Saturday, June 6
For June 5 CPAP. Reported figures. 6 hrs 26 min with AHI = 0.47 Events: 1 CSR, 1H 1OA. No major mask leaks (max=20 L/min).
We were busy in the afternoon attending the end of the year Geography Department Potluck with grilled burgers and hot-dogs, where scholarship awards are distributed. We had a nice visit with many people, and I took a few photos and videos, but I’m only including 4 short videos. The first link is to Trinity Turner, who is the daughter of a music friend, Muriel Turner. I have know Muriel for 2 decades from our summer workshop at WA Old Time fiddlers. The other two are the recipients of a scholarship John and I support each year. It’s interesting that Trinity introduced me to Hannah Hobbs last year, and I have also gotten to know her through her membership in the NW Geography Jobs list serve, I moderate. Many of the students at the party are on the jobs list, and I have gotten to know their names, but they were not students while I was teaching until November of ’09. I retired April 1, 2010.
Brooks Shaw Geography Award-Trinity Turner, 2015
Hultquist Geography Service Award – Hannah Hobbs, 2015
Here we are before the festivities and awards began–Nancy with Hannah Hobbs.
I’m wearing the new musical-themed shirt Ellen made for me, and the pin is the 50-year one given to me for membership in the Association of American Geographers since 1965 (also the year John and I met in Cincinnati).
Hultquist Geography Service Award – Dusty Pinkleton, 2015
Above: . . . . . Hannah, Nancy, Dusty
We had a nice meal and visits with many people from our past. The winner of the farthest traveler to the party goes to the married couple, Joseph & Gillian Stoltman. Joe was a student in the department in the early 1960s. He went on to be a notable Geographer in the nation, teaching, researching, and doing administrative work in Geography in Michigan. In 2012, Joe and his wife donated a $100,000 endowment to CWU with an emphasis on Geography in honor of his old professors who molded his academic life. He was an Ellensburg boy from a cattle ranching family. Next is the video of his award being presented with some shots of him and his wife.
Stoltman Award-Christopher J. Clarke, Brianna McCuiston, 2015
Here are the Stoltmans with their award winners:
Sunday, June 7
For June 6 CPAP. Reported figures. 9 hrs 54 min with AHI=0.10 Events: 1H. No major mask leaks (max=12 L/min).
John left early for Martin Creek Connector Trail over Stevens Pass. The dogs are out front awaiting him 12 hrs. later. I’m in the air-conditioned house alternately working on various chores.
I received the fantastic news on Facebook after noon today, that yesterday I won two raffle ticket prizes, for my donation (tax deductible) to the Idaho Open Fiddle Contest, while we were enjoying the end-of-year Geography get-together. This win is unbelievable. The prize was a Coda violin bow worth $1,500, and a nice lined case. I will be able to pick it up in Moses Lake when the Washington Old Time Fiddlers meet in Moses Lake for the summer workshop. I cannot attend the full week this year, but I can go over for a day to pick it up.
Monday, June 8
For June 7 CPAP. Reported figures. 5 hrs 27 min with AHI=0.18 Events:1 H, 1CSR. No major mask leaks (max=8 L/min); oximeter on, 7 hrs 44 min AHI = 0.13
Trip to Dr. Cardon with John for our toenail care. Our next is 3 months away. Haircut at 2:00 at Celia’s, a mile away; next will be 7/20.
Late tonight we made chocolate chip cookie dough {“Toll House”}(minus brown sugar we did not have), and put into a large sheet from which to cut squares. Some of these we will take to our Emeriti Geography Faculty meeting in the morning.
Tuesday, June 9
For June 8 CPAP. Reported figures. 1/2 hour only, because the noise, comfort and air leakage to too bothersome to stay on the CPAP. I turned it off and left my Oximeter running for 7 hrs 53 min.
Our meeting was well attended, with five faculty members and their spouses. Our “Toll House” efforts were a perfect match to go with their coffee and with fresh strawberries from another member’s garden. All the guys brought their wives. John actually was a part-time Geography faculty member for 11 years, so he tags along.
From there we drove by the EBRG Chamber of Commerce for me to deliver an old cake pan to a gal who loves Angel Food cake. The topic came up on the Buy Nothing Ellensburg site and she mentioned she did not have such a pan. We have had this for years and it never gets used. I offered it to her.
