My Weblog

My hope is in God...........

It is not in heart medication. I am convinced that doctor or not, medicine or not, we go when God has determined it is our time to go. However, when your heart if fluttering along at 100 beats per minute, it isn't efficient and it doesn't feel good either. The medication I take slows the heart rate. However, it seems to increase my oxygen levels at the same time. My best educated guess is that at the slower rate the heart does a better job with its various contractions.

In any case, I called the doctor's office at 4:15 yesterday. No, of course, nothing had been done about my prescription. Nothing--despite two phone calls from me, phone calls from the pharmacy, and 2 faxes from the pharmacy. The reason I was given--the doctor who is my PCP isn't in today. Well, this is a practice with 7 or 8 different doctors and where all patients' records are on computer, not hidden away. Apparently there is no doctor other than MY doctor who can possibly okay a refill on the medication I've been taking since 2013. That makes no sense to me.

I talked the pharmacy into giving me two pills. I called tonight and, praise God, they have a new prescription waiting for me. Here is something else I find maddening. When I had to change doctors because my doctor changed his practice, I went in to see the current doctor. I went in armed with a list of every drug I take, how many mcg or mg, and how often I take it. Some things, like Tramadol and SOMA I was handed new prescriptions for when I didn't really need them. I have never used those prescriptions. Other things that I take every day of my life, no new prescriptions were ever written for. I do not understand the why of any of that.

I was thoroughly disgusted with the doctor's office when I arrived at the pharmacy. I asked the pharmacist if there was another practice in the area with whom they have better luck. She recommended one, but advised that I needed to check with my insurance first. So, I called the insurance company. I got some child idiot on the customer service line. I told him I was looking for an internist in the area and gave him my zip code. He did not know the term "internist"!!!!! I had to explain it to him. Then he advised me that there were NO internal medicine specialists in my area. Funny thing about that--the goofy office with which I am dealing is about 5 blocks away! I gave up on that tactic.

I went to the website myself. Guess what? I pulled up 7 pages of internal medicine specialists within 5 miles of my zip code. See what I mean about a "child idiot"? 

And, so, another day has passed and I have not heard from either the pharmacy or the doctor's office. I just finally called the pharmacy and, yes, they DO have a prescription waiting for me. I will pick it up on my commute tomorrow.

I made some super chicken soup for my dinner tonight. I used most of what was left from a rotisserie chicken. It was excellent. In an effort to increase the nutritional value, I added zucchini and some fresh spinach to the usual combo of onions, carrots, and celery. The broth has an excellent flavor (after a boost from some Knorrs). I will be putting a quart jar of soup into the freezer and I have more for another lunch or dinner in the next few days which will go into the fridge.

And here's a fun fact.........According to DML news, an Iraqi refugee living in a Las Vegas condo built two bombs which he intended to use in a terrorist attack. https://dmlnews.com/breaking-iraqi-refugee-made-two-bombs-las-vegas-condo-caught-fbi-sting/  Don't know why the case was filed in US District Court in Tucson. Could it have been so that the hometown folks here in Vegas didn't know? You know, keep it hushhush? According to the article cited above, he intended the bombs to be used against a Mexican target.........

Resurgence...........

I am coming back to life. Oh, I'm no workaholic, I assure you. But I AM getting some things done around here. I love that that is happening.

I made my bed this morning. That required adding various bits of bed linen that weren't there in the first place. It was a hybrid between changing the linens and making the bed. I wasn't sure my back would stand for it, but I made it through alright.

I've washed a load of laundry. I'm about to go hang that on the drying rack.

I emptied the dishwasher and washed up some dishes that had to be handwashed/scrubbed.

