Here is your catch up post since July 4th. July 4th put me into a temporary tailspin so I didn’t feel much like writing anything down. I have since recovered, now that it’s in the rearview mirror.
On July 4th at 10:19 a.m. I Wrote
1644 steps so far today.
Charli is outside. Sadly, she no longer needs to be on the lookout for dear, departed Mao, so she stays out more often and for longer now…
My blood pressure is 113/56 but occasionally drops to 105/56 which can cause momentary dizziness when I stand up suddenly after an extended sit, but it isn’t bad enough to upset the applecart and put me on the floor, luckily!
The lawn care guys are here and have removed the downed limb and branches and swept the grounds of fallen leaves.
I’m doing well in Grecia in Spanish
I can understand better than 90% of what people say to me now and can fill in the blanks to discern context. Carrying on conversations is getting easier because I tend to consciously think in Spanish here at home, too. It’s a process, but I think I’m picking up speed.
Ticos say my pronunciation is “native” but pronunciation has always been the least of my worries. I had that aspect of the language locked down in junior high, Mr. Walmsley told me. I might get some accented syllables wrong unless I see the written words, but that’s survivable.
At 12:19 p.m. I Wrote
Charli is still outside hiding in the bushes because the workers are still here. She won’t risk showing herself to strangers. That’s GOOD when she’s outside! She isn’t kidnap-able this way! She’s so cute that others might want to take her home! (Not these workers: I’m talking in generalities.)
I’m feeling CHEATED out of the July 4th 250th anniversary
…celebration by T-Wreck’s massive ego and grift. Millions of others feel the same way, as I’m discovering on Facebook. Gotta stay off it. Being constantly reminded of it exacerbates the disgust I’m feeling…
At 2:23 I Wrote
2711 steps so far
The yard care workers left at 2 and Charli came to the back door to be let back in about three minutes later. She was waiting for them to leave first.
She’s wondering why I haven’t put wet food down for her. I’ll do that at night. If she gets too hungry during the day she’ll still have access to dry food. That’s the new protocol. She’ll adapt (it says here in fine print, LOL!).
Swept the floor. Have put two small spiders and one millipede outside in two days. T’is the season for insects, looks like. Haven’t seen any scorpions inside or out, even though it has been windy. Scorpions don’t like wind and will look for opportunities to avoid it.
Hannah and Lisa have reached out to me today
…as has Tia in Russia. I’m not feeling relational AT ALL today; continuing to fume over the GRIFTED 4th, so I’d be lousy company today! I’m glad no one showed up to attend his State Fair. I hope they avoid his fireworks and self-congratulatory, others-bashing speech tonight, too. (See? I already know what’s going to be in it. He’s a broken record and a liar.) But we’ll turn the page after today and have it all in the rearview mirror, thank God!
I need to think of other things.
“Whatever is is pure, noble, lovely, think on these things.”
I don’t know how Bernie Sanders, AOC, Mamdani, the Bidens and the Obamas manage to stay as sane as they do, given the insanity arrayed against them. They’re saints, IMO. I’m a pacifist but this crap agitates the Dark Side out of me.
On Sunday July 5th at 10:19 a.m. I Wrote
7300 steps so far
Walked ’round the futbol field seven times this morning.
Edited Sonia’s WELL and HAIRDRESSER, took a shower, and cut my hair.
Chatted with Hannah.
Feel better now that the 4th is over with. Yesterday felt miserable and fiercely oppositional. It’s a huge relief to have it behind me.
Saw a photo of Francisco in a Paris museum. He’s in his element. Looks really delighted to be there underneath a huge portrait of angels. Angels are his tribe, for sure. HE is an angel.
On Monday July 6th I Wrote
It’s very sunny out now. Gonna get hot today. Super high UV too.
And I’m a pushover.
Charli asked (persistently!) for another pouch of wet cat food. She got one last night for dinner and ate the last few bites earlier this morning. About 90 minutes later her campaign for a morning pouch began. She followed me around like a bereft waif, making plaintive meows for another serving although she has close to a half pound of dry food at her disposal 24/7.
“Nope!
Gimme the good stuff, Dad!”
