another lazy day....

 still doing some finish work on the new bathroom cabinet stuff. then i can load and start planning the next little project. should be flooring.  dread flooring though.  have to move everything and tear out old flooring.  ick!! this was on a rainy day. 

 it's sunny again today so the Covi cat is out catting around.  don't see enough of him as he is in adventure mode right now. thinking when i'm home i may just close the gate for those few hours of sleep time.  make him stay in  a bit more with the rest of the furs.  it's too long to leave it closed while i'm at work so he will have his freedom then.

 was working on those cabinets a bit last night. i do believe i have the pipes all sealed up. no leaks..fingers crossed.

 it is fun to see your ideas work out in your home.  looks nicer than it did for sure. i'm all happy with it. i know someone else would come along and just rip it all out. felt better to salvage...

 i feel like this most days with all this covid crap.  my nephew lost a friend in Mexico to Covid. sounds like he must have been fairly young.  left behind a wife and 4 year old. this virus is bad. i wish we could be done with it.  i fear it will be with us for good. feel like we are just adapting to the permanence of it at work. mask wearing will just be the way we work now.

 so frustrating that people come in concerned they have this and still can't be bothered to mask or cover their coughs. one fool was bawling as i put in the IV, then bitched at me because they are supposed to just stay in their rooms. i finally had it with the patient and pointed out that no mask had been worn this entire time by this patient. we are double masked in the ER for the most part.  easier to just leave on the N95 covered by the surgical mask.  then you put a shield over that.

 my new shield arrived, though i'm a nerd because i didn't notice that it had a film over it.  my friend in ICU pointed it out the next night...so much clearer.  it is nice to just flip it up and down rather than take it off and on.  i think overall the protective gear works so there is some increased confidence

 some after photos are starting to emerge.

 this week i worked ICU-ER-ICU. my first icu night i had one patient i had a few weeks back...not the healthiest at this point. pretty sad when things go the wrong direction health wise for some.  post open heart, when i see these patients i remember my friend Leslie.  she had an open heart and then complication after complication before she passed i think around 6 months later. left two kids, she was too young, in her 40's.

 ER wasn't too crazy.  i took over the patients of a co-worker who went home early, soon after that i took a short break which when i returned i was allowed to head home as well...i think at that time there were literally only 4 patients in the entire ER...not counting the psych ER section. i've never seen that empty

 one night right before work Covi cat brought a very alive shrew in through the dog door.  he kept releasing and re-catching it.  so the chase was on through the house.  there was some screaming by me, i must admit.  eventually i grabbed a wrench and was able to catch the shrew by the tail and take it back outside and over the back fence. very exciting. 

 silly cat!!

 was annoyed at the start of night three.  i don't expect much report from the OR crew but the nurse called and said we are on our way up....i was all, so that is it, that is the report? yep, that was it.  i was quiet when they arrived as i was so annoyed by this.  they knew i was annoyed. i apologized since they were all standing around doing nothing but i know feeling badly.  silence is often powerful, probably too powerful in this case.  so best to just apologize myself for being short with them.  frankly, i'd be embarrassed to do what that nurse did.  omg just open the chart for a minute or two to at least familiarize yourself with the patient and what was done.

 the rest of the night was steady but fine.  i am very happy i had taken my name off the list for doing CRRT...i'd be in more covid rooms if i hadn't.

 trump is a disaster really.  so many are still blinded by the con job.  seem to think he is saintly and here to save America from liberals.  a liberal to these folks is worse than anything. they don't seem to see the con.  i'm calling that taking the #trumptraintoStupidville and leaving it at that.  it's my easy, go to response now. the man has manipulated the law to his advantage his whole life. he's had hundreds sign NDA's and paid off many over the years. for these evangelicals who hate abortion...i suspect at least a few of those NDA's included abortions.  the man partied with women across the globe, he partied with Epstein.  that guy was bad. it's shocking how people like this gain the confidence to bring others into their disgusting games and get them involved. money. 

 money really changes people.  the higher percentage of those changes are not good.

 another shot heading towards the after

 trump always had people to bail him out. i do hope the buck stops soon.  Bannon was arrested, yet another trump buddy who has been caught scamming others. this one was a build the wall donation fund that really was going into the pockets of those scamming the trump followers out of their hard earned cash.  people hate paying taxes but at least we can, if we vote, have some say in where that money goes. these scammers just keep it all for themselves.

 i hope they all get caught and publicly shamed at least for this crap they have been pulling.  i do feel badly for so many on the right who have just allowed themselves to be sucked...but the truth is we all have personal responsibility. as long as they continue to refuse to see the scammers for what they are they soon become part of the problem, enabling the scam.

