Daily Update, October 10, 2023

    Today, I stayed home and took it easy. I didn't even have any notable phone calls, though I did leave messages for the vet, and I had a text conversation with our housekeeper, but that's about it beyond the usual. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that.  I read scripture and thoughts about it first. Next, I read more of Mom's niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019. then I showed her a few pages of pictures in _Visions of Scotland_. She was more awake today, so we did more than sometimes. Then I read her a few short poems, a short story, and one more poem from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. Two of the early ones were ones I know as songs, so I sang them. I finished with "Hungry Rusty!" The 10th of October's story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Rusty was a brown squirrel who lived int eh middle of a forest. He spent all his time playing in the trees. Right through summer, he practiced climbing and jumping from branch to branch until he was the finest acrobat in the forest. When autumn came, and the other squirrels started collecting nuts, mushrooms, and acorns for winter, Rusty just kept playing and showing off. Winter came and Rusty got very hungry. His friends offered to share this year, but insisted he get his own next year. Rusty offered to get some for them, too, then. {Smile} 

   Today, I did my walking exercises, my arm swinging exercises, and my arm resistance exercises between playing Coity of Heroes and my salsa dancing. Yes, I did salsa dancing, both my usual warmup set, and, after a break, a less structured set, for a bit over 20 minutes of salsa dancing. After too long a break, I squeezed in my head exercises before bed, too. {Smile}

   I read articles and a few comics in the morning and hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming after cleaning up after lunch. I found Perogies, and we began to talk. Then we teamed up to run some things, and I invited qworty to join us, which he did. Then Perogies left because he felt a need to, and qworty and I shifted to the characters we've been doing the low-level stuff on. We squeezed in a couple of hunts before time to read to Mom. {Smile}

   After dinner, I found Kitten on, and Perogies, too. We teamed up on the warshades. I asked if I could invite qworty. He didn't have a warshade, so he brought another kind of character. We teamed all evening and finished the warshade themed story arc. Then we tried to find something else and settled on an individual mission after some aborted attempts because that's what I had time for before my exercises. I also talked to Nox, which was great. Then I read articles and comics and checked paperwork in City of heroes around and after my exercises, as well as writing this up. {Smile}

Daily Update, October 9, 2023

    A while after breakfast, I contacted Uber, and they came and took me to my doctor's appointment. They took me fairly quickly, and I told the nurse practitioner my primary concerns. Then my doctor came in, and he discussed my test results with me. Things are moving in the right direction, including my weight, which was the lowest he's ever seen it, and the lowest it's been in decades. When we were done, I took the next test order down to the lab downstairs. I'll go there to get it done. I hope with them already having the order, I'll have no problem, but even if I do, we'll be in the same building, so I can walk up to my doctor's office and see what's going on at the very least, and hopefully get the order from them that way. {Smile}

   When I was done, I contacted Uber, and they took me home. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that.  first, I read scripture and thoughts about it. Then I read more of Mom's niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019 next. After that, I showed her a couple of pages of pictures in _Visions of Scotland_. Shew as looking tired, though, so I moved on to a few short poems and a short story from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I finished with "The Lost Ring," The 9th of October's story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. One day, Jane too a big basket into the woods to collect hazelnuts. She threw stale bread to squirrels, birds, and rabbits along the way. Suddenly, she realized that she'd lost the silver ring her mother had given her for her birthday. She tried to retrace her steps and search all over the ground. Even the woodland friends she'd made couldn't find it. Then the jackdaw flew down and asked about something shining in her basket. Jane's ring was among the nuts. {Smile} 

   I walked all the way down a ramp that goes around most of a courtyard after seeing my doctor. then I walked back up it, and really felt it when I walked back up the same ramp. Later, I did my walking exercises, and my salsa warmup okay. I started my less structured set and had to stop and treat hypoglycemia. Then I actually managed to get back to it and finish the first piece for almost 15 minutes of salsa dancing. However, I was too tired to continue. I hope that's a sign that the ramp at my doctor's gave me a good workout. {smile}

