Adjusting to life in the Pacific Northwest:
After Erich and Nedra left in January, it was kind of strange being in my house all alone. But it was fine. I pretty much stayed in my room most of the time, working (blogging, etc.) on my computer. But I got out and explored the island somewhat as well.
I got my own, comfortable, little daily routine going. During the day, I’d do whatever needed to be done. In the evening, I’d make myself a big salad and watch a movie or a TV series on DVD. (I have zillions to wade through...) It was a nice, cozy winter schedule.
The deer:
I love the deer and my little orphans continued to visit me frequently. I always had apples and/or pears for them in the house. Other deer visited occasionally, and I treated them to apples as well. But it was my orphaned siblings I looked forward to seeing the most. They were “my deer” and were so cute.
Return to California Part 1:
My house in California was sitting vacant all of this time. Sure, there was still some furniture in it, and some items of mine and my mother’s that had not been shipped with the moving company. But there was no one living there. It sat unprotected and unoccupied.
On January 28, my mother and I flew back to California for three weeks. She had a rental house in downtown Clovis that had come up vacant and she needed to get it ready to rent again. I needed to get my place together to get it ready to sell.
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| This was my view all of the way to California. EEK! |
While there, both toilets broke. Termite damage had been uncovered. I needed a new stove. And there were just lots of things that needed to be repaired or replaced. Swell...
I had several boxes of stuff to go through—a lot of it stuff I needed to shred. (My poor shredder eventually died.) A couple of the boxes contained stuff from my mail art days. (Mail art is a sort of underground art movement expressed in a variety of ways. Mine was to decorate envelopes and mail them off to people.) A good portion of the mail art stuff I came across ended up in the trash—which I totally regret. Because, when I got back home in Washington, I started the hobby up again. Oh well...
I found lots of other treasures that I either got rid of or kept. The Aztec calendar I had made in 6th grade, the vest we wore in Glee Club for a show when I was in the 4th grade, a Halloween night picture from sometime in the 1970s, impressions of my teeth when I was about 13 and needed a retainer, and an autographed Polaroid of Ruth Buzzi wearing an "Easter bonnet" I had made for her out of an egg carton, were just some of the treasures I came acrossed.
Despite an added trip to Stanford for a doctor appointment with my neurologist (and a visit to a new-to-me tiki bar in San Jose where I met up with a former co-worker, Miriam...and having a mini-baby shower for friends Ashley and Sai), the trip to California was kind of a waste of time for me, I thought. There would have to be a second trip—where everything left over would either be packed and sent up north, sold at a garage sale, or given away to charitable thrift stores. The house had to be readied to sell,
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| Stanford |
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| At Dr. Funk's tiki bar in San Jose with Miriam |
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| A baby shower for Ashley and Sai. |
Mom's rental:
While my trip to California may have seemed fruitless, Mom’s work on her rental house was not. I am not all that sure what Mom went through during her time there, but she got the house ready to rent. Less than an hour after the banner went up offering up the place, a woman walked up to the door and asked to see the place. She was a psychologist who had a practice nearby, I believe my mom said. She wanted the house so she could walk to work and be close to Old Town Clovis. She rented it on the spot, much to my mothr’s delight and surprise.
Shirley:
Shirley the tortoise had been hibernating in my closet all winter. While we had been in California, my nephew, Brawn, had been checking on her. Just before we came home, he reported that she thought she was waking up. When she wakes up, she takes longer to come out of it than I do —like DAYS! I told him to just make sure she had water and some food (not that she’d eat. She rarely does when she first wakes up), and I’d be back very soon.
We got home a few days before my mother’s birthday. Shirley was indeed waking up. At first she was content with the closet—but then wanted out. It was far too cold for her outside, so started setting up the kitchen for her. I had her heat lamp and her UV light set up by the sink, with food and water also available to her. She had the run of the kitchen, but she hated it. All she did usually was sit by the heater vent under the heat lamp. Poor baby.
