redbird | Recent Entries

Hi. This is an online substitute for a paper journal, as well as a place to talk to people, so a lot of what's here is quotidian stuff about my life and place. ~~These days, that's more exploring the Seattle area than what's in bloom right now in my corner of the world.~~ As of March 2016, "place" is the Boston area: we moved to Arlington, Mass., in March 2016, then Somerville a year and a half later. I'm now living in Boston with @cattitude and @adrian_turtle, still figuring out my way around Brighton and other parts of Boston, and how long it actually takes to get to my various medical and other appointments on the other side of the Charles. Some of the basics about me are in my userinfo; the userpic with this sticky post is a photo of me, from more than a decade ago, in case you're wondering whether I'm the redbird you know from elsewhere.

Long ago when the net was flat, I spent a bunch of time on Usenet, mostly rassef and alt.polyamory; I did some of my growing up in science fiction fandom, which in my case meant writing in/for a lot of apas. If you don't know why I subscribed to your journal, we probably have friends in common, and either one of them said "this person is cool" or you posted interesting comments, and I looked at your journal and found it interesting.

Anyone is welcome to read and comment on my journal (though I screen comments on some posts). I do post some things locked and/or filtered. I am more likely to give access to people I know, either previously (online or off) or from interactions here. If we know each other but I might not recognize your username, please leave a note here so I can make the connection.

If we don't already know each other, welcome, and please introduce yourself. I'm screening all comments to this post, so you can tell me "Hi, it's $old_friend" without other people seeing the connection between your username here and other names or handles you use. Or comment on other posts, and I'll get some feeling for what you're like.

There are a half-dozen access-locked posts in here, none recent, with nude photos of me (all tagged "nudes"). I grant access to most people who ask (and many who don't), and those aren't the posts I consider private.

I generally use a cut tag for details of exercise or (rarer) body size/shape posts, and I tend to avoid other people's discussion of weight and dieting. By request, I'll be cut-tagging discussions of covid masks. If there are other things you would like similar warnings about, let me know. (I am assuming the current level of cut-tagging on exercise is okay for everyone reading this journal; if not, let me know and I'll see what I can do to address that.) I also use cut tags for things that even I don't find very interesting, but may need to look up later: Dreamwidth as external memory.

I'm (still) posting about politics. I'm not cut-tagging those posts, but I am going to try to label the entries that are entirely or mostly about politics, rather than drop a paragraph about calling my senators in between discussions of out-of-town visitors and cucumbers, in case your self-care means you need to rake a break from reading about politics.

I'm also still posting about the coronavirus pandemic, how I'm dealing with the situation, etc. Most of those posts are tagged with "COVID-19," "life during covid-19," or "the new normal" (or "the new normal?") and some are also tagged "coronavirus"

[last updated July 17, 2024]

Tags:

I'm posting this in part because I have gotten a bunch of things done in the last 24 hours, including financial stuff nobody will notice unless I mention it.

In a Discord conversation yesterday, which started with people snarking at Rudy Giuliani, someone said something about not just leaving money in a checking account. Now, I knew this already, but somehow last night that prompted me to go look at my online savings bank. It turns out that they now have a new kind/brand of savings account, with significantly better interest than my existing account. (I originally opened that account, ages ago, because at the time the interest rate was better than average interest.)

So, I told the bank website to open a shiny new savings account, and moved some money from the old savings account to the new one, then logged out and went to bed. This morning, I told it to pull some of the money I got from social security when they approved my claim from the checking account at my credit union to the new account. I'm thinking I will wait a couple of days, and move a larger sum, unless I have something specific else to do with it. It turned out, unsurprisingly, that the task wasn't difficult, once I found the executive function. (I usually don't have much executive function left late at midnight, even if I'm still awake.)

Also today I paid bills; did some PT; took out the trash and recycling; removed my somewhat battered Minuteman library card from my key chain before it broke; and made lunch for myself and Cattitude, and washed the lunch dishes, while Adrian was at the farmers market buying apples. (I can probably use the card indefinitely, but may not be able to replace it, because that library network doesn't include Boston.

Listing it like that confirms that yes, I've done a lot, both last night and today.

Current Mood: satisfied

Tags:

Adrian and Cattitude made a cranberry curd tart a couple of days ago: cranberry curd poured into a baked crust, the same pastry shell he used for quiche and for the onion tart.

It sounded more interesting than it turned out to be, and we agreed that it was food but not worth the effort. It's impressively pink, but not very cranberry-flavored; the main flavor is orange, from the zest of a single orange.

