called me back yesterday as I was on my way to be dilated.  Biggie's going to stay on the carprofen.  Instead of 2 pills in the morning, we're going to try one in the morning or one in the evening.  Hopefully this will work.  The only other option right now is to add in Gabapentin.  Crap!  My mom used to take Gabapentin.

Two minor characters have been added to The Body Under Ice:  Lois and Clark, two barflies who hang out at Hennepin's, one of the few bars / restaurants that stays open year round.  Tourists flock there in the summer, locals hang out there in the winter.  Some may find it difficult to believe, but Lois and Clark drink more than Eli and Max.

  

Of course, Billy Barr's coming out with an explosive book on Loser #45.  I know this because Billy has started making the PR rounds, spitting out tasty little morsels of gossip whose sole purpose is to entice you into buying his book.  I won't.  That little bit about Trump becoming enraged when he was told there was absolutely no voter fraud?  Sorry, Billy's not taking us across the border into unfamiliar territory.  Now, if Billy had said Trump took the truth well, that there was no voter fraud, and had smiled and said "well, I guess we've got to come up with a big lie?"  That would have been fertile territory.  

And, of course, Putin is still pushing more troops across the border into the Ukraine.  I did like this bit in Al Jazeera regarding his Imperialistic beliefs.  The part about how Russia will pay for this invasion for years to come is so on point.  The only way this could have been in any ways successful from him would have been for the war to be over in 3 or 4 days, before the world had a chance to understand what was going on.  Now he's going to be sacrificing young Russians to guerilla warfare for years to come.  And it will spread across the borders.

The eyes have it

 I had my eye exam yesterday.  The pressure in my right eye is 22, in the left it's 20, which are boarder line pressure readings...  However, mine haven't changed in 3 years so that might be standard pressure for my eyes.  I'm scheduled for another pressure test in 6 months.  That's fine.  I do have a several vials of prescription drops sitting in my refrigerator which have expired, so they're getting tossed.

There were a number of people at the VA clinic getting their Covid shots.  No line.  If I had waited, I probably could have gone there.  It doesn't make any difference to me.  I don't mind driving down to Lebanon.  Every time I go down it's old home day for me as I drive through the town letting the memories wash over me.  Never forget your youth.  

My brother is now saying Covid is a horrible disease.  He has come a long way from when he said it was serious.  That happens when someone you know gets sick.

The temps here are supposed to go up to 55 (F).  Now isn't that nice.

And the decorations have begun to arrive for my Spring Tree.  It's going to be so different from the Winter Tree.  More colorful.  I can't wait until the first day of spring to start decorating.

And what about that Madison Cawthorn?  The pretty boy fascist from North Carolina.

Fictionalist might be more accurate.  Or lying sack of shit.  Or how about just calling him a Republican since that covers all the above bases.  The Charlotte Observer has called him a GOP Creation and a North Carolina embarrassment.  I don't doubt for a second that he is without conscience.  He's lied about the accident which left him paralyzed, accusing the driver of the car of running away.  Didn't happen that way.  He's said he was nominated to go to the Naval Academy by Mark Meadows and was accepted.  That didn't happen.  His nomination was rejected.  And the sexual harassment claims are beginning to pile on.  I'm sure there are many who find his looks pretty to the eye.  Don't believe it.

Honesty and Decency

 Today will be a short day at work.  I have an eye exam.  There's a good possibility I'll be doing dilation tricks this afternoon.  This means when my Optometrist says "let me look deeply into your eyes" it has more to do with cones and rods and the lining of the back of my eyeball.  The main purpose is to see if my glaucoma has progressed, or if the disease is still locked behind some sort of stasis field.  Hopefully, there will not be a return to eyedrops.  

Andy Towle has retired his blog, Towleroad.  I've read it daily for so many years.  It will be missed.

Besides being Tuesday, today is also garbage day... and it's windy; not as bad this morning as it was last evening, which is why I waited to put out my trash.  The gustiness last evening, besides knocking over my resin lawn furniture, took out several of my neighbor's recycle cans.  Now empty aluminum cans clitter clatter as they chase each other down the street.

I got a text from my brother yesterday, my sister-in-law has tested positive for Covid 19.  If she has any underlying health issues, I've not heard of them.  He told me he hasn't been tested for is showing minor symptoms.  This is how it goes.  I go for my 2nd shot on Saturday.  I can't wait.  They say the second dose packs a bit of a punch.  Gee... I'm supposed to go to the movies Saturday night.  If they show up, I hope they wait until after the show.  As for Sunday?  If I'm feeling a bit of the malaise, I have no problem taking off work.

