In reading around the park group, it seems that there are others who say that the people here don’t seem very friendly. That’s exactly what I was thinking. They definitely seemed friendlier at the other park. There were only a couple of people I didn’t like there. The grumpy old man who moved to Arizona and Melody. But I’ve definitely noticed this here, even though we’re not out as often as I was there. I think after you meet people like the scum we lived with in Phoenix, and the dominating tyrant that Stacey was, along with people like Ellie, Donna, and Rosemarie, it’s easy to think Westerners are worse in general.

I could be imagining it, but I get the impression the redneck, my new nickname for Steve because he totally looks the part, doesn’t like Toni much either. I don’t care if he has a problem with me because we came here for the weather and cheaper living, not to score points with the neighbors. I’m just glad that Toni’s so nice since she’s next to us and that no one’s on the other side of us half of the year. Really, I don’t have any hard feelings towards Toni because I knew up front that anything I told her could get around. Still, I miss Bob, Virginia, and the Twenties! Hell, even Crazy Dixie was better than the redneck and the honker. I’m not the least bit surprised there are more dogs here since it’s more customary to allow them indoors in the East whether their owners are rude, inconsiderate assholes or not.

I’m still going through and posting old journals for future publication. Actually, I’m sharing some now. I’m only doing it here, though. I’m so embarrassed when I think of how into the God fantasy I was in the 90s when I was young, naïve, and a lot more emotional. Things were so direr to me back then. The way I wanted so badly to believe that there was something up there I could pray to for good things to happen. The way I thought it was cursing me in every way possible. Maybe it was, but the fact that I dwelled on and obsessed over it so much makes me shake my head in sadness and embarrassment when I think back to those days. I guess we all do silly things when we’re young.

While I’ve never read or seen the show The Handmaiden’s Tale is based on, it’s kind of scary how life can imitate art. The author was told she was crazy to think that a religious takeover from the right could happen, yet we’re in the middle of that happening. Oh, I don’t know that it will get as far as in the book and show, but you never do know. I think if it goes that far, it’s not likely to happen while I’m still alive. I don’t think they’ll try to run the Jews out of the country, but again, you never do know. I think the blacks will still be the last ones they pick on. Their next target will be the gays.

They’ve been banning books like crazy too, so I think that speech is very likely to be targeted soon enough, but you know what? I’m not hiding and I’m not going to be bullied. I’m not gonna change my life for crazy people/laws. I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone push me around. I gotta live my life and not worry about what may happen because I said this or I wrote that and someone had a problem with it. So yeah, I’m sharing things little by little. I skim the entries and if I don’t see sensitive info, then I don’t care who sees it. So if anyone wants to give me any shit about something I wrote in 1989, for example, they’re on their own. Meaning that they can send all the threats and summons they want but I will always refuse to succumb to that kind of shit. Always.

I had a dream they passed laws restricting women from wearing certain types of clothes. Maybe guys too, but definitely women because my tights became illegal and I refused to give them up and give in to crazy. Years ago I would have said this was an absolutely ridiculous dream that could never happen. Now I’m not so sure. Any country is vulnerable to ending up with the wrong people running it.

Three strikes and you’re out, Nature Sounds! They’re back to being erratic again, so I canceled them for good. I’ll use Sleep Sounds even though it loops every hour. I don’t like their version of underwater as much, so I’ll use either box fan or plane.

This is the second day in a row I’ve been tired. I napped, but it didn’t do me any good.

The night before last I slept 9 hours and got a great sleep score. Therefore I was up later than usual. Last night, however, I didn’t even make 5 hours. Didn’t get the greatest sleep score either. So I’m too tired to accompany Tom on his walk which he’s taking right now. The humidity is lower because it’s been dry. I’m surprised since it is still peak storm season. It’s probably waiting until I’m trying to catch up on sleep before it storms again.

We got a $20 car vacuum and I vacuumed out the car as well as dusted it and wiped off some soda that spilled on the inside of the door.

My Steve paranoia wasn’t unrealistic after all. That old guy probably did see me waving to him too, and if it wasn’t for Toni telling me that some people don’t get the Hooter, I would probably think there was a connection there as well. Had a feeling my message was being ignored and not unseen. Me replying to one of Steve’s comments letting him know I DM’d him and that the message may have gone to his hidden inbox confirmed my suspicions when he ignored that too.

I still don’t get why people can’t handle reasonable requests. Why are they so sensitive and take things so damn personally? A simple “we’re working on it” would have been nice but he couldn’t even give me that much.

So, just like at the other park, someone in the office outed me to him. Or maybe they told him that they got a complaint and he just guessed it was me since Toni probably opened her mouth and discussed the damn dog with him. I was stupid to trust her. I knew it was a bad idea yet I stupidly went and confided in her anyway. That’s my first guess as to what his problem is with me. I don’t think the office said anything to him either way.

I only heard four barks today and I didn’t hear anything the last couple of days, but I’m sure that’s only because I kept missing it. If I’m in my back office with the fan on, I’m not likely to hear it. I would bet just about anything that if the park said people could do whatever we wanted with dogs, and if there was room for it, the redneck-looking bastard would leave the thing outside 24/7 no matter how much it barked or who it pissed off.

I meant to post this a while ago, but then Tom came back from his walk and we started talking. He said that toward the back of the park. Someone was blasting music really loud. You could hear it a block away. OMG, that would piss me off! I can’t believe that’s allowed and tolerated here. I know I read in the handbook that you’re not supposed to have any parties or anything that can be heard inside other people’s houses. He said this is the second time he’s heard it. It was rock music the first time and tonight it was Spanish music. I’m just glad they’re not near us!

The rope isn’t keeping the sheets from slipping, so now he got a couple of cheap straps that you buckle. This should be a lot tighter.

I also ordered K-cups, a new body pillowcase since the one I got pilled up big time, and my fourth new nightgown. I got one with green and white tropical leaves against a navy background. Another has a leopard print. Then there’s one with shooting stars against a navy background. The one on its way is solid blue. I may get one or two more. The next one I’m going to get is black. I don’t know if I’m going to get the gray one. They don’t have a colorful variety, but at least they fit in and are comfortable.

