On The Road
Happy Ides of March...(I guess--doesn't really seem like a cause for celebration)
Denny and I drove up to Soldotna and back for his post-op check-up today--about eighty miles each way. It was a gorgeously clear day for a drive, the road was bare and dry and we saw six moose in the first fifteen miles. To the west, the long escarpment of the Alaska/Aleutian Range shone white against sky across the width of Cook Inlet. We even caught occasional glimpses of Augustine Volcano, steaming away in the far distance, hazy in the sun.
Denny's been a bit hasty trying to get fully back on his feet. His meeting with his surgeon encouraged him to take it a bit easier for a while. He gets so impatient to get things done around the house that just lying in bed is frustrating for him. I can feel for him--and I do wish he could do more around the house--but I want him to end up with the best knees possible and that takes good healing time.
After the doctor's office, we went shopping (as always.)
Denny, ever the frugal one, has been mildly fascinated by a liquidation store that recently opened in Soldotna--more so than I. The store's wares consist mostly of cheap imported knock-offs or shop-worn items of dubious worth, but Denny loves to think he's saving money by buying something cheap--while I would rather pay more for something of quality. Not that we ever fight over money but we do have slightly different shopping strategies.
Anyway, we went to the liquidation store and Denny bought some windshield washer hose and a very dusty carton of carburetor cleaner. Come to the check-out stand and discover that the establishment has switched over to the electronic debit system where they take your check, run it through their machine and get the money instantly transferred from your checking account--then they give you the check back for you to destroy. That's how it is supposed to work. I imagine the stores like it because they get their money right away. I detest the system, though, because I have to spend the time filling out a check that is going to be handed right back to me, so not only have I wasted my time in filling the check out but have used up a check as well. If we are going to go through all that, I'd just as soon put the purchase on a credit card. Anyway--of course things did not go smoothly and there was something wrong with the line so they couldn't get through to our bank and we had to pay with cash (which we would have done if we had known what a waste of time the whole thing was going to be.) Denny's nose was (rightfully, I think) out of joint because they wouldn't take our check (which they were happy enough to take two months ago) for their cheap-ass crap when we have excellent credit and have never had a check bounce. So, I guess we won't be shopping there any more. I'm not shedding any tears, of course, but they lost a great potential customer in Denny.
So, we drove over to Kenai to hit Home Depot. I had bought a screen door for BeBe's room when I was killing time during Denny's surgery two weeks ago and while I was in the store, I noticed they were selling three-foot tall Norfolk pines for $17.98. I had been seriously tempted but I already had a (7-inch tall) Norfolk pine that I had been nursing along for two years so I couldn't really justify buying another one. So when we got home from Kenai that evening, I discovered my little Norfolk pine had died. It gets so warm downstairs with the wooodstove going in the winter that I have to keep all the plants well-watered. With getting geared up for Denny's surgery, watering duties had slipped my mind for too long, I guess. I was really sad to think my little tree had died and tried to revive it but no luck... So I promised myself that I would buy another one if they were still on sale when we went back to Kenai.
And they were! So I thought, what the hell and bought two of them. Denny looked bemusedly at me as if to suggest this was a waste of money but I just said, "This makes me happy," and that was that. Surely for less expense than the three cases of beer I bought him this week, I will have much more enjoyment of my purchase and I think it will add to the atmosphere of the house.
I mean, something is wrong with our house. It saps my energy and puts my nerves on edge. I need to find a way to bring more positive energy into the space and I think it will take more than just de-cluttering it. So now I have two little pine trees.
After Home Depot, we went to the warehouse store and bought all their cases of canned Friskies and eight 35-lb tubs of scoopable cat litter and four cans of coffee and a case of Heet and two cases of Diet Rock Star as well as sundry other items. They were still selling the five-shelf Gorilla Shelf units (that I bought in Homer for $86.98) for $99.98 so I guess I did good in buying them locally.
At the check stand, the checker looked at our cart and said, "Wow--either you have a lot of cats...."
"Got it in one," I said.
Then, we gassed up and hit the long road home. Driving south into the sun was drowsy-making so I felt I should stay awake to keep Denny awake. Once we got home, I sent him up to take a nap while I unloaded most of the stuff from the Suburban. Then I re-heated some ham for a snack and took it up to nap with him. We dozed until about five, then I got up and put dinner in the oven.
It was a full day and I was too tired to do much with Dinky, so I will give her a double-dose of fluids tomorrow. She is looking so good and feels like she actually has gained some weight back, so I am interested in seeing what her bloodwork looks like next week--and didn't think one day of rest is going to do her any harm. She's eating so well, I'm not sure she needs the Pepcid every other day, but I will ask Dots about that when we see her.
Denny and I drove up to Soldotna and back for his post-op check-up today--about eighty miles each way. It was a gorgeously clear day for a drive, the road was bare and dry and we saw six moose in the first fifteen miles. To the west, the long escarpment of the Alaska/Aleutian Range shone white against sky across the width of Cook Inlet. We even caught occasional glimpses of Augustine Volcano, steaming away in the far distance, hazy in the sun.
Denny's been a bit hasty trying to get fully back on his feet. His meeting with his surgeon encouraged him to take it a bit easier for a while. He gets so impatient to get things done around the house that just lying in bed is frustrating for him. I can feel for him--and I do wish he could do more around the house--but I want him to end up with the best knees possible and that takes good healing time.
After the doctor's office, we went shopping (as always.)
Denny, ever the frugal one, has been mildly fascinated by a liquidation store that recently opened in Soldotna--more so than I. The store's wares consist mostly of cheap imported knock-offs or shop-worn items of dubious worth, but Denny loves to think he's saving money by buying something cheap--while I would rather pay more for something of quality. Not that we ever fight over money but we do have slightly different shopping strategies.
Anyway, we went to the liquidation store and Denny bought some windshield washer hose and a very dusty carton of carburetor cleaner. Come to the check-out stand and discover that the establishment has switched over to the electronic debit system where they take your check, run it through their machine and get the money instantly transferred from your checking account--then they give you the check back for you to destroy. That's how it is supposed to work. I imagine the stores like it because they get their money right away. I detest the system, though, because I have to spend the time filling out a check that is going to be handed right back to me, so not only have I wasted my time in filling the check out but have used up a check as well. If we are going to go through all that, I'd just as soon put the purchase on a credit card. Anyway--of course things did not go smoothly and there was something wrong with the line so they couldn't get through to our bank and we had to pay with cash (which we would have done if we had known what a waste of time the whole thing was going to be.) Denny's nose was (rightfully, I think) out of joint because they wouldn't take our check (which they were happy enough to take two months ago) for their cheap-ass crap when we have excellent credit and have never had a check bounce. So, I guess we won't be shopping there any more. I'm not shedding any tears, of course, but they lost a great potential customer in Denny.
So, we drove over to Kenai to hit Home Depot. I had bought a screen door for BeBe's room when I was killing time during Denny's surgery two weeks ago and while I was in the store, I noticed they were selling three-foot tall Norfolk pines for $17.98. I had been seriously tempted but I already had a (7-inch tall) Norfolk pine that I had been nursing along for two years so I couldn't really justify buying another one. So when we got home from Kenai that evening, I discovered my little Norfolk pine had died. It gets so warm downstairs with the wooodstove going in the winter that I have to keep all the plants well-watered. With getting geared up for Denny's surgery, watering duties had slipped my mind for too long, I guess. I was really sad to think my little tree had died and tried to revive it but no luck... So I promised myself that I would buy another one if they were still on sale when we went back to Kenai.
And they were! So I thought, what the hell and bought two of them. Denny looked bemusedly at me as if to suggest this was a waste of money but I just said, "This makes me happy," and that was that. Surely for less expense than the three cases of beer I bought him this week, I will have much more enjoyment of my purchase and I think it will add to the atmosphere of the house.
I mean, something is wrong with our house. It saps my energy and puts my nerves on edge. I need to find a way to bring more positive energy into the space and I think it will take more than just de-cluttering it. So now I have two little pine trees.
After Home Depot, we went to the warehouse store and bought all their cases of canned Friskies and eight 35-lb tubs of scoopable cat litter and four cans of coffee and a case of Heet and two cases of Diet Rock Star as well as sundry other items. They were still selling the five-shelf Gorilla Shelf units (that I bought in Homer for $86.98) for $99.98 so I guess I did good in buying them locally.
At the check stand, the checker looked at our cart and said, "Wow--either you have a lot of cats...."
"Got it in one," I said.
Then, we gassed up and hit the long road home. Driving south into the sun was drowsy-making so I felt I should stay awake to keep Denny awake. Once we got home, I sent him up to take a nap while I unloaded most of the stuff from the Suburban. Then I re-heated some ham for a snack and took it up to nap with him. We dozed until about five, then I got up and put dinner in the oven.
It was a full day and I was too tired to do much with Dinky, so I will give her a double-dose of fluids tomorrow. She is looking so good and feels like she actually has gained some weight back, so I am interested in seeing what her bloodwork looks like next week--and didn't think one day of rest is going to do her any harm. She's eating so well, I'm not sure she needs the Pepcid every other day, but I will ask Dots about that when we see her.
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