T.O.P.S.

Because I was in Arizona, I hadn't gone to T.O.P.S. or gotten weighed for two weeks. I was sure I had gained, I just hoped is wasn't more than three pounds. I had weighed 129.8 last time and was prepared for 133 or so. Cheryl picked me up, we went in, and I stepped on the scale...
...and what to my wondering eyes did appear, but 129 even, meaning I not only didn't gain, I lost a bit. I was very pleased and even kept my impatience in bounds during the meandering meeting.
Home, had breakfast, and corresponded back and forth re my June trip to Jersey and an Airbnb. We found a possibility in Jackson where I want to be, then a better one there, but it still isn't firmed up. 
Did some food prep: chopped up four onions, froze some, and reserved the rest for stir-fry tonight/ Scrubbed two pounds of carrots and put them in the slow cooker with quartered tangerines., and left them to simmer.
Left for Yolanda's at noon and met Carolyn and Nancy there. We had our usual good time; I had a Modelo with my burrito; I would have ordered a Corona again just on general principals, but they don't carry it. The burrito was huge and I ate exactly half of it. Nance had only half of hers and said she'd have the rest for dinner and asked for a box. I didn't want to embarrass her, so did so myself. After we parted, I deposited the box, half-burrito and all, in trash can. I hate to waste food, but I knew I wouldn't eat it, for dinner or anytime else. 
Walked a few blocks, then got on the bus for town. Walked there, too, but it got chilly, so I stayed only an hour or so. I got off at the store near Yolanda's and picked up broccoli, romaine, spaghetti squash and sweet peppers, then caught another bus. Stopped at Von's for ground turkey, but wasn't hungry, so will stir-fry it tonight. I just had my yummy carrots for dinner, then snacks with Will And Grace.
Unfortunately, I got up for the usual about midnight, then just could not get back to sleep. I finally got up and played some games on this device. I might take a nap today, although I rarely to and don't like to. Mebbe yes, mebbe no...

Oh, Joy!

My chip came in the mail and it works!  YAY! It was such a pain trying to do anything here without it; I'm thrilled to have it back.
Otherwise, it was a busy day. After breakfast, I stripped the bed and put both sheets, pillow cases, and some underwear and white blouses in the washer, then the dryer, and was pleased to find they came out beautifully. The appliances aren't as big as those in the laundry building, of course, but they're not small, either.
While they were agitating, I moved all the chairs and other items from the kitchen, and used the Bona system (dust, then wash) to do all the hard floors. They came out beautifully and I also shook out the bathroom rugs and put them in the sun (kills germs). I haven't yet decided whether to try washing them here. They could be too heavy, so I might just continue to do them in the laundry building..
Took the trash and recycle stuff out and ran into Andrea, her daughter, Lauren, and little Brindley. A woman they know named Vickie came out and I was introduced. She looked to be about in her sixties and lives here with a friend who has Alzheimer's. I hope to see her again.
After, I set off for the 99-cent store and on the way, met Michelle. We had a long talk about the SOBs who run the place--she's even more annoyed than I am--and it was satisfying to vocalize our discontent.
Got carrots, two new pairs of reading glasses, black beans, and a few other things, then walked home,  pleased to get in about three miles. Lunched, then bused to town.
My son, who's coming with his family in two weeks from Tokyo, threw out a question in general on Facebook, asking if anyone knew of travel restrictions to California from Japan. I went to City Hall--they knew nothing, but advised me to call the County. I did, and got nowhere. Stopped at the library and the very pleasant and helpful librarian went on-line, but China seemed to be the only country restricted. Well, that's good news, but who knows what will happen in two weeks?
Okay, now I can put my hall arrangement on here:

Happily, it holds all my DVDs, plus some small books and I'm sure I'll add more. The picture (which Gabe hung) is the smaller of the three I bought years ago of early Atlantic City. The two large ones are over my sofa in the living room. Oh, hell, why not post that here, too?

It's such a thrill to have my little mouse and keyboard back, I could just keep type-type-typing away. But I won't.

Maintenance And Me

Did Maintenance come, as promised, at 9:00 am? Why, no.
At 10:00? Nope.
11:00?  AAGH!
That's when I called the office the first time, steam coming out of my ears. I got the answering machine. Called again at noon and finally, Jen answered. After I ranted and raved, she put me on hold and consulted Bianca, then came back and said somebody would be over in fifteen minutes.
He was and it was Gabe. Of course, he hadn't been apprised of the picture situation, so had to go back for a tape measure and hammer. I must say he was very meticulous and did a good job. The bookcase looks great under it and I'm happy with the hallway.
After lunch, I prepared to go out, but met Gabe coming in  to do the rest of the work and I went back with him. In very short order, he fixed (we think) my filing cabinet, realigned the louver doors, and studied the white streaks on the kitchen floor (he advised me to try just cleaning it first). So now I'm happier and finally was able to jump on a bus and go to town.
Got a good long walk in, stopped at first Target, then Von's on the way home. I was hoping my chip would arrive yesterday, but unfortunately, it didn't. I fervently hope it does today.
Mindful of the fact that I have T.O.P.S. tomorrow and will weigh in after a two-week hiatus, I had a one of my sketchy "dinners" last night: a can of string bean, frozen blueberries, and rice cakes. I'm quite sure I'll show a gain, but will deal with it.

Nails And Frustration

I could spit nails, as the unlovely saying goes. I waited in ALL DAY for maintanence * to come and remedy the problems created by the w/d installation. After the morning had gone by, when I'm  walking to Wal-Mart or elsewhere, I went to the office to find out why nobody had come yet. Told Manager (oh, I forgot--the title is now "community director," idiotically enough) Bianca I had to go out and she said somebody would be over at 1:00. Fine, I'll wait. Had lunch early, waited and waited and nobody came.
In the meantime, Betty called and I chatted with her. I called Arizona and chatted. Got the mail and found that--oh, guess what? We're now going to be charged for water heating (we're already charged for water), sewer, and trash, to the tune of this one-month bill for $73.12. I called the office, furiously angry, but that was somewhat placated by Scott, the new person in the office. Actually, I like him a lot better than I do Bianca.
Oh, cut to the chase, Mimi: At 4:20, maintenance guy Toby or Tyler or Trevor or whatever his name is, came and said he had just been notified of the jobs. AAGH!  But okay, he came in, got the top drawer of the filing cabinet open, but the whole thing is "sprung" or something and dammit, I better be reimbursed for that. He looked at the picture and said he'd have to come back with a hammer and measuring tape. Oh, a hammer? To put nails in a wall? Why would you need a hammer? (Double AAGH!)
Anyway, he left and I immediately called the office and was told they'd be here at 9:00 this morning. I then grabbed my jacket and purse, rushed out the door to Von's, then took a pretty  good walk over the footbridge, maybe three miles total. Stopped at the Hill Street branch of the library and got a book on cacti, then home and I felt much better.
* I know it's misspelled, but with this friggin' method of input, I don't know how to correct it.

Soaring Spirits Lunch

Busy day, but a good, active one. The Access Van picked me up at 9:00, which meant I got to The Coalition twenty minutes after and Owen wasn't in yet. No prob, I just strolled to The Promenade and watched the surfers, plus enjoyed the gorgeous day.

Got back at 10 and picked up the small bookcase, then waited around until the return van got me. Home about 11:00 and I immediately took off for the Stonefire Grill. Annoyingly, I just missed the bus, so walked down Victoria to Telephone, a mile, and got one there.

A nice crowd had gathered, including Carolyn B.--I sat next to her--plus a new guy named Marty from New York. He immediately announced he was to the right of Limbaugh and I countered with the information that I'm a radical. Anyway, we decided to drop politics and got along pretty well. I was delighted to learn, when we exchanged ages, that he's 88--I always like meeting people older than I am. Anyway, I enjoyed talking to him, believe it or not. He lost his wife three years ago (cancer), was born Jewish, is an atheist, has one daughter, and lives not far from me.

I was horrified to hear from Vera that Gayle B. is in the hospital with liver failure. Gayle is only in her middle sixties, retired just weeks ago, and she and I were good widder group friends. She's in Cedar-Sinai; I asked Vera to send me some information on room number and so on. Vera asked the server to take a picture of us waving to Gayle; if I knew the mysteries of this sullen laptop keyboard, I'll copy and post it here, but I don't.

After the lunch, I bused to the transit center, then home. Suzanne stopped in to tell me she's going to Burlingame on Thursday to pick up her new (2018) Toyota. This is actually owned by the order, but her car was old and gave up the ghost, so she is being given a new one.

I arranged some things on my new bookcase--well, it's really a DVD case--and did a few other chores. Talked to Nancy again and we made a date for Friday lunch at Yolanda's. In fear and trembling, I texted Eileen to ask about the dishwasher and darned if she didn't get back to me that Anchor Appliance was able to fix it. I'll get a bill for that, but certainly not at the price of a new one--good news!

Sunday

I'm still suffering horribly with the loss of mouse and keyboard, but am trying to be brave.
Actually, I got a lot done: Used my new washer and dryer to do whites in the morning and colors in the afternoon.The things actually work and, yes, it's going to be more convenient than the other way. After lunch, I took off for town and walked a bit. Stopped into The Coalition and found a small kind of bookcase that I decided would be just right for my CDs. Asked if I could pay for it and get it tomorrow, but they don't allow that. Politely tried to persuade them, manager was called, and she finally agreed, with the stipulation that I come get it by 10:00 am. As soon as I got outside, I called the Access Van and should be picked up at 9:03. However, they won't come back to take my acquisition and me home until 11:00. I was planning to go to the widder lunch at noon, but am not sure I can make it now. Oh, well, I'll just play it by ear.
Stopped at Target for blueberries and onions and while I was there, Betty called. We talked, I then took the bus home, detouring to Von's for cottage cheese. Once I got in, I cut up the onion and chunked the two pounds of tomatoes I had, added oil and seasonings, and popped two large pans in the oven. Called Nancy, who used to live in Arizona and we had a good talk. Shortly, we'll plan lunch for sometime this week.

This is driving me crazy--or crazier...

Damn! I just wrote out several lines and somehow, it erased and I don't know how to "undo" without a mouse. All right, Ellen came over, tried to fix, couldn't, called Mike and, as it turned out, the little chip or whatever it is should have been switched and wasn't, so I have his and he has mine. El took me to the p.o. right away and I sent it off. I hope I get mine soon from Arizona, as this using the keyboard that's attached is driving me crazy!
Anyway, El and I went to the Black Angus for lunch and I deliberately ordered a Corona in reaction to the FB post I saw that said 60 percent or so of be beer drinkers won't order it because
of you-know-what. The idiocy of the human animal can never be underestimated.
El helped me with a lot of stuff and I got a lot put away. Didn't yet do a wash, but will today. Stopped at Suzanne's to show her pics of Arizona and I can't write anymore on this thing.