Yesterday I emailed my friend Pam about a design project and she suggested we walk today. She chose the D&L. I chose toward Allentown.
It was drizzling when we met at the icehouse. but we walked anyway. It quickly stopped. We went almost two miles to the bridge. I always wanted to see what was on the other side of the bridge.
There was a huge hole in the decking. On the other side of the bridge was a home made, and maybe illegal, bike park. The path took us to the railroad tracks. We couldn't see what was on the other side because a train was going thru. We turned around and went back to the bridge and the trail. Then headed back toward the parking lot.
When we reached the big lots where they store the bikes for the bike and boat program I noticed this sign. I thought maybe it was a fitness trail but it turned out to be a bike repair station. A handy place for it. We took the trail under the bridge and up the ramp and down the steps and back to the icehouse.
Miles/Steps: 3.5 miles
Weather: mid- 40s, overcast, chilly and damp. A little drizzle Wildlife: male mallard
I've been walking around the neighborhood lately. Or down to the store. It feels odd not to walk to the doctor's office. Yesterday I decided to head up toward the hospital in the less urban area, and then come back Seneca. The first two or three blocks have beautiful old houses with gardens.
So the first wave of spring flowers are ending. The tulips are starting to bloom, and the azaleas too.
Thursday I didn't go to the eye doctor. He cancelled because the office is basically closed under the governor's orders. We had a long phone chat and he was willing to come in if I wanted to. Heck no. I like him and all but I am sick of seeing his face. Don't need to go back for a whole month.
I was almost out of the two medicine and the drugstore sent a text that my BP medicine was ready. I only wanted to make one trip to Target so I called them in. I think that's one reason he called me. He took me off one of the medicines and I'm doing the slow withdrawal thing from the steroid. In a month that will be gone.
My walk was not to the doctor's office for a change. Instead, I walked around the hood for about 45 minutes and talked -- socially distant -- to Violet the cat lady on the way and the way back.
Miles/Steps: 2 miles
Weather: 70, sunny Wildlife: 3 horny male cardinals trying to get the attention of one female cardinal. Let the mating begin!
Money found: 4 pennies
Today was go-out day. I had to pick up the three Rx at Target. I planned a condensed outing.
First I did a walk around the neighborhood this morning. Tomorrow I have no classes so I need to go out to a trail. After my Zoom with my class, I headed out for my errands.
First I went to Target. The lot looked like a normal Friday. I was shocked. I wanted to take a pix but I didn't have my phone. They had blue X's taped on the floor and an associate moving along the people. Same thing at the pharmacy and the customer service counter.
I looked at GoodRx. It was $203. American. Costco had it for $191 but it would cost me $60 to join. Mailorder was $179 but that wasn't smart if this is a one-time thing. If it's a forever thing, I will go that route. Maybe I'll do my blood pressure meds as well. But that will leave me without an excuse to go to Target.
So what does $203 look like? It the tiny bottle in the center—.5 ml. or 0.01759752 ounces. The slightly larger bottle on the left was $33. My blood pressure Rx is up to $20.
After leaving nearly $300 at Target and not buying anything fun, I headed for gas. BJ's is across the street so I could get gas and check inside if they had tissues. Sharon also gave me her list. I got most of her list, but little on the one I created. No tissues. The whole reason I went in there. It's allergy season and I only have two boxes.
BJs shelves looked like a going-out-of-business sale. The parking lot looked like the day before Christmas. It was crazy. But I
did make an impulse buy. After not having a printer for weeks (I was depending on the school one) I picked up a printer. I couldn't find a repair shop for the old one. Nobody repairs printers. I guess they are disposable.
The next stop was going to be the bank. I had several checks here. The lobby isn't open and I no longer have an ATM card. Banking will wait. The line was crazy.
My final stop was to take Sharon her groceries and her leftovers.
It's a new week. Yesterday I spent prepping for my first "online" class at the community college. My class went so poorly on Friday I was terrified. I did a test video conference with another faculty member. Leaving nothing to chance this time.
It went pretty okay. All the students showed up, but none would show their faces. I was talking to a panel of typed names.
I had done so well at exercising last week, but without a doctor's appointment this week I wasn't motivated to move my ample butt. Right before class I checked Facebook and saw this post.