   Before I left for the doctor, I read a few articles. After lunch, I read comics and articles. Then I wrote yesterday's daily update and shared it. Only then did I hop into City of Heroes: Homecoming. Both kitten and Perogies were on, but Kitten disappeared when I was trying to start a conversation. I did talk to Perogies a fair bit. I asked about teaming up, but they wanted to wait until Kitten came back. They'd disappeared when tried to talk to them, too. It took longer than we hoped, so we joined the later short, large-group event. During that Kitten finally showed up. When it was done, we three got together on the new characters. They had both run up the levels but wanted to continue the story arcs with me. I think we ran three missions of the next arc before it was time to read to Mom. {Smile}

   After dinner, I found Kitten. they wanted to do something, but Perogies was nowhere to be seen. We waited a bit, but they didn't come back, so I tried talking to Ulty and qworty. They were both happy to talk. Ulty was busy roleplaying, but qworty was available. We ran several Halloween-themed missions they had, which helped both him and us with the rewards you can get from them. Then we switched to the characters qworty and I teamed with for the last of the story arcs last night, while Kitten stayed on the same character and did more of that arc. We stopped earlier than usual because the next mission is really long. We'll do it sometime when we have more time. I also had a nice talk with Nox. We even discussed something I started thinking about with the stories I'm working on... I just hope I can do this idea justice. {Smile}

Daily Update, October 8, 2023

    On Sunday, I contacted Uber after breakfast. They came and took me down to church. I actually arrived a little early. There seem to be more drivers. Their prices dropped, and they're much more likely to be close to our house. {Smile}

   Church went well. I liked the service, and it's nice to have our priest back from maternity leave. After the service, we had lunch on the lanai. I enjoyed talking with some of the folks there. Ed took me home again, this time with BJ. She's his frequent passenger, since she lives near him. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that.  I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Then I continued with more of Mom's niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019. After that, I showed her a few pages of pictures in _Visions of Scotland_. She was fairly awake for this, and even said a few times that she liked certain pictures, especially the larger scenic ones. Next, I read a short story and a long poem from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. Then I finished with "Morris's House," The 8th of October's story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Morris Mouse decided to move house. The corner of the shed was fine for summer, but the nights were getting colder, and he wanted some place warmer. He found a way into the attic and loved looking around at the boxes and old furniture. He found an old box with a dome on top with a handle he could push round and round, and drawer underneath. He thought it was perfect. He could keep his stores under the roof, sleep in the drawer, and even ride the handle round and round when he was bored. He brought his nuts and cheese to store and invited his friend Millie to ride the handle. He found grated nuts and cheese to sleep on when he went to bed. It was Grandma's old coffee mill. {Smile}

   I did my head exercises and two of my four sitting arm weight training exercises while teaming with qworty in the evening; there are slower parts to the game, especially the way we play, which they fit into nicely. Then I did my walking exercises and my other two sitting arm weight training exercises after we finished teaming for the night. I followed that with my salsa dancing warmup. However, when I started the less structured salsa dancing set, I soon got too dizzy and was stumbling too much to continue safely. I had to stop before I'd done 10 minutes including the eight-and-a-half-minute warmup. I treated myself for hypoglycemia when I sat down, but there was no good way to continue salsa dancing in time. At least I should see my doctor tomorrow; I can bring up the frequent dizziness, and how it seems to be hypoglycemia or at least unstable blood sugar then. Maybe he can help. {Smile}

   I finished yesterday's daily update after Ed and BJ brought me home. Then I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I started by joining Trick-or-Treat, which I actually have done very little of so far. I also chatted with Perogies while I triak-or-treated. Then I teamed up with Perogies and qworty, doing a couple of Halloween special missions before Perogies left because he was tired. Qworty and I did one more Halloween special mission, since he'd gotten the character who had it. Then we switched characters, and I slowly shared a low-level story arc I really love with him. That took us up to time to read to Mom, so I left to do that and eat dinner. {Smile}

   After dinner, I hopped back on5o City of Heroes: Home coming and found qworty. We teamed up and ran a tutorial type of story arc together, slowly, I admit. Then we started the story arc that followed the one we did before dinner. We only got a hunt and one regular mission in before I had to stop to do my exercises. I soloed to finish the tutorial arc for my character after stopping my exercises, since the way we did it didn't count for my character. Then I made notes to write this up from the next day. {Smile}

Daily Update, October 7, 2023

    Today, I remembered I was to call Alan yesterday to remind him about Val's appointment for an echocardiogram. I called immediately, and he said he was taking someone to a destination right then, and he'd come up and get me when we were done. He came a bit after one and started to take us down. Then I got a call from the vet's office. I assured them I was bringing Val now, but they wanted to know when I last fed him. This morning, as I swore the instructions said. They said we had to reschedule, because this wasn't enough of a fast. I told Alan, and he started to take us home. I thought when they said we'd reschedule, they meant later this afternoon, and when Alan learned this, he turned around because he had another appointment this afternoon and wasn't likely to have time to get me there then. 

