Mysterious Disappearance and a Trip to Pittsfield

Ron drove Jett and I to his vet for a second copy of his Heartworm prevention med.

I ordered it through Chewy which offered a $20 discount and a promise to reimburse me for the cost of sending the script via Priority Mail.

I don’t know what happened to the first script, which was next to my computer and then disappeared. I thought maybe Jett ate it; we’ll see in a day or so.

I mailed the script at the Williamstown Post Office and was helped by the Postmaster. In the course of chatting, he told me that his son collects old vehicle parts. Asked him if he might have parts for the Tacoma. He does our mail route from time to time so he’d stop by if so.

On the way back to Williamstown, we stopped at a farm for butter and sugar corn, peaches and blueberries. As we were leaving, a boy led a disheveled calf to the farm stand.

Ron and I enjoyed the good weather with wine on the deck. I briefly attended Greylock Together’s “Good Trouble” session at the Congregational Church.

Cooler!

Much better this morning. We even opened the windows. If this keeps up, we could actually feel human again.

First squash flowers!

We attended a fun Memory Cafe at Sweetwood yesterday. The delightful musician Otha Day, led us through a drumming session that everyone seemed to enjoy – even Ron, who has been out of sorts over politics.

I started participating in a “Powerful Tools for Caregivers” session but left when the moderator chided me for going off topic. It didn’t matter than other participants felt it was worthwhile, including one who thanked me. I had my doubts about the moderator but when he started to smell of Christian Nationalism (he’s relocating to Utah to be near his wife’s family), I’d had enough and left the group.

Ron and I cooked two vegetable dishes, roasted snap beans and a savory squash casserole.

BAAMS

Woke up screaming a couple of times, in a lot of pain once I did get up. Slept awkwardly and my right side was a mess. Ron put salve on the painful spots and that seemed to help.

Ron did the Food Pantry run.

Had a conversation with Vickie at Elder Services about caregiving. She recommended that Ron see a neurologist, possibly in Bennington, for memory testing.

Paid bills, big ones.

Worked on the Remedy app, sent screen shots to Andi for her meeting tomorrow with her Board.

Received Jett’s medical history from Pittsfield Vet, sent it to Spot for their records. Filed a claim for this week’s visit and requested a review of future charges for his dental work.

Disgusting heat and humidity. Watered gardens.

As always, we thoroughly enjoyed the well-attended BAAMS faculty concert last night led by trumpeter Richard Boulger, featuring “Saturday Night Live” Band saxophonist, Ron Blake, Dizzy Gillespie band alum guitarist Rodney Jones, bassist, Alex Blake, three-time Grammy award-winning pianist, Dario Boente, and drummer Mino Cinelu, former member of the bands of Miles Davis, Sting, Weather Report, Pat Metheny, and more, and longtime Berklee College of Music drum faculty Kenwood Dennard (Sting, Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, etc.) Some kind people gave us their seats.

Jett’s First Vet Visit

Some surprises: Jett needs about $1,000 worth of dental work and has a microchip.

The microchip was registered with a company that is no longer in business, but I was able to enroll him with a company that is well thought of, HomeAgain.

He hadn’t received a couple of vaccinations that we thought were important, so the vet administered them.

He’s gained a little weight since his last visit.

The vet had suggestions for helping us deal with his anxiety about separation. She strikes me as one of those who love animals but people, not so much. That’s okay: Ron and I agreed, we wish his medical provider were as concerned about him.

Ron had a wellness visit today and I was astonished at how peremptory it was. No questions about his memory or how his left leg is doing. Then again, maybe she did ask and he just didn’t remember.

I started loading software on the Remedy laptop this morning. Met with Andi to show her the new laptop. She was able to create an account with Microsoft for Remedy.

We attended a disappointing lecture and pizza lunch at Harper Center. I misread the notice: thought it was going to be about treatment of our water supply; instead it was mostly about home septic with a few references to municipal water treatment.

Helpful to learn that municipal waste water is being tested to track COVID now that medical and home testing has ended.

I did nothing this afternoon except snack and shop for ice cream. Ran into a fellow classmate from the McCann course at S&S. He said he’s “finally” got a job offer but not in a machine shop and is not sure what he’ll be doing. Wished him well!

Had a more productive evening, worked on the Remedy app. Disappointing news from Andi, Microsoft turned down her application. I suggested she ask them why.

