Daily Update, September 15, 2023

    Well, before breakfast, I called the vet, and told them about him being off the food, and it being one of a few symptoms I found related to the anti-vomiting medication. They suggested bringing him in at 1:00 pm. So, I started to call Melanie next, and hung up when I remembered she's busy for a few days. I then called Alan, and yes, he could take us, and pick us up at 12:30 pm to make sure we got there in good time. 

   He did pick us up and drop us off in front They weren't open yet; they close for lunch, and reopen right at 1pm, but I haven't found a good way to arrange to arrive on time. When you use Lyft, Uber, or even Allan directly, being on time is really being almost late. {rueful smile}

   They opened up early, telling me they wanted to let me sit inside. I'm happy to sit in air conditioning instead of standing in the heat outside, even if I am in the shade of their porch. They eventually took us in, and the assistant started looking at him and asking, then the doctor saw us, and they took him for tests... the upshot is they want him off three of the four medicines I took in. No, they don't refund for medicine anymore, but they accept donations and will dispose, so i only kept the one they want him back on eventually. They also wanted to keep him over the weekend, hospitalizing him to try to get him to a new normal. I was concerned enough about the price, I asked for options. Yes, I could take him home and care for him, bringing him in for checks Saturday and Monday, and checking him in next week if things didn't go well enough... which wasn't recommended by the doctor, and I didn't feel it felt as hopeful as checking him in for the weekend. The they tried to tell me I needed to go home and fetch his insulin, but a second trip is another $30 trip, and I certainly hope to need another bottle of insulin after the almost empty and the full one I have, so I just bought one and saved myself a trip. then I checked out, and called Alan, and he came and took me home. 

   I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner. First, I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Next, I continued with more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2020. After that, I continued by showing her the last several pages in _Memories 1940's_, showing her pictures, reading her the captions, and maybe saying a bit more if I felt moved to. After that, I read a short story from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I finished with _The Straw Basket_, the September 15th story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. A little girls got a new basket which she liked so much better than her old basket, since it had a lid, and maybe other features the old basket lacked. The old just wanted someone to use it again. One day, when a coat was pulled roughly off a hook, it set the basket swinging. The basket hopped off the hook, and rolled out the door, where a dog found it, and took it to the woods. There, Mrs. Squirrel found it, and declared it the perfect thing to help her gather nuts. The basket was so happy to be used again! {Smile}

   After the vet, i was just so drained and tired, I didn't have the energy for salsa dancing, or even all my other exercises. I did get my head exercises and my arm resistance exercises done before it got too late. {smile}

   IU read some articles and hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming int he morning. I did a little paperwork, but mostly soloed a bit on the least developed of the characters I'm developing, working on getting a little more of a currency I wiped out on her while hunting a badge. It's far from the most useful currency in the game, but it's nice to have more than she does. I didn't get back into City of Heroes: Homecoming again until I got back from the vet. I found a note from Perogies almost half an hour old asking if I'd like to run a mission that gives a badge that contributes to a badge that permanently improves the character. I said yes immediately and caught him just after he'd started. He restarted, and we got the badge together, which was neat, and very nice of him. It's just running one mission, but I don't like to do it alone, so this was great. {Smile}

He inspired me to develop the low-level character I'd run that mission on, so I worked up a costume I liked for the character when I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming after dinner. I also said hi to Kitten, who was busy in a short, intense story arc, which gave me more time to get the costume right. We teamed up and ran a story arc she could get. I chatted with Nox a little bit before they went to bed, but I didn't tell them about Valentine spending the weekend in the vet's hospital until a note after they'd left. Perogies came in just as Kitten and I finished that story arc, which meant he could join us for the sequel story arc. He got tired and left two missions from the end. Kitten and I ran one more, than I stopped to do at least a little exercise before bed. I also chatted with them, particularly Kitten after we stopped doing missions. 

