Like Unto a Zombie

No real news today, I just couldn't wake up after yesterday's driving and car stress. I'm not used to being out and about two weekend days in a row. Also, when we returned around 6 PM we found the landlord's gutter repair/replacement folks hard at work, so I had to park in a different spot than my usual one right in front of the house, and retrieve my car to repark it around 9 PM when the gutter replacement was finished (and that was a bit stressful seeing them walking around the makeshift platforms outside our top-floor living room). I don't drive well at night, even tbe 30 or so feet it took to park it, and when I blearily glanced outside this morning I saw the car was crooked, which I never do in the daytime. Good thing I decided against taking it in for inspection, as I could hardly open my eyes all day. Somehow I got through work and made lots of progress, tried on my new yoga pants which I'm wearing under my kurta for the wedding reception (the first pair got waylaid so I ordered another pair to arrive today and, lo and behold, wound up with both pairs), and now I'm all packed for tomorrow's sojourn into Manhattan. I cannot believe I made it through the day like this.

The Wilds of Lawn Guylan

Today we packed up about half the alcohol we've had lying around for ages and went to visit our friends Phyllis and Richie in Bellmore, whom we hadn't seen in way too long. They have the coolest backyard area and gardens, I got to each freshly-picked celery (although the basil I picked straight from the plant was a bit much and made my tongue kind of numb). The snacks and lunch/dinner they prepared us was wonderful, as was the entertainment as I learned all about Angine de Poitrine, Avatar, and Babymetal. Hey, gotta keep up with the latest musical trends, if only for my education. On the way there we went over a drain stuck out into the left lane that jogged our hubcap loose, but it doesn't appear any harm was done. Richie was also kind enough to fill our windshield wiper reservoir, allwaying fears it had sprung another leak (I guess I've just used a lot of fluid). Alas, no auto shops near them that could do a state inspection were open, so I'll have to resume my search to find someplace before next Sunday.

Movable AC

We got home from our grocery shopping and bonus H Mart visit around noon, to discover our landlord's van blocking our parking spot. Apparently there's going to be some gutter replacement shenanigans going on, but in the meantime he's asked us to move our living room air conditioner from its usual spot for the past 20+ years into one of the front-facing windows. This Robin did not need, as his back's been giving him issues lately. But by some miracle he was able to get it done, and I find I actually prefer the new setup, particularly as it allowed me to rearrange our corner table (which held lots of alcohol, most of which we don't really drink) and wine rack. We'll be getting rid of at least half the liquor when we visit our friends on Long Island tomorrow, and I'll be arranging the remainder so everything is together (including mixers and shot glasses and saki cups) and looks nice on the corner table, and so that all the pretty artificial and metal flowers are finally together atop the wine rack. The living room definitely needed a change!

House Call

This morning I had a necessary telehealth visit with my new primary care provider, who will take care of renewing all my prescriptions under her name as both my old PCP and endocrinologist have left their respective practices. I like her, she seems very nice, and best of all she's in my neighborhood, but she may wind up being a little hard on me. Ah well, I'll probably need it. Meantime, the inspection machine is still broken at my usual auto shop, and the one around the corner doesn't do inspections, so I'm still on the lookout. I also had a lovely text convo with my godson today. He's back in New York City to stay, at least for now, and wants to come up and see me (and my uncle, his grandfather). Which I want as well, as I hope to pass along to him a lot of our household belongings in a few years when we retire and move countries. But for now, I have to deal with the fact that I actually have a social life. I'm way too old for that!

Drenched

The day started out a bit difficult for me. My back's been bothering me all week, and I had to schlep an Amazon return in to Whole Foods this morning as I wouldn't get the chance at lunch. Turns out the pain I was feeling was more the weight of my laptop than the returned item. I continue to be in great shape at work, just waiting on both partners and client EAs to get back to me on scheduling things, and I'm taking so much self-study that I'm actually starting to remember a lot of the AI terminology, which scares me. Lunch was terrific, my colleague signed off on my and Robin's kurta outfits for the wedding reception, and the Indian food we had was nice but the restaurant not so much (very cramped and unprofessional, much more a takeout place). I'd packed my rain jacket for the afternoon deluge, left work a bit early before it started (only wind on 9th Ave and a little rain on 8th), and by the time I got to my neighborhood it was coming down in sheets. And it still is. Just a bit drenched to the bone! But warm and dry now, watching the Yankees win again, and getting ready for shuteye...

Stop and Go

My life has once again become things I need to do before vacationing, the first being to take the car in for its annual inspection by month's end. Alas, the NYS DMV has suffered a major outage for the past few days, and while I believe things are now restored I'm going to have to wait until Friday to take the car around the corner (literally, I can practically see that auto shop from our home) and leave it there for the inspection whilst I go back to working from home. Saturday is the usual shopping and meds, and Sunday we head out to Lawn Guylan to see our friends Phyllis and Richie. But before that I'm having lunch with a former colleague tomorrow, where I will pick her South Asian  brain to make sure my outfit for the upcoming Indian wedding celebration is acceptable. The dress I wanted finally arrived today, looks lovely, and fits wonderfully, so I'm hoping it's okay. Now I just have to finalize plans with my Philadelphia colleague so I can figure out which Amtrak to take and how to get around downtown Philly by bus. Fortunately that's all still a couple weeks away. Unfortunately the end of that trip is only two days before we leave for England. I'm getting a bit nervous about it all.

There and Back Again

The back is still twingy, and I'm sure the backpack this morning didn't help, but the naproxen kicked in and by noon I was busy enough at the office that I didn't really notice. This evening we watched the best episode of Beat Bobby Flay I've ever seen because, even though it was scripted up the wazoo with them all pretending it wasn't, they made it extremely official that Flay and Brooke Williamson are A Thing, and it was totes adorbs all the way, lots of huggy kissy and such. I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. And it made my back feel better too.

Temporarelief

Not permanent by any means, I'm still doing naproxen in the morning for the next few days, but I could actually move around without pain today, which made job stuff a lot easier. And because it was a work-from-home day I could also relax a bit. Goodness only knows how I'll fare tomorrow when I have to go into the city. Meantime I have to call my former doctor's office to see if I can get a telehealth visit with my new primary doc prior to my annual physical in late October, as I'll need someone in-network to sign off on my prescriptions. Lots of hoops to jump through, it being the US, but another reason I would not have taken the early retirement package this year. Very content to get a steady paycheck for another two years!

Debilitating

The back was bad enough this morning that I opted for naproxyn, which feels like it never quite kicked in. Fortunately there's no pain when I lie down, but I don't want to spend the entire day in bed, and I really can't if I'm running to the bathroom every couple of hour and sweating the rest of the time. At least I got all my work tops steamed, and there's nothing else really pressing that I need to do. Let's hope it eases by tomorrow!

Back, To the Future

SuperCuts did their usual terrific job and I am shorn for the foreseeable. On the other hand, my back has gone all wonky. Fortunately I have a back brace, a heating pad, and plenty of ibuprofen, but it's still a nuisance and a half. I was able to move around enough by mid-morning to pass along some old sneakers to a neighbor, then get the haircut and Robin's meds and go grocery shopping, but after that I was shot for the rest of the day. I've never been a good patient, and back pain is one of the worst for me. I just hope it eases by Monday, as the auto place called and said their inspector isn't in tomorrow so I'll have to take a couple hours off work (if I can even walk) to take the car in.