Drink Recipe

Many of you know what an “Arnold Palmer” is.  Half iced tea, half lemonade.  Of course, restaurants tend to tart this up with stuff like “peach iced tea” (sorry, Diane) or “iced tea with diet lemonade” (gack!).  However, this week I came up with a new version, which I have happily dubbed the “Arnold Rimmer” – it is an Arnold Palmer with a dash of lime juice.  Enjoy.

The Psychology of the Individual

I wear hearing aids.  Not often, because most of the time it’s just me and two cats in the house, and there’s nothing to hear.  However, out at restaurants, or when Chris is home, I often use them (because Chris is a mumbler).  The deeper the speaker’s voice, the less likely I am to hear properly.  They stay in a little zippered case in my handbag, so that if we’re out and they’re suddenly necessary, they’re on hand.

At my first appointment at the hearing clinic, back in 2013, the doctor was a very understanding young lady who knew from the start that these would not be constant-use hearing aids.  We discussed the scenarios where I’d need them, and she simply advised me to use them “when necessary.”  Over the course of 2 years, about 10 office visits, she was always very helpful, and remained pleased to learn that my ears were reasonably good, and that the hearing aids did not “need” to be used all the time.

She has since moved on, and the clinic has assigned me to a different doctor whom I just met today.  She’s also very friendly, and we recapped my hearing aid requirements.  I thought she’d be pleased as well, pleased to learn that my ears are still good enough to go without, most of the time.  But no!  On parting, she said, “You really need to try to wear those hearing aids more often!”  I just smiled and left the office, puzzled and a little sad.

First of all, why would I need to wear them more often?  My “scenarios requiring hearing aids” have not increased, and my hearing seems to have stabilized.

Second of all, why is she not happier about this?  My eye doctor is always happy when my glasses prescription hasn’t changed.  My MD is always happy when my thyroid is stable.  I myself am happy when things don’t get worse!

Possible thought:  she wants them to wear out, to get me involved in an upgraded product.  This is all I could come up with.  Maybe I’ll drop my office visits down to once a year.

A Bunny-Centric Day

Alex and I came down to find two bunnies loafing around the back yard, eating grass, looking nonchalant.  Eventually Max and Bickie spotted them, too, and wanted to go out.  At the sound of the back door, one rabbit scurried up into the rose bed and the other one froze.

The cats sat on the back stoop for 5 minutes and then came in, acting even more nonchalant than the rabbits.  The frozen bunny eventually thawed out and started eating again.

Max wanted to go out again, so I let him out.  Ten minutes later I peeked outside, and he was napping on a lawn chair while a rabbit ate grass about 10′ away from him!  I don’t know whether his eyes aren’t good enough to spot it, or whether he’s just too damn lazy to chase rabbits these days.  The bunny certainly didn’t seem bothered.

Later, Chris and I went for our walk, and we encountered a rabbit calmly eating grass about six feet from us.  He (or she) glanced up, checked us out, and went back to eating, even though we stopped so Chris could take a pic with his phone:

The bun and me, watching one another.

So, when he (or she) failed to react to any of this, we walked on, and about 100 yards later spotted two more.  Chris said, “They’re breeding like rabbits!” which actually did make me laugh.

Buns #2 and #3, with me. These two were a little more skittish.

Up close of Bun #2.

Between here and home we saw no more rabbits.  Alex did take a picture of the two this morning, so I’ll see if I can get him to blog about it.