Blood Pressure Crisis:
While we had been in California, I had felt a little funny at times; spacey, dizzy, flush, etc. When we got back home I finally borrowed my mother’s blood pressure cuff and took mine. It was crazy high. 191/96. Yikes! I thought about it. I took a clonidine pill I was given for “emergency situations” to bring the blood pressure down. But it remained high. I decided to head to the ER.
I sat there for hours. They took my BP three times during the five or so hours I was there. One time it was 210/95. Yikes! But that was all they did. I guess, since I didn’t have a stroke, there was nothing they could do. It was a pointless...but it did expedite my getting a referral to a cardiologist faster. (However, my first appointment wasn’t until April 15. The ER had been March 1st-2nd)
My primary doctor and his nurse practitioner did their best to keep my blood pressure controlled until I could get to the cardiologist. Meds were upped. Blood tests taken. But my blood pressure would spike up into the 170s and 180s. It was scary.
Deer After first trip:
After several days of being back home, I finally saw my little orphaned deer babies. I was walking out to the car, and they came running around the corner up from the carport. I think they know the sound of my door. I put my stuff down and went to the kitchen to cut up an apple, leaving the door open. When I turned around to go back out again, I could see through the door that they had their necks craned trying to see what I was doing in the house. I gave them the apples and left (they were kind of freaked out with me coming down the stairs, but it was okay.) I was surprised that they hadn't grown too much in my absence.
Later, as I was arriving home and backing in, they came bursting out of the tall grass down the road a bit and walked quickly up to the house. Geez, they know the sound of my car, too? A lady driving by (she had to slow down when jumped into the road) watched them come up to the porch steps. She was incredulous. She rolled her window down and said she'd never seen anything like it before, and wanted to know if I fed them. I told her no and acted dumbfounded. It's illegal to feed them and I didn't want to get busted. However, when I went inside and closed the door, I went and cut up more apple. When I came out, the deer were still there waiting for me. Poor things. It was so cold outside.
That night or perhaps the next, it was quite late and I was just about to go to bed. I had neglected to close the front curtains earlier and went to do so. As I was pulling them closed, I thought I saw something falling from the sky in the dark. Was that snow? I went out onto the porch to check it out. It was snowing and was so cold. I thought about my little orphaned deer babies out there and went to cut them up an apple for morning. When I opened the door again, there they were. I think they sleep in the brush across the street. They must recognize the sound of my door.
Eventually, I knew I would have to ween them from the apples. They need to be independent. I caught one of them loitering in my front yard the other day, just waiting for me to come out and give it some apple bites. As they get bigger, they get kind of scary. The other night, two large deer came into the yard after I threw out apples meant for the babies in the morning. I was planning on going to the store after I tossed the slices onto the lawn. But the bigger deer wanted those apple bites and were very intimidating as I approached the car. I went back and waited until later.
A few days later, I heard something that sounded like a gun shot very near the house. From the hall bathroom, I could look out the window and saw a policeman dragging the corpse of a deer across the lawn across the street and put it in his car. Poor thing. I have no idea why they shot it. Perhaps it was injured, hit by a car?
I saw my orphaned deer babies again after that one more time...and then the smaller one vanished.
The larger, more fearless one still came by, though. Sometimes with other deer. Sometimes alone.
One of the other deer let me feed him by hand. I shared video of this with friends. One of my former co-workers, Kindra, named the new deer "Fawny." Fawny became a frequent visitor and let me feed her several times.
Social Security Disability Hearing:
On April 5, I finally had my hearing with Social Security for my disability. It was conducted via phone due to the situation with COVID.
I was super nervous. Even though it was on the phone, it was still court—and it sounded like a real court, with the clerk reading out the case to the court recorder, the judge, my representative, an employment expert, and me all on the same line.
It went by super quickly, too. The judge went over my medical case and employment history. She asked the expert if there was any position anywhere that I could do that would not require me to have further training. There was not.
The judged thanked me for my lifetime of service to the community. She noted, on her own, that I had gone back to school to become a nurse when the newspaper industry started tanking. I think that was what tipped things in my favor. I wasn’t really asked any questions at all. She could see that I had worked hard and had gone back to school to stay afloat and continue working. I wasn’t just some flake looking for a handout.
