Sunday, September 27, 2020

Still Here

Still trying to solve my vertigo problems. The ENT doctor scheduled me for a ENG, which flashes lights and other stuff to see how the eyes and ears react. Also checked my hearing which is okay except for high pitched sounds. I guess that is pretty usual at my age. But I still have three MRI/MRAs to do also to find out whether an anomaly in my brain needs correcting. An interventional radiologist will look at them. Never heard of this specialty before. They fix things using minimally invasive techniques. 

Truly horrible week with Trump proposing the most right-wing person yet for SCOTUS.The Republicans seem to have no sense that court packing is not a good idea. Or fair. This woman seems to be close to a cultist.

Enjoyed ENOLA HOLMES on Netflix. It may not please Holmes purists but it was a lot of fun. Still enjoying BORGEN. Dismayed to find, after enjoying the first season of THE SPLIT, that the second is only available on PRIME as a rental. 

Book-wise reading LAB GIRL and MEET ME AT THE MUSEUM, a debut novel by a 70 year old author, Anne Youngson. Josh and family took me out to dinner (outside) last night and friends had me over to dinner (outside) on Friday. As I say repeatedly, although the last few years have been crushingly hard, I am so lucky in my friends and family. 

Remember when we all traveled....This was Sienna, Italy and my friends, the Wolmans about eight years ago. Still hard not to type "our"

What about you?



17 comments:

Jerry House said...

Having suffered from vertigo myself I sympathize greatly with you. Luckily, mine was cured through a simple manipulation by my neurologist.

Things are quiet here after a week or so of storms. Yesterday was cloudy with no rain and today is sunny and nature is putting on her happy face.

My happy face turned frowny face with all the garbage coming out of DC. Trump and McConnell have a lot to answer for. Ruth Bader Ginsberg was a shining light for our democracy which is now dimming badly.

More bad news about our Three Mile Bridge which links us across the Pensacola Bay to the city of Pensacola (where Jessie and her girls live). Most of the damage has been done by falling and twisted cranes and by barges colliding with the bridge. At least five spans need to be be completely replaced and a number of other spans need repairs. There are still three barges lodged on top of and underneath the bridge and it will take some time to remove them. Divers have not been able to get close to the bridge to assess what damage may have been done under water. The company that is building the bridge (the part that was had just been completed and opened this past spring; the remaining half had been scheduled to be finished in a couple of years) has said they will not make temporary repairs but will only do a complete repair -- meaning the bridge will be out of operation for several years, making the only reasonable access to Pensacola is a forty mile detour over another bridge, this one with a five dollar toll each way; the tolls have been suspended until mid-October.
We also found out that at least twenty-two barges had been swept away (some destroyed) by hurricane Sally. Five of them are now sitting on someone's lawn, some traveled a good distance to hit other bridges, and others are scattered and beached over a twenty mile radius.

Schools are back open here and Jack's school has had only a few problems. The high school where Christina works has had a lot of students out but remains open. High schoolers are less apt to wear masks.

The cat has taken to waiting for Kitty to get up from the sofa to quickly jump up and snuggle right next to me. I have that effect on females, I guess. (Kitty says, "NOT!" very loudly.)

We've been watching POIROT and VERA a lot this past week. Comfort TV. Looking forward to ENOLA HOLMES. My reading has also been comfort books: John Creasey mysteries, some Max Allan Collins, a bunch of Joe R. Lansdale, and lots and lots of science fiction from the 60s.

Everyone here is happy and healthy and chuffed at the "Vote him out!" response Trump got when paying his "respects" to RBG.

Hoping you have a happy, healthy, and chuffed-filled wek, Patti.

Rick Robinson said...

So sorry about your medical issues!
Nothing much. We had blessed rain, which we needed for drought and to wash the smoky air. Did the latter. Today is beautiful, will be 71, sunny. I may get out to do some yard work. Until mid-last week I’ve only been reading short stories, but now I’ve started GRANT. It’s over 1,150 pages and is going to take a while, but so far is interesting. I’m about 200 pages in.

TracyK said...

I can empathize about the vertigo, having experienced it for years. Mine has lessened over time so I only had short episodes infrequently. I hope the tests help you find a reason and a cure.

Glad to hear you liked ENOLA HOLMES, we plan to watch it. We watched A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, and plan to watch A DAY AT THE RACES tonight. My husband prefers the Marx Brothers' Paramount films, my son likes all of them. Also watched a POIROT last night. Those are so much fun and it was a good one. And a recent MIDSOMER MURDERS episode, we are almost out of new ones and will begin rewatching more of them.

I am reading VOYAGE INTO VIOLENCE by the Lockridges and recently finished AMERICAN SPY by Lauren Wilkinson. I loved AMERICAN SPY. A lot of the elements I liked (the style of narration, the introspection, the slow pace, the moving back and forth in time) were disliked by other reviewers.

David Cranmer said...

I've always like that picture of you. And a healthy week to you as well.

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Sorry you are having health problems. Hope it turns out to be a easy fix.
Not watching much tv. New season of Fargo starts tonight. Watched a few movies. The Passenger a Michelangelo Antonioni starring Jack Nicholson. Not sure whether I liked it or not. And some Buster Keaton's.
Eyes have been off and on again blurry, so I haven't been reading as much as I would like. Reread The Plague by Albert Camus. And a few short stories by various writers. Most sf from the 60's and 70's.
Spent Saturday at a birthday party for my great granddaughter. She turns one.
After today the weather turns for the worst. No more sitting outside and reading. I hate being cooped up.
At least the movie theaters are to open on Oct 9. I'm not worried about health issues since I tend to go to matinees which are sparsely attended.

pattinase (abbott) said...

