Sunday, Sept 20
For Sept 19 CPAP. Reported figures. 6 hrs 4 min with AHI=0.49 Events: 3 H. No major mask leaks (max=15 L/min); no oximeter.
Blog out at 5:00 p.m. today.
Monday, Sept 21
For Sept 20 CPAP. Reported figures. 7 hrs 61 min with AHI=0.00 Events: NONE. No major mask leaks (max=10 L/min); no oximeter.
We got away for annual medical exams in Cle Elum this morning about 11:45, but did not return until after 5:00. Our appointments were at 1:00 and 2:00 and we didn’t leave until about 2:45. Normally, we get a family special of back-to-back appointments, but they goofed with a new person assigning, and squeezed someone in between us. These were for our annual physicals with our family physician. Learned that next year (wasn’t applied on today’s visit), Medicare will treat timing on annual physicals differently. One goes in for their first visit and sees only the nurse (or ?), to discuss & review & “whatever” health issues. Following, two weeks later, the patient sees the doctor for 15 minutes. I have to ask if the blood work will happen prior to the first appointment, and I imagine it is. John adds: For years we have spent the first 15 minutes with the nurse and about ½ + with the doctor. It is hard to see how this is better for the person – although it may save the government some money. The future will be a “med-app” for the info and than a humanoid robot to poke and prod and listen to your heart rhythm. Currently, we have blood drawn in the hospital lab, without seeing a doctor, and the results are sent (soon electronically) with a note about each test – providing your number within the range for your sex and age. Maybe if something is wildly out-of-whack** there will be a warning to get help soon.
**link out-of-whack
Nancy again: My BP was 122/68, after an initial reading of 150/74. My exam went fine, and from my computer records there, while looking over the nurse’s shoulder at the computer database screen, I found I was allergic to Ambien, which I never recall taking, in Nov 2009. We both had pneumonia boosters today. I swear we had it last year (in combo with a flu shot at Rite Aid, after our annual physical). I have to check on that. Maybe it’s all right to have yearly boosters. I stayed with John for his visit (with our Dr.’s okay). John’s heart rate is customarily low (50+) [usually gets mentioned] while blood pressure is often a bit higher than suggested. So far he is in the “watch” category. Dark chocolate is supposed to help – he is going to try some.
After leaving, we drove to the transfer station between Cle Elum and Roslyn to check out the location (we had previously found on Google Earth), for our intended delivery of our old wood stove for recycling, hopefully with a bounty. From there back to Burger King for a late lunch. We split a whopper, with fries and a special package of chicken fries. Turns out they are just elongated chicken nuggets probably fried darker. Rather interesting, but greasy. No chocolate there, though.
We skipped supper and had dessert only.
Tuesday, Sept 22
For Sept 21 CPAP. Reported figures. 4 hrs 51 min with AHI=0.62 Events: 3 H. No major mask leaks (max=13 L/min); no oximeter.
Dogs interrupted my sleep at 5:30, so I did some computer work, then went back to sleep at 6:30, & I managed to sleep another 2 hours.
John drove me to town for Jazzercise, and he went to Les Schwab at 81,500 miles for new tires around on his 2009 Subaru, came back, picked me up, and then we went to take care of mail and the cat at Rosewood. On the way home, we delivered a spatula gift for making French toast to a CWU student on the buy-nothing site, picked up peanut butter cookies from my friend Gloria to whom we deliver tomatoes (& squash in season). She likes to bake and give, and we enjoy the gifts.
Had to change some medical appointments to allow for a mammogram (after 2 years).
Today we heard from Jeri Conklin in CA about the training on our jointly-owned dog, Daisy. She is doing quite well on her retrieving work she will need to use in Gun Dog events (which match a hunting situation). They use pigeons in training, but the field trial competitions use Chukars mostly.
