Sunday, March 29, 2009
1000 words
I am happy to report that Robert decided to start up the wood stove this morning. And in case my last post didn't convey my current state, Cheezburger is thinking along the same lines:
marathon, or, welcome to the nut house
Some time last spring, a friend mentioned that our local home team was playing a Stravinsky piece that she'd always wanted to hear. She was frustrated because the only time she could go was on a Friday afternoon and she didn't want to go alone. Just an idle comment. Because I don't work Fridays, and because I enjoy watching music being made, I offered to go along with her.
Then we got busy and started arranging our other music schedules and somehow forgot that we'd signed up for a Friday afternoon concert. Through another series, we both separately signed up for concerts on Friday night and Saturday night.
I realized it would be a challenging but fun weekend, requiring me to be well rested and alert. I wanted to get the most possible out of each event. Then an old college friend called to say he and his son were doing the traditional spring break east coast college tour and he'd like to stay with me. Of course! Any time! And of course, it turned out to be this weekend.
So. Wednesday night, we had a haircut. Thursday, I was out the door early so I could swim a day early -- I realized there was no way I'd fit a swim in on Friday. Then I had one of those days-from-hell at work, where fortunately, my manager rose to the challenge I posed for her and she helped me straighten things out. But I was tired by the end of the day.
My friend and his son showed up late Thursday night and we stayed up late talking. On Friday, Robert went to work and the rest of us hung around for a bit. Around noon, we picked up my concert buddy and headed into town, dropping friend and son off at the subway. They had their day and the son spent the night with his older brother, who's attending a local college.
My concert buddy, college friend, and Robert all met for dinner, then went off to the concert together, where my concert buddy met her husband and two additional friends.
Saturday morning, we hung out with the college friend, then shoved him out the door so he could meet up with his son and drive to western MA for more colleges. I caught up on three days' worth of newspapers. Then, we stripped beds, did laundry, Robert worked on the yard, and I went for a walk. Finally, we dashed into town, met completely other friends who were also going to the Saturday evening concert, and then headed off to the concert hall together.
At intermission, we dashed upstairs to greet my concert buddy, her husband, and two additional friends.
Back at home, we climbed into bed and are now ready to face this rainy morning. My calendar for today is marked "do not schedule anything." However, my concert buddy is giving a recital next week that we can't attend, so we may go to her dress rehearsal. But otherwise, we'll use Sunday as the good lord intended it -- as a day of rest. Phew.
Oh -- and the concert lineup:
Friday afternoon: Boston Symphony Orchestra played Ravel, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky, conducted by Charles Dutoit.
http://bso.org/bso/index.jsp?id=bcat5220002
Friday evening: Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Blind Boys of Alabama (loved PHJB, BBfA were fine but weird).
http://www.blindboys.com/
http://www.preservationhall.com/band/index-about.htm
Saturday evening: Another in the Rob Kapilow "What Makes it Great Series" -- this time a Dvorak string quartet.
http://www.robkapilow.com/wmigreat.shtml
Then we got busy and started arranging our other music schedules and somehow forgot that we'd signed up for a Friday afternoon concert. Through another series, we both separately signed up for concerts on Friday night and Saturday night.
I realized it would be a challenging but fun weekend, requiring me to be well rested and alert. I wanted to get the most possible out of each event. Then an old college friend called to say he and his son were doing the traditional spring break east coast college tour and he'd like to stay with me. Of course! Any time! And of course, it turned out to be this weekend.
So. Wednesday night, we had a haircut. Thursday, I was out the door early so I could swim a day early -- I realized there was no way I'd fit a swim in on Friday. Then I had one of those days-from-hell at work, where fortunately, my manager rose to the challenge I posed for her and she helped me straighten things out. But I was tired by the end of the day.
My friend and his son showed up late Thursday night and we stayed up late talking. On Friday, Robert went to work and the rest of us hung around for a bit. Around noon, we picked up my concert buddy and headed into town, dropping friend and son off at the subway. They had their day and the son spent the night with his older brother, who's attending a local college.
My concert buddy, college friend, and Robert all met for dinner, then went off to the concert together, where my concert buddy met her husband and two additional friends.
Saturday morning, we hung out with the college friend, then shoved him out the door so he could meet up with his son and drive to western MA for more colleges. I caught up on three days' worth of newspapers. Then, we stripped beds, did laundry, Robert worked on the yard, and I went for a walk. Finally, we dashed into town, met completely other friends who were also going to the Saturday evening concert, and then headed off to the concert hall together.
At intermission, we dashed upstairs to greet my concert buddy, her husband, and two additional friends.
Back at home, we climbed into bed and are now ready to face this rainy morning. My calendar for today is marked "do not schedule anything." However, my concert buddy is giving a recital next week that we can't attend, so we may go to her dress rehearsal. But otherwise, we'll use Sunday as the good lord intended it -- as a day of rest. Phew.
Oh -- and the concert lineup:
Friday afternoon: Boston Symphony Orchestra played Ravel, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky, conducted by Charles Dutoit.
http://bso.org/bso/index.jsp?id=bcat5220002
Friday evening: Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Blind Boys of Alabama (loved PHJB, BBfA were fine but weird).
http://www.blindboys.com/
http://www.preservationhall.com/band/index-about.htm
Saturday evening: Another in the Rob Kapilow "What Makes it Great Series" -- this time a Dvorak string quartet.
http://www.robkapilow.com/wmigreat.shtml
Monday, March 23, 2009
unprofessionalism at the new medical place
The new medical place I'm going to has a lot of services on site. I no longer need to go to the hospital facilities for blood draws and other common tests.
