writer
Software glitch last night. Couldn’t get in. Looks like I’m back in business.
Mom went in to surgery this morning for a transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Fingers crossed.
PT for me this morning. Orthopedic office tomorrow.
Gonna be a long week.
Nice evening at K’s. Great dinner, great company. Saw a band of coyotes, dancing and yammering, down in the trees before we went home. Coolest thing I’ve seen in a long, long time.
Woke early, went straight to work. A good morning. Spoke to Jack and Matty, too.
Big wins blew through the neighborhood yesterday. 60 mph. Took out two big trees in at the church, a beautiful blue spruce and a nice old silver maple.
Finished the two N critiques in my queue, tried to take a nap, got stymied by a long line of honking cars passing under the window.
Still windy. Looking forward to an uneventful evening. More, looking forward to seeing the orthopedic folks on Wednesday.
Forging ahead with the new novel. Better, making progress—or whatever it is that passes for progress at this point.
Worked out early to avoid the heat. Good plan, and one to take into the future given the forecasts. Made a few phone calls after, including one to my uncle. Prospects of commercial work back on the radar. Hope some of it—any of it—comes through.
Made a brief trip to the storage unit to see what needs to be cleared. Not much. Wish my arm felt better, but determined to get everything out before things get complicated. Gym’s opening Monday, so maybe I can talk to my buddy Solomon and see if he’s willing to lend me a hand, lifting. There’s a desk in there that weighs more than my old rolltop, but doesn’t have a smidgen of the charm. Like to take a chainsaw and bucket of kerosene to it, but under the circumstances it’s probably ill-advised.
Long nap this afternoon. Been trying to fight off the fatigue, but that too is tiring. Gonna be damned disappointed if I find out it’s old age that’s doing this to me, not a torn rotator.
Dinner at K’s tomorrow night. Be good to get out of here for a while.
Up early. Early to the cottage, writing. PT mid-morning.
Something happened between then and now, some of which could be described as a therapeutic nap. But I don’t want to go and get technical .
Calling it a day.
Coherence tomorrow!
Gains and losses made today.
An early rise, respectable time at the keyboard. Midday interruptions with doctors offices. Leaned (surprise) the x-rays of the arm revealed nothing. No breaks, nothing remarkable in the structure of the joints. I have now (officially) been referred to the orthopedic specialist with whom I have an appointment next Wednesday. Expect an MRI, diagnosis, and probably surgery. Would take bets on it.
Got in a decent workout this afternoon, then went off shopping. No stuffed snakes to be had, but did find Salonpas, hand sanitizer, and an ice pack at Walgreens.
Happy to know I may finally get to the bottom of the arm debacle. Wish it would move along a little more quickly, but in fairness to all, I can’t complain. It’s me who’s allowed the thing to go on so long.
Nice talk with my buddy S, late this morning.
Need to give Mom a call tomorrow.
So, a step forward maybe. Two steps forward.
Up to work early, some good writing before going off to PT. After, home again, a little more writing.
Worked out, then drove to the bank, the barber, and the doc’s office for X-rays. Talked you young Jack when I got home. After that, Mom.
Got in a short walk around five. Beat now.
Calling it a day.
This is why expectations are pointless.
Woke early, was in front of the keyboard before six, managed two hours of decent writing, then watched the rest of the day implode.
Three hours plus on the phone with the health care idiots. First with tech, trying to get the patient portal to work, then with a parade of well-meaning, but mostly benighted underlings. Played advocate for myself in an attempt to get treatment for the arm, but without much success. Explained there was no point having a discussion unless we knew exactly what it was we were talking about, but rather than prescribe an X-ray or MRI—anything that might provide a picture of the injury— they recommended another round of teleconferencing. I hung up, called an orthopedic specialist on my own. We’ll see what comes of it. Supposed to hear back from them tomorrow.
The rest of the day went pretty much the same. False starts, wasted time. Nothing accomplished. Didn’t even get around to working out. Took a nap to try and forget about the pain, and it turned out to be the best decision I made since getting out of bed. Feeling better now, clear-headed anyway. Maybe I can salvage the evening.
