Checking in

{peek in} Sorry I’ve still been quiet. The weather decided to heat up to heat wave levels in August, and continued right thru September into October. It might have broken today. It was finally cooler, but only time will tell if today was a fluke or a real change. {smile}

I’m afraid I’ve never been good at either cooling off when I get hot, or warming up when I get cold. So the hot weather really got to me. It even had me convinced a few times that a heart condition I’ve recently been diagnosed with was a lot more serious than the doctor implied. Hopefully it was just the heat, which hopefully has passed the worst. {cross fingers, Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

{peek in}

I've gone quiet again, haven't I? Sorry about that. I seem to have developed an odd, rhythmic spasm in my chest. Depending on intensity, speed, and such, it may feel like quivering, fluttering, or pounding. Fortunately, there's no pain involved, and I can detect my heartbeat's pairs of beats slower and steady under the more evenly spaced spasms if I remember to check.

My doctor doesn't know what it is, but he doesn't think it's life threatening. Not when I can find my pulse, and when there's no pain involved. However, he doesn't know whether it's cardiac, respirational, or muscular. So he's sending me to a cardiologist on the 22nd to see if he can figure out anything more specific.

I can hardly wait. It is good to know  they're probably not life-threatening, but they can still be quite debilitating. So I'd like to know what they are and how to manage them. Then maybe I can get my life back again, at least until the next crazy health incident crops up, as they do a few times a decade. {lop-sided smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Again?

I just found myself in an... Odd conversation for the second time. Well, they're almost identical conversations, which seems unusual when I really don't think the gals involved have ever met. I mean, they live on different islands here in Hawai'i when one isn't off on the mainland. I don't think they go to the same states on the mainland much, either. {look Up}

Anyway, both friends know I bind books. So when I mention doing more with some story I've written, they both suggested that I self-publish by printing and hand-binding books myself.

Ah... ignoring the problems of distribution, I couldn't even recoup the cost of materials without out-charging a Print-On-Demand publisher, because even they work on a larger economy of scale than any hand binder could reasonably hope to. Charging for labor too would just make the price ridiculous. {look Up}

{Chuckle-snort} Oh, I know it sounds neat, but trust me, the economics just do not add up here! {AMUSED GRIN}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

My birthday

Well, this has been a nice birthday so far. {Smile}

It's been particularly food-oriented. My parents and I had Portuguese sweet bread buns for breakfast. (Yes, they really are bread and really are sweet, unlike some other "sweet bread." {wink})

Then I had a long and leisurely lunch at a nice restaurant with a couple of friends. Talk about a surprise! I've read about birthday lunches with the girls, but I'm not sure I've ever been to one before. Certainly not as the birthday girl. It was such a nice treat! One gave me lotion in a shopping bag with a very cute kitty on it, and the other gave me a card as well as lunch. I had coconut limeade and a mushroom burger, while my friends had wine and I forget which main courses they ordered. We shared cucumber sushi, Italian herb bread, and passion fruit ice cream. (Um, have I mentioned recently that Hawai'i can be quite cheerfully blatant about multiculturalism?) And we talked a talked... we left the restaurant two hours after we got there. {chuckle, HAPPY SMILE}

For dinner, my parents and I had pork with apples for the main course, with buns, sparkling cider, and chocolate cake for dessert. I chose them, and was very happy with the results. My presents are mostly still in the mail, but Dad did give me a book I'd noticed about Nainoa Thompson, who may have helped start the modern Hawaiian Renaissance when he brought back Polynesian navigation and canoe-building techniques as re-creational Archeology. That should be interesting reading. {SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Holidays {Smile}

I probably should have said this sooner, but both Christmas and New Year's went well if quietly. The Christmas Tree never got as many ornaments as meant to add, and the mochi never got baked. I really need to find traditions that are closer to my own talents. Then again, you may have noticed that this year's story hasn't been sent yet, either... You'll get something when I get something done. Currently it's stalled. {rueful Smile}