A great grand-daughter, amazing at your age. Not sure I am ready to go back to the movies. The problem is people will take off their masks to eat popcorn so you would really have to put distance between you. I think you will still get days here and there when you can sit outside, depending on your tolerance, I guess.
I have heard good things about American Spy but I am not much of a spy reader, I guess. I think there is a language you have to learn and I haven't. Remember reading the Lockridge books years ago.
Looks like vertigo is going around. My main fear is falling.
Is that Grant's autobio, Rick? Phil always said it was the best of the presidential memoirs.
Poor Florida. It has taken it on the nose lately.
Take care!

George said...

Many of our friends have vertigo problems. I've only experienced it once over a decade ago when I had an inner-ear infection. The world just spun around and around and I couldn't stand up to save my life. Very scary! Hope you medical team can solve your problems!

We had 80 degree temps this weekend and the Buffalo Bills won a game against the LA Rams in the final seconds...both unlikely events!

Glad to hear you enjoyed ENOLA HOLMES. Diane and I plan to watch it this week.

You should be hearing from Patrick sometime this week.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Hope Patrick brought some warm clothes. Temps are plunging.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Yes, vertigo does seem to be going around (sorry, couldn't resist). My brother has had a few bouts with it, a definite inner ear problem. He is mostly deaf.

We haven't done a lot lately. Canceled Florida for the winter, as you know. Jackie already spoke (and texted) with the landlady and was able to just put the reservation off a year to January-March of 2022. She has already upgraded the apartment with two Smart TVs, so we will be able to access Netflix and other channels, she is redoing the lighting, and she will be getting a washer and dryer (there is one in the complex I used, but it was not great).

Doing more reading - finished four books in four days, very unusual for me these days - and watching as usual. We finished DEADWIND and will finish THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY today or tomorrow. Also watching THE BOYS, which is quite nasty, AWAY (though we have to fast forward every scene with the teenage daughter), and have added SCHITT'S CREEK and the very silly THE WINDSORS on Netflix. Will watch ENOLA HOLMES soon. Also, Jackie bought several DVDs of concerts of groups we like since we are missing at least a year's worth, and we watched an Earth, Wind & Fire concert from their 1994 tour of Japan, probably the last tour before Maurice White retired from touring due to his Parkinson's.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Some of our friends are still talking about going away this winter to California. But I am very hesitant-especially the plane flight. Not sure what I would be paying for with so much up in the air. You have to give Schitt's Creek a chance. It takes most of the first season for it to work. They played it too over the top at first. I love it though. Watching it for the second time. It makes you believe in the possibility of people changing.

Jeff Meyerson said...

We watched the episode where Moira takes over Jocelyn's class for an acting/drug lecture. I've always been a fan of Catherine O'Hara. And I like Alexis.

TracyK said...

American Spy is spy fiction, but I enjoyed it mostly because it emphasizes how different it is to be female and black in a situation like that. And focuses a lot on the main character's life growing up also. So, it is spy fiction but not purely spy fiction. And I liked the setting in New York and in Africa, which I know little about. I don't know how well I am going to do at reviewing it (some day) but I am going to try.

I do have to get back to Schitt's Creek. I have always liked both Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy, and I liked the few episodes we watched, even though, as you mentioned, it was over the top

Gerard Saylor said...

Bet of luck getting the vertigo resolved. My wife heard from a local friend within the past year that the friend's husband has a couple brief instances of vertigo. He went to the doctor and was told a bacteria or viruswas contracted by people in the area and that caused the symptoms. The disease generally passes after a few weeks. I, too, had a couple very brief episodes (no more than 30 seconds) at about that time.

I am a season or two behind on SCHITT'S CREEK. I still need to catch DEVIL ALL THE TIME on Netflix.

Boy #1's Eagle Scout project is finally scheduled and about ready to go. There have been multiple starts and stops over since February. His is an outdoor project to update trail signage and I was worried if he'd be able to get things done before winter.

I listened to another T Jefferson Parker novel in his ROLAND FORD series. The book was enjoyable but has an unbelievable aspect where the FBI is going to have a San Diego private investigator work side-by-side with them to arrest a known terrorist. Absurd to think the FBI wouldn't call in local, regional, and national SWAT teams to prepare for a person accused of six murders and a bombing that also killed two FBI agents.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Hate it when there is something that outlandish, Gerard. Makes you lose your confidence in the author. I have had vertigo off and on in the fall for years. Fairly sure it is sinuses but none of the antihistamines seem to work.

Jeff Meyerson said...

We watched Enola Holmes tonight and I can't say that I thought much of it. Neither of the Holmes brothers was as we know them from the stories. Mycroft was an unbearable prig. The scenes with the Headmistress he picked out to tame his sister were almost right out of ANNIE. Sherlock was more passive than any "real" Holmes has ever been, and he whispered for half the movie, which I detest. The whole story of the disappearing mother was, basically, pointless.

I did like Millie Bobbie Brown, but for any real fan of the Holmes canon, I can't recommend it.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I really liked the style of it. The energy. And the world it introduced. I think it is her story, not theirs. They are just minor characters here. And I guess I have never been much of a Holmes fan anyway so that probably helped me.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I think the mother's story is being set up for the next episode.