In the category of "Post about it and then it will happen," my brother texted this afternoon to say that dad got a referral to a neuropsych and just wanted to see if I was okay with going with him to the appointment.* So that was fast. Hopefully he won't refuse to see the neuropsych.

*(I can't say I'm "okay with going with him" so much as "I deeply resent it but I'm not going to abandon a batshit crazy 82-year-old man even if he is an absolute shithead of an asshole.")

Yeah, that sounds less okay than, like, "all in the game". Good luck.

A brief bit of excitement just now. A smoke alarm somewhere in my apartment building sounded. Usually when that happens, it gets manually silenced within fifteen or twenty seconds. This one kept going.

I'm on the top (3rd) floor of the building. When I went out into the hallway, I could smell a little smoke. I went down the staircase, trying to figure out where the alarm was coming from. It turned out to be in an apartment on the bottom floor. There was no response to my knocking. There was no heat on the door or doorknob. I went outside to look at the windows, but there was no light showing.

All that took five or ten minutes, and the alarm was still sounding, so I called 911. It took the fire department about five minutes to arrive.

The tenant did respond to the fire department knocking.

Issue was smoke from the stove (and/or oven). So not an emergency, just an alarm. Thank goodness.

In hindsight, the most disturbing thing is that I was the only resident of the building (out of ten apartments) who noticed or responded to the alarm -- and my apartment is the one farthest away from where it was going off -- until I knocked on all their doors to let them know that I had called 911.

Those are some unduly chill neighbors, dcp. I’m glad it wasn’t a real emergency.

I hope your dad’s appointment goes and goes well, Steph, and that he’s reasonably pleasant to you in the process.

Since my doctor’s appointment last month I’ve upped my activity from 1-2,000 steps a day to 6,000 steps a day. Slight muscle aches aside, I do feel better. I’m lucky that it’s a fairly simple fix for some minor health issues, but it’s just so boring. I’ve started joining my friends on their Pokemon rambles, which helps. Maybe if I can get to a good point, physically, I’ll look into scuba.

Those are some unduly chill neighbors, dcp. I’m glad it wasn’t a real emergency.

Seriously. Yikes.

I have my PT evaluation today for my hip. We'll see how it goes. Have to have a solution because the pharmaceutical solutions don't work for me. Next step on the ladder is an injection. Will see. The biggest thing I can do to help is lose the weight I have gained back.

Guess who doesn’t want to work today????? . . . . It’s me.

Pulling myself out of grief and anxiety funk. I actually made a dinner last night that involved slightly more than just putting things in the oven. It’s a start.

Good for you msbelle. And Calli too.

dcp, so glad it was just a disturbance in the end. Your neighbors I do not understand.

Dcp glad it was not a real issue but yikes!

Also yikes—why does a whole swath of my side feel weirdly abraded? For no reason? I don’t see a rash or anything and can’t think why that side would be roughed up. Am crossing my fingers it’s not like, the beginning of shingles or something. Wtf.

Super crossing my fingers for you on that, too, meara!

Sending love to you all and all the Dads