Daisy, ears flying, running toward area of the planted bird, next shot, Daisy standing watching the bird fly, then Craig shot it, and she retrieved to hand. I realize this is going to upset non-hunters who read this blog, but it is all part of the training necessary to fine-tune a dog to hunt with manners and delivery. They must point the bird and not put the bird up (flush it). The handler flushes the bird in a shoot-to-retrieve stake, and the dog must wait until told to fetch.
Our interesting feline is pictured below. She’s one of 4 of our cats. She is a feral, and usually eats out back with two others in the evening, but now she has started coming to the front of the house again for breakfast, now that the mice maybe have dwindled. She comes inside the fence near the front door and perches on a round piece cut from a tree and waits for us to appear with food. Then she talks to you and jumps on the cable-table (see base of that behind her) to eat.
She’s a long-haired version of our inside/outside Rascal male cat, with short hair, but also tri-colored. Normally, in cats, only females are tri-colored.
Wednesday, Sept 23
For Sept 22 CPAP. Reported figures. 6 hrs 55 min with AHI=1.59 Events: 11 H, 1 CSR. No major mask leaks (max=13 L/min); no oximeter. Up 3 times with the older 2 dogs.
John left before I did this morning to take his Subaru in for an oil change and lube (Yakima). It was over the normal expected 3,000 mile mark. His power steering fluid also needed replaced, so that was an extra $100 (half labor). Newer cars use higher pressure and temperature fluid than older cars did. That’s why there is confusing and conflicting advice about the need to do a power steering flush. Then afterwards he went by Costco.
I carried tomatoes to Gloria on the way in and got to the D&M Coffee shop by 10:20. Here is my report on the first day of autumn celebration. One of our more active Buy Nothing Ellensburg (BNE) site members, Kathryn Carlson, honchoed this and the recent community-clothing share. She brought mystery gifts, which four of us took home. The rules were that one could not open it until they got home, and if it was something they wanted to keep, they could; if not, it needed to be passed along on the BNE group. I’ve presented a collage of what I received (note the autumn colors) and what was in mine. You can see it was a lovely glass with owls (one of my favorite birds), filled with yummy chocolate nuggets. The photo on the right is taken on our property along a trail in the riparian land, in a tree above a natural spring. A few folks, me included, carried some items for the center of the table to be taken, if desired. I gave away a white spatula and took away two frames to give to my neighbors to put pictures in that I had printed on glossy paper for them on our color printer.
I went to the food bank soup kitchen to play music and afterwards to SAIL. I went by Anne’s to water plants, check on the cat, & mail.
I made it home to enjoy John’s cleverness of canopy removal to allow use of newer truck to transport the wood stove to between Cle Elum and Roslyn, ~ 40 miles, for the region’s Stove Roundup. He will also take a cord of wood to a neighbor – while the canopy is off. Last year he built side-racks to accommodate a full cord.
Here’s the canopy off the truck, and the truck waiting to be moved back to capture the old wood stove from the 1980s, which was in our home when we bought it. The yellow trees to the right of the truck are Carpathian walnuts and Tamaracks.
Thursday, Sept 24
For Sept 23 CPAP. Reported figures. 3 hrs 36 min with AHI=0.28 Events: 1 H. No major mask leaks (max=6 L/min); no oximeter. Bad night with dogs keeping me awake and up, needing cared for.
Playing at Hearthstone, a number of people gone, but we had a surprise visit from one I did not expect. It was nice. We had fun with a large appreciative group, and stayed after for a cup of tea and a cookie.
I drove by my other friend’s house on the way home and picked up her mail; normally, when in town, she plays the tambourine and sings with our group.
We had an email from our next-door neighbor that her cat is out of food. John and I went over and met Gracie (our neighbor’s cat) at the front door (she was on top of a car in the carport). Someone had been staying in the house for a week, but the cat ran out of hard food. We took a small bag of food along with, and she was quite happy to see us. I filled her eating place, refilled her water, and gave her a pet and rub. She’s seen me a lot over the past few years, so she was quite friendly and happy to greet me. We have a key to the house for such reasons.
