DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - '25-26

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - '25-26
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Oct 25 - 11:45 PM

A word to the wise - if you have a slouchy sofa that doesn't offer comfortable support, ditch it. My ex has such a sofa and it finally got him; sciatica hit a few days ago and today I spent the afternoon transporting him from his doctor to the imaging lab for x-rays then to the pharmacy for the prescriptions. I've sent a note to the kids that we need to pitch in for a good recliner for him for his xmas gift. Today I took the walker that was provided with my first knee replacement surgery (and not used much then or with the second surgery). He has it at the house, along with two prescriptions to reduce the inflammation. We also stopped to pick up dinner for him, and I got one that was full of calories because he is underweight. (Macaroni and cheese is comfort food - and when you get it from a French restaurant it has sharp cheese, basil, and extra chicken with a croissant on the side.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - '25-26
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 Oct 25 - 04:24 AM

Destructive winds, storms and record heat to blast south-east Australia in wild weather ... Wednesday will also mark Sydney's seventh day this month above 30C, the most for October, while the mean maximum this month is running at well above 27C — more than 5C above average and on target to pass the previous record of 26.2C from 1988 ... (38C = 100F & 25 = 77F)

My place is still chaotic with a new larger fridge in the kitchen & displaced stuff in my bedroom. My vintage 1970s rectangular shopping trolley sat beside the fridge holding spare hand towels, carry bags + vacuum heads etc & now sits in my bedroom until I donate it. My much larger stair climbing personal trolley that I use every day sits next to it & caught the cord of my small CD player on it's way to my bedroom TWICE - oops, down it fell - & the lid came off when it fell again. My favourite CD was inside & I don't know whether it is damaged, but a techy friend will put back the lid & check it out soon. If the CD is damaged I can get a copy from the friend who put it out, many years ago!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - '25-26
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Oct 25 - 09:10 AM

Tosh finally showed up this morning, four days and 45 minutes later than promised. The garage is cleared of trash (for now), the three excess cases of hardwood have gone back to Home Depot, and the sum of Cdn$405 has been returned to me.

The small rugs went to the cleaners yesterday in the pouring rain, and I made arrangements for the big rugs to be picked up for cleaning on Thursday.

I am now ensconced in the crowded waiting area at the VW dealer, waiting for my car to go through its semi-annual service routine, wheel change and all. Between the car and the carpets, this will be another expensive week of no-fun spending.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - '25-26
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 25 - 02:20 PM

This morning I made a lot of work for myself. Various websites are running slow, probably still to do with the AWS glitches, but I thought I'd clear the cache on my browser. I was sure I told it to leave the cookies alone, but they went also, killing all of my logon cookies. That is a lot of hoops and authentications to go through to set up the most frequently used ones. And I'm going to have to do this again soon when I upgrade to Win11.

I'm heading out to shop soon for the ex who is going to need at least a few days for this sciatica to clear up. He is underweight enough that I'll be planning some meals with our daughter and will deliver them regularly to be sure he gets lots of calories (and will make his favorite Puerto Rican dishes to be sure he eats them). I stopped to shop for myself yesterday on the way home from dropping him off and found myself in the unusual situation of scolding another shopper. She was pawing through all of the broccoli, then cilantro, waving it around then putting it back. "Don't handle everything like that! Pick up what you want and don't touch it all!" I don't know if she spoke English, but I'm sure my tone, expression and gesturing got through. This store doesn't wrap produce in plastic, it's there in the cases it arrived in from the farm distributors - that is a good thing. Doesn't she remember anything from what we learning about handling food during COVID?

Mostly today I'm out of sorts because of the horrible damage being done to the White House. Why did no one step up and tell him to keep his grubby little orange hands off of a national architectural treasure? (Watch him bag up pieces from the demolition and sell them as souvenirs.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - '25-26
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 22 Oct 25 - 11:45 AM

> Doesn't she remember anything from what we learning about
> handling food during COVID?

Perhaps she assumed that everyone washes all food items in bleach.

The tea lady at one place of work used to use domestic bog-standard* bleach as washing-up liquid. I stopped her grabbing and washing up my coffee mug in this by cultivating in her mind the idea that I was cultivating the patina of coffee in my mug.

* This is not a euphemism.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - '25-26
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Oct 25 - 11:53 AM

A new string of LED lights has arrived and I'll swap them out with the older string along the roofline of the front porch. The old string can still be used, now on the patio in back.

My insurance company used to offer a little phone app exercise program that I did at least several times a week, but they dropped it with the new benefit year. Some years ago my sister convinced me to try Essentrics and I pay a few dollars a month (in an annual bill) and decided I'd better get back to that one (it's a matter of finding a routine time to do the longer exercises). I always feel better after. The added weight from Prednisone makes the exercise more essential because it puts more pressure on the knee replacement hardware. Next week I'm tapering down one more mg and hopefully will reach a point where the steroids have less impact on eating.

The okra is nearing the end in the garden but the eggplants are perking along happily. I have to take the trimmer out and edge everything and then mow strategically; I have some groundcover I'm trying to let get established enough that it comes back thicker every year, but that means mowing it occasionally to spread the seeds around. This is that time. And the second of two limbs on the stone pine needs to be cut off today and disassembled to fit in the trash can.

The slim trowel I left on the pony wall next to the front door was used this morning to clear off the web in the corner then to tuck the deceased Ms. Argiope into the pot beside the bright yellow mums I put out last week. She had a robust life for a spider, dying of old age instead of a snack for a bird or bat or lizard. (There was a larger one beside the front walk who just vanished, still in her prime - I think she was a meal.)

Once a naturalist, always a naturalist. :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - '25-26
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Oct 25 - 09:30 PM

Stepping up today to help my disabled friend prepare for the social security disability hearing in the first week of November. Her attorney sent a link to a video to view in preparation, and urged his clients to practice the questions with a friend who has also seen the video. We spent over 90 minutes discussing the list of questions they sent to her, and I was able to help her see things that she might have not thought about. It's a demoralizing process to have to speak of your physical difficulties in a court of law, but the judge needs to know why shopping is difficult, why she needs help with showering, what steps she must take just to trim her toenails, cook, or do laundry. I'll be there to offer moral support, at least. Dressed in dark clothes, my wallet and phone in my pocket, with no purse, no jewelry, etc., very Puritan in appearance.

Today the stone pine is minus the second low limb (cut up and in the trash bin), plus some branches that needed cleaning up after brief trims in the past. I also cut out a number of tall stalks on the okra that have no leaves, flowers, or pods.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - '25-26
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Oct 25 - 10:27 PM

Today, I unpacked the last 22 cubic feet of books. Music and reference books went into the big Victorian bookcase in the study; atlases, art books, comics, graphic novels, and ancient bound volumes of “Punch” are in the even bigger Victorian bookcase in the sitting room, and everything else is stacked on the six-foot folding work table in the storage area of the basement.

So far, only four of the nine sections of folding bookcase I ordered (and paid for) have arrived. I was expecting six yesterday but only one was delivered, leading me to spend an hour I’ll never get back to find out from Amazon where the hell the other five are. It would appear that they never left the “third-party” vendor’s warehouse, so I should wait. Okay. I’m accustomed to waiting, but my toe is tapping.

Without all those boxes of books, the dining room is airy and spacious.