A few weeks later, I received a letter with the judge’s decision. I was award Social Security Disability. However, my award is less than $1,000 a month. That’s it. Apparently Social Security is under the impression I am getting money from some other source, possibly from California’s disability insurance through the Employment Development Department there. I was getting it. But California disability insurance runs out after a year. I have been trying to fight with social security about this. I’ve gotten paperwork from California saying my disability there was exhausted in 2021. I’m still waiting for a resolution. Until then, I am very broke.
Birthday Road Trip:
My 57th birthday was coming up. I had planned this lengthy road trip through the state hoping to see a bunch of zany roadside attractions. The trip was going to be taken alone, by myself. But that was okay. My plans for the trip were whittled way down because of my constant blood pressure issues. I didn’t want to stroke out while alone, hundreds of miles from anywhere or anyone I knew. Plus, my first cardiology appointment was scheduled for the morning of my birthday at 8 in the morning in Mt. Vernon, a little more than an hour away from my house.
The road trip got scaled down from a week-long expedition to a simple overnight excursion. I visited several offbeat things; a Bigfoot statue, another tiny church, a high school you can drive under, etc. I drove into Bellingham and, for my last cocktails as a 56-year-old, got to experience the very cool Red Rum tiki bar there. I spent the night in Mt. Vernon, went to the doctor, and hit a few more tacky tourist stops on my way back home. Short and sweet and solo...but I enjoyed it.
Return to California Part 2:
Just days after my birthday, Mom and I went b-a-c-k to California. I was determined to get my house on the market by the time I left. I still had some crap at the house to ship north. My mom had stuff in a locked storage area at her rental house she wanted to take as well. We had one of those moving cubes dropped in the driveway and loaded it up.
We got things ready for a garage sale—which worked out well. Other stuff I gave away. We made arrangements with Habitat For Humanity to take some of my larger items, like chairs, filing cabinet, garage sale leftovers, etc. Fortunately the City of Clovis was in the midst of their community pickup service, where they haul away old junk for free. We loaded up an old, broken recliner and my severely coffee-stained mattress and box springs—and got rid of them. Still other things we got rid of via Craigslist.
There was still time to squeeze in a lunch with a bunch o' my co-workers and dinner with Shookie, Vye, and Erich--who had come up to fly back to Washington for another visit.
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| Former co-workers...but still my alternate family. |
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| Vye and Shookie! |
Mom negotiated with a real estate agent for a good deal — 1% for the selling agent, 2% for the listing agent. An open house was scheduled for the weekend we were leaving. As we left, I said goodbye to my house, knowing I’d never see it again.
Mom's rental Part 2:
Mom’s new renter was turning out to be a problem...
She seemed too good to be true—at first. She was.
Originally she had asked Mom if she could — once in a blue moon — have overflow clients over for a session. As i understand it, initially Mom sai yes, but then when the lady wanted Mom to sign a paper giving her permission to run a business from the house, Mom changed her mind. She had once been told that if you make a residential home into a commercial business, you could not convert it back. She told the lady no and offered to let her out of her lease.
The lady was not happy. But she didn’t take Mom up on her offer to get out of her lease.
Mom had items on the property that she wanted to move north in the cube. She also wanted to work on the yard. The renter refused...and got a lawyer. Mom sent a notice saying she would be there one day only—and sent it a week early. We were able to get almost everything she wanted out, but it was so strange the woman was so weird about letting us on the property.
Then she started charging my mother rent for the storage shed (that she has never had keys or access to). She was literally sending Mom rent checks minus whatever she felt the rent on the shed should be.
Mom wanted her out—understandably. She hired a lawyer. And waited and waited and waited. He seemingly did nothing.
In the mean time, Mom found out that she was illegally using the house as an AirB&B/VRBO vacation rental! Mom got herself a new lawyer and spoke with the cops. She was trying very hard to get the woman evicted...and it’s crazy that she was having so much trouble doing so.
