Author Archives: Chris N

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, covid-19, Uncategorized, Walking by

This coming week I have a few appointments:(

One is with the sleep doctor, finally. I am sure he will order the CPAP machine, and I’ll give it a try. I figure, why not try it and just see? If I hate something on my face, I’ll know. Then later in the week is my flu/COVID shot, but that’s just walk in and get it. I do have an appointment for it.

In between, I’ll try and swim and I need to go the the Maheny gym and library. So a little busier than I like.

My son is planning to come over and stack the firewood. He is going to bring an apple pie to celebrate his dad’s birthday. He would have been 75. I’ll decide on the day trip to Tahoe tomorrow. It seems I am deciding things based on the day and that’s ok. Update: my debit card isnt working so I may have to go into the bank at 10 am and that will change things.

I didn’t sleep very well the other night, so when I woke up, I decided not to walk as I had a headache. Weirdly, though, my Apple Watch says no sleep disturbances(which is sleep apnea). Very strange. I did walk this morning, and it was nice. I used the flashlight for the first round.

Fall is really here, and the colors are changing on the leaves. Plus, the cooler nights make a difference. I’ve been sitting outside with the fire pit all this week while eating dinner. It’s nice. I have to fill the propane bottle as it is almost empty. I’ll just do the exchange at the store.

I’ve been having fun playing around with ChatGPT. It’s kind of fun to ask questions a get an answer. One was about selling Rubi while still having a balance on the loan. It’s not a lot, but that means I don’t have a title. So it suggested paying it off and then selling. Something to think about. The other idea was to do a trade in. If we can find the tent trailer my daughter and I want with them this would be a good option. Well, I have till next year to figure it out.

I listed the All American on market marketplace so I’ll see what comes of that. I also pulled out all my canning jars from the garden shed, and I will list them today. Or as soon as I have some pictures. I haven’t had any interest in the All American, which I’m surprised at since this is canning season. I won’t lower the price on that so I’ll just keep it for now. The pressure canner is one of those things that retains value even if it’s older, which mine is not.

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, books, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, decluttering, Myeloma, swimming, velcade by

It’s been a busy week. I’ve done tons of decluttering. The back of the Santa Fe is full, so I’ll go to Goodwill, maybe even this morning.

I emptied 2 binders of recipes I had saved and only kept the ones that were really favorites. Most of them can be gotten from the internet anyway. I went through the last two vintage suitcases that have my kids’ Waldorf toys and got rid of a few little things, but mostly just consolidated them into one, so the other is going to the thrift store.

It’s a strange place to be, but I’m determined to whittle things down to just the bare bones and keep the poetry. I have two empty shelves in the closet now. The bread maker is in there on a shelf and I haven’t decided on the bread maker yet. I think I’ll plan a sandwich loaf over the weekend, and then that’ll help me decide whether it’s a keeper or not. Good bread is easily bought at Costco and then frozen.

It’s raining this morning, and it’s wonderful to have everything watered.

We had a fun (expensive ) lunch with my son this week, and it was worth it. It was only burgers for all three of us but now a days that’s $20 each for a sit down meal. I also went to Costco after my labs on Wednesday. Something was off this week because I went in twice, and both times my lab orders were NOT there. Fortunately, I thought to get a PDF copy, so they did do the labs minus one (the SPEP). I scheduled it for next week but I think I’ll just cancel it and get it next month. My kappa Light chains went up another point. So now it’s at 21.5 . If the trend continues I’ll need to do something by January. I see Dr. L in October and see what he says. I can only hope it drops again next month but who knows.

All the bills are done for the month, so that feels good. It’s a good feeling to know it’s all taken care of for now. I’m still waiting on the Allstate bill to activate, and then my only choice at this point is to make the partial payments.

I’m planning on going down to the pool this morning and then straight home. I do need to get water at Costco, but it’s too heavy for me to get alone, so I’ll see if my daughter can pick some up after work.

I haven’t been reading much, although I did start my annual rereading of The Hobbit and LOTRs. I have books to drop off at the library, so I’ll check what’s new.

I scheduled my flu shot and COVID-19 booster for next week, so I’m sure I’ll be down for a few days. That’s usually what happens.

Update: all dropped off!

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, home stuff, travel, velcade by

I’m not sure if there’s much to share frugally. It was a crazy week with appointments, which I do dislike immensely. But today is my home day on Dex, so I should be able to get some stuff done and chill. All I have next week are my labs and a fun lunch date with my son, which is his belated birthday present.

After my Velcade shot, I stopped at Noah’s and got the dozen bags and one free one. I also got a free coffee. Most of the bagels I froze for later mornings, but kept some out for today and tomorrow.

I listed the Triumph, but no inquiries. I’ll lower the price next week and see if that prompts anyone. I’m sure motorcycles are a bit of a luxury right now, so who knows if it might sell. If not, it’ll just stay where it is.

This morning I sorted all our important papers into folders, so that’s one job ticked off. A while back, I bought a fire-safe file box, and that was for these files. I also finally made the appointment to go to the bank with my daughter to add her to the account. Slowly, a few more things are getting done.

