Shots from the Lip

 Bingo!  They have started opening up a quarter of an hour earlier, 'on demand'.  I 'demanded' and found that if I schedule all my appointments well in advance, I will get the 7:45am slot.....NO WAITING!!!!!  I obviously like that........ Yesterday was exhausting.  And yet we learned how an overloaded system functions....and how we can work within that system and its initial time frame restrictions........and if we can, there will definitely be benefits!!! Regardless, it is now 9:19am and I've been at it for a while......but I have the ideas needed to proceed with what I've calendared for today......onwards!

 We were not able to get Jon Berg served.....we provided proof of LA Sheriff attempts.  We got a continuance to 20 August and by 15 August, we need to serve through alternative means Mr. Berg.....and we think we can do this........ And we still have the City of Santa Monica and the tree issue that is also dependent upon the TRO issue......who said that life was simpler here in the good ole US of A????? This has been so time consuming and in essence is such a fucking waste of time.........

 They sent us CP-504 for 2025, Notice of Intent to Levy.  It was dated 24 July.  We have proof of payment using IRS Direct on 13 July. I called the 27th.  Could not get through.  Tried answering a different way on the 28th - get further through the system.  Called at 6:30am this morning and was told to call between 8 and 8.  I called at 8:01. I was put on hold and told there would be about an hour wait. At close to 100 minutes, I was switched to a line that rang...twice.....and then those mother-fuckers disconnected me!!!!! I went to IDme.com, set up by the IRS to get transcripts among other things, never expecting to actually being able to get it to work.......hey, it was confusing but I got there........and my 2025 transcript showed that I did pay and that the letter was wrong!!

 I was going to call the IRS this morning.  I never did......the fact that i have all the proof I need and there is still a lot of time before I really have to call......I'm not in any hurry....... I did go to class and after, in the confines of the Emeritus office, discovered how technically inept I am - the Geek Squad taught me how to pair my Fire to my iPhone......and I already forgot.....dammit! My 'novel' class ended today.  There were 6 of is there, live.....approximately 50 online.  There is so much more gained from live attendance......I will have a mixture of both in the fall as I do 4 classes - one md-morning Monday;  one each at the start of both Tuesday and Wednesday......and one to follow the Wednesday morning class. I will go to SMC before the end of August and pay $22.50 again - 4 x $22.50 for a year of ALL  LA County public transportation....$90 a year is a bargain! .......and I will try to get the IRS by phone this afternoon.......

 I pressed the wrong button on the Fire and I could not get MP4s to view on the Fire.  That's what $179.95 per year gets me: as many appointments as needed with the Geek Squad at Best Buy (WLA-Sawtelle).  This morning, with Katherine joining me, They got MP4 working and we will use this on Thursday in Court. They also paired my iPhone with the Fire.....did I remember this procedure?   I will try learning this to use it....this is goal # 2 for the Fire. And then we went to Teddy's by the #7 bus.  $34, including tip, for a big breakfast made for two by adding coffee, orange juice and home frie potatoes.   It is big, greasy and fucking good! Across the street from Teddy's is Marukai Market, the 'other' Japanese market, 3 bus stops from Sawtelle on the #7 going west. It is 1:40pm with the temperature comfortably in the low 80s on a Santa Monica summer day.  Time to read the New Yorker on my Fire!

 Stillzy is still cheapest - even with their $3.45 service fee and failure to include prior  discounts still available.......and ordering yesterday afternoon, I was secure in the anticipation of knowing how the delivery route is set up and that I'dbe the first delivery........of course I was!! And then my normal, morning walk followed by my news reading routine. It is now 11:01am.  The stuff I had scheduled to work on today can easily be worked upon later....not today......and I will likely play some music (I already have, accompanying Buena Vista Social Club in Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White on harmonica. Yeah, I'll do some piano later on and, who knows  - one of these days it'll be time for me to take out my keytar??!!!!! And I do want to continue sketching, without SMC classes but You Tube lessons that seem to be what will work.......assuming I follow through COMPLETELY.....