The cranberry curd involved cooked cranberry, blended and then pushed through a sieve, mixed with margarine (instead of butter or cream). I might have liked a dairy version better, but it still wouldn't have been worth the effort, even if Adrian and Cattitude could eat the dairy version). It's been a while since I bought lemon or other citrus curd, after not finishing the last jar I opened, but I'm thinking of trying again, just for a change.

Tags:

food

I made chick pea and cauliflower curry for dinner tonight, because we had half a cauliflower, and canned chick peas are an easy source of protein.

I thought I remembered the recipe/process for this curry better than I did.

Adrian and Cattitude were both happier with the results than I was, probably because they weren't thinking about what they should have done and didn't.

Things I forgot or mis-remembered: I forgot the flour (which should have been added to the mix of dried spices, after sauteeing the onions).

I used twice as much broth as the base recipe calls for (I was thinking of a rice pilaf recipe), and I think the correct amount would have been halfway between (1.5 cups).

I put oregano and ground cumin in the spice mix, thinking of black beans and rice, and I don't think they improved it. Maybe garlic powder next time? (The spice mix is smoked paprika and Penzey's Singapore seasoning, in place of curry powder that includes hot pepper, plus ginger.)

Also: canned coconut milk is a bit thinner than whole milk. Adrian realized halfway through the meal that we have unflavored nondairy yogurt (coconut and cashew based), and added a dollop to her bowl; that worked well enough that Cattitude and I followed suit.

I originally forgot the raisins, but Adrian is temporarily avoiding dried fruit after dental work, so it's just as well I didn't add them along with the broth.

Raw cauliflower cooked this way was bland, so I probably won't make this curry again.

Some garlic powder might have worked well here.

Also, I am out of practice cooking more than one thing at a time, so I got Cattitude to make the rice, as well chopping the vegetables.

Tags:

cookery,
food

An Indian court has lifted the ban on Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses, for bureaucratic reasons. Someone challenged the ban, and the government couldn't find the original order:

The judges hearing the case at the Delhi High Court wrote in the Nov. 5 ruling that since nobody could produce the original order for them to examine, "we have no other option except to presume that no such notification exists, and therefore, we cannot examine the validity thereof."

I went downtown to get a half-price Charlie card (fare card), which went pretty well and quickly even though I was a little distracted. I have a card with "TEMP" written on it in red, good for 30 days while I wait for the permanent card to arrive in the mail. I had a card that had expired last year, and one that stopped working one day. I brought both of those with me, and they transferred the value to my new card.

Next stop was the farmers market at Copley, where I was surprised to find tomatoes that looked and smelled worth buying. I picked out several, and didn't buy anything else, because I didn't want to risk squashing the tomatoes.

The final stop was a nearby CVS, where I got an RSV vaccine, and then bought some band-aids. When I had paid and was ready to leave, I realized I'd left my hoody on the chair where they vaccinated me, so I hurried back upstairs, found it, and assured the pharmacy clerk that yes I was OK, I'd just forgotten something. I would have gotten it sooner, but was waiting two weeks after the flu and covid boosters, at my doctor's recommendation. However, given the news, I am trying to figure out what if any other vaccines I can sensibly get before the anti-vaxers take over the Department of Health. Is five years and one month too soon for another tetanus and whooping cough booster? (In normal circumstances, I might be considering it seven years after the last dose.

On the way home I was feeling a bit worn out, mentally more than physically, but I remembered that I had achieved the primary goal of this outing, the half-price Charlie card, and both the secondary goals.

Tags:

I have been to the dentist, and had my teeth cleaned by a new-to-me hygienist. This was a less intense cleaning than I'd been getting from the previous hygienist in that location, but the hygienist found a gap in my gum large enough that she strongly recommended an antibiotic. I could tell that she was used to having to talk people into the antibiotic, as well as into letting her apply fluoride paint for their gums. I didn't need persuading, just to check that the antibiotic they use isn't something I'm allergic to. (It's tetracycline, placed on/in the gum in question.) The hygienist also praised me more than once for being a good patient, and for flossing regularly. I'm not supposed to floss that area of my mouth for ten days, but that was the only specific instruction.

I saw her at 1:00, an inconvenient time (given that I don't live near the office) that they rescheduled my appointment to. Follow-up in four months (rather than 3), at 2:30 on March 17th, so it will be easy to eat lunch first, even if it's not good weather for eating outdoors. Today, I took the bus to Harvard Square and went to Pokeworks; it seemed like the best option, given that I wasn't supposed to eat or drink anything hot for two hours after the fluoride treatment.

