Friday No Plans

Friday started as a day with no plans. Also, I was called by the CT scan folks, canceled my appointment: an insurance SNAFU meant my current insurance rejected my CT scan (yes, another one), but it was somehow approved by my former insurance. Ugh! My oncologist’s staff has handled the appeals process for this test before and secured approval. My guess is that they miscode it, as it is approved without issue about half the time. More to follow.

I woke before sunrise and rolled over. I rose and found the kitchen (it had not moved) about the time of sunrise (it was frosty, as it was a clear-sky night). I had not assembled coffee the night before, as there was coffee left from the night before. I reheated a cup full and then assembled the coffee, a gift from Jeanne (thanks!), and had coffee all morning. I had, again, forgotten to put out the chocolate croissants to rise from the freezer (someday!).

I started on the blog, and received a call from my next surgeon’s office, and will meet them on Feb 19th to talk about the small non-cancerous tumor in my left salivary gland, a YAMI (Yet-Another-Medical-Issue). I will fit that low-risk surgery somewhere between planned trips.

I made grits for breakfast, creamy with milk, and added some raisins and nuts, but decided they were better just plain with butter. Next time. I cooked only a cup and discovered I had enough for four. I will make 1/2 next time! Breakfast was great.

I still had no results from the MRI after 48 hours. I sent notes and called. By the afternoon, I finally got results. Perfectly boring results. No issue. No new issues. All quiet on the left-ear front, if you like. Looks like the best possible results. No need to start those end-of-life trips (like this around-the-world trip here). Looks like I will be here for a while. Excellent!

Aside: As I see 62 approaching, this was my planned early retirement date, April 17,2026. Nike’s exit package got me here instead. And while those Nike stock options are so far underwater that only an ROV can find them, originally, they would have gotten me here had Nike’s stock price broken $200 as we all expected in those crazy days (don’t look now). The exit package instead worked with my deferred compensation and paid-out vacation. Still, it is exciting to see the plan bear good fruit.

Friday stayed home, and I made lunch: baked chicken thighs (boneless and skinless, seasoned with just salt and pepper) with fried grits as a side, plus steamed green beans from the freezer (not that good). I did the Friday laundry, but again set the dryer on the wrong setting, and the towels were not dry. I ran it again, and within ten minutes I had warm, dry towels. Nice! I finished the next load, but did not fold it yet.

I take apart the first three shelves of the fridge and wash them. I toss old stuff and marvel at the amount of jams I have (most not opened). The oldest date’s expiration date was 2023; I tossed that and a few other questionable items.

Next, Deborah and I remotely watched more of Elsbeth together on Paramount+ and enjoyed the current story and the longer stories that span the season. If you like a brain-cookie version of a crime show and a great lineup of guest-star murderers, this is a good option. And the new villain, Judge Crawford, is actually the husband of the lead. Recommended.

I reheat the pasta and the leftover garlic bread for dinner. I read, decided I needed to celebrate my news, headed to Wildwood Taphouse, had a small black liquid, a brown ale recommended by the bartender, and wrote, taking small sips. I got some pub mix to go with it. But next time I will just go with pretzels.

There was a crowd of men, all likely of Indian descent, some wearing SEC Nike IT shirts and pullovers. I gave up my table as their group grew, and we shook hands. Nike laid them off in June (I retired in the previous year’s layoffs) as the SEC program was closed and outsourced. I wished them well; they were surprised I knew about the SEC (I had the same shirt—donated to Goodwill), and even more surprised when I told them I had been in master data and had done the early conversions. I went back to writing after that, and they kept chatting.

I finished my beer and managed to edit more of my adventure. I was surprised to find glaring typos and mistakes, and I will have to be more careful in my editing. I head out happy to have had the smaller one.

I arrived home without incident (nor was I illegal) and saw the chocolate croissants rising. On Friday, I remembered to put them out to rise. They will be great in the morning (and they were, I had one while writing this). I read for a while, but soon fell asleep early. All the stress for the medical stuff was gone, and I was tired and, as always, a bit let down. A normal feeling when a plan works, and now I am on the other side. But boring is better than a rush to the end. More time with all of you and more plans!

Welcome, dear reader, to the future. Thanks for reading.