I've also been making phone calls and continuing to pursue the budget to do list. I think I am about to abandon the envelope system. Or, at least, mostly abandon it. Here's the deal: they're cutting hours again at the store. My paychecks will be smaller than I'd like. Unless my paycheck hits a certain amount, I don't have enough to fully fund the envelopes anyway. And, I'm not sure about this, but I think in some crazy way the envelopes enable me to spend on things I want but don't need. An example would be clothing. Suppose I have enough stashed in the Clothing envelope to pay for my next pair of work shoes AND I have more. I may decide I can afford to buy some additional shirts or pants. Do I NEED additional shirts or pants? Probably not though they might be nice to have. Well, "nice to have" is not a good measuring stick when you're trying to be as frugal as possible in order to maximize saving.

During the past couple of months when hours have been hard to come by, I've been cashing my checks and pulling out just enough to refill that prescription or fill the gas tank or buy groceries. And nothing more unless it's necessary. And there is a "glop" of money left. And that "glop" of money is all in one place and visible. I have something I can look at and pat myself on the back for. Whereas, if I'm filling envelopes, the money is still there but it's in so many different envelopes, I don't feel that I'm saving enough. I probably AM saving enough, but I don't "see" it.

There are two envelopes that are "sinking funds". They are for future financial needs: car repairs and if Parker needs to go to the vet. I think I will continue just those two envelopes and move on from there to create the "glop". If this method accomplishes nothing more, it gives me something to feel encouraged about..............

I just had to call the doctor's office. On Thursday the pharmacy requested a new prescription for the medication I take for my heart. No response. Yesterday I had the pharmacy fax them again. I called a while ago to check on progress (if there was any). I am now out of pills and it seems to me that heart medication is not necessarily something one should skip. And, after sitting through their electronic answering system and waiting on hold, I was told nothing has yet been done and I should call back at 4PM. Grrrrrrrrrr...........The docs at this place have been okay. The back office stinks!

I've been doing a little work outside. I am really only spending about 15 minutes a day, but I can see some minimal progress. Hopefully I can discipline myself to keep this up............

Almost................

Another experiment with the Instant Pot. I ate it. It was okay. If I had been better prepared, more knowledgeable, it would have been better. No fault to the IP. All my own shortcomings.

I put the IP on saute' and added a 2:1 ratio of coconut oil and sesame oil. (Sesame oil is strongly flavored and, hence, I was a little afraid of it. I think it would have been better at a 1:1 ratio.) I had 3 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on, ready to cook. I just basically lightly browned them using the saute' function. I then added 1 cup of Teriyaki sauce and 1 cup of water. (As an afterthought, I had chicken broth in the fridge. I could have used that rather than water, just to give it a little flavor boost.) I sprinkled in some garlic powder and some onion powder and set the pot on "pressure cook" for 10 minutes. I let the pot come down off of pressure for about 25 minutes. Then I finished that off manually. By then most of the pressure was gone and the final venting couldn't have taken 5 seconds.

I pulled the chicken thighs out of the IP. I removed the skin and let the thighs cool a bit. Meanwhile in my rice cooker I had some rice going. I dug around in my freezer and to my dismay found NO broccoli. What kind of household am I running here? Geez...... But, I did have some dehydrated broccoli. I put a couple of small handsful of that into the IP with the liquid left from cooking the chicken. Then I made a cornstarch slurry and added it to the IP. Holy Mary. I added too much and the sauce got very thick very fast. I ended up thinning the sauce down with 2 cups of chicken broth. (I only had about 2 cups of liquid in the IP. I think 1 Tbsp of corn starch to 1 Tbsp of water would have been sufficient.) I used a couple of forks and, ultimately, my fingers to pull bits of chicken off the thigh bones. I added those to the pot.

The dehydrated broccoli rehydrated in the sauce. It has a good flavor, but it's "overcooked". I would have preferred fresh or frozen broccoli lightly steamed and either fresh or frozen broccoli lightly steamed would have added MUCH more visual appeal and a much better texture.

By now the rice was ready and I spooned some into a dish. I ladled some sauce/chicken pieces/broccoli over top and chowed down. The flavor was good. I will be doing this again, but with fresh or frozen broccoli and less cornstarch.

I am convinced I could probably have cooked broccoli more to my taste with just laying it on top of the chicken/sauce and sauteing for about 3 minutes and then just turning off the pot, covering the pot, and letting it steam another minute or two.