Tom is out trimming the corner tree by the lanai and living room.

Yesterday I got fed up with the barking enough to message Steve, but as usual, it’s either gone ignored or unseen. There are still a lot of people that don’t know about Facebook’s hidden inbox which really pisses me the fuck off. They now let us choose whether or not to get messages from outsiders, so why not let them all enter the same box and let us decide whether or not we’re willing to see potential spam?

There were two barking sprees that I know of, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more. There were something like 20 to 30 barks both times and he did absolutely nothing to shut the thing up. He obviously cares if it’s heard in his home a lot more than in other homes.

I have no idea why, but I received an automated e-mail from Tabitha saying that it would be a good time to get my application going for a house here. Um, hello! I already live here. I just want you to make Steve shut his dog up.

My T4 should now be settled in. I’m not going to start calorie reduction until my TSH is settled in. First, I’m starting with intermittent fasting by narrowing the window in which I eat each day. I’m doing the 8-hour window that Aly once did before she got sick. When she wasn’t sick, she was naturally plump, so she sometimes only allowed herself to eat during 8 hours of the day. I’m going to start with that and then I’ll focus on ingredients and eventually calories. I’m already focusing a little bit on ingredients because I’m not having as much sugar.

If I could lose 40 or 50 pounds, it might really help my blood pressure. Maybe even my cholesterol. Right now, I don’t even see myself losing 10 pounds. I’ll find out soon enough, however, just how doable or not-so-doable it is.

I’m guessing my TSH is a 7.something right now. Still too high to bother with any serious dieting. I start to feel tears of happy and excited anticipation build up in my eyes when I think that the next test could possibly be my first normal test in years…without the epic anxiety. Trying not to get my hopes up too high, but what a thrill it would be to see green! I’m tired of those red numbers signaling that results aren’t normal.

It still blows my mind to know that in 2007 we crawled into California in an old beat-up truck with barely a few hundred bucks to our name. 14 years later we flew out first class with many thousands.

Other things blow my mind in a bad way. In getting my Bing points, I came across an article about a Nebraska mother and daughter charged with aborting, burning, and burying the daughter’s fetus. Again, I can’t help but think to myself…I can’t believe I’m reading this shit.

The only thing I don’t get is why they waited so long since the daughter was over 20 weeks. Of course, Facebook had to throw them under the bus by sharing their DM’s with the pigs.

Began watching a show called Chambers. Not sure if I like it that much but I think I can stand to watch it.

We had quite a storm last night. It was very windy and very fast-moving. We lost power for 20 minutes so it’s a good thing I wasn’t sleeping then as well as in the afternoon and evening before. It was funny when I heard the dog make 3 barks and then Steve yelled “Shut up!” Nice to know he’s just as annoyed by his mutt as I am, but why can’t he do that when it’s on the street as well as at the door of their house and have the same consideration for others as he has for himself?

Later that day, the 3 barks turned into 30. As expected, I had to hear 15 barks this morning while golfing. The woman who lives with him doesn’t have the same last name. Assuming they’re not married, it would be so nice if they broke up and she took the damn dog with her.

No nightmares last night, but I had a weird dream involving my old ENT. I flew by myself to see her. I was in a large exam room and in the middle of the appointment, some guy was in the room for a second before he disappeared. I then asked the doctor if it was only once a year, could I continue to fly over and see her? LOL

I let the pros take care of me today and got a pedicure with regular nail polish and then gel nails. It totaled $52. The place was smelly with all the fumes and the girl doing my pedicure was a little rough when massaging my feet, but it was otherwise a nice experience. The manicurist was friendlier. I got dark pink on my toenails and neon pink on my fingernails.

I have no idea why, but despite things going well for us, I was plagued with three or four negative dreams last night. I can’t remember all of them, but they seemed to mostly center around poverty. Hopefully, these aren’t signs of anything bad to come or else we may have a very bleak future ahead.

In one of the dreams, we shared a wall with Toni. It was a thin brick wall and there was a loose brick in which Tom hid a small stack of bills. I was concerned that Toni might discover it, but Tom felt confident that she wouldn’t.

No wonder this country is so far in debt. Sure, I can see them running out of retirement money eventually when you give 10 billion bucks to Ukraine. Really, what the fuck were they thinking?! Ukraine is not our problem, so we should stay out of it and take care of our own. They need to fight it out and figure it out on their own. We can’t be expected to solve everyone else’s problems for them.

Between inflation and our country giving away our much-needed money, who knows what kind of financial shape Tom and I will be in a decade from now or what our health will be like?

My TSH should be settled in by four to six weeks from now. So the next time they draw blood, I should find out if my 8-year dream is still just a dream or not.

On the road now and beach-bound for Howard Beach. We’ve never been there before. It’s closer than Honeymoon Island. It sticks out further into the gulf, too.

The magnetic lashes I tried would be a whole lot better if I could see what the fuck I was doing. I’m so blind, even with a magnifier! This is not your typical liner, but this thick gooey stuff you can’t even wipe off. It’s otherwise cool, but I think I’d rather try the old-fashioned sticky lashes or just struggle to apply mascara. I still have long lashes, they’re just thinner.

I have my headphones on now thanks to our attention-needy boom car stereo lovers. Decade after decade and still no one does anything about them. The concept of a “peaceful trip” is long gone.

Met up with Jessie in VR! We golfed together. It was so much fun and she even got to “meet” Tom. We both talked her through the course, giving her tips and pointers. It was funny because she was like me when I first started, hitting balls too soft or too hard. It takes time to get used to it. Practice makes perfect, as they say, and if it doesn’t, it at least makes better.

We went to Publix yesterday and they were out of Pina Colada. I want to mix my own drinks sometime and get one of those variety packs you mix with rum.

In park group news, someone left a rude comment on my post saying, “Debark dogs. How about devoicing you? Wow.”

So what if I clearly pointed out that not only does it not harm the dog, but they still bark, just not as loud? Can’t anyone look this shit up?

Toni shared a post on what’s currently available at the local animal shelter. I left a comment saying we were thinking of possibly getting a dog, it just has to be hypoallergenic and she “liked” it.