 By beach city standards, it is going to be hot here over the next week with the temperature projected to hover around 32C (94F) at the day's hottest times.   We lived with a whole lot more (pollution, humidity, temperature) in Bangkok and the tropics.........it might get to 32 but it don't feel like 32 - it feels lower....and it ain't bad!  Inland?  Who knows??  I sure as hell am not going out! I did my morning walk in T-shirt and light-weight Uniqlo cargo pants but switched to my sole pair of bathing-trunk-like shorts for the balance of the day.  The weather needn't prevent us from living our way - we simply start earlier and are out ONLY before it gets too hot.  Ralphs opens at 5am as does NY Bagel & Deli;  Whole Foods opens at 7am, Trader Joe's at 8am and CVS is a 24 hours a day business........we can start early and productively plan to have great days, indoors and out, by managing our time to maximum benefit. Hey, this applies no ma...

 I purchased both the 'larger' Amazon Fire and the keyboard for it early in 2025 but I never really realized its capabilities and what I can use it for until now......and damn, I am beginning to love it! The screen - it looks like - is 9"x5"  big enough for a split screen (2 pages at a time) viewing of The New Yorker that I can now read for free from the Santa Monica Public Library because I am a member (as well as an author in their catalog).........and hey, while that screen is far too small to read, just a two-finger enlargement makes my having AMD and not being able to read the actual magazine anymore, the solution to continuing to love reading that truly wonderful magazine!!! And the Fire works as an e-book reader alternative to both Kindle and Kobo, thus, all my reading is now available on one tablet (and a tablet/computer -  this trustworthy, albeit ancient Surface Pro, which will be deskbound, here at home). On Monday I go to the Geek Squad at Best Buy to get ...

 I ate something?  Or I succumbed to the heat?  Whatever.......I was in St John's Emergency Room all Tuesday afternoon, a day when there was only one other patient than me waiting......and with Medicare Supplement insurance, the hospital was assured of payment of all they did....and they had a field day!!  I got faster test results than I got from the blood takers at UCLA Health the week before.  Why can't the two systems communicate and efficiently eliminate a needless repetition of tasks?  Will there be Medicare for all in the future (in my lifetime) to eliminate so much of what is wrong with our current, very inequitable system?  What'll it take to change if this is going to be the eventuality? Enough questions! We are getting our act together vis a vis next week's Court appearance. And I have a very, very workable schedule between now and then.........onwards.......

 Last week, in preparation for an August meeting with the 4th UCLA Health GP in 3 years, I gave blood - enough to fill 9 (or 10?) test tubes.  Yesterday at St Johns Emergency where there were few patients and as a Medicare Supplement insurance holder, I was completely guaranteed for government payment of everything, they had a field day and there were 11 test tubes of blood as well as a cat scan........ Why isn't there 'sharing' between health services?????? While I cannot truly say that whatever I had knocked the shit out of me (because I am currently constipated) I am 'weakened' and it'll take some days to get back to where I want to be feeling like....... And while all of that takes place, it is a very comfortable 26C outside......a really nice day to be indoors and resting, too.......

 Is there a hole in my pocket that I am unaware of?  Did I NOT put the sunglasses holder in my pocket, thinking that I did?   Regardless, it ain't there and I need to re-adapt myself to what I have now, without that case (and one flip glasses inside - one flip glasses outside and still here!). Today was the last day of drawing class.  I appreciate the coverage of three types of media (graphite, charcoal, colored pencils) for the class but I don't want detailed drawing - I do want to be able to do much faster sketches - and perhaps line drawing in ink.......that'll take practice to get better but it is what I want........contour drawing - outside outlines of what I want to draw, first........ And today I seriously start preparation for our 'trial'.........

There was a street festival planned for late morning through early evening along Ocean Avenue today.  The entire street was blocked from traffic and I anticipated that this would likely screw up any bicycle riding this morning ..... and since I've already had some really nice weather rides the previous two days, I opted for a photoshoot and walk around down town....aided and abetted, of course, with my student tap card and nice weather......... I lost count of the number of taco trucks that were setting up as I walked Ocean Avenue where I gave up with the photoshoot idea after pressing the wrong button and locking the camera......regardless, it was a nice walk! Spain Argentina begins in 50 minutes.......do I go to watch at the start or do I wait for Katherine.....? I'll have my portion of the deli sandwich we got from Fromin's, yesterday, and then go....... After?  Erewhon??? A smoothie?? 