Live and learn, right? I WILL be eating what I cooked. It's not bad stuff. Just that it could have been better..........

It won't happen twice...........

I woke up this AM to figure out that I really didn't have to go to work today after all. But, sadly, I really DO have to go to work tomorrow.

I cleaned the kitchen today. Even scrubbed the floor. Then I made dinner and the kitchen looks like a hurricane hit it. (The good news is that I somehow managed to avoid spilling anything onto the floor.) I promise you, part of the problem is that the kitchen is so small. Not enough pantry space. Not enough cupboard space. And that means stuff lands on the counters and camps there. Add to that the mess I can make when cooking and you've got the makings of a disaster, LOL.

I finally made the Sour Cream Noodle Bake from Pioneer Woman's website. I've been putting off making it for several days. It's even better than I remembered. I had some ground beef and onions I'd precooked in the freezer. That stuff needed to be used. When I went to the grocery store early this week, I bought egg noodles. And I already owned the other stuff. This came together very quickly, made a huge amount, and tasted delish.

I pulled the precooked ground beef out of the freezer and it was mostly thawed when I got going with dinner. I actually used the IP on saute to get it completely thawed and warmed through. I added a pint jar of tomatoes (roughly equivalent to a 15 oz can from the grocery store). In a separate pan I cooked up 8 ounces of noodles. I dumped the noodles into the IP with the tomatoes, onions, and ground beef and started stirring. Then I added 1 1/2 cups of cottage cheese and 1/2 cup of sour cream. I stirred in some black pepper and salt. I had some dehydrated green onions and I added some of those. Then I poured all that into a large baking dish (approximately 9 x 13). I topped it off with about a cup of shredded colby/jack. Then I baked it for about 20 minutes in a 350 oven. Wowsers! I remembered it being good. I didn't remember it being THAT good. And I have enough leftovers to feed an army, or an army of one many meals.

It was a pretty cost effective meal. I bought the sour cream and cottage cheese on sale a while back at S&F on sale. The ground beef/onion mixture was left from a Zaycon purchase so it was bought on the cheap. The tomatoes were from one of my home canning sessions where I bought a #10 can of tomatoes and re-canned them into pint jars. (A #10 can of tomatoes is surprisingly cheap.) The Colby/Jack is S&F's house brand so a little cheaper than it could have been. And the dehydrated green onions were from my stash. The only thing I bought for this HUGE concoction was the noodles.

This stuff reminds me of a bastardized lasagne in a way--ground beef, tomatoes, cottage cheese instead of ricotta.......You get the idea. BUT, way less complicated than lasagne.

So, now I have to clean up the kitchen again. Ugh!

Reprieve!

I have told you before that, working retail, I have a terrible time keeping track of what day it is. I am prone to be called in to work on any given day. And, lately, reporting times are all over the place. I spend a lot of time looking at the calendar where my work schedule is displayed and then checking the date at the bottom right of my computer screen, LOL.

I have now discovered that being home is just about as confusing. When I went to bed last night, I set the alarm. I was going to work today. However, when I double checked to make sure I had the time I was supposed to report in correct in my head, I realized that's tomorrow, not today! Somehow I got it into my head that I had to go back to work on Friday. I even smiled ruefully because I so often work Fridays and Fridays are paydays. I always cash my check and I sometimes wonder if I have to work just so I can't run to the bank Friday morning and grab that cash. Of course, that's a ridiculous notion, and I know it's ridiculous, but, still, it does flit through my head from time to time.

So, anyway, I'm HOME today. One more day of R&R. I have to tell you that I figured I'd be bored out of my mind being home so long and SO ready to go back among humanity by the end of this few days off. It hasn't worked out that way. I could happily stay home a good while longer if financial matters didn't dictate otherwise.