Yesterday my stomach went a little psycho on me, presumably from the greasy chips I ate the previous day. My stomach isn’t used to eating stuff like that. I got Merlot since they were out of Pina Colada. Plus, the chips and a candy bar.

In checking the news, I read that a pharmacist refused a woman the morning-after pill and won the case against him based on “belief.” Well, geez, can we all just kill someone and cry belief then? snorts in disgust

Then Indiana became the first post-Roe state to ban abortion and I just can’t believe I’m reading this shit and that this shit is happening in the US, and all in the name of some fucking fantasy and a God that likely doesn’t even exist, or give a shit if it does.

Great Beach we just spent over an hour on! Until a trio of ball-playing teenage girls ruined the peace, screaming like 5-year-olds. Got there shortly before 8. By 9:30 or so it started picking up. Loud music was blasting for a bit in the parking lot too.

We’re at the charger now. Baskin-Robbins didn’t have the ice cream flavor I wanted to try. So I got stuffed chive and onion mini bagels instead.

He’s looking on his phone for a larger Walgreens. They downsized the one by our place to add doctor’s offices. If I can find it, I’d like a bottle of Bacardi white rum so I can get some cocktail mixers from Walmart and be a one-time “bartender.”

Anyway, I really like this beach and it opens at 7. What I like best about it is that I don’t need my water shoes. The sand wasn’t soft and powdery but wasn’t littered with sharp shells and large rocks either. The sand was kind of packed, making jogging on it easier. Tom shot some VR footage with his new camera, sure that he wants a nice one someday.

The water was the stillest we’ve experienced so far. A slight negative is all the seaweed. Most of it was along the shoreline, though. Saw several minnows too, unlike at the other beaches.

It only costs $5 to park rather than $8 at this place.

It was cool and cloudy. I regret wearing sunscreen because I probably got no color at all.

Overall, it was fun and gorgeous despite those that came to ruin our peace, and one plane after another flying overhead. I swear these days it’s not a matter of being able to avoid being under a flight path since they fly everywhere, but a question of how high the flight path is that you have to live under. They have kayak rentals plus these things with big wheels that you paddle. Not sure how the big wheel thing works, but we want to try it sometime.

We’re back home now. We stopped at Walgreens, but they only sell wine now and not liquor. The lady said very few of their stores carry liquor. So we went to a liquor store and I got a 750-milliliter bottle of Bacardi white rum. It was $13.00. Better than the larger bottle for $22.00 that I was originally going to get. I didn’t realize I could get one that much smaller. With our next Walmart order, I’m going to get a variety pack of eight different mixers. There’s Mojito, Hurricane, Rum Punch, Bahama Mama, Mai Tai, Pina Colada, and Blue Hawaiian. I’m sure I’ll love them all.

It’s a good thing I checked because notifications haven’t been coming in lately. Debi, the woman who commented on my comment said she worked for a vet and swears that debarking is cruel for a dog and causes much postoperative pain. She asked where I got my info. I told her I googled it, not that Google can always be trusted. I also assured her debarking wouldn’t be my first choice. I would prefer to train the dog with bark collars. Whatever, though. I’m not gonna argue with a stranger or defend myself to anyone.

Ooh, look at that. Steve joined the group. Is his timing a coincidence or could it have to do with my comment? Then again, I don’t even know if he knows my name to begin with. Not unless Tom or Toni mentioned it and he happened to remember it.

Watching season three of Haunted. They say they’re true stories and I wonder how they’re verified.

Shelley, a girl in her late 30s in Oregon that I’d been friends with on PB for quite a while, and eventually Facebook, dumped and blocked me. Funny because I was considering cutting ties with her because her paranoia was really getting to me. Because I was sharing links to some of my entries on Facebook, it freaked her out even though I assured her that only a few friends could see them, none of which were hers. I don’t know what it is she’s hiding, but whatever it is, she doesn’t want her boyfriend to know about it. Some people really need to get over themselves.

Still getting radio silence from the office about the newsletter and I can’t believe they’re not getting the messages. They’ve gotten my message in the past and “Cindy” got a newsletter after she complained so yeah, someone in the office is connected to Steve.

I messaged Toni and asked who delivered the Hooter and she gave me a couple of names I wasn’t sure I recognized. Then she told me she didn’t understand why half the park doesn’t always get their copy. So it isn’t anything personal against me. I didn’t really think it was.

She also told me about a group on Facebook for residents and I joined the other day. Looks like one of the administrators is Marjorie, the one on the welcome committee who welcomed us to the park last year. There are something like 257 members and the group is a couple of years old.

Steve isn’t on the member list but his wife or girlfriend or whoever she is is on it.

The very first post I saw was funny. A lady wrote: Again to you ignorant people who just don’t get it yet. KEEP YOUR DOGS OFF MY YARD. LET THEM DO THEIR BUSINESS ON YOUR YARD. That means whether they are doing #1 or #2.

LOL, I commented: I don’t mind if a dog pees in our yard because it soaks into the ground. I also don’t mind if they poop as long as the poop is picked up. What I do mind is barking. Fortunately, it doesn’t go on and on for hours like in other places I’ve lived in but some dogs are loud and I think bark collars or even getting the dog debarked, which doesn’t harm the dog or stop them from barking but only from being loud enough to hear in other people’s houses, would be a considerate thing to consider.

Hopefully, Julie will see it and she and Steve will be more considerate, but I doubt it. I still wanted to put that out there anyway. It only got one reaction. A “surprised” reaction by a woman I’ve never heard of before. Why was she surprised, I wonder? I guess she doesn’t hear barking every day. I’ll admit I haven’t heard it for the last couple of days, but that’s only because of where my schedule is right now.

I ran the honker’s name in the group. I couldn’t find him before because I was spelling his name wrong. Looks like he got married last month. But I swear his girlfriend was a brunette, not a blonde.

He lives below Toronto, just left of the Buffalo, NY line. I was just thinking about that too, and how I was hoping they didn’t break up (assuming his bride is who I think it is with a dye job) because too much time on his hands may mean more shit for me to have to listen to.

It just hit me that on the honker’s wall, it said he went to a university in 1982. That means he’s actually older than me and not younger because I was 17 in ‘82. His bride looks like she’s in her late 30s to early 40s.