 many on the right got sucked into the tea party which aided in bringing them further right.  probably further than they would have naturally become and now they are being moved even further right by right wing media and web resources like Qanon. that is how it works.  it's a slow process. this ones been happening for many years now.  a book is coming out which shows how fox news and the hosts have influenced this fool in the white house.  direct time line changes in social policies based on his tv watching. it's pretty crazy

 i watched a bit of the Dem convention.  i thought they actually did a great job with the virtual convention...better than the old conventions.  there are a few things that i think Covid may help...it may have forced us into the new world.  shake us up and improve how we educate, how we work.  many will never return to the old 9-5 go to work habit. more options for work from home, more options for school.  change is stressful but i think some of these changes will be good for many in the end.  allow them to spend more time with loved ones over spending huge blocks of time at school and work. 

 i try to imagine that this hellish trump era will also be the vector of change.  he's showed us that many things we assumed were law were really just tradition and decency.  it only took one who is so crass and selfish to show us the flaws in our system.  hopefully, we will use this as a means of change.  i mean other leaders have done some bad things but they all pale in comparison to the total corruption of this gang currently in office.

 perhaps we will rediscover what is our priorities are.  we will rediscover our decency.  our kindness...i could be more kind i know. i do enjoy taking out my frustration over Covid i suspect by taking on a fool or two between shifts on facebook.  toss a one liner at them and watch them lose their shit. at this point if they aren't seeing some cracks in this trump mirage they are just never going to i guess.

 haven't decided what i will do on these days off. it's nice today....as i sit inside still.  it's supposed to start raining.  do i head out for a little trek or just continue on with local hikes and house stuff. hang with the critters.

 i haven't gotten much adventuring in this year.

 another of Putins critics has been poisoned it seems.  thankfully, he was able to get medivac'd out to Germany for care.  i doubt he'll be allowed to return...Putin just has gotten more emboldened by having his patsy in the white house protecting him. 

 hopefully with rain we will get some nice rainbows.

 the post office is under attack by this current administration it seems.  trump installed a loyalist in and he is making sweeping changes in an effort to cause more voter suppression.  the right is up in arms about mail in voting...mostly because it seems to them that more Dems vote this way...they fear they can't win with their policies after the covid disaster so switch to trying to win by preventing people from voting.

 the bugs bunny stamps are out there..go buy stamps...Bugs to the rescue!!

 a before shot.wow...it has changed.  nice!!

 after this i still have the cabinets over the washer/dryer to upgrade, then the floors in probably both bathrooms. i want to put up a few shelves.  i'm no perfectionist and i'm impatient

 my attempts to put the door pulls on the right way failed and i turned to super glue...we shall see how long that lasts.  home improvement, betsy style

 Covi kitten sad before going out and taking it out on a poor shrew. 

 he's not a fan of the rain really.

 a bipartisan report from the senate came out this week.  over 900 pages i think.  the basics...the trump campaign interactions with Russian intelligence were a threat. so many just continue to try and look the other way no matter how many facts come out.  they seem to prefer to take their facts from memes on social media. they are just looking more and more like fools, taken for a ride.

 checked on the lions mane the other day...still there. pretty

 some big mushrooms out there.  weekends with covid have been very busy on the trails.  that and hiking alone have probably made me stick closer to home....i do enjoy seeing the small changes on the local trails week to week.  you never have to go far from home to see beauty out there. 

 there are many different paths to take even on the local trails so plenty to see. the dogs do not care where we go as long as we get out there.

 they just want to chase the tennis ball. i just want to be out in nature.

 nearly done!!  i think i can feel pretty proud of this project...just don't look too closely. 

 in another attempt to tamp down voting a new postal rule makes it so the employees at the post office can't sign absentee ballots.  ridiculous.  i signed one for someone the other day,now i know why.

 trump had another blow...his taxes are getting closer to release. i think to New York and the oversight committee.  he really doesn't want those out there....must be some reason.

 still some work to do on that little backsplash. i went an easy way with that as well. it's metal but a stick on backsplash.  looks good though i think.

 the cats are being fed on the new counter.  they aren't thrilled with all the changes.

 another view of the new counters/sinks.

 the upstairs and downstairs counters are a bit different.  it's white upstairs and the downstairs matches the kitchen counters.  i thought that would be better

 i guess i'd better fold laundry, start the dishwasher and get these dogs out walking.

 the beauty of summer will soon give way to the beauty of fall..

 i need to get on in my search of what truck i want for my new camper life in the next year or so.  got the oil changed yesterday in my classic element.

 ate a zucchini from my yard the other night.  not bad.

 Covi cat knows how to relax

thankful A. that i was able to capture and remove the shrew  B.  that another house project is nearing an end with happy results.  C. happy things and happy places