Hipsta-Kitty

For ages during the earlier days of the Hipstamatic Toy Camera App for iOS, this film/lens filter combo was my favorite. I’ve used it for a couple of days, for old times sake, but now Lily is telling me I should probably pick a new combo to use for a while. We’ll see, Miss Lily.

Lowell, MA: Hipstamatic Style

I went to the hospital in Lowell this morning for some blood work. I took the obligatory bad iPhone pics (with a super overdone Hipstamatic filter) on the drive home. The Merrimack River is pretty much a looker in parts of Lowell.

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Stoplight theater
Ouch town, population me.
Hurry up and wait

Deep Discussion

Daily writing prompt
List your top 5 favorite fruits.

Well, today’s prompt is going to lead to some deep, heavy discussions. I’m a little hesitant to contribute as I don’t want to upset anyone today (yeah, right).

Also… do I have five favorite fruits? I haven’t had a lot of fruit since the gastric bypass surgery. Something about the few things I’ve tried have made them difficult to handle so I’ve backed off. A lot of this will be pre-surgery opinions, but it’s not like I was a big fruit eater when I was eating party sized bags of chips in one sitting almost every day. You don’t get over 400 pounds by eating things that are good for you all the time. Once in a while, sure, but doubtful it could be a regular (ya know, healthy) kinda thing.

Here is my super detailed list. Enjoy!

  • Grapes. Specifically green grapes. Post-surgery, the thin layer of skin is tough for me to chew up to a small enough state to not get stuck trying to get into my newly redesigned stomach. I’ve been mostly okay eating grapes, but every now and then they bring on a nasty case of The Foamies.
  • Apples. When I was a kid apples were my favorite by a mile. As I got older I sort of lost the taste for them. Not completely. Every once in a while an apple would be great. Post-surgery I haven’t had one. My hesitation is the same as the grapes issue. I’m worried about not being able to break down the skin enough. I could peel them, of course, but I just haven’t tried it. Also, there’s a lot of sugar in apples. Would that lead to dumping syndrome? On a related note, just after surgery while I was in the pureed food stage I tried some apple sauce. It went down fine, but the gas it produced. WOW.
  • Oranges. I love a seedless orange. I haven’t tried one post-surgery. One of these days.
  • Pineapple. I’ve tried a couple of bites of pineapple since the gastric bypass and it went fine. Pineapples are delicious, but do they go with pizza? I’ve never tried it so I recuse myself from the debate.
  • Okay… one more… now we are firmly into, “is that a fruit or a vegetable” territory. Also… I’m having a hard time thinking of something else I like. Is celery a fruit or a vegetable? It’s a vegetable. Also, the stringy nature… there’s no way I could eat celery without getting savagely nauseous. What about olives? Google says it’s both, though technically a fruit. We have a winner! I always loved seedless black olives. I haven’t had one in ages though. Maybe I should revisit them. There was a time in my younger days when I really liked them.

And there you have it, friends, neighbors, and gentle readers. Five fruits that I like or liked, some of which I might still be able to eat without vomiting! Enjoy!

Is Today a Beautiful Day?

I just heard a coworker say that it was gorgeous outside. I can’t tell. There are two buildings in our little complex here. I am in building number two. The cafeteria is in building number one. I guess said coworker had just come back from picking up lunch.

I don’t go to the cafe anymore. I used to, back in the dark days before the pandemic. I used to order a grilled chicken sandwich and a side of fries. I could get that today, but the portions are huge and I would waste 75% of it. No, I brown bag it. A little breaded chicken, a few peanuts. Maybe a sugar free snack of some sort. Those get the lunch time job done for me.

I would like to think that if I were working from home today and it were truly gorgeous outside, I might setup the patio in the back yard and try to work from there. Fresh air. Nice breeze. Warm air. Working outside. It’s kind of the American Dream in a way, isn’t it? Maybe not. I don’t know.

I did take a picture of the clear blue sky as I was leaving the house this morning. That will have to do for me today.

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256/365

Happy beautiful Monday, everyone. Where applicable, at least.

I Forgot About That

Crap!

This post is a reminder to my dumb self. I have a doctors appointment on Thursday morning. It’s the two year post-surgery check in with my surgeon. I am supposed to have blood work done ahead of the appointment.

I completely forgot. I even e-checked in to the appointment already and didn’t see anything regarding having blood drawn. I checked my Google calendar though and the entry I made when I booked the appointment says I have to have blood drawn.

Crap!

I am in the office today and I will be in the office again Wednesday, so tomorrow is the only day I can get this done (assuming the walk in orders for the blood tests have actually been placed. I am going to assume they have been). Fortunately they open for business at 5:30am. There is more than enough time to get it all done ahead of work tomorrow. I’m just annoyed that I forgot.

Like I said… Crap.

Stop Procrastinating

Daily writing prompt
What’s one small improvement you can make in your life?

There is irony here. Big time. I just got to work. Thanks to insane traffic I was a couple of minutes late. I’m caught up now though. I have a lot of stuff I want to plow through this morning, but here I am writing a blog post. Foreshadowing? Oh yeah. Big time.

One small improvement. Hmmm. Just one? I can think of a few. How about doing something to tweak the ol’ work ethic? How about we try to cut down on the procrastination. Work now, flake later, rather than the normal vice versa. I feel like that would go a long way toward making me feel like a better human, in the purely professional sense. I haven’t been missing any deadlines lately or anything that demands changes, but I also feel like there have been times when the nose should have been squarely on the grindstone and it hasn’t. Case in point… I am writing this now while I should be doing some paperwork. Ugh.

I should be more attentive to my wife’s needs. I should be quicker to help out with anything my kids need. I should be more attentive to my father and really just be there for him more than I am. That’s a big source of guilt for me. Anything related to my father is a source of guilt. Ugh, again. I’m trying. I am failing often, but I am trying. I should initiate talk with the kids more than I do too. Just send them each a text saying little things like you rule and I hope you’re kicking ass today. You know, little things.

Okay, stop procrastinating. Get back to work, Mr. Red Head. Get some stuff done.