First week back in Washington:
When I got back, it was a week of doctor appointments. Erich had taken the train to Fresno just before we left and flew back to Washington with us. He went with me to the appointments off of the island as those are days we can hit Costco or Fred Myers.
Neuro-Muscular Disease:
That first Friday back, I had my first appointment at the University of Washington, where care for my neuro-muscular issues had been transferred from Stanford. It was Friday the 13th and the appointment was with a Dr. Black. That sounded rather ominous.
Dr. Black asked me a lot of questions. She was very thorough. But it was very obvious that she was also very new. I believe she was still a resident—not a full-fledged physician yet. She had to confer with her senior (also a resident, but one in his final year), who returned with her to the exam room.
I don’t recall his name, but I do remember what he said. It was a line straight out of a bad made-for-TV movie: “There’s nothing we can do for you.” I knew that after my visits to Stanford. But what? I just go off and die? No resources? No support groups? Nothing? What about pain management?
It was disappointing...
Tacoma:
Because my appointment had been all of the way in Seattle, we decided to do some exploring. Tacoma was our choice. That went far better than imagined. After checking in to our hotel, we went out to explore. Our first stop was in a very sketchy part of town, just past this huge homeless encampment. It was an old coffee pot-shaped building called Bob's Java Jive. It's a dive bar now, but it is marvelous. Erich and I both fell in love with it.
We followed that with a couple of tiki bars, McMenamin's The Old Hangout (which was a nicely done place--but it had totally the wrong music; punk/grunge---LOUD) and the very cool Devil's Reef. We followed tiki time with...a return to Bob's Java Jive. We had loved it so much.
Deer after second trip:
Fawny and many other deer continued to come and visit. I love my dear, deer friends. But both of my winter orphan babies seemed to have disappeared.On one of Fawny's visits, I was shocked to notice something. On top of her head were these little nubs. Oh my! Was Fawny (Gasp!) transgen-deer? Was she becoming a he? Ha! Fawny continued to visit for a while, then sort of faded away. She, er...HE would still show up occasionally, but he was soon always accompanied by a young doe. The last few times I spotted Fawny though, I was concerned. He had this big lump on his neck. I don't know if he had some sort of growth or if something had gotten inside and was causing an infection. I just don't know.
Fawn season came. There were several spotted near the house. One was born right next door, visible through the sliding glass door. There were at least three mamas with babies that kept rotating around the neighborhood. Two mamas had one fawn each, another had twins. They were so cute.
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| Mama cleaning her baby. |
One day, one of the babies was sitting under a tree in the yard. It got scared and got up...and fell again. I thought at first it was just having difficulty walking, as newborns do. But when it righted itself again, I could see its hind leg. Instead of being in two sections like a normal leg, there were three...and bone was clearly visible sticking out. Oh my god. The poor thing. I have no idea what happened to it, but it must have been in such agonizing pain--and with the bone out like that, there is no way it would live. I tried to call places about it, but it was a Sunday afternoon. No one that could handle the suituation was open.
That poor, unfortunate baby fawn appeared again several days later. But again, no one was available. It was after five on a Friday. We saw the baby a few more times.The mama was trying so hard to take care of it, licking the wound to try and keep it clean (possibly making herself sick in the process). The last time we saw it was just before we went out on a little road trip. It was sitting under the tree again. Erich gave it some fruit. He said he could smell the infection in the leg. As we drove off on our trip, I called wildlife officials yet again. No one would do anything. One person took a report and then referred me on to another number. The other would not come out because the baby was still able to get around--but there's no way the poor thing would ever heal. Since that trip, I have't seen it. It must have passed. So sad.
A pair of young bucks started showing up. They were not afraid of me at all. They came up and took food from me no problem. One even came up and tried to eat from the plate in my lap. But two young males together? You never see that. Normally males fight for territory, not pal around together. They must be siblings. And then it dawned on me. Two brothers with no apprehention in taking food from me? Could they be my two orphaned deer babies from this past winter? Hooray! If it is, they have come back to me. I love it.