However, the tree did have some ornaments. Dad fixed a nice dinner on Christmas Eve from steak, potatoes, and cake an aunt sent. (She's noticed that Dad complains that he can't find reliably tender steak in Hilo. In fact, we gave up on non-ground local beef after one batch was so tough, all three of us complained about how much exercise chewing was... {wryly amused smile}) Then there was a nice breakfast followed by present opening the next morning, followed by present reading for Mom and Me, since we both got a lot of books. {Smile, wink}

New Year's was surprisingly quiet this year. There weren't nearly as many fireworks as previously, not even the "novelty fireworks" you don't need a permit for. (You need a permit for every 5000 firecrackers in this county. They aren’t expensive compared to the fireworks budgets of the people who want them, but they're a nuisance to get. I guess that's one way of making people cut back. {lop-sided smile})

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Ouch

I was just Telling Chicory thru her blog that I feel like a four-legged stool with only three legs. When things go good, I’m okay, but it doesn’t take much to make me tumble. (Emotionally speaking; my permanent vertigo is neither better nor worse than usual. {cross fingers}

Anyway, I’ve taken another emotional tumble for little reason. Ouch! {WINCE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

GLUE!

My glue arrived today! {REALLY BIG GRIN, HUMONGOUS GRIN}

Oh, I know it’s silly to get excited about glue, but this isn’t student’s white glue, or even carpenter’s wood glue. Those you can find in many stores in most decent-sized town. No, this is acid-free book binder’s glue. (I’d had some, but mine had gone lumpy. I’m not using that glue, not even the still-liquid parts around the lumps.) There was one store in Hilo that carried it maybe a decade ago, but I think they closed. So it was make a special trip that would quite likely be fruitless, or hop on the web. I found DEMCO, a library supplies firm I’ve ordered from before, and they still had the kind I’d ordered before. It did work great, until it went lumpy. However, Amazon had some, too, and they’ll give you free shipping on large-enough orders. DEMCO won’t, and they will insist you give them your phone number if they’re going to send you anything. Amazon doesn’t. So I ordered a pint from Amazon, along with some acid free coverboards and a friend’s book that I’ve been meaning to order, to make the order big enough to qualify for that free shipping.

They wrote back promising to send the coverboards immediately, and the glue with the book when it comes out in January.

{groan, rub face} It’s the glue I want immediately! The coverboards can wait; Mom wants a paperback cause it’s lighter and takes less space. So I ordered another pint, and a few books that have been sitting on my wishlist long enough to be in danger of dropping out of print. They promised to send that order more promptly, glue and all. {Smile}

I still expected them to show up around the middle of the month. Nope. Today I got two packages. One had the coverboards, and the other had four books and both pints of glue. Yes, both pints. I’m not quite sure how that happened, but I’m certainly not complaining! {SMILE}

Anyway, now I can bind the booklet I promised to Mom. I can also bind a couple of books I found on the web that appear to be in the public domain that I think she’ll like. But she won’t get those until one or another of the upcoming gift occasions. With Christmas on December 25th, her and Dad’s anniversary on December 27th, and her birthday on January 21st, we have enough occasions coming soon. {SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

An invitation to questions

In a blog I recently started reading, the owner recently decided to give a quite detailed introduction of herself. I enjoyed reading it quite a bit. {Smile}

Then I wondered about doing something similar, and realized I didn’t know where to begin… or where to end, or what points to hit in between. {rueful smile}

I know there are a lot of things I don’t talk about. Usually it’s not because I want to keep secrets, but that I don’t realize anyone is interested. {shrug, spread hands, Smile}

I’m not entirely sure how to fix that. So far, all I’ve thought of is offering to answer any questions about me that you might have been wondering about. That’s by no means a perfect fix, since you might not think of some questions at all, but it’s what I’ve thought of so far. {spread hands, Smile}

So… any questions? I'm not likely to get offended, honest. {SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Thanksgiving

I'd like to wish a happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrated it today. {Smile}

To those who don't, I hope you had a good day. {GRIN, wink}

If you're interested, for us it was just the four of us. Valentine only jumped up on the table once, and got back down when scolded, so he didn't have to be exiled. He had as much turkey as he could cadge off of us. Mom, Dad and I had turkey, stuffing, succotash, cranberry sauce, and blueberry pie.