On home, to receive a phone call on my cell, an accidental dial of the last two digits of a number, very close to mine. My cell is 0504 and she was supposed to be dialing 0540. She called about the weight of 4000# of hay, and I had no clue what she was talking about. It was on my cell phone which gets no reception in the back end of our house where I was sitting. I asked her to call me back on my land line, but she didn’t. I figured it must have been a wrong dial, but just out of curiosity, I called the number once in town. It is a small world. After talking a few minutes (she was driving a hay truck near Royal City), we realized I knew her mother (Myrna Schwab) — this was her daughter Lance who works as a driver delivering hay for Stone Wings II and Number 9 Hay (brokers in the Kittitas Valley). She was over near the Royal Slope in the Columbia Basin. I met her mom in 2010 when I was fresh out of rehab trying to build my muscles to get by without a walker. We were both paying $25 for 45 minutes of physical therapy we could do at home, or elsewhere for a lot less. She told me about the SAIL exercise class at the Adult Activity Center. At that time it was $3.00/quarter, for 3 days / week for an hour. What a deal! I had lost track of her because she quit coming to the AAC, and last news we had was that she was not doing well. She recovered and moved to Colville. Now on my cell phone is a message from her daughter with her phone number, so soon, I hope to find the time to give her a call.
I went to town for Jazzercize class. It went all right but I tired myself and need to rest. The session certainly increases our heart rates.
I went back to town to play music at Hearthstone at 6:30. Only a pianist and I were there, plus two other singers. I sing the old anthems and play my fiddle. Our piano players are good singers, but don’t sing while they play. John went to get another load of 2-liter Coca Cola for the special price of $1.25/bottle. Now we are stocked for awhile. The price is 33¢ less than the current house brand – go figure.
Wednesday, June 10
For June 9 CPAP. Reported figures. 8 hrs 1 min with AHI=0.37 Events: 3 H. No major mask leaks (max=14 L/min); oximeter on, 8 hrs 20 min AHI = 0.36
Good night’s sleep on the CPAP, after such a miserable night last night.
Bless John’s heart for rolling the leftover chocolate chip cookie dough into cylinders and freezing for use later. I had no energy left last night or this morning to cook them. Further, temps have been high and there seems to be little need to have the oven and the air conditioner on simultaneously. Well, unless we feel the need for a cookie!
Off to Food Bank and SAIL and hopefully by Grocery Outlet on way home for salsa and dog food. Yes, on all of the above.
Winds have gusted to 40 mph the past two hours, and this Red warning is in effect:
Red Flag Warning
URGENT – FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KOTX
247 PM PDT WED JUN 10 2015
…DRY AND BREEZY THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING…
BREEZY WINDS IN THE KITTITAS VALLEY…WENATCHEE VALLEY…AND OVER THE WATERVILLE PLATEAU…COMBINED WITH LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY WILL RESULT IN THE POTENTIAL FOR RAPID FIRE SPREAD WITH ANY NEW FIRE STARTS. STRONGEST WINDS WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITY AT CRITICAL LEVELS IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 100 PM AND 800 PM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
Just now a wind gust went to 44 mph.
Food Bank was good and the whole family of one of our players / singers, came and sat at the table in front of us. His oldest 3 yr old grandson knew and sang all the words to the chorus of Buffalo Gals (5 times after each verse). It was so cute.
The Internet was down most of the day, hampering my tasks a lot.
Thursday, June 11
For June 10 CPAP. Reported figures. 6 hrs 25 min with AHI=0.16 Events: 1 H. No major mask leaks (max=17 L/min); oximeter on, 7 hrs 42 min AHI = 0.13
Tried to do some household chores before leaving for the afternoon. Succeeded somewhat. Then left for music at the newly named, Meadows Place, behind the Rehab where I stayed in 2010 to learn to walk again. We had a good turnout, even with some folks being out of town. 4 guitars (actually Laura switched and played her guitar, her violin, and her mandolin) — what a talented gal. We also had a banjo, fiddle, viola, and clarinet.
After playing 22 songs, we went around the building and played for our old Honky Tonk Piano player friend, who was confined to his room (he has COPD). He’s the one that loves playing and singing You Are My Sunshine. Four of us went to his room, and crowded around him, an aide, and the activities director, and sang. My old roommate from the Rehab center (now a resident here) was listening from the hall. Her name is Mae Opperman, and she was my inspiration when I first arrived and couldn’t do anything. She said she was like that, and that I would get better. Her favorite song is the same song. She was in a wheel chair today and being pushed by a sweet 90-yr old named Ruth, who knows every song we sing, and doesn’t have to look at the lyrics on most of them. She loves singing and said she grew up singing around a pump organ with her sisters.
We had a good dinner of leftovers from turkey thighs cooked in a Crockpot yesterday with carrots, tomatoes, and mushrooms, and tonight we added some gold potatoes to the stew.
Friday, June 12
For June 11 CPAP. Reported figures. 4 hrs 44 min with AHI=0.85 Events: 4 H. No major mask leaks (max=19 L/min).
I took off this morning for a thesis defense of a student from long ago, who was actually my teaching assistant. I no longer remember the year, and I no longer have access to the student or class records at CWU. She is a Native American, and her topic was: Washington’s Fish Consumption Rate and Water Quality Standards Fostering Allies to Keep Our Seafood Clean. She gave a very nice presentation and answered the audience’s questions very professionally.