Other differences, some larger than others: my next cleaning will be four months out, rather than three, which was their idea rather than mine. The hygienist didn't give me mouthwash and tell me to swirl it around for a minute before spitting it out (I do not miss that bit of covid precaution at all). She was wearing a procedure mask, rather than the previous hygienist's N95, and se offered me one to wear home, saying it was a good mask because it's three-ply; I declined, saying I like my N95s. I alsp had to ask her to pull her mask back up over her nose and mouth at one point while she was explaining something about the fluoride. I think she was going to point at her own teeth to show me where she'd placed the fluoride, but I asked for written/printed instructions instead. And, the hygienist asked me to pick a flavor of toothpaste, rather than just using mint, so I asked for cherry.

Tags:

One book, read slowly on the kindle:

Frostbite: how Refrigeration changed our food, our planet, and outselves, by Nicola Twilley.

This is narrative nonfiction, a history of refrigeration from the earliest uses of ice to preserve food, through to the present. The narrative is held together by the author's explorations, including taking a job in a refrigerated warehouse, and talking to a lot of different people, mostly but not only in the US and Britain.

The discussion of the cold chain includes patterns of where things were built, including how the locations of warehouses affected where stores were built, and vice versa, and the effects of refrigerated railroad cars. There's a bunch in here I hadn't known. For example, chilling meat can tenderize it. And, in the late 19th century scientists thought that protein was not just a nutrient, but the only part of food that mattered, which is part of why transporting meat to the urban working class seemed important, and maybe part of the explanation for the disdain for vegetarians in the why early 20th century.

The last chapter of the book discusses other ways of preserving food, including a company that has developed an invisibly thin, flavorless film that can be sprayed onto food to preserve it. "Changed our food" doesn't just mean what foods are available when, though that's a lot of it, but things like why iceberg lettuce is called that, and was so common in mid-20th-century America, and the tendency to find the same kinds of apples in any supermarket, regardless of region or season. I learned from that chapter that the Roxbury russet is the oldest American apple varietal; the author mentions it as an example of something that the reader has probably never tasted, but not only do I seek out interesting apple cultivars, I live near Roxbury.

I have now received from Aetna, in order, a SilverScripts card (prescription drug coverage only), followed by a letter saying that they couldn't process my request for enrollment in a Medicare Advantage plan for 2025, and now a Medicare Advantage card that was printed on Nov. 1, 2024.

I called Aetna two days ago, after receiving the letter saying there was a problem with the enrollment. I think the 2025 plan application is now sorted out, but I should call Medicare and ask what they know about my 2024 and 2025 coverage.

Tags:

I went back to Beth Israel Deaconess, so they could draw blood for some tests my neurologist ordered (ordinary things like CBC and vitamin D level), and I was pleasantly surprised at how much more efficient this lab was than Mt. Auburn.

I just walked in, the person at the check-in counter said "room 2." He then asked for my phone number and date of birth, pulled up the information, and printed labels for the test tubes. At Mt. Auburn, I'd have had to go to the "registration" office, and been given those labels to take down the hall to the lab. Also, the lab at BID is closer to the front door than either the registration desk or the lab at Mt. Auburn, but that might be harder for them to change.

This was an easy draw, but I stopped for ice cream on the way to pick up a prescription, because I could, and because JP Licks has sweet cream ice cream this month.

ETA: I just got the first results, "CBC and differential," via MyChart (with the usual note that the doctor may not have reviewed them. A few of the the values are above the "normal" range, but I don't know what those mean; I may need to send Carmen the results.

Tags:

I am shocked by the news, and trying to remember that despair is a tool of the enemy. And have no idea of what I'm doing in the next three hours, let alone the next three months.

Tags:

politics

I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Sloane today.

In no particular order:

The low-tech neuro exam was reasonably good; I did worse than last time on the pattern-matching thing, and better than last time on the pegs to test dexterity.

He wants me to have some blood tests, but I'll have to go back for that, the lab closes at 4:30 and it was about 4:45 when I was done talking to the doctor. Just walk in, they're open 8:30-4:30, I can have this done either in the building I was in today, or another Beth Israel Deaconess location if that's easier.

He doesn't think I need to see the neuropsychiatrist for medical reasons; I think if I'd said I still wanted the appointment, he would have been OK with that too.

