Monday, Jan 2
For Jan 1 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.00. Events: 1 CSR, 0 H, 19 RERA. Time on 6 hrs 55 min with (max = 14 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 83 spurious, actual low, 87, is all I see on the graphic chart, 2 events <88% with avg., 91.8%. Pulse avg. 55.4, low 47.
We finally published last week’s blog late afternoon. It had too much in it, but I did not have time to make a web page for the Raclette this year, and put it all in the blog instead.
Before noon, I requested information from the music group about who could print their own or how many I had to Xerox copy. Now I know about how many to run, but need to make a list and number the order of songs on my master.
Whoopee! Tonight about 7:00 p.m., I found my heavy-duty masks (graded N-95) for wearing when John is adding wood to the stove and leaking actual smoke into the room. The masks were safely put in my back bathroom medicine cabinet, but I did not remember for 3 days into this year.
Tuesday, Jan 3
For Jan 2 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.24. Events: 1 H, 7 RERA. Time on 4 hrs 15 min with (max = 16 L/min). Oximetry: Battery ran out after 55 minutes.
I figured out the numbers of pages to set up, and the cost of the copies. Some folks want it printed differently, so I have to make several different runs and a smaller run for additions of the new music to the audience copies. I carried the master, instructions, a ream of paper, and the money for printing. I went by for a blood draw at the hospital, needed for the appt with my cardiologist next Tuesday. By the time I got home, our nurse had called and given John my INR reading (2.3, within desired range).
After that, I participated in Jazzercise, and we had two new people join our class of four. They are a couple. We have never had any men in this class. We have men in the SAIL exercise class.
From there, because Tuesday is check-# day, I was off to Bi-Mart and then back home to assemble music pages, so I can deliver two copies tomorrow.
Wednesday, Jan 4 Happy Birthday to John !!!
For Jan 3 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 1.56. Events: 7 H, 9 RERA. Time on 4 hrs 29 min with (max = 16 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low spurious 56 while taking off mask, 15 events <88% with avg. 91.3%. 6 with CPAP on; 9 without CPAP, and have lower values of Sp02; Pulse avg. 56.1, low 47.
Below is the graphic evidence that the CPAP helps control my SpO2 (percentage of saturated oxygen going to my organs while I sleep). It still goes below 88% when on the machine, but more so when off.
I went to the food bank today, but skipped SAIL exercise class today to run errands so I could get back in time for a much-needed haircut. I stopped by for some sunflower seeds at Ace Hardware that John wanted (on a good sale – buy one bag, get one free). The fellow before me had just bought the last 4 bags, so they will have more in this Friday, will reserve 4 bags for me, and call us. (That did not occur; we went by Friday to no avail because while they had been shipped in, they’d not yet taken them from the back storage area). I went by our car mechanic (Seth Motors now run by the grandson, Justin Seth) also to pick up 2017 calendars for John (his request), and while there he gave me two baseball hats for us and another carrying bag with their name on the side. [When first in EBRG and still giving blood, John met Grandfather Seth – a volunteer providing a steady hand and a glass of orange juice.] I also went by Super 1 for some sale items, and on the way home, I went by Bi-Mart for more of the reduced price canned cat food. All this rushing around, was caused by wanting to make it back home to leave my violin inside in the warmth, and bring in the groceries, so that I could head over a mile to get my haircut at 3:00 p.m. That happened, and I had a nice visit with Celia and Bobby Winingham and viewed their local contingent of backyard deer.
They had a couple of bucks and about 15 deer they were giving “cob” {corn/oats/barley} to, and while I don’t have a photo of them, here is the biggest buck at their place. He is back from previous years. 
Where’s my dinner (1-4-17) _______ Same buck in 2016 (pix by Celia)
Thursday, Jan 5
For Jan 4 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.66. Events: 1 CSR, 5 H, 11 RERA. Time on 7 hrs 37 min with (max = 22 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 88, 0 events <88% with avg., 92.0%. Pulse avg. 56.2, low 49.
Frustration plus – music problems, sickness at Rehab caused cancellation of our playing activities. Sorry for the folks there. Okay for me as I had changes to make in the last page of The M.T.A. and things to work on with telephone calls to two insurance providers, and my dental providers. We had a misunderstanding of the dental costs, and I already had filled my allowed expenses for 2016 with the implant surgery, so I will have to cover the entire cost of my teeth cleaning in December. Normally every cleaning and X-rays are entirely covered. I’m unhappy about that, but I blame myself for not checking with the dental insurance company. All my coverage went to the two implants (at another dentist’s office).