So… I’ll just have her teeth cleaned more often than once every two years, I guess! I can afford it here in Costa Rica ($110 USD as opposed to $1K to $2 in the U.S. from what I hear from Tacoma pet owners) so I may as well indulge her. She’s my queen; I am her humble subject! She outranks me.
And so now, she is settled and has stopped harassing me for being obtuse and unresponsive to her pleadings. Peace at last. Puss is pleased. PURA VIDA!
A DeForest Kelley fan named Tara Schofield
… (that name rings a HUGE bell inside my head, but I don’t remember why!!!) IM’d me asking if she could ask me some De questions. I asked her if she has read my book DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal, and she said she hadn’t (yet) so I sent her a complimentary copy (sans photos), said “ENJOY!” and asked her to get back with me after reading it if she has additional questions that aren’t in the book.
I also told her about the six-volume follow up to that title, called KELLEY PHONE TAG: The Rest of the Story, in case she has a LOT more questions after reading UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL.
There isn’t enough time in the rest of my life to become a regular correspondent with De fans, so I do what I can (fast and easily) to satisfy their curiosity and answer their questions about him without developing a back-and-forth. My life is now forward-looking, not backward-looking, so I need to conserve what there is left of it. Tara totally understood, for which I’m eternally grateful.
Unless someone with an appreciable following asks for an official podcast or interview for publication (where the info I provide can be broadcast to a LOT of people) or a public appearance, I’m going to decline future engagements, to maintain personal boundaries. That’s the only way to ensure that my remaining time won’t feel “stolen” from me.
On July 7 at 8:31 a.m. I Wrote
7528 steps so far.
Walked ’round the futbol field seven times; texted with Cindy; conferenced with Sonia for 50 minutes, drank two cups of coffee, ate a pudding-filled pastry from the local panaderia ALREADY this morning! Lotsa good stuff!
Sonia is sending me two more stories to edit today. She says she LOVES what I’ve done as her editor. We’re on the same wavelength, for sure!
It’s gonna be another warm day. Fans keep me cool, though!
I’ll take the bus to Grecia tomorrow to get the August rent and some groceries. No rush. Could probably wait even until Friday but my neurodiversity probably won’t let me. When I get something in mind to do, I do it as soon as possible! That’s just how I roll! There isn’t a procrastinating bone in my body.
I edited GIRAFFE and HIPPO today for Sonia. She loved ’em both. Then she sent me two more. They needed to be returned for some tweaking before I can tackle them.
SAD NEWS!
Lisa will be having her 15-year old cat Harmony euthanized tomorrow. Harmony, like Mao, developed age related kidney disease and nothing she has done has been able to restore her to a painless, effortless quality of life, so she has made the sad but correct decision to have her put to sleep. She will be with her when she goes, loving on her.
I am soooo sad for her. I hope Harmony bows out overnight (the way Mao did recently) to spare Lisa the trauma and sadness of taking her in…
*heavy sigh*
Please hold them in your hearts this week!
It’s supposed to get very windy here again. And I hear we had an earthquake here at 12:15 today. I didn’t feel a thing, but others did. 5.3 on the Richter scale off Playa Jaco.
On July 8th at 6:33 a.m. I Wrote
104 steps so far…
Gonna take the bus to Grecia at 7:20 to get rent and groceries. I want to have those off my plate and edit Sonia’s two new stories this afternoon so I can take more $$ out of the Paypal escrow stash and put it toward savings and paying off my credit card.
Charli got me up at 5 A.M., the little dickens! That’s too early, Charli! But I got eight hours of sleep so … “quit-cher bitchin’, Kris!”
At 2:24 pm I Wrote
4925 steps so far today…
Cindy walking her two chihuahuas:
https://www.facebook.com/674337914/videos/pcb.10165475433352915/971343599270048
Got back at 10:15 and then went back out again at 10:45 with Cindy to have lunch with her and her Canadian friend Ginger (formerly from Ottawa, now a Costa Rica immigrant-in-process). Ginger has been here, off and on, for seven years and HER exchange rate is far worse than my US exchange rate is. Hers is only 34 cents on the USD. Mine is about 45 cents. She’s looking at Ecuador as a possible new location, as a result. It’s certainly more affordable and it has everything she is looking for (except ticos): thousands of hiking trails, beaches, mountains, wildlife, etc. I may see if I can go with her if she decides to fly there and scope it out. It would be my destination, too, if I ever have to leave Costa Rica because of the cost of living here. I’m not in dire straits here YET and the USD is supposed to recover in 2027, an my sis is supposed to sell our Tacoma property in the next year or so, so I will probably be able to stay here, but it doesn’t hurt to have an exit plan just in case…
The Exterminators Will Be Here at 3:30
…to spray for ants again. The ant and fruit fly populations have exploded here again.