Hid treats in the back yard for Jett; he found them. This was in lieu of “fetch”, the bugs were killing me.

Made a red cabbage and Swiss chard salad with a sweet/sour dressing. I loved it, Ron was polite but not very enthused.

Sunday

Ron got the lawn mower started and finished the back yard.

I picked up a refill for the mosquito sprayer and got some good deals at Walmart and Stop & Shop, including Major Dix on sale. Walmart was mobbed.

Jett isn’t panting as much as he has been so seems much happier after his coat was trimmed. Taking care of him is time-consuming and a big distraction.

I made salad for lunch and Jell-O for dessert. Used the box of sugar-free strawberry that has been hanging around for ages.

Saw Butch and the boys briefly this evening.

Red dayliliy bloomed today!

Jett’s Grooming

We’ve been looking forward to this for quite a while. Jett’s groomer has been recovering from shoulder surgery so it’s been 12 weeks since his last cut.

We stopped off at the Williamstown Farmer’s Market and afterwards, to the new coffee shop next to Pavilions. Great coffee and pastries; we’ll be back.

Jett was agitated for a good part of the evening: hungry as it turns out.

Remedy Laptop

I picked up the laptop for Remedy at the Williams IT department. They gave them a nice little Dell with Windows11Pro. Now it’s up to me to find and load the software for my app.

Stopped by the Harper Center for coffee. Chatted with Cynthia. She’d brought a bag full of nice things to give away. I donated her yarn and knitting needles to the group at Milne, kept the rest.

I did a sketch at the Clark, copied a street scene by Pissarro.

Cleaned up the old microwave and brought it to Remedy. Had to go back later, I’d forgotten the glass turntable.

We went to a wine tasting at Provisions, brought home three bottles including the same Prosecco the staff member got for his wedding. Nice to have good wine!

Following Through

Williams IT emailed at 5:44 PM: we can pick up the laptop!

Did speak with Toyota Financial. The purchase paperwork is in process.

Minor kerfuffle this morning with Millie. We got a late start and I tried to get Jett outside without her noticing, but it didn’t work. Apologized to Pam.

Working on changes to BRC2 emails. It ran this morning on their server in debug mode. Waiting for feedback from Nicole before uploading new code, including more error reporting.

Ron went grocery shopping and did a transfer station run with paper recycling.

Yesterday I dropped off donations to Remedy Hall and picked up our CSA produce.

Sat in on the “Powerful Tools” webcast for a little less than an hour. They waited for 26 minutes for one of the participants and then had problems with a video. The participant whom they’d waited for decided she’d had enough and I thought that was smart so I left as well. They are using the “Son of Skype” meeting software from Microsoft.

The badger was on our deck! Jett thinks he’s under the shed and attempted to pursue him.

Ravioli for supper, salad for lunch.

Muggy; NEEM

Glad the air conditioners are in.

Ron fixed my fan! I received the fan blade kit yesterday ($13 with shipping) and he put it together this morning. It works perfectly: good to have it in the third bedroom.

I vacuumed the living room. Ron vacuumed the kitchen and sunroom.

We went to Pittsfield for three errands. Unfortunately, my meeting with a representative from Congressman Neal’s office was cancelled; she left due to an “emergency”. She never contacted me. I made arrangements to send our paperwork to the Springfield office which has a person experienced with IRS and sorting tax issues.

Ron’s iphone is fixed! The superb techs at Mad Macs helped him again.

Finally, I picked up Jett’s prescription at his vet’s office. I mailed it at the Lanesboro post office. The vet’s office also squared away Jett’s new contact info after Susan gave her permission over the phone.

Had a good conversation with the farmer at Red Shirt Farm about our Brandywine plants. He urged me to not lose heart and selected a gorgeous tomato for us. I also bought us some treats.

Very nice store, we’ll be back.

Picked up a couple of groceries at Stop & Shop, including Ron’s grapefruit juice and my half and half.

I NEEMed the hibiscus this evening.

A/Cs Are In

We just finished changing the sheets and putting the last A/C in the third bedroom. Put the big A/C in the living room earlier today. It’s heavy and always a challenge. Cleaned windows, lost count…..

I did a big watering last night and this morning. It’s hot and muggy: 84 and “feels like 89”.

Sandwiches again for lunch. My stomach is a wreck, though. Maybe it was seeing these photos from the old house that upset me. I love my gardens here but miss my old flowers!