So, CPAC is over and all of those Cracker Jack Crazies have gone home to incubate their Big Lies and Bitter Hatreds all the while Biden's approval rating continues to climb.  The GOP's failed president topped off at 48%.  It's bad when more then half the country don't like you.  However, when you hit 61%, as Biden has, well, that's a very good thing.  And amazingly, 63% now say the country is on the right track.  Let me translate for those Conservatives out there:  Lies and Hate fail, Honesty and Decency triumph.

Eyes and the Car

Yesterday was busy.
First up was an eye appointment with my new Optometrist.  She had asked Dr. Kilmore to send her my records... well, he sent only the last 2 visits.  She has no idea how high the pressure was in my eyes prior to my laser surgery.  Right now I put one drop in one eye.  The pressure in that eye is around 17.  The untreated eye has a pressure of 21.  That's below the pressure used to diagnose Glaucoma.  So, I'm stopping the drop in one eye so we can see how high that pressure goes.  Makes one wonder if I really needed those expensive drops Kilmore prescribed.
And, of course, I also picked up my new car.

You can see my old, plastic Nova checkbook in my pocket!  That's an antique!

It's metallic gray (really sparkly) with a gray leather interior.  Brindle Boxers don't go well with black leather.  Faulkner took $3K off of the MSRP/  Not quite down to the Kelly Blue Book price, but a lot better than the initial cost.  It comes with 'remote start' for those cold mornings.  There's an app which will let me start it up, and turn on the defroster.  Nice.  And, in case you're wondering, I'm not going to name it.  It's an inanimate object.  I didn't name either on of my bikes, and I love those babies.

The only hit I took was getting rid of the Rogue.  Leasing was great since I never had to worry about the mileage.  However, low lease payments don't decrease the $$ owed.  Trade-in value was $9 less than Kelly Blue Book trade-in quote.  That's not bad.  Still, there was a balance due and the trade-in didn't quite cover that balance.  I could have always turned in the car.  They prefer you to either buy out the lease, or an other, and so make the disposition expensive.  Turning in the Rogue would have been even more expensive.  I knew going in this was a bullet I would have to bite.

If you look to the right, you can see the algae growing on my neighbor's garage

Believe me, it's much better to take this hit now rather then pay lease payments for the rest of my life.  Now the payments begin.  I plan on having it paid off in 3 to 3.5 years.

Chip This

Well, it's Saturday and I get to go back to work.  We've already had a rain shower - more thunderstorms are supposed to be on the way, though nothing severe.
I went to see my new Optometrist yesterday, she works for the VA.  Very nice.  She seemed somewhat surprised when I told her Kilmore Eye Ass only had me putting drops in one eye.  That explains why the pressure in my left was higher than the pressure in the right.  Also interesting, was that the high pressure in the left eye was not high enough to actually warrant treatment, nor diagnose as being true glaucoma.  Maybe it's a good thing I'm no longer going to Kilmore Eye Ass.  I signed a waver.  They're going to be sending her my medical records.
Looking at the pile of limbs and branches behind my back fence, I have to admit to pondering the purchase of a wood chipper.  Most of the debris is three inches or less, and the wood chips would provide a really good mulch.  There's also the possibility I might be able to use it on any thin Republicans who get too close to the house.

Wouldn't this be just dandy!

And I guess there's a lot of bipartisan shrieking going on because the Idiot Jerk is caving to the Chinese... you know?  ZTE?  As I said before, you need to keep in mind that both he and Ivanka have trademarks in China and nothing is more important to the Idiot Jerk than those trademarks.

My roses are also beginning to bud and bloom.  I took some pics yesterday out front.

That's the orange bush.

And the yellow bush and the orange bush.  There is also a yellow rose bush inside the fence, as well and one that's blood red, one that is white, and one that is white and pink..  When they're all blooming at the same time my yard smells heavenly.

New drugs

So, yesterday was busy for me but then it was a day off work and I'm not one to slack around, though sometimes I would really love to.  First thing, at 0720 was my Ophthalmologist appointment.  The Travatan Z drops work, my eye pressure is down, now ain't that great?  Well, maybe not.  You see my insurance says they're too expensive, oh, and if you're wondering, I have Anthem Blue Cross.  They also want to know why a less expensive drop wasn't tried first, and I can understand that.  If they ask, I'll tell them why.  Originally I was going to get a different test / sample drop, however, when the assistant opened the storage drawer none were to be found.  All gone.  So instead I was given the more expensive Travatan Z.  My friend Patty, who works in insurance says this is an "old trick," running out of older, less expensive drugs in order to prescribe newer drugs which, while being more effective, are also more expensive.  How expensive are these drops?  $165 for a 2.5 ml bottle.  That's smaller than my thumb, and I have teeny, weenie hands.

Anyway, while the Ophthalmologist and the insurance company battle it out, I called the Veteran's Administration.  Veteran's Insurance.  They're a little slow sometimes, but they're the way to go if you want a new drug.  $8 a month copay, that's it.  I'm so lucky to have this 2nd option.  Most people would end up getting screwed over.