Daily Update, August 14, 2023

    Today, I stayed home, and coped with Valentine throwing up a couple of times. Changing his cat food seemed to have stopped that; I hoped it was just a can of food that had gone bad. I did call the vet twice to let them know abou tech of those things. {smile}

   Though I ended up tossing the next can, too... but it didn't smell right even to me. Then he stopped eating. This is not right, not for this cat. Not when he's on a new medicine that ought to start making him feel better, not worse. I will have to call the vet in the morning. I considered increasing the dose of the anti-vomiting medication, but when I looked it up, I found the side effects: excessive dehydration, sudden diarrhea, low energy, little interest in food, and sudden weight loss. He's definitely low energy, he's been losing weight, he's had diarrhea, and now he's not interested in food, and the middle three got worse when I started shooting the medicine down his throat instead of hiding it in his food and letting him not eat some of it. I think I just hold tight and call the vet in the morning. The vet can figure out whether it's a disease or the medicine, or some combination, and what to do about it in any case. Then again, another new can got him eating again, but... talk to the vet. Stop blaming the food. {faint smile}

   I ate lunch and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner. I started late because I thought another can had gone bad. Some of his cans get dented, and then they go bad quickly, but it may be losing interest in food because of that medication, so talk to the vet. Anyway, I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Then I continued with more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2020. After that, I continued with _Memories 1940's_, showing her pictures, reading her the captions, and maybe saying a bit more if I felt moved to. I kind of skipped a few pages and went back.. I'll sort it out tomorrow. Next, I sang a song and read three poems from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I finished with _Back to School_, the September 14th story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Jo did not want to go back to school after the holidays, not even when Mummy pointed out it would be fun to see her friends again. She didn't want to work. But when she got to school, the teacher had them draw and paint autumn leaves, and praised jo's, putting it on display. She decided she did like school {Smile}

   After the past few nights, especially last night, I didn't want to leave all my exercises until late again. So, I did my arm resistance exercises, my walking exercises, my arm swinging exercises, and my head exercises while waiting for the later short, large-group event. Then I did two of my sitting arm weight training exercises waiting for Phonso's first taskforce to start. Then I did one more waiting for Phonso's second task force to start. It filled quickly, and I changed characters, or I would have had more time. I did my leg exercises, my last sitting arm weight training exercise, and my standing arm weight training after the second taskforce. {Smile}

   I read articles and some comics in the morning, as well as finished writing and shared yesterday's daily update. After lunch and more reading, I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming, did some paperwork, and looked around for folks. It got close enough to the later short, large-group event I joined it early, then started my exercises while I waited. Perogies said hi not long before it started; I told him I was in it and interested in teaming up after it. He came and joined it, too, and we both ran it. Then we teamed up and did two or three of the high-level individual missions we've been doing recently. We ended up restarting a couple of times to adjust the difficulty. it was too low, then we overcompensated, and pulled back a bit. We ended the last mission just late enough, another would be tight before reading to Mom, so we chatted instead. then trying to get Val to eat made late to read to Mom. {rueful look}

   I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming after dinner, and tried to talk to Azurette, who didn't answer - I suspect she was busy - and Bunneh, who did answer, but was just winding down. So, I did some paperwork, selfcare, and kitty care. I was trying to decide between soloing and joining a group when I noticed Phonso was on. I said hi, and asked what he was up to... he wanted to start a task force, so I joined him, and ran it on my fourth best badge collector when he got a group together. It ended plenty soon enough for him to run another. I switched characters and did it with him on the least developed of the three I'm trying to develop into support for some of my lower-level characters. I also said goodnight to Nox on the chat server when they spoke up to say they were heading to bed before we'd had a real talk again. After finishing the second taskforce, I said goodnight to Phonso, and worked on paperwork and exercises. I also looked at a couple of articles, and at stuff i've been eyeing on Amazon... finally ordered a few. {Smile}

Daily Update, August 13, 2023

    Wednesday, I mostly took things easy. I didn't go out, though I did call Auntie Barbara after dinner. We had a nice chat, which was great. {Smile} 

   I thought a lot about the shorter story... I don't think it's nearly as finished as I thought it was. I think the beginning is earlier, and the end has another whole section to go. Now I just have to work out some part of it enough to start writing it out. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Next, I continued with more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2020. Then I started _Memories 1940's_, showing her pictures and reading what captions there were, and maybe saying a bit more if I felt moved to. After that, I read a story and three poems from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. Then I finished with _The Helper_, the September 13th story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Mrs. Mouse just loved to help others. One day, she found a frog limping because he'd strained the springs in his back. Then she found a snail trying to protect his horns from the cold, which made them hurt. Next, she found a lizard hiding because his tail had broken off, and he didn't want folks to see before it grew back. She went home and knitted a hat for the snail, and a made a tail coast to the lizard, and loaned the frog her best walking stick, because she does like to help people. {Smile}