   At the vet's office I discovered they were right. It said to not feed him in the morning. I'd managed to miss the "not" several times when I read it earlier. They tried to tell me to bring him in between 7:30 am and 8:30 am, but I protested that was too early. (I'm not even out of bed at 8:30 these days.) So, they said around 9 would be okay... that... doesn't give me enough travel time, never mind getting dressed and eating breakfast. They said they'd call later, and we left it at that. {sigh}

   Then I asked them to teach me how to take blood from Val's ear. they came, asked what I did, and suggested using his paw pad. I talked of trying but mentioned really wanting a monitor like they had before. It only stayed on for one week when they got it to stay on long enough to be used, but that's more time than the doctor asked for. {smile}

   Then I called Alan he was a ways outside of town, but he'd come get me when he could He did and took us home. {smile}

   I ate breakfast and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner.  First, I read scripture and thoughts about it. Next I read more of Mom's niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019. Then I showed her a few pages of pictures in _Visions of Scotland_. She wasn't too sleepy, so i showed her a few pages. After that, I read two short stories from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I finished with "Hard Work," The 7th of October's story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Anna and Paolo lived in Italy, in a house surrounded by olive trees. When the olives were ready to pick their mother told them to come help with the harvest, since they were big enough that year. She promised them a treat if they were good and worked hard. Each child was given a long stick to beat the branches with. The olives fell on the ground and gathered into baskets. The children worked until they were hot and tired but didn't want to give up before the adults. That evening, their father brought them huge helpings of delicious ice-cream. {Smile}

   I did my head exercises, my arm resistance exercises, one sitting arm weight training exercise, and my standing arm weight training exercises after teaming for the evening, and before my salsa dancing warmup set. Then I did my less structured salsa dancing set after a break. Then, after another break, I did my arm swinging exercises and the other three sitting arm weight training exercises. {Smile}

   I read articles and comics in the morning and hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming after Val and I came back home from the vet's office. There, I found Perogies. We chatted while I worked on paperwork. Then I asked what he wanted to do. I expected him to pick a character to work on, but he said he wanted to watch a movie. He said he'd let me pick. I asked about RWBY, which is a TV show, not technically a movie, but he was happy with that choice. It took some time to figure out where to start, but we watched three episodes before he got too tired and left. Then it was maybe half an hour before I read to Mom, so I tried some solo trick-or-treating. {Smile}

   After dinner, I chatted with Ulty for a fair while. While we chatted, I did paperwork then trick-or-treated, first solo, then joining a large group. Then I finally got qworty's attention; he was trick-or-treating with the large group too, and ready for something different. We chatted, and I asked about teaming up, suggesting we try to finish the story arc we started the previous night. He liked that, and we did it. we did the first mission slowly with just us. The second mission was even slower, but partway through an acquaintance said hi, and I asked if he'd join us. he did, bringing a friend. Perogies said Hi after the others had gotten in, and I invited him, too. The mission we were in was closer to the end than I realized. It ended before Perogies got in, or the others got to us, so we went on to the next mission... which failed when the NPC we were escorting stayed behind to fight enemies and got herself killed. That was only for qworty's version of the mission, so we tried mine next. This time she got ahead of us and got killed instead. Both counted as failures, though the story arc progresses. It even says she's not really killed; she teleported to a hospital, where she is recuperating. Player characters recover by going to a hospital pretty easily, though then you have to travel back to the mission and go through earlier parts to get back to the group, or at least still-active enemies to fight, most of the time. My acquaintance's friend left, then my acquaintance left to deal with work, but Perogies, qworty, and I finished the rest of the story arc with little trouble. I read articles and worked on paperwork around exercises and writing this up, making notes when I needed more time to finish than I had. {Smile}

Daily Update, October 6, 2023

    This morning, I called my doctor's office, and actually got a response on the second try. I asked them to phone in the tests to the lab. They said they would, so I contacted Uber, and a fellow came and took me down. I signed in, assuring them I had an appointment. They said to sit down, and they'd be with me shortly. About an hour later, they had me move so I'd be ready when they called. I thought it would be soon. A while later, they called me over. They still hadn't gotten the order from my doctor's office. I called my doctor's office, which was surprised they hadn't gotten it. I handed my phone to a secretary so they could sort things out. They had me wait some more, then said they could draw my blood, but they might have to throw it out if the order didn't come through. I wasn't happy with that, but I'd waited well over an hour, so okay... but when they finally did call me, they'd gotten the order, so no worries about not getting the test after everything. I left two hours later, contacting Uber, and getting a ride home.