I canned potatoes yesterday. I had one jar I was worried about when I took the jars out of the canner, but, checking it out this AM, it looks like I now have 8 more pints of potatoes to put on the shelf. Some folks might ask "What can you do with canned potatoes?" Well, pretty much the same things you can do with raw potatoes. You can just warm them up, dust them with some parsley and melt some butter over them and call them good. You can throw them in a soup or stew. You can drain them and pat them dry and fry them. You can make a quick potato salad. You can certainly mash them--instant mashed potatoes without the box/chemicals/expense/time. Believe me, they're an asset!

I did a whole lot of "tote that barge, lift that bale" stuff yesterday, carrying stuff I should have put away last month, last week, yesterday to the place where it should have gone. Gonna do more of the same today. Also working on budget stuff and I have bills to pay. I gave Roomie a chance to do some free running last night and I'm gonna give her another opportunity today. So, anyway, I've been blessed to be able to stay home today and I'm gonna enjoy it! Toodles and BE BLESSED.

The Owie of the Day and What Comes Next..........

I must have slept "wrong". My left wrist aches like crazy this morning. I'm grateful it's my left wrist and not my right! I may, however, resort to a wrist brace for the day..........

For the last two, almost 3 years, I have endured pains here, there, and everywhere, as well as other problems. Sometimes it seems everything has broken down. I truly believe the Levaquin has much to do with it. I can't come up with any other explanation for the sudden downturn in so many body systems. And that stuff is known to cause every symptom I'm exhibiting. I keep taking my magnesium and hoping that it is being excreted after marrying a molecule or two of fluoride, but no one knows for sure. No one knows exactly HOW to get the fluoride out of the body. I am just grateful the stuff didn't cause an aortic separation in me which it did for some people, resulting in death. It also didn't cause my Achilles tendons to break which it did for some people. So, I'm not lame or requiring surgery for that. All in all, I'm one of the lucky ones...........

Today is the last day of my official "vacation". But, you'd hardly know it from my schedule. They're cutting hours again OR they're cutting my hours. I don't know which. There is always pressure near the end of the fiscal year to take vacation hours because they can't be carried over to the next year. But, maybe I'm paying a price for doing it, who knows? Anyway, for the next two weeks I have only 2 shifts per week scheduled. Who the heck can live on that? If it continues, I may have to look for somewhere else to work.............

Plans for the day? I'm going to be canning potatoes. I have about 7 jars canned on my shelves, but I want more. With the canned potatoes, it's "fast food" if you want to make potato salad or potato soup or make mashed potatoes to go with some canned beef. You are supposed to peel the potatoes, but I'm not going to do that. I will scrub them really well and make sure any bad spots or eyes are eliminated. From there, I'm going to trust that 240 degrees in the canner will do what needs done. At that temperature, even botulism is killed so fewer worries and, in some ways, less work. Less worry about "sterile" everything as well.

I'm also planning to make a casserole called Sour Cream Noodle Bake. It's a Pioneer Woman recipe from long ago, before she hit the Food Network. I've made it before and it's very tasty and freezes well. It also will convert one pound blocks of ground beef to "fast food". Lots of ziplocks with a single serving in them.

I guess I should mention that I have 8 White Chicken Enchilada meals packaged up and headed for the freezer. It seemed to me that warming them in the oven would be good so I packed everything in foil packets and then stuffed everything together in a gallon ziplock bag. It's not easy to label foil packets, but this way I can just label the gallon bag..........

Lace-up shoes. That's a FlyLady thing. We are all supposed to get dressed each day all the way to lace-up shoes. Well, I have always worn shoes of some sort. Although I'm from the south, I hate dog hair. So, I am NOT going barefoot in a house with a dog that sheds his entire coat 4 times a day. Just NOT going to happen. However, I never drank the kool-aid on the lace-up shoes thing. Til now. The first part of my vacation I wore slip on shoes. I accomplished very little the first few days. I have worn lace-up shoes the past few days and, though I haven't set any records, I HAVE accomplished more. Perhaps it was for some other reason. Realizing my vacation was slipping away, for example. However, for now, the shoes are going to get the credit.