My class started at 5 and I knew we'd be done with Zoom by 6 because the free version is only 40 minutes or so. Then I'd be hanging out by my computer waiting for them to call/write/message with questions and problems. I could do this. So I did.
I'm glad I did. I worked up a bit of a sweat. It was not a bit like the class at the library because you were alone in your living room. Every time someone coughed or grunted or the dog ran past, Zoom took away the instructor and put on that person. He finally solved the issue by muting everyone. It was better then.
I self-isolated for one whole day! I was so proud of myself. That of course changed today.
I decided today was the day to go to the supermarket. They should be restocked from the weekend and hopefully, the hoarders had to go to work. There were only two hoarders in the store. I secretly hoped that gravity would dump their carts. I should have taken a picture. It was a feat of engineering! Everything but junk food and produce had limits on them. But that's okay. I just wanted some basic groceries so I didn't have to keep walking to the store.
About a week ago new neighbors moved in. They an ecological nightmare. By Saturday the trashed was piled from the front porch, halfway down the alley between the houses. I could see the trash from my family room window. Monday and Tuesday are trash days in South Bethlehem. I don't think they know they have to hire a trash person--the city doesn't pick it up. Sunday evening they put all the trash on the curb. It wasn't taken.
Then they consolidated some of it and put that on the curb and half near the porch that they are adding too. Yesterday I saw these red orbs appear on the top of the pile. I thought it was a bag of soda cans.
Today when I pulled my trash can in, I thought they looked like apples. I went and investigate when I took my walk around the hood. It's a five-pound bag of red-skinned potatoes. Had I realized it when they first put them out I would have snagged them. Now they've been sitting in the sun in a plastic bag. They are no longer good. It makes me want to scream.
I am, however, delighted that I got two days of exercise in now that school has restarted. I think once things get moving that my prep time will go down and maybe I can drive somewhere to walk. That would be nice.
You can tell I have way too much time on my hands. I'm blogging more. And this whole house arrest pandemic thing is making me hate pretty much everything in my house. The list of things that need to be painted, repaired, replaced and cleaned is growing every day. As always, I'm easily distracted.
The week of March 9 we had spring break. Covid19 was in the news, but it was a classic example of not in my backyard. I had my cataracts removed. My roommate caught her spring cold. She sounded like my day with his 4-pack-a day habit. By
Wednesday she let me buy medicine. The lady in front of me in line had 4
12-packs of TP. I didn't understand.
March 10, 12 I walked up to the eye doctor again. Thursday my international student came over and we walked and cooked. Things were starting to change. While walking we got the message that school was closed an additional week. Public schools closed. Colleges closed. March Madness had been canceled early.
There are no longer sports.
By Friday or Saturday, people were prepping for an apocalypse. People started hoarding TP,
hand sanitizer, meat, and snack food. On Saturday I was supposed to have a
walk, it was canceled. I was supposed to work at the shelter, they were closing it down. Things started sounding really serious. Maybe NIMB
no longer applied. I went to Newark Airport and picked up my brother and sister-in-law from a seven (mostly) small nation cruise.
Friday and Saturday: My walks took me to our local dive-supermarket. Nobody hoarding there.
Sunday: I ended up at the neighborhood bodega. Why do I always need one thing to cook a meal?
Monday: I took my sister to the optician at Visionworks. We had planned to go for lunch. There were three tables being used. Then I took her to Aldi for food. It was
70% empty. The hoarders cleaned it out. Plenty of produce and dairy though. Clearly, hoarders don't like fresh food. Take her and her groceries home. I can't carry them in. There is a sign on the door in English and in
Spanish that says only residents and medical staff allowed. The mail carrier no longer takes packages to your door.
Tuesday: I was doing a
damn good job staying home except for my walk to the doctor. Then the phone rang. The church that I cook with for the disadvantaged (they call it the freezer ministry), received a bunch of food from restaurants and they were cooking it up. They had excess food, did I want it? I went.
There was more to cook Wednesday. Since I was out I stopped at CVS for more medicine. A drug store is an unhealthy place. People were not social distancing. I'd move back and they'd cut in line. (BTW no TP or paper products, hand sanitizer or cleaning supplies. The hoarders had
been here.)
