September chitchat

[agate]

Here we are in September, and there is Labor Day weekend coming up.

Has your summer weather cooled down a bit by now? It has suddenly turned cool here and is very refreshing. There was even some rain today. We haven't had much rain in July and August but we never do.

What's going on with you?

What's going on with me is an additional dental appointment, and that will mean some more dental appointments. A partial denture I rely on for eating (it has 4 lower teeth on it, 3 of them molars) broke, or rather a piece of it broke off the other day. I've had this denture for over 20 years, and apparently most partials don't last nearly that long. A couple of years ago the dentist said that it had worn down and needed replacement but I never followed through on that idea.

The fall I had in May might have cracked it somehow. Anyway I thought I could wear it anyway but that wasn't a good idea. Today I called and made an appointment to start a whole new denture. At this stage in my life it's probably foolish but I do like to eat, and don't really want to get along on a soft diet for the rest of my days even though I know plenty of people do just that.

Insurance should cover some of the cost. It will be very nice to be able to eat more normally again. I had some walnuts and pecans I was looking forward to eating but I froze them for future reference. Maybe by November I'll be able to eat them.

Otherwise I'm doing fine and really enjoying not having a bruised face any more. There's some slight bruising left under the eyes but with my glasses it's not very noticeable.

Virginia, I hope you haven't lost power there and that you and your family are surviving that terrible storm.

Snuggles, I hope you and your husband have recovered --and how are the new hardwood floors?

Ikoiko, I hope you're over the case of COVID and it isn't lingering around to haunt you.

soul, Lazarus, Sunshine2, flatcap, and anyone else who is looking in here, please let people know what's happening in your life.

[flatcap]

Agate, I hope you can get your partial situated. I wouldn't want to go the soft diet route, either.

I have an upcoming appointment on the 11th with a new dentist myself. I am changing from my old one for a couple of reasons. First, he was always trying to sell me on cosmetic procedures I cannot afford and wouldn't want even if I could. (There really is no point at my age.) Second, the hygienist moved to my new dentist's office, so I am following her there. She is really good at her work, and I already had it in my mind to get a second opinion on one issue anyway. Or a potential issue, I should say. I don't think there is one beyond purely cosmetic concerns, but I'd like to know for sure.

After two years, I had an eye exam a few weeks ago and now have new glasses as a result. There were significant changes in my prescription. In particular, I have a cataract in my non-dominant eye that has gotten worse, so things were starting to look pretty fuzzy. The new glasses are a big improvement.

As usual, I was pretty picky about choosing a new eyeglass frame. I looked at the lineups from two makers I have used in the past, but their prices have gone through the roof, so I had to scale back a bit. Didn't matter, really. Neither had a style I liked, so I went with an old, more affordable favorite: the Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register.... I chose the Polished Dark Havana colorway, which I just love. I also had a pair of sunglasses made up in the same frame but in the XL size for more coverage. I went with the standard L size for the clear glasses. Man, they are cool.

In caps, I still have a new one coming from Jonatan Cordova. I was hesitant to bother him, but earlier this week I emailed to ask where my order is the queue. (It has been eight weeks, and he typically delivers in four to six.) He replied that my new cap is next in line, so I expect I'll have it in a week or so. Like all of them, it's an experiment, but I have high hopes for it. I don't have a camera or smartphone, so I asked Jonatan if he would take and send a picture of my new cap when it is finished. If the cap works out for me, I will post the picture. (If it doesn't, I probably will, anyway. His work really is that good.)

Not much else going on at the moment. Our weather has finally cooled off, too, and we also got some much-needed rain yesterday. I'm almost certain I have said it before, but I just love it when it rains! The only things missing were thunder and lightning. My cats used to freak out at the sound of thunder, but I always liked it as much or more than the rain itself. I wish we got more thunderstorms around here but, sadly, they are a rarity. I don't think we've had one in the last four or five years.

Agate, I'm glad to hear you have recovered from your fall. My last one occurred on 6/8/2022, but my PCP increased my Sinemet dosage last February, which seems to have squelched that problem. (Knock on wood.) Hopefully, I won't be falling again anytime soon. I am pretty sure I was concussed the last two times I fell, and I have enough brain injury as it is from the MS.

I hope everyone else is doing well or at least having fun. I'm going to go have some myself and post a cap pic, along with a song or two.