   After two hours of waiting on two different days before getting this test, I think I'll try the office in the same building as my doctor's office. At least I'll have the option of walking up the ramp to talk to my doctor's office, and maybe get a paper to carry back. {SIGH} I didn't want to because the lower floor drop-off has a very steep ramp, but I think I'll try it. I can always have them drop on the upper side and walk down or something. That may be easier. {worn smile}

   After lunch, I got a call from our deacon. She wanted to come over and give Mom home communion. I said okay and warned our nurse. Unfortunately, when our deacon got here, Mom was napping, and not waking for gentle speech. So, our deacon lead us in prayer, which Mom might have heard, and we said goodbye. {smile}

   I ate part of lunch and all of dinner with Mom The nurse was feeding Mom as I was ready to start my own lunch, and needed the chair I normally use, so I started by my computer, and moved by Mom when the nurse said she was done. Anyway, I read to Mom before dinner.  I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Then I read some more of Mom's niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019. After that, I showed her a few pages of pictures in _Visions of Scotland_. She was even less sleepy today than yesterday, so I felt comfortable showing her several pictures. Next, I read a story from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I finished with "The Kind Frog," The 6th of October's story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. One year, there was a drought in autumn, and the sun shone for two weeks straight without any rain. A snail lay under a hedge, too weak from thirst to crawl the short distance to the nearest stream. A small green frog hopped by, and took pity on the snail, telling it to climb on his back. He took the snail the four great leaps to the edge of the stream, where it slipped down onto the cool, damp moss, its life saved {Smile}

   I did my head and arm swinging exercises while waiting for Uber to pick me up and take me to the lab. After I was done teaming with qworty and Perogies, I did my arm resistance exercises and my standing arm weight training exercises. Next, I did my salsa dancing warmup. Then, after a break, I did my less structured salsa dancing, for a total of over 20 minutes of salsa dancing. After another break, I did one of my four sitting arm weight training exercises. That took more out of me than I expected, but I finished it; I just didn't have the energy I hoped for the rest of them yet. {Smile}

   I read articles and comics in the morning. After lunch, I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I thought I was in time for the early short, large group event, but I got confused about eh time. When I hopped over to the early long, large-group event, they were settling into the last part of the event. I ran it, and discovered Perogies was there, too. When it was over, we teamed up. Perogies wanted to get a particular reward for collecting other rewards, because it permanently improves the character. He needed two badges that a character of mine who didn't have them was high enough to get so we paired up for that. Then I switched to a higher-level character so we could do the last two badges the way he wanted to, which was fine. The other character was too young to get full benefits for a few more levels anyway. We ran the first two missions of a task force we like for this together before it was time for me to go read to Mom, and for Perogies to go to bed. {Smile}

   After dinner, I read some more comics, and hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I found qworty, who'd been trick or treating again. He was thoroughly bored with it, so I suggested we try the Halloween trial, which you can only do during the Halloween event, which is running most of this month, and maybe slightly into November. We needed four, no more, no less. I tried recruiting friends first, but few responded, and only one joined, so I tried publicly, and got a fourth quite quickly. Fortunately, the others knew it better than I did, and we got all four possible badges fairly easily. Then the others left, and qworty suggested doing a story arc. I was totally in favor, but it did remind me of a shortcut that I wanted to show him. He said he didn't know how he felt about it afterwards, and I agree, and told him it's not that it's a desirable way to join unless you're in a hurry, or someone you're talking to is, and you can tell them about it. So, I found a character who hadn't joined, and we started the story arc anyway. The first mission wasn't too bad, but the second mission was really beyond us. I was about ready to switch characters to help him when Perogies came on and said hi. I invited him, and he brought a character who made this so much more doble, it was amazing. Then I hated to say goodnight, but I needed to start exercising. qworty needed to head to bed anyway, so we said goodnight. We'll continue another day, I suspect... with help again. {SMILE}