Besides cooking and canning, I have plenty of "cleaning" to do. I'll be busy today. Have a BLESSED day!

White Chicken Enchiladas

While exploring youtube videos for cooking in the Instant Pot, I ran across a recipe I was anxious to try for White Chicken Enchiladas. I made it tonight, but I encountered multiple problems along the way. First, I should say that the recipe came from a channel called Pressure Luck. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpNv-nMdq1w

My first bump in the road was my inability to find boneless skinless chicken thighs at the grocery store the other day. However, I did buy a rotisserie chicken (and got overcharged for it). I ate two drumsticks and had the rest of the chicken refrigerated. That chicken had thighs! Problem solved, sort of. The recipe called for cooking the thighs in the IP. Well, I thought about that and realized that I could debone the chicken and that the objective was really just to have chicken meat and it didn't matter, really, how it was cooked.

I owned tortillas. The recipe called for smaller tortillas than what I had but I wasn't buying more tortillas when I owned some. I figured I'd just roll with that.

I used one breast and two thighs. I shredded the meat using the paddle on the Kitchen Aid. Worked like a charm.

Using the IP, it looked like the meat was quite moist. The meat I was looking at was not as moist. The recipe called for just putting the chicken in the tortilla and rolling it up, then adding a LOT of sauce to the baking dish. Two of the ingredients of the sauce would be canned green chilis and sour cream. I decided to mix the sour cream and some of the green chilis in with the chicken. I think, now, I should have added some of the sauce inside the enchiladas. They were still a little dry.......I also added just a little salt and black pepper to this mixture.

I followed the directions for thickening the sauce. That involved a cornstarch slurry. I was not impressed. I think the sauce needed more thickening. It's okay as is once you bake the whole thing, but a little thicker would have been nicer.

I had never used cotija cheese in anything before. It was really salty as cheeses go. This cheese was added to the "sauce". Good thing, too, because it was the only source of salt other than the bit I ad libbed and put into the chicken mixture. I also added just a tiny bit, maybe 1/8 tsp, of my very strong garlic powder to the sauce.

So, I shredded the chicken, mixed in 3 heaping teaspoons of chilis, a tiny bit of salt and black pepper, and about 1/2 cup of sour cream and made sure it was all stirred in together. I filled tortillas til I used up the chicken mixture and added the filled tortillas to an oiled oblong baking dish. (You could also spray the baking dish if you're into that stuff.) The sauce consisted of 2 cups of chicken broth, 4 oz of cotija cheese, the remaining green chilis, and a tiny bit of garlic powder. I heated this stuff in a saucepan on the stove and then stirred in a cornstarch slurry consisting of 1.5 Tbsp of cornstarch and 1.5 Tbsp water. When the sauce had thickened as much as it was gonna thicken, I removed it from the stove and stirred 1/2 cup of sour cream into it. I poured the sauce over the rolled enchiladas, making sure each enchilada was coated in sauce. Then I sprinkled the enchiladas with a couple of handsful of shredded cheddar/jack. I baked the enchiladas in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Everything about the food was already cooked so the only objective was to heat it through and melt the cheese on top.

In retrospect (and this comes from a person who is not into hot(spicy) food) I think the sauce could benefit from a little hot stuff. It seemed a little bland. Either a bit of cayenne or some red pepper flakes or some tabasco sauce. The amount for me would be miniscule, but if you like spicy, have at it.

So, that's my cooking experience for today. I have quite a few enchiladas to add to the freezer for future meals.

Yesterday I canned Heinz ketchup. Yes, read that literally. I had purchased a 117 ounce container of ketchup. The price per ounce was significantly less than buying just a regular bottle of ketchup. However, once I refilled my almost empty bottle, I still had a large container of ketchup to stuff into my relatively small fridge. It was just taking up too much room.

