Another difficult week. The electricity went off again. Only a day this time at least.
I had somewhat painful minor surgery on my eyelids (not cosmetic) and not only did the surgery hurt, the cauterization because they would not stop bleeding hurt too.
Then because I threw a dozen eggs down the disposal after the power failure, I clogged my disposal. Now my bathroom tank is leaking too. Plumber tomorrow.
I did manage to snag a third Covid shot though. And I did get out to eat (outside) twice, so that was good.
Love Only Murderers in the Building. It's not brilliant but it's so comforting to see those familiar faces. And it is entertaining in an old-fashioned way. Also still enjoying Reservation Dogs and Ted Lasso.
Finished Justice by Larry Watson, which was just terrific. Tried Breathe by JCO but it was way too depressing for me. Reading Always Crashing in the Same Car, another non-fiction book on Hollywood.
Enjoyed The Clock on Criterion from 1945, a really good NY movie with Judy Garland and Robert Walker. Boy that Modern Love series on Amazon is awfully sad. So much easier to write a sad story than a happy one.
What about you?
17 comments:
I also like Only Murders in the Building. Finished Clickbait on Netflix. Fairly good. Reminded me of Harlan Coben's work. Watched Pig on your recommendation. I enjoyed it. A rather restrained role for Nicolas Cage;
Read A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames ( Bored to Death on HBO). A fairly decent PI novel. Read Big Dark Hole. A short story collection by the always great Jeffrey Ford. And just finishing up The Darkness Knows. A icelandic crime novel by Arnaldur Indridason.
Our Lions lost but they played pretty well again a much better team.
Ugh! Sorry to hear of all of the roughness of your week, Patti. I hope the plumbing is fixed soon, and it's good to hear about that third shot. Hope this week goes more smoothly.
I read A Man Named Doll too.
Thanks, Margot. Hope things are going well in CA.
Painful surgery, yuck! No electricity, double yuck! Plumbing problems, triple yuck! Great news about Megan. I think life would be so much better if she became ruler of the world.
As for me, I'm on the mend -- going from almost constant pain to almost constant discomfort. I still can't chew so I'm reduced to soft food -- yogurt, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, etc. I lost about 25 pounds that I didn't need and my weight is beginning to plateau. I still cannot speak coherently. Last week, for some reason, I tried to use the word "slithering" in a sentence (I was probably talking about Trump) and could not say the word; after trying about ten times, I finally gave up. I'm told it will take a couple of more months before the swelling goes down and things MAY return to normal. Going in for an MRI on my postrate next week to see if I have cancer. There are times when I think growing old just sucks, but then I go outside and am awed by nature, or the cat sidles up next to me, purring, or Kitty smiles, or the grandkids laugh and I relize how lucky I am.
My computer died a bit over a week ago. The operating system was completely bollixed up and the laptop battery was evidently about to explode (literally). Our friendly neighborhood computer techs fixed most of it and I am waiting for a new battery to be shipped; it should be arriving today. A lot of my time has been spent trying to retrieve what's been lost (with moderate success). I'm hoping to get back to posting on Wednesday.
A lot of rain lately. Too many storms during this hurricane season. I'm waiting for the "My God! Why Aren't There More Letters in the Alphabet?" storm to come along soon. A developer had cleared off and leveled about five acres down the street and then came Ida and now we have Lake Ida. They're trying to pump it out but other rains are just defeating the purpose.
Watched the first two seasons of THE DOOM PATROL: very quirky; Season Three is coming latet this month. Rewatched Stephen King's THE OUTSIDER, which I liked. Finally watched Season One of PERRY MASON; it's not your grandfather's Perry Mason but it had a lot going for it. Currently watching new episodes of WHAT IF? and TITANS as they pop up. Have not been able to concentrate on any novels lately, so I'm going through a lot of short stories -- mainly SF from various Year's Best anthologies of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The last novel iread was Stephen Graham Jones' ONLY THE GOOD INDIANS, which recently copped a Shirtley Jackson award.
Beaching is still a way to center ourselves. Occasional dolphins (yay!) and lately a bunch of rays. This weekend, however, was sand fly season and those suckers can bite. **sigh** They should be gone by next weekend.