   I did my arm resistance exercises, walking exercises, head exercises and arm swinging exercises when the base touring turned into chatting in the base. Then I did salsa dancing, starting with the warmup set, then doing a less structured set. The second included the extra fast piece, so I'm not sure if it was over 20 minutes, or just close, but I suspect it wasn't that many fewer steps. No, I didn't count then; that would be a lot of steps still. After that, I did my leg exercises, my standing arm weight training exercises, and my sitting arm weight training exercises. So, I did them all again. {Smile} 

   I read articles and comics in the morning and over lunch and hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming after cleaning myself up, which somehow ended up later than usual. I started with paperwork, and then got some badges to make the least developed of the characters I'm developing better prepared for play. Then Perogies said hi and was sounding even more like himself. That is such a relief! We met up for him to show me a new character he's starting. Then we teamed up and ran two of the high-level individual missions. We also chatted, and the last of the three characters I'm developing got enough of the rare and honestly rarely useful currency I needed to get a badge. That meant a little paperwork at the end actually getting that badge. {Smile}

   After supper, I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I did some paperwork, and checked who was around. Owl Girl was, and I spotted them advertising a group that was running a less commonly advertised type of individual missions.  I switched to the best developed of the characters I'm particularly trying to develop and joined them. We ran several missions with a team of four - not full, that's 8, but a nice bunch. One left, and the three of us ran a couple more. Then the third character was ready to switch, but Owl Girls wanted to do something else. Owl Girl invited them to be Global Friends, and I did likewise. Owl Girl got an invitation from Azurette to see her base. I and the new fellow went with them. I also started chatting with Nox on the chat server, and with a fellow there who's trying to get me into a game he's developing. Our new friend had never seen it, so we got a pretty full tour, only stopping when they left, since we'd started with the new part, then started looking at the rest. We started chatting. I started my exercises but kept chatting in between until we really split up when I was ready to start salsa dancing. I worked on writing this around the dancing and exercises, and read a comic in there, too. I switched to making notes to finish writing this up from the next day a little after I finished the last of the exercises. {Smile}

Daily Update, September 12, 2023

    Tuesday, I contacted Uber, and asked them to take me to the vet. Karen picked me up. We had a nice talk, and she asked if this was a round trip. I said it was, and she took care of it. I think she said she changed the destination to my home address. That should work. I got out at the et, picked up Val's new medicine, and Karen took me home again. {Smile}

   At home I gave Val the medicine. Then I fixed his lunch. He wouldn't eat. I went back to try a new came and came back to find him throwing up the medicine. I waited a bit, fed, him, and gave him his shot. When the vet's lunch break was over, I called, and told them he'd thrown up. They said they'd talk to the doctor and get back to me. They did call back and told me to try cutting the dose in half, and if he didn't throw it up, give him the other half in half an hour. That worked. It did stay down after each dose. He didn't eat much afterwards, but I was wondering about that can of cat food. {smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. First, I read scripture and thoughts about it. Next, I continued with more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2020. then I showed her a picture book called _The Knight and the Dragon_ by Story and Pictures by Tomie dePaola. It's about a knight who had never fought a dragon, and a dragon who'd never fought a knight. The knight studied up on fighting dragons at the palace library and worked on making armor and preparing his weapons. The dragon studied up on knight fighting with some books his ancestors had left him. He practiced swishing his tail and looking fierce. They both practiced fighting dummies. At first, they weren't good, but with practice it looked much better. then they invited each other to the fight. They met and tried to fight, but fighting a real dragon and a real knight is different from fighting dummies. When they'd both gotten discouraged, with the fight looking as bad as when they'd begun practicing, the princess-librarian came in a cart carrying books, and offered the dragon The Outdoor Cookbook, and the Knight How to Build a Barbeque. they read up, and soon were cooking burgers to serve to the knights and ladies and K&D BAR-B-Q. So, knights and dragons can be friends after all. Then I skipped _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I just finished with _The Bowl of Nuts_, the September 12th story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Diana was trying to draw a bowl of nuts. then things went blurry, and a fairy popped out of one nut, and called imps in red and green out of the rest of the nuts. The imps started to play football, red team against green team. Diana rooted for the greens. Then she got back to drawing the bowl of nuts. {Smile}

   I did my head exercises and my arm swinging exercises while waiting for Uber to take me to the veterinarian. I did my walking exercises and my arm resistance exercises while waiting for Phonso's taskforce to start. I did my leg exercises between Phonso's taskforce and my salsa dancing. Yes, I did over 20 minutes of salsa dancing, with both a warmup set and a less structured set. I did my standing and sitting arm weight training exercises after my salsa dancing. {Smile}

