“Remoted” – Day 223 (Sunday)

Winston at the scene of the event.

The first day of Winston’s new daily insulin injection was accomplished without incident. It was like we've been doing it forever. Winston peed on the bed overnight again, which is also feeling like it's been happening forever. The day's laundry plan was expanded to include the quilt and duvet cover which were just washed the other day. 

Several nights of this doggy bedwetting have illustrated that it is preferable to be awakened at 2 am by a dog needing to go out than to awaken at 7 am next to soggy bedding. Of course, until a friend suggested it, it never occurred to me to put the diaper pants on him for bed, which has been a standard part of my leaving the house routine for more than four years. Talk about missing the obvious. Winston slept most of the day. Within a few hours of the insulin shot, his trips to the water bowl and outside were fewer than the recent usual, which feels promising.

To add insult to injury, salt to the wound, or maybe it was to participate in the fun, as the bed was being stripped, Moose delivered a fresh offering of poop on the bedroom rug. This happened immediately after he had been outside. We were out, we came in and went upstairs, and the next thing I knew I smelled it, and there was a glorious heap of poop to be cleaned up.

The washer and dryer were running with back-to-back loads and the dishwasher was dealing with all the coffee cups, silverware, and small plates. Turning on the TV and seeing the frequently recurring blank blue screen of Comcast Xfinity death was the next hurdle in the day's aggravation marathon. The cable can be accessed, it just requires turning the power strip for the TV and cable box off and then turning it back on and waiting for all the initialization steps to run. On a good stretch, this is needed only once every few months, but it is usually needed every week to 10 days. The whole process had just been done yesterday, so today was the last cable straw. The techs were contacted and their remote online troubleshooting went nowhere. The options offered were trading in the cable box at the local store across town, which would require dressing to leave the house, or making an appointment for a tech visit. A technician will be here Monday. The cable box was rebooted using my usual workaround so I could I could watch the magic screen.

Santa Tracker
for adults.

Groceries were ordered from Whole Foods and six brown paper bags arrived on the doorstep after little effort on my part. The freezer is now well stocked with vegetables, pot stickers, frozen pizza, and Gardein pretend meat products including plant-based versions of beef crumbles, Italian sausage, crab cakes, Szechuan beef strips, and chick’n scaloppini. And Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream. Online grocery shopping is possibly my favorite pandemic activity. It might bring even more joy than doing nothing, which it has become a favorite. The status notifications and map with the location of my order always feel like Christmas and the NORAD Santa Tracker.