Category: everyday life

Today Was a Good Day :)

There are two possible reasons why I am not blogging on any given day. One – I am upset/depressed/sick/unhappy. Another – I am very busy. 

Yesterday and today – it’s the second one. I am mad at some people (and at some circumstances), and I am all fired up to fix the problems other people created. 

Last week, after the surgery, I could barely see the screen, and did very little, both for my work and for our book. And today, since my gas bubble diminished significantly, I feel that my mind is sharp again. It’s funny because my visual impairment should not affect my thinking abilities, but that’s how I feel. 

I just finished a three-days worth chunk of work in three hours. I wanted to do this work at the time when nobody would interrupt me. And now I feel great and not tired a bit. 

I am mad at the people whose irresponsible behavior led to such a drastic increase in the number of cases in the country. I am less upset than I thought I would be, even though the EU banned US travelers precisely because of them. Yesterday, I felt helpless, and I thought that everything in the world is against me. I do not feel like this anymore 🙂

Analyzing Quarantine Shopping

I threw away a couple of items from my fridge, which I bought in mid-March, just before the lockdown. I was trying very hard not to get into apocalyptic shopping, considering I’ve been through the winter of 91-92. 

I was not afraid that there would be nothing to eat. However, I was a little bit afraid that some specialty stuff might disappear from the shelves because the stores will be trying to satisfy a demand for basic products, which for several days looked like it is going to happen. 

Undoubltfully I bought something extra during that time. Most of the products were consumed in the course of the next two-three months. Some non-perishable is still sitting in my pantry and will be eventually consumed. Some are the items I occasionally buy, for “just in case” situations, like canned chicken soup to be there on a day when I would get sick. By the way, did anybody notice that when we are in isolation, we are not getting sick whatsoever, even with a common cold?! I think it proves that when we are getting sick in the time of normality, it’s not because somebody was dressed not according to the weather, but because somebody got a virus. 

Back to the aftermath of the pre-lockdown shopping. Another category of that extra stuff was due to brand substitution. I get most of my household supplies from Amazon Subscribe and Save. And in late March, lots of these items were back-ordered. Although I could easily wait for a couple of weeks, I had that thought of “oh, and if they will never restock?!” I ended up purchasing brands that I didn’t really like, but they were available, and then my regular brands would reappear and would be delivered. I am just finished with the dishwasher pods of the wrong brand, and it’s the end of June! And I am still not through with the wrong-brand napkins! 

And I didn’t escape a curse of buying extra hand soap! I do not use much of regularly, and most often, purchase perfumed ones from Yves Rocher. But when everybody is buying … Guilty of one refill jar and a pack of four regular-size/regular-flavor. And I hope that that’s it, and my shopping will remain normal 🙂

Any Time Fitness reopening

A part of Phase 4 in Illinois is the reopening of indoor gyms. There are some restrictions, of course, and even more so in the city. So I was wondering how ATF will reopen. Turned out, they – just reopened. And I am not sure what to make out of it. No extra flyers or anything. There was almost nobody there; I saw just two people working out. And it’s not like the time was wrong, especially since everybody is working from home.


I am not sure how I feel about not wearing a mask indoor, even when there is nobody around.
Tomorrow, I will see how things are in the city!

Eyes Progress

I should have said, “one eye progress.” 🙂

Anyway, now I can see that the level od the fluid is going down. Last night, I re-read all the information about that surgery, which I read before, and I realized that I saw it all, I just didn’t understand what they meant. They talked a lot about “a gas bubble, ” but I didn’t understand what it means. I could not imagine that it was like having this ish tank in your eye :). And I imagined a very different picture when they would say, “your vision will be blurry at first, but it will go away in several days.”

Now I understand that I won’t be able to drive or bike until this bubble would go away entirely because while even a part of it is there, I still have blind spots. 

It’s hard to say, with what speed it will progress, but I hope it will be gone within a week. 

As for the travel ban, the only thing we can do is wait and see. Boris still does not believe me about “next year,” he still thinks that the ban is political and that something will happen by August. As of today, there are only these many hours-long connections in London, which I do not want him to experience. Especially when Finland is effectively virus-free. So no changes in the observable future. 

Illinois Entering Phase 4

Tomorrow, Illinois is entering Phase 4 of its recovery plan. I am not sure whether the video I am posting here, will stay long enough, but I am going to give it a try.

Here

It’s a long video, but I wanted to post the whole thing because there are lots of important things in it. The most important message is very simple: although we’ve made lots of progress, the virus is still there, and there is still no vaccine. I really hope that people will behave responsibly.

Public health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike had strong words for people who refuse to wear a face covering in public. She said it is “a game of Russian roulette.” She even pronounced Russkaya ruletks in Russian!

I am hopeful. I am glad the State of Illinois has such good leadership. I hope that people will behave responsibly. This morning on WBEZ, I heard a discussion about students returning to colleges in the fall. Hopes are that there will be positive peer pressure because you can’t really police students on campus. And that’s my hope as well. During the current health crisis, the younger generation appeared to be more responsible than the older one, on average, of course. We shall see. I will be posting about our reopening, and about the health situation in the state.

All of Today’s Negativities

First, about my eye surgery. The vision in the operated eye is non-existent; it’s as if I have an aquarium inside. I know that that’s exactly what I have in my eye :), but it looks like everybody expected it to be better. Plus, I am seriously upset with this surgeon and the whole office and the whole organization. Vlad, who took me to the post-surgical today, is equally upset. We waited for him for the whole hour, and he didn’t even say that he is sorry for being late, and he barely talked to us. I am also upset that although I’ve explained to him how important it is for me to know what to expect after the surgery precisely, he didn’t give me the correct information like he said I would be able to drive right away. Now I do not trust anything of what he said, including whether I indeed needed this surgery.

