Zephyr Phoenix

Most of our mornings, recently, have been foggy but this morning, so far, it's very clear and there is definitely snow on the mountain tops. Let's see if this crazy zoom can get it. Yep! Just shot this from right here sitting at my table. Amazing. Amazing that this is my view and amazing that this silly telephone can take such a picture.



My chauffeur service got canceled. Hazel came by late yesterday to say that they did not get the appointment after all. She was with John so I told them both that they do not need me. They only need to go to the front desk and asked for a ride and they can do that at the last minute if they need to. I'm not sure they believed me but next time they come ask, that's what I will tell them ... again.

The front desk manager actually called me yesterday - after I sent an email asking - and explained that what they offer is concierge Uber an Lyft service. You go down to the front desk and request a ride. They make all of the arrangements and the car picks you up and takes you wherever you want to go. THEN when you are ready to come home, you call the front desk (or, like in Hazel's case, have the doctor's office do it) here and tell them you are ready and your ride comes to where ever you are and picks you up and brings you home. No cellphone needed. No app needed. Not even a credit card. The payment goes onto your Timber Ridge account. I think that is slick as shit, honestly.

Not to mention it takes me flat off the fucking hook. Whew. It's not just the one drive, it's the future of being the person she depends on and then involved with her medical care and grocery store trips. I fell into a rabbit hole with Myrna which resulted in my making decisions that were not mine to make (and making some of them very wrong) and my being beat up by her family for being so involved. It was a hard, but a good lesson. I just need to remember it. The line between being nice and kind or getting sucked in is not that fine. I just need to pay attention.

So today's ONLY to-do is to go out to the elbow this afternoon for an hour and work the jigsaw puzzle while Tatitania cleans my house. Tough duty. But, hey, I can do it.

Oh shit, I just saw where the baseball game last night went 18 innings. THANKTHELORD I can just ignore it.

I was thinking about making a trip to Goodwill this week since I'm so pool-free but then I remembered that this is the one week, for sure, when a casual trip to Goodwill is not even possible. Halloween. Oh well, just as well. I do not need more stuff.

I have had a nice spell of not too much spending and zero Amazon returns! The rain jacket I ordered from Columbia arrived and it works fine. I'd love for the arms to have a bit more room but I can deal. And, of course, we are celebrating by having one of the first non rainy days in a while!

This morning, Hazel came to me and asked me to take her to the doctor's tomorrow. Her doctor is a good 20-30 minutes from here. I told her I would do it. I am not doing anything and it's at 11 so not a horrible time. I told her I'd come get her at 10:30. She went off happy.

And I got more and more annoyed. I am not her ride. I am not her keeper. Her husband will never drive again. She can barely see to walk much less drive. They sold the fucking car. She told me this morning that her son and daughter in law were too busy to take her.

And I realize that this is the beginning of this being an every day thing until one of us dies. And what if she wants me to go into the doctor with her?? This is not my job and if it is, I quit.

After chewing on it all day, I finally went down to Bonny and asked her to talk me off the ledge. I wasn't a 10th of the way into the explanation when she said loudly "NO!! You shouldn't be taking her. I know I won't. No. It's not fair to either of us." And "She needs to figure out a long term plan that is not you or me."

She told me I should tell her that I won't take her tomorrow but, I won't. I'll use tomorrow to Have The Talk. To tell her she's enjoying her last ride with me. Bonny says she can go to the front desk any time she needs a ride anywhere and they will get her a Lyft or an Uber and make all the arrangements and charge her Timber Ridge account so she doesn't even need to pay. I just sent a note down to the front desk to make sure I've got the facts right. If Bonny is right, that is the golden ticket.

Bonny's a good egg. At least I did get the gas tank filled last week.

I keep running out of soy sauce. I don't even use it that much but, every time I reach for it, I then look for my backup cause the soy sauce is low and I have no backup. Then I buy more and lather, rinse, repeat. Soooo weird. But today's teriyaki from the freezer was delicious.

Turns out Saturday night's power failure killed my toothbrush and two of Timber Ridge's elevators. Amazon is bringing me a new toothbrush today and I got the email about the elevator just as I was heading out to it so I turned and used the closer one. Now they are all fixed.

I did a small load of laundry yesterday and it finished without a hitch. WTF? That machine is a prima dona. I canceled the service appointment and got my $50 refund started. I was at least able to do it all online. No phone calls needed. The way godintended.

I spent most of yesterday making snowmen. I made three. I don't really like any of them. The red hat is the best one but it was also the most fiddly to make. BUT here's the fun part. I took this picture of the three of them.



And then in the Google photos app, I clicked on edit and then on the microphone and told it to replace the background with blue. In the blink of an eye, I got this.



Wild.

I made one more and he's closest to what I want but still wrong proportions and his carrot nose looks like a duck bill. I may try one more or I may just abandon snowmen.



I put them all on the shelf and half were gone before I left for my swim this morning and the other half were gone by the time I got back. So at least they have been adopted.

I have a new/different number to call to see if I can get a nearby eye doctor but I'm not going to call on Monday morning. It's no emergency - tomorrow or Wednesday will be soon enough.

My last swim was lovely. They are now saying they hope to be finished with the pool work by Friday afternoon. I'm going to need to force myself to walk or something every day for the rest of the week. Sigh.