Our chaotic world

Wishing for inspiration

We were doing pretty well around these parts, as I have been slowly healing from the bad fall from a few weeks back, and just a few hours ago, we got another big setback: our toilet simply broke right down the middle where the water reservoir is, and water was gushing out everywhere. My guy managed to get the water shut off, and we called the Maintenance man for our complex. He said these are old toilets but need to be specially ordered. Sigh. Tomorrow he will do that, and maybe by Tuesday we will have a working toilet again. Until then, we will be using water from the bathtub to flush down our waste. It could be worse, but it's hard for me to think right now how that might be. The water is pretty much up off the floor, with lots of soaked rugs needing to dry. I imagine that if nobody had been home when it happened, we would have returned to a flooded apartment and that one under us would also have been flooded. So that's the good luck

So. That is the main reason I was still up at what for me was a very late bedtime. I was lying in bed waiting for sleep when this all happened. I am so grateful to have a partner who can handle these things so well. 

And I have almost regained my strength after having experienced the fiasco of my hike last Tuesday. (I don't want to think about any of it at the moment.) With everything that is going on with our political situation, everything piling up and I am feeling very stressed. I haven't been able to get ahold of John to find out whether he is planning on picking me up for breakfast, but I suspect he will, since he is also slowly regaining strength after a bad bout of the flu. It's a tough time for so many of us, but at least I am retired and don't have to worry about being laid off, like so many people are right now.

I watched what happened in the Oval Office and the sad display of bullying that Volodymyr Zelenskyy endured from the President and Vice President. At least when he got to Europe, he was given a hero's welcome. I am saddened by what is happening, but there is really nothing I can do about it, other than to support my elected representatives here in Washington State. I suspect that I will be joining some marches one of these days, once people get motivated to make our voices heard. It's a terrible time in so many ways, and I for one never imagined I would be so devastated by what my country is doing to another one that is at war with Russia. None of this bodes well for the world at large. I hope I will continue to receive my Social Security and annuities so that money will not become an issue for us. I never thought that it would be possible for so many people to be thrown into chaos all at once. And although it's bad here in the US, there are so many worse places to be. At least I don't have missiles flying overhead and needing to worry about my imminent survival.

Another wrinkle in our daily life is that SG has begun a regimen of cancer treatment for his lymphoma. He's been treated for a few years now by his excellent cancer specialist, and mostly it has been diagnosis (like a spinal tap), lots of blood draws, and presently he's taking a drug that he will need to continue indefinitely. He started it a few weeks ago, and now he's beginning to feel the effects of it. Fortunately none of the most awful side effects seem to have come about, but he's more tired now than before he started it, and I worry that he's not getting enough rest. But every day he seems to be hanging in there, and yesterday he handled the toilet break quite well. Better than I did. I just tried to stay out of his way as he went about getting our temporary flushing situation in hand. He's a wonderful partner, and we are both grateful that we have each other, to support and encourage one another through these trying times.

My current task is trying to find some really uplifting to write about, while the world seems to be coming apart around me. Maybe there isn't anything really that might help both my and your spirits to rise. I think I'll watch the Oscars tonight and hopefully there will be plenty of elegant (and not so elegant) outfits to admire. I haven't seen all the nominations, but I did see Anora and am hoping that Mikey Madison gets best actress and the film gets best picture. I'm glad it was decided to have the awards, even after the devastating wildfires that recently tore through Southern California. See, there I go again: trying to find something positive while everywhere I turn there is sadness and loss. I think I'll just give up for now and look forward to better days ahead. If you, dear reader, can find some light in the darkness, please feel free to share it in the comments.

Be well, dear friends.