   I read comics and articles in the morning before the trip to the vet. I read more comics and articles over lunch. Then I wrote up the day before's daily update. When that was done, I shared it except on my blog, which I shared in the evening, when I realized I hadn't clicked the last button to actually share it earlier, when I thought I had. Oops! {blush} After that, I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming where I did paperwork and checked my friends list. Perogies was on, but still feeling poorly. He wasn't really attending to his character, just doing stuff you can set up and leave alone while he tried to rest up. I soloed on one of the characters I'm fixing up until Kitten came on. Then Kitten and I teamed up after I took care of Val, playing together on their favorite character and the one I'd been soloing on until it was time to read to Mom. {Smile}

   After dinner, I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. Kitten was still on and did respond. We teamed up with another character I'm developing. Kitten often fell silent - I suspect they were catnapping - but we kept playing until Phonso invited me to a taskforce. Then Kitten admitted they were too tired to play with Phonso in a full group where you don't know everyone like he likes to recruit, so Kitten went off to rest. Phonso ran the same taskforce as the previous night. It went much more quickly and easily this time. Phonso didn't hazard a guess as to why, but another player or two who'd run both thought the previous night had had a more problematic team composition for the content. I also chatted with Nox on the chat server until they went to bed. I did paperwork and chatted with Kitten around and after the salsa dancing.  I chatted with Perogies afterwards, too. He's sounding better again. {Smile}

Daily Update, September 11, 2023

    Well, I called my vet, and left a message that Val had thrown up, and I wondered about giving him the anti nausea pill. {small smile}

   Then I called my doctor and left a message about the medicine. I called them again asking for an appointment I just have too much to talk about. {smile}

   I called my vet again when Val h ad some diarrhea, and left a message about that, too.

   I called several times without leaving messages at both places. I eventually did get my do tor's office. The receptionist did promise to look into the medicine that keep getting refilled. Then I asked about an appointment. She cheerfully promised that I had an appointment next month. I tried to say I wanted an appointment sooner. She cheerfully asked if I'd like them to refer me for more therapy. I asked again about an appointment. She asked again about the therapy. About the third or fourth time she offered to arrange therapy when I asked for an appointment, I gave up and agreed to therapy. I would like to talk to my therapist about what dance classes I might be ready for. He recommended line dancing, but I can't find line dancing I'm qualified for, especially not at times of day I can manage to get to. I found two hula classes that sound non-competitive, and a bunch of Zumba, with some variation. I was wishing I could consult my therapist about what to choose, and now I can... but dance classes would be cheaper. {Smile}

   My vet eventually called, and that went better. Yes, give him the medicine for throwing up. Oh, he's got diarrhea too/ Please wait while they check with the doctor. She came back and promised later today or tomorrow. Later, I found a text: the doctor wants to try another antibiotic, which will be ready for pickup tomorrow. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I read scripture and thoughts about it first. Then I continued with more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2020. After that, I showed her a little picture book called _Cookie's Week_ by Cindy Ward, Illustrated by Tomie dePaola. It's about a mischievous black and white kitten who finds a different way to make a mess every day of the week except possibly Sunday... but don't hold your breath. The last thing you see is Cookie taking off after a bee or other flying insect. Then I read a few poems and a short story from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I finished with _The Concert_, the September 11th story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. It's about a concert by all the musical insect. A large black beetle conducts it. Crickets, grasshoppers, a bluebottle fly, and bees and wasps all practice under his leadership. a dragonfly and a ladybird tap dancer join in at the actual concert. {Smile}

   I got my head exercises done while waiting for Phonso's taskforce to start. Then it was straight to my salsa dance warmup afterwards, because the task force - especially the last fight - lasted that long. Yes, I got my salsa dancing warmup done, but when I tried to do the second set, I started stumbling around too much to continue. It just wasn't safe. I was going to stumble into something if I kept going. That's no good. the stumbling made me concerned about my walking and leg exercises, too, but I did do my arm resistance exercises and arm swinging exercises afterwards. It got late before I got to my arm weight training, so none of that got done. {smile}

   I read articles and comics around the phone calls in the morning and hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming after lunch and cleaning myself up. There, I found Kitten, and we teamed up to do the individual missions with good rewards. Perogies soon joined us. I'm afraid I fussed that one reward wasn't dropping. We tried, but then Perogies left because he was too tired. After he left, I remembered that the reward doesn't drop in the zone we were working out of, or most missions in that zone. Kitten and I went elsewhere, but nothing dropped before I left to read to Mom. {Smile}

