Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

what can stay open in Massachusetts

Mon, 23 Mar 2020 22:41:46 GMT

This is an incomplete list, as of March 23. The Somerville Community Alert System sent it out, and since I can't find it on the city website (at least not yet) I'm pasting it here for reference:

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a couple of notes about health care

Tue, 18 Jun 2019 02:21:06 GMT

I got another "statement of benefits" today. This one tells me that what I owe the eye doctor for the first surgery is: *zero*.
I emailed my doctor a couple of days ago, to say that on my next visit I want a TDaP shot, and to give her the blood pressure measurements I was tracking back in May. Her reply started "You are so thoughtful!" and then told me the blood pressure numbers don't look like a big deal, but we can discuss it (implied: or not, it's up to me) and yes they can give me the vaccine. It's still a pleasant surprise to have a doctor I actively like.

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physical exam: all seems well

Mon, 09 May 2016 17:54:57 GMT

I had my first physical exam in several years this morning (my doctor in Bellevue didn't believe in them). The nurse practitioner and I talked a bit first. Then she looked at my eyes, ears, breasts, belly, and feet; listened to my heart and lungs; did some range-of-motion, strength, and reflex tests; and did a pelvic exam. Without TMI, I will note that this Pap smear was a lot less painful and stressful than the last one. I suspect the main difference was that she carefully told me what she was doing at every stage (including "I am putting my hand in $place and am going to do $thing," so I wasn't startled even by an unexpected touch on my leg), though she may also be gentler and/or more skilled at this than Dr. Mannem was.

A tech drew some blood to send off for tests (also routine), and everything else looks good, including my blood pressure, so I will assume the higher number last time was from either exercise immediately before it was taken, the stress of moving, or both.

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quick fried rice notes

Thu, 31 Dec 2015 05:36:29 GMT

Since it basically worked, and the recipe I found online for the previous attempt didn't quite, here's what I did:

10 small shrimp (raw, peeled and butterflied)

1 egg
1 teaspoon sesame oil
leftover baked ham, diced in 1/4-inch pieces
scallions
ginger
garlic
canola oil
leftover (white basmati) rice

I made this in the first place because cattitude baked a ham, and two people and a ham means a lot of ham.

Prep: peel the shrimp. Mince scallions, garlic, and ginger (they can all go in the same bowl). Dice some ham into fairly small pieces (1/4 inch or a little larger). Beat the egg with the sesame oil.

Cooking:
Heat a wide, heavy skillet on high (about 7 on my electric stove) until it's quite hot, then pour in a couple of tablespoons of oil.

Add the shrimp, and stir-fry only until pink, a couple of minutes. With shrimp this size, I not only turned them over, I used tongs to make sure they rested on their round edges to cook that side. As they're done, remove them to a plate. Set aside. [They can go in the bowl with the diced ham.]

Turn the heat down just a little (6), and pour the egg into the pan. One egg in a large hot pan cooks fast; this isn't so much scrambling the egg as flipping it over a few times. When it's just firm, remove the egg from the pan. Turn the heat off. Cut the egg into bite-sized pieces, and set aside. (Can also go with the ham and shrimp).

(The recipe I was working from said to wipe out the pan at this point, but I saw no bits of egg or shrimp, and wiping a hot pan doesn't appeal to me.

Turn the stove back on, 4 or a little lower. Add some more oil. Put the scallion, ginger, and garlic in the pan, and stir-fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the cooked rice to the pan. Spread out as much as possible, sprinkle with soy sauce, and stir-fry/toss to coat with oil (or maybe the soy went in before I tossed the rice). I turned the heat down to 3 somewhere around this point.

Stir-fry for another 6 minutes or so, then put the shrimp, ham, and scrambled egg back in the pan. Stir-fry for a bit over 2 minutes, to (re)heat the ham, egg, and shrimp all the way through. Serve.

This was enough for two people; the recipe I worked from says it serves 4-6, but calls for 2 eggs and more of the other ingredients, and also includes a small red bell pepper, finely diced, and 1/2 cup defrosted frozen peas, but I skipped the peas for simplicity and the pepper because I'm not sure fried rice needs pepper. If I did include pepper, I'd probably slice it into thin strips rather than dice it. (That recipe used shrimp and barbecued pork, but I have the ham.)

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