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It’s nice to see the sun, but I liked the rainy days we just had. The Forest Service sign up in the mountains now says the fire danger is only moderate rather than high, and the drought map looks better.

This is what the map looked like two weeks ago:

Click on image for higher resolution.

And this is what it looks now:

I should point out that the rain wasn’t all positive. In some places it came down faster than the soil could absorb it, so there was dangerous flash flooding.

At any rate, for better or worse, it looks as if it’s over for a while.

October 2, 2026

Their portal worked! The PA (physician assistant) answered my message and said he had made a mistake and corrected it. I checked and it looks a lot better. I thanked him, and I also wrote a message to my doctor saying I appreciated the portal and being able to communicate with my care team. They are short-staffed and good for them for trying to make things go more smoothly.

The PA is only here until the end of the month, and we don’t know what happens after that. Fingers crossed. Andy does have his annual physical with our doctor in December. My physical was originally with my doctor but is now with the PA October 27, shortly before he leaves.

October 1, 2026

I mentioned that my doctor’s appointment went well last Thursday. It was actually with a temporary PA instead of my regular doctor, who is super busy. It was a good conversation and I liked him, but when the visit summary was posted a lot of it was clearly about another patient. If some of the symptoms mentioned weren’t enough of a clue, the fact that it says I have a history of prostate cancer clinched it.

I used their portal to ask them to correct the mistakes and will see if they respond. I have my annual physical October 27, so I can bring it up again. I did point out that inaccurate medical histories could be dangerous in the long run.

They are having trouble getting people and are probably using AI to lighten the load, but the system is still slightly less than perfect.

September 30, 2021

This comic was published yesterday, which was great timing for yesterday’s post:

Bliss

It made my day. 🙂

September 29, 2026

Ziggy

Sorry, Ziggy, I don’t share your feelings. I’m with Michael Leunig and his JOMO — the joy of missing out.

JOMO

Oh the joy of missing out.
When the world begins to shout
And rush towards that shining thing;
The latest bit of mental bling—
Trying to have it, see it, do it,
You simply know you won’t go through it;
The anxious clamouring and need
This restless hungry thing to feed.

Instead, you feel the loveliness;
The pleasure of your emptiness.
You spurn the treasure on the shelf
In favour of your peaceful self;
Without regret, without a doubt.
Oh the joy of missing out.

What do you think?

September 28, 2026

I’m glad I’m not young anymore.

Pickles

Pickles

I know this isn’t true of everyone, but I was a lot more bored as a child than I am now. These comics remind me of Pablo Casals,

The man who works and is never bored is never old. Work and interest in worthwhile things are the best remedy for age. Each day I am reborn. Each day I must begin again.

And of Bertrand Russell’s,

The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.

Yes, I would still rather be me now than be a kid.

September 27, 2026

B.C.

September 26, 2026

Yesterday was interesting. It was a beautiful misty, moisty morning:

And I had a doctor’s appointment that went well.

But when I got back home the internet was out. Our land line worked but neither my Consumer Cellular or Verizon phones worked. Andy phoned from the land a couple of times, but he was using Starlink to send the message, and presumably it went to a Verizon tower that wasn’t affected by the outage?

Anyway, no internet all day and evening. It was back this morning and I have a lot of catching up today. I’m posting this in the late afternoon.

We still haven’t heard what caused the outage, but presumably we’ll hear eventually. It’s nice to be back!

September 25, 2026

A strange thing to say? Maybe, but I’ve had it for decades and only wore it a couple of times years ago. Then yesterday was laundry day and the rain — not heavy, but steady — never let up. It kept coming down without a break. Our laundry room is in another building, so I got the raincoat out of the closet and it worked just fine.

Those little cords hanging down are a way of adjusting the hood. They’re weird, but it served my purpose. It’ll be interesting to see if I ever need it again. If I do, it will be there. So much for tossing things out (or recycling) if you don’t use them for a year or so.

September 24, 2026

They don’t always get respect.

Betty

In this comic Junior may not be very respectful, but he’s probably right not to believe everything Bub says. He should check things out for himself.

Andy and I laughed at this next one, but I don’t know if it’s just that we’re old-fashioned and know the story of Icarus.

Speed Bump

Anyway, the wax holding the wings together will melt and the boy will fall into the sea and drown. In this case the father does know what he’s talking about.

September 23, 2026