another Halloween has passed...

 

the front deck was decked out for the trick or treaters. i had put the candy slide up again but this time i had jazzed it up with fake webbing and fake spiders. it was a hit, but sadly, probably only around 20 trick or treaters showed up. 

it was chilly out. in the 20's. i had thought more kids would be out as the covid restrictions/fears seem to have lessened. perhaps, this meant more families took their kids to more social gatherings. trunk or treats or parties? not sure.  most of the kids that did come by were older tweens/teens. 

the school age ones were super excited about the fake phone and the sign to pick up phone then scream trick or treat.  they screamed. haha. then i amazed them with the cool slide. 

i closed fairly early really, 8pm since there just weren't many kids out there.  maybe more came later after parties were over. who knows.

had to do the full 3 on, 2 off, 3 on this stretch.  killer. i haven't switched back to a real routine. i stay up late and sleep in late. the dogs have still gotten walked. concerns about the bears still wandering and the moose in rut have kept me on more common trails. several treks to the dog park

on one trek there a dog on leash pounced on poor Ivy Rose's back. one bite wound and initially she was non-weight bearing on her non-surgical leg. i just told the guy his dog should not be brought to the dog park.  he just kept saying is there blood and do you want my information.  wanted to say just hand me 5 grand for the knee surgery.  the truth is at a dog park i doubt you would win any settlement for payment from a situation like this.  his dog was on leash, mine wasn't. i suspect he knows that, which is why he probably offers up his information. i didn't see any bite marks at the time anyway.  she has thick fur. 

still it pisses me off. why do people insist on bringing dogs that are not properly socialized with other dogs to a dog park.  it's not good for any dog.  just makes his dog worse. dogs on leash surrounded by off leash dogs is really only going to amp up the leashed dog. i returned the next day because i knew i should for myself mentally.  we haven't seen the offending owner and his dog. Ivy has seemed herself. 

we had the official Pumpkin Massacre on Saturday. thank you MT for hosting it again. my place is small. i guess there won't be much hosting at my place again. when i have had parties in the past we seemed to manage it okay.  perhaps one day? it was pretty well attended despite several having medical issues and having to back out. some fun pumpkin carving happened. i got my pumpkin guts and cooked it up that night.  last night i made the pumpkin bread.  the dogs and i shared a slice for breakfast today.

a late breakfast.  i'm currently thinking after this i will hit the shower, walk the dogs, go to grocery and then maybe get my bivalent covid vaccine.  that will give me a few days to feel crappy before i head back to work on Thursday. 

i got my flu vaccine last Saturday night while i was working peds.  trying to think where else i worked that week. i think the other two shifts were in ER? now i can't recall. this week i did ICU, PICU and then ER. last week i did get home an hour or two early from an ER shift. always welcome. 

mostly i just felt sleepy after the flu vaccine....of course it could have just been i was tired after working 3 shifts.  i've decided when i do retire i will spend a few months adapting to no longer working nights and catching up on sleep. 

also found out that i will have to input my schedule again starting with the next schedule.  those who have been there over 10 years will have 24 hours before the others to put in their schedule.  still doesn't help for those weeks that i find myself off the grid.  they did say that they could input my schedule if i know i'll be gone or away from the computer.  we shall see. just a little added stress. 

i saw the bear in her tree last week.  she was just chilling before heading in to hibernate i think.  haven't seen her since the year she had the one cub drop and the other too sickly to carry on. hoping this means babies again in the spring.  hopefully a more positive experience for the old gal. i have no idea really if this is the same bear or a series of bears. are they related that use that tree to den up? i would think that is the only way you would know. either be the original bear or be closely related to that bear. 

the lakes are freezing up.  we also had some snow, which is sticking at this time. the lights are supposed to be good but the clear skies seem to fail at nights when the lights would be out.  the clouds roll in at night and clear for days.  grr. 

i have gotten my Christmas cards and calendars made and they are here so i'm ready for that. for me that just gets the obligation portion of Christmas taken care of.  still some gifts to buy/make.  much will be just sent out. 

i also bought a fake tree.  will hopefully be able to get it set up without issues. may just buy a wreath for the nice pine smell.  it's just so expensive and messy getting real trees. i've thought about this for years so here i am i guess. could buy a little table top live tree i guess. 

election, election, election.  that is all that you hear anymore.  it's a big one.  no clue which way it will go or what will happen in this nation over these next few years. the right seems hell bent on getting rid of fair elections by pretending that they are already corrupt and unfair.  it still feels like the last hurrah.  will they succeed in making this a christian theocracy...that has little actual christ in it? they do not want to be told how to live their lives but they do want to force others to live how they want 

they do not even hide their misogyny or racism any more.  their followers often find ways to convince themselves they are not racist or misogynistic or hate lgbqt folks, while still voting for these right wing lunatics.

