Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

a slightly weird spring

2026-05-04T03:13:18Z

The timing of spring is being weird in the Boston area. The lilies of the valley have started to bloom, while some of the forsythia bushes still have a lot of bright yellow flowers.

We still have daffodils, the rhododendrons are being exuberant, and the violets have been looking good for a week or two.

I will look for lilacs sometime in the next few days. The most convenient would be to see what's in bloom along and near Mount Auburn Street near Ash Street, on my way home from the dentist on Wednesday. (I'm also considering a side trip to Sophia's Greek Pantry for good oregano, but stopping at Sevan Bakery or Arax would be more convenient.)

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redbird @ 2026-04-23T20:17:00

2026-04-24T00:49:24Z

I had an appointment with my neurologist this afternoon. The weather was nice enough that I got onion soup at the Panera in the clinic lobby and ate it outdoors before seeing Dr. Sloane.

The doctor did some low-tech neurology, including watching me walk quickly down the hall, having me walk tightrope-style to check my balance, and testing my grip strength by having me squeeze his fingers. The doctor said there was no change in those, but I think my balance was better today than at the last visit. He then sent me downstairs for blood tests: my vitamin D is where we want it (at the top of the "normal" range), and the abnormally low antibody count is what we expect from the Kesimpta.

I asked about reducing the gabapentin dose to 900 mg, since when I went from 1500 mg to 1200 the medication continued to be effective at stopping my legs from twitching at night. (For a while, it was 1500 mg, with the option of taking another 300 mg capsule if necessary. I went to 1200 after a few months of never needing the extra capsule.) The doctor said I could try it, but he would prescribe 1200 mg/day (I think the last refill was for 1500 mg/day.)

I then walked up the hill to Brigham and Women's Hospital to keep adrian_turtle company in the epilepsy monitoring unit. We talked some, I made some phone calls on her behalf, and I sat quietly reading next to her bed for a bit.

All in all, I did a lot of walking today, despite taking a Lyft to the neurologist; some of that was because I got turned around a couple of times, including inside the hospital. (I stayed home yesterday because my knee was bothering me, and wasn't sure how much walking I had in me today.)

Addendum: After posting this, I got an automated message giving me what was labeled as a fasting blood glucose number--but I hadn't been fasting, the blood was drawn about an hour after lunch. I sent my PCP a MyChart message telling her about the mis-labeling, and she has written back to thank me for the information, and said that the number was in the normal range for a non-fasting test as well. I also messaged the neurologist to say that the test was mislabeled and I didn't want incorrect/misleading information on my medical record. He has just replied to say he will see what he can do.

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redbird @ 2026-04-18T18:50:00

2026-04-18T22:55:42Z

I accompanied adrian_turtle to an MRI facility, where she had an MRI with contrast, which hopefully will help her current neurologist figure out better medication for her seizures. Like many people, Adrian finds the contrast medium unpleasant, which is at least part of why she wanted company.

Afterwards, we went to JP Licks, where I got us both ice cream. They have non-dairy coconut almond lace ice cream this month, and there's now a pint of that in our freezer.

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covid booster

2026-04-16T21:59:01Z

I got a covid booster yesterday. When I told the pharmacy clerk I wanted the vaccine, he checked that the Pfizer vaccine would be OK, then started to ask when I’d gotten my last booster, stopped, and instead asked whether I’d had one in the last two months. When I said no, he asked whether I’d had covid in the last two months “as far as you know.”

The last time I'd checked, they were saying to wait at least three months after having covid, and I thought the recommended interval between boosters was also at least three months. (My previous covid booster was last fall.) Massachusetts is now advising everyone to get boosters twice a year, and having that as an official recommendation means health insurance companies will pay for it.

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memorials

2026-04-12T18:27:54Z

I just attended part of the online memorial for minoanmiss. While I was there, a couple of people talked about Ny, and read poetry. I disconnected after listening to one song, because listening to people sing over Zoom feels thin. There were some great photos of Ny, smiling.

Also, yesterday I went to shul with Adrian to say kaddish for my mother. Most of the service, including the singing, was in Hebrew, but I felt more of a connection there, I think because I was in a room full of people, not looking at boxes in a Zoom window.

