Fall colors are everywhere. We have sunny skies and pleasant temperatures. In short, it’s a fine week.

Danita’s recovery is slow. She uses the steps, but limits her trips. She has discomfort in her knee. The PT folks suggested a compression knee brace/sleeve. It should be delivered later on today.

We had a neighborhood concert yesterday with light snacks and deserts. The music was Motown, with emphasis on the Temptations.

I got my COVID and flu shots at Wegman’s. They had cool kids Band-Aids with Pokemon characters. I have no idea what their names are. It was fun, even if I couldn’t show them off under my long sleeve shirts.

Every once in a while we go to a financial planning seminar. We get bona-fide invitations with no obligation to sign up for services. We get a nice free dinner. We just might learn something we don’t already know. I was sorry we attended one Thursday. The dinner was great. I had crab soup and a crab cake entre. I polished it off with half of a very rich piece of chocolate cake and half a slice of key-lime pie. The presentation was a different matter. It was centered on the idea that we might need to go to a nursing home some day. If we do, we’re likely to spend a small fortune on care. UNLESS … The scheme used some kind of a trust. We would not own our assets, be we could get the benefit of using them. If we need a nursing home, we will be eligible for a Medicaid room, practically free, because we wouldn’t own any assets. It all sounded complicated, entangled, and very shady. Who knows what would happen if their worst case scenario panned out? I’ve run across this idea a couple of times. It’s not for me. Nor would I work with lawyers that made this an important part of their practice. But the dinner really was nice.

This it for me. I hope this finds everybody doing well.

The major topic for our HOA (Home Owners Association) has been our roofs. Leaks have been steadily increasing. Areas that should use fireproof plywood didn’t have it. The fake chimneys can’t be properly flashed. The HOA did studies, consulted engineers, and discussed. This culmination came last week. The board decided we needed to remove the chimneys, replace all of the plywood, and install 40-year shingles. Last Thursday, we voted for and approved a special assessment of $6,565 per household. Only three households voted against the proposal. With good weather, all of the roofs should be replaced this year.

Danita and I attended another concert this weekend. This one was a piano concert at the Second Presbyterian Church near Guilford. (That’s the old money area of Baltimore). The music featured CPE Bach, Hyden, and Schumann. Einav Yarden is an amazing pianist. We were planning to cap the evening with a French dinner at Petit Louis Bistro. Petit Louis accepts reservations. We didn’t know how long the concert would be. Earlier in the day, I checked the website and saw that tables were available. But when we got there, they were jammed. We did a pivot to hamburgers and cheesecake at a brewery restaurant.

We’re looking forward to some very nice weather. Temperatures will approach 80. The fall colors are starting. It should be a wonderful week. I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Last weekend we attended a jazz trio concert at UMBC. The music was not exactly what I expected, but it was interesting. The highlight was the drummer. He single-handedly kept multiple rhythm patterns going simultaneously. It was a tour de force from the best drummer I ever encountered. This weekend we attended another UMBC jazz concert. This was a “big band” performance of music from Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. We’re looking forward to another concert next week.

Danita is doing much better. She walks without a rollator or cane, but she still has pain and limits her activities. She started her PT.

Most of my time this weekend was spent on the new Residents database. I’m not done, but I made quite a bit of progress.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Thursday, Danita decided to walk to Target, use a coupon, and get a Target plastic bag. (They cost $.05, but they’re really good for small trash cans, and buying a box of small trash bags is $0.10 per bag.) She stepped of a curb in a perfectly normal way and experienced extreme pain in one knee, radiating down her leg. She called me. I was on my bike, about half an hour from home. I picked her up and she iced it all afternoon. She was having a very difficult time hobbling around with a cane. The next day, we saw the doctor. He said it was almost certainly soft tissue damage. We got an X-ray just to make sure, got her a knee brace, picked up some prescription strength Motrin, made a Physical Therapy appointment, and borrowed a rollator from our neighbor. (I remember the days when many of our friends had babies, and baby paraphernalia flowed around the neighborhood. It seems there is a parallel for us seniors.) Danita has been very good about staying off her feet. She is already on the mend. But it will be a while before she’s up and around.

Normally, we like to go downstairs to watch TV for a couple of hours in the evening as we unwind and prepare for bed. Stairs are out of the question for Danita, so I moved the TV from the guest bedroom to the living room. It’s one of the first affordable “1024p” big-screen TVs. It’s heavy beast. I got it downstairs undamaged. It will be a good trick getting it back upstairs later on. I had everything wired up and working in less than an hour, which included an uncounted number of trips upstairs and downstairs to grab just one more thing I hadn’t though of. Right now the TV is sitting proudly smack dab in the center of the space between our two sofas.

Of course we had to keep up with our important activities. We had a gelato food truck Thursday. Danita authorized me to get any flavors I thought she would enjoy. I didn’t hear any complaints. Friday was a neighborhood party featuring savory and sweet pies. This was the very first time I drove to the clubhouse to attend a party. The rollator was very helpful getting Danita to a table. I was the only person who went through the buffet holding two plates.

Danita’s feeling good enough that we plan to attend a jazz trio concert tomorrow at UMBC.

I was planning to write this blog on Monday. For the last month, I’ve been working on a really cool update to our Residents database. Installation will take quite a while as I will have to review nearly 300 pages of pool passes to make sure everything is perfect. This was a great weekend to do the installation because our staff is in mandatory training Monday. I have three days to do the work. Unfortunately, they changed their password and didn’t tell me. But now I have more time to do cool things like writing blogs.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.