Small Talk: The Welcome Mat

[Netfoot]

Mo came and asked for his dinner. Several times. And I refused to give it to him. Because he'd already had his dinner. I'm quite happy to give him extra food, but only when we have extra food that I can give him! Tomorrow, I have to cook some more food that he and I can eat. I've got plenty of potatoes & carrots but we're short on rice. So I think a veggie stew with spuds, carrots & cucumber will have to do for at least one day. 

I'd like to go to see Dr. Kristi tomorrow because I've got a few aches and pains I'd like her to comment on but I know what she will say. "You need to go and have X test!" which I can't. So there is no point asking for medical advice which you have no intention of following. 

I'd also like to complain that I can no longer send her photos of her Godson. She did something with her phone a few weeks ago and ever since then, when I send her anything on WhatsApp, I get wonky results. To tell truth, I dunno how I got her personal phone number in the first place. She doesn't hand that out to every patient. And I've never abused the privilege. I've never called her, and I send her maybe 1-2 baby photos a week and perhaps an occasional joke every 2-3 weeks.

Mo is curled up at my shoulder. Oh, wait, he's gone to the window. No doubt he will go racing off momentarily.

I'm listening to That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be, by Carly Simon. I'm not a huge fan but her songwriting is good and her voice is pleasant enough. She has a number of popular hits, the most popular or at least best known probably being You're So Vain, but this one is quite a good number, if not really considered one of her top hits.

Mo is back, curled up on my shoulder again. 

I had more tummy pains this afternoon. Low abdomen. These seems to be pretty frequent these days. I hope it isn't some sort of cancer brought on by QEH ignoring the kidney. And speaking of QEH, I have to go see Dr. Jacinto on the 26th (why I don't know - they aren't going to do anything except write me a new prescription). And on the 15th (Friday), seeing as I need to replenish meds by the weekend I guess I will be spending a day at QEH and Edgar Cochrane Polyclinic. Last time it took no less than 6 hours and time before was 5 hours so by extrapolation Friday should take 7 hours. Or, I might just get lucky and and get done in 20 minutes... 

And I also gotta cash a welfare cheque and pay the Telco. Hopefully I will have got my hands on some sofa-foot money by then and some groceries can be acquired. Like chicken from Chicken Galore across the road from Edgar Cochrane...

Watched a movie. Cliffhanger with Sylvester Stallone in the lead role. I imagine most people will at least know the basic storyline, even if they haven't seen the show. Enjoyed it. It isn't deep, and the acting is not stellar, but easily entertaining enough to help pass a couple hours.

Mo is on the tiles. I have one last 1½ oz. bag of peanuts here and I'm pretty sure I won't get that opened before he is in the bed, front & center, waiting for his share!  Hey, wait! This bag of nuts are honey roasted! I bought three bags with a band around them and I thought I'd picked up honey roasted. Which is what I originally thought I'd bought. The first two bags were lightly salted.l so I assumed I'd screwed up somehow. I know lightly salted are better for you than honey roasted but since I buy nuts so rarely these days I thought I'd treat myself. Now I see the crooks put one honey roasted bag at the front and two lightly salted behind.

OK, I will feed him the nuts now. We share them. I get all the whole ones and he gets all the halves. That way he gets "more" in terms of numbers. I think on par he gets more in terms of weight too, but I'm not going to weigh the nuts to find out. These are my nuts and if I choose to eat the majority he will have to accept that. In fact, I am thinking that in the case of honey roasted, the policy going forward will be he gets one nut and I scoff all the rest!

After nuts comes shower, door, read, lights, sleep.

Edited Monday at 03:12 AM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Because my landlord is a idiot, half the light fittings in this house are bayonet and the other half are screw. I usually keep a box of each in the house for when a bulb blows and needs replacing. Unfortunately, I'm out of replacement bayonet bulbs and have only screw.