RINO in the White House

Was at the eye docs this AM - turns out the Glaucoma was worse than they thought - looks like I'll be on some form of prescription eye drops for the rest of my life.  They're starting me out with something called Travatan, only in the right eye in order to validate its effectiveness.
Saw that Anne Marie was going to suspend her dancing shoes temporarily because of the election.  I told her I didn't think it would be for long.  We got a RINO in the White House, you know?  He's been walking back all sorts of promises he made to the crazy right electorate.  He's got an anti-Semite as his strategist but his Jewish daughter and son-in-law seem to be the ones who have his ear.  My brother wants to believe that the Republican controlled Senate and House are going to control him... personally?  I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't hit those crazy, right wingnuts back hard for stabbing him in the back.  Remember Dump Trump?  All those Republicans who told people not to vote for him?  I'll bet he's already calling Mitch O'Connell 'four eyes' to his face.

Anyway, I did throw a little ditty together last night.  Here's part of it.

We've got a RINO in the White House

And we know just who's to blame

They hated Hillary

And voted GOP

Because she's got that Clinton name

We've got a RINO in the White House

They set the stage for Donald's loss

They stabbed him in the back

With nondescript attacks

Thinking his election was lost

Because their Dump Trump failed

They found their ship had sailed

No hating Hillary

No one to pillory

He knows all their names

He's holding all the cards

So every one he blames

Will get punched back hard

We've got a RINO in the White House

An Independent sort of guy

He don't hate the gays

That faux Christian way

Can't you hear those Republicans cry?

There's more, but that's it for now.

I think I might have been channeling Cole Porter 

Lasers

Well, they shot lasers into my left eye yesterday burning a hole into something that's going to help with the drainage.  Now I'll have to remember to put drops in for the next 5 days.  Most likely, I'll start forgetting in 2 or 3, that's what happened last time.
I'm still waiting for the credit to show up on my account for the returned Samsung TV; chatted with someone named Mazze who only then initiated the credit, 8 days after Amazon had received it on their loading dock.  Their policy states credits are to be issued  in 3 - 5 days after the return has been received.
Later this morning, when I get back to the store after having 2 days off, I will see how the Christmas set has gone.  That's right, on October 12, they put in the Christmas displays.  It's later than last year because they've expanded the Halloween display.  And I know there are people reading this shaking their heads, muttering to themselves, "it's not even Thanksgiving."  Well, I say this every year.  It would go on sale so soon if people didn't buy it, however they do.  In fact a day doesn't pass in which someone does stop by the Service Desk and ask "when are you putting up your Christmas stuff?"  Last week I had an older woman complain "well, everybody else has it up."

And finally, this pissing and moaning by the Trump and his campaign, holy shit, it's like listening to a spoiled brat.  He calls it "horrible," and "terrible," and a "lie."  He's blaming things on a secret conspiracy.  He's never had much accountability in his life, doing what ever he wanted, the poster child for egocentric entitlement.  Now his horrendous behavior is being publicized and he's whining like a child.  What's really funny about this is that his campaign wanted to do opposition research just to find out what kind of dirt they could expect to be unearthed, and he denied the request... more than once.  I told my friend Betsy that he just doesn't understand and at 70 years of age he will never understand.

The eyes have it

So I had my appointment with my (notice I'm saying 'my') Ophthalmologist very early yesterday morning; they were going to dilate my eyes to see what was causing the severe blurriness and pain.  Dr. Kilmore is a man in his sixties who's desperately trying to look like his... oh... early thirty something and it isn't working.  Anyway, Kilmore Eye Associates has good reputation even if the good doctor feels he needs to look like a faux blonde.
Anyway, there was no dilation.  Two different associates looked at my eyes before I was ushered back to the good doctor's office where he, himself, examined me.  After a few minutes him using different instruments to look at, probe and prod he asked "does Glaucoma run in your family?"  My response was "nope."  Turns out I have what's called Closed-Angle Glaucoma."  Yippee.  The first thought that went through my head was "oh, shit, I'm going to have to start smoking pot... at my age."  Wrong.  Besides, I'm sure that would raise havoc with my game playing.  Simplified, the fluid in my iris is draining way too slow and pressure is building up which is causing my symptoms.  Hhmmm.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to return to the good doctor's office where he will perform a Laser Iridotomy.  Now, doesn't that sound simple?  It does.  The first person I told said "oh," sounding very nondescript, so I've added a little flash to the procedure.  Now I'm telling people they are going to fire lasers into my eye, burning away tissue, and punching a hole through the iris.  Doesn't that sound more exciting?  The entire searing process takes about... a minute and a half.  I can remember when being diagnosed with Glaucoma meant you were gong to go blind.  Now it's a quick fix.