☮

[Virginia]

I am here as Ikoiko would say.

The hurricane didn't do much where I am. It blew down some small limbs, and blew pine straw all over everywhere. But nothing to complain about.

I went out Wednesday to get my hair done and cars were picking up kids from school and people were getting off early. So people were expecting something. I stopped at Chick-fil-A and got some chicken noodle soup and a salad, which hit the spot. I had planned to go to the grocery store, but since the skies were dark and there were some sprinkles of rain I changed my plans.

I am sure those of you who were on here might remember that my identity was stolen back the early part of the year. It nearly drove me crazy. Well yesterday I received a 3 page letter from an insurance company that my divorced husband had used when he took out life insurance on my life. It is a huge amount of money and is to be paid to his son and daughter when I die. He lied to me and told me it was for a much, much lesser amount, so I signed for it and went for a medical examination. It seems the soft ware company for this insurance company had a breech in their software for the insurance company and they believe my information was stolen. So now someone else has all this. They gave me numbers to call to try and ward off anything bad. They also are giving me 2 years of free monitoring service. I am still on the one year that my bank gave me when they were breeched early this year.

I've got to go thru things that I did 6 months ago and make sure that everything is as secure as I can get it. This will take a little time and some calling and hanging on the phone. My brother called and said maybe I should just advertise on the internet and say that if anyone wants all my information it is available. ( He can be funny). I told him that one thing that is making me upset is that Doug (husband involved) died last year and I can't even fuss at him. Obviously, I wasn't serious, nor was he about advertising my information.

I went today and picked up new eye glasses. Then I went to the grocery store. There isn't much difference in the prescription in these glasses and my old ones, so I am not seeing that much better. However, it had been 5 years so I needed new ones.

It has been a busy week. I went to pick out frames Monday and to the grocery store. Then Wednesday I went for hair appointment and today back to pick up glasses and to grocery store. Three days of going in a week is a bit much.

Agate, sorry you are having to get dental work done. Sounds like it might be kind of extensive. I hope you have a good Dentist.

Flatcap, hope you like your new glasses and also hope you like your new Dentist.

The weather here has been cooler due to the temperature drop when the hurricane went by. However, sometime about the middle of next week it is going to be hot again.

Everyone have a good month!

[agate]

Virginia, that sounds like a miserable amount of nonsense you've been having to go through just to get the identity matter cleared up but it must have to be done. This kind of thing makes a person wonder if this new technological age is so great after all.

New glasses can lift a person's spirits particularly if the person can suddenly see better. Hope you like yours!

Yes, the dental work might be extensive. And expensive. I've been going to this dentist for about 10 years now but know nothing about how his denture work is, or rather the denture work done by the lab he sends them to.

I'm glad that you escaped the worst of the hurricane. It sounds as if you didn't lose power, and that is good too!

[flatcap]

Quiet around here lately, so let's have a tired Old Joke of the Day and liven things up.

"I went to the fights last night, and a hockey game broke out."

[agate]

If that's an old joke, it's one I hadn't heard.

Do you recall the days when we had a couple of people on here who routinely posted jokes, I think daily? I think their user names were Joker and HardyHarHar. I'll admit I skipped over their posts because there was just too much going on here and I had trouble keeping up with the more serious posts.

[flatcap]

Can't say I recall any comedians, but I mainly lurked here looking for info on the DMTs, etc. I remember there being a thread on the subject of deaths related to Tysabri and PML. I recall others where LDN was the hot topic. I don't remember humor ever being a thing here, but I never spent a lot of time on the board until now.

[Virginia]

Agate, I remember Joker and HardyHarHar. I would not have thought of them on my own. You certainly have a good recall.

It is the 9th of the month and Ikoiko, Snuggles and Jingle have not checked in. I hope Ikoiko has not had a backset due to the COVID she had.

I was due to go out to eat Thursday evening with a neighbor but got sick during the night before. I had given myself a shot Wednesday night and that can happen, I guess. I gave one last night and today has been fine as far as how I am feeling.

I laid in the bed this morning and listened as it thundered and thundered. It was a rolling sound like the thunder was just going around in circles. It thundered really loud most of the morning. It has rained a lot today. I haven't looked at any weather forecast so I don't know how long this will last. However, it is a break from the extreme heat we had this week. It was close to 100 degrees most days and it may have been a little over that some days.