At 5:00 p.m., the real problem started. I downloaded something from earlier in the day. When I went to answer and compiled an email to send, I found I had no Internet connection. John did. I had him go back and “re-set” and then neither of us had a connection. We fiddled with it and could not make it work again. We now assume the modem failed. The person in town who helped last time works from 8:00 to 5:00. We called the national 24/7 line, but we had already tried all the things we knew he would ask. He could not help us, but had us remove a filter and splitter on the cord line from the wall-outlet to the modem. It did not help. Saddest part of this is our Wireless within the house is not responding without the DSL entry. That means I cannot print from my printer, which means I cannot get an output of the music I need to get to my friend to help me assess the changes. I could have printed and met her in town with it. We are now hoping that John can carry the modem in tomorrow morning, find out it has died, and get another to bring home to plug in.
The rest of the evening, we worked on projects off the computer, and the last thing we did was to put together a casserole of Yukon gold potatoes, similarly thin slices of Acorn squash, grated sharp cheddar cheese, a sauce from a mixture of sour cream, milk, butter, and spices, topped with Parmesan cheese. We will cook in the morning and take to a New Year’s party at the Adult Activity Center.
Ending the day on a happy note — two of our Brittanys in Wisconsin wished their mom a happy birthday and we heard about it on Facebook, after we finally got “connected” to the wired world again. That still a day away.
The two on the right are “our” Cedaridge pups, Molly & Tobie. I drove them at 8 wks of age to Spokane and Anna’s hubby Paul flew in from Wisconsin to meet me. He carried them back together in a carrier in the passenger part of the plane. So cool. These are not the first dogs they had from us, but sadly, they will be the last because we are no longer breeding Brittanys, since the last litter in 2010.
Friday, Jan 6
For Jan 5 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.40 Events: 2 H, 3 PP, 12 RERA. Time on 5 hrs 1 min with (max = 19 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 59 spurious, actual was 79 probably also because of on/off switch, 16 events <88% with avg., 91.4%. Pulse avg. 53.6, low 43, probably spurious because my defibrillator keeps my pulse at 50.
It’s a.m. and we are back on Internet from moving the router to the front of house.
Last night it quit and a long call to tech support did not fix it. John moved the router of the telephone cable (DSL) to a different place in the house, but it still did not work. Both the old and new places have a splitter so a line could be connected to a phone and another to the Internet modem.
This morning he pulled the splitter out and plugged the line directly into the wall outlet from the outside phone line. Bingo! In less than 5 seconds, we had the Internet back.
John continues: The second line is now unplugged – and it is the one that connects Nancy’s automated caller to the heart center that monitors her defibrillator and heart function. That’s a once a day call between 2 and 3 in the AM. Thus, fixing that line to a different location is my big problem for the day. Did I mention it is nippy cold here? Nancy here: John rerouted the telephone lines and all my monitors are back – with a long line taped along the wall, around a corner to a hallway, and hanging on “stuff” to the far wall of the (so called) living room. So why did it quit? Some questions do not have answers.
We left for the AAC (Ellensburg senior center)’s New Year’s Party potluck with our two pans of Irish scalloped potatoes, we named Leprechaun Gold. We described the content above. The theme of the party was New Year’s Traditions around the World.
Small review. More pictures will be available on the Ellensburg Adult Activity Center’s Facebook page, where all of mine will be displayed with staff photos. I try to cover the people participating in events while the staff are serving us or conducting games. 
The young women in two of the pictures are Megan Willwerth and Lauren Healey, working for 10 months as AmeriCorps employees here at the Ellensburg Adult Activity Center. The left photo shows them starting the buffet so they can go serve Black-eyed Pea Soup to the people at the tables. After lunch, they conducted a New Year’s Trivia game for 3 teams (tables) at the party. The questions were in three categories: Facts about New Years, New Year’s Traditions, and 2016 Pop Culture. The last being a topic that we become farther away with each new movie or TV show.
Left is the smaller pan of potatoes we took. Middle shows the larger one in front of the woman in the photo. Right shows part of John’s plate, our shared pie, my plate, and my bowl of soup (black-eyed peas with veggies, bacon, and sour cream). 