Mark has discovered that his school has a Herpatology Club but it meets on an evening when he has class. He'll still contact them and try to share in some of their activities. He is also undertaking training to handle venomous snakes; Amy is hoping to tke the same training -- I think there's something wrong with my grandkids, or perhaps it's just my anti-snake stance.
Here's hoping the coming week will be much better, Patti. Enjoy it!
Gosh, Jerry. If my dentist mentions dentures, I am going to have to refuse. The patchwork of solutions I have now might be better than what you've gone through.
Funny what kids get interested in, isn't it?
A violent thunderstorm woke us last night along with heavy rain. I checked our sump pump and it was running constantly because of the gushing water!
Last week, Western NY enjoyed temps in the 70s, but this week we're back into the 80s with high humidity. Yuck!
Diane and I are enjoying ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING, too. Along with TED LASSO. The movie version of COME FROM AWAY showed up on Apple TV just in time for 9/11.
Diane's sister is coming to visit us, again. She's buying a new LEXUS, but that won't be delivered for another month. Stay safe!
Yikes! You did have a bad week, didn't you? Hope this one is better. It was quiet here - the way I like it. Cooler, more pleasant weather (though we are back in the 80s this week) and not much rain. We ate out a couple of times, but decided the way things are we are better off eating home more and out less.
Got some good reading done (really liked THE READING LIST) and now find myself reading FOUR short story collections at once. Robert Silverberg (the one George reviewed last week), Junot Diaz (someone left it in the basement laundry room), John Dickson Carr (half hour radio plays from 1948) and Sherman Alexie.
In 2005 I must have read something about Jonathan Coe's THE ROTTER'S CLUB (2001) that appealed to me. We went to London that November, and I bought the paperback of the book and raced through it (and, when we got home, the sequel THE CLOSED CIRCLE). It has something of an Anthony Powell DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME feel to it (as I recall), mainly centering on three teenage boys at school in the mid-1970s up to the disastrous election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979. Their siblings, parents, and friends are also characters in it. The sequel (2004) brings the group to the Tony Blair era of the mid-'90s. I recently discovered that in 2018 Coe was moved to bring back most of the characters of the previous books one more time, in MIDDLE ENGLAND, covering the last - often depressing - decade of life in middle class Birmingham. While some of it is tough to revisit - like the odious Brexit campaign - I've been mostly enjoying his writing again.
We finished a couple of television series (HANNA is one) and added a few more. The second series of the exiting Belgian series INTO THE NIGHT has not been up to the first, so far. In that one, a group of passengers (and crew) has their plane hijacked by a NATO soldier who found out the disturbing news that the sun is killing all living things. The red eye flight has to go west and find cover before the sun kills them all. It was a fast moving, exciting series. But now the survivors find themselves in a NATO bunker in Eastern Europe and dealing with the soldiers and others who were there before them, as they all try and find a way to get enough food to survive, etc. So far, it is nastier and not as good, but it is only six 45 minute episodes and worth sticking with.
One new show (also 6 45 minute episodes) is the Norwegian POST MORTEM: NO ONE DIES IN SKARNES, which is fun so far. Live's father and brother run a funeral home in a small town (she works in a nursing home with the brother's wife). Live is found dead outside of town with no indication of how she died. As they are starting to do an autopsy, she suddenly awakens. She has flashes of someone deliberately sticking her in the neck with a syringe before she "died," her hearing is suddenly very acute, and she suddenly has a strong desire...for blood. It is sort of a mix of iZombie and Six Feet Under and The Walking Dead, maybe. It's quirky and a lot lighter than THE DEFEATED, for example.
"exciting" - not "exiting" series
Jerry, I feel your pain! Now I feel even more lucky with how well my dental work went five or six years ago. Take it very easy.
I watched POST MORTEM and wonder where they will go with it. Will the new title be No one is not a vampire in Skarnes?
So nice to have a sister. I think that very often.
Patti, so sorry to read of your terrible week! Hope things are better after power on and plumber solutions.
How on earth did you manage to get a Covid booster??? They haven't even been approved yet. We have signed up for our annual flu shots, which we'll get this week.
We watched a ton of 9/11 stuff, after years of not seeing any. It's still shocking to see those images of planes hitting the WTC, and the collapses. Wow.
I haven't had eyeglasses for a week, so hardly any reading except an ebook with the font blown way up to about 8 words per line. Unsatisfactory, I couldn't get into it. It was The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves.
