Chester’s Chicken Review and More

It’s my first Saturday! Though I have picked up a taxi ride. So it isn’t a totally free day. Then again, I will be making a teeny bit of $. That’s a good thing. Every shekel in is a shekel saved. I think Gilgamesh said that first, way before Ben Frankenstein.

I have a plan. At least for the first part of the day. And a plan for dinner. In between is up for grabs. Probably play and read and maybe do some chores around the house.

The weather for the next 10 days (after today) looks crappy. Boo.

I have tried Chester’s Chicken now. My verdict: meh. I was unimoressed with everything. The chicken wasn’t particularly crispy nor tasty. The biscuit was just a biscuit. And the potato wedges were boring. So, probably never gain. I miss Bojangles. Sigh.

What do you think?

Before picking up my passenger, I ran my errands. My first stop was the bank to see if they had any $2 bills. I always feel like I’m playing go fish when I ask them. And none of the tellers had any. Though one teller was indisposed and didn’t answer. So maybe I will try again next week. Oh well.

My next stop was the library. Turns out that there really aren’t many Augustus’s running around. There was a worker there who I hadn’t seen before who seemed interested in my name. Meanwhile, Fred knew that I had come for my book. Someone on the internet suggested I read The Notebook. I saw the movie and cried. I mean, who didn’t? I doubt the book will be much sadder. It will hurt a bit more for me because of my mom having gone through Alzheimer’s. But it will be good to have read it.

Off to the grocery store, watching my time. I had a longish list of things to get for my pizza empanadas. I ended up getting everything on the list as well as getting some feta and some greek olives. I might as well make a few different kinds of empanadas while I am at it. I am debating opening a can of artichoke hearts as added filling. I don’t really see a reason not to. I can always eat them in another dish tomorrow.

There was only one checkout person operating, which made sense since it wasn’t very busy. I really, really don’t like using the self checkouts and I’m glad I didn’t have to.

Since I had time, I decided to pop into the Salvation army to look for a round Brita pitcher (my rectangular one is ok, but I like the round ones better) and more teaspoons (not that I really need them, but it doesn’t hurt to look). They didn’t have anything of interest.

Last stop, my pickup location over near Canandaigua. Where I read and was so absorbed in the Emily Wilde book that I didn’t notice that my passenger had exited the building and was looking for the car. (I was in the front row in plain site – no other Tesla’s in the parking lot…) I will admit to blathering the whole time and not letting her get a word in edgewise. I talked about the Emily Wilde books and about Neuralink. There was a cool video released the other day made by a man who is totally immobilized due to ALS. How crazy is that? The team even used AI to create an app that used his voice to narrate. I also heard on the internet (though I didn’t know this when I was driving my passenger back to her home) that they have just gotten special status for their next application – for speech restoration. Which they kinda have done with the ALS patient. Though maybe they are going to try to go straight from thought to voice without the intermediary step of having the speech created by words that the person “types.” I look forward to seeing what develops.

But this means that they must be close to demonstrating some sort of vision restoration soon. So exciting!

I got home and have basically done nothing. I ate some lunch and played and played. Oh, I did do two sinks worth of dishes. That’s a good thing.

Now I am going to go and make some empanadas. Wish me luck! And if you were here, I would probably share…probably…

W.I.P.

Aren’t we all just WIPs? (Works in progress) Maybe life is a work in progress. No, I don’t know what I am talking about. It is early, I have been up for a long time, already spent a fairly productive hour at the Smith and have a load-in and show to look forward to today. And another early morning tomorrow – and longish day. Sunday, I sort of get to rest, if being on call for two showings of a movie is considered restful…

Lately, my brother has taken to calling early in the morning – mom seems to be awake more often at that time-ish. That is to the good. His calling any time is to the good, I think. The bad part is that sometimes mom isn’t all that awake and I have to get up and answer the phone and give it to her. I really, really, really hate getting up early. I am a night owl. If I am in bed and heading to sleep before 2 am it is an early night for me. And getting up at 6 or 6:30 means I get only 4 or 5 hours of sleep. And I think I need more beauty rest than that. At least that is what the mirror is telling me.

Meanwhile, we got a new railing put up in the bathroom – and one will be going up in the hall soon. All in an effort to make mom feel less scared and wobbly when she is heading to and from the bathroom. Fred, who helps out at the Smith a lot, is doing the work. He does such good work!

