Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Coming out of hibernation

Barbara tells me it is time for a blog update. She's right. Supposedly, "No News is Good News", but if you wait too long between updates, people begin to wonder. 

I can assure you that we are both still here and doing well. We were both inoculated at Fox Hill Village early in the process - one of the benefits of living in an "Old Folks Home"(Barbara hates it when I call it that.)

I am still on the same clinical trial (CC-220). I have to go to Dana Farber every 14 days. Numbers still look very very good. Mostly same old side effects which I won't go into again. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping because of them, but that gives me an excuse to take a nap the next day. My biggest issue these days is that I get out of breath easily.  They have me seeing a cardiologist but he has no idea what is going on. At least he gave me more pills to take which I always appreciate but it is hard to see how a few more can make much difference. I have also been ordering various monitoring devices and this gives me a chance to play with electronic gadgets which I always enjoy.

I spent the winter working on bowls, some computer stuff and getting better at 3D printing. I also got a new Virtual Reality (VR) helmet. I designed and printed some stands for the Christmas ornaments I made a few years ago.

I also made a couple of cute  covered "Acorn" bowls.


Another project has been working on a thousand or so 3D slides that I took mostly in the 80s that I want to be able to view on my VR headset. They need to be digitized. I bought a slide scanner, but of course, this has no adapter for the special 3D format of my slides. So I designed and printed one using the 3D printer. I then wrote software to convert them to the format used by the headset. This effort combined several of my favorite activities: 

  • 3D Photography
  • Designing and printing 3D images
  • Computer Programming
  • Virtual Reality Headset

I'll bet you are all thinking about just how much fun that must be. 

We also got a few more of those Amazon Echo things including voice controlled light switches. Now I get frustrated when I'm in a room that does not have the voice activated lights. It is SO 20th century to have to walk all the way over to a switch. 

Barbara is still spending a lot of time in her role as Chair of the Board at Fox Hill Village. She does that well, but she is making little progress trying to remember how to cook or follow recipes so I still have that chore. For some reason, I seem more worried about this than she is. In spite of this mental disability, it is amazing how fast she learns the new Mah Jongg card each year. . 

We are gradually coming out of hibernation. Since we have been been inoculated, we have hosted trusted inoculated friends for dinner indoors without masks. Twice! Woo Hoo! Very Exciting. When we are at Fox Hill Village where EVERY resident has been jabbed, we are allowed to eat in the dining room, with a max of 6 people at a table. We still have to wear masks in the halls, but we don't have to wear masks while eating and drinking which makes those activities much easier. 

Early April was spectacular. I decided to get the boat into the water. On Friday, I took the boat to visit a friend on Bear Island. After I got back to our house, it was nice enough for our first Gin & Tonic of the season on the open porch. Very civilized. 

Spring is so welcome this year.