I need to come for a checkup in two weeks, and then in another two weeks to see the first surgeon. I hope that my regular eye doctor will finally start coming to the office because I need to consult with her about the situation.

And on top of it – the EU is banning all the travel from the US. Now, once again, same as in March, although Boris theoretically can come, It won’t help if the planes won’t fly. And I still can’t go there because of the current restrictions.

I’ve almost talked myself into some calmness because there is nothing I can do, and because Penelope waited longer and didn’t have Facetime :).

Today’s Eyes Update

I am back home from the surgery; they said it went well, but I can’t tell until later, because I have a patch on the operated eye and will be blurry for a while in any case. Although it was local anesthesia with sedation, it feels more serious than with the cataract surgery, I am still dizzy, and I still feel like half of my head is numb. So most likely, that’s all for today, and I will post an update tomorrow after my post-surgical.

Everything Is Falling Apart!

Last Saturday, I walked into my kitchen and noticed that something was on the stovetop, which looked like splashes. I proceeded with wiping them off, but I quickly realized that they were not splashes – they were cracks. My glass stovetop had two massive cracks, and I had no idea when and why they appeared! I didn’t drop anything on the stovetop, that’s for sure, and I didn’t hear anything falling. In any case, there was a double-crack and some dents along with it.

I googled the situation, and Grandfather Google told me that I couldn’t use the stove like this, and I need either to replace the glass or the whole stove.

Figuring that the glass top would cost at least $200 plus labor, plus I need to find a technician to do this job, plus the wait time, I decided that the best bet would be to buy a new one. I went to the Home Depot website, being slightly upset that I do not have time to do a throughout research. But I quickly realized that most of the models were not available until mid-July or even August, and there were just a few which could be delivered within a week. I chose one of those, and then I thought that since I am buying a stove, I can also buy a new over-the-stove microwave. I planned to replace it in February, but then life happened. Once again, looking mostly at the earliest delivery time, I chose one and proceeded to the checkout. The website was hinting that I can apply for a Home Depot credit card, and have zero-percent financing for a year. I had this card a while ago but stopped it when I stopped making major purchases at Home Depot. Having too many credit cards is not good for your credit history, and I terminated it. This time I said to myself: I do not need this card, and I do not need zero percent financing; I can pay right away, but the next page said: you will receiver $50 off each appliance if you apply, and I gave in :).

Continue reading “Everything Is Falling Apart!” →

“The Pioneers of Computing” Talk

Reblogging from my professional blog

Hettie D.'s avatarThe World of Data

Last week, I attended several online events, way more than I usually do. One of them was sponsored by the WIE (Women In Engineering) Group of IEEE Chicago section. I am an IEEE member, and I used to be more active in the group than I am now. As with many other things, I hope that I will be able to participate more in the future.

The talk, which was presented on Thursday, was called “The Pioneers of Computing and The Imposter Syndrome,” and it was about women pioneering programming and computer science. Everybody knows about Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper, and several other female figures in the world of programming. But I didn’t know that at the dawn of programming as a profession, it was considered a “girls job.”The talk was presented by Anne Lee, Nokia Bell Labs Technology Strategy and Architecture CTO Partner. She made it clear that…

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Eyes Update

There’ve been too many of them recently, which I hate. But so far, it seems that posting these updates here proved to be the fastest way to let my close friends know what’s going on. So here it goes.

My next eye surgery will be on Monday, and I am pretty upset that I was not provided enough information about the surgery itself, why it is necessary, how I should prepare for it, and how the recovery will look. 

I went to the retina doctor on Wednesday, when through several tests, the doctor came in, looked at the test results, and said: OK, you need surgery. I still do not understand why that rush, and what would happen if I won’t have it. Turned out, that I need this surgery on both eyes, not just on my left eye. Since I live alone and need to take care of my mom, I was asking what my limitations will be after the surgery. When I asked a nurse a week before that appointment, she said, that it will be “pretty much like cataract surgery, ” same restrictions for a week. When I asked the doctor on Wednesday, he said that I could “drive from the surgery,” which is not true, because they never allow it. His nurse said that “there are no limitations,” which is not what I read online, and I find it hard to believe. 

That was on Wednesday. On Thursday, a lady from the Day surgery center called and said that I need to take a COVID test and that it has to be done at their location. I just received a self-testing kit because I agreed to participate in the research, but they said – no, they need the test to be performed in their facility. I can’t drive that far by myself, and I can’t take Uber to the testing site, for obvious reasons, so I had to ask Vlad. Vlad told me he would come on Friday, and I called back to set up an appointment. I was very upset about the situation. They told me nothing about the test when they gave me a surgery date, and it was very time-sensitive. It had to be completed before surgery, and it is valid for only 72 hours. That left Friday being the only option. The testing site is open from 9-30 to 2-30, and these days we have summer hours on Friday, and I hated to take time in the middle of the short day. 

After I got tested, they gave me a paper saying I have to self-quarantine from now till the time of surgery. Imagine, you are asked to self-quarantine for three days with zero notice! Good thing I took mom shopping in the morning before I started work! Now I am afraid they will tell me to self-quarantine after the surgery! Hopefully, the next surgery will happen within the next week. 

I completed my online check-in on the hospital web site at the patient portal, and I saw yet another set of post-surgical instructions, different from the other two. Also, when the nurse called me, she asked about my ongoing medications and told me I need to stop taking multivitamins. Today, when I ready my personalized instructions for pre-surgery, they said: stop taking any vitamins or supplements with fish oil two weeks before the surgery.

At the moment, I am officially upset!