Like Rick, we watched several 9/11 things, including the original documentary by those French brothers (9/11), Spike Lee's new documentary (part 3 was the most interesting), a special by the people at the local ABC station (most of their news people are still working there 20 years later)
Very sorry to hear of all your problems this week, but at least you got a booster shot and will feel more secure. I am not going to worry about a booster shot for now; I got my vaccine much later than you did and we don't get out much.
Your comments on the painful eye surgery is discouraging. Both my mother and sister had that surgery, although I don't remember either of them having pain due to it. My mother's was not cosmetic, her drooping eyelids severely impeded her vision. My sister's was cosmetic, or I should say she had the surgery before she really needed it related to vision, so she had to pay for it.
Last week I read THE CHINESE SHAWL by Patricia Wentworth, a Miss Silver book. Published in 1943, it is set in London and the English countryside during the war. I am trying to finish all the books in that series set during the war or immediately afterward before I move on to later ones or standalone novels by Wentworth. Right now I am reading BLACKOUT IN GRETLEY by J. B. Priestley, which was just released in a new edition by Valancourt Books. It was first published in 1942, and also set during the war. It is mainly spy fiction, with the protagonist trying to locate Nazi spies in a Midlands town in England.
Sorry to hear about having a rotten week and wishes this week is better. Best of luck to Jerry as well.
I had a fairly decent week at work and a haircut on Friday. I felt so much better after the haircut. My wife worked on Saturday so she was gone until about 7PM. I spent a few hours doing house tasks and went up into our attic to see about fixing/replacing the bathroom ceiling fan. The attic is full of gross and dusty vermiculite insulation. I had to dug some of the insulation away from the fan unit, took some measurements, and came down.
I left the ceiling access open as I researched fan replacement, I then exercised, and Boy #1 had dinner. Come 8PM - or so - my wife is home and realizes a cat is missing. I figure the cat is being a cat and refusing to appear, but I still check the attic three times. Around 10 or 10:30PM my wife hears a meow. The stupid cat was in the attic. The dang cat refused to leave. The stinking cat burrowed down between an eave and insulation and was WAY beyond reach.
My wife spent 30-60 minutes trying to coax the troublesome cat out. She tried a stick and garden hoe to scoop him out. No dice. We all gave up for the night. At 2AM the foolish cat sat the bedside table and meowed. On Sunday the cat got a bath.
I'm allergic to cats so have never had to deal with one. They seem more quirky than dogs.
It is so easy to get a booster shot here. Don't know that it is necessary but I got mine in January and it seemed like a good idea.
Well...cats aren't so much More Quirky than dogs as more independent. They'll claw leather or fabric furniture that feels good, and carpet...but they won't attempt to eat a couch. They'll definitely get anxious if they feel they're being ignored, much as dogs will, but they are much less likely to bite or bark at strangers so much as to run away and hide when, say, workers come into a house, or guests. Also, they tend to live longer, and litter boxes, as vexing as they can be, are a bit easier than walking dogs.
Gerald, hope your cat isn't sickened by the vermiculite.
Patti--sorry about your troubles (your continuing ones, too, Jerry and Rick)...I will tend to toss expired eggs out into the backyard rather than risk the gumming of pipes, but the sensible thing is, of course, to trash them...then go clean the litter box and thus get two potential noisome deposits out into the outdoor cans. The shower presumably is slowly leaking into the wall downstairs, across from where I sit now. All houses.
This week's film that surprised me a little was AMERICAN WOMEN (2017), which I caught for the first time, and how it reminded me of SHITHOUSE (2020) (which various services cute up the title of--refers mostly to campus "Greek" organizations), which I caught a few months ago. Both about intergenerational matters and turning points...AW is pat at points, never more so than when the writer/director had his protagonist the mother decide in retrospect that the election of Reagan somehow killed punk rock in the US (rather than kicking it into overdrive...inasmuch as much is made of the kids listening to Black Flag, a band which would reach new heights of popularity over the next half-decade, one might've thought that was already clear to everyone involved), but generally amusing and relatively deft in drawing certain kinds of women at various life stages.
First episode of AMERICAN RUST (Showtime) worth seeing; I'm less sure of LAETITIA (HBO in US), which still feels like it's going to play Stupid Twin Games.
Constantly debating acquiring Showtime but how many streaming services is too many.
When you find yourself paying for not watching them.
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