Daily Update, October 5, 2023

    Today, I had my counselling appointment by video on my insurance's website after breakfast. We talked a lot, and I think it went quite well. {Smile}

   I got a call from my financial adviser at lunch time. They were primarily concerned with getting the accountant some authorization for tax purposes. I also asked something I've been thinking about a lot, and yes, the prospects they worked up earlier this year let me breathe a little easier than I initially thought. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I read scripture and thoughts about it first. Then I continued reading Mom's niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019 next. After that, I showed her a pages of pictures in _Visions of Scotland_. She wasn't quite as sleepy today, so I felt comfortable showing her several pictures. Next, I read two poems and a story from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I finished with "Half' 'n Half," The 5th of October's story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. A black and white kitten was unhappy with his unusual coloring: black from his nose to his middle, and white from his middle to the tip of his tail. Even his mother thought he was one of her black kittens from the front, and one of her white kittens from behind. he was teased for this and decided to run away. He left on a cold day. Then it started to snow. He struggled on for an hour, then stopped on a doorstep to meow pitifully. A boy answered the door, admiring the white kitten. The kitten tried to hide in the towel they dried him with, but they noticed his coloring. The boy asked him to stay, saying they'd call him Half 'n Half. So, he did stay. {Smile}

   After teaming with Kitten and qworty for the evening, I did my head, arm swinging, and arm resistance exercises, then did my salsa warmup. After a break, I did a full set of less structured dancing, too: two pieces, for a total of over 20 minutes between the warmup set and the less structured set. {Smile}

   I read articles after my counselling session, and a little after lunch. Then I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming long enough to find Div and Kitten and let them both know I'd be a little late, but I'd be on after cleaning myself up. When I got back into City of Heroes: Homecoming after cleaning myself up. Kitten was not there, but Div was. We teamed up and did two of the high-level missions with good rewards before Div felt that he needed a rest. We said goodnight. Then Perogies came on and said hi. He wanted to team up, and didn't mind if I invited qworty, who was on, and willing to join me, so I felt good about doing the next story arc from the second contact we did a story arc from last night. We didn't finish before it was time to read to Mom, so we said goodbye, and spoke of getting together later if we were on. Perogies said I could continue the arc without him if he wasn't on, too. {Smile}

   After dinner, I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. Perogies wasn't around, but Kitten came on not long after I said hi on the chat server. We got together, and I invited qworty, too, and we finished the story arc I'd started with Perogies and qworty before dinner. Then the three of us did the third and last-for-now story arc from that contact. That took the evening, right up to time to exercise, so we said goodnight on the game, though Kitten and I talked a little more on the chat server later. I also read comics, and finished a couple of articles I hadn't finished earlier. I also did a little paperwork and soloing on City of Heroes: Homecoming, but not a lot of either. {Smile}

Daily Update, October 4, 2023

    Today, I sent a slightly worried text to my housekeeper, since I hadn't heard from her despite less worried texts asking how they were. They got marked "read," but no reply. This one got a reply from her husband. She's taking care of a family emergency and left her phone behind. He promised to have her text me when she and her phone get back together. {Smile}

   I got a call from Alan, too. He wanted to know when Val's vet's appointment was. I looked it and told him it was at 1:15. We arranged for him to pick us up at 12:45. {Smile}

   Alan came promptly at 12:45, and I took Val and the rest of my things out to his car. We had a nice talk on the way down. They checked Val... they want me to stop the insulin and measure his blood sugar before every meal. I'm afraid I decided to start before lunch tomorrow, because I felt rushed with the game, and then late feeding times, and tomorrow breakfast... Lunch should give me more time to figure things out, I hope. They were indeed getting long and digging into his paws again. They've started do that, instead of shedding the sheathes. The other vet said this can happen with age. {Smile}

