slidergirl

Like the jeans! I've got 2 pair of embroidered jeans. But I like the embellishments on yours. No rain here. But we've got smoke wafting down from Idaho and Oregon... Ugh.

Happy Miners' Day a day late! We call Labor Day here in our town Miners' Day in honor of all the folks who worked in our silver mines here in town from the early 1900 to the 1990s. Having issues with my Medicare right now and it's pis$ing me off. I had been paying it myself since I turned eligible for it. Then, I activated my Social Security in May, which automatically deducts the Medicare (supposedly). My bill for my annual Wellness check showed up last week - $600+ instead of nothing as it had in the past. My medical center says I my Part B coverage was discontinued. *****????? I could see it deducted for sure on my last SS statement. Spent 4 hours today waiting for the callback from SS. The agent wasn't all that helpful - yes, I have Part B but I do have to pay the 20% (I had to remind her about the Wellness check). So I have to go back to the medical center accounting to tell them to be sure it is coded correctly, resubmit it and deal with Medicare if it doesn't work. I'm sure not going to pay that bill!!!! OOTD: capri sweatpants and my old hippie Zion NP tshirt.

Woah. Almost a week and no one else has posted. We must be busy! Today I installed a new showerhead on my shower. My old one I installed when I moved in back in 2009. It somehow started leaking very badly in the past few weeks so I did have to replace. The new one, a Kohler hand-held, was very easy to install, no tools needed. The connector is metal instead of the hard plastic of the last one (which cracked). A little sealer tape around the main pipe thread and just turn it to tighten. Test of the shower and NO LEAKS! The vacation hamster wheel was spinning particularly fast the last few days. I was going to take a midweek weekend trip up to Boise - it's a 5-6 hour drive. Some interesting food places up there - it has a decent Basque presence. But then Southwest came out with the $49 fare sale and I gave a look. Too expensive to Boise, but it had the cheap fare to Las Vegas. Jose Andrés just opened another restaurant there. And it would be a hour flight vs 5-6 hours to Boise and wear and tear on the car + gas. So, I booked for 9/10 for 2 nights. Easy. THEN I started thinking about next Spring or Fall again. Spain and Portugal still entices me. THEN I thought of doing the transatlantic cruise for one leg instead of flying both ways. But, it would have to be a no-balcony cruise just due to the cost. There are several which use Barcelona as the start/end so that would let me do my land travels for a few weeks and then fly home. It's sounding pretty fun. Still thinking but that hamster wheel is going so fast that it may bounce off it's stand!!! OOTD: a bad sweatshirt & sweatpants since I played plumber. And it's cooling down at night to get the house nice and cool all day long even when it gets up to 80 - it's the time of the 40 degree temperature differentials.

I know a few people like Les - no matter what you tell them, they just can't do nothing. At least he had eye protection and a hat on! I went to my hair stylist today. We decided to break out of the brown with wine colored highlights and go really light. Apparently this summer's thing is "strawberry brunette" for us brownies. We took it farther and it looks like I spent every hour of the summer so far out in the sun. We hadn't done something like this for ages! Just having fun. OOTD: my denim shorts, my Tshirt with the big blue heart in the middle, blue earrings and short blue lace socks with my hi-tops and my mini pearls necklace. A quiet statement.

Purple - it sounds like you had one wet July!! I wish some of it could have been sent to us out here in UT - day as a bone, even with the rain the last 2 days. Hiking in SMNP should be lovely. I drove through there one weekend after a business trip. Beautiful mountains! Reminds me of my town and area where my family lives in PA. We're good out here fire & smoke-wise. The winds of the last week chased it out of here from CA. A few small fires started around here but quickly dispatched by the fire depts. Fingers crossed that we're good for the season now. Ah, the cough. Are you on Lisinopril? It's infamous for it's cough-inducing side effect. I hated it. Fortunately my BP is good enough now that I don't take it. Melody - I'll keep thinking good thoughts for Les. It has to be incredibly frustrating and probably depressing to be dealing with all those eye issues. The thunderstorm last evening was a good one. Dropped some rain on us. Have you ever had one of those instances where it seemed like the lightning came through your window at the same time you got a huge, LOUD thunderclap? Scared the cr@p outta me!!! Haven't had one of those in a long time. OOTD: shorts and a Tshirt. Watching more Premier League Soccer and then some housework.

Lois - plenty of us have "Olympics withdrawal" 😉 I'm just happy that English Premier League Soccer is back on Saturdays. I'm in the middle of watching game #2 now. Had my annual Medicare wellness exam Thursday. I actually passed the mental acuity test! Trying to remember the 3 things while making the clock and then repeating those 3 back always worries me. I've always had horrible instant recall. I got my message from my NP today - said my labs were all "excellent" (never heard that from her before) except my B12 is a little low. I still think she's a little miffed at me for my strong advocacy for myself in insisting I get referred to an endocrinologist and not just take her advice to do insulin. Just the way she said "it looks like the endo clinic is going well for you" was a little offputting. I think I'm her first client who challenged her about diabetes treatment and new drugs. We're starting our monsoon season now, I guess. Finally supposed to get rain and rain and rain. Good thing - it's looking awfully brown around here. Instead of just hot, it's going to be hot and muggy for a week. My hair actually had some volume to it yesterday, a rarity up here in our low humidity. OOTD: Shorts and a Tshirt. Not doing anything but watching soccer and then going out to get some takeout for dinner.

Sherri - I hope you have the most wonderful cruise. At least you start in a major city (Amsterdam) so the hubs can pick up what he forgot!!