Irma is also in the group.

Where they spited you at the old park for complaining, I guess here they just ignore you, so I’m not the only one being ignored. Someone complained to the office about dogs shitting in their yard and the office ignored them until they sent a picture of some mutt doing it.

Toni also told me that an old guy named Al lives across from her. She said it took him five years to say hello to her, so maybe that’s why the guy sitting in Steve’s carport didn’t wave back when I waved unless they just didn’t see me. I don’t even know that that was the neighbor. It might have been someone else who lives here. Or maybe it was someone visiting or who lives with them because Julie was offering up a walker for sale and I can’t believe she used it for herself.

Decided to start making some of my LJ entries public because there really is no reason not to. I’m even going to allow anonymous comments, but if there’s any spam that will stop.

It’s been hot, humid and stormy. We went for a bike ride early yesterday morning. It was humid, but tolerable as opposed to walking.

I’ve been pretty tired these last few days. Just not sleeping well. Slept a little better last time around, but after I worked out the fatigue set in again. We’re still going to go on an early morning bike ride.

Jess got her VR headset but doesn’t know what to do with it. She’ll figure it out. She must have made some progress because she sent me a friend request, even though I told her to give me the name of her username beforehand because I don’t accept just anybody. However, her obsession with Disney made it kind of obvious.

I’m going to discontinue the CoQ10 for a while. I’ve been noticeably hungrier lately and I think it’s tied to that. Since it’s not helping my blood pressure, I might as well stop it.

Better yet, maybe I’ll give it a little more time since my blood pressure was almost normal when I just took it. The high end of normal anyway.

Andy’s mom is 95 years old and healthy. I asked him if he took any other medication besides cholesterol meds, and he said they told him his blood pressure was a little high when he was in the hospital and that if blood pressure medication is recommended, he’ll take it. He also rubs some kind of testosterone cream into his arms at times because he stopped being able to get off at 43. Plus an occasional pill when his hands and feet swell from too much sodium.

I chatted with Kim and the reason she didn’t want to discuss things on Facebook wasn’t just that she was telling me things about Heather but financial things as well that she didn’t want documented so they couldn’t be used against her. As fucked up as it is, if you’re on Disability, the people you live with and their income counts as money you’re making even if you’re not the one making it. She said Heather made a lot of money as a banker at a restaurant and then she became the owner of it. How the hell does an 18-year-old manage to own a restaurant?

Anyway, Disability wants her to pay 8k back. Oh, I remember Disability and their bullshit overpayment notices. Nonetheless, she’s really stressing about that and the fact that she was trying to save money for repairs needed around her house which is pretty old. It was built in the 1930s.

The Heather saga doesn’t make much sense. I guess when Kim asked to go to her graduation that’s when she said she was done with her and wanted no contact. I suspected the husband or some other family member had something to do with her dumping such an easygoing person like Kim. Kim said she didn’t know if it was teenage hormones or what, and then sure enough, she said Heather hates Jim, her husband. She’s been telling her to divorce him for years because he’s supposedly an introvert who’s not social and is non-praising. I guess he talks loud too and Heather is very sensitive and perceives it as yelling.

I don’t know Jim, I don’t know Heather, and I don’t live in the household to see what’s going on but it doesn’t seem like enough of a reason to dump your parents. You dump them because they’re doing the shit my parents did, or worse. So my guess is there’s something more going on, even though she says he’s never been physically abusive. IDK, maybe Heather’s just a spoiled brat.

I’m kind of surprised Kim would go for a guy as she described. She’s always seemed to prefer outgoing guys. Isn’t that why she left Mark; because he just wanted to sit around and not do anything?

Despite her having a depressing few months, it was great to talk to her for the first time in over 20 years. I reminded her that we met 30 years ago. It’s been that long!

She called me while navigating the turnpike to go home. She said she was coming up to an area with bad reception and I said that was no problem because the timer was about to go off so I could have my coffee and she said, “Oh, you’re going to have a cough a cuppee?”

LOL, she remembered the joke that Tracy K, wherever she may be these days, started.

Started watching a limited series called Keep Breathing. It’s good so far. It’s about a girl and two guys that crash in a small plane in the Alaskan wilderness. She ends up being the only survivor.

So Kansas decided to write abortion protections into their constitution. But if I understand things correctly, they can continue to one-up each other and take away the state’s right to abortion. Also, a federal ban, which would ban it nationwide, is in the works. Remember, it’s not what the people want, but what the people running the country want. So I wouldn’t be surprised if it passed. Each side will keep trying to outdo the other. So even if the federal ban is passed, I think it will continue to bounce back and forth like most people’s rights seem to do these days unless they’re black. After centuries of religious brainwashing, I just don’t see people quitting policing women’s bodies. It’s just fucking ridiculous that people have to make other people’s personal decisions for them.

Galileo says that while the decision to take BP medication is up to me, leaving it high can lead to complications in the future. But like with cholesterol, what are the odds of me actually having those complications, and when? As we know, just because something could happen doesn’t mean it will. And if it does happen, it may not be for 20 years anyway. They asked if I would at least be willing to switch from a wrist to an arm cuff. I hate those things. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.

I have more to write about, but I’m too tired to do it. I haven’t slept well for the last few days. When stupid me woke up to pee, I figured it was late enough for there not to be any thunder, but I was wrong and ended up getting shorted an hour or two of sleep. We had a dry spell for four or five days until yesterday. So I don’t expect to sleep well until I get back on days.

Even though I slept for 7.5 hours and got a high sleep score of 92, I woke up tired for some reason. I don’t know why. I’m still waiting an hour after taking my medication.

Last night I went clubbing with all five characters. Amelia is still my favorite. I think my second favorite is Mo. It’s a tie between Miss Aubrey and Hart. Oblio is my least favorite because he’s just boring. It’s true that there are only so many songs, the wardrobe only has so many outfits, and we can’t change the characters’ outfits or “walk” through the club, but it’s otherwise fun. It’s not only a good cardio workout, but it’s like meeting up with the same friends at the same club. LOL

Jess ordered her VR headset, so we should be meeting in the virtual world soon!