I fell sound asleep for at least 90 minutes after returning from lunch.
Cindy’s Milestone Birthday
…is just three days away. Ginger and I are taking her to her favorite restaurant for lunch on that day. And Cindy and I are walking tomorrow at 7:30 on Calle Lecheria (Dairy Street). It’s nicely paved and ends where a dairy farm used to be, hence its name.
I’ll edit Sonia’s two stories tomorrow, add up my time, and take that much out of the Paypal balance.
I put the August rent (320,000 colones) in its place and still have almost 40,000 colones (a little over $80) in my wallet. Hopefully that will carry me through the end of the month. If not, I’ll be able to dip back into Paypal as soon as I earn the rest of what’s in there. It’s all good!
At 5:25 p.m. I Wrote
5086 steps so far…
Ate dinner. Did dishes. Charli is outside for a little while until the sun goes down. I’m beyond ready for bed but Lisa has Harmony at the vet right now and she MAY call or text me later, although I don’t know that she will. I just want to be awake if she does! It’s gonna be hard on her to say goodbye to Harmony. I LOVE MY BEST FRIEND AND WISH I COULD BE THERE FOR HER!!!
Mitch McConnell is probably either dead or brain dead
The Governor of KY is trying to get proof of life. If he doesn’t get it, he can call for a special election to replace him.
The current fear is that the GOP is trying to keep from confirming his death or incapacity so the governor can’t replace him. August 3rd or 4th is the last day that the governor can call for a special election or replace him, so timing is of the essence.
McConnell was found unconscious after experiencing cardiac arrest at his home in mid-June. No one has seen him since, and no reports about his condition have been released by the hospital. His wife, a Chinese national, has flown to China and his daughter has deleted her social media accounts and gone into hiding/seclusion. It’s all very suspect!
IMO, McConnell has been a f—–g bastard his entire career. Another grifter and traitor. When the Edward M Kennedy Library opened years ago, they invited him to be their first speaker. Horrified, I pledged never to support the Library, and I told them WHY! He fought EM Kennedy on every issue! He was the antithesis of what EMK stood for and had accomplished!
I despise that man as much as I despise T-Wrecks and that’s saying something. He condemned T-Wrecks for the attack on the Capitol on Jan 6th and then voted to acquit him when it came down to impeaching him for his treachery. That tells you what kind of bastard he is… or was. He kept President Obama from appointing a Justice to the Supreme Court (“too soon to the next election” he said, although it was six or more months away) and then pushed Amy Barrett Coney within weeks of an election after Ruth Bader Ginsberg died. He’s a pernicious scoundrel. His wife Elaine Chao is suspected by many of being a Chinese spy.
Yeah, McConnell is a real piece of garbage. MY OPINION!
Today, July 10th 10:03 a.m. 7171 steps
Walked with Cindy, Dogi, Oliver and Harper this morning. I had Harper on the leash most of the time. It was only her second time going on a walk and she did GREAT! She’s super cute, super smart, and super happy.
I have clothes in the washer (ALL of my clothes except for what I have on) and will follow up with the bedspread and white rugs after this load finishes. I will probably dry the bedspread and rugs in the dryer since they won’t dry on the line by nightfall on a day like this.
The $270 Paypal money came over so I put $170 of it into savings and $100 toward the credit card (or vice versa; don’t remember now).
There are still three or more stories to edit, so I will get to those in the next day or so when the next installment to Paypal arrives.
When this project ends, I want to put the word out that I’m available for more editing/copywriting to see if I can find other people with wordsmith needs. I truly enjoy the creative process and want to keep doing it occasionally — up to 20 hours per month ideally. Every additional dollar helps me feather my small retirement nest a bit more. AND I feel needed and appreciated when I’m helping others, which is super gratifying.
That’s all for this update!
Swoozie Kurtz