save the fetus, shoot the child...

 

all those kids get gunned down in the school. the GOP does the usual crap.  thoughts and prayers, it's too soon to talk politics. then maybe there will finally be some compromise, some action and then the door again slams shut as they blame everything but the guns and circle the wagons around their true idol, the guns.  they would watch Jesus reincarnate die of bullet wounds before they would give up their guns. 

i am off sick tonight.  the sore throat and congestion got worse.  two home covid tests were negative.  i did get fevers and all the trappings of a cold bug. for me that usually means it quickly drops into my lungs.

i am coughing and was short of breath.  tonight, knock on wood, i am feeling a bit  better. so perhaps another perk to all this covid these past few years was that i haven't had so much as a cold bug and perhaps that gave my bronchitis and lungs some quality healing time. fingers crossed that this bout is shorter than the usual.  before covid, any virus would turn into a multiweek coughing hell. maybe, post covid, a cold will just be a cold. 

me at the iditarod this year. 

and a mix of the snow sculptures as well. 

felt bad as they were short staffed tonight, there was a wedding for a pair from the night shift. i had no idea that was happening.  i felt pretty crappy today still so i was calling out anyway, but you just feel worse when you learn that they were probably more short than the usual

only one day i skipped the walks due to feeling lousy. i do terrible with any fever. this one never got over 100.6F, but i notice a 99f.  

my Tusker hat. 

when i was a kid i had hallucinations when i had fevers i think now. at the time i just recall that anytime i was sick i was visited by a Laurel and Hardy type pair, one tall and skinny, the other short and stout. they would taunt me and say i was lying and i wasn't really sick, i was faking it...seemed pretty real as a kid but i suspect that it was probably fever induced hallucinations. that hasn't happened since i was a kid though. 

just a few of the snow sculptures. 

always some good ones out there. 

so after tonight i'll have a few nights off then i should be back to work Tuesday. not sure where i got this bug.  i did work picu 5/6 shifts my last run and those kids had everything but covid.  there was also a rather snot nosed toddler on the boat on Saturday, that timing probably checks out more. at work i was wearing masks. on the boat the germs were free flowing. so it's probably another birthday gift for this year. 

it's been hot as heck here these past weeks. our fire risk is increasing like crazy by the hot day.  it does feel hotter here as we have a different angle of the sun.  it hits us not from above but full force horizontal. 

it's a rare Alaska building that has actual air conditioning.  we do have fans...probably sold out at this point.  i have several small fans that seem to help.  i put batteries in one of my small ones downstairs and Sunny is very nervous of the thing.  go figure.

Sunny is enjoying splashing in his puddle pool, then joining me on the bed.  so i have that to cool me off as well. 

i did do some light garden work this afternoon.  when i had influenza for weeks i managed to paint the fence and deck. i can cough and puke inside as easy as outside.  i felt close to puking a few times with this little bug but never did. when i had influenza i did that for well over a week or two. 

haven't arranged any sort of yard clean up and haven't bought a new lawn mower yet. need to get on it though. the yard is a mess already.  gotta mow up the weeds to give the lawn a chance to grow...what little lawn i have with dogs. 

have an appointment with fidelity about my retirement...want to stop the hemorrhage before i lose my millionaire status. 

haven't gotten much else accomplished.  lots of naps with little bits of tasks done between naps.  

the last two days i did manage leash walks with the dogs.  nice to feel comfortable walking dogs up and down Patterson again. Tusker and Ivy were pullers and weren't keen on the special no pull harness i bought.  Ivy seems to have slowed and Sunny is manageable. 

we are adapting to life without Tusker, though i still miss him and hope to have him magically return to us 

ordered some new collars for Covi Cat, hopefully one that is not as quick release.  i found his in the puddle pool this afternoon...how did that get there. 

i planted some of those peat pods and set it on the deck.  something told me to check on it and Sunny had one in his mouth and was very please with himself.  i did get the outer casing out of his mouth before he swallowed it and moved the peat pods to the front.  i still need to get to the garden shop and get the back planters potted. usually done by now. 

i think the rest of these are from a trek to Valdez. 

where to wander this summer. gas prices are high so that may limit travel a bit. 

it can be hot as hell in a tent as well. keep expecting fires to start in this heat, lucky so far.  that can determine where i travel as well. 

russia continues to bomb the hell out of Ukraine. they have taken land, destroying all in their wake, torturing/killing the citizens that remain.  don't think anyone, even the russian speaking are thrilled with this torch and murder plan of taking over. which i guess just means displace or kill every single person if they want to maintain any sort of power there. haven't been following much having felt crappy this week. 

the wildflowers of Alaska.  this is on the Denali Highway. it was a mostly wet drive across. 

it was the CR-V's maiden voyage across. don't think i had the full spare yet. 

