Well, my computer keyboard finally died. About three months ago, I spilled coffee on it. Then I cleaned the keys, then I tried it out, and I couldn’t capitalize using the left shift key and that was an awful nuisance. I finally got it to work on some keys only if I pressed down really hard.

Today the keyboard totally stopped and changing the batteries didn’t work, so I called Cee, my computer maven, and she said the sugar in the coffee had finally corroded some vital parts. Ed had a spare keyboard just lying about, and it isn’t wireless, but no big deal. I connected that and it is working and I get to use the left shift key again.

Speaking of using stuff, my neck with the pinched nerve is still a problem, and I took predinisolone for 6 days and it helped, but the pain is not totally gone. I took an Aleve this morning but it only alleviates the pain SOMEWHAT which is not enough. Nadine, newly back from visiting her son in the Republic of Georgia, (he’s with the State Department) said she knew an acupuncturist who could help and I have a date for Friday. I have had acupuncture treatments in New York years ago and they weren’t that helpful, but I am hoping this time will be different because one of N’s friends was raving about her.
One of my fondest memories of the Chinese woman who treated me in New York was her leaning in to whisper in my ear just after talking to her husband in Chinese. She whispered “Ma husband verra stoopid – pause – VERRA stoopid.” All these years later, I am still laughing.

I ran out of olive oil last night, how could that happen, no back up bottle, how could that happen!? I planned to get some today but a huge lightning storm sprang up, and I am making something that doesn’t need olive oil, I know, hard to believe, so I have put my trip off till tomorrow. Or tamale, as I like to say.

What I am making that takes no time at all, is spinach pasta, 7 minutes to boil to al dente consistency, and a frozen dinner, Chicken piccata, that Michael Angelo makes and it is more than fabulous – lots of tender chicken medallions, artichokes, lemon sauce, and 10 minutes in the microwave, done. You can’t go wrong with this dish. I love it to pieces.

Meanwhile, both Ed and I were using our cellphones to communicate because our landline had no dial tone and we had no internet and CenturyLink, our provider, promised a fix by 4:30 today, but the lightning storm kept these pussies from pursuing, so then the fix was rescheduled for tamale morning but a little while ago, the tech called to say it was fixed.

We had a couple of messages, one of them from a reporter at WINK News, who got my number from the Fort Myers News-Press and wanted to interview me live on camera for a piece he was doing on Trump’s voter fraud claims that prompted the request from all 50 states for voter information. The paper had printed my letter on the subject. But by the time I could return his call, it was too late and the program had already aired. It was gratifying to get the call, just the same.

Two days ago, I was driving home from BJ’s, our discount super store, when a storm sprang up, couldn’t see the road, followed the rear lights of the car in front of me, and he stopped, so I slammed on the brakes and my car slid but stopped just in time. With a crunch. I started up again and got home 20 minutes later, and the car was driving funny and I found out that was because I had a flat in the left rear tire. The next day, Triple A came out and put the spare on for me and I took it to Mike at Island Auto, and he said the tire couldn’t be patched because the hole was on the edge too near the sidewall. So he ordered a new tire, I left the car there, and he drove me home. That is service you can’t get in NY. And the next day, he came and got me when the car was ready. Ed is always out and about during the day so he couldn’t drive me.

Then I drove to the market and we got another major storm, and the lights went off and instead of coming right back on, they stayed off, so I finished my shopping in total blackness and then stood outside with my cart, under the overhang, waiting for the lightning to let up and had a very nice chat with a woman who was an organist, so I gave her some tips on how to stretch her hands. She was parked near me and offered to help get my stuff into the trunk because I had mentioned my pinched nerve. So in the middle of crap, nice things happen.

Ed is struggling with the problems of his wards - some still there, others off the wall-(reminder: he is a guardian for the elderly, among which we number but nobody told him). He is also struggling with medication for metastatic cancer which makes him feel awful, but is dealing with that better than he is dealing with judges who rule against him. Go figure. I am hanging in. That’s my m.o. Of course, I am worried, but I used to think I was God and could fix everyone, and I can’t. I am hoping for a good outcome. Hope is the only game in town.

xx, Teal