Mom’s angiogram positive. She’s now looking at release sometime tomorrow with possible heart-valve surgery in two weeks. Fingers crossed she gets what she wants.
Back in that place. The bad arm place. Evening comes, I get tired, the arm gets tired, and pretty soon nobody’s having any fun.
On the bright side, the revisions of the new novel are coming along pretty well. Got an easy, relaxed thing going. Oddly—and this may be the first time ever—I’ve found myself worrying about exceeding a word count. Anyway, things are moving in the right direction.
Soft day today. Worked, walked, worked out. No nap, but none necessary.
Gonna try and get to bed early tonight and hit it hard tomorrow. Need to make another doc appointment, check up on Mom, and see about a potential commercial project. The rest should be cake, right?
Early rise today. Not enough to beat the sun, but not bad. Put in some good work at the keyboard.
Spent some time working out, and think it helped the arm. Warmed it up anyway. Can’t say I did much the rest of the afternoon but lie around and read. Take a short nap before a firewood delivery truck came rumbling through the neighborhood raising hell.
Thought I might grill a couple of steaks tonight, but lost the ambition after the rain started. Figure to stay in and have grilled cheese sandwiches instead.
Got a note over a story submission. Editors letting me know the piece has made it to the top man. Making sure it’s still available. Watch, they’ll reject it in end!
Skies gray and weepy tonight. Hope it adds up to some serious moisture.
Young K across the street appears to be doing some home ministry. Long line of cars keeps coming and going. Masks, no masks. People of all shapes and sizes. Strange times, indeed.
There’s story material in just about everything, I guess. For me, the arm’s provided a novel’s worth. Woke in the middle of the night knowing exactly how Grendel must’ve felt when he met up with Beowulf. Like someone was tearing it from its socket. Worse, it stayed that way all day. Is still that way.
On the positive side, got some decent revision work in, and later, managed to catch up with mom. She sounded strong, less down than I might’ve expected. Said they’re looking at releasing her after the weekend. There’s been some discussion of a valve procedure, but haven’t heard anything official.
Got to FaceTime later with Jackie this afternoon. So maybe the day went better than I remember. He was waxing philosophic about his part in developing a Covid vaccine. Said, “I’m not a researcher, I’m a builder.” (In this case, I believe he meant builder of consensus. But hey, I don’t want to put words in anyone’s mouth.)
Mowed my lawns. One looks fine, the other not. The way it goes, right?
Took an early evening walk around the hood. Not much culinary ambition tonight. Pot pies. A glass of whiskey. Hemlock? Whatever works.
Beat tonight. Must’ve been the PT.
Up early thanks to the arm, and out the door to the cottage. Made a lot of good revisions on the new novel before going off to therapy.
Wrote a little more when I got home, proofed some old material, worked out and took a nap watching Double Indemnity. Got in a short walk late evening. Made an olive/chicken dish for dinner. Wasn’t much of a day, but it was the best it was going to be.
Enjoyed the Grant series on the History Channel. Gonna have to bookmark it for another viewing.
Mom not released yet. Happy she has so many people looking after her.
Up early, just after 5:00. Got in some good time with the new novel. After that, coffee on the patio and an easy workout.
Spent most of the afternoon in a Zoom conference with the doctor down in Albuquerque. Mom’s to be released in a day or so. Calcified aortic valve, congestive heart failure. Other stuff. Palliative care, then hospice.
Later, got a call from Jack and Matty. Nice way to end a downer day.
Not sure what tomorrow’s gonna bring—except for more PT.
Slept in as best I could. Up at 7:00, but only got in a submission or two before heading off for PT.
Worked out. Took a nap. Spoke briefly to mom. She’s in palliative care now. No direct conversation with doc, but understand we’re to have a zoom conference soon. She’s in the hospital through tomorrow. After that, who knows?
Letter off to the boys.
Sad night.
Looking for an early rise tomorrow, start piecing things together.
Each day gives you something new.
Was working out this morning when Patrick called to say mom’s in the hospital. Respiratory issues. They don’t think Covid, but no one knows for sure. Congestive heart failure might be just as likely. Hospital down there is overrun, so will just have to wait and see what the diagnosis is.
