Lunch with a friend, then a shopping trip in the rain.

 

Today's lunch table looked nothing like the one above.  Instead, today's meal was at the Mexican restaurant down the hill from me, lunching with a friend from the Census.

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Given how cloudy the skies looked when I got up, I wasn't enthusiastic about getting dressed and out in the world as Marian today.  What made things worse, is when I started to use my electric razor, one of the rotating blades wasn't being held in place.  Unfortunately, I couldn't fix this problem and had to place a rush order with Amazon for a replacement.  In spite of this, I was able to get myself made up and out the door in time for lunch.

It was nice to meet my friend again for our monthly lunch, and we caught up on what was going on in each other's lives.  All too soon, lunch was over and we parted until next month.  After we parted, I went to Kohl's to drop off a broken silicone vegetable steamer I'm returning to Amazon.  One of the 3 legs were broken, and another didn't have a silicone sheath over a plastic leg.  Luckily, I don't have to cook in my non-stick pots and pans for a while.  Then after that, It was off to Poughkeepsie to do some shopping at Target and Lane Bryant.

A little while back, I bought some sexy lingerie to wear at home.  And when I saw the robe in the above picture, I felt it might be the perfect compliment to some lingerie I bought 2-3 weeks ago.  (Sometimes, a T-girl wants to wear pretty things, even if her body doesn't do these garments justice.)  Unfortunately, I didn't see this garment in Lane Bryant, although the site said it could be found in the store.  (I guess I'll have to mail order it soon.)  Once done with Lane Bryant, it was off to Target to see if I could find a really cheap electric razor - which none were in my price range.  So I guess that I'll have to make do until the replacement shaving head comes in a day or two.

Now, it was time to go home.  Before I started off, I found that we might yet have another weather related delay in scheduled driveway/parking lot work - I'm glad I can use my brother as a fall back. In addition, I finally got a response from my sleep doctor - he says that he hasn't received the results of my sleep test.  AARGH!  This is hard to believe.  But I'll have to accept this for now, and will complain if I don't have more information when I get back from Bermuda.

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While writing this entry, NYC's Mayor has just been indicted by the Feds.  It'll be interesting to see what happens in local politics, as NYC only votes Republican when the Democrats have gone too far - and this is too far for most of us....

The bag is packed and ready to go, but not me.

 

Today's theme is: things go wrong.  They are not going wrong in a critical way.  Instead, they are going wrong in an awkward way.  

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Last Friday, I left a message for the sleep doctor asking about the next steps in the process of getting a new CPAP machine.  How did the sleep test go?  Do the results suggest that I need a CPAP machine? When should I go in to see him again?  Do I need another sleep test to determine the new settings for that new CPAP machine?  There are so many things I want to know, and do not have input from this doctor 1 week after the sleep test.  And today, I found out that the message I wrote may not have been received.  So I wrote another message and sent it out - with no answer by end of day.  This means that I'll have to call him in the morning and hope for the best.

Next, after I drove RQS home (depositing my large suitcase at her place ahead of our upcoming cruise), I decided to stop at Lane Bryant on the way home to browse a little.  No one noticed me there, which may be a good or bad sign.  I think that they were understaffed, and that I came in at the same time as another customer who needed attention.  But I digress.  Next on my list of things to do was to get a new membership card at BJ's wholesale club.  That's where the fun began.  As soon as I got to membership services, a deafening alarm made it impossible to speak.  And it took over 5 minutes for someone to come to the desk and turn off the alarm. Once the alarm was quieted, I started my interaction with the lady behind the counter, noting that I wanted a new card with a name change.  She complimented me on how good I looked, and I was gone from the desk in less than 5 minutes more.

On the way home, I found that tomorrow's driveway work has been rescheduled for Friday.  This means that I'll have trouble parking Thursday night after playing games, and then not be able to take an early train to RQS's place on Saturday.  If bad weather strikes again, I'll have to ask my brother to store my car at his place, then deliver me to RQS's place that afternoon - with a pick up a week later.

Am I ready to go on my cruise?  No.  But ready or not.....

Sleep Test - How did I do?

 

Nine years ago, I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. For those who don't know what this is, it is not snoring.  It is that the person gets so tired, that s/he falls far enough into sleep that the body stops breathing.  I have grown to depend on my CPAP machine to go to sleep, and take it with me whenever I plan to sleep away from home.