Kim and I were going to chat, but she ended up too tired by the time she finished doing everything she was doing. She’s always been a very busy person and never home. She doesn’t want to discuss the Heather situation on Facebook so she’s going to call me. I told her I wouldn’t be up before 8:00 tomorrow.

Loving the new Pretty Little Liars show on HBO. None of the original cast is in it. I love the mystery and all the twists and turns. I don’t like the regular mention of race, of course, and I don’t think teenage motherhood should be promoted either. I’ve always been against the idea of kids having kids and firmly believe teenage pregnancies should be aborted. I’m not going to change that just because today’s society is anti-abortion. Just another one of those hip and in trends that are politically correct, ya know? eye-roll I prefer to do what I believe is right, not what’s “normal” or in style, etc. Kids just shouldn’t be having kids. And neither should those who can’t afford them or have severe psychological problems or alcohol/drug addictions.

Galileo messaged me wanting to follow up with my BP readings and asked if I would take one now. I just did 3 readings and the upper number was 158 the first time and 161 the second and third times. The problem is I just ate. I’ll relax a little longer and take one more reading, and I’ll let them know that I just ate.

Okay, so after a bit, I was able to share a snapshot of the blood pressure cuff with readings of 156/91. I definitely have mixed emotions about this, LOL. They’re kind of pestering me but at the same time, I love it. It’s 2:30 in the morning, so it’s like having a full-time live-in doctor and it makes me feel safer. But I did remind them again that I don’t like to treat anything that doesn’t have symptoms because I’m prone to side effects. I considered lying about the numbers at first, but one of my biggest pet peeves is lying. I hate liars. Pretty little liars, ugly little liars…I hate them all. I used to be more okay with it, but now I won’t lie about anything unless it’s absolutely necessary. It really has to be for his/my/our own good to get me to tell a lie that isn’t exactly white. Casual lies like saying I’m fine when I’m really pissed about something if someone passes me on the street and asks how I’m doing is one thing. Giving doctors false information is another.

This is the second month in a row we didn’t get the Hooter. My paranoid side says it’s connected to Steve, but come on. He can’t possibly be friends with that much of the park. I know he’s tight with someone in the office because of the way they ignored my message, which was rather unprofessional, to say the least. But he can’t happen to be friends with someone in the office and whoever delivers the newsletter, can he? If he’s behind it, what did he expect? Just like I could ask the freeloaders in Phoenix, what do you expect when you’re noisy or you have something that’s loud that your neighbors hear every day, even if it doesn’t go on and on for hours?

My realistic side says they’ve got someone new delivering the newsletters and they’re missing our house. Because we’re at the part of the street where it forms a T, it would be relatively easy to do, depending on the direction of your route. If it was because Steve can’t handle my being annoyed by the barking, then Toni wouldn’t be getting a newsletter either because they’ve discussed it way before I even mentioned it to her.

We’re planning to go to the beach at the end of the week. I was considering stopping writing until then but then decided not to. I like to keep my entries even and consistent and not write in big chunks. I’ll work on my story on the road like I did last time.

Tom really likes the VR webcam and says it’s way better than he thought it would be. Even the difference between a $40 air pump and a $60 air pump is amazing, so he says. He pumped up the tires on the bikes because we want to take them out early tomorrow morning. I still prefer riding when there are fewer people and not much traffic. It will be cooler then too.

We both agreed to give up sugar for a while and I’m going to cut way back on carbs. I don’t want to cut them out completely. That would be very hard to do anyway as it would with trying to cut out all cholesterol. I don’t want to give up potatoes and I don’t want to not put creamer in my coffee since I can’t stand black coffee, but I can trade the bananas in for blueberries and stay away from pasta and bread.

I got a Rosemary plant from Walmart. It’s a nice-looking plant. It’s much easier to chop the needles than it was to chop the basil leaves from the basil plant that died.

Thunder only woke me up twice in July, which is way less than I expected. Let’s see how I do with that in August.

Part of receiving Medicare meant that he could get some free gifts. I think it was $80 worth of health-related stuff, so he got some lotion, dental toothsticks, and some other things. The only expensive thing he got was a new thermometer. I guess this one is easier to use and high-tech. It talks to you and tells you what your temperature is.

Kindle Publishing came through after all, and I received $24 in royalties. So that easily covers my Dance Central app.

I received some shocking news from Kim B even though she didn’t go into detail. Like many people, she’s afraid of Facebook and doesn’t want to say too much there. She won’t even leave audios. I offered to have her call me, but I guess she turned in for the night. I told her she could also go back to the old-fashioned way of doing letters if she wanted. I’m always curious as to what’s going on with her and wish she lived in my town. I really miss her!

So she asked how I was and I told her that I was better and that the anxiety had backed off considerably since we slowly ramped up my dose and that my TSH was coming down. How is she doing, I then asked her and she said that there was quite a bit of drama, but things are settling down. I told her I hoped it wasn’t serious and she said that it was, but she guesses that was just life. I asked if it was OK to ask what was going on and she really surprised me. I thought she was going to tell me something bad happened to her health-wise. Instead, it’s that her daughter isn’t talking to her and wants absolutely no contact whatsoever with her. This really blew my mind because Kim has always been so easygoing. Doesn’t swear. Doesn’t get moody. Doesn’t get emotional or dramatic in any way. So what in the world could she possibly have done to piss off her daughter that much? The only thing that comes to mind is that it’s got to involve her husband. Like maybe he did something to her that she didn’t handle the way her daughter would have liked. Kim has always been tolerant and accepting and isn’t pushy in any way, so if it was something like her daughter seeing someone she didn’t like, she may voice her opinion, but she wouldn’t demand she stopped seeing them. Whatever it was that happened, I can’t believe her daughter, who can’t be more than 20 years old or so, would cut her out forever. Hell, I didn’t even cut my own parents out forever and they were abusive. Literally.

OK, now for the bits and pieces of the dreams I remember. It was one of those dreams where one dream kind of morphed into another, even though they were all part of the same dream. I went to the ER to investigate something. I might have wanted to see if someone was working there. I was by myself and I wasn’t sure I wanted Tom to know what I was doing. I feigned stomach pain to get in.