   After dinner, I joined kitten. We teamed up with me on a mid-level character. We ran a few missions and were just finishing a barely started story arc we were working on when Phonso invited us to a taskforce. I invited him to help us finish the mission, and he did. Then we ran the taskforce. I also talked with Nox on the chat server. After that, I did what exercises and salsa dancing I could, mixed with paperwork and chatting with TheCyberChill and Perogies in the game. Perogies's questions helped me remember more about how to get the reward I'm particularly interested in getting on one character. {Smile}

Daily Update, September 10, 2023

   Today was Sunday, so I contacted Uber after breakfast. The fellow was only 4 or 5 minutes away and assured me he'd always be happy to pick me up. That was nice to hear. {Smile}

   I started early enough, and he picked me up quickly enough, I had time to visit with both Auntie Barbara and another friend before the service, as well as preparing my hymnal since they've stopped printing most of the hymns in the service bulletins to help the environment by saving paper. They give us a bookmark with five ribbons, and only print the shortest of the six songs unless one doesn't come from the hymnal. {Smile}

   Auntie Barbara had come even earlier to stand in for a greeter at the early service who couldn't make it. I could not manage getting up that early, even though I live a lot closer, so have a shorter trip. She taught Sunday school again and are amazed at how it is growing. She's concerned they'll have to restart after her trip that's coming up, but with this good a trial start, I don't think she has much to worry about for a firmer start. {Smile}

   I sat with her and some folks I know but haven't been sitting with recently for lunch. It was nice talking with them and getting to know them a bit better. I thought I was making arrangements to donate some cat food that Val won't eat to the folks on Maui, but Auntie Barbara wants to see if Michelle can either use the cat food or find a friend of hers who can because it's so expensive to ship. I tried to checking shipping later, and she has a point. {smile}

   Auntie Barbara went to Island Naturals to do some grocery shopping on the day of their monthly special. I picked up some raisins, myself. Then she took me home and visited with Mom. We sang a few songs with Mom, and then Auntie Barbara left with half the cat food. She'll either bring it back or get the rest later, I guess. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Next, I read more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2020. Then I showed her the last few pages of _Mele Kalikimaka: Christmas in Hawai'i_, with its mostly Christmas themed pictures. After that, I read "Hansel and Gretel from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_, which was long for that book, but still a shorter version than many. I finished with _Bright-Eyes_, the September 9th poem from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Bright-Eyes was the youngest of Mother Rabbit's children, but a lively and disobedient one, determined to visit the cows despite his mother's warnings about the fox and men with guns. So, his mother went to the fairy of the forest for advice. The fairy painted Bright-Eyes a camouflaging green and changed the camouflaging paint's color with each season. {Smile}

   I did my walking exercises, arm resistance exercises, arm swinging exercises, leg exercises, standing arm weight training exercises, sitting arm weight training exercises, and head exercises between when Perogies left in the evening, and my salsa dancing. Yes, I did over 20 minutes of salsa dancing, including both warmup and less structured dance. {Smile}

   I settled onto my computer after Auntie Barbara left, reading articles and comics, and writing up yesterday's daily update before I let myself hop into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I started with paperwork, since I didn't see anyone, I particularly like teaming with. Then I started solo play until I saw a team that was doing some single missions - the high-level ones with two particularly good rewards a day. I joined on the character who needed them the most. I ran several missions before they broke up. They give okay rewards after the two particularly good ones, and that character can use them. Besides, I enjoyed getting the hang of the team. That team broke up a short while before I like to read to Mom, giving me time to do some paperwork. {Smile}

   After supper, I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming, and spotted Mysty. I said hi, and we chatted a very little before she went to bed. So, I soloed on the character I was developing earlier, until Perogies came on, and asked to team on the new characters. We did so for two or three missions before he was ready to go back to bed. Then I worked on my exercises, with some soloing and comics mixed in between some exercises and salsa dancing. I'm particularly trying to develop that one character. {Smile}

Daily Update, September 9, 2023

    Saturday, I called the pharmacy. Some weeks back, my doctor gave me a week's course of pills to take for an infection. I took it and stopped at the end of the week like they said, but the pharmacy keeps sending more pills. I asked them to call my doctor and straighten it out. they tried to tell me that I should call my doctor. I already have: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday I called and left messages asking them to call me back. Friday I also called them a few more times. I still haven't heard from them, nor gotten through. They claimed they couldn't do more, but I know they're a different extension than I should use, and I hope they'll get a better response. So, they put a note in my file to call about it. {sigh}