Tonight, we took off for town again for a 6:00 p.m. presentation by another neighbor (a mile up the Naneum), Allen Aronica, at the Kittitas County Historical Museum. It was about the Kittitas Band of Indians. He has donated a lot of his family’s Native American artifacts to the museum, to keep them together and in the county. It was about his mother, Ida Nason-Aronica, and her desire to preserve the culture of the Kittitas Band, and care for some of the elders. Now Allen is trying to carry on her wishes.
Allen Aronica at the special Indian Village during our Ellensburg Rodeo Fair Weekend, on Labor Day weekend this year. Allen uses the non-PC term Indian, but note in the photo, it was termed the Native American Village.
Friday, Sept 25
For Sept 24 CPAP. Reported figures. 8 hrs 1 min with AHI=0.12 Events: 1 H. No major mask leaks (max=18 L/min); no oximeter. Nice night, eh?
John was up exceedingly early to leave by 5:00 for WTA trail work on the Summerland trail (part of the WonderlandTrail) on the east side of Mt. Rainier National Park. There is a road repair underway near Chinook Pass (an avalanche took out the eastbound lane), and he did not know if he would be delayed. He wasn’t, so was first to arrive at the parking area. The crew experienced light rain most of the day. John made the trip okay, but the long drive (round trip ~236-mile) makes for a long day. He worked with a National Park Trail crew member and several WTA “green hats,” who worked on placing large stepping stones across a small creek.
Rocks such as this, carried in this manner – photo from web, though.
There is an old log but many folks prefer any alternative and the spot has become a mess. The next crew in there may flatten the top of the log and that will help, also. They carried mineral-soil and covered roots by putting a rock boundary on the down-slope side, and then filling the space and making firm and smooth tread, so that people will stay on the trail. That’s the plan and the hope.
I stayed around to take care of the dogs and cat and then went in ahead of time for a blood draw for a new INR reading (too high a week ago). It was normal today, back to 2.4, so I don’t have to go back for a month. From there I went to the first scholarship luncheon of the year for the Ruth Harrington Scholarship Fund. We had white chili today, with a vegetable plate (my favorite was a mini yellow sweet pepper), and a great dessert called pumpkin delight. The luncheon was held in my old office building, so I ran into many people I know. On the way out I saw two custodians, one retired now, who was the custodian for much of my time while I was next door in Lind Hall (from 1988 to 1997), and then the other who still is the custodian for Bouillon Hall where I had my office from 1997 to 2008. It was fun to visit with both of them. Saw others from various places in the building — human resources, mathematics, computer center, and career services.
I came home, stopping off at our neighbors to deliver two 8 x 10 frames, and a loaf of bread. Then in to take care of the older dogs and work on chores. A dishwasher load was the biggest.
We are going to bed early to get out of here by 6:45 tomorrow morning with our wood stove.
Saturday, Sept 26
For Sept 25 CPAP. Reported figures. 7 hrs 11 min with AHI=0.70 Events: 5 H. No major mask leaks (max=9 L/min); no oximeter. Awakened by Meghan at 5:20 a.m.
We left at 6:50 and got up there finding a line with ~30 cars ahead of us. We slowly crawled in the line doing paperwork along the stop and start progress. First, was a questionnaire about our use of the wood stove and what we would do in the future. Finally, we got to near the spot to dump it and answered more questions, showed something that proved we were county residents and had a postal address, and then filled out a form for our $250 check to be received within 4 weeks. I took a few pictures of the process. There is also a lotto-type change for an additional $50 for a survey participation.
Here are two collages of the experience and a link to a video of the final deposit.
The first collage is the start of the wood stove roundup, sponsored by the Air Quality folks at the WA State Department of Ecology in Yakima, WA. This roundup was only for residents of Kittitas County, and for approved (old polluting, non-certified ones). There was to be a bounty of $250 each for the first 85 stoves. One vehicle could deposit 2 stoves. The timing of the event was 8:00 a.m. to 3:00.