Then Aly was beside me and she didn’t look well. She said she needed water. I called out to the many people in the room for someone to get her some water. Suddenly we were outside and a cop reached into his cruiser for some water. Still not looking well, I asked her what was up, and then she started listing off a bunch of things about me. Her tone of voice suggested they were things that annoyed her and she was trying to make a point. The only thing I remember her mentioning was that I supposedly wanted to run while drunk. My dream self laughed at this one with confusion because Tom had mentioned me saying the same thing. The dream ended before I could find out whether or not she was going to dump me.

Why are all my dreams of her usually negative? Or just these vague weird dreams? Why can’t I have a dream where she happily tells me that there is no afterlife, or that there is, but it’s so wonderful that she’s actually glad she died at 40 instead of 80 and that she can’t wait to meet me there because we didn’t get to meet in real life?

Then there was another dream where I was staying in a hotel room with my mother. It was a long room that had four twin beds along one wall. My mother was sleeping in the third to last bed by the inside wall. I had been sleeping in the one that was the second from the outer wall in which a corridor ran. I thought of moving to the bed by the corridor to be further away from her snoring but I didn’t want to be closer to the corridor either.

Then I was roaming the property between my first childhood home and my grandparents’ house and wondering what it must have been like for them when we were gone to Connecticut for the summers at our beach cottage. Did they feel lonely with us gone? Less safe?

In the last dream, I was getting dressed up to attend a dinner party. I was unusually self-conscious for some reason and I wanted to get my outfit just right. I had dyed my hair bright red in the past and it had grown out so that only the tips of my hair were red and I thought it looked cool.

Dance Central, an app I’ve been wanting, was on sale down from $30 to $20, so I grabbed it. It’s kind of cool, even though I’ve only done a few dances. The routines seem pretty simple so far. I like the cartoonish characters. They greet you and offer to dance with you, depending on what “room” of the dance club you’re in.

For $3, he bought the Labyrinth course that Walkabout just released. It’s not very colorful but is otherwise interesting.

I jumped on YouTube for a video on lost balls I hadn’t yet found on some of the courses. I now have all the balls on Tethys Station, a space-themed course.

They lost my leopard print nightgown that I ordered, so that’s going to be delayed until tomorrow. Well, now today.

I’m also going to finally try some of these false magnetic eyelashes soon. When they first came out, I thought they looked ridiculously phony and some of them do if they’re overly thick and long, but then they kind of have a way of looking cool after a while. So I decided I wanted in on the fake eyelash trend. I just hope I’m not too blind to see what the hell I’m doing when I go to apply them. I guess you just put on eyeliner as you normally would that has magnetic properties in it, and the eyelashes come with a tool that you stick them on with. I’ve always had long eyelashes, but age has thinned them out. I don’t have as many lashes, and the lashes I do have may still be long, but they’re thinner.

Tom’s getting a $45 VR cam. As the review said, it’s a piece of crap, but this way he can get an idea of whether or not it’s worth it to eventually get a nice one. That would be awesome if I could walk through this place and film it so those with VR could get a tour of the house.

I decided that I’m not going to go every other day without washing my hair whether it’s better for my scalp or not. Sometimes I can skip but my scalp is too oily no matter what I do, so I need to wash it more often.

I don’t remember what it was about, but last night was the second time Jenny C was in my dreams. It’s weird how I haven’t dreamt of her in years and all of a sudden she’s in my dreams on two separate nights. Andy believes in thought vibration and I wonder if she’s showing up in my dreams because she’s thinking about me all of a sudden. I looked her up on Facebook, but she only has one account that doesn’t appear to be touched in years.

Had to hear the dog not once, not twice, but three times yesterday. Two of the times it was only a few barks, but once it was a little more than a few. It’s just ridiculous either way. This wasn’t supposed to happen here. The fucking thing is too loud. I keep wishing someone would complain, but then how do I know they haven’t? Maybe they have and they got blown off just like I did. I don’t know if it’s because someone in the office is friends with this guy or if they just don’t give a shit but my guess is the first one. They did something about Toni’s sister’s dog after all. Why is it that the people that piss me off the most always have the best connections?

The news is still so sad. Nothing but hate for gays and women. If it was hate for blacks they’d never be able to get away with it. You know, these people who are supposed to be making the world a better place for everyone? Really, it’s disgusting. I can’t believe the shit some of these politicians spew is even legal but I guess free speech only applies to them. Even if you get used to stuff like this, I don’t see how it still wouldn’t bring most people down unless you’re one of them of course.

The increase in hate for gays and attacks on women hasn’t decreased the race bullshit I have to hear about everywhere I go. I can’t even buy food without hearing about it. We went to Publix and when I flipped over a container of food to read the ingredients, sure enough, they have a company policy swearing they have no tolerance for racism. I really wish businesses could keep politics out of their products! Ask them to print that about gays and I’m sure they wouldn’t be nearly as quick to do so. Everything is the war in Ukraine, Trump, race, abortion, and hate for gays. Blacks are the only ones anyone seems to care about.

I had Mia message Maliheh just for kicks, and as expected, she blocked her. I asked why she ghosted Jodi and said that she wouldn’t want her back in her life anyway, so don’t worry about that because she doesn’t have her horny hormones anymore since entering menopause and wouldn’t trust her either. LOL

Nane declined the friend request from Mia. I figured as much, but you never know when people may actually take a break from their predictability and surprise you.

No termite update, so while Mark was probably in the hospital for real, I doubt it was nearly as serious as she claimed. She always exaggerates everything. He’s definitely alive because he would have an obituary if he wasn’t just like his brother who died last year. I just can’t see the termite not having an obituary for him. It’s a little strange how no one has asked for any updates. Maybe they’re asking what’s up in a PM.

The fucking fungus returned to some of my nails and I started treating them again. I have a feeling that I’m just bound to keep getting this damn fungus no matter what I do. So at some point, I’ll probably just give up on them and live with it. I first thought it was damage from the remover and I’m surprised that it came back this fast and this much.

Andy went to the ER yesterday with chest pain, but everything’s OK. I’m guessing it’s connected to his asthma, or maybe even anxiety or a pulled muscle. He’s still waiting on lab results and has to see his PCP. He was in the ER for five hours and got tired of waiting, so he signed a form saying that he was leaving against doctor’s orders.