   I also got a call from Melanie. She said she'd called meaning to invite me to go down to Liliu'okalani Gardens, where they were having some kind of special event. however, her granddaughter reminded her that she, her granddaughter, would need the car, so Melanie wouldn't have it. She didn't want to take the truck to this, so we'll just have to get together some other day. It was still nice that she'd thought of me. {Smile} 

   I ate breakfast and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner. I read scripture and thoughts about it first. Then I read more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2020 next. After that, I showed her the next few pages of _Mele Kalikimaka: Christmas in Hawai'i_, with its mostly Christmas themed pictures. I started with the picture that has a friend of ours in it, and continued on from there. After that, I read a few poems and two short stories from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I finished with _Lullaby_, the September 9th poem from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Yes, poem, not a story today. It speaks of sleeping and settling down, like Combine and Pierrot. {Smile}

   I did my walking exercises, arm swinging exercises, and arm resistance exercises when I disconnected from City of Heroes: Homecoming in the evening. It seemed a good time to start on my exercises in general anyway. I got my leg exercises and my standing arm resistance exercises done before my salsa dancing. Yes, I did my salsa dancing, both the warmup set, and the less structured set. I did my sitting arm weight training exercises and my head exercises as a very slow cooldown afterwards, because I kind of got into comics and paperwork in City of Heroes: Homecoming. {Smile}

   I read articles and comics in the morning, and thought about my story, but didn't take it out to work on it throughout the day. This continued a bit after lunch. Then I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I started with paperwork, then looked around. I didn't spot anyone, but I did spot a monster hunting team I joined. that was quick and easy. After that, I did a bit more paperwork. Then Perogies said hi. We teamed up and ran a few missions on the new characters. We actually started a story arc only this type of character has access to, which was neat. It's brand new to me, and I do love stories, including many in this game. I've never played this type of character before and didn't realize they had access to special stories. I think a related type of character has special stories, too. This took us to time to read to Mom. {Smile}

 After dinner, I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I didn't spot anyone I particularly like to team with, but I spotted a group doing a taskforce that helps my third best badge collector with two badges she's working on. I joined, and ran it, almost getting one badge, and significantly improving the other one, too. Then I started working on my exercises, then switched to a combination of comic reading, paperwork, and eventually more exercises. I also chatted with Nox on the chat server a fair while before they went to bed. I read comics around my salsa dancing and started reading a book on self-publishing along with some solo playing on City of Heroes: Homecoming when I meant to concentrate on writing this, so again I made notes to finish it from the next day. {Smile}

Daily Update, September 8, 2023

 Well, I called my doctor, and got his answering machine, so I left another message. I called him a few more times over the course of the day and got the answering machine every time. I didn't leave more messages, but it is getting tempting. I'll probably have to think of some other way to get their attention. I really don't want to have to go down by Uber. Not only is that an expensive way, but when I talked to my relief nurse, she talked about a new surge in Covid, so I don't feel quite 100% certain I'll find it open to walk-ins, and I'd hate to take a trip and not get an appointment. {small smile}

I looked at the short story that's far along, and began revising it again, pulling some things out to make it less sad. I realized that I couldn't do too much of that because most of the sad stuff I'd added wasn't just deepening the sadness one character showed. It explains a sad event in that character's recent past. I think that really adds to the story, so I shouldn't take that back out, no matter how hard it was to write. {Smile}

I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner. First, I read scripture and thoughts about it. Next, I read more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2020. Then, I showed her the next few pages of _Mele Kalikimaka: Christmas in Hawai'i_, with its mostly Christmas themed pictures. I pointed out one picture that had a friend of ours in it, but I doubt she recognized. He died many years ago. After that, I read a few poems and a short story from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. I finished with _Greg's Horse_, the September 8th story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Greg and his mother got off the bus right next to a funfair. Greg spotted his friend Pete and wanted to go to the fair. His mother agreed, giving him five coins and telling him to stay with Pete while she went shopping for half an hour. When she came back, she found him riding a dapple-gray horse on the roundabout. He said he'd bought a stick of barley sugar and ridden his horse the whole time. {Smile}

I did my arm swinging exercises while waiting for Phonso's first taskforce, and my head exercises between his first taskforce and his second. I was just in time to start my salsa dancing after Phonso's second task force: first the warmup set, then, after a break, the less structured set. After my salsa dancing, I did my arm resistance exercises, my standing arm weight training exercises, my leg exercises, my walking exercises, and my sitting arm weight training exercises. So I got them all done after one night of not managing that. {Smile}

