slidergirl

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...

Melody - glad to hear Les' surgery went well. Hope it's the last of it! Loved the ending of men's gymnastic team comp. My one niece is a Penn State "auntie" - she gets to know so many of the athlete there. She was the first to tell me to keep an eye on Stephen Nedoroscik. Outstanding gymnast and an BSEE! I couldn't watch all of the women's gymnastic team comp, but I'd pop in once in awhile. It was nice to see Jade Carey looking better today after being sick all week. A little more color in her face. I almost want to say I bet she had the 'vid because it's all over the place. I got to see the last bit of the women's rugby 7s to see the US score that amazing goal at the literal end of the game to win bronze. BTW - it was a woman from Utah who scored! Watching US-Romania in men's water polo now. We've got high temps, wind, and low humidity - making for a red-flag warning. I sure hope no more fires pop up in the area. Between those and the wind blowing smoke in from CA, it's just nasty. Like Melody, I'm hanging inside and watching the Olympics. OOTD: my hoodie mini dress.

Lois - yep, happy to see the women have choices now in what they wear. BUT, the one US women's team was wearing bottoms closer to a thong than a bikini bottom 🙀 I was made to feel old again today. Watched the women's volleyball game vs China. I caught a look at the US coach - Karch Kiraly!!! I went to UCLA at the same time. He hung out with one of the guys on our dorm floor, another VB player (Joe Mica). Young, tan (he got into beach VB with another teammate, Singin Smith) and sun-bleached blonde hair. Now, leathered skin and buzzed grey hair. Sigh. Time passes. We have some more little fires in the area now. Fire dept doing their best and some helicopters are helping with water drops. With those and the winds blowing smoke in from CA, the air is rated "unhealthy" today. No outdoor activities on tap today. OOTD: denim shorts and gray Woolx short sleeve T. I had to run out this morning to get my coffee fix - I was out of cream.

I always thought it was a bit sexist to require women to wear a bikini when men could wear board shorts with a tank/Tshirt... I do love a shipload (notice I worked in cruising 😸) of sports too. There are certain sports that I just can't watch on TV because the commentary rubs me the wrong way (gymnastics, diving, ice skating). Swimming is always fun to watch, especially with Rowdy Gaines does color. I'd love to see him and Michael Phelps do color on a race together. The France/Greece men's BB game was totally fun to watch yesterday. Found out this morning on FB that a young woman from Park City won silver in women's mountain biking. Saw that Argentina lost their first soccer game - didn't see that coming. We've got a lot of smoke in the air today. Nasty. OOTS is running shorts and a Tshirt. Not going anywhere and it's still hot.

Cynthia - my heart goes out to your mother and you. I cannot fathom what your mother is going through. I've not had a person with dementia in my family to know the issues. I can only send you my love. Lois - I grew up in sports. I had school mates, a teacher, and teammates participate in various Summer Olympics. Swimming and water polo were my things. I still love to watch them, but I've added some of those other sports. Watched Men's Rugby Sevens games this morning. I'll watch soccer when it's on - it'll be like the World Cup all over again. One of my dorm floor friends was a volleyball player and did both court and beach. I do like watching all the volleyball, too. I just saw the US men decimate Australia in the 4x100 free relay - it was supposed to be tight, but it wasn't close. Now, I'm watching women's beach volleyball. So nice to see the women are now allowed to wear legging instead of just a bikini bottom. Never understood why that was in the rules. Still too hot for me. My ceiling fans and my new (thanks Prime Day) floor pedestal fan are working hard to keep me just hot, not boiling. I'm running out of sparkling water, so I'll have to switch to tap water with some Just Lemon/Lime/Grapefruit in it. Best line I've seen so far on Olympics: "Snoop Dogg carried the blunt, I mean torch" when someone commented on Snoop's leg of the torch run.

Welcome home Cynthia. I'm happy for you to have had a good time on the cruise. I know all about a "too small" mouth. When I was a kid, we had one dentist in town. When my permanent teeth started to come in, he said my mouth was too small for all of them, so he yanked the first molar that came in on the bottom. Never noticed a problem without it all these years! Melody - we finally got a little bit of ran overnight. It came with some lightning and thunder. I was still awake at 2am and I could see the lightning through my bedroom window blinds. It did chase some of the smoke away. We have our annual Arts Festival in town next weekend. It's a huge thing. All of Main St. is shut down and turned into a sea of artwork. Several thousand people a day cram into 4 blocks of town. It's literally tent-to-tent people all the way down the street. I'll stay away. Too many people, no air, way too hot (and hotter with our temps now). It used to be fun to go, but as with all things as they get popular, just too much now. I have tickets for the county Rodeo anyway -that would be too much time outside in the sun to do both. OOTD: my very old Athleta hoodie mini dress. It's always a good summer standby. Going to settle in and watch the Opening Ceremonies.

Yes, we're back on the Olympics track! We're lucky in that we've done excellent maintenance of the facilities we built for 2002 so that major expense isn't there. I didn't feel that we were overloaded with guests in 2002. The couple of times I went up to our Main St. when I wasn't working at the track were not crowded. I got to go to one medals ceremony/concert (Dave Matthews Band) the night before I started working at the track. It was down in Salt Lake. It was a tad crowded to drive & park. Same with Opening & Closing Ceremonies. Maybe we'll get more activity since Park City is more of a known place. Still won't bother me. Back then I still had my "big house". the now-ex and I hosted some of the skeleton athletes we got to know over the years that weren't selected to compete. Great Britain, Jamaica, Canada, US. It gave them a free place to stay so they could still be a part of the fun with their sliding friends.

Yep, it's been checked multiple times over the years when I've used it. Nothing torn, nothing broken. Just a little dirty from that log of usage - it shows it's travel character.

Lucky you in Colorado Springs! Looks like it came up from the South and missed Utah. We had just enough to wet the cement on the back patio. The fields and hills are looking all brown and dry already. Our forecast is no precip for the next 10 days. OOTD: Woolx Tshirt and my black flowered bike-short-length tights. Cool and comfy!

If you are looking for something to binge-watch: on Prime, Gino's Italian Escape. A travel/food show made for British TV. It's a nice easy show to watch. Nice locations, easy recipes to cook.

My Osprey Sojourn 2-wheeler has inset big off-road wheels. I've had it since 2010 and have not blown a wheel yet. I get my experience with all sorts of luggage is from working at hotels and currently a resort lodge. I've dragged more bags than I have wanted to - big, little, 2 wheel, 4 wheel, ski bags, golf bags - you name it. I'm still a 2 wheel, soft-side person.

I hadn't done white port before, either. Once in awhile I've done red port as an after dinner drink with some chocolate. It's definitely not a drink I'd do alot. But, that white port & tonic is very good! OOTD: still hot, hot, hot. Denim shorts and a Woolx Tshirt.