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unexpected dental visit

2026-04-02T21:27:44Z

I was going to have my teeth cleaned next week, but the dentist's office called yesterday to tell me that the hygienist wouldn't be in that day, and asked me to reschedule either for today, with the next available after that being in June. So, I went over to Watertown this afternoon.

Before cleaning my teeth, the hygienist took a full set of X-rays, because it had been a couple of years. The dentist looked at them, and said that there are no cavities, but some of my old fillings are no longer doing their jobs. So, he wants to do two crowns (at least). This will involve some drilling, apparently, but no root canals. I have an appointment in two weeks to do the work on at least one tooth, possibly both, depending on how I'm feeling after the first. To my surprise, my current dental insurance is covering 100% of the cost.

Also, after a complicated office maybe-move and name change, that dentist is consistently seeing very few patients at a time: there's often nobody [else] in the waiting room while I'm there, which is reassuring given that I can't wear a mask while having dental work.

I stopped on the way home at Lizzy's and got a quart of ice cream. It's a few degrees above freezing and overcast/drizzly, so I didn't want to be outside eating ice cream, but that also meant I could leave the insulated bag home.

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replacement credit card

2026-03-31T03:25:41Z

My replacement card arrived this afternoon. So far, I have entered the new card info at Amazon (where I was buying something), Lyft, and a couple of organizations I make monthly donations to. There's a bunch more, of course, some of which will probably require talking to someone on the phone; I wasn't in the mood to play phone tag with the company we rent our storage unit from.

Someone commented that when she needed to replace her card, the updated information propagated automatically to some large companies. That doesn't seem to have happened here, and I'm actually pleased from an infused and fraud angle, even if it means I have to do more work.

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credit card crap

2026-03-27T15:54:34Z

I got a text this morning from Chase, asking me about a suspicious charge. I tried to log in to their website to look at it, but couldn't get them to send me a one-time code, so I went ahead and sent back "NO," telling them to cancel/replace the card in question. Now I'm going to have to update a _lot_ of recurring charges and stored payment methods.

So far I have had enough trouble finding my other credit card that I went ahead and gave Chewy a debit card for the auto ship order they're in the middle of processing. I then looked further back in the same drawer, found the other credit card, and put it in my wallet. I'm going to wait for the new card to arrive, and use it for most of the recurring charges, because I get slightly better points/cash back on purchases. But this is going to be tedious and time-consuming, and I will almost certainly forget at least one recurring charge.

I think I can make a list of the monthly charges by looking at last month's bill, at least.

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Medicare advantage, again

2026-03-20T21:58:33Z

It turns out that changing Medicare Advantage plans is not costing me significant money: it looks as though the money I paid for prescriptions at the beginning of the year counts for a calendar-year maximum, even though I switched plans. I ordered another dose of Kesimpta on Wednesday, and they aren't charging me for it. As I said to cattitude and adrian_turtle, I'm glad that I could have afforded to pay that twice, but there are plenty of things I'd rather do with the money.

As a side note, this plan will pay for $65 per quarter of over-the-counter medications and some related things. I used part of this quarter's today to order Mucinex, Imodium, and an under-the-tongue digital fever thermometer. I think I can get them to pay for non-emergency transportation to medical appointments, and I should check what dental coverage I have.

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home again

2026-03-18T00:31:32Z

I am back from Montreal. The trip home had some annoying delays while they found us an airplane, or figured out how to tow the one they had, or something, but was otherwise fine.

Rysmiel gave me a back rub last night that did significant good for the tension in my neck and right shoulder. I currently have an unrelated shoulder pain, from spending too much time poking at my phone while spending several hours at the airport, but if I'm somewhat cautious now that I'm home, that should take care of itself in a day or three.

I am catching up on some of the PT exercises I didn't do while traveling because they require elastics, or the foam roller, or weights, but doing all of them tonight would be imprudent.

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shoulder etc

2026-03-15T17:11:33Z

My right shoulder and neck started hurting Friday night, along with an ache on my right side. I tried Tylenol, which did nothing, but this morning it occurred to me that while I know naproxen doesn't help the weird neck/shoulder tension, it might help my back. I tried, and yes it helped.

Other than that, I went for a walk in the snow yesterday, after staying in all day Friday, and in the evening rysmiel, Sasha, and I watched the first half of the National Theater at Home production of _The Importance of Being Earnest_. It's very good, and we are going to watch the rest of it tonight.

