Best Of

Jackie, what my mom, Bob & I all immediately noticed after the bandage came off the day after our first cataract surgeries was how vivid colors were—especially blue! Before the surgery it was as if I were looking through a yellowed sheet of cellophane, and anyone I faced who was backlit looked like a silhouette. Push came to shove when I was playing a set at a suburban festival on a tented stage facing the sun. I could not see the fret markers on the side of the guitar neck nor tell (visually) if I was playing at the correct fret! Like betrayal, I too opted for just the distance correction because a new IOL doesn't slow the progression of presbyopia—which is caused by focusing muscles becoming more sclerosed with age. I have astigmatism, so drugstore readers won't work (they make every square grid look like a parallelogram). I went with my usual progressives, but with a much milder distance correction. (The frames hide under-eye bags and help me save on concealer).

I spoke too soon about things at the house proceeding apace. Got to the house this morning only to find that today they were bringing back only the appliances, daybed, and twin bedframes. Stove is hooked up but gas not yet turned back on (more about that later). Only the kitchen fridge (the big French door LG) was brought back—the ol' reliable top freezer plain vanilla basement Kenmore top-freezer is still in storage. So are the headboard for the king-size bed and the footboards for the twin beds. They brought the LG in in pieces (doors, hardware, body); but they couldn't get the L door to sit at the same height as the R. (The L is the one with the icemaker and water dispenser). Took both guys 4 hours and they couldn't figure out what was wrong. (I suggested calling Abt, which sold me the fridge back in 2018, but it's out of warranty so I'd be charged for a service call). The dryer was brought to the wrong part of the basement (where the Kenmore belongs), and is not level (the pedestal on which it sits was not delivered). The sump pump appears to have been unplugged, so I'm hoping against hope for no torrential rains. The daybed sways unstably—several screws & bolts are missing. The crew is coming back tomorrow with its appliance specialist and the right hardware for the daybed, so hopefully the fridge can be reassembled, hooked up to the water line, and plugged in. Meanwhile, due to humidity the basement doors stick (the door from the stairway and the one from outside too), as well as the door up to the attic, so they will have to be re-hung & planed. The contractor is on a job "out south," so he sent his two older Polish-only speakers to clean up the closets that got all filthy during construction (and it took heavy use of a translation app to make any headway). Also discovered that in the den—which is where Bob watches TV—the crew drywalled and painted over where the cable & satellite outlets were! So no point in calling Astound or DTV to reconnect us yet.

And the restoration company said today's items were a "rush order" in case I had to move in imminently. Everything else will arrive no earlier than August 8, the day after the visiting vet appointment which will be here in Lincolnwood. So it's conceivable that we may not be home till Labor Day. (The rent is an arm & and a leg but at least we will have a big fat casualty-loss deduction on our 2025 tax return—which we didn't take for 2024, as everything up till 6/30/25 was fully reimbursed by State Farm).

Rinse messaged me that they washed and dried the linens—and if they got the stink out, I will send them the white split-king set for the next load. I bought the Downy Rinse & Refresh to use only if my Tide Free & Clear and white vinegar don't do the trick. The new twin & twin XL sets don't smell, but maybe I'll have those laundered as well to remove any chemicals that might be harmful to sleep on. The dinette set now smells merely grassy, which is because of the linen blend in the upholstery. I can live with that. So no need to Febreze. But I will plug in the Zevo traps to catch the flies that snuck in, what with the doors having to stay open.

So I'm home and staying in tonight (the Rinse driver will leave the bag behind the porch chair so the porch pirates—or tomorrow morning's possible storm—don't get it). I'll be there again in the morning.

Will definitely do triage on the boxes, which should be labeled. There are going to be a lot of "free to a good home" and "come and get it" posts on Nextdoor Edgewater.

I am a dog-person. Owning a cat is fine if you have problems with mice. Dogs are high-maintenance but it can get fun. Late afternoon, we had just gotten home from a walk. I had run out of points for the day. He kept pestering me with "bike-ride", "ouch-owie", "walk", "please", "did", "pee", "fairgrounds", and "chase". I kept telling him "no more walk, mama tired, no more fairgrounds, fairgrounds hot." His message was "Remember, this morning we went to the fairgrounds and I ran alongside you on the bike? I am no longer scared of the bike wheel. I don't like riding in the basket, it is uncomfortable. But I can run alongside you, and you can rest on the bike." So I rode and he ran. I think he needs a bunch more words now. LOL! Just "remember", "run", and "scared" would have made that a lot easier. On the list.

Jackie, that fence is going to be beautiful. So nice that you live in a place where you can have a fence like that. They promised us a dog area last fall, but had some higher-priority projects that came up, like new picnic tables.

Cindy, I can just imagine your blonde ear. Jackie, your reference to someone else had me grinning, almost as widely as the Pope. It is fun to have accidents like that and have people make a double-take. Our school principal has dark hair with teal and dark red lights. Then there is me with my clothing from saris. I have a small one coming with a pastel floral design. But I have six full ones that are uncut, and bunches of large pieces. Really upset that I can't do any sewing right now. My supplier is a silk-lover in Australia, who orders boxes of them from India, sorts through them and her stash, and sells what she does not love. She even treasures the mulberry tree in her yard, although she displays what she is selling on her clothesline.

My TV stand is the coffee-table my parents had when I was a kid. A bit low to the floor, but with a futon, I don't care.

Kitty, I love the cake. Much more healthy. Just reminded me that when it rains and the temp drops later today, I can make my cake with coconut milk. Yummy!!

I got my hair cut on Monday. Time for a picture, I guess. I need to move my wall-hangings but can't do it right now. The picture is flipped.

The arrow is Mary on a dinner-napkin trimmed with lace. Didn't realize where it was pointing. LOL!