Our usual aide is taking vacation starting today. Poo. Mom doesn’t really like the other aides. Oh well, we will all survive. Vacation! I would love a vacation. Not a staycation. I want to get away. Preferably far, far away. I saw a really good deal to Costa Rica – $700 including air for 5 nights I think. I didn’t look at it too closely as it isn’t feasible just now. I need to get a lot of ducks in a row before that can happen. Or any vacation at all. Heck, finding two hours to be away is starting to be a bit of a challenge. Maybe I will get my act together and start getting more help lined up. Anything is possible.

By the way, I am still playing Fallout Shelter – and I am trying GTA 4. I don’t like it as well as I liked Saints Row – Saints Row is just way more over the top. Anyway, I just like to play.

V is for…

Lately at the Smith, I have been dealing with HVAC issues. I know what the H and the AC stand for. But never knew what the V was. I thought maybe it was a 5. Or maybe just a nonsense letter so that people wouldn’t be working in the HAC field. Turns out it is for Ventilation. See, it really is doable to learn something new every day.

Long time, no write. Someone posted on FB that pain is what drives people to write. I guess that could be one motivator. In the past, I have written out of pain. And I have written out of happiness. I don’t really know what makes me want to write. Ok, money. I write because of the fiscal rewards. Hahahahahahaha.

What has happened since last I wrote a blog post? Lots and nothing. Mom had visits from Karl and his family. And from Mary Flett who was also in the area for a reunion. (Karl was here for his GHS reunion.) The Smith continues to keep me interested and busy. Mostly, though, nothing too much has happened. Mom continues to decline. She has basically forgotten how to take her pills. And she is eating so little, I don’t know what to do about that. Food she used to eat readily, has become icky. But I have found a few things that she will still eat. Oh and the chew some food a bit and then spit it back out – that is just lovely. Sigh.

If I can get my act together, I will post some pictures. Ok, that is pretty unlikely. Oh, wait, no it isn’t. I can always add them to this post (or any post) from my phone. Hopefully Alzheimer’s doesn’t run in the family…

House of Cards and Still Alice

Recently finished watching the first season of House of Cards. Yes, it is good stuff. But it feels slightly like The Sopranos for some reason – rooting for the bad guys maybe? Or the theme music perhaps? Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are both enjoyable to watch. Neither of them “chews the scenery” as a good friend of mine says of over acting. I will probably watch the second season. Don’t know if I will go much further than that, though…

Ok, fallen into another obsession: Fallout Shelter. This is a game app for phones that is based on the popular Fallout Video Game series. Way too fun. I have already given up on one Vault and am hard at work on my second. Hopefully this too shall pass because I am barely able to not play. That is not a good thing. What is good, besides the fun of the game, is that I learned how to take a screenshot of my phone!

Mom had a good day today – she seemed full of the desire to explore – and she ate a lot at lunch time. Good signs.

Last night, I watched Still Alice – mom sort of watched it. I thought it was ok, Julianne Moore did a good job, but it was sort of light on showing the ickiness of the disease. From diagnosis to the end of the movie, I am guessing a year or maybe two elapsed at most. It was early onset, so I don’t have any personal experience with that, but I am guessing that mom was cognitively impaired since at least 77 years old – if not longer. She is 85 now – 8 years. In the four years that I have been helping out, I have certainly seen quite a decline. But at this rate, I am guessing it will be 2 to 4 years before she loses command of language. And then maybe 4 more years before Alzheimer’s kills her. In all I am guessing she has 10 more years of life – such as it is. Sigh (for her, for me, for all the world and especially those dealing with Alzheimer’s in any way, shape or form…)!

Deus Ex Machina

Yes, I am a fan. It probably isn’t the best way to live one’s life – abiding until a Deus Ex Machina sort of event occurs and then going with that. Sometimes it is hard to recognize them. Other times they literally hit me over the head.

Let’s start with working. I hate looking for work. Interviewing and all that sort of thing bores the heck out of me. What does a resume say? Nowadays, nothing. You can copy a resume off the internet and as long as you are moderately competent, end up with a decent looking piece of paper. How have I gotten my jobs? Sure, a little bit of chatting – but mostly, it hasn’t been me interviewing – it has been me showing up and somehow proving what I am capable of. My job at Rose Hill was given me because the director knew me and knew my capabilities. At Perkins, yes, I did apply, but they were just opening and were hiring everybody. I rose from sandwich cook to king of the kitchen, running the wheel in almost no time. At my first real job, I got that by being able to type 50+ words a minute on a mac. And from there, I ended up being a system administrator and office manager, after a short detour as a special assistant to the director of the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Macromedia – my friend got me in the door and from there I moved from position to position as they became available – ending up as the Manager of my sales engineering group. Joy.

