After A Year

I could be talking about Covid, but not really. Although, come to think of it, Steve and I actually ate in a restaurant last weekend , our first time not settling for take-out in well over a year. We still wore masks except while eating, the staff wore them, and tables were well spaced with a light load of customers even more spaced out. The food was as wonderful as ever, and the staff greeted us - and vice versa - like long lost friends.

It's been just over a year since that wind storm went through and messed up the roof a bit. The insurance company long since paid, but the company doing the work put it off... and off... and off... and finally finished the job today. It feels kinda weird, as I've been liking seeing those funds in my savings account for all this time. The whirly-gig shiny things on the roof do seem to be chasing the pigeons away successfully. I'll have more faith if they do not get used to them and return. 

Besides finally getting the job done, we all got a little surprise.  Actually, two little surprises. Both dead. Both pigeons. Both wedged under the solar panels where nothing nudged them loose. After thinking about the options for a fast second, I approved the roofer enclosing them where they are jammed, sealing them in with the mesh he used to enclose the sides of the solar panels with the intent of keeping any other pigeons from wedging themselves underneath. That part was long planned, without any knowledge of any accumulation beyond half a cubic yard of dung. That's all power-washed into the garden next to the house now. I should never have to fertilize that space again! As for the dead birds, in this climate I'm not particularly worried about any kind of contamination. Some year those panels may need to be lifted for an as-yet-unknown reason, and their remains can be more properly disposed of. Meanwhile they won't stink, attract rodents, whatever.

Today marked another change, but one which has taken much more than a single year to take place. Having never been satisfied with the primary care physician who was my then-insurance-company's only actual option, I finally switched. It turned out to be fairly simple after all. Steve has been singing the praises of his primary, and Rich even is seeing him now and likes him. He's closer in both directions than the two offices my former primary uses. Steve had me come in with him for his appointment last week to take notes, and I liked him, his attention to the right details, his knowledge, and his attitude. 

Compare this to, say, my previous guy having to ask me why I would be pool walking as if this were the craziest idea of low impact exercise he'd ever heard of. My pharmacy has already called to inform me I can pick up all the prescriptions I needed to refill, but now under the new Doctor's name, so I won't have to fight with getting refills that the previous office was having more and more clerical problems with filling. (How on earth can they NOT know the coding necessary for Medicare approval for a years' long renewal history of the same medications?  Or fill the quantity of blood sugar test strips for 1 refill but the lancets for 7?)The timing should be perfect for our trip, as we'll be up north and settled when my refills are due, and returned before further lab testing will be due.

Speaking of pool walking, that's been over a year of not happening by now. Time to end that "dry" spell too.