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Fridge update

Well, the fridge is fixed. It took most of Sunday morning, but it’s fixed. The fellow came, leveled the thing because it was tilted far too far back, and dumped hot water down the drain tube until it broke thru a surprisingly stubborn ice dam. I think he was about ready to open the thing up and see if a gecko had crawled into the tube when it finally started draining. Apparently that happened at least once before. {Smile}

 

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Repairs

We’ve had a bit of a repair saga this past week. The freezer has been icing up. On Tuesday, it got bad enough, the fan blades regularly hit the ice. So we tried defrosting it on our own Tuesday morning.

Then in the evening the toilet stopped flushing. It was definitely broken. Fortunately, we know a plumber lives a few houses down the street. Literally. So we called them that morning. He and his assistant looked at it before breakfast, fetched a part, and fixed it that morning. I do like quick service. {Smile}

The freezer had started icing up again Wednesday afternoon. Dad called a repairman. We expect him repairman tomorrow around 10. We’re more than a little surprised the repairman suggested working on a Sunday, but it was his idea, not ours. {spread hands, shrug} Since church starts too early for Dad and me anyway tomorrow, we might as well stay home and get our fridge fixed. Hopefully. {cross fingers, smile}

Just… don’t let anything else break. This is enough! {wry look}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

A Concert

I went to a concert by the Escher String Quartet last night. I liked the music, and loved getting to go. {SMILE}

I haven't been to a concert in years, ever since Mom and Dad decided they couldn't sit thru a long concert between Mom's back's tendency to give her trouble, and Dad's need to put his feet up or walk around or something. He's not supposed to sit still for long periods of time. That pretty thoroughly messed up my transportation options, so I've been pretty much pretending that Hilo doesn't have any shows I want to see for several years now. {resigned smile}

They do have a few, like last night's concert. Fortunately, a friend who lives a block or two away offered to take me with her. I bought my ticket when I got there, and had a wonderful time. The music was pretty nice, especially since it was live. Even better, I got to see a few folks I haven't bumped into in years during the intermission. {SMILE}

I enjoyed myself so much, I'm trying to figure out how to do this a little more often. I'm hoping to think of something. I've missed this entirely too much. {SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

{sigh}

I know I’ve gone quiet recently. I’m sorry if that worried anyone. I’m okay... but I lost a dear friend to cancer at the end of August. {bite lips} It’s taking me time to adjust to her not being around anymore. I miss her very much. {resigned look}

 

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Foot Update

Well, my dermatologist says my foot is essentially healed. Finally. He wants me to continue putting a fungicide on those toes once a day until late next week. Then I can put it on every other day. He wants me to continue to do that indefinitely. He's very concerned that this could come back, and wants to prevent that. {pause}

I’m concerned about over-using a fungicide, since that tends to produce resistant organisms over time. However, this infection was pretty bad, and I had another… probably last spring; if not, then the spring before that. Two nasty foot infections in two or three years are TOO MANY! I really don't want to go thru this again. So I guess I keep applying the medicine. {resigned smile}

Still, I'm glad to be over the current problem. That is a relief! I even felt free to tag along with Dad when he went grocery shopping yesterday, since I don't think I have to worry about putting my foot up now. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Foot trouble

Well, I have a badly infected foot. It started a little over a week ago, with a badly itchy foot. By the time I realized it wasn’t some irritant like soap or dry skin, it was too close to the weekend to see a regular doctor with a normal appointment. So we waited. I saw my Dermatologist last Tuesday. He was very concerned, giving me instructions involving medicine, toe spacers, frequent washing, and putting my foot up above the level of my heart as much as feasible.