I should get an MRI, brain and cervical spine, with contrast. I may put that off until January, I have to figure out what's covered by Medicare, and when. From looking at Medicare.gov, it looks like I'd be paying an annual deductible and then 20% of the "Medicare approved amount"; that 20% seems to be on the order of $100 for an MRI, and I don't know if this would count as one scan or two. (Do more research later, I'm not scheduling anything tonight.)

BID has a specialty pharmacy, and I can get the Kesimpta there instead of having it shipped, he thinks. I won't need another dose until mid-January, and I may wait until the new year to get that, also for insurance reasons. Dr. Sloane also gave me another copy of a Kesimpta info sheet that has a phone number to contact if I need the drug for free.

Tags:

This was, necessarily, an in-person appointment. Carmen listened to my heart and lungs, did a breast exam, examined my back for moles, and looked at the back of my throat. (She asked if I was willing to take my mask down for a moment so she could do that, and I said yes.) Carmen also had me leave a urine sample, but didn't ask for blood, since they'd done some blood tests last month.

Today is warm and clear, so I had lunch at Mr. Crepe in Davis Square before my appointment, stopped at McKinnon's market for (frozen) ground lamb, and got a small serving of sweet cream ice cream at JP Licks. Sweet cream is one of the November special flavors; I was hoping for a last serving of October's caramel apple. JP Licks' sweet cream isn't as good as Tosci's, but it's good.

Cattitude came to Somerville with me, and joined me for lunch, before I went to the doctor's office.

I forgot to mention: I asked about timing for mammograms, and she said every two years, even though Mt Auburn MyChart is still sending reminders after one year. And I asked if I should get the new pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine, having had an earlier version in 2015. Carmen said she is generally in favor of getting me vaccinated against everything, and I noted that I wasn't sure the vaccine would take in my case. So, not doing it at the moment, but if I want it I can have it. I don't know whether I could have that covered by Medicare if I did it at a pharmacy, or if I'd have to go to her office.

Tags:

I had a follow-up appointment with the dental surgeon today. An assistant took one X-ray, and then the dentist tightened one of the two posts that will in due course support implants. I'm supposed to go back in January; at that appointment they are going to remove a little bit of gum before making an impression of my mouth.

This appointment was back at the office in Watertown Square, with the same receptionist, but new management so I had to fill out a bunch of forms about things like my current medications. The sign now says "Call Dental Center," rather than "All Dental Center"; I guess they wanted to change the name as litte as possible.

One odd bit: they had the news on in the waiting room, and I heard someone on CNN say there was "only half a fortnight" until Election Day. Yes, technically a week is half a fortnight, but I wouldn't have expected a CNN announcer to say "fortnight" at all, and I wouldn't expect anyone to say "half a fortnight." If he had started to say "half a month," that was an impressively smooth recovery.

I took the 71 bus home, so I could stop in Harvard Square and get ice cream at Lizzy's; I had been completely out of chocolate ice cream, and almost out of black raspberry.

Tags:

Cattitude and Adrian went to our storage unit a few days ago, transferred clothing from packing boxes into suitcases, and brought it home. We sorted through it, mostly this afternoon, tried some things on, and are keeping a bit under half of it. The rest we are giving away, via donation boxes.

Some of what we're keeping will be very useful: I'm particularly pleased to have unearthed a leather jacket that's a good weight for spring and fall weather, something I badly needed. There's also a pair of jeans that still fit, which will be useful. Cattitude's haul included a jacket and a couple of nice shirts, and Adrian is taking a black silk baseball jacket that used to fit me and no longer does.

We're also keeping a few things more for sentimental value than because we expect to wear them again, and we may cull more later; do I really have any use for the pocketless silk dress I bought for Jo and Rysmiel's wedding and may have worn once since then?

Current Mood: accomplished

Tags:

clothing,
unpacking

I decided on a plan, and called Medicare for help with signing up, rather than going through the insurance company website. This turned out to be a good idea, because I am signed up for the "Aetna Medicare Discover PPO" 2025, but the agent couldn't set that up for 2024 because, on paper, I've been enrolled in Medicare (part A) since April, which is more than three months ago. (Never mind that I only found out about it a month ago.)

I asked the agent about buying a prescription-drug-only plan, and he found me one for $15.70/month that covers most of my prescriptions (excluding the Kesimpta). I bought the plan mostly just in case I get sick in November or December and need something more expensive than doxycycline. The interesting question now is, will I be covered by my previous health insurance for the next week, or does it go "poof" sooner? I think Cattitude needs to be the one to call the Massachusetts insurance marketplace and confirm that I'm now on Medicare, but he still wants to buy insurance through the marketplace, because his name is first on that account.