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in Montreal

2026-03-13T17:39:51Z

I'm in Montreal for a few days, visiting Rysmiel. The trip up yesterday was ompressively smoooth. despite freezn rain the day before that caused some power outages: the sidewalks were ckear enough that taking transit from the airport worked fine.

It's decent weather for the tine of year for Montrea;, currently just below freezng withh snow not expected until well after dark, but that's not the sort of weather that encourages spedng extra time outdoors. Since I'm nr eating indoos in restaurants if I can avoid it, that means getting food delivered or eating sandwichs, but I'm here for the company, not the food or tourist ssuff.

Being someewhee that isn't actively at war is also good, but I bought my ticket a month ago, whicj feels like long time under the Trump regime). The stte of the world *gestures widely* is still stressugu, though.

Being here does mean I won't he able to go to the in-person memorial for minoanmiss on Sunday. The funeral this afternoon is being live-steeamed and recorded, and I may watch that when I'm back in Boston.

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recent reading

2026-03-11T23:16:46Z

Finished recently:

These are all parts of ongoing series, and all fantasy (in significantly different styles)

Testament of Mute Things, by Lois McMaster Bujold (a Penric novella)

Apt to be Suspicious, by Celia Lake

To Ride a Rising Storm, by Moniquill Blackgoose: this doesn't just leave room for a sequel, it ends on a cliffhanger. Strongly recommended. Definitely start with her first novel, To Shape a Dragon's Breath, for world-building and if you care about spoilers. (I think the Bujold and Lake books would both work as starting points for reading those series.)

I am currently partway through Ada Palmer's Inventing the Renaissance, which is chewy nonfiction.

We just finished our latest read-aloud book, Half Magic by Edward Eager. Adrian and Cattitude had read this before, I hadn't, we all enjoyed it.

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more about the New Orleans trip

2026-03-05T04:06:14Z

The trip to New Orleans was very good for cattitude, who had an easier tiee finding food he could eat and enjoy than Adrian and I, but the few days of warm weather did us good as well. (And then the trip home was physically difficult and painful for Adrian, unfortunately.)

I did more walking each day, including but not only the travel days, than I expected or planned, and found it less difficult than I would have predicted.

Saturday afternoon we met my brother at House of Blues, because they had outdoor music and a performer he liked. That was fun, and Adrian enjoyed dancing with an enthusiastic stranger. I think that was the day we took a streetcar downtown in search of lunch, only to find lines for the relatively small number of places with outdoor seating. But I'd wanted to ride a streetcar--streetcars are part of the New Orleans transit network, not just a tourist attraction, so we could get one a couple of blocks from our hotel.

Our hotel had a courtyard, which was part of why Cattitude chose it. The courtyard had an unexpected, charming cat. The drum circle I mentioned in the previous post was in the park across the street from our hotel, which is part of why Mark recommended it.

Also, the New Orleans airport terminal plays music, not very loudly, over the PA system, which is entirely fitting for an airport named after Louis Armstrong, and much better than what comes over the PA at most airports.

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bad news about @minoanmiss

2026-03-03T18:08:12Z

[Ny is gravely ill, unconscious, and unlikely to recover:]

Update: Ny is gone. As of a couple of hours ago, she no longer has brain function, and will be moved off life support after evaluation for organ transplant, and allowed to die peacefully, not necessarily immediately.

[my earlier info was via princessofgeeks, who linked to goss's post]

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New Orleans

2026-03-02T02:48:53Z

We’ve been in New Orleans for a few days, enjoying warm weather and eating outdoors— cattitude in particular needed to get away from winter. Not as much interesting food as we’d hoped, but lunch today was at a lebanese restaurant, where we tried Lebanese iced tea, made with rosewater— the server apologized because she thought we had asked for it instead of ordinary sweet tea. My grilled shrimp and rice were also excellent.

Then we wandered through the French Market, and bought hats, a shoulder bag, and a smaller cros-body bag.

We rounded the afternoon off by listening to the drum circle in Congo Square, which has been weekly for more than 300 years. My brother suggested than because our hotel is across thethe street street from the park.