I decided to not book a hotel for Tahoe on my birthday and B’s. I just don’t want the added expense right now, so I do plan on a day trip, which is totally doable, and B and I did that often. So I’ll see who wants to come, either S or Z. They have work, so I may just drive alone. We’ll see how it turns out. I also finally came to the realization, I don’t have to do anything right now so that eased my self pressure.

I dropped off all the thrift store stuff at both thrift stores. I also got my LLS paper from the bank and $ for the firewood. Firewood is quite expensive. If you go pick it up yourself, it’s less, but I can’t do that, so $$ it is. But one cord should see us through he winter with what I have already.

Other than that, not much.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, California, cooking, decluttering, home stuff by

Sunrise is 6:38 am, so I walked at 6:15, and it was just getting light, but I still turned on the flashlight, although I didn’t really need it. No one was there, which these days is pretty rare. Anyway, our beautiful fall weather starts today and goes on for at least the next 10 days or so. I’m hoping we can get more yard stuff done since it’s cooler.

Today, I’m not going to the gym but plan on going through each zone and tidying up and dusting, etc. I’m going to start in the sunroom and work from there. I also need to get out to the trailer and see what needs bringing in. Plus, do a wipe down of counters, etc, and fluff up the bed. My son is planning on spending the night and go to work from here so that’s a good motivator.

Sachi and I continue to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. It is so good. The actors really have the mannerisms of the original down, so that is fun to watch. I finished Professor T, I think. It was on Prime and just as I was trying to figure out what at the end of Season 4 I had watched they took it off. So now I have to figure out where it is and see if I want to pay for it. Such a pain when Prime does that.

I made a roast chicken the other night, so for leftovers, I made some asian wraps for dinner, and we had those as we watched the show. I have a lot left leftover chicken, so I think I’ll make a soup and end up freezing some. I have a pan of lasagna in the freezer, and I think I’ll pull that out as it’s been there a few months.

Tomorrow is my dentist appointment for a cleaning. It’s early, but still not enough time to get to the pool to swim. I just plan on coming home unless there’s something in Auburn I need to do.

I have a good-sized load to take to the thrift store, so I’ll do that after one of my appointments this week. I added the dehydrator since I don’t plan on doing any herbs this year or ever, actually. I enjoyed all that in the past, but now it just feels like too much effort for just a little payoff. Oh well, everything changes. Nothing stays the same that’s for sure.

Friday Things

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking by

It’s been a frugal week overall.

I got gas at Coscto and it was $3.96 a gallon. That’s a whole dollar less than in my town.

After the pool on Tuesday, I went to Winco, which is across the street. I mostly needed some salad stuff, but threw in some extras like Triscuits and Popcorn Cakes. My total was @$100, so not too bad. That’s all the grocery shopping I’ve done this week.

The monthly bills are starting to come out, and I always feel better when the big bills are done. I haven’t checked Allstate to see if the bill is ready, but I did get the statement. As I’ve said, I’ll just have to pay in installments since I can’t do the full amount. I also need to have my son figure out his car situation as that’s a big part of this bill.

Yesterday, I went to the gym and the library. I was going to go to the pool, but I haven’t been to the gym in 2 weeks, so I felt I’d better tick that off the list. I didn’t have any holds at the library, so I picked up some random books off the ‘new shelf’. I came straight home after that. After I rested some, I went to work pulling out the cabinet by the stove that was beyond help. It only held our coffee things and my sheet pans.

My plan is to buy an Amazon Basics cart to put here. I will wait a bit to see how the space shapes up or what I feel it needs.

Today is a home day except for a pop-out for a coffee with one of the library friends. It’s just at our little coffee shop in town. Then, when I get home, I read and do what house stuff needs attention.

Next week is crazy with appointments, which I hate having more than one. But I’ll get through. It’s also my Velcade week, so Dex will be involved.

Last night, my daughter worked her late shift, so I had breakfast for dinner and watched Casablanca. It was great as always.

We are headed into really lovely fall weather for the next week or so. Temperatures in the 70s.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Uncategorized by

I’m not planning on going to the gym this morning as my daughter and I are going to work on the fence area behind the barn. That’s the area that backs up to our asshole neighbor. When the tree guys took the oaks back there, it opened a clear shot into his garage workshop, so we bought a privacy screen, and that’s what we are putting up. It’s a green mesh type thing and does block out the view. So she’ll put in the metal posts, and I’ll probably stand around and watch unless she needs me to hold the post. .:)

We also bought 3 evergreen bushes that we want to plant out there too. That area is one of the few areas left that the ‘old miner’ who lived here dumped stuff so the soil isnt the best. Over the last 30 years we’ve plant ground covers and wild flowers and put down top soil so it’s better but when you start to dig down it’s really hard pack. So it’ll take some work plus adding bags of soil to the holes. We had intended to put up more cedar fencing before Barclay got sick last summer so that never happened.

We’re back in very hot weather 98 degrees but somehow it feels a little different than before. Maybe it’s that the mornings are still cool and the angle of the sun is very different. Still hot is hot.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, home stuff, Walking by

Basically a good week with finances since all of Septembers bills are still out there and this week is just an inbetween week. I have my budget done for September and everything is set up to come out automatically.