ETA: I think the Silver Script formulary does include both gabapentin and bupropion, and that the agent missed that because I gave him the brand names.

Tags:

Adrian and I got haircuts this afternoon, done by her friend Crystal, in Crystal's backyard, because Crystal is more covid-cautious than we are. So, we asked before taking our masks off, and she said that she was OK with that if we were, as she was wearing an elastomeric mask and we were outdoors.

My hair is now quite short, in a style somewhat like what I had just before the pandemic. I'm going to get Adrian or Cattitude to take a bunch of photos, from different angles, in case I want the same style again.

I had prescriptions to pick up, so I went to CVS on the way home. They had signs advertising flu and covid vaccines that said "walk-ins welcome," so I asked to be vaccinated while I was there. So that's taken care of, at a time when the store was relatively uncrowded.

I came home and had caramel apple ice cream, in keeping with the Scintillation Discord custom of having a treat after any medical encounter that involves needles. I don't always, but I started to think "I'll look at the candy aisle," then realized that I had tastier sweets at home than I could buy at CVS. (Some CVSs are near ice cream shops; this one is next door to a Dunkin Donuts.)

Adrian and I are planning to be seeing a friend of hers, outdoors in the friend's backyard, this afternoon. Crystal is even more covid-cautious than we are, so we both took covid tests this morning, which were negative, as expected.

The thing about having bronchiectasis is that yes, that cough isn't anything contagious, but also I might not notice if I was coughing for some other reason.

I'm going to use the iota carrageenan nasal spray before I leave, because it might help and won't do any harm.

Tags:

I spent some time yesterday figuring out things about Medicare. I called Medicare and asked some questions, then declined the agent's offer to sign me up for a Medicare drug plan on the spot. I first need to decide whether I want Medicare Advantage, and then pick either one of those plans, or a drug-only part D plan.

I didn't pursue any of that today. Instead, I went with Cattitude and Adrian to have a picnic lunch, at a park near the Charles River, taking advantage of good weather. My hip was bothering me a little, so after we had lunch I went home via the nearest bus stop, and Adrian kindly went to JP Licks and bought a pint of caramel apple ice cream.

The dentist's office called me this afternoon, to say that I can't get my teeth cleaned on the same visit as my follow-up with the dental surgeon. I asked whether the plan for this visit involved anesthesia, because if it did, I'd want to reschedule; it doesn't, so I will be going to Watertown Square next week, to the same office I was seeing my dentist at until July.

Tomorrow I plan to stay home and rest. It might be a good day to make some phone calls, including asking my doctor's office what Medicare Advantage plans they accept.

Tags:

medicare,
quotidian

One of the early voting locations in Boston is this weekend at the main library. I wanted to vote early rather than absentee, in part to get an "I voted" sticker. When I checked in to vote, the clerk noticed that they'd sent me an absentee ballot, which she said I should shred when it arrived. I asked for a chair, because the little tables people were supposed to use to fill in the ballots are at a bad height for me to use standing up.

I then returned a library book, and walked over to Newbury Street, because there's a branch of JP Licks near the library, and I wanted to try the caramel apple ice cream.

When I looked at the board, it said they had caramel apple, a couple of other flavors they announced this month, and cucumber. I asked for a sample of the caramel apple, and asked the guy behind the counter "does that say cucumber?" because that's usually a summer flavor. He thought I meant "is cucumber really an ice cream flavor?" so I explained that I know I like it, and asked for two pints, which I brought home.

The caramel apple ice cream is also good, and I bought a cup of that to eat right away,

I am very pleased with my timing, which was pure luck: I don't go to that branch of JP Licks very often, because it's down a flight of stairs, but my joints were (and are) feeling OK.

Current Mood: pleased

Tags:

ice cream,
voting

I got email today from one of my old freelance clients, asking if I was available for a copyediting job in the next two weeks. Rather than saying "sorry, retired," I wrote back and said I'm not available then (which is true) but I had a colleague or two who might be, and would she like a referral.

She said yes, so I asked a few people, and just sent her a name and email address.

Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

Don't mourn, organize

Sticky: Welcome

getting things done

cranberry curd tart

cooking from memory

The Satanic Verses

a productive trip (mentions politics)

dental cleaning

recent reading

(no subject)

blood draw

shocked

neurologist

physical exam

dentist

clothing

signed up for a Medicare Advantage plan

haircut

another negative covid test

(no subject)

I just voted

(no subject)

About Me

A Few Useful Links

Page summary

Active entries

Syndicate

Style credit

Expand cut tags