Put away the Frontgate garland, then drove to King Soopers to pick up some groceries. Prescriptions, too. Ran out of Symbicort and didn’t even know it. Strange, strange weekend.
Dipped back into the new novel. Found it wasn’t as sucky as I imagined. Need to bear down on it the next few weeks, see what I can make of it.
Would’ve liked to hear from the boys this weekend. Maybe tomorrow. Have a PT session early, 9:30. Looking forward to it. Looking forward to it a lot.
Just back from a walk around the neighborhood. Pretty night.
Not entirely sure where this one went, but go it did.
Up later than usual. (Too much of a good time the night prior.) Put in a few easy edits, then drank coffee out back till the clouds moved in.
Took it easy all afternoon. Did some research, made a couple of submissions, and decided to skip the workout in favor of a little rest. Made a pot of navy bean soup took a short nap, and here I am. No better/worse for the wear.
Miss my boys. Thought maybe we’d get a call this weekend, but no dice. Well, at least we got a little work done.
Gonna hit it hard tomorrow and see if I can’t get something started. Meanwhile, will hang back and see what happens.
Arm came back with a vengeance today. Serves me right for thinking I was on the road to recovery. Worked out anyway, ran through the PT, and spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning out the storage unit. Not a whole lot of things to move but what’s there is big, heavy, and breakable.
Work at the keyboard came a little slow this morning, but believe I have a reader draft of another new story. Should know by tomorrow.
Hot again today, no rain in sight. Locust trees in back are finally beginning to bud out. They’re usually earlier, but it’s been a crazy eight or ten months of weather. Ash trees in the front are often the last to come into season but this spring they beat the locusts and the oaks. Cottonwood in back hasn’t fared as well as the others. May have to give it the last rights soon.
K coming for dinner tonight. Pasta pomodoro. Should be a nice relaxing evening.
Better night’s sleep last night. Arm backed off a little. Woke up fresh and got to work on the Philharmonic project. Pushed it out the door just before noon.
Got in a nice workout with some good rehab reps. Maybe I’ll get this thing in reasonable condition after all. Fingers crossed, right?
Wanted to go for a walk, but the day got hot and windy so opted for a short nap instead. After, showered and went off to the storage unit to take inventory of what stays and what needs to go. Gonna clean the place out by week’s end, have done with it once and for all.
Didn’t get to go fishing today, but maybe next week. No point pressing for the high country this weekend with a holiday going on. Done that before, and it was ugly.
John and Edie in concert tonight. Gonna catch the feed on TV this time. Looking forward to it. Should be a nice quiet evening.
Losing ground here.
Up early to work, then off to the physical therapist for treatment. Got through everything fine, worked out, took a short nap, then went back to the keyboard.
Gotta get this arm thing in perspective and back working again. It’s a GD nuisance, and worse.
Cut the lawns and was happy to see the progress of at least one of them. Maybe there’s hope for the other, I don’t know, but it looks pretty bleak at the moment. Gonna try changing up the sprinkler system. Water deeper and less frequently. Who knows?
Memorial Day weekend coming up. Was hoping to go fishing tomorrow, but looks as if work will keep me from it. No complaints. Maybe after the long weekend.
More later.
Day of recovery. I think.
Spent most of the morning working on a new commercial project, fighting off the “ow” of yesterday’s therapy session. Got in a workout later, and a nap after that. Feeling trashed, but not unexpected. Another PT session early tomorrow.
We’ll see what comes.
Rip roaring day, for sure.
Got a new story in place, touched up an old one, put in a decent workout, then went off to my first PT session. What didn’t hurt before hurts now. But glad to be moving forward.
Took a short walk when I got home. Didn’t have much left in the tank, so called it quits after a few blocks. Picked up some necessaries at Costco, came home again and called it a wrap.
Gonna hit the rack early tonight and see if I can’t get a good night’s sleep. Shoot for an early rise and get a new project drafted for the Philharmonic.
Hot today. Upper eighties. Hope it doesn’t last into the weekend. Need the grass to have a chance this year.