More when I get home ; we’re flying back tomorrow

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a nice walk, a day after the blizzard

2026-02-24T20:27:46Z

I have just been out for a walk, a day after the blizzard: bright blue sky, temperature around freezing, and most but not all of the sidewalks have been cleared, so I walked down the middle of the street for a bit. The turkey flock that hangs out on Egremont Road is now up to at least 12 birds, two of which were sitting on a railing. [We got 16-18 inches of snow, I think--the official number from the airport is 16.5, which is significant, but a lot less than this storm dumped on some places.]

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Medicare advantage, again

2026-02-21T01:51:43Z

While I was dealing with trying to figure out whether I could see my psychiatrist, and what it would cost if so, I got an email from medicare.gov about the Medicare Advantage "open enrollment" period: anyone who enrolled in a Medicare Advantage (part C) plan at the end of the previous year can change to a different Medicare Advantage plan between January 1 and March 31st. I decided that it would be worth it to get into a PPO instead of the HMO I had somehow signed up for, even though it means I'll be starting over on the annual out-of-pocket maximums for prescription drugs and for medical care generally. I put the application in this afternoon, and was told the process might take 10 days, but I also think it's supposed to be effective the first day of the month after I requested the change. My confirmation email from Medicare says the plan will notify me after they verify my information and confirm my enrollment, so I will wait and see.

Fortunately, I can afford to do this, rather than having to find new specialists who are in that stupid HMO's network, or spend large amounts to see my current doctors. (Switching now is expensive because I take one very expensive drug, the Kesimpta.)

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PSA: archive.today not trustworthy

2026-02-20T21:44:06Z

Wikipedia has blacklisted the site archive.today a.k.a. archive.is, .li, .ph, .fo, .md, and .vn), because Wikipedia editors discovered that the pseudonymous owners of the site were altering some archived pages. The alterations inserted the name of a blogger that the pseudonymous person who runs archive.today has a grudge against, because the blogger speculated about their identity.

Wikipedia editors were already debating whether to blacklist the site, after discovering it was being used in a distributed denial-of-service attack against that same blogger. The argument for blacklisting the site was straightforward: archive.today captchas were running malicious code on people's computers. The argument against was that it would be difficult to replace hundreds of thousands of links, an argument that made sense only as long as the saved websites were considered trustworthy.

My decidedly non-expert hunch is that using the site to look at static content behind a paywall is probably safe unless the site asks you to complete a captcha.

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unsatisfying phone calls (and web chats)

2026-02-18T02:02:00Z

I realized over the weekend that I hadn't checked on those insurance/medical specialist referrals, and when I did check, they were all sitting in MyChart, but hadn't been sent to the insurance company. The insurance chat agent was able to tell me that yes, they need to be in their system, and gave me a fax number to give my GP's office. So I called this morning (yesterday having been a holiday) and asked my doctor's office to do that, urgently, because I'm seeing Dr. Awad tomorrow.

When nothing had happened by midday, Adrian suggested I call the insurance company and ask whether it would be OK if they received the referral after the appointment, on the theory that this probably happens a lot. So I called, and they said yes it would, so I'm going to cross my fingers, and didn't call to reschedule that appointment.

I also finally managed to talk to my Fidelity advisor, and set up a three-way call with him and BNY (where the inherited IRA is). That involved a lot of waiting on hold, and the agent saying he needed to check one more thing.... He then told me that it would take more time for them to figure out where that unexpected balance came from, and they had to figure that out before they could transfer the money. No, I don't know why: the balance information is from their system. So someone is supposed to call me back, hopefully soon, and then I hope they will either transfer the money to Fidelity, or be willing to send me a check for the balance and close the account.

It took me a little while to figure out why I was feeling worn out, but at least part of it is that I made multiple phone calls, and everything is still in process, if not in limbo. A bowl of Lizzy's "chocolate orgy" ice cream helped some.

On top of everything else, my gum is bothering me again ("again" because it's a problem for a day or two, then it's fine for a while, and then recurs).

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Wednesday reading

2026-02-12T00:23:25Z

January was rereading, and not much of that: Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold, and Sorcery and Cecilia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer: the latter was a read-aloud, with Cattitude and Adrian switching off depending on which character the letter was from.

I also bounced off a couple of rereads, and read news and other articles online.

Just finished:

Grown Wise, by Celia Lake: another of her Albion historical romances, set in a fantasy Britain with a middle-sized community of people who use or are aware of magic. This one is set a couple of years after World War II, and people are dealing with both individual loss and trauma, and the war's effects on the land. I enjoyed this, but I don't know whether it would be confusing as a starting point. (It's the first in a new series of these books, which might help.)

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snow sneakers

2026-02-06T03:40:30Z

A few days ago, I ordered a pair of snow sneakers that I thought would probably be too big, because the places I looked online were sold out of everything in my size.

They arrived today, I tried them on after dinner, and they seem to fit. Adrian helped me adjust the fastening so the left shoe isn't too tight around my calf. They fasten with velcro rather than shoelaces, which may be an advantage: the laces on my shoes tend to loosen as I walk, so I have to stop and retie them moderately often. (Flat laces are a bit better than round ones, double-knotting makes no difference, and please don't try trouble-shooting this in comments.)

Apparently I take a men's size 8 extra-wide in LLBean boots, which may be useful: more shoes come in a men's size 8 than size 7, and the selection of wide shoes is larger in men's sizes/styles than in women's.

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insurance company annoyance

2026-02-04T22:14:36Z

After a lot of time on chats and multiple phone calls, the last person I spoke to said that Dr. Awad is in-network, so I don't need the insurer's "continuity of care" paperwork.

This started with me being told that she was out of network, and that I would need a "continuity of care" form to keep seeing her. The first person I talked to, in chat, said I needed that form, and offered me one to download. When I looked at it, the form he'd sent me said it was for four specific states, not including Massachusetts, and that mental health required a different form anyway. He also told me that I need a referral for psychiatry, and don't need a referral for behavioral health, and didn't understand why I was confused.

I tried again, and got someone who agreed that I needed a special form, and gave me a phone number. I stopped there, showered and dressed, and went out to pick up prescriptions and buy ice cream. That at least worked smoothly.

I came home and called the behavioral health team, which asked a few questions, and told me to call a different number. The person I spoke to this time said that she would need a bunch of information, and I should have the provider call them. I then asked if the doctor's NPI number would help. Yes, it would: according to that, she's in-network for me, because she takes Medicare. I hope that's true, but am not confident of that, or anything related to this.

Separately from that, I have asked Dr. Bershel's office for referrals, including to Dr. Awad, which is why I'd already looked up her NPI number.

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Groundhog Day gift exchange

2026-02-03T02:16:41Z

The Scintillation Discord does an annual Groundhog Day gift exchange, a somewhat arbitrary date that has nothing to do with either weather/climate predictions or time loops (xkcd: https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/groundhog_day_meaning_2x.png). I received two small books, a blank notebook, and some dark chocolate stars, along with a note explaining that the giver wasn't sure what to get me.

The bag of chocolate says "contains: milk, soy" with no further information, so I sent the shop an email asking for more information, and explaining why. The store is in Minneapolis, so I added that I hope they aren't doing too badly under ICE occupation. I have already heard back, with a note saying that the items are made for them, so he can't be sure how much milk or soy they contain, and that they are doing OK during these very troubling times.

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meanwhile...

2026-01-26T22:46:58Z

We got a lot of snow in the Boston area, but people seem to be coping fairly well. The building management company have sent people over here to shovel the walks, several times, so I was able to take out the trash and recycling. The forecast for the next several days is for cold, very cold once you count the wind chill. It turns out that I can wear Adrian's old snow pants, which will do a lot to protect my legs from cold and wind. The remaining problem is boots: even with the 3/4 insoles Adrian lent me, they're too loose, including at the front, so I may try putting in a pair of full-length insoles and see if that helps. The other possibility is to go out looking for a pair of snow sneakers, or at least waterproof hiking shoes/boots (though the forecast is for the kind of weather where waiting for two trolleys, and walking from home to trolley to store, is daunting.

I've been looking at Bluesky again, in large part for news and commentary about what ICE is doing in Minnesota and elsewhere. When I've had enough for a while, I click on the "astronomy" feed I subscribed to months ago, so the first things I see are an astronomical pictures.

I did a lot of PT yesterday, and a few exercises today. It feels like I haven't gotten a lot done today, which I think is because I'd been hoping to make some phone calls (not all of them political), and assumed I wouldn't be able to take the trash out today. (The alternative to that walk along the side of the building is a spiral staircase, indoors, but spiral staircases aren't good for me, and this one is tight enough that my joints really don't like it. Cattitude can deal with it when necessary, but he's already going up and down that stair regularly to do the laundry.)

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