At Clubcorp – moving from a part time bartender to Private Event Director in less than a year.

At the Smith – starting as a lugger and am now the Technical Director/Production Manager and Film person.

I need a Deus Ex Machina in other parts of my life. In my love life – I have been putting myself out there, but so far, kismet hasn’t happened. I have faith it will. I just have to be patient. Meanwhile, what do I do, thumb twiddle? And where my mom is concerned – a deus ex machina would be good there too. I am not good at making some decisions – others are really easy. Most decisions are pretty easy or me, actually. And I am good at problem solving, doing the work and or delegating effectively. Well, not always effectively…

On a completely different note, a good friend and her friend came for a lunch visit, all the way from NC, sort of. It was great to see her (them) and nice to be out and about for a short bit. Yay!

Dating Sites

Sadly, my profile has found its way onto lots and lots of dating sites. There was one site that spawned profiles on lots of different sites. All of them are scams. Not the big ones – they do have some merits – meaning I have actually met people from them and had some good experiences. These other set of sites, not so much. Still, when I get a ridiculous note from one of their fake profiles, I do feel a little more liked in the world. Weird, right?

I have changed my profile on the three major dating sites that I sometimes check and think are real: Match.com, OK Cupid and Plenty of Fish. Hasn’t made a lick of difference. Am I surprised? Nope. Not at all. But I wanted to at least make an effort to try something different. My consistent hope is that my path will cross someone else’s in the real world sometime. Hopefully soon. Not that I could do much in the way of dating, but I could use the excitement that even a potential dating partner would generate in my life.

My Netflix DVD is currently Still Alice. We showed it at The Smith and it has gotten good reviews. I am a little afraid to watch it, since the subject matter is pretty close to home. I don’t know whether or not to watch it with my mom. Not that she would remember it in any case…

I keep forgetting to mention something – arch support. Recently, I was having a little back pain and general soreness. I didn’t remember doing anything that would have made me feel that way. Then, a realization came: I had been wearing my sandals a lot. Normally I wear shoes with a lot of arch support – I have high arches and like them that way – so I think that maybe not having that support was what had been causing the pain. I switched back to the arch supporting shoes and miraculously don’t have that pain in the back any more! Huzzuh!

It is interesting to see who I get notes from – when I do get notes from people. Sadly, very, very few of the people who write to me pique my interest romantically. I am, though, always willing (well, mostly always) to write and even meet. One never knows, does one?

PS The picture is from my sister’s visit of mom and her new shawl! (Just because you all might be tired of my Photo Booth photos…)

Little Accomplishments

One of my favorite things in life is accomplishing the little things in a timely fashion. There is so much maintenance that has to be done in modern life. Sigh. Anyway, Sunday night I managed to get the trash all put out for collection. Mom doesn’t know what the difference between recycling and rubbish is anymore. Oh well. I think when I first moved in to help mom, she actually helped me a little with the trash. Not so much anymore.

I am listening to the Wheel of Time (WOT) books on Audio again. There are fourteen (or fifteen? or sixteen?) books. 20+ disks for each book. That is a lot of listening. There are so many great scenes in the books. I keep imagining doing an animated series based on the books, but haven’t gotten anywhere with it. Probably won’t. One of those “Gee wouldn’t it be nice…” sorts of ideas.

The cole slaw turned out pretty well. Mom likes it, which is the biggest thing. I am debating what to do with the left over chicken that we have. Maybe croquettes, though they seem like a lot of work and it is doubtful that mom will eat them. Though anything is possibly, I guess. It used to be that I could feed her a couple meals with lump chicken and sauce (plus extras) and she would eat the chicken just fine. Not so much anymore. At least, though, she is still eating and still remembers how to eat. Yippee for small blessings.

Same Old Weirdness

Totally weird. I walked into my bosses office and a young woman was sitting there. She looked oddly familiar. We were introduced and her name did nothing to jar my memory of where I knew her from. I kept thinking and thinking about it and later asked my boss who she was. She said who she was her significant other’s daughter and it still didn’t clarify if or how I knew her. Then she mentioned something about the woman saying she recognized me from Wegman’s! (Auto-incorrect wants to change Wegman’s to Legman’s – sigh) Turns out she is a checker there and we have spoken a few times. Out of context, I just didn’t recognize her. Small, weird world. Now, if only something like that would happen with a woman with whom I was romantically interested, that would be nice. Sadly, that doesn’t happen, or hasn’t happened yet.