I've been wingeing about the bulb in the bedroom being blown and wisecracking about saving up for one. Well, the bulb in the shower blew tonight and as chance would have it, it too is bayonet. So once again I can't simply fit one of the spare screw bulbs I have.

Bulbs vary in price from $10 for two to $20 each. And anyway, the bayonet bulbs are increasingly difficult to find. I may have to replace the entire light fittings(s) and switch them from the sturdy, reliable bayonet type to the nasty, unreliable screw type. The cheapest of fittings will be about the same price as a bulb, but this job will require an electrician. Who I'm sure will work for cheap...

Edited Monday at 06:09 AM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

I boiled some potatoes and created a bully beef & onion sauce. I ended up with three portions. Mo and I had one each for lunch. He can have the last one for dinner. I will skip.

At first he was suspicious of the potatoes but after I persuaded him to taste them, he quickly saw them off. As he was taking his first taste, I looked away to check something in the computer and when I looked back, he was gone and the bowl was empty.

No sofa feet so far....

[Netfoot]

Entire lengthy post swallowed up by software. 

😐

Be satisfied with this:

Edited Tuesday at 03:24 AM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Woke just before the alarm to hear the fan spinning down.

No electricity.

When this happens, it never fails to put the wind up me! But I quickly discovered that the neighbor had lost power too..... The power came back after about 50 minutes. 

My toe hurts. I tried to give details yesterday but the post got eaten. Sufficient to say I've destroyed my right little toe. The nail came loose and the floor was covered in red stuff. Hobbling around the house with a paper towel & masking tape bandage on my foot...

[Netfoot]

I was just reading, after lunch (bully beef rice with field peas, carrot & onion). The phone rang and I rolled over to pick it up.

At that very moment, Mo came hurrying in with an urgent need to look out the window. This is usually accomplished by him putting his two front feet on the bedside table, with his two rear still on the bed. I was directly in his way! But, urgent is urgent...

I wonder what the man on the telephone thought when I suddenly went "Ooooooff!"

[Netfoot]

Off to bed! Uh-oh... Pillows already in use. 

(My blue-eyed boy!) Simple solution: wait until he moves. He is pretty mobile on an evening. In and out, window, behind me, in front... He will vacate my pillows before long. I hope.

Cooked up a pretty good pot of rice today. Only two cups, so enough for two of us, for two meals. Corned beef, carrot, onion and field peas. Although most Bajans will tell you that traditional Bajan peas'n'rice are made with pigeon peas, my mother always swore by field peas.

It tasted good at lunchtime, with two portions left for Mo and I to enjoy for dinner. I could have added some pumpkin but I forgot. I don't think the rice needed anything else, so no biggie.

Only a very small amount of rice remains. Not even a ¼ cup. It's much too little to cook. I will save it and add it to the first batch I make out of the next bag of rice. Which I won't be able to buy until I get a few bucks to spend. (No sofa feet as yet.)

Spent the afternoon reading and when I wandered out of the bedroom I noticed a delicious smell of rice wafting through the house. Suspicious, I looked in the kitchen. The stove was on under the rice pot! There was only a millimeter of flame, but that was enough to burn the remaining rice at the bottom of the pot. I was able to rescue a good portion for Mo's dinner, but after that I was only able to get about half a scoop of rice for my dinner, and it was dry, hard and crunchy. There was more, deeper in the pot, but it was almost black. Hungry West Indians are accustomed to eating "bun-bun" and I've done so many times. But there are limits. So very little dinner for daddy.

Listening to Put Your Arms Around Me by Scottish band Texas. 

< Six paragraphs eaten at this point. >

I read somewhere that lead singer Sharleen Spiterie describes herself as a bit of a tomboy. She has broken her nose several times in the past and suffers some minor sinus issues as a result. Apparently her doctors have told her the sinus issues could be resolved once and for all by clinically re-breaking and properly setting her nose. She has refused for fear that her singing voice might be affected. I hope her sinuses do not cause her much distress and I pray she does nothing to risk her voice. This track is from my favourite album by the band: White on Blonde, from sometime around the turn of the century. Their next album The Hush was also a good one!