luckily it did fit in the back tire space. the elements full spare doesn't fit i have just been using that car very local for dog walks though.

haven't driving either car these last few days though. 

my sats have stayed up as well. sure sign that it's not covid.  those tests can be wrong. no taste changes either. 

cool shot of Covi Cat getting too brave with tree climbing

the Matanuska Glacier.  

left a walrus out there on the road.  haven't done any painting for a few weeks. have collected rocks though. 

pretty wildflowers.

probably going crazy right now up north as well.

the sun has set for today. i'll probably crash soon.  have had a few snotty/coughing conversations with friends this week. in the past the extra chatting needed at work and the dryness of the hospital has brought on coughing spasms. 

highly doubt many patients or their family would be thrilled by that in their care giver.  i got away with it before covid but doubtful i can post covid.

do i dare say post covid..?  

just a short and sweet blog today. feeling much better than the last post. i do just let myself write what i am feeling because i know that others have those days and those feelings as well.  we are not perfect, we haven't had perfect lives and we are not all as mentally fit as we what others to believe. we all have our moments of difficulty and depression.  times when we feel sorry for ourselves or our situations. 

i do know that overall, my life is good.  i am happy in the simplicity of it all.  there is a lack of drama to my every day...perhaps our minds need to feel some drama at times so we create it. even if that drama only resides in our heads. 

got my neighbor to witness my ballot.  so i'll brave the big world tomorrow hopefully and get that sent off and perhaps let these dogs off leash.  we have also done back yard time. they are both pretty easy to please. 

enjoyed some grooming time with Sunny.  

kitty and puppy paws together...so sweet

well, i guess i shall attempt to sleep and hope to wake up feeling more normal tomorrow. 

grateful for A. the hope of a short cold bug this time.  B. the pets, who keep me company and are very patient with me.  C. those who check in on me.  thanks. 

an adventurous trek to Homer...and expensive!

 

i have arrived home safe though and that is really all that matters. the rest you just throw a credit card at. these are still from June.  debated switching to some July pictures but here we are enjoying more june fun. 

so mostly a combo of the Denali Highway crossing and the trek to Valdez with other stuff in there. 

i'm currently watching some olympic action.  i guess there are many on the right who are refusing to watch because, "they don't support protesters"...of course, they have been more than supportive of those who stormed the capitol.  to me, if you are on the side of hate and anger and negative attitudes you just might be on the wrong side. people are wallowing in the hatred and not even aware of what it is doing to them. 

our young swimmer from Seward surprised everyone and took Gold the other day.  so fun to watch.  the US girls gymnasts took Silver even after the big star Simone pulled out.  she had been the constant focus to the point that it felt like Simone was the team and then there were those others.  i don't feel that came from her. when i saw her interviews she always tried to deflect back to the team and away from the stupid, how does it feel to be the greatest gymnast that ever lived bull...no pressure there. so it sounds like she snapped a bit and couldn't continue.  

it's sad that we push these folks to the brink with expectations that nobody could possibly ever live up to. i hope that doesn't happen with our Seward swimmer. 

i decided to drive the Skilak Road. i was rewarded for this by getting to see the most dramatic and beautiful display of fireweed.  that high was brought down to a low when a light on my dash said low tire pressure right after i got back on the main road. 

i was trying to figure out how i was going to get help.  i had dogs in tow on the side of the road.  

thankfully, a fine gentleman stopped almost immediately and came to my aid.  it was then that i discovered the new car came with a cheap spare.  will have to see about turning an old tire into a full spare.  

that cheap spare should only be driven a short distance and at a slow speed.  i was able to contact a 24 hour tire repair guy in the Kenai who ended up meeting me in town in Soldotna.  

he put some plugs in the big holes on the tire.  so with a $25 bill i was back on the road. so the kindness of strangers....

after seeing the size of the hole i was less than confident.  i did get down to Homer.  first i got caught in traffic...when i passed the accident scene i decided that perhaps the flat had prevented me from being in the wrong place.  it looked like there must be a fatality. i haven't confirmed that but i have heard from others that this was the case. careful out there.  way too many out there in a hurry, doing stupid things. 

we hit the beach then crashed in our room at the Driftwood.  in the morning i again hit the beach for an awesome low tide. 

there were lots of rocks exposed and great tide pools.  found the baby sea stars.  i saw zero stars later on the spit. 

not wanting to risk driving back to Anchorage on an iffy tire i stopped by the tire place in town. the hole was too large for them to patch, they would not put it back on.  my options were not great, drive all the way back to Anchorage the next day on the cheap spare or replace all 4 tires...since it's all wheel drive they wouldn't replace one or two.  so that wasn't cheap.  they did have one set that fit my tire. just one.  so in the end that is what i did. the dogs were not happy sharing space in the car with the 3 "old" tires.  not really old since the car only has 5000 miles on it 

i joined my friend for dinner at her place that night and after a good meal and lovely conversation...she suggested i leave a few of the tires at her place.  we then bungee corded the last tire into the car. so the dogs had space.  she felt it wouldn't be good to put a heavy tire on top of the car in case it flew off for some reason.  could do some real damage. 

my hope  is to sell two and make one a full spare. may be easier to sell the two down there.  less inventory. 

back on the beach in the morning and then the drive home.  uneventful, thankfully...

except i got a call from the carpet people.  they will not return to finish the edges of the stairs until August 28th!!  she said it was my fault that this wasn't done in one day...because i wasn't prepared!!  pissed me off.  i wasn't prepared???  how was i to know that underneath the current carpet there were some bits of wood not there that they believe they need to do the carpet.....and for some reason are incapable of doing.  in my mind that goes with laying carpet.  also the people who put the old carpet in managed without those little bits of wood just fine. so infuriating to say the least. 

what a nightmare Lowes has been and they only have one company they work with to lay flooring. this company isn't capable of moving appliances or dealing with anything that comes up in a job. won't be using them ever again if i can help it. 

so today was a chill day.  although my little trek to Kayaker Cove is a wash.  my friend, who put in the reservation invited more people than can fit in the small cabin. it barely fits the 4 it says can stay there let alone 6 and two small dogs.  best to back out and try again for next year i guess. frustrating as it was my only paddle trek planned for this year.  

last night i relaxed by watching olympics and painting rocks.  may return to that as it is relaxing. 

our covid numbers are increasing again.  things get dragged out because we have so many conspiracy crack addicts in this nation who have lost any sense of reality. they refuse to trust any sources that aren't total nuts who have no expertise in anything other than getting them riled up and filled with conspiracy crap. 

so that is where we are.  seems the hospital is a bit short staffed.  i have texts every day offering crisis pay. oh to be younger and not burned out on the work. i'd be able to take advantage of it, but i just can only be nice for some many days.  

outside is where i would rather be.  the olympic's are making me want to get back in that pool

i posted some of the fireweed photos in an Alaska page.  all positive feedback, zero snarky comments...that is a rarity these days.  so that was great.  got over 1000 likes so far.  

very few moose sightings this summer.  kind of odd.  i saw zero critters on the drive to/from Homer. 

flowers have been great this year though. 

Covid cat was thrilled to have me home and for his time locked up to end.  he hates being locked up.  at least that kept the bird population safe for a few days. i'm feeding him as much as i can in hopes he becomes too fat and lazy to kill birds.  

here he is making his way up the trees in the yard on morning

lots of pretty wildflowers on the trek to Valdez.  

still lots of clutter to deal with.  the office is looking much better though.  so one down. 

these sweet puppies embarrassed the heck out of me at my friends house.  they both peed on her carpet!!  this is not something either of them has ever done.  my friend was so nice about it and actually said she wasn't surprised as her daughter has been allowing her granddaughter to crawl around naked and she has been peeing on the carpet.  she figured the dogs might not be able to resist the smell.  

not something i want my dogs to become used to or repeat, ever. 

plans are starting to be made for a family reunion...anxiety for me.  always seems to turn into some sort of drama.  feels like i can't win either way. i skip it i'm terrible, i go something terrible happens. it wouldn't be until next summer and who knows what will be happening with covid by then.  will travel be up or down?

me, happy with the dogs in nature.  

they seem pretty happy with me.  no drama with dogs, right?

well, except when they pee on someone's carpet. 

they are always great at the little hotel. i have the room booked for when my niece and her family are up here.  so they will stay here just a few nights and be in Seward/Homer the rest.  so i will join them in Homer and off and on in Seward too...we have a kenai tours cruise...you can go on that over and over and see different stuff.  hope the weather is good. 

also found i have a small pension from my early days at Prov...so that is an added little bonus to the retirement account.  every little bit helps. 

on WARIS news...not too much is happening i know. i did write to a ranger that has done art for our stickers before and told her my idea for the next sticker.  she will work on it in a month or two so that is awesome.  one person has written showing interest in participating.  maybe we can get the enthusiasm up post Trump and Covid. i have wanted to keep a little bit of a low profile...

some rain fell off and on during that drive home.  amazing how fast weather can change. 

the flowers will soon fade away and we will move towards fall and winter again.  

this is in Valdez.

not sure if i'll get back there this year. well, i guess i will head down to watch some olympics and see what creative juices come to me on the rocks.  

thankful for A. the kindness of a stranger in changing my tire.  he lives in Eagle River and is military.  B. that all is well again. the tires are safe, the car is safe, i am safe and my pups are safe. C. friends, old and new!!  so many great people out there.