I don't know of too many ways to take something like that out of the fridge long term and have it not spoil. So, I decided to can it. I heated the ketchup in an large saucepan. I added 1/2 tsp of lemon juice for every 8 oz of ketchup. I also ended up rinsing out the container with water as the shape of the container made it pretty difficult to scrape out. I brought that mixture to a low simmer. Then I water bath canned it for 20 minutes. I ended up with the equivalent of 5 pints of ketchup. And, it can sit on a shelf without spoiling for a long time, no refrigeration needed.

(I should note that I added the lemon juice as a precaution. I KNOW commercially processed ketchup has preservatives in it. However, I did not know what heating them to a high temperature would do to the preservatives. I knew I wanted to water bath can the ketchup and that is only safe with an acidic product. Yes, the ketchup had vinegar in it, but I didn't know if it was enough. So, to be on the safe side, I added the lemon juice to forestall any spoilage in the jars after canning.)

Rants...........

My last post was a rant against the power company which, truthfully, I think is an emotion shared by everyone in Vegas. Between the power company and the water district, it's a toss up who we dislike more...........

New Rant

Yesterday I did the dreaded grocery store thing. It's a requirement of life I'd like to figure out how to totally skip. Maybe grocery stores are like churches: you have to find one that "fits" you, one where you feel comfortable, welcome, and "at home". I haven't found that yet. Not since Food4Less closed several years ago.

I have 8 grocery stores within 3 miles of me. Just depends on whether I drive north, due south, southwest, etc. That includes 2 Smith's, 1 Albertson's, 2 Whole Foods, 1 Smart and Final, 1 Sprouts, and 1 Trader Joe's. So, let's talk about these options.

Trader Joe's. In general I like Trader Joe's. However, the one close to my home is REALLY small. Not much bigger than your average modern drugstore. Choices are understandably limited and things you are familiar with just aren't there. Even things that apparently available in other locations aren't there because there is just NO room for them. They would seriously have to suspend things from the ceiling to squeeze anything more in there. There service is good. There's sufficient parking, given that it's a small store. I seldom manage to land a handicapped spot, but because there is parking on two sides of the store and it's all close in, it's acceptable. Traffic flow within the store is okay also. Some things are pricey, but generally, if you're careful, you can eat for a reasonable amount of money. I particularly like that their prepared foods don't contain much in the way of chemicals or hydrogenated oils. I don't like that most things are pre-packaged. This includes a lot of their produce. Good luck trying to buy just one lemon, or just one bunch of celery.

Sprouts. I WILL go here but only if they have some advertised loss leader that I REALLY want to stock up on. In general, there is no brand name in the store that I know. Produce is the area where they deserve kudos. If you can name it, they probably have it. And the only time I've ever experienced them being out of an advertised special was during all the flooding around Houston and elsewhere, after that major hurricane. No trucks were moving out of there, around there, etc. I think that's a pretty good excuse for unstocked shelves. I also like that often their specials will be stocked right up front by the registers. So, you can run in, grab what you want and check out in a matter of a very few minutes. What I HATE is their parking lot. It is a total circus. If you were into watching craziness, you could stay amused for hours just sittin' on a bench, watching that parking lot. It would be akin to watching bumper cars at the fair if there were a bunch of drunken teenagers driving the cars. Additionally almost NO handicapped spots. And each individual spot is smaller than "normal". Stuff is pricey if what you're looking for is not an advertised special. A LOT of their stuff is "organic" and I can't afford to buy "cage free", "pasture raised", and "organic" except in rare instances.

Smart and Final. This place advertises it has "club store prices without the membership fee". Services are limited--you couldn't speak to a "butcher" because there isn't one, and don't plan on getting a personalized birthday cake there. Their bakery goods are pre-packaged and shipped in. No bakery on site. There is ample parking and 9 times out of 10 I can snag a handicapped spot easily. It's a "no frills" store. They started out as a place for restauranteurs to purchase food and other supplies so there are a lot of things sold in LARGE sizes and quantities. I've bought 25 pound bags of carrots for canning, a 25 pound bag of onions for dehydrating, etc. It's there I buy #10 cans of tomatoes to recan into smaller containers which saves me a bundle on tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, that sort of thing. If you want to, you can buy a whole beef tenderloin or a brisket as big as Brooklyn. They recently remodeled and for a while I had to ask a lot of "where can I find" questions, but I've got the lay of the land in there now. Their produce department was greatly expanded during the remodel. Their "specials" on meat are pretty good, but you are going to have a tough time finding more than 2 or 3 packages of pork chops from which to choose unless pork chops are on special that week. Their staff is very willing to help, but they staff pretty lightly.