Recently, my CPAP machine has displayed a message that it is past its predicted life span, and that it is on its last legs.  This meant that I had to schedule an appointment with the sleep doctor, and then an appointment to take a sleep test.  Last night was that sleep test.

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Before I went to the hospital for the test, I bought a set of men's PJ's (aargh!) to wear during the test. Last night, I packed up my PJ's and a full change of clothes to take with me for the next morning.  When I was finally wired up, I found out that this would be a diagnostic test to see if I had sleep apnea, and not the test I'd need to get a new machine script.  (The doctor was starting from scratch to be safe.) And it took me 2 hours to fall asleep for the first time this evening.

I was awakened around 3 am to fit me with a nasal mask (presumably to see if my breathing improved with a CPAP device), and I was able to get to sleep much quicker than I did the first time.  I was awakened again at 6:30 am, and proceeded to get showered, dressed and out the door.  While on my way out, one of the reception personnel and I chatted a little before I got into my car and drove away for a breakfast sandwich.

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My question is: When should I contact the doctor's office for the next step in this process?  What were the results of this sleep test?  Will I need to get a new CPAP machine?  Inquiring minds want to know.

The most important thing on my docket was a sleep test.

 

Imagine me going to bed.  Then imagine me shoring, with a touch of sleep apnea.  That is what is going to be measured tonight....

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Several weeks ago, I noticed that my CPAP machine was generating a message telling me that it has exceeded its projected life span.  Since life without a working CPAP machine would not be good for my health, I had to visit a sleep doctor AND schedule a sleep test.  Well, tonight is that sleep test.

Normally, I sleep in some form of feminine nightwear.  So, to take this test, I had to buy a pair of men's pajamas from Amazon and hope they fit.  They arrived yesterday, and now I'm packing a to-go bag for an overnight stay.

My problem is that I'm usually awake until 1-2 am.  This is not good for someone taking a sleep test.  Hopefully, this won't be a problem this time around.  But I wonder - will they be starting from scratch to determine if I have sleep apnea, or will they be measuring my breathing for the prescription I'll need for a new CPAP machine.  

Ideally, I'll have the new machine by mid-October.  If not, I hope I have it before Thanksgiving.  Keep your fingers crossed. 

 

PS: Tomorrow, I can revert to Marian mode and go and get a Mani-Pedi.  Yay!

I didn't do much today, save for grocery shopping and laundry.

 

I wasn't able to get to sleep last night.  So, all my plans for the day were fouled up before noon.  Originally, I was supposed to go out for an exercise walk while it was cool outside, contact an electrolysis operator for a consultation, contact my sleep doctor's office to find out when I should expect a call from the people setting up my sleep test, call the lab to set up the brain scan for a study I'll be participating in, and then get around to both laundry and food shopping.  It's not as much to do as it sounds.  But when one has no energy until mid afternoon, one can only do so much during daytime hours.

The first thing I took care of was to make the brain scan appointment.  It's a larger study than I might think, as it is being coordinated from a site in California.  Next, I tried to contact an electrolysis operator for a consultation, but both of the local operators were on vacation.  Finally, after getting showered, dressed and made up, I was out the door and off to Trader Joe's.  $35 later, I was returning home in time to get a load of laundry in before the soft deadline of 9:00 pm (start) / 10:00 pm (finish).  So, I carted my laundry downstairs, and got it done in time for RQS's arrival tomorrow.

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While I write this, I have MSNBC on in the background.  Earlier, I had our former president's news conference on for a while.  As much as MSNBC panders to an educated elite, the ex president panders to an uninformed audience, an audience who lets authority figures feed them misinformation to be ingested without critical analysis.  Sadly, a significant part of our population believes his nonsense, as he is the leader of a political cult.  I can tolerate the left's talking heads, as they aren't feeding their audience the message that "White America is being overrun by illegal aliens that have come to take our jobs."  But I have to turn off Fox News' propaganda, as they have targeted people who are afraid of any cultural and economic changes that put "White Privilege" at risk.

After sitting down to write this entry, I opened up a letter from one of my credit card banks.  Seems like $3,700+ was credited to my card in error.  Next time I'm out as Mario, I'll visit the bank to see what's up.  If this was a debit, I'd take off my nail polish and visit the branch before picking up RQS at the train station.   Hopefully, I can get this error fixed AND have the service charge removed.