   When we were done, I called Alan, and he came and took us home. We had another nice talk on the way. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. First, I read scripture and thoughts about it. Next, I continued reading Mom's niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019. After that, I showed her a couple of pictures in _Visions of Scotland_. I stopped after a couple because she was particularly sleepy, and not looking at the pictures as much, though I think she heard more than she saw. So I moved on to a story from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_, where hearing is more important than seeing. I finished with "Maria's Clogs," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Maria was the daughter of a woodcutter who was pretty poor. He could cover basic necessities, but extras were hard to come by. One winter, Maria's leather shoes wore out. Her father apologized, but he'd have to save up to afford another pair. She'd have to stay home and help with the chores. At first, she didn't mind not going to school, but two or three days of being cooped up inside with no other children to play with made Maria bored and grumpy. Then Maria's father had an idea. Without telling anyone, he took a couple of pieces of beech wood, and cut, carved, and polished until he'd made her a pair of wooden clogs, with a blue daisy on one, and a red daisy on the other. Maria was delighted! {Smile}

   I did my head exercises, arm swinging exercises, and arm resistance exercises after teaming with Kitten and quorty in the evening. {Smile}

   I read comics and articles in the morning and over lunch. I also hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming after lunch, just long enough to tell Div, Perogies, and maybe kitten that I was taking Val to the vet but would be on after that. They all wished us well. Div said he would probably leave before I got back. Sure enough, Div wasn't on when I got back, and back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. Neither was Perogies, but Kitten was on, and we were preparing to team up when Mysty said hi and wanted to show us a base she's working on. She invited me, and Kitten when I asked, adn we got to see how it's coming. Then another friend from the same chat world I met Mysty in came on., and joined us, too. His visit was short - he was the first to leave, too, but it was so nice seeing him again. Then Mysty left, and I looked at the time. It looked like we had time for one of the missions that Kitten still had, but I'd done with Perogies. We did it, and it ended earlier than I expected. We squeezed in the other one I'd done with Perogies and ended just in time to read to Mom. Taht worked out pretty perfectly! {SMILE}

    After dinner, I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming, and found Kitten wasn't there. But i messaged them on the chat server, and they soon came in. WE teamed in and finished the story arc we'd worked on before reading to Mom. I checked with Phonso, but he was busy Trick-or-Treating, and I didn't really feel like joining him right then. Next, I said hi to qworty, and invited him to join us, which they did. The three of us ran another story arc. It ended slightly early... I coudl have done a mission or two, but not another whole story arc, so I started my exercises early, watching videos, reading articles, and writing this up around and after the exercises and salsa dancing. {Smile}

Daily Update, October 3, 2023

    After breakfast, I called Uber, and a gal came. We had a nice talk as she took me over to Clinical Labs for a test my doctor wants before I see him Monday. I gave them the order from my cardiologist and told them who my doctor was. They tried for an hour to get him and called me over to ask if I wanted to try again, but nothing they did could get him to answer. After two hours, they took the blood for the cardiologist's tests, and made an appointment for Friday when I said that Next week was too late. They strongly recommended picking up the requisition paper before coming, but I don't know that I'll have time. Somehow, when there's no driver in the household, the simplest errands suddenly become far more complicated. {rueful smile}

   I got the same driver coming back, and she mentioned she drives her neighbor and some others without Uber; just calling direct. I got her number in my phone, so now I can also call Emily when I need to take Val to the vet. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Then I continued reading Mom's niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019. Next, I showed her the covers and first few pages of _Visions of Scotland_, starting over from the beginning. She seemed to liek the pictures. Then, I read a story from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I finished with "Feeding Birds," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Mummy gives the narrator the job of shaking the tablecloth out outside, where the crumbs scatter for the birds. Leftovers follow, and the narrator watches from the window. The starlings are the greediest, each trying to get the best scraps. The robin gets the tiny crumbs, and stays out of the way of bigger birds, including the thrush, and the blackbird, who sings thank you afterwards from his favorite tree. {Smile}

   I did my head exercises and my arm swinging exercises while waiting for Uber to take me to Clinical Labs. Then at my usual time, I got my 8 1/2 minutes of salsa dancing warmup done. Then after a break, I did around 11 3/4 minutes of less structured salsa dancing. I'm not quite sure how much, because I stopped in the middle of the first piece to give Val some Karo syrup for hypoglycemia and backed up to compensate. That's around 20 1/4 minutes of salsa dancing; quite typical. {SMILE}