I hope it’s nothing serious and I’m guessing it isn’t. Yes, he’s Jewish and heart disease runs in our genetics but he’s not that old, and he hasn’t smoked anything in a long time. He is fat and lazy, though.

No doubt due to his trip to the ER, I had a dream that he died. In the dream, I was thinking how Aly and Andy were once alive and well, and now they’re both gone.

I also had a dream that Norma died. Her death made me excited by the thought of seeing Michelle for some reason and I was thinking about emailing her. I thought about what I might wear if she came to visit us.

We were living in a luxury condo or apartment. It was on an upper floor, but I don’t know how many stories the building was. I told Tom that I was going out for a while and as I backed out of the place and proceeded to lock the door, I noticed that there was water running along the hallway. There was no carpet. The hallway had a concrete floor. For a second, I thought of running back inside to tell Tom, but then I decided against it, not thinking it was any big deal.

The dream ended with me riding a bike through a busy intersection.

I’m not at all impressed with the Long Island iced tea. It’s almost got a medicinal taste that sort of reminds me of Oragel.

September 21st will be when I start my diet because that will be 8 weeks of 88s and where my TSH is as good as it’s going to get.

Haven’t heard much from Jessie, and of course I’m left wondering what’s going on with the VR. What is it with people making me wait on them?

And what is it with people acting like there’s no such thing as adoption? They talk about women being forced to carry their rapists’ babies and fears of child abuse reports going up because of women being forced to raise all these unwanted kids and I just don’t get it. Not only is no one literally forced to give birth with all the ways to get around the crazy laws, but no one’s forced to keep the damn kids either. If you’re that miserable with the idea of keeping a kid you don’t want, drop them off at the supreme court for fuck’s sake. Don’t torture yourselves even more by keeping them.

Right now, his goal with the horses is to have them consistently making $10 a day a year from now. So far, his latest adjustment has been consistent. It surpassed his $20 goal for the week. He doesn’t wanna jump the gun, but if all works out, he’ll increase his bets a year from now to make more money. I never thought I would ever be able to take 88s every day, so now I’m not so quick to say that the betting program is just a dream.

I had a dream that Tom threw up two or three times.

Sipping some pina colada while listening to the storm. Love the thunder and rain. It storms every day at this time of year and this is the fiercest storm we’ve had this season. The thunder is deafening and keeps going on and on and on. So glad I’m not trying to sleep now! The house is practically shaking with each boom of thunder.

We went out to Publix earlier where I got a small bottle of pina colada and damn is it good! It’s so creamy and sweet. I got Long Island iced tea as well. I’ll have that tomorrow. I also got a big container of fried chicken wings.

Tomorrow, which is our 1-year anniversary of moving into this house, will be the start of all 88s.

I had this dream where we downsized from a bigger house. The bigger house looked like it might have been my second childhood home if not the one next to it and I missed having the extra space. The one we moved to almost seemed like my grandparents’ house. There was definitely more space around it. We weren’t responsible for doing the lawn, though. When the person who mowed was mowing across the street, I decided to take a sit-down mower we had and go for a little ride on it. It was an electric mower and ran out of charge at the end of the driveway. The guy mowing got off his mower and ran over to help. He asked if I had a charger and I said I did and that it was in the garage. I had to run through the house and into the garage in order to get it. On the way there, I saw a piece of gum stuck to the floor and stooped down to pick it up.

With the mower squared away, the guy started talking about people I had spoken to, suggesting for whatever reason, that I shouldn’t have talked to them.

“Stay away from Alyssa. Stay away from Stephanie who cares,” he said.

Becoming angry, I said. “You don’t even know who Alyssa is.”

“Stephanie who cares” was someone I talked to about Aly dying who told me I could talk to them anytime I wanted because they care. I told her, “Thanks, Stephanie who cares,” and it kind of became my nickname for this person.

Then I was participating in a health interview on TV, and then with Andy somewhere. My lungs were tight and wheezy. I think I might have still been smoking too.

In the 90s, we had a black rabbit that my MIL gave us when we lived in Phoenix. Her neighbors behind her turned a bunch of baby bunnies loose if I remember the story correctly. Bunny started off in a rabbit hutch that Tom built for him. Eventually, we introduced him to the outdoors a little at a time. At first I thought he would like the fresh air and variety every now and then, but he came to love it so much that the more we put him out in our backyard, which was walled off by a cement block wall, the more he resisted going back indoors. Then one day something killed him, most likely a cat. I felt so bad for him and I still do, even though he didn’t look too well for a few days before the attack and might not have lived much longer anyway. Had he lived, however, to move with us to Maricopa, we couldn’t have thrown him outside there, so he would have hated being forced back indoors. As abruptly and as tragically as his life ended, I’m glad he got to be happy and enjoy the freedom of the outdoors that he loved so much.

I decided that after the next beach run in a couple of weeks or so, I’m going to get a pedicure done. My joint issues make it hard for me to bend over as easily as I used to. So I figured why not let the pros handle my calluses, hangnails, and ingrown toenail for me for a change? I just think it would be best to go right after we go to the beach because the salt water wouldn’t be very good for it.

Jessie didn’t make it to Daytona or order the headset online because both her dogs are sick. One of them was sick earlier and now both are. I’m not sure what’s going on. Why can’t Happy get sick or worse? I only heard the damn thing once yesterday, but it’s no longer just a few barks at a time. I wonder if he’s going to let it bark longer and longer.

I know this may sound funny since many older people wish they were younger, but I wish I was 65! Then I would not only be the same age as my husband instead of 8 years younger but could also get paid $10 a month for taking 7500 steps a day as well as receive other perks and payments from Medicare. At least I can put in for retirement at 62 like he did. I still feel so young, though, LOL.

We ordered some stuff from Sam’s. Dishwashing pods, garbage bags, and a new kitchen trash can. They just had to go and fuck up ours during the move. The cover is slightly bent, which lets out odors, and they scuffed up the outside of it.

I finished the latest challenge on VZ yesterday and now I’m doing rides of my own choosing until the next challenge, whatever that may be. I hope they have another tree-planting challenge. For now, I’m in Thailand again.