So, no sofa feet. I have run out of sneaky ways to jog his memory and get him to bring me the work he promised. When he says "later this week or next Monday at the latest," I'm sure he is sincere but sometimes Mo and I need food and can't wait for him to remember. I must remember in future to say "I will jog your memory if I don't hear from you by Monday!"

Current funds stand at $4.28 and when pension drops on Thursday I will be able to squeeze an additional $26.02 out of it. Friday is welfare cheque day and I have a Telco bill of $97.02 to pay so unless they suddenly charge me extra that will be another $22.98 to spend. That comes to $53.28 unless my arithmetic is bad (which it frequently is). $50 won't buy a lot of groceries but some rice, milk, corned beef, stock cubes and hopefully some veggies to go in the rice. If I can stretch it that far. 

Mo has departed and I can hear him out by the gate barking at the universe. He will be back before long. 

< Four more paragraphs lost to the machine. Nearly lost everything! >

Mo returned while I fought to recover the post, but by time I got most of it back, he was gone again.

Watched latest episode of Tulsa King today. Don't usually like shows that glorify serious criminals but....

Ok, going to read my book. About 60 pages more to go so I won't be finishing it tonight. Unless sleep proves impossible. Which it does more nights recently than I am happy with.

Edited Yest. at 01:41 PM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

After three. No sleep. Finished The spoilers after all. Next: Running Blind. A retired British agent is persuaded to take a job for the secret service: deliver a small package to an active British agent in Iceland. As he is a frequent visitor to that country, is fluent in the language, has a local girlfriend and even has his own car and flat there, it should be simple. But that does not take account of a Russian agent with a grudge from before he retired. Or the bent British agent who needs to shut him up about something he knows. Or the CIA who are interested in the package...

This was made into a mini-series by the BBC yonks ago. I went searching without much hope, but I found it (on YT of all places) the day before yesterday! Watched it last night. Video quality low, and plot slightly simplified for production reasons. But enjoyable. I'm now eager to read the book!

But it's very late and I will douse the lights and try for sleep again rather than start in on the book. I've been ignoring the urge to go into the kitchen and start cooking potatoes because I'm hungry. If I am always so hungry, why am I still fat?

Mo is here next to me, catspraddled (dogspraddled?), with all four feet in the air. 

Edited Yest. at 07:31 AM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

In bed with belly-cuttings and a fuzzy puppy. No, he has just left after being denied permission to steal my toe-bandage which fell off while I was getting into bed.

Just ate boiled potatoes, carrots and field peas, dressed with bully & onion and a splash of tomato sauce.

Went out with $4.28 on my bank balance. Checked just before I left home. Got to the shop and picked up a tin of PHD condensed milk for $3.19 and went to the cashier. Transaction declined: NSF. Twice. Drove to the bank and got in line to speak to one of the three cashiers. Lots of senseless gobbledy-gook reasoning as to why a $4.28 balance is NSF to pay off a $3.19 tin of milk. Eventually, I just said, "All right, let's forget it." OK, Sir! Is there anything else I can do for you today? "Yes. I want to withdraw $4 from my account." She tried to charge me $5 for making the withdrawal. However, the fee is not applicable to those classified as "Seniors" and that's what it says, right there on the ID card.

I had my first mug of tea in what? Three days? Very good.

Sent a "Don't forget me!" message to my guy who replied "Will update after lunch." Well, it's almost 3:00 PM and nothing yet. But technically, all of time from now and forever more is "after lunch".

Why is it that when ever I eat these days, I get some issue with my guts? I hope the cancer (untreated for 19 months now) has not spread to my stomach.

I wish Mo would come back and cuddle.....