Wednesday: I couldn't help cook -- I've been scrambling to move my courses online -- but
I helped with two hours of packing. As I'm leaving the roomie says stop at
CVS my RX is ready. The RX department is worse than the central checkout. Please people, keep your germs to yourself. I try my best to social distance myself.
Thursday: Another trip to the eye doctor. It was raining. The rain stopped and I took a walk while chatting on the phone. Megan comes over to do her class online.
Friday: I'm set to stay
inside. I have nowhere to go. All the ingredients for dinner here. Sharon shows up. Why? because she was bored at home. Sharon, do you realize that you live in a building with all old or very old people. There's a reason they have it on lock-down. You'll have to take the bus home. I'm not going out.
At ten o'clock the phone rings. It's the sewing machine repair shop. He's done with my machine and if I want to use it during the next few weeks while everything is closed I need to pick it up. I
get home and guess what? CVS called, another RX is ready. WTF? They couldn't just call all at once? I went inside. There is now orange tape on the floor saying do not cross. A table in front of the counter where they slide the RX bags to you. A hand sanitizer dispenser and a pin pad.
Germ-saturated-people all around me. (Why do the sick people pick up their RX. Why not send the well one?) There's nowhere to hide and still
get
waited on. I noticed the drive-thru was open.
I headed out to my car. On my way out I noticed that the cashiers upfront have a
similar system. CVS is chaos.
Sharon gets a ride home.
The governor makes another declaration. If you don't close, you will be fined. The hoarders head back to the stores.
Saturday:
Best day so far. I just went for the walk and stopped at the ATM. Lost my hand sanitizer. The local distilleries have switch production to hand sanitizer.
Sunday:
I went out to get the paper. Thankfully Dollar Tree was empty. Having a
grocery (empty) section is the reason why they are still open.
Loopholes. (Wawa has stopped all self-serve. It must be a zoo in there!)
I haven't walked yet but it will be to the dive-supermarket. The roomie used to eat spaghetti by the barrels. We could have it for 4 nights a
week and she'd be delighted. Then about two years ago it was put on the forbidden food list. (It is a very long list.) As I was staring in the
freezer deciding what to make she said: "Let's have spaghetti!" After I
picked myself up off the floor I realized there is no parm. She won't eat it without.
Hopefully next week I'll do better. At least I'll have work.
A couple of weeks ago my international student and I planned to do archery today. Everything is closed because of the pandemic. My back-up plans were at the library ... but that is closed as well.
For the last two weeks, my walks have been in my neighborhood. Mainly a variation to the eye doctor and back. I needed to get out of the hood while maintaining social distancing.
Yesterday I talked to F and she didn't want to walk. She's afraid to go outside. She has self-quarantined in her dorm. So I decided when I got up this morning I was going to walk on the D&L alone. My only question was whether I'd drive over and walk to Allentown, or walk from the house to the trail and only do a bit. Bonus, maybe I'd see turtles.
It takes about 45 minutes to do my eye drops. So I began the series and opened Facebook and I saw this:
After watching the video and seeing all the new things at the Art Trail I decided to go there. An instant later I thought, hmmm, maybe Angel and the teen want to come. I totally forgot she had an injured foot. Of course, we'd keep a social distance. The trail is right by their house. I emailed Angel and she ultimately said yes. We had to wait for the teen to wake.
The last time I was on the trail on the Winter Solstice walk sponsored by the KSAT. I thought I went back shortly after but I couldn't find a blog post. The last post I saw was from 2018. The things that were new for me were the bridge to the silk mill, the labyrinth, and the qi gong area called the Eight Pieces of Brocade.
Our first stop was the pedestrian bridge to the renovated Silk Mill complex. Then we took the nature trail along the creek back to the path. When we returned to the path I could see the red stones of the labyrinth as we neared the dog park. I knew what it was from the video.
Angel explained to the teen what the labyrinth is and what she does while walking one. I think it is the quietest I've ever seen the teen.
Labyrinths are spiritual. I am not. I believe in nothing including myself. But I enjoy walking them, and this one was a different configuration than any I've walked before. My stone is actually a broken clamshell, the little white one on top. Angel's is the stick that looks like a ducks head. I don't know what the teen put down.