Whole Foods. My daughter, who has been in a much better financial position than I for a long time, refers to Whole Foods as "Whole Paycheck". I think you can see from that previous sentence why I don't cross the threshhold of Whole Foods. My daughter and one of my grandkids have Celiac so they need gluten free everything. I think the gluten free stuff is more available in other stores now, but for a long while I think that is the primary reason she shopped there. I can't comment on much else about these stores. I've been in one of them once--it was like Wonderland. But, only once and then I practically had to run out to keep from buying pricey foods that looked and smelled SO enticing.

Albertson's. The store close to me is another "Wonderland". Like most kids, my daughter never took much notice of grocery stores til she was out on her own. In the area where she went to college, the stores were older, small, dark, and dingy. On vacation from college one time, I took her to this store. Her mouth fell open on entering the store and she could not stop making utterances of wonder as we walked through the store. This place is NOT a discount store. I don't shop here because I don't like their ads. I want to know what I'm going to be paying for food. If you want to charge me triple for the biggest piece of meat (as compared to the prices in other stores) and then promise me "buy 1 get 2 free", that's no bargain. I have personally caught them jacking up the price on items they've advertised this way. So, no, this place is not an option for me.

Smith's #1. This is the older of the two stores in my driving range. It's darker, less spacious, smaller, than the other. The selection is more limited. Because it is not as well-lit, it appears dirtier. I honestly think it IS dirtier though not outrageously so. This store has a BIG problem: it's front doors. When they open, they remain open for a long time. And they are ALWAYS opening. And in the summer it's quite warm in the store and in the winter, you need gloves to warm your hands while you shop there. I went to this store one windy day last fall/winter. I was cold the whole time, VERY cold. It was one of the layered-up cashiers who told me about the door thing and how the wind just blows right through the store. I don't know how those people work in those conditions.

Smith's #2. This store is on the edge of a retirement community. It has a HUGE parking lot. It is large, spacious, with a big selection of pretty much anything you could want (keep reading). One of the big problems with this store, for me, is that it has very limited handicapped parking. And a hike from the far reaches of the lot, well, no, I'm not going to do that. I have been known to circle the parking lot repeatedly, only to drive off and just come home and eat a can of beans..........This is the store I went to yesterday. Now Smith's is a Kroger affiliate, and I expect something from them with a mother company of that size behind them. I expect they will have what they advertise. WRONG! They advertised spinach for $.99. There was none and I checked back twice. They advertised eggs for $1.19 a dozen. There were none. I looked for center cut pork chops. Nope. I looked for boneless/skinless chicken thighs. Nope. I found a total of 6 packs of bone in/skin on thighs in the whole store............ So, to sum up my experience, I circled the parking lot 4 times looking for a handicapped spot, countless brain dead inconsiderate people blocked the aisles, they didn't have what they said they'd have, and a cashier charged me too much for a rotisserie chicken and charged me twice for some sausage. I was literally ragged when I got back to the van. NOT a pleasant or rewarding experience............

And now you know why I have such a hard time dragging my butt to the grocery store.

Argh............

I HATE dealing with bureaucracies. And, it's not just government that has a corner on bureaucracy.

Last year, after a series of what were for me high power bills, I received a bill for $274.00. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I called the power company and specifically asked to be on an even payment plan with them. In other words, one of those plans where they average your bills and you pay that average amount every month. I was prepared to cinch up my belt even more than it's been cinched up these past 7+ years and pay $200. I was told that I could just pay $165.00 and all would be well. And I have paid that $165.00 faithfully every month. After all, one cannot spend a summer in Vegas without power........... In fact, I even paid $200 one month, fearing the $165 would not be enough.