Left is the line of cars (we were about 33 in line), taken at 7:56 a.m., then the entrance to the transfer station between Cle Elum and Roslyn, WA. The second and third photos were taken 3 minutes on either side of 8:30 a.m. Note the naming of No 5 Mine Rd (that’s from the historical coal mining district around Roslyn, WA). The last photo on the right above shows the cars behind us, as we made the turn toward the entrance gate, at 8:35 a.m. It took use another 70 minutes to get close to our delivery spot, and check in for eligibility to deposit and claim our bounty. We drove out at 9:50 a.m.
Above is nearing the end of our visit. Top left shows Jordan, from Hopesource, Ellensburg, walking toward Karlen and Jay. Behind them, you can see the deposit part. Second middle photo above is Jay Carmody (DOE, Yakima) filling out forms and asking questions. We had to show proof of being a county resident. The right photo shows 3 workers and John (black jacket) moving the stove out of our truck. John was able to put rollers (old broom handles) under it to roll-push it out of the bed of the pickup. Then the county guys heaved it off into the pile of stoves. (See the short video, below.). Continuing around shows the door of our stove, and illustrates the comments about it in the video. Finally, the last shot is the line of trucks it took us 70 minutes to wind around on, to the deposit spot. When we drove out the gate, we drove by the last vehicle, inside the gate. Stoves were to be in working condition but one trailer held a very old stove that looked like it had been in a house that burned down. If he gets paid for that there should be a fraud charge.
Here is the link to my short video of the removal from our truck. The person at the end of the clip asking me if I want in the photo is Karlen, an employee of the county we talked to in the waiting line, when she handed me a questionnaire to fill out about the experience. I was hoping I would win an additional $50 for filling it out. We figure we saved somewhat less than $350 by disposing of our wood stove in this manner. We would have had to pay the installers $99 to remove it and get rid of it. We might win the $50. Still driving the truck isn’t cheap – as it has the heft to pull a large travel trailer (think evacuation in wildfire season).
We went to a truck stop east of Cle Elum and bought a tad over 10 gallons at $2.19 cash price. Turns out we only saved a nickel, for not using our AMEX card with 4% off on gasoline purchases. So, next time, we’ll just pay the 10 cents more/gal and use that credit card. We each had a $10 gift card from the Cottage Cafe and so went there for brunch.
Nice talk with John’s sister Peggy in Parma on the way home, but missed getting a photo of a gaggle of Canada geese from a perspective above them (road incline over a railroad track). I would have liked to have sent a picture to a friend of mine traveling back east who saw a large V-shaped flock of them heading south. Miami? That is a cool sight. (Terms: gaggle versus flock; look ’em up)
Came home to find our oldest dog Meghan crying in pain, so we decided it was time. She has had a nice >15 years life, and is now buried next to her favorite trail through our property by the Mariposa lilies and other shrub-steppe vegetation. Skittles was her nickname between John and me, so she would not know we were talking about her. Registered name was M-C Meghan It Happen. She was a full sister to our Cedaridge Legacy of Shay, whom many of you know, or of pups out of her. Skittles never had any puppies because of a malformed cervix and uterus that prevented breeding.
Left above in the photo collage is her original owner, Michele Sherer Brocious, holding her at a field trial at Madras, at almost 2 yrs, after which she came back to live with us. The middle two photos, top is Meg along the driveway, the one below & wrapping up shows her looking at 4 wild Merriam turkeys on our back hill, and the right is her in her recent favorite sleeping spot on the loveseat in our den, taken June, 2015. Previously, she slept on the left side of the bed – Michele to be thanked for that. RIP, pretty gal.
Sunday, we spent the whole day on a Geology field trip to
… where gold miners had to build a wagon road to get materials in. It is believed that young Bing Crosby came over this road on his way from Spokane to Seattle and later to California — with his drums. See this link and Al Rinker: Bing, Al, drums.
While we are not publishing this until Tuesday morning, I still haven’t had time to get photos off the camera. Maybe to be included in next week’s blog for your enjoyment. We had a very nice (but long day).
Hope your week was fine.
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan