...because I spent hours digging out info on my Figenshu antecedents. In addition, my nephew, Jim* called about sending back my disk with my father's college pictures, which I had lent him two years ago. We had a good long talk, catching up on past family history and present family doings. Jim oversees something or other in three hospitals, so is pretty busy. Anyway, he will finally send back the disk I lent him two years ago, but he also put it on "the cloud," that is, send me a link and now I can go to that, too. 

• James Byrne
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• I just don't know what I did up there! I don't know how to move Jim's picture and I don't know why the margin on the right is how it is, but I just can't deal with it anymore.
• Anyway, here are my Dad's pics from Villanova, when he was on the track team and the debating team:
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• Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
• University of Southern
  
  
  California

In the track team pic, Dad is standing second from the left; in the debating one, he's standing furthest on the left.

Well, I'm afraid I screwed this up and don't know how to unscrew it. Sorry!

nect

Activities, Lorenz, and George

Worked on my little Christmas project--personalized cards--which I may or may not expand. It's a lot of work, not to compose them, but to cut and paste--that is, literally cut and paste, since I'm not at all adept.

I did, however, get Singapore son and family done, as well as one for  my brother, Jim, the 94-year-old current resident of Bangkok. I still have more to do, which I'll try to accomplish today. I also have bought cards to fill out and send. In addition, I want to go to Michael's and possibly Barnes & Noble to fill in some things.

Went to the P.O. to mail the above, then took my cart to the market. I finally have a good supply of veggies and other items that are staples for me. Got my three miles in, too. 

I had posted on Facebook pictures of my great-grandfather, Lorenz (Lawrence) Figenshu (originally Fiegenshuh), when he came as a mercenary to fight in the war between the states The second is the colorized and gussied-up my cousin had done--Hollywood's version, it seems to me. 

Two of my nephews would like copies, plus other info. When I'll ever get around to that, I don't know. Here's one of my grandfather, Lorenz'es son, George, at his barber shop in Philadelphia. He's on the left and see the post? It must be hereditary!  

T.O.P.S. And So On

Only four of us at T.O.P.S., as Bobbi has opted to cower at home with the new "lockdown" thing. I gained a smidgen, .08 on the home scale for 126.2 and .07 according to T.O.P.S, for 127.1. No prob on my part, as I figure that's just a normal slight variation. (Being a math illiterate, I have no idea how many ounces .08 nd .07 of a pound are.)

Did a color wash in the morning, then spent time on my Christmas project. After lunch, I walked to Smart 'n' Final and Dollar Tree for staples, such as broccoli, blueberries, romaine, eggs. I found some good kitty toys for Gwennie and Cessy. It felt good to walk the three miles. It was a little cool, but sunny, so I enjoyed it.

Called Ellen to tell her about the dentist thing and hear about her school experiences. Called Bobbi to wish her happy Hanukkah and we talked for twenty or so. Got two more Christmas cards for a total of six so far, plus two early birthday ones. I'll work on my cards tomorrow--the special ones, that is--and do the others next week or so.

Dentist

(Still busy, busy, busy, and I hope a lull starts now.)

 Before I left to meet the Access Van outside, I wrapped the gifts for Tokyo, addressed the big envelope, and filled out the customs form. 

Got to Oxnard on time for my 11:00 appointment and after the usual paper work, I was x-rayed, taken to an examining room, and Dr. K. came in. This was simply a consultation at no charge, for which I was thankful, and happily, I'm more optimistic at this point than I have been since January. I don't want to go into detail, but there's light at the end of the molar now, I think. 

I was favorably impressed with the dentist, Dr. Keiheni (Key-hahni). He went to UCLA School of Dentistry and is perfectly fluid in English, with a slight accent. I looked up the name and found it's Iranian. That pleases me, being appalled by the relentless insistence of the U.S. government that it could be a good idea to bomb Iran. Anyway, the upshot was, we talked for some time and I might be able to live with a less expensive plan. Dr. K. will come up with possibilities and we'll go from there.   

I hadn't asked the Access Van to take me back to Ventura, figuring there had to be a bus stop nearby. There were several, in fact, but I had to ask somebody which direction. Got back after 2:00, stopped at Von's for romaine, had lunch, then rushed off to the P.O. to mail the package to Japan. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't quite thirty bucks; I expected more.

From there, I hopped a bus to the mall and stopped in to see Angie at Johnson Dental. I just wanted to thank her for helping me get my $4780 refund on my credit card before interest was charged. Walked down to Target to get Christmas presents for the Ojai grandcats, but didn't see any I liked.  

Stopped at CVS for something called Bacitracin to put on my wound. Home, dinner, and a wonderful shower (I wasn't allowed to get the stitches wet for two days). As instructed, I took off the bandage and put the ointment on, then a Band-Aid. How does it's look? I dunno, just like I had stitches two days ago, I guess; that's the extent of my medical savvy. 

My pal, Jim, called about 8:00 to see how I made out, and we had a good talk. I'll call Ellen to report this evening after 5:00.

 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Chaos

EVERY year, I vow to get my Christmas packages sent early and EVERY year, I seem not to. This was no exception, I'm afraid. I had all the gifts for Singapore except Mike's and I'm giving him a gift card to Big Island Candies in Hawaii. You can't order on their web site, so I had to email them, then call to find out if they send to Singapore. I wanted to get the gift card, then include it with my DIL and granddaughter's gifts (and, of course, those for Snickerdoodle and Malibu). For Mike and Patrick, I would order gift cards. But this necessitated several phone call, but was finally settled. I asked for email confirmations, but annoyingly, haven't gotten them yet. 