   I read articles and comics over lunch and hopped into City of Heroes quickly afterward. I found both Div and Perogies on and let them know I needed to clean myself up before playing, but I'd return. It took about an hour, like I expected, though I tried to make it quicker. I talked with them, and we got together. Perogies and I went into Div's base to admire the Halloween decorations he'd just added: an outside firepit with Jack 'o Lanterns amongst the seat around it. Then Div switched to the character he wanted to get the Trick or Treat rewards on, while Perogies and I stayed on our warshades. They're low level for Trick or Treating in this game, but we let Div lead, and did pretty well. We teamed and chatted for about an hour before Div simply had to rest. So, we said goodnight, and Perogies and I did a couple of missions on our warshades, continuing the arc Kitten and I started the other day. Then Perogies wanted to catch the later long, large group event, which he did on his warshade. I didn't feel comfortable with doing it on a mid-level character of a type I'm still learning to play, so I switched to the high-level character I'm currently concentrating on developing. We started late and ended just when I like to go read to Mom, but I did get started about on time. {Smile}

   After dinner, I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming again. Perogies was gone, but qworty was there. We chatted, and he admitted he was very disappointed in trick-or-treating in this game. Just having random monsters pop out random doors with random companions is not why he plays. I understand. I tried to show him a mission I've always gotten from trick-or-treating. He found that much more interesting. However, we joined with a fellow who needed understanding ears more than a mission. He joined us. played for a while, talked, and left before finishing the mission. Azurette came in and stated talking with me. After the other left, I invited her to join us. We finished the mission together, though Azurette came in too late to get one of the big rewards. She said she's got all month to get them, though. Then we ran a couple of regular missions. Azurette told us that the mission I always got from trick-or-treating in costume can be gotten from doing any other content in costume, too. I'll have to try that. I think qworty will, too. He's slightly warmer to trick-or-treating, but not a lot. Then we broke up so I could do my exercises. {Smile}

Daily Update, October 2, 2023

    Well, a text conversation with the veterinarian's office, plus a couple of phone calls each with Melanie and Alan arranged for Val to have a ultrasound of his heart on Saturday. Alan can take us; Melanie is busy that day. Between them, they took a lot of my morning. {Smile}

   I also got a call from The Fire Ant Guy. He wasn't sure when I'd last contacted him. I wasn't, either, but I'd noticed a note on Friday saying to call him. Well, he said he was coming to town on Friday, and wanted to drop by that afternoon. Works for me. then we discussed where I've seen ants, and what I can do about it. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. First, I read scripture and thoughts about it. Next, I continued reading Mom's niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019. After that, I showed her the last several pages of _The Picture Book of Kids and Animals_ . She does seem to like those pictures. Then, I read two stories and a few poems from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. Last was today's story, "Sam the Jockey," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Sam was a circus dog who'd been trained to do a variety of tricks, including walking on his hind legs, jumping through a paper hoop, and riding on the back of a circus horse. He loved doing them with his master, and their busy life together. Then one day he was told he was too old to continue. His master took him to a racetrack to console him. There, Sam saw a horse next to the racetrack that reminded him of the circus horse, so he jumped onto it's back. Startled, the horse took off, joining the race and winning it. After that, Sam was invited back to the circus to perform one day a week. {Smile}

   I did my walking exercises, my head exercises, and my arm resistance exercises after the evening team broke up. Then I did my full salsa warmup: all three pieces for around 8 minutes and 40 seconds. Then I did the first less structured piece and started another. I was almost 1 1/2 minutes into the second piece when I admitted I wasn't up to continuing. That's still 16 minutes and over 10 second of salsa dancing: more than I did yesterday by almost a minute and a half. {Smile}

   I read articles and comics in the morning around the texts and phone calls. Then over lunch, I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming, and got right into a lot of paperwork: so much so, I missed the early short, large-group event. I think I caught the early long, large-group event. Then I did a little paperwork it had made and found Perogies. I was just starting a conversation with them when Div said hi. I had heard from him in a month and a half, and it had been longer yet before that! I was delighted to see him again. We had quite a time caching up. He's hoping to come in more for the Halloween event, which is supposed to start tomorrow, and last slightly into November. That's always huge at City of Heroes: Homecoming, between fun special content and good rewards. {SMILE} We talked a long while, and I talked with Perogies, too. Div still left in time for me to join Perogi3es in the later short, large-group event. then we teamed up for a few of the high-level individual missions with good rewards, switching characters to make sure they all got good rewards. We did that until it was time to read to Mom and feed Val and said goodnight, since Perogies was tired. {Smile}