Still no updates from the termite, so yeah, Mark’s going to survive. If what he was going through was that serious, he would have either passed by now or she would know he was going to soon enough and she would have announced it. I don’t doubt that it was serious enough in itself, but I don’t think he’s going to die.

I had Mia send Nane a friend request, but I don’t expect her to accept it. I hope she doesn’t suspect I’m behind the account and block it, but if she does, she does. I’m not even sure I want to keep the account because I’m not curious enough about anybody to check up on them regularly that has me blocked or that I have blocked from my main account. Plus, it’s not time to contact anyone yet.

Later…

It’s getting real. I’m getting emotional (in a good way). The 75s and I have less than 24 hours to say goodbye to each other forever. I did it. I made it to 88s with NO anxiety! Never thought I’d see the day. I couldn’t even tolerate the 75s years ago. Now I just have to hope that within 6 to 8 weeks my numbers are where they should be.

I’m so fucking sick of seeing Trump’s face and name everywhere. The fucking cock hasn’t been president in years and he’s still everywhere. Why do people dignify this piece of shit with undeserved attention?

Anyway, the giant $99 4k TV is here. It’s definitely clearer! It’s brighter too, but I guess that can be adjusted.

Tomorrow I’ll have the smaller wok, wok spatula/strainer, meat cleaver, and the pink satin pillowcases with matching scrunchies.

I had a dream that I found this crab somewhere and decided to make it a pet. It got loose and I found it a minute later underneath a piece of furniture. It walked toward me and I bravely picked it up to bring it to its cage.

I definitely don’t remember most of my dreams as much as I used to. When I first wake up, I’ll remember bits and pieces, but by the time I’m up and functional, they’re gone from my memory.

We ran out to the store for treats earlier. I’m sipping some pinot noir. It’s pretty good.

30 more miles to go on my remaining ride for the summer challenge. Can’t wait till Jessie has access to this app! She said that instead of ordering online, she may pick up a Q2 tomorrow at Best Buy because they also want a camera to take pictures of the wildlife around them. The $30 bonus would have been nice, but I told her to do what she’s got to do.

OK, that’s the second day in a row that I heard that mutt and only because I happened to be talking to Alexa when it was barking who paused the nature sounds. Does something up there want me to hear it?

I just got five separate royalty payment notifications, but it looks like it’s only gonna total about $15. I could republish the books, but the problem is that unless they’re new, nobody buys them.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that the few pounds I lost are slowly resetting themselves. I forgot about that. I don’t know why it does that, but I can only assume it feels it’s what it’s comfortable doing, so I’m not going to argue with it. I’m still going to stick to my plan and diet in October, but I can already see that calorie cuts won’t do me any good. Not if my body is going to go into reset mode.

Thank you, Steven K, for revealing your last name to me. Now I have a name to give the office should you let your mutt get worse in the cooler weather or at least to contact you on Facebook to tell you just what I thought of your rudeness if we ever move.

Now that I’ve been here a year, I was curious as to what people were saying about the place, so I looked at Google reviews. I’ve looked before but it’s different when you know a place firsthand. Someone said they were turned off from moving here by all the Trump signs. But that’s everywhere in Florida. Pretty much everyone here hates everybody who isn’t a straight non-Jewish male.

I just had to hear the damn thing a few minutes ago. My hunch was right, as one of his posts confirms. He takes the thing on the golf cart to the dog park and that’s what gets it all excited. I can just imagine what it’s gonna be like when people can open their windows and the fucking thing is going off at every single sound it hears and every time someone goes in the kitchen.

“The neighbors are great and we bought a place a few months ago,” he said in his review. Because they’re supposedly great, that makes me doubt even more that anyone would complain. No Poop next to him won’t because they seem to be pretty good friends. There are still people across the street and behind him, but I doubt anyone would say anything. It wouldn’t bother me if it wasn’t so loud. It isn’t that it’s frequent or for long periods when I do hear it. It’s just loud.

sighs So now it’s back to having nature sounds playing all day just like in Cali. But at least I can still get peace at night. For now, anyway. Knew this would happen, though. The places I move to always get noisier. If the dog croaked, there would just be a new dog somewhere to replace it. I’m sure there will be more loud vehicles and other dogs at some point. I don’t expect it to ever get as bad as the other place but it’s never going to be like it was before that dog hit the scene. Hell, even the honker is preferable because I don’t hear the motorcycle every day. This dog, however, is close enough to a daily occurrence.

Speaking of No Poop, he got gravel delivered between his and Steve’s place. The question is what is it for? To park a future golf cart, or worse, a future motorcycle?

Sure enough, Steve’s a Trump fan. As I said, I’m sure most people in Florida are.

His wife is Julia. Despite the argument I heard a while back, they seemed to be pretty close. And she loves her “handsome boy,” who is their ugly mutt. It seriously is ugly too. Unfortunately, it probably has another decade or more to live.

I had Alexa play a random nature sound. I think it was some kind of ocean she chose. It did a good job of masking the dog in the kitchen because it was barking. I noticed this when I asked her to turn on the light and she paused the sound. Not sure it would do much good in the living room, though.

Jessie has Manowar that they have to watch out for at certain times of the year and they got red and purple flags the other day. The West and East Coasts are very different in Florida. We haven’t seen any jellyfish yet and we haven’t gotten anything worse than a yellow flag. It was yellow yesterday, which means moderate currents. Green is low-risk currents. We never want to see red or purple. Red is high-risk currents and purple is dangerous marine life.

Another weird thing yesterday was that after we were coming out of the bathhouse, we noticed someone parked within inches of the driver’s side of our car. Then a guy came out and said it was employee parking and moved his car. We never saw a sign anywhere.

Yesterday was such a fun day. We even ordered Domino’s Pizza when we got home. I got some chicken wings to go with my pizza. Tom can’t eat as much as he used to. I’m still waiting for my appetite to drop more. I’m not hungry all the time like I used to be, but I can still pack it in.

I saw a headline about the rising costs of plane tickets and thought it would keep the skies quieter for a while. But it’s back to one after another after another in the early mornings.

My ear has been withering and shrinking away as if it’s dying and I don’t know why.