A request came across the Buy Nothing site for empty plastic bottles with caps for a City Library project. I gathered and cleaned the accumulated dust off a bunch — more than half of the 40 needed, and carried a bag today to the library, and then came home and found more that John had packaged, and we delivered them Saturday on our way through town.
John picked more strawberries and I cleaned them. We do have strawberries but only a fraction of last year’s number. A late frost got lots of things just budding out, including the flowers on the Lilac. Tomatoes and summer squash are doing nicely – all had to be obtained after frost killed the first ones, still in their pots.
Saturday, June 13
For June 12 CPAP. Reported figures. 6 hrs 52 min with AHI = 2.33 Events: 3 CSR, 1 CA, 14 H, 1 OA.. No major mask leaks (max=14 L/min). Oximeter on for 2 more hours, but I forgot to register the AHI afterwards.
Our day was filled with John on outside chores, watering, picking strawberries, and my cleaning them to carry to a party. I also cleaned and made tiny bunches of red grapes from a couple of large clusters I bought last evening.
Late afternoon we went back to town, by a house to pick up 3 cinder blocks, and on for gasoline for John’s car. Price was up to $2.91/gal. We dropped off more plastic bottles at the City Library, and proceed across the Yakima River southwest to the party, carrying hamburgers for the grill, red grapes cut into small clusters, and a platter of fresh strawberries. The honored graduate of the Resource Management program (member of the N. Cheyenne Tribe of SE Montana), gave beautiful Pendleton blankets to her committee members and two members who were previously on her committee before retiring. I’m sorry I was not, but I did help with proofing her thesis writing this year and I taught her GIS in 2008, so she brought me a lovely mug with a painting on the side of an Indian Blanket, and a beaded pen. We all visited under the gazebo in another former student’s backyard, and classmate of Adriann’s, Jennifer Hackett, who hosted the party with her hubby, Ted.
Above: . . . . . . . Adriann Killsnight and Nancy
Adriann has a beaded Wildcat (CWU Mascot) medallion, made for her by her friend on the Res. She also had on wildcat earrings, but they cannot be seen in the photo.
Another surprise was seeing yet another student from my past, David Borkowski, who also had a class from John and me (taught jointly) about 10 years ago, Wine: A Geographical Appreciation. He was in Adriann’s graduate cohort. He had gone to the farmer’s market in EBRG that morning to get something for the party. He bought fresh asparagus to bring for the grill. Boy, was that great. As he walked in, he saw me, gave me a hug, and said he had a gift for me out in the car. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a card — Gary Cox, Cox Canyon Vineyards, who Dave recognized as having been with in our Wine class together, and now Gary has his own booth at the Saturday Farmer’s Market for his own winery. They were reminiscing about the class, and Dave said he expected to see me this afternoon at a graduation party he was attending. Being the good salesman, Gary talked him into buying a bottle of wine to bring us. He also told him to be sure to tell us they wanted us to come down to their home (and vineyard) to visit. Their operation is about 5 miles down the Yakima Canyon Road, so about 20 miles from us. Their vineyard is about 4 acres, and perhaps they are bottling wine there now. Dave came back and presented me the bottle (see below).
Sunday, June 14
For June 13 CPAP. Reported figures. 6 hrs 34 min with AHI=1.68 Events : 3 CSR, 1 CA, 10 H. No major mask leaks (max=16 L/min); oximeter on,8 hrs 24 min AHI = 1.31
John took off for his field trip (Geology of the I-90 Corridor over Snoqualmie Pass), with his camera, lunch, and hiking boots for the two hikes I could not manage. I stayed home. Longest in line waiting on my “to do list” just went off in an email to New Zealand, a letter of recommendation for a former student for entering a Ph.D. program there. I organized my meds in a container for the morning and evenings of each day for the week and started the dishwasher.
I alternated between chores all day, including fixing strawberries, working on the blog, feeding animals, taking data from the CPAP and Oximeter, and I spent over an hour working off and on with strawberries. Tonight after John arrived home, we put about 36 ounces into the freezer, in small packages.
At one point I came over to sit and rest and change chores to ones on the computer and found our mail from yesterday unopened. Okay, I’m glad I opened it and read it. It was a cancellation notice for our house insurance not being paid (that is done through escrow in our Mortgage through our bank that recently switched ownership. Until this, everything with the switch has been seamless. This afternoon I scanned the notice and emailed as an attachment to both my banker and my insurance agent.
John did not have to drive on the field trip, but rode in one of 3 vans the group took, but still, about half the folks went in cars. He took some photos and showed me tonight, but we figured nothing was spectacular enough to warrant putting them in the blog. He needs a filter for far distant landscape photos. A description of the problem is at this link: Haze Issue
We do not have Photoshop but do have GIMP and an old PaintShop. Maybe later he will try these to get at the haze issue.
Hope your week was fine.
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan