TheCapeBlog

Ron replaced the water pitcher filter yesterday, did laundry, made coffee last night.

James is 21 today!

Cathy’s COVID test came back positive, but she’s coping well, says it’s a mild case.

Made lasagna yesterday and a potato/spinach/cheese casserole today.

A couple of days ago, Ron cut down the grasses, at my request. I raked them up and put them in the truck.

I noticed the truck was leaking oil again and brought it to a shop that is new for us. They seem to have diagnosed the problem that two other shops had missed. It was a mystery to me because the others insisted it was the oil pan or a related part, even though I kept telling the other shops that the engine oil was full.

It’s been quite nice the last couple of days, almost shirtsleeve weather. Tony came over to chat yesterday and dropped off a dog bag kit from the Dollar store.

Physical and online friends posted birthday wishes. I bought myself a half-priced cheesecake. Best event was to have the truck back.

Robert is working in North Falmouth these days and took me to lunch on Friday. Quick but nice chat.

I made a broccoli and cauliflower casserole. It didn’t last long.

Still struggling to get Teddy into either of the vehicles. He doesn’t seem to be scared, but he’s ungainly and the floors are too high for him.

Yesterday Teddy was accosted by an unleashed dog. We were happy he held his own.

Tried to help Em with her Mass ID. Gave up on the RMV website, but was able to book an appointment.

Solved a thorny problem with cacheing a recordset from dotDigital. VS refactoring helped a great deal.

I’m so tired of the cold, and unfortunately, it looks like it’s going to be with us for a while more.

I’ll be happier when we reach full immunity from COVID-19, some time in mid-April. Since we booked our shots, I’ve been looking at various appointment websites, only a handful of which are consolidated. There have been NO appointments for days in our area, even though the Jansen vaccine has been available. We are fortunate to have taken care of this pretty much as soon as we became eligible.

Was dreading the shot, but everything went very well today at CVS/East Falmouth. They were efficient, helpful and kind. Their Smartphone app did grease the wheels.

I’ve lost track of days. Teddy has been very good. He went on 3 and a half walks today, one quite long one with Ron, so I hear. He also – for a second – voluntarily entered the van. More practice tomorrow.

We were extremely fortunate to get our shots. At this hour, MassVax has only two available appointments. None of us have ever seen available appointments for the Cape Cod Healthcare sites.

It’s getting to be a challenge to watch the news. Congressional Republicans are insane and driving the country into the ground. It’s about as bad as I’ve ever seen it.

Ron got his first dose of the Moderna vaccine today at Gillette. He said the travel back and forth and the process itself was painless. He crashed after a couple of beers and is having a well-earned nap.

I was able to schedule second shots for both of us at the CVS in East Falmouth.

Teddy has been pretty good today. Got a little whiney a short while ago but otherwise well-behaved, especially on leash. I’ve walked him twice and let him stay out in his run once. It was raining all morning but cleared up mid afternoon or thereabouts.

I’ve had some attempted logins from an IP in Scottsdale to my WordPress site and was advised to file a complaint with GoDaddy.

Have no desire to mess up the kitchen with cooking, which is not good, although I did wash a bunch of greens for salad or soup.

Watched the Merrick Garland confirmation hearing long enough to despise the rank hypocrisy of “Cat Piss” Cruz and Mike “Mulligan” Lee and on the other hand, to be grateful for Sheldon Whitehouse, Amy Klobuchar, Dick Durbin and Richard Blumenthal, who responded to the right-wing obstructionists with the measured contempt that they deserve. Schedule for confirmation vote by the full Senate to be announced shortly.

I got up at 4:30. Teddy was waiting at the door, but he let me get myself oriented before I had to take him out. We did a walk around the block after his breakfast, Trump accomplished. He’s been great today.

One website recommends feeding Chabradors 3-4 times a day. He does seem to be hungry all the time.

He did manage to climb his steps and grab a treat from the floor of the truck today.