[Netfoot]

No sign of my guy, but tomorrow will also be "after lunch," so I'm not worried.

He did say I would get around $600 a week for 3-5 weeks but this is the middle of week #3 and so far I've had a total of $450 from him. The $450 was very welcome but the promised $1,800 would have been even better, allowing me to clear a backlog of bills, stock up on some groceries and maybe even get the bandsaw working again.

Cooked half a pack of macaroni and beat two eggs into a bowl. When the macaroni was cooked, I tossed it in the raw egg and slung it into a pan of hot oil. Split the meal with Mo. He liked it. I thought it was OK but could have used some spicing up. No garlic powder, black pepper, pepper sauce, or much of anything in the house right now.

Tomorrow? Who knows. Very little bully left but pension should drop, which after rent leaves me with $26. Got spaghetti, some minced beef, onions, and diced tomatoes in a tin. Mo does not really like spaghetti (too fine for his canines) but he will happily go to town on the mince. 

Spatula has disappeared. I must give the kitchen a good search. It could have fallen behind the stove or something. It's pretty chewed up already so if I had to replace... Don't think at this stage that Mo is responsible for it's disappearance. We will see where it is when it shows up. If it shows up. The original one has never resurfaced.

Mo just came and asked for permission to get into the bed. I naturally called him up, so he jumped in and stuck his butt in my face....

Listening to Got My Mind Set In You by George Harrison. I always did like the Fab Four. Especially in the later years as their music matured. And for the most part, they produced some worthy tunes in the post-Beatles era as well.

Tired tonight. Toe is unbandaged. Not sure if that's the right thing to do or not. Think I will leave the door open tonight so I don't have to get out of bed to lock up or to open again in the 'fore-day morning when Mo wants to go out. He is curled up next to me now, attending to his feet. 

Got fluttery eyelids tonight. Had foot cramps this afternoon. Think I will get to sleep early tonight. If at all. It's already eleven. 

Mo is now vigorously scratching himself which, because he is leant up against me, had me wobbling all over the bed. 

Ok, will save and try for sleep now. 

[Netfoot]

Woke in the middle of the night to pee. Noticed one of my Crocs was missing. Went looking first thing I got up:

My guy came around to tell me he had work guaranteed for me next week. He paid me in advance, so I have some grocery money. But I don't like being paid before I've done the work. Not in a position to refuse, but what if I have an issue and can't do the work I've already been paid for?

Diced and boiled some potatoes and served them with a ladle of sauce made from onion, minced beef, diced tomato from a tin and tomato paste. The sauce was pretty nice and elevated the plain potatoes.

I dished out for myself and Mo at the same time but I didn't give Mo his immediately. He was asleep in the passage. I put his to cool a bit while I ate mine. When I was done, I put my bowl noisily on the floor. Within 15 seconds Mo was there, licking that bowl so hard I won't need to wash it to have my dinner in it tonight! When he was done that, I put his bowl of lunch on the floor and he started vacuuming it up!

Re-bandaged my toe. Toenail looks ugly. That prolly ain't gonna change. Moderate pain lower left abdomen. I have had issues in that area before. I have diverticula in that area and occasionally I've had to go to Dr. Kristi and get some antibiotics, which would clear up the problem. No money for antibiotics these days, so...

Pains started earlier. Long before lunch, so not related to my eating my own cooking!

Tomorrow: Post Office / welfare cheque; bank / deposit; QEH / Edgar Cochrane; PriceLo / Popular.

Got to buy a new spatula and I may buy a new tin opener if I can find one I can afford. The P-38 tin opener works perfectly but It's slow. Come to think of it, if it works perfectly, why buy a replacement? I can live with slow. But a spatula I do need and extensive search has failed to turn up the one which puppy already chewed off significant portions of. So maybe I can stretch to an essential $3 spatula and skip an inessential $28 tin opener.

Going to go lie down and see if I can get a snuggle. When I get up I will brew some tea.....