   After dinner, neither Kitten nor Perogies were on, so I did a lot of paperwork, dragging my heels until I had no excuse not to find someone to team up. I'd gotten into the habit of just teaming with them or maybe Phonso, who wasn't on either, when I was sick, but I was feeling enough better to be ever so slightly daring. Azurette was on, so I started talking with her. So was the new friend who also likes stories. He says to call him qworty, which he often uses as a handle on the net. Eventually we teamed up and did a few missions one of my higher but not very high-level characters had. We broke up when I needed to start my exercises, and qworty needed to go to bed. I did sneak back for more paperwork. Oh! And I discovered Discord, my chat server, wasn't working as we were winding down. I think it was working this morning, but it hadn't been working for at least a few hours. this meant missing stuff from both Nox and Kitten, though Kitten and I still got to talk a little during coffee breaks. {Smile}

Daily Update, October 1, 2023

    Today was Sunday, so after breakfast, I contacted Uber, and a driver came to take me to church. It was one I haven't seen in a while, and we had a lovely talk all the way down, catching up. {Smile}

   She got me there during the announcements, so I got all the main parts of the service. Our priest was back today - her first day back since she started maternity leave late in her pregnancy. I didn't see the baby today, but I saw lots of animals, because it was the day we honor Saint Francis, and part of that is blessing the animals. 

   We didn't have much to eat, but we had lots of peanuts. Some of mine were left over, along with a few of the snack bars, and I brought the other bottle of peanuts. Folks seemed to like them. At the end, someone poured the last of the old bottle into the new one, so they didn't have to worry about two bottles. {Smile}

   Ed asked if I had a ride. When I said not yet, he took me home. It was really fun talking to him on the way. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. I only read today's entry, since I finally caught up with my readings. After that, I continued reading Mom's niece's long family Christmas letter from 2019. Then, I showed her the next several pages of _The Picture Book of Kids and Animals_. Next, I read a story and a few poems from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. Yes, I'm finally back to that book. I ended with today's story, "Training Rex," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Rex, a big, boisterous puppy, greeted his friend, Patsy, the poodle next door. Rex was confused by his mater's behavior. He'd started taking Rex for walks on short leads, shouting "Heel!" frequently, and never letting Rex pull ahead, or sniff interesting smells. He wondered why his master did that. Patsy wondered if he was afraid an enemy would attack and wanted Rex to protect him. His master also threw a stick and called "Fetch!" Rex sat down and looked at him when he didn't understand. His mater then picked up Rex, took him to the stick, put it in his mouth, and made him bring it back. Patsy said her mistress liked to throw sticks for her to bring back, too, but she didn't mind because her mistress was very kind. Rex agreed his master was kind, then went when he heard the whistle that calls him to dinner, still puzzled. {Smile}

   I did my head exercises while waiting for Uber to come get me and take me to church. I did my arm resistance exercises, my walking exercises, and my arm swinging exercises after teaming with Kitten in the evening. Then I did both of the pieces I did yesterday back-to-back for 6 1/2 minutes of salsa dancing at once. I was so excited, I told Kitten immediately, since they were the only friend who I thought was up. Then I tried more after a rest and did the third salsa warmup piece and the first less structured salsa piece back-to-back. I told Kitten about that too. They congratulated me each time. {SMILE}

   I had a bit more lunch when I got home. Then I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming. Kitten wasn't there, or responding much on the chat server, but Perogies was there. We joined the early, short, large-group event together, then the early long, large-group event. Then we teamed up, doing a couple of the individual high-level missions with good rewards. Then I switched to a slightly lower-level character and did one of his missions. Then Perogies said he was tired and left so quickly that Kitten - who was just getting on - missed him entirely. Kitten was pretty upset. They're quite excited about their warshade, and wanted to get at least a level. We waited for Perogies, but he was definitely gone to bed, so I suggested we team up, and we started the next arc in the zone, doing the first two missions and a talk that followed before it was time to read to Mom. {Smile}

   After dinner, I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. Perogies was still not there, but Kitten was eager to continue, so we did the third and last mission, and the talk that followed that. Then we started the next story arc, which is the last for that zone. The first two missions were straight-forward. Then there's a set of four missions that are done one after another. We got three of them done before I felt I needed to stop and exercise. We did chat on the chat server afterwards, and they congratulated me when I told them how much the dancing improved over yesterday. {SMILE}