This morning, I was scheduled for a blood test. I showed up at the appointed hour, having dutifully fasted. As I rounded the corner to check in, there was an unpleasant stench coming from the open office area. Turns out that the young woman who checks your name off on the clipboard hadn't quite finished eating her fast-food breakfast sandwich. In fact, she hadn't quite finished chewing when she asked me if I had fasted.
Not that I was all that hungry, but the whole thing smacked of unprofessionalism and real unkindness. I ended up emailing the organization and mentioning that I was glad to be healthy -- were I sick, this would have really upset me. I also said something about how young this person was and "perhaps she didn't know better."
I was pleasantly surprised to receive a very nice note in return, including the line "i've spoken collectively as well as sternly yet tactfully with staff." The note closed with "apologies and reassurances."
OK, they get another chance.
I forgot that I get dehydrated overnight and I forgot to drink water this morning. I was consequently punished with four pokes administered by three people. Thankfully, they have a "two strikes and you're out" policy, but one of the people gave up after one strike. Next time, I'll drink a lot of water before heading over to see the vampires. And hope that the breakfast hour is over before I arrive.
This morning, I was scheduled for a blood test. I showed up at the appointed hour, having dutifully fasted. As I rounded the corner to check in, there was an unpleasant stench coming from the open office area. Turns out that the young woman who checks your name off on the clipboard hadn't quite finished eating her fast-food breakfast sandwich. In fact, she hadn't quite finished chewing when she asked me if I had fasted.
Not that I was all that hungry, but the whole thing smacked of unprofessionalism and real unkindness. I ended up emailing the organization and mentioning that I was glad to be healthy -- were I sick, this would have really upset me. I also said something about how young this person was and "perhaps she didn't know better."
I was pleasantly surprised to receive a very nice note in return, including the line "i've spoken collectively as well as sternly yet tactfully with staff." The note closed with "apologies and reassurances."
OK, they get another chance.
I forgot that I get dehydrated overnight and I forgot to drink water this morning. I was consequently punished with four pokes administered by three people. Thankfully, they have a "two strikes and you're out" policy, but one of the people gave up after one strike. Next time, I'll drink a lot of water before heading over to see the vampires. And hope that the breakfast hour is over before I arrive.
utterly repulsive, smug and cold blooded as a frozen tofu wiener
My unfortunate brother, again. OK, so I don't have caller ID yet. He called yesterday and started hammering at me. I said that I needed another week -- that to me, taking a break did not include two emails and several phone calls. I used my best Samaritan hotline technique to calmly say that I was going to hang up. More hammering. I eventually did hang up after about three warnings, with MUB still going at it in the background.
Then an email including the above quote. My initial response is "I have read Edmond Rostand (in the original French, TYVM) and You Sir, are no Cyrano de Bergerac." My second response is to make the title the subtitle of this blog -- to wear it like a banner as it were.
However, I will probably send one follow-up email in the week that I promised that basically reiterates that I cannot fix the relationship between MUB and our father, and I'm unwilling to help. And if that makes me cold and repulsive, well, he's entitled to his own opinion. Think the passive aggressive responses - then try to communicate with clarity.
Then an email including the above quote. My initial response is "I have read Edmond Rostand (in the original French, TYVM) and You Sir, are no Cyrano de Bergerac." My second response is to make the title the subtitle of this blog -- to wear it like a banner as it were.
However, I will probably send one follow-up email in the week that I promised that basically reiterates that I cannot fix the relationship between MUB and our father, and I'm unwilling to help. And if that makes me cold and repulsive, well, he's entitled to his own opinion. Think the passive aggressive responses - then try to communicate with clarity.
Friday, March 20, 2009
off the charts!
I had my first bone density exam today. It sounded intimidating when my doc first brought it up, only because I couldn't imagine how they could tell without actually getting in there and doing something that involved touching the bone. eeuuuw. But it's much easier than that -- you lie back for a few minutes while a scanner runs over you, first checking your spine, then your hips. My appointment was at 9, I was all done by 9:10.
In the middle of the whole thing, the technician let escape "You're off the charts!" Apparently, my bone density is so good that my prescription is going to be not to take calcium supplements. I thanked her and said she'd made my day. She said that I'd made hers too -- she usually looks at dismal numbers and says that the radiologist will be in touch -- she doesn't know how to break bad news to patient after patient.
This is really nice news to get. Now on to the next set of tests...
In the middle of the whole thing, the technician let escape "You're off the charts!" Apparently, my bone density is so good that my prescription is going to be not to take calcium supplements. I thanked her and said she'd made my day. She said that I'd made hers too -- she usually looks at dismal numbers and says that the radiologist will be in touch -- she doesn't know how to break bad news to patient after patient.
This is really nice news to get. Now on to the next set of tests...
Monday, March 16, 2009
reunion
Yesterday, four women held a reunion of a now-defunct woman-only book group. It met at my house for five years, starting 19 years ago. We read books only by women. We'd snack on goodies and discuss, sometimes with no enthusiasm whatsoever. But usually we'd have a rollicking conversation.
We are all strong, have lots of opinions, are well-educated (whether formally or not), and have amazingly diverse backgrounds. We range in age from 49 to 59. From the picture, you probably can't guess who is which age. It's hard for me to believe that any of us are as old, even, as 49.
Yesterday, we mostly caught up on our lives -- the sequels to the novels we were playing out back then. We talked a little about books, though not much, and a bit about politics, though again, not much. We are all in long-term relationships and fairly well settled in our lives. We are all, as far as I can tell, reasonably comfortable in our situations.
And we all clicked as if almost no time at all had passed. What a pleasure. I hope we do it again.
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