Both BB games were exciting. The World has caught up to us! I have to say - in the men's game, the last 3-pointer Steph Curry put up put me on the floor!! Off of one leg, falling away. Woah! It's still good that the kid got his Olympic experience, even if it was the prelims. I couldn't fathom keeping my composure at that young, on the world stage with the best in the world. He still gets a medal since he did the prelims. Now he can go home and get his drivers license. I did my TJ's run yesterday. Got a lot of my staples and a few fun things. Mango Cream popcicles. Those and the Root Beer ones are a nice cool off when it's 80 degrees in the house. They had fresh figs so I had to grab some - the season for figs is so short. OOTD: light joggers and a Tshirt. Settling in to watch the end of the Olympics!

That soccer match was hard to watch. Brazil had a firm grip on the ball and the US just looked tired. They thankfully came alive in the 2nd. The kid in the 4x400 relay just finished his sophomore year in HS! I had read about him in the DC/VA section of the Washington Post earlier this summer. He should improve and improve as his gets older and matures. It'll be fun to watch him. Not sure what was going on with the Men's BB team. I think it's just the rest of the world has absolutely caught up to them. The game against France should be a barnburner. France has it's share of NBA All Stars, too. I'm finally feeling "normal" again. It was a bi@ch of a week and so. I'm starting to think it was an inner ear infection, the whole right side of my head and ear have felt "stuck up" and I still have what I call "white noise" in my ear. I've got an appt with my NP this week so I'll ask about it. I'm heading down the hill today - the fridge is empty and TJ's is calling... OOTD: my light brown sleeveless tank maxi dress and my white high tops. Tired of wearing my denim shorts.

We had lots of thunder all day, but just a spit of rain. Excessive heat warning again today... Lois - thank goodness it was just a lot of rain for you. My relatives in Charleston and Beaufort are all tucked in and waiting for Debby. That was an awesome 100m! Then, did you see men's pole vault??? A little over 20 ft!!! 2 stories!! I started feeling better yesterday. Not totally, but I can at least stand without getting dizzy. I did wake up a couple of times overnight and I saw the room spin a little. I did a little self-Eppley on the bed and it does help.

I do need to get that Epley maneuver done - I have to see if I can get in somewhere tomorrow. I don't have a cuff for my BP. my pulse and O2 are good. My morning blood sugar has been OK except for my really bad day and it was 152 instead of in the low 00s. The liquid IV is in packets. I hate it, but gotta do what I gotta do with what I have at home. I have several hydration samples from my outdoor subscription boxes. I remembered last night that I had some ginger chews in my daypack so I dug them out and started using them. It has helped the nausea. I'm still feeling a bit queasy and a little dizzy today. I'm getting tired eating rice, though, but that and the plain bagels are nice on my stomach. I had some yogurt this morning and my stomach didn't really approve. Florida ladies: I hope you are all set for Debby's visit. Stay safe! OOTD: denim shorts & Woolx Tshirt. It's worked OK so far in couch surfing.

Thanks Lois. It really messes with daily life.

the post above was supposed to be for yesterday. I guess I forgot to "submit". Lois - that soccer match was darn good. The US needs to get more cohesive on the offense, I think. I bet they get Canada in the semis. Watched US-Montenegro men's water polo - not much of match, but I still love watching water polo. Oh - the guy who won bronze in the 10,000 meters is from my town! He moved here to be able to train at altitude. My little town now has 2 medallists - women's mountain bike and men's 10,000. Not bad for a little town that is famous for winter sport Olympians! Well, no rodeo today, either. I'm still dealing with vertigo, but not as bad as the other day/night. We're still in the heat/smoke cycle, so I'm just going to hang out again and watch Olympics. OOTD: denim shorts and a sleeveless Tshirt.

Melody - I was lucky to get fast-tracked to an international official license when we hosted the Olympic Winter Games. Worked every bobsled and skeleton event we had from 1998 until 2002. Took the training and passed the test. I was the first women to be Chief of Finish for all bobsled and skeleton for the Olympics for 2002. Huge thrill. Definitely not going to the rodeo today. I had a horrible 2 days. I came down with the worst case of vertigo since 3 years ago when I fell and cracked my head and went to the ER. I don't know why it showed up. Ended up just laying flat in bed for 36 hours - I did have to run to the toilet to vomit a few times, just so absoutely dizzy. I at least listened/watched the Olympics from the bed last night. I can at least get up and walk around today. I drove to the new bagel place (took over my favorite coffee place) and picked up a couple bagels to nibble on today. Lots of water with Liquid IV in it. OOTD: denim shorts and a Woolx short sleeve Tshirt. They are nice in the heat. Up to the 90s today with the smoke still hanging around.

Melody - I hope she keeps moving up the ref ranks!!! I have to say, it is a major rush to be an official in an Olympic Games. Noticed that the men's US-Guinea soccer match had a female ref. I don't believe I've seen a female ref in that high of a men's FIFA game before. Feeling old again today. I was a student at UCLA watching Steve Kerr play basketball for Arizona. Now, he's an old guy coaching the USA team!!! The women's USA-Serbia volleyball game was a major barnburner! It was supposed to be kind of easy for Serbia, but... Our weather sucks big time today. Not quite as hot, but still red flag warning. The smoke is really bad - I can barely see the mountains that are a mile away. I think I have a smoke-induced headache. If it stays this bad the rest of the week, I may not go to the rodeo. OOTD: running shorts and a tank top. Just trying to endure...