I haven't gotten anything much done this week that I thought I would. I should be doing some things now, but I think I will just procrastinate a while longer.

Hope we hear from some others soon.

[jingle]

Thank you, Virginia. I'm here. Right now taking a break from cooking. Tomorrow is a basket dinner at church so I'm working on that. And a dear, kind man who was our minister a couple years ago is going to preach tomorrow. He phoned me and asked that I please make some peanut brittle (!!) for his family. They all love it and haven't had any since they left here. Then he called and said the wife of the minister where he lives now (Texas) asked that he get some of my cookies for her. lol lol. So, I'm cooking and packing.

[agate]

How nice to hear from you, jingle! You must be busy cooking for your fans. It surely is nice to know people who appreciate your cooking. Hope the cookies and the peanut brittle turn out well!

[Ikoiko]

My COVID symptoms have cleared up finally. Back to my normal exhausted self now. I also have a migraine.

I have been listening to a lot of books on audio over the last month. It is a lot faster than reading for me.

[agate]

Do you get your audiobooks from a particular source? I get all of mine through the National Library Service but there are many other ways of renting them. They've become so popular that the New York Times Book Review now has a special section reviewing recent audiobooks. People buy them, collect them, listen to them in their cars. I don't want to own any more books and so never buy any but I always have quite a number of library-rental audiobooks here to read.

Yes, it is much easier than reading printed material. I find I drop things too easily and have problems just turning pages. I take my glasses off to read a lot of print because it's so small that the only way I can see it is by holding it right up to my face.

[Virginia]

Hi Jingle and Ikoiko, it is so good to hear from both of you.

Jingle, I haven't eaten any peanut brittle in many years. I use to love it. It sounds as though you are quite the cook. I am sure the people in your church enjoy having you around for many reasons, but certainly cooking would be one. I hope the today turned out to be really nice for you.

Ikoiko, glad you are over your COVID and back to your normal, but I don't think of migraines as being normal. I have had only a few and found them to be brutal. I have had headaches, but not the migraine type. I will tell you a little story about my former neurologist who I thought so much of. He gave people with migraines Botox injections in the forehead. This was years ago, but he said a small vial of Botox cost $2000.00. So, if they wanted it he just started giving it to them for lines around the eyes and mouth. The neurology clinic he was associated with found out and told him that he had to throw the vials away after he gave them for migraines. Otherwise, if anyone found out, I guess meaning insurance companies the people who got them would have to pay $2000.00. He said the ladies he had been doing that for were upset about not getting their Botox treatments for their lines, but when he explained that it might cost them $2000.00 they all backed away from it. The rest of the vial would just go in the trash he said.

Glad you are enjoying the audio books. I haven't started doing that.

[jingle]

Many, many years - early 80s - I went to a Christmas party in the home of a woman who did not cook. She hated cooking. At the party there was a gorgeous plate of very good peanut brittle and I asked her where she had gotten it. She said she made it!! She made it in her microwave!! Peanut brittle made in a microwave??!! She gave me the recipe and I've been making that delightful stuff for many years. I have never had it fail, not one time. Summertime is NOT when to make peanut brittle or any candy like that. It likes low humidity. But here's the recipe.
MICROWAVE PEANUT BRITTLE
Butter a piece of foil on a cookie sheet.
(use parchment paper and don't worry about buttering)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup white syrup
1 cup raw peanuts
1 tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

Put sugar and syrup in large microwave dish. Stir well.
'Wave uncovered on HI for 4 minutes.
Stir in peanuts. 'wave for 3 minutes.
Stir in vanilla and butter. 'wave 1 minute
Stir in baking soda, Stir hard and fast and quickly dump
onto buttered foil (parchment paper on cookie sheet).
Spread out. Cool and break into pieces.

The mixture will appear pale when it's done but it's OK.
Pile up newspaper or something "heat proof" where you
set the cookie sheet. This is HOT. (Metal racks for cooling
cookie sheets are fine)
Bowl will appear to be so covered with hard brittle that you
can never get it cleaned....fill with water and let soak
for a bit. It will all dissolve.

I've tried making this with all sorts of other nuts - pecans.
filberts, Brazil nuts (chopped), almonds, etc. I didn't
think it was great.

[Virginia]

O.k. I am stupid or something, but what does wave mean? Does it mean cook? I am going to write recipe down. Maybe I will make some to take to our family reunion in October. Thanks for posting.