It is fun, yet scary walking with the teen. She reminds me, of me, when I was young. She's got quite a spirit of adventure and is fearless. Once she slid over a downed tree onto a large rock/foundation in the creek and then onto another old piece of the foundation. Another time she walked down an erosion line to the creekside.
I've seen this drawing bench before. The sign talks about nature journaling. I never knew there were supplies inside. The teen comes back up thru the woods, goes to the back of the drawing bench, opens a door and pulls out a sketchbook. There were colored and regular pencils back there as well. They really want you to journal. It's cool. I kept a journal and put the pencils back. Maybe I'll start posting sketches instead of photos.
The trail was busier than I've ever seen it. But people were respectful and kept their social distance. Unless of course, they had a dog. Then the teen greeted everyone at the end of a long leash.
Once we reached the red arch we turned around and came back.
I wonder how Angel's foot is doing.
Miles/Steps: 3-ish miles
Weather: Low 50s, sunny, breezy
Wildlife:
I heard birds and the teen tried to take a pic of a squirrel.
It's raining this first day of spring. And as I've done often during the self-quarantine, I walked to the eye doctor. I have been in that office more in the past month than I have since he opened the practice in the early 80s. I'm glad I had my surgery when I did. The surgery center is closed. I've heard the office staff talking about all the cancellations. I wonder if he will close, or maybe consolidate his hours. His practice is a lot of lasix, cataracts and glaucoma. Two are old people's diseases.
Yesterday was beautiful. The sun was out and it was warm. Like high 60s warm. I finished my annual report and walked during my break. About three blocks from home a former student, who is now a teacher, called. We talked for the next forty minutes and two miles. It was nice to have someone to talk to while walking.
Figen and I planned to do archery on Saturday. Everything is closed. I'd love to just go for a walk with her. Are we allowed? I'm not sure.
Pandemics are a pain in the ass. Life interrupted. It really makes you think about what is important in life. It also makes me want to remodel my whole house. Spending so much time indoors I can see how worn out and ugly everything is.
Enjoy the flowers. These were taken on Saturday, yesterday and today.
Rant:
I'm tired of the pandemic. I only have very, very basic cable. The Beer-Virus has consumed all the channels. Every time someone sneezes it's reported. Is there something in between being informed and invoking mass hysteria? And what's the deal with hoarding TP?
Plus its spring and my allergies are headed into overdrive. Sneeze in public in 2020 and you are public enemy #1. I've already started allergy meds.
I have so much work to do before Friday. My face-to-face classes have moved online so they need to be rebuilt and put online. Someone posted they did 18 hours of work this weekend for a 3-hour class. I'm tired of video meetings. I think I'm earning a nickel an hour.
Walking:
Saturday I walked to the market and didn't buy TP. I walked to the market on Friday as well, and today I went to the bodega near my house. Every time I cook I am missing one thing. It's annoying. Thankfully my local dive-supermarket is not busy. They even had TP. I didn't buy any.
The confinement is driving me nuts. It's different when you have a choice to zip around to stores and whatnot or stay home. But we're self-isolating. To make it thru this crisis I have to walk every day or I will not make it mentally to the other side.
I wonder how the world economy will survive this mess. I still think it was a bio-weapon. I just keep waiting for someone to claim responsibility. And then laugh out of control like the Joker.
Eyes:
Bizarre day. Everything was status quo until about noon -- laundry. I put one drop in my eyes, waited 10 minutes and put the second one in. When I returned to my computer I had double vision. Not serious, but it looked like the type was out of register. Then it stopped. I took my walk, made dinner and returned to the computer. Typing this the type looks like it has line thru it. A strikethrough. Maybe it's my imagination. Don't know. I'll tell him Tuesday.
Since my surgery Monday I've been walking up to the doctor's office every day. Yesterday, when I was done, I headed east to 4th, down 4th to CVS. Then out Broadway and home.
Today, after my appointment, I went and picked up my international student and we went grocery shopping. She was making lunch ... or dinner. Turned out to be lupper. My roomie has a nasty cold so I really didn't want to hang out here so we went for a tour of the hood. The Fountain Hill side of the hood.