I wrapped and packed up the others, put them in the P.O.'s own large "priority mail" envelope, and walked to the P.O. to mail.  AAGH--I was told postage would be fifty-two dollars and change! Now these are small and light in size and, conscious of weight, I wrapped them in tissue paper. The guy at the P.O. said if they were in just a large envelope, they'd be half that much. 

Natch, I didn't have any that large, so I went home, walked to Wal-Mart, and got four large, padded envelopes (for both boys), bused home, rewrapped Mike's and rushed back to the P.O. Sure enough, the postage was now only twenty-some dollars, just about half as much. I still haven't gotten the Tokyo one off, but hope to today.

If I live through today, that is--I have my dental appointment at Oxnard Dentistry at 11:00.

Surgery, Sort Of

I finished breakfast about 8:30, then nervously prepared for the ten o'clock dermatology appointment for the removal of the growth on my nose. I'm always paranoid about being late for things, so was just getting ready to leave for the bus when the phone rang. It was Dr. T.'s office, saying they had had some "technological problems" and would have to ask me to wait for them to call in an hour or so to reschedule when I could come in later in the day. Geez, I had had that appointment at Oxnard Dentistry, then got the call the wife went into labor, and I had to reschedule. Was I upset over the derm call? Not at all, I was thrilled to have a little more breathing space. 

Later, I was called and asked to come in between 11:30 and 11:45. I barely made it, as the 6 bus was late, but I did. Once there, I was taken to the sort-of surgery room, and had the M.O.H.S. procedure. In my case, Doc deadened the area next to my nose, cut out the crud, then he and nurse left me for an hour. That was okay, as I took with me Edward Curtin's Seeking Truth in a Country of Lies: Critical & Lyrical Essays.  I'm absolutely stunned at his insight into modern life, in particular the evils of American imperialism, especially since it's so championed by "liberals." Besides something to read, I had been told to bring water and a snack. I did--grapes and pretzels--but I didn't get hungry or thirsty, so brought them home.

Doc had to come back once to cut more out, then it was declared "clear" and he put in deep stitches that will dissolve in some time or other and others that will dissolve later--or something. Nurse then cleaned up and put a big dressing on, and I was released a little after 3:00. I walked to the nearby market for bananas and blueberries, walked to the transit center (only about a  mile, but at least I got some in), and got home.  I had been told to take Tylenol, but I didn't have any. I did have Aleve, so took two of those; later, I read the instructions paper I shouldn't take Aleve. Well, too late, but I went to CVS for Tylenol, so I could take some before bed. 

Ate some vegetable potstickers for dinner--I still wasn't very hungry--then was about to call Ellen, but she beat met to it and we had a good talk.  

I was surprised to get a call about 8:00 pm from Dr. T., asking how I was doing. I guess this is the new thing, but it sure didn't happen when I was a girl. Doctors were august creatures, just slightly above the angels in the moral hierarchy and they would never have called off-hours. Not sure if this part of the COVID thing or part of the medicine-is-a-business thing. 

Anyway, I told him about the Aleve thing and he said it shouldn't be a problem. Then he asked if I had been keeping a cold pack on it...uh, what? I had just skimmed the paper I had been given and had missed that part. He told me to do that right away to reduce the swelling. I did and kept it on while I watched Will & Grace, but AAGH! I just looked at the instructions paper and it says "for fifteen minutes every two hours," so I goofed there, too. I'm pretty sure a medical professional (ret.) is reading this and gasping in horror at my poor patient-ship, so I should be ashamed. (But I'm not, so there!)  Anyway, when I got up this morning, it feels okay: doesn't hurt and isn't badly swollen.

I was touched when Jim called last night to see how the surgery went. We had a good talk and I was glad to hear he called the government agency he was concerned about and finally, his problem seems to be resolved. 

So the easy part re my health is over; tomorrow, the hard one: Oxnard Dentistry.         

Jim, The Wind, And Other Stuff

 Jim had asked if I could help him with getting his driver license to a particular site on the Internet--long story I won't go into--so of course, I said I would. I spent some time cleaning up a bit, as I haven't had anyone* in for quite a long time.

He came at one with his lunch, as usual. We had planned to eat outside, also as usual, but the Santa Ana winds were so fierce, we just couldn't stay out. Yes, the gov has us under lockdown, but he was going to come in for the computer stuff, anyway, so we ate at my place.

After, we went into my bedroom (but Sister Immaculata  wasn't around, so we weren't worried 😁) where my laptop and printer are. I scanned the license, saved it, sent it to my email, then to his and so on and so forth. Anyway, for various reasons, it took about an hour, but we finally got it done.

Jim returned the favor by getting my Christmas decorations out of a very high cabinet, which I was afraid to attempt. He left about 4:00. I called Betty back (she had called me in the morning, but I didn't hear it) and responded to an email from Greg thanking me for the birthday cards (one from me, one from Gwennie and Cissy, the kitties). 

I got a call from Dr. T.'s office, the dermatologist telling me to bring water, a snack, and a book to wait out the M.O.H.S. procedure today. I'll leave after breakfast, as I'm supposed to get there by 9:45.

Walked over to Von's for bread and romaine; the wind was still pretty strong, but I think not quite as bad. There's an enormous amount of debris all over the complex, mostly from the palm and pine trees that dot the campus. 

Called Ellen just to chat. She was on her way back from The Hip Vegan, Greg's favorite place, with dinner for the two of them. 

*Aside from Ellen, and daughters are different.