I love the Internet

What a surprise!!! I worked for several years for the Physics Department at the University of California in Berkeley. I was at first secretary to 3 professors, but one retired, one moved to the Radiation Laboratory and so was never around, so I was mostly secretary for just one professor, Fredrick Reif, who wrote a book while I worked for him (It’s still used in physics classes today–and today costs more than $100. It has been translated into many different languages, my favorite being Japanese because he showed me the Japanese version and in the Acknowledgements, the only thing NOT in Japanese is my name).

Anyway, Fred and I remained friends when I left the job to have my first baby. He eventually left Berkeley and moved to Carnegie Melon University. We remained friends for all these years. I wrote to him every year on his birthday and we exchanged Christmas email cards.

Eight or so years ago, his birthday message was returned as a bad email address. I have tried everything to find him, including contacting the Physics Department at Carnegie Melon, checking the obituaries, etc. I even sent a letter to his wife. No answer anywhere. He is 12 years older than I am (which makes him 88, next week, if he is alive) and the last time I saw him, when I spent a weekend with him and his wife in Pittsburgh, he was not in good health, so I assumed he was either dead or in some convalescent hospital. But there is no obituary for him and no way to find out if he is in some sort of a hospital or not.

In 2017 I wrote an entry about him with a big photo I had found on the Internet, captioned "Where is Fred Reif?"

I was shocked today, 2 years later, to find a simple message on that entry from Fred Reif saying "Hello." I didn’t know if it was really him or if it was someone playing a trick (since you can enter any name when you sign the guestbook) so I wrote "Is this really you or is someone playing a trick on me?" He answered, saying where he now lives and giving me his phone number.  I haven't called yet, since I remembered too late to call (he said call before 2 p.m. his time), but I will call tomorrow and renew our friendship, I hope.

The internet is a strange and wonderful place!

---

This afternoon was my coronation.

At least that is what the receptionist at Cindy's office called it when she reminded me that I was to come in to have my permanent crown put on.  I told her I would bring my scepter with me.

As always it was an uneventful, painless, and quite short meeting and I was out of there in under an hour with a new crown that feels like a normal tooth and already I forget that it's not real.

The plan had been to go to Atria when I left Cindy's.  Everything is gone except the things in the display ase outside of her apartment, which one of the tech people needs to open.  We're also supposed to have a "walk through."  I'm not sure why.  THEY do the house cleaning and there is nothing in there for a person with dementia to "ruin."  But whatever.  I was so glad to think of it being completely over and to never have to go to that place again.

But as I left Cindy's there were big black clouds in the sky and as I got into the car, a huge roll of thunder and the start of rain.  I decided to skip Atria for today and see if the weather is better tomorrow.

 I went and tested my new crown on a McDonald's hamburger (guilty pleasure).  It absolutely poured rain the whole time I was eating my burger (in the car) and I was glad I had decided not to go to Atria, as much as I want to be rid of that place.

---

For anyone on Facebook, if you check out Elder Villa, you can see a picture of my mother just posted today, along with a picture of the turkeys in front of the place.  I had a note from Sandy saying she is interacting well with the other residents.  I am feeling more relaxed about things by the day.

Crowning Achievement

They turned off our water today, from 8 to 4.  I managed to get coffee made and the morning bathroom trip done before 8, then napped off and on thru the morning and went to my dentist appointment early to use her bathroom.  After my appointment, I stopped at Trader Joe's and by the time I got home, the water was turned on.

It was never a problem anyway, since we have two full 5 gallon bottles of water and another half full in the house.

In the middle of the morning, I received a texted video from Sandy of my mother playing a keyboard with some other music in the background.  He said she was doing well.  It was so sweet of him to send that and I very much appreciated it.  I slept my first really good night of sleep in a couple of weeks last night and I think it was because I was no longer worried about her.

My appointment with Cindy was the first of two that will result in a new crown on an upper molar.  I always enjoy my appointments when Cindy does the work because it gives us a chance to catch up.

Also, there is always something interesting on the ceiling and this one was a new one for the "procedure" area.  She says she bought it at a fund raiser.  I just thought it was kind of cool.