 Before going out on my Friday morning bike ride, I walked with our new suitcase to Trader Joe's for a watermelon and a bag of Japanese sweet potatoes. No long sleeves today - now, at noon, my watch shows 27C - only it sure as hell doesn't feel like it with virtually a non-stop daylight breeze that makes it comfortably cooler when the iWatch shows 27C. Bike riding was nice, doing it after shopping at Trader Joe's - others on the bike path were fewer and definitely not obstructions to be careful about.   Today is gonna be one of those rare days when, if I had them, I'd wear shorts out......but for only a few days a year, do I really want to buy a pair of short pants?

I went online to the UCLA website on 2 July to make an appointment to have their lab take blood for an early August annual meeting with my GP (the third GP in two years).  Staff called me back and I made an appointment for this morning.......only to find out once the lab had me in, that there was no order from my GP and they could not take my blood without an order.  Fine, I said, how about having whoever is in charge to coordinate getting an order for another once a year drawing of blood - it is routine......and if, when my GP returns next week and discovers he needs more testing, I can always come in before my annual physical. It took 90+ minutes before they were able to decide I was right and they got an order made and took my blood...... This should have been a quick, easy decision, not one that only happened because I did not plan to go anywhere until they acquiesced..........The excuses made at Internal Medicine - UCLAHealth- Santa Monica, this morning, were pure, unadul...

 The ONLY time I got to immerse myself in world football to a degree similar (but far less intense or of duration) was two weeks after Joanna was born in 1994 when the World Cup, for the first time ever but with far fewer teams competing than the 48 this year, took place in the good ole U.S. of A. with all the big  games  taking place at the same time as Joanna's late night/early morning bottle supplemental feeding......of course I volunteered for these feedings.  We bonded in an extraordinary way because of this.....and I saw a whole lot of football! After three years I can safely say that I survived the worst part of retirement:  developing the necessary new routines to replace approximately 60 years of work routines that have suddenly ceased.  This is a frightening experience that far more individuals, husbands and wives do not 'survive'.  Yet it has got to be done to prevent brain rot and a living death.  Have I survived?  Who truly knows...

 The last time I posted to the blog, it was a Thursday just before the start of the weekend 4th of July holiday. Then, on 3 July, John Berg drove by and on the 5th and 6th, someone (Berg??!) threw liquid on our porch and cut the retaining Rose of Sharon wires.   But on the 6th we went to the Santa Monica Police Department to update our previously filed police report. The police watched the Simplisafe videos and had us file for a restraining order........it was filed late Thursday, the 9th and on Friday th 10th, Katherine and I went to Beverly Hills where we filed our petition and notices to be served by the county sheriff...... On Saturday there were two World Cup quarter finals......and on Sunday, yesterday,  we took the E Line Metro to the K Line and then the K Line to downtown Inglewood and a preliminary walk to the Courthouse.   But the best part of the day?  Fiesta Martin, a great Mexican restaurant in Inglewood!!!!! Busy, busy, busy.....we'll sur...

 32 years ago,  the only prior time World Cup was played in the US, China's time zone made watching US games on television  between 2-4am the perfect way to pass the time while doing daily bottle feedings. So here we are again, times not as convenient as they could have been for the US but with video going worldwide, the world is watching unlike ways they previously did......and those coming here for this month+ party are not complaining - they are having too much fun!  And they are helping the service economy......... With the odds that I will never again have access to so much football coverage on a hi def, 18' x 9' screen across the street from where I live, today I watched the 13th match of World Cub 26.   know that I will watch France - Paraguay on the 4th and USA - Belgium on the 6th........and yeah, there'll be more - this is fun! And anything else that has to be done between now and the end of World Cup?  If it can wait, you bet your sweet ass ...