I got my LLS reimbursement so I’m keeping the $300 for UHC in the checking account. I’ll submit September’s about mid month. What a relief to have that for now. The grant should cover most of UHC till next July. At least it’s something for now and I greatly appreciate what they do. ( LLS that is).

I checked my Allstate account and nothing is due yet but I’m guessing that first payment will be October. I talked with my son about this because his Subaru is sitting in the back by the barn because it’s not running right. It’s a 2006 and I think he should just get rid of it. He does pay his insurance so it’s not that, it’s just it would be better just to have the 2 vehicles on the insurance. At this point he’s driving the truck which is fine till he figures out what to do.

I ended up going to Trader Joes after picking up the sleep test. I spent $125, but most of that was wine, and then $25 was gift card and about $25 was gift stuff(plus some of the wine) for my son’s partner’s birthday. Other than that no money spent this week.

It’s nice to have these inbetween weeks and not have to think about things related to bills, groceries, etc.

The sleep test was a disaster. The first night I did ok but really only got about 5 hours sleep with it on but the next night was horrible. I couldnt get to sleep for hours and then I was only like dozing off. I woke up like a zombie. I drove to Roseville dropped it and told the receptionist I wasn’t sure it was on the night before. After that I drove home, took an ativan and went to bed and slept for 3 hours.

I did feel a lot better after that. I walked this morning and felt good. I was planning on driving to the pool but then just didn’t feel like driving. So, I plan on dropping off thrift store stuff because it’s piled in the back of the Santa Fe. Other than that just pottering around here and doing some house tidying.

Here’s a picture of where my desk that I work at is with the 3 steps. Remeber this was a porch with concrete steps when we moved in.

Here’s a closer shot of Barclay and his VW bus. Plus that’s Jason our first boy! This poster is supposed to loook like that as it’s some kind of photography thing my son did.

Another shot of the now Heywood office.

Here’s the Star wars shelf for now.

Well, off to get going in my day.

Do you keep a shelf of memorabilia like star wars? The other thing is a Dalek from Dr. Who.

The changes

Posted in California, home stuff by

So here’s the desk moved to B’s office.

I don’t plan on using this as my office, as that’s down in our other room. That room was originally a porch, hence the 3 steps down. B put down pine flooring over the concrete. We closed this in I think the second year we were here, so almost 30 years ago. My Heywood table has narrow legs, so it actually fits in the small space with the one extension open. I’ll add some pictures for reference.

I definitely need to cover up those cords …:) or move them down under the desk. The photo that’s not super clear is Barclay in 1980 with his VW 1967 bus.

I don’t remember the name of this Heywood desk. I actually ( back in my heyday eBay days) bought this off of eBay and had it shipped across the country.

I need to get some furniture polish or beeswax and clean it up. It’s not taking up too much room as it is only 21 wide. I think.

This is still getting worked on. But one of the main reasons for switching it out was how dusty the cords were, and they were all jumbled, so it was good to tidy them up. I’ve since taken down the twinkly lights, and I have the other Paris picture to hang. I’d like to figure something out so the Wifi isn’t just sitting there, but for now, it is what it is.

We finally figured out the cords, but forgot the record player has a speaker(wifi), so that’s on the shelf now, where ghostie is.

I’ve put together another thrift store box, but I will wait till I have more. There are only a few odds and ends in there.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, decluttering, home stuff, Pantry, simple foods, Uncategorized by

I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m not sure if it was the heat or what. So, I decided not to walk at 6am and will go to the gym to use the treadmill. Some days are just like that. Today is the last really hot day. Then it looks pretty nice after Tuesday.

Things are quiet around here, and I’m glad. After all the chainsawing last week and giant machinery, it’s welcome. This coming week looks OK. I’ll go pick up the sleep test in Roseville. I’ll need to Google it as I’m not sure where the location is. Then I return it a few days later. It would all be a lot easier if they just looked at my Apple Watch data, which says sleep apnea. sigh:( I’ll proceed with what the Dr. says, but I don’t even see him again till late October. The world of doctors and medical appointments really does suck.

I’ve done a little more decluttering, mostly paper stuff, but some odds and ends too. I have quite a few books to donate to either the library friends or the pet bookstore, whichever comes first.

Last night I cooked a crockpot meal, and it was good. I had 2 bags of cooked chicken, although it wasn’t a lot in each bag, and I had a bag of chopped peppers from who knows when. So I chopped up an onion, added a can of cream of mushroom soup that I had in the pantry and wanted to use, and a random pouch of onion soup. I added some taqereia sauce to add a little spice. I just cooked on low for a few hours because the chicken was already cooked. Then I boiled some egg noodles and added them. I liked it. It’s probably not my daughter’s favorite, but I use up a bunch of random things. So win-win.

This is my son’s chair he had in the barn, so I’m using that a my place to sit in B’s office. It’s very comfortable, although you wouldn’t guess that. I’m debating moving my Heywood desk in there. I guess I could try it, and if I don’t like it, move it back out. The Heywood is very heavy, though.