I read articles and comics in the morning and did some paperwork in City of Heroes: Homecoming, around the phone calls and finishing writing up and sharing yesterday's daily update. I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming again after lunch and cleaning myself up, and doing the writing. This time, after a little more paperwork, and some comic reading, I looked for something to get into. I spotted the later short, large-group event, and joined that. Perogies came on and said hi towards the end, but it was too late for him to join us when I spotted his message. Instead, I switched to the character I started yesterday, and we ran a few missions before it was time to read to Mom. {Smile}

After dinner I read comics. Then I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming. Not seeing anyone I particularly like to team with, I started doing some paperwork, and began some solo badging. Then Phonso came on, and invited me to do a taskforce. I joined him and slipped in an exercise as we waited to get enough folks. Two or three missions in, Perogies came in and said hi. I told him I was in a TF with Phonso, and that we could get together after. He waited a fair while but got sleepy and went back to bed before it was done. I also started talking with Nox on the chat server. After that task force, Phonso chose a shorter task force. I stayed for that, slipping in a little more exercise while Phonso filled the team again. We ran that task force too, ending too close to salsa time to slip in more exercise before the salsa dancing. I worked in some paperwork and a little solo badge hunting around the salsa dancing, other exercises, and writing this up. Once again, I switched to writing notes when it got too late to finish tonight. I still managed to browse an article that made me particularly late to bed. I know better... I just have to do better more consistently. Anyway, I'm finishing up writing this the next day. {Smile}

Daily Update, September 7, 2023

    Wednesday was not a quiet day. It started with counselling after breakfast, which I was maybe 5 minutes late to because that's when I noticed the time. It was quite a busy session, too, but I think we got some stuff talked about that needed it. {Smile}

   Then after lunch, Melanie came, and picked up Val and me. We parked just below Hilo High School, and waited for her granddaughter, who texted that she was coming as fast as she could just as Melanie was wondering where she was. Melanie and I had a nice talk while waiting, and all of us but Valetine, my cat, had a nice ride to the vet. Melanie's granddaughter was happy to share the backseat with Val; she said she likes big kitties, and he is a big kitty. {Smile}

   Val did not like them handling him, and even managed to scratch the vet's assistant, despite padded sports gloves that went to his elbows. But they weren't upset, understanding that it wasn't me, and that Val was just expressing his feeling about not wanting this visit. The good news is that Val's diabetes has improved: his blood sugar was well within the range the vet wanted. The deworming medicine and the antibiotic seem to be working, too. So that's a huge relief. Also, he doesn't need to go back until January. {Smile}

   Melanie came in to visit with Mom, but Mom was too tried to respond much today. {smile}

   I ate lunch and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Then I read more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2020. After that, I showed her the next few pages of _Mele Kalikimaka: Christmas in Hawai'i_, with its mostly Christmas themed pictures. She does seem to like that book, though the pictures of fancy foods that I had a couple of pages of today weren't as interesting to her. Next, I read a longish short story from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. Then I finished with _The Stork's Nest_, the September 7th story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Hans lived in a traditional house in Alsace in France that tourists liked to come and look at. Hans was proud of the geraniums int eh window boxes, and the traditional white walls with dark timbers, but he liked the stork's nest in the chimney the best. Especially that two babies had been born that year and grew up in that nest. He was disappointed when they disappeared one day and didn't come back, until his mother explained that they'd gone to warmer lands for the winter and would be back next year. {Smile}

   I stumbled a lot when I started my salsa dancing, and had to quit a little over one minute in. I thought it was blood sugar, but I think the sweater and long socks helping me warm up did more than anything else. I did manage to get 8 1/2 minutes of warmup done later, but too late to do a second set. That was almost 10 minutes of salsa dancing, at least. Then I did my walking exercises, my arm resistance exercises, my arm swinging exercises, and my head exercises before it got too late, and I got too tired. So not one of my good days for exercises, but it could have been worse. {Smile}

   I read an article or two before my counselling appointment, and more comics and articles between the appointment and lunch. Then I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming after lunch, but only for some paperwork before Melanie came. I knew I didn't have time to really get into anything. I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming after Melanie dropped of Val and me and said hi to Mom. I just had time for a bit of badge hunting before reading to Mom. {Smile}