She drilled and drilled and drilled .... never any pain, thank goodness ..... and then she had to go and do a quick exam, so left me sitting up.  I got up and got my phone and took this picture.

Always wondered what my x-rays looked like, but never thought to ask before!

There was still another hour of work before I was finished

Then when it was all over, I went to Trader Joe's, mostly because they have the cheapest butter in town (Walt tells me) but also I realized I hadn't been anywhere other than the theater twice, in weeks.  It was nice to walk around TJ's, but it was also dangerous.  There was so much cool stuff that I couldn't resist -- French style flat bread with mushrooms, gnocci al gorgonzola, some snack bars called "a strawberry walks into a bar," the chocolate croissants I love, mushroom spinach quiche, and a few other things. 

These were only 95 cents and I admit I bought them mainly for the picture, but they promised to be "loaded with peanut flavor" (which they aren't) so I was intrigued.

I actually had to make myself NOT go through the whole store because there was so much that I wanted to add to my cart.

I came home and cooked the gnocci for dinner, which were delicious.

But I really have to stay out of Trader Joe's.

It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the TIme

I had grand plans for today.  I knew I would have the house all to myself for the whole day and what plans I had!  Caroline, our friend's daughter, postponed her trip here but she is coming on March 16 and since nothing has been done to straighten up the house, this seemed a good day to do it.  I would start with removing everything in the drawers in what will be her room, get them packed into the Blue Apron boxes and ready to take to the SPCA thrift shop.  I might even stop by the shop on my way home from the post office, where I had to mail a package.

I sat down for a bit to eat my breakfast and watch a show that I had recorded within the last couple of days so I could erase it from the DVR.  Well, that turned into two shows, but I still had time to get upstairs and do some straightening there.

But there was Swap Bot to check and it was time to send out three swaps, one of which involved writing a letter as well, so I would do those first and then I would get upstairs. 

By now it was lunch time and I had some lunch.  While I was eating lunch, the phone rang and it was my dentist's office.  Was I on my way?  It was 1 p.m.  I knew I had an appointment but had it in my calendar for 2.  I said I'd be right there.  Upstairs would have to wait, as would getting my mother's laundry out of the dryer.  i had planned on dropping it at Atria on my way home, but now I'd have to come back from the dentist, pack up the laundry and then go to Atria.

I spent 2 hours looking at the Periodic table of vegetables.

I do like Cindy's office because she always has interesting stuff affixed to the ceiling.  This was the treatment room.  She was preparing a tooth for a crown, so if my eyesight had been better I could tell you all about the various names and numbers of the veggies because I stared at them for the better part of two hours.

That's Cindy in the back of the photo there.

People think I'm crazy when I say I don't mind going to the dentist because it is always about 98% painless.  And I never mind if she has some repair work to do on the teeth that are, she tells me, disintegrating with age, because she does those procedures herself (usually I see the hygienist for cleaning) and the appointment is usually booked for two hours so in between procedures, when she has to wait for things to set or something, we have a chance to get caught up on each other's lives.  She says we have to have another lunch with her, myself, and our friend Roberta.  Roberta and I share a birthday and Cindy has, from time to time, fixed a lunch for the three of us to celebrate it.  The last one was a couple of years ago and I have not seen Roberta since, so it would be nice to have that lunch.

Anyway, I got my temporary crown put in and headed to the post office to mail my package.  At least I got that done.  It was getting a little late to visit my mother, especially since I had to go home and get her laundry first, but it would be OK  I could visit with her before she went to dinner.

But then I drove past the cemetery, which was ablaze with blossoms.

I had to drive in, say hi to the kids, and take pictures of the trees.  Where Dave and Paul are buried, the trees are still in their infancy, but in a couple of years, they, too, should be bursting with blossoms like this.

By the time I got home I decided it was too late to go to Atria after all, so I'll do that in the morning.  And it was getting so late I didn't want to start the upstairs project.  I'd get at it in the morning.

Then I got a call from the hospital reminding me that I work the information desk tomorrow and I'll have to stop at Atria first to deliver the clothes so tomorrow's not a good day for work upstairs either.

Owell....Caroline doesn't get here for a whole 13 days.  That's surely enough time, right?