Last month I got a little notice on my bill that I had paid "late" 3 times and one more "late" would result in them turning off my service. The bill specified I had to pay the "past due" charges which could only result from bills higher than the agreed amount. I paid the agreed amount which was, actually more than the "past due" charges. So, this month, I receive a bill telling me they will terminate my service if I don't pay the "past due" amount by 10/31. Well, again the past due amount is less than the $165.00, but I was getting tired of seeing late charges on my bill when I was paying what I was told to pay.

I called this morning (I got the current bill Saturday in the mail). I spoke with someone calling himself Alex. According to him, IF I had actually been put on the program I requested, my bills would have reflected an amount due of $165. They did not, but how was I to know that. Given Alex's attitude and polite but disdainful attitude, apparently I SHOULD have known the billing verbiage would change. Hey, I paid what I was told........ I don't work for the power company and I do not know how they formulate their bills. I was never told the appearance of my bill would change. Now, it seems that my word that this was the agreement that was reached is doubted. The previous person I with whom I spoke apparently did NOT do what she should have done with regard to the account. Somehow, that is my fault.

Anyway, I am now told to pay $165 by the normal payment date. Then, with the bill due in early December, I am to pay $172 with that same amount for 6 months. After 6 months, they can adjust the amount due. And I am assured that every i is dotted and every t is crossed with regard to the budget billing "this" time. We shall see! And, now, the phone number for the power company is stored in my phone!

God's grace is sufficient but my faith is deficient

In hindsight, I will say that I firmly believe the Lord would have carried me through a day of work on Thursday. However, had He not worked a miracle as I walked through the doors of the store, I would have faced hours full of pain. And, had that miracle not been forthcoming, there was a strong chance I would have had great difficulty driving home safely. If I had "the faith of a little child", I would have simply believed that He would have spared me all that. My faith simply was not strong enough. And now I am off on a romp of weird muscle/back stuff. From Thursday morning through Friday evening, I counted 16 "pops" in my back. And since there are really only 4 or 5 vertebrae/disks that are troublesome, that has to mean that stuff popped in and out and in again and out again.......... Yesterday wasn't too bad til the evening. Now Thursday and Friday, the worst of the pain was on my left side. Last night, starting around 5 or 6, it was the right side, together with a muscle way high up in my upper thigh on the right side. The back was painful, but the leg thing threatened to topple me at any moment as the pain was so intense that I feared the leg would buckle. I took another muscle relaxer and I'm sore, very sore, and stiff this morning but maybe functional.

Why is all this happening? Physically, I never know. My standard answer is because I'm breathing. For many years, this junk has just been part of what happens because I am alive. It takes no special exertion or weirdo stretch. All it takes is breathing. I'm alive and so I hurt. I distinctly felt a "pop" late yesterday afternoon while I was standing in front of the sink, washing dishes. Nothing strenuous, not bending over or stretching--just washing dishes.

I did manage to get a fitted sheet on my bed last night. It was a cooperative venture. Jesus helped. I prayed and then I bent over and got one corner into position. I moved to the next corner, prayed again, and got another corner into position. And so, I have a fitted sheet on my bed for the first time in days. I'd love to have a top sheet and maybe even a blanket that's tucked in. Maybe today............

I did let Roomie do her thing yesterday and I'm going to set her free again. She is not the best vacuum cleaner ever, but I'm working under the theory that "every little bit helps". I also wiped down the counter tops, cleaned the stove and cleaned the microwave inside and out. I've also been working on filing and budget stuff. And, of course, laundry.........

I do have some fetching and carrying to do today--trash to the outside bin, canning stuff to the garage, etc. I will be working on that sort of thing sporadically (and carefully) throughout the day.

Sometime soon I'll have to face up to a trip to the grocery store. I do not need much, but I do need a few things. Other than that and doing whatever I can around here to help things along, I have no big plans for today............