some guy broke into the Pelosi home in San Francisco and beat her husband with a hammer. he's in ICu and they are finding ways to minimize or blame him or the Dems for this. they accept zero responsibility for anything and always blame others for everything. all while doing nothing except spewing lies and conspiracies and obstructing any progress in this nation. people still vote for them...even if often this vote will negatively impact those who vote for these fools and imbeciles. 

there were more bull moose at the curve the other day. i didn't have a good camera. the iphone is not good at telephoto shots. cool to watch them though. there were two large males and one female. 

musk bought out twitter.  he immediately gave the orange fool back his account access along with other fools.  open racism and rude inappropriate tweets regarding pelosi's spouse quickly followed. how do these people see anything in any of this. 

was thinking today how since i left the church, the worse has been assumed of me by many still in. i kept trying to be accepted but i always found the worst was assumed and i couldn't figure it out.  i never left and became a drug addict or alcoholic.  i never became a pole dancer or went to jail...i am a nurse, i protect walrus. i am just me, a decent human living a basic life. 

that whole time i think i assumed the best in them. i made excuses for them and over these past few years i would convince myself that surely this or that would make them see how crazy this gop was becoming and how horrible the man that had taken it over was. anytime these issues came up i was always shocked and depressed to discover that they never waivered in their belief in the gop or anything else that they had believed when we were young.  it was all still there. i was only making myself more distraught hoping for anything else. believing that these kind, intelligent people would wake up to what was happening.  in the end, i've really had to back off of people i grew up around as it's just too sad and depressing being faced with the reality of it all. 

i still try to just convince myself that they are waking up to it all even as i suspect they have only sunk deeper into the conspiracy crack addiction that now plagues so many in our nation.  the belief in the absurd. the complete lack of facts or truth. the continued blame game that deflects away from any gop responsibility for anything. 

fall, homer, kennicott. great memories of days past..with hopes of future adventures. really no idea what happens next.  you carry on.  you hope for the best.  you vote and then much of it all is out of the control of us peons. 

i tried to get my twitter account closed, it says my password is wrong.  it's the one i have though. will try to get rid of it another day i guess. if they want money, they won't get any from me. 

such a blend of photo's in here. still nice to mix and match. 

the hospital was hopping with kids. all sorts of respiratory crap going around. not too much covid really. people are getting  covid but not hospitalized so that is good. not sure Halloween will help the spread of bugs, especially if the kids did more social things.

was annoyed with this new yukon tv. it's like having the old aol/80's computers.  it continuously freezes and is thinking over and over. so you can't make it through a 30 minute program without. 

love the fall colors.

there are no more left at this time. the mushrooms have also died off.

lost the grooming brush for a few days. now i've found it again. still had our usual brushes so Sunny has gotten his basic grooming done. 

these are from  Kennicott. 

these cool plants are ones that grow early when the glacier recedes. 

just some shots of the sites.  the buildings look worse and worse with each year that passes. 

old machinery is scattered all over. 

mushrooms from last september.

a few from our rafting trek at Spencer Glacier. 

who will come this summer? no plans yet. thinking of making that trek to Yakutat. 

the dogs are buzzing around me, wanting me to get off the computer. 

mini-skelly. 

will have to get the dogs out in a bit. they keep coming up and down the stairs.  clearly they are ready. 

guess i better get this day moving.  didn't get to sleep until way, way late. so not much sleep last night.  maybe i'll get in bed soon. 

the pumpkin bread tastes pretty good. seasonal. i still have one more pumpkin to carve. at this point i'll probably just hack it up and cook it down to freeze. 

oh no...saturday night is fall back...! i gotta work 13 hours. that is not what i wanted to hear. 

a friend called, so i was catching up. sorry, distracted blogging. :-)

haven't written much this week and when i do i'm distracted.  not much to say that hasn't been said.  the same crap of late politically. overall a better mental state and happy to have the dogs and the people who accept me for who i am.  it is important to stick with those who care how you are doing. who bother to check in from time to time. covid really was an eye opener.  who is really in your life and who is just periphery fluff. for that i am grateful. we all assumed a lot about many of our "relationships" i suspect and covid just broke open the truth of many of those relationships...so has trump really. 

thankful for: A. surviving the days i work and chilling on my days off.  B. Halloween and all the fun that comes with it. C. sleep.  i didn't get that much but what i got was deep and fulfilling.  off to walk