Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Doctor Will See You Now, Finally!

Yesterday I went for my annual eye exam.  It's one of my least favorite appointments.  Why? Because my introverted personal space is seriously impinged upon. I'm referring to that brief minute or two when the doctor leans in with her pen light and our faces practically become one.  I grasp on for dear life and hold my breath until it's over.
By the way, I also hate those eye drops!
Anyway, on the way home after my visit,  I thought about how many people I had come into contact with during my visit.
First, the woman at the desk.  The one you who signs you in. The Greeter.  The insurance card checker.  The one who tells you to take a seat because, "It will be a few minutes."
Person number two was the young woman who came out into the waiting room with my records folder in her hand.
I'm not sure what her title is.  She took me into a room, asked me a few questions, had me read an eye chart, which I looked at through a machine.  Then she took measurements of my eyes.  At least that's what she told me she was doing.  After we were finished she brought me into another room and told me that "Someone will be with you shortly."
After "shortly" the third person came into the room.  He was an eye doctor.  Anyway, he introduced himself as Dr. SoandSo.   He also had me read an eye chart through a machine.  "Is it better with one or two?"  Yeah, that guy.  He was the first one of the blue-pen-light-carrying-personal-space invaders.  And an eye drop administrator.  Once his portion of the exam was completed, he wrote my prescription.  My vision hadn't changed, "But, just in case you want new frames," he said.
Then, after waiting 30 minutes for my eyes to dilate, I saw my eye doctor.   She's the one I actually had my appointment to see.  The woman whose name is on the door.
She is the other personal space invader.  She determined that I needed an additional test, which required more eye drops and more close up and personal attention, and another attendant, the eye photographer.  Another fancy machine that I had to stare into and not blink.  "Don't blink!  Don't blink!"
So, the eye photographer became the fifth person I had contact with.
No, not done yet.
On the way out, I met with the person who scheduled my next appointment, which will be one year from now.
So, in case you haven't been keeping track, by the time I left that office, I had interacted in one way or another, with six people.
I wondered about this.  I wondered what effect the employment of these six people might have on the cost of my visit.
The most important question, though, is "Should I go for the over-size red frames







or the sparkly cat eye ones?"


Of course, that will entail interactions with at least one or two more people.

 

Friday, September 11, 2015

Gracefully Inspired

Like small puffs of dust being shaken off a throw rug, taking flight to destinations unknown, I have scattered bits and pieces of my life out to the blogosphere.
Perhaps, I think, that could be one of the reasons I have been encountering longer periods of blogger's block.  Could it be possible that I have revealed it all?  Do I really have nothing left to say?

A couple of days ago I decided to broaden the scope of my bloggy neighborhood.  It's time, I thought, to wander beyond the safe boundaries of my tried and true reading list.  Exposure to new blogs might be inspiring.

With millions of other blogs available, though, I wasn't sure how was I going to navigate past the comfortable familiararity of my corner and venture out onto the Blogabahn.

Blogger, which is the app I use as my blogging tool, has a search feature which allows you to view the "next blog".  There seems to be an attempt to narrow the blog selections down to what "Blogger" thinks may interest the searcher.
The search box displays at the top of my personal blog's home page.

It looks like this:

Most of the blogs that came up for me were about knitting or sewing. Five out of ten "next blogs" were not kept up to date.  A few had not been updated in years.  I am a knitter but, I don't sew.  And anyway, I already follow several knitting blogs.   

I can't specifically or even generally explain why one blog will attract my attention over another.  I do know that I most likely will take a pass on "mother's of young children" blogs,  blogs about video games or posts in which the author reviews movies or books in infinite detail.

So, then I tried a generic google search and after several layers of links I actually did manage to find a couple of new blogs to add to my list. 

One of the blogs which I found addicting was Margie's Musings.   Her posts are written in the style of a daily journal recording her mundane daily activities.  I suppose it's a little like peeking through the neighbor's window.  I wondered who Bob was and why he didn't come to dinner last night.  I hope Margie is feeling better today, she had a stomach thing last night. 

The most unusual blog I happened upon was one titled "Phil In The Blank".   His "About Me" was certainly intriguing.



For sure it was the "how to draw camels" that drew me in.   

I did leave a comment on two of my new blog discoveries and got a reply and a return visit from one, titled “Grace Found Daily”.    

Inspired.







Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

The Fitbit Challenge
In the over 60 age group standings on August 9, 2015, I ranked #289 out of 847 members in total number of steps - 67,529 - for the first 9 days of August.
I was #342 in miles -26.02 - Hey isn't that a marathon?  A nine day marathon :)


 Here is my final ranking for all 31 days of August.  Although I didn't quite catch up to Joe M.  I did move up quite a bit in the standings.
From  #289 in total number of steps to #151. (wow 369,300 - averaging 11,963 steps a day)
I went from walking an average of 3 miles a day to 5.










So, if I had walked continuously for 140 miles, I could have visited whoever lives (?) at 6597  Big Stone Beach Rd in Milford Delaware.



I, of course, would have to stay for dinner before beginning the trek back.



A True Authentic Hobbyist

A True Authentic Hobbyist I am in my late 70’s. My husband passed away two years ago.  For the first time in my life, I am living alone and ...