We headed up the hill and out Moravia. Then down Clewell, crossed Broadway and took Seneca to Bergen. We headed up and crossed Delaware, and went out Stanley Avenue to the park. Then we took the winding path through the park and the woods to Dodson. Up Dodson to Graham. Down Graham and back down Bishopthorpe and home.
At some point, her phone beeped and it was her mom. We sent her this selfie. I was waving to mom.
Miles/Steps: 3 plus about a mile for the doctor's office.
If you've been following along, the last few weeks I've been optimistic that my vision issues could be corrected with surgery. Having no insurance this adventure would cost about $5K. I wouldn't have spent the money if I didn't think it would work.
I am not an optimist. I am a pessimist. If you always assume the worse will happen, you're pleasantly surprised when something good happens. So being optimistic took a lot of work. But I was there. I had people of various faiths praying for me, holding me in the light, and just wishing good luck. Yesterday was the big day -- my cataract surgery.
The hope was to remove the massive cataract and then I'd be able to have some vision return in my right eye. I arrived scared but ready. The thought of having two eyes again really motivated me. It took about an hour to give me 17 kinds of drops, push a BP cuff on, and insert an IV port. I should have know that the IV port hurting the whole time was an indicator. I pushed on.
My appointment was at 9:30. They finally walked me over to the surgical suite at about 10:15. They wrapped me like a cacoon. There was a blanket on the chair that they "swaddled" me in with my hands at my side. I think my head was in the center of some sort of pillow enclosure. Then they strapped me down. I was not going anywhere. Then I went backward. I think I wasn't horizontal. I think I was more than horizontal. After washing my eye and my face they covered it and began. I couldn't see anything but I felt it. It wasn't pain, but it wasn't pleasant either. Sticks and pinches and pokes. I'm guessing it wasn't from the actual laser.
I felt like I was on the table forever. He kept telling me not to move and to not hold my breath. I was concentrating so hard on not doing either one of those things, but apparently, I did them anyway. It was finally over.
They walked me back to recovery. I sat down, listened to the instructions, and then covered my good eye with my hand. Nothing. I wasn't prepared for that. I was positive and optimistic. Good things were supposed to happen.
I kept checking all day. Still nothing. My one friend suggested it was just the swelling and it would be better in the morning. It wasn't. Still nothing.
I walked up to the doctor this morning and he also seemed a little disappointed. My pressure was up as well. But on the upside, the surgery went well. He said there's a lot of swelling and still much cloudiness. It will take time. I go back Thursday. I don't expect any changes. On the upside, I'll save money on glasses because I'll only need one lens.
I don't mind being a one-eyed walker. But I worry if the same thing will happen to the other eye. I won't be able to work. Drive. Walk alone. It will suck.
I no longer get the paper delivered. I miss it. And I'm certainly less informed than I was before. For a while, I walked to the corner to get the paper but discovered all the inserts were missing ... every time. I guess the crazy coupon people buy a paper then pick out the inserts to get the coupons. (Frankly I no rarely use coupons. Not out of choice, but because the things I buy don't generally have coupons.)
Then I moved to purchase the paper at the Wawa on Thursday and Sunday. My sister is the ad/coupon cutter. One day I was in Dollar Tree on a Sunday morning and the paper was a dollar. Why am I paying three at the Wawa?
My original plan was to go to a GOLV walk at Cresco. But it was a hike so I vetoed it. Since I was going to Dollar Tree for the paper I decided to go to Upper Saucon Community Park and walk there. I didn't want to go 5K because I was still hurting a bit from the previous day. My knee was not quite ready for that distance. I chose this section because I often walk from the Hellertown and Coopersburg trailheads, but rarely the middle.
Our mild winter has played havoc with the creek. It was nearly empty. I walked from the parking lot, up the hill to the trail and headed east toward Hellertown. At the second road, I turned around and headed back.
I noticed they have new trail markers. I also noticed that they now mark quarter miles. I picked this one because it showed the old and new markings. Upper Saucon is blue, Hellertown is green, etc.
The walk was good. I'm glad I decided to do the shorter route. The resistance provided by the gravel hurt a bit. I was limping when I reached the car.