Unfortunately, I’m bored. Putting my foot up a lot severely limits my computer time. I am getting a fair bit of reading done, but… I still miss my computer. Especially the friends it lets me stay in touch with, even if I don’t write much beyond responses to what they write most of the time. {odd smile}

The good news is, it seems to be helping. He was favorably impressed with the improvement when he saw it again on Thursday. He should be happy when he sees me again next Friday, since it’s improved more since.

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Am I back?

Hello. {Smile}

Well, after some slow research and much deliberation, I have an account with Bloglines. {smile}

I did look into Feedly, and it does look like it has some nice advantages. Unfortunately, you have to download stuff to use it. On my own computer, this woudln't be a serious problem. However, Dad's computer is complaining about "insufficent memory" enough, he asked me not to download anything new into it. So I looked elsewhere, and ended up deciding that Bloglines looked as good as anything with a web-based browsing option. {Smile, spread hands}

I don't know how long it will take me to catch up with the blogs I often follow. I've fallen terribly behind with them. I did start today, and I think I've made siginificant inroads, However, this may take some time. {apologetic smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! {SMILE}

I do hope you've had good ones this year. {WARM SMILE}

We did. Dad and I would have liked to go to church, but they started too early. So we concentrated on fixing a nice dinner and relaxing instead. We had turkey, some of the fixings, and apple pie for dessert. We had to make a run this afternoon for the pie; Dad remembered dessert only last night. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

A surprising bird

On Sunday, we had a surprise. {Smile}

Dad and I were sitting in dining room near the end of lunch when mom came in. She said she’d heard a strange noise, and when she looked, it was a peacock. She led us to her bedroom window. Dad spotted the bird just before it went out of view back by the old carport. I didn’t, so when Dad went out back for a better look, I definitely followed. We found her behind the woodshop and the patio. Yes, her; technically, she was a peahen, which is a female peacock. {Smile}

She was wandering around, calling. A lot. I’ve heard peacocks call before, but not as often as this one did. I thought maybe she was looking for someone, like she was lost. Dad agreed.

He tried to get closer.  No problem. She let him get within six feet of her without showing fear. So she was obviously used to people. Dad thought she must be someone’s pet.  {Smile}

We went inside, and Dad tried to figure out who to call. After a few tries, he found someone who gave him the Humane Society’s after-hours number.  Unfortunately, that rang busy repeatedly. {lop-sided smile}

Eventually, Dad decided we really needed to get some milk, so he and I went to the store, and picked up that and a couple of other things we were nearly out of. He figured he could try again if the bird was still around when we got back.

She wasn’t. Mom said she left after a while; she thought the bird must have gone home for dinner. The way she was calling, I wonder. I honestly thought she was lost. Dad says at least she wasn’t our concern any more. I have to agree, since I know nothing about caring for peahens. {spread hands, Smile}

She hasn’t returned, either. I wish I knew she’d returned home for a happy reunion, or at least found someone to take care of her. I don’t. But I don’t know that she’s met a bad end, either. She spice up our Sunday afternoon quite a bit with her visit. {SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Computers

Well, my computer finally came home yesterday with a new motherboard. It seems to be working so far. I certainly hope that continues, but it's hard to quite trust it after all the trouble I've had. {lop-sided Smile}

Now the loaner is in the shop, getting any viruses I picked up removed, virus protection installed, and hopefully the sound repaired. My parents want for a third/game/back-up computer. {Smile}

I just hope things return to normal soon here. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

{peek in}

Hello. Sorry I've been quiet. I did try to keep up during the Olympics. Honest. At first it was mostly working, but some time in the second week, keeping up on TV and online simultaneously got to be too much. So now I'm trying to catch up again. {Smile}

I did like the Olympics, except for the closing ceremonies. I'm really not fond of rock concerts, and that's really what the closing ceremonies were. But I enjoyed the pageantry of the opening ceremonies, and the diving, artistic gymnastics, synchronized swimming, and rhythmic gymnastics I caught. I'm debating trying to watch some of the last two online. I think I missed most of their semifinals, and I do love the artistry of those two sports. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin