Spinning wheels

In retirement I don't have the direction that a worker has -- doing a specified task for 8 hours, getting paid and stroked for it. I think of myself as an entrepreneur, but I don't have just one product. I quilt. I'm fixing up my house. I'm planning a trip to Peru next month. I exercise. I enjoy myself.

Scheduling these disparate activities creates a lot of down time. I called a contractor last week. He said he could come Friday, but would call. Nothing. Yesterday I called an electrician to repair my porch light. Nothing. Waiting for returned calls, waiting for people to show up.

Yesterday I also called a gardener to prune a tree. He called early this morning and said he would come at 9. At 8:50, having washed the dishes, I sewed a few blocks on the scrappy utilitarian quilt I'm making. The gardener called a few minutes after 9, having misunderstood my street name -- not a difficult thing to do, even for a native English speaker. Now, 9:20, he has come and gone.

They talk about how much time, for example, waiting in traffic costs the economy. I wonder how much my waiting costs?

My next self-improvement project: keeping a to-do list of mindless, un-messy projects for down times.

Go Figure

I make myself so mad when I procrastinate, then when I finally do that which I put off, I get a real high.

Yesterday I bought plane tickets online from Lima to Cusco. Then afterwards I heard I could get the cheaper Peruvian price by calling Lima to book them. I told myself I'd cancel my make the call in the morning and cancel my earlier reservation. (LAN airlines gives you 24 hours to cancel, how unusual!) I didn't sleep well last night, worrying about making the call. Why? I have no idea. I'm perfectly capable of making that call in Spanish and getting my needs met.

It took two calls, but I did it this morning. I can't wipe the grin off my face. Such a little thing and I feel so good. I've got lots more calls to make today and lots more highs on the way.

Allergic cat

I have many friends who are allergic to cats, this story goes the other way -- one of my cats is allergic to something, as yet unknown. The vet first thought it was fleas, so she ordered strict adherence to monthly applications of Advantage -- the teal green one for small dogs, since this cat weighs more than 19 pounds -- and over the course of several months, gave different steroid shots and pills. No luck. The girl scratches her hip area so she loses her fur and the skin is raw.

The vet's next theory is a food allergy. Both cats have been eating Science Diet "mature" for a year or more, since they turned up their noses to Max Cat. So, instead of filling one bowl when it gets low and allowing grazing, Fat Girl is supposed to eat a single ingredient food, which she hates, so far. I also have to limit her consumption of food to 2/3 cup per day. I first tried a mixture. She refused to go near it. Now, she's getting 1/3 cup of Science, which she devours in a few minutes, and 1/3 cup of new food, which she hasn't touched.

Meanwhile Tom Cat has been eating the mixture and I've been feeding them separately, one upstairs, one down, keeping food covered when no one is eating. Today I decided to let Fat Girl try the mixture again. She put her nose near it and gave me a look like a Survivor contestant might give when told to eat some creature from the jungle mud. After a few of those, she did eat a little, maybe picking out the Science. But one small step closer to eating the new food.