Left is Katrina Douglas, Director of the center; right are her parents Dudley & Sharon Kell, whom we met at our table. They have only been in Ellensburg since June, and we told them about the Dudley Bridge over the Yakima River west of EBRG.
Left is a photo of a collection of dolls from around the world that belongs to Marion, an AAC member who brought them to display because of the international theme. Right is a photo op of John and me with props, but his sign said 2017, and he didn’t hold it high enough to be seen behind my little New Year’s Hat (also provided by the AAC). The 17 of 2017 is behind my hat. We enjoyed ourselves at the party.
On our way home, we stopped by Super 1 for groceries and I had a nice visit with a friend (Bonnie Clement) I haven’t seen in two years. She was a daily visitor, while I was in the Rehab for 7 weeks in 2010. She would bring her little dog. While we talked, John shopped. 
Ending the day with a beautiful sunset, shows snow, of which we got at least 2 more inches the next day, and it is still snowing Sunday, as we finalize this treatise. The plan is for 2″ more tonight and then flurries through Wednesday. West of us, in the Cascades, there will be more snow and strong winds. I-90 is open but a mess (Sunday at 3). We need to go south, on I-82, Tuesday about Noon.
Saturday, Jan 7
For Jan 6 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.92. Events: 1 CSR, 8 H, 12 RERA. Time on 8 hrs 40 min with major mask leakage. Oximetry: SpO2 spurious low 78, actual low was 89, 3 events <88% with avg., 92.0%. Pulse avg. 55.0, low 50.
I have been working on this text, on dishes, and fixing the Chorus of the Kingston trio’s song, The M.T.A. It has given us a terrible time trying to replicate the musical score of the song to match the notes and the way the Trio sang it. No one has successfully reproduced a score with notes, chords, and lyrics that matches the original. Musicnotes sells a version on line but it is not correct either. I believe we now have a good rendition, thanks to Evie’s help. If anyone wishes me to send them a pdf of the two pages of the music, please let me know. Just promise not to give it to someone who will charge others for it.
John has been good about letting me know when wildlife is around. Here are pictures of California Quail in the feeder.
Left I took from the kitchen window, and then John told me the sun was on them from the bedroom window. The right photo is taken through a dirty window. That’s the next window to clean. Quail live by having a hair-trigger flight plan so I can’t step outside or open a window. Another problem is that all my photos in the blog are low resolution.
About 1:10 p.m., John called my attention to the beautiful Rooster pheasant in our front yard. I got my camera to record him walking around. Glad he came before the heavy snow. John noted the beginning of the snow so brought in wood and kindling to have us well stocked through tomorrow. The wood stove has been going since mid-day December 31. The air is a bit “dry” and we’ve been talking about (procrastinating) fixing that.
Pheasant in front yard. Middle picture-see Mt. Ash berry in his mouth, and the right one shows his foot is banded. Check out the Pheasant in the front yard, 1-7-17 video below.
Ringneck Rooster Under the Seed Tree
This is the explanation on line with the video: “Here is our sole pheasant back again for almost 2 minutes in our front yard (on video) – he was there many more minutes. John called me to see him. He has come onto the porch right by our front door for water and to check-out the hard cat food. Here is he nibbling scratch fallen from the bird feeder (see context of feeder in the Mt. Ash tree at 1:51), and you’ll see him going over to eat gravel by the front of our house, under the eaves. Sorry for the bad views from 51 seconds to 1.01 min. I don’t have an easy way of editing out that part of the footage.” Enjoy.
John fixed dinner. He bought a turkey hindquarter (2X) and cooked 1 with onions and mushrooms. He added the remainder of our potatoes we brought back from the party, slices of pineapple, and rounds of Butternut squash. This was such a lovely colorful dinner, I must share a photograph. The color of the onions is preserved in a slow oven. 
Pineapple is on the left between the squash and our potato creation.
Sunday, Jan 8
For Jan 7 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.99. Events: 1 CA, 7 H, 22 RERA. Time on 8 hrs 7 min with (max = 22 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 82 (spurious), actual low 84, avg. low <88%, 89.7, 11 events <88%, with overall avg., 91.5%. Pulse avg. 54.3, low 49.
Our resident pheasant is back, and snow has covered everything, but he’s digging and finding something. It’s fun to watch him. We are scheduled to have snow all week. I’m not happy about having to travel in the snow to Yakima on Tuesday this week to visit with my cardiologist.
Hope your week was fine.
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan