Right Now: September 2023

Here's what's going on in my world Right Now in the second to last week of September.

Reveling In -  Cooler temperatures (finally!) and the slow approach of fall. It's been delightfully cool at night (in the upper 40s to mid-50s) with 70s and 80s during the day. I have been leaving the windows open and the house smells wonderfully fresh. Of course, this also means allergies, but they make drugs for that.

Patting myself on the back - For cleaning out my pantry cupboard. I threw away some old spices and organized all the things I kept. I know I don't lead a very exciting life, but sometimes I just like to open my pantry and enjoy the view. I'm making a concerted effort to actually use the items on the pantry shelves before I buy more (which happened after I found that I already had 480 PG Tips tea bags and didn't have to order any more). 

Drinking - Now that I can find and see all of it, I'm choosing from my assortment of tea. There is nothing like a nice warm cup of peppermint tea (or any of the other nine types of tea I have) to end the evening. 

Listening To - Bach Trios, delightful arrangements of Bach's works played on cello, mandolin, and bass. After this, it's The Goat Rodeo Sessions from the same musicians with the addition of Stuart Duncan on fiddle, banjo, and mandolin. These guys are good!

Watching - Unforgotten. Kym mentioned this show last week, and I've become slightly obsessed. It's a British police procedural where they investigate historical crimes, with Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar playing the main investigators. I love how the stories are slowly unraveled over a season, with thoughtfulness and sensitivity and without the usual US violence. I have to make myself do laundry, vacuum, and prepare food before I sit down to watch so I don't end up just sitting and watching all day. 

Learning - How to patch a tire, the easy way! I got a roofing nail in my back passenger tire and developed a slow leak. Ordinarily, I would have gone to the auto mechanics, they would have taken the tire off, told me they tried to patch it but were unsuccessful, and then they would try to sell me two new tires. Justin offered to show me how to fix it, in four minutes without taking the tire off. Using this kit, first, you remove the offending nail, then ream out the hole with the reaming tool. Then you take a really sticky plug strip, push it all the way into the tire with the plugging tool, and then pull it out, sealing the tire. It's been three weeks and no leaks! I'll probably regret saying this, but I'm excited to try this myself the next time I get a nail in my tire. 

Getting - The new covid booster later this week. I still haven't had covid (unless it was so mild I didn't even realize it) but I'm anxious to continue that streak since I'm 66 years old with somewhat compromised lung function from a pulmonary embolism. I made the executive decision not to get my flu shot for a few weeks, mostly because I felt poorly for 24 hours after both vaccines on prior occasions. I was afraid the effects would be multiplied if I got both vaccines at the same time.

Grateful - That my vertigo seems to be resolving, albeit slowly. I still have to be careful for a couple of hours when I get up in the morning, but with some meclizine and continuing repetitions of the Epley maneuver and vestibular exercises, it is dissipating. I made an appointment with an ENT but the first appointment I could get isn't until October 13th.

Reminding You - About the Read With Us discussion of The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida on our blogs and Zoom tomorrow. Please RSVP to Kym via the link on the right-hand side of her blog if you would like to receive an invitation to the Zoom discussion at 7:00 pm tomorrow night. I hope that many of you can join us!

What's going on in your world right now?