I’ve been unable to book a local COVID shot appointment for Ron, so it looks like he’ll be heading to Foxboro tomorrow. Frustrating.

New term: “owning class”. “(Those) with enough income from assets that they don’t have to work to pay basic bills.” Does that include retirees?

Ordered a new clothesline dryer for pickup at Home Depot in Hyannis.

I took down the old clotheline dryer – easier than I thought, no tools needed – and Ron collapsed a pile of boxes and brought all of it to the transfer station.

Ron took Teddy for a walk at around 8:30 or 9 pm.

Teddy growled and bared his teeth at me this morning. Not his fault, I took him off his leash and grabbed him when he bolted off the back deck stairs. He did come in to the house right away, and I feel terrible about hurting him.

I was able to book a vaccine appointment for myself in East Falmouth for next Thursday, so I can stay with Teddy while Ron gets his shot. This morning convinced me that he is still not trained enough for a dog sitter, so I canceled with Em for Monday. Did deposit her birthday gelt to her bank account, as she suggested.

I am starting to hate our walks. Teddy is still pulling, and I resent the neighborhood, both the Habitat houses as well as the ones on the kettle ponds. Those people outsmarted me, and it makes me feel like a chump.

It’s been raining since this morning and aside from three long walks and a couple of short ones with Teddy, the only thing I’ve done is to pick up lunch at Le Bon Jour and watch the Irish Repertory’s production of “A Touch of the Poet”.

Ron has been more productive, attaching a device that’s been floating around for over a year to keep out cold blasts from the bottom of the closet door in my “den”.

I don’t begrudge hard-working people their success. I do regret not having more success myself.

After ten years of living with someone who is tolerant of my faults, I have a much better understanding of the reasons that I failed to have a “good” life.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t make the consequences any easier to accept, even grudgingly.

If someone has more than I do, it feels like I was outsmarted, and that’s a threat. I’ve sacrificed for others but instead of being happy about it, feel like a chump.

Teddy started barking and whining around 9:30 last night and didn’t settle down until after 11.

I took him out first, around the block. He’d broken his leash earlier and pulled pretty hard at the beginning of the walk, but seemed to have settled down by the time we got back.

Unfortunately, he started barking and fussing about an hour later. He’d bitten through a couple of the vanes in the sliding door blinds. Ron took him out again and told me this morning, the neighbor’s dogs were out, raising Cain when they spotted Teddy. This was around 11.

Ron got him calmed down, and we all slept until 6. Today, Teddy and I walked, both in the field and the street, and Ron took him for a long walk. Teddy and I sat for a short while in his “den” until it got too cold for me. Sunny but windy.

Between outings, Teddy showed that he’s mastered his steps, both up and down! He’s likely climbed the equivalent of a flight of stairs; quite a breakthrough!

Ron dropped out excise tax payments off at Town Hall and did a small grocery shop.

I left a message for Rep. Connolly (Virginia) thanking him for calling out his juvenile Republican colleagues at the USPS hearing.

Ron’s computer acquired a nasty piece of malware that took us two days and two anti-virus applications to delete.

We had ice cream for the first time in weeks.

Yesterday, Bennett and I did a productive shop at Target. Redeemed $35 worth of gift cards. Their grocery section is so refined that it seems to be curated.

Meanwhile, Ron and Teddy got to hang out.

Got a callback yesterday and booked a Covid inoculation appointment at Gillette for next Monday.

Up at 4:30 today. Made pudding and oatmeal. Later on, made heavy veg soup with frozen vegetables, leftovers and half an onion..

Ron was inspired by yesterday’s shop to go to Target himself today. I went to Walmart to pick up two prescriptions and gas up the truck at the Stop & Shop station in Falmouth.

Tony has a new fence, and it looks fantastic. Sean saw us, said “Where’s my tarp?”

Out with Teddy several times, in the field and around the block.