Before heading home I went to the old end of the trail. I had heard that they were making it longer. I headed out 309 and turned at Burger King. It is true, they are lengthening the trail. I hear it's going all the way to
Quakertown. Exciting. I'd love to take a bike.
Miles/Steps: 2 miles
Weather: 50, sunny, windy Bathrooms: closed for winter
Wildlife:
I heard at least five sets of birds calling back and forth. Mating season has begun. All they were missing was Marvin Gaye singing "What's Going On".
Today was the Bethlehem-North Volkssport walk. I'm the Point Of Contact so I had to go. I arrived at 9:35 and there were already four people there. I didn't expect anyone. Often the Lehigh Valley walks are not well attended.
By 10 there were 12 people. Knock me over with a feather.
By mile two, my knee was hurting. The hills got to me but I didn't stop. Nor did I go nearly as fast as I did for the first part. I was limping by the time I finished the 5K. Bottom line — I did it.
Score one for the one-eyed, one-legged wonder.
Miles/Steps: 5k
Weather: 43, sunny, windy Bathrooms: none used
Wildlife:
geese everywhere
Money Found: a quarter
Extra:
There's a walk tomorrow in Cresco, Pa. It's a park I've never been to. I'd like to go but is two days in a row too much? And what if it's rustic. Things to ponder.
My knee still hurts. I probably did something to it. If it still hurts in November after Medicare kicks in I'll go to the doctor. Actually, it's not my knee cap. The part below my kneecap is very sensitive. The inside of my knee, where it bends, feels like someone tied a knot. That makes stairs and hills difficult. But I walked three miles today. It's mind over matter.
Monday I went to the eye doctor for my pre-surgery visit. I came home with all this crap. Retail one of the prescriptions would have been $158. I used Good Rx and got it down to $65 for all three.
This Monday is the surgery. Bonnie is taking me. I must have gotten a dozen calls yesterday about it. Three were about scheduling. First, it was 9:30, then 9:00 then 9:30 again. I got two additional calls with rules. Basically, the no makeup, deodorant, don't eat after midnight, etc. rules. Then they called and asked if I had bed-bugs or was in contact with anyone who had bed-bugs, or if I've just returned from a foreign county.
Everyone but the doctor wants their money upfront. The anesthesiologist wanted $200 right then and there. I had to give them my credit card number. Earlier in the week the surgery center called and told me I needed to bring $1,100 with me or they wouldn't it. Let's just say my Discover card is smoking right now. Thank goodness I'm getting some tax money back.
This is off-topic, but it's my blog so I guess I'm allowed. My friend Angel has a blog where she writes about her travels, career, family, and food. There are lots of links to videos to sweeten the pot. Lately, it's been a lot about pets. I can't keep track of how many she has.
I figured I'm allowed to go off-topic. Especially since I'm walking less.
This post is about my sewing machine. That's her strapped into the car seat for her trip to the repair shop. She sounds like a Mack truck when she is stitching and only does straight and zig-zag. It was my mom's "new machine". I don't remember what it replaced. My sister Barb would know.
She's a 1962 Model 403 Singer in Cocoa Mocha. I didn't know that until the repairman (yes, it was a man) told me. When I lugged her in the door he thought she was a 401. But when I set her down he knew immediately that she was a 403. I love repairpeople that know their stuff.
That cannot be said for her last trip to the repair shop. We had taken her for maintenance to the Westgate Mall for years. Then they moved to Elizabeth Avenue. What I didn't know was they changed hands. About two years ago I took her to be cleaned. It had been awhile. I brought her home and she worked great for five minutes and then went clunk. Before I had a chance to take her back my niece moved into my sewing room.
Since it broke in less than an hour I decided to take it to a place Bonnie recommended in Allentown. He was not happy when he opened her up. This was my first clue he knew what he was doing. The previous guy slapped a tag on it and told me to come back in two weeks. Apparently, the original place doesn't fix their own stuff anymore but sub-contract it out. Whoever did mine did a horrible job. There was moisture trapped inside and rust was forming at a lot of places. Things weren't connected correctly.
Thankfully she can be fixed. It will take a little more money than I planned but for the amount of sewing I do, I'm not buying a new one. Ask anyone ... especially Bonnie and Lydia. They'll tell you I'm cheap. I prefer fugal ... and environmentally responsible.