I am up at 6 this morning (yesterday) for some reason. Oh, right, the phone was ringing. Mom couldn’t or wouldn’t pick up the receiver. So I leapt out of bed to try to help, but too late. It was Karl calling. And mom was wide awake, so it is a better time, generally, to call than the afternoon when I am not around and mom is likely to be caught napping. I texted him to try again and he did. Huzzuh! I still smile (ruefully) when I think about the time recently when the phone was ringing and I told mom to pick up the phone – and she did – the whole device. Tee hee.

What was the second thing I did after I woke up? (First being get mom and Karl together on the phone) I did Smith stuff. I am a sick puppy. I tried logging on to computers at work and mostly failed. Then I built a ticket announcement email for The Chris Robinson Brotherhood that is supposed to go out today at noon.

Maybe I oughtn’t to say this since Karma has a way of mucking things up, but I haven’t been sick in a long while. Well, not to speak of. And I don’t get owies very frequently, but I got one yesterday. Trying to get out and go to the Smith, I tried to step over the gate at the head of the stairs and just didn’t lift my leg far enough. Owie.

Unimpressed with Impress from Open Office (and more)

So, here’s the 411. We have an event on Friday (it may be Friday when I publish this) that is a high school graduation. They gave me some files that they wanted to have projected. No problem. We can do that. I thought, heck, why not use one of the laptops we bought so that I won’t have to use my computer for the event, especially since I am not going to be at the event, my staff will. I thought that Open Office had a presentation piece of software. It does. Impress by name. Yippee! I go to put the thumb drives into the laptop so that I can get the information off, and the laptop doesn’t read the thumb drives. Sigh. I have a call into our tech support guy, but he hasn’t responded. Work around – upload to Drop Box and download onto the laptop. Slow network at home means a 5 hour upload time! Eeek! But I do it. All the files are on the laptop, finally. Open impress and try to import a graphic – comes in wonky. I try again – message – no graphic filter found. Sigh. I try a video – mp4 is not a supported format (contrary to what the open dialogue shows for supported formats). Poo.

On my mac – it took me about three minutes to put the files on my computer and to build a presentation. Sigh. I have exported it to Powerpoint and am downloading a Powerpoint reader (which almost never works – oops, it didn’t). I went to work to get a CD to record onto – forgetting that CDs only hold 700mb of data and the powerpoint is 1.75 gigs. Sigh. Plan M?, heck, I don’t know, L? I tried the thumb drive again and it magically worked. Yay and poo at the same time. I have the file on the PC now – and am downloading a reader from Microsoft. Fingers crossed and breath held. Almost there – needed to download Quicktime since Keynote converted the video files. But it worked. A little slow the first time through, so whoever is running the presentation will have to go through it once or twice to get it into memory. How exciting!

In other news, mom took a teeny tumble. We got her back on her feet readily enough. And there was no harm done that I or the aide could determine. Yay!

Rarely do I ask

I rarely ask “Why me?” A longish while ago (20 years maybe?) i decided that I really was in control of my bus, captain of my ship, ultimately responsible for my life. I also realized that things and circumstances are what they are. True, they can change (and change is the only constant) and they do. There are some things within my control and some things that aren’t. I think I know which is which. So, I don’t lament my current state – no social life (not that I really need much of one), no travel (that is the biggest lack just now in my life) (is travel part of social life?) and constantly having to consider all my choices in light of my caretaking duties. Ok, I don’t lament it frequently. I know that I have chosen this and that I am here, doing the best I can on a minute by minute (even nanosecond by nanosecond) basis. Huzzuh.

I bought mom a little marzipan. Hmm, maybe two pounds isn’t really “a little” marzipan.

Going cold turkey on Instagram and Snapchat. And not missing them at all. Phew and yay. Another obsession that has passed.

Busy day today – and exciting. We are supposed to be getting our Assisted Listening System installed. That is great! I am going to try and set it up so that I can get sound from the sound board to the projection booth and vice versa. We shall of course see. And I have to get going. Time to put out the recycling, brush my teeth, check on mom and head to the Smith! Eeek!