   After dinner, I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming, and found Perogies on a brand-new character. He wanted me to make one like it. When I had, I found Kitten with him, with a similar character, too. We teamed up and did a couple of missions, but the third mission wasn't the same for all of us. Perogies left, and Kitten and I caught Kitten up in level, because their experience had been turned off, so they didn't gain level when Perogies and I did. Then Kitten said goodbye and went quiet. I was just going to start looking at paperwork when Phonso came on and invited us to a taskforce. Kitten was out of it, but I wanted to join. While I was switching characters, I disconnected and had to restart my computer. I got it up and running again and got back in time to join the taskforce. Phonso had some insight into the recent disconnection. The task force would have gotten done just in time to start my salsa dancing if I hadn't needed to warm up or something before I could dance. I read comics and wrote this up around the exercises I did do, shifting to making notes when I knew I couldn't finish writing it properly before the next day. {Smile}

Daily Update, September 6, 2023

    Well, today I tried to call my doctor, and got their answering machine. I left a message, and meant to call back, but somehow a second call didn't happen. I'll have to try again another day. {rueful smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Then I rstarted her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2020. After that, I showed her the next few pages of _Mele Kalikimaka: Christmas in Hawai'i_, with its mostly Christmas themed pictures. Seh does seem to like this. Next, I read a fe short poems and two short stories from _365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes_. Then I finished.... with _the Tea Party_, the September 6 story from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. I described it yesterday, and said it was the 4th's story, but no, I read it today, and it's the 6th's Annette invited three of her friends over to help put on a tea party for some of their dolls. They took the toy furniture out to the garden and laid out the doll's tea set. They made tea, milk, sugar, and sandwiches out of water, paint, flour, leaves, petals, and pebbles. When the party outside was over, Mummy called them inside. She'd set the table with their favorite foods - for real this time. Yesterday, I read _Signs of Autumn_, which was September 5th's story in that book. Sarah and Jim went to visit their aunt and uncle in the country after returning to school. They showed their Aunt and Uncle things from their summer vacation by the sea. Then they went for a walk, and their uncle suggested they see how many signs of autumn they could collect. The golden leaves, beech nuts and acorns they found were fine, but their uncle said the spotted toadstools were poisonous, and told them to throw them out and wash their hands. {Smile}

   I did my walking exercises, my arm swinging exercises, and my arm resistance exercises between teaming with Kitten and Perogies in the later evening, and my salsa dancing. Yes, I did my salsa dancing, starting with the warmup set, then the less structured set for over 20 minutes of salsa dancing total. The I did my standing arm weight training exercises, my leg exercises, my sitting arm exercises, and my head exercises. I'm happy that I'm doing better at getting them all done. {Smile}

  I finished writing up yesterday's daily update and read comics and articles in the morning. Then I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming after cleaning myself up after lunch. There, I didn't find anyone I particularly like to team with on who didn't look busy, but I did spot a task force that would contribute to that badge for my fourth best badge collector, so I joined it and ran it. Near the end, Perogies came on and said hi. I told him I was in a task force, but would be done soon, and that I'd join him when it was done. I kept him updated on how far long we were. When we finished, I found him on the character who'd done the low-level stuff yesterday, with Kitten on their regular character. When I'd switched and we started the next mission, Kitten didn't join us, but disconnected eventually like they'd fallen asleep. They told me on the chat server that they had, and had woken, but were hungry. That was the last I heard that afternoon. Perogies and I ran the mission, but it was so long, it seriously threatened my reading time with Mom. When I didn't want to just autocomplete it, Perogies rushed the ending by bringing in a high-level character who joined the team to get in, then left to get his level back and take out a bunch who gave me particular trouble. Then our regular characters completed the mission, fortunately. {Smile}

   After dinner, I went back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. There, I had a nice chat with Mysty. She was winding down, but then she found someone who was offering a supergroup base tour, and we saw a very beautiful base nicely landscaped like a garden. They're hoping it will get used by role players, including those looking for romantic settings, like another base they built is. We were winding down when Kitten came on and said hi. After Mysty left and the base builder spoke of going quiet while they did stuff offline for a while, I ducked out to join Kitten. We started running individual missions with good rewards for one of the characters I'm setting up to support related characters. Perogies joined us so near the end of the first mission, he didn't get the reward for that mission. We ran two more missions so that we all could get the two particularly rewards those missions drop each day. The third time for Kitten and me, we got a much poorer reward, but that's okay. Then we switched to a story arc of mine, which we managed to get finished just before I started my exercises. I read a little and did some paperwork around my exercises, and writing this up, making notes at the end when it ran late. {Smile}