Visitors and Other News:
My nephew, Brawn, graduated high school in June. Although he hasn't attended any classes at the high school since Covid hit (and is already nearly done with this Associates degree from online college courses), he still wanted to walk with his class anyway. (See the gap in the middle of the first row? He's the guy looking to his left right behind it.)
We all had such a delightful time, that we invited them to the island. ...which they did! I'm so glad they came. It was a great weekend!
I'm also looking forward to having others out in the coming weeks and months. Whoo hoo!
My house in California:
The open house happened the weekend after we left. That Monday, I received 6 offers. The best one had too many contingencies with it, so I went with the second best one. It went into escrow---and then I was beseiged with all of these demands. The buyer wanted to include the washing machine. Well, no, because I had sold the washing machine before I had even listed the house for sale. A termite inspection had shown damage. She wanted it fumigated. I had already had the house treated. They were gone. She wanted this fixed or credit for that repair. The house and fence weren't perfect, but were in pretty good shape. She was being very picky. But the agreement, at signing, was that I was selling it "as-is". On and on it went... The 30-day escrow was long and...exhausting.
The last of the move:
The cube arrived with all of Mom's stuff and the remainder of mine. We had the joy (UGH!) of driving to Everett (a long drive and ferry ride away) and unpacking the cube into a U-Haul. The cube we were unloading had more square footage than the U-Haul we were loading it into. Somehow, between Mom, my friend Erich, my nephew Brawn, and myself, we (just barely) got all of the crap in. Then we faced the l-o-n-g drive all of the way back home and unpacking the contents in my garage and then one of Mom’s storage sheds —before taking the truck back. What an ordeal.
Shirley:
By June it was still not warm enough for Shirley to be outside. She was not a happy camper being stuck in the kitchen, Eventually I let her walk about the house as she chose to. She was always trying to find a place where the sun came in to sit. Poor girl.
Soon after that, she seemed crazed, She wanted out, NOW! I would take her out when it was nearly warm enough. She’d sit and try to absorb whatever sun she could find for a bit...and then she’d find a place and dig...and dig...and dig!
I had never seen this behavior before, She was obsessed. She never dug in Clovis--but we had hard pan there. She did tear up her cardboard condos now and again--but I always thought she was just angry about something--not having a mania to dig.
And then she did something I had never seen her do before either. She laid an egg. The one I found was broken and looked soft boiled. Maybe it wasn't hers? She had never layed eggs in Clovis---and Shirley is old. But I looked it up. Yes, from June until mid-July, tortoises dig and lay eggs. Erich found a second mishapen one. Sometime after her digging obsession finally ended and she was back to normal, I found another egg in her house in the garage. Erich found another--a perfect one--in her pen. While I was in California, Mom found a 5th one...and this was in August, long after her crazed behavior had ended a month earlier. In all of the years we've had Shirley, I never suspected she'd be laying eggs, infertile or not. Crazy!
Other Shirley antics include her discovering a ladder...and deciding to make it her own personal obstacle course. Silly girl.
She also encountered a mirror--and got a look at herself. I don't know what thoughts could have been racing through her mind then.
Sold:
My house closed escrow on June 21st. As relieved as I was for that ordeal to have ended, I will miss my house. It was cozy and comfortable and all on one level. The back yard was good-sized. Shirley liked it and there were a lot of good memories assiociated with the place.
The buyer paid $420,000 for it. It wasn't LA or Bay Area prices, but I was thrilled to get it. Especially since I finally got the last laugh on the rude neighbors next door, who had surprisingly sold their house nine months or so earlier. (Their house was the same model as mine, but they had a pool and had enclosed their patio.) They had sold theirs for $415,000. I got $5,000 more. Neiner! Neiner! Neiner! Of course, theirs was probably paid for. I owed $200,000+. But when the smoke had cleared, my car and other debts paid off, I still had $150,000. I have to make it last... (Although the insurance company that was keeping me afloat during the interum from when I was first disabled until my disability was approved wants $10,000 back for overpayment---based on Social Security's award amount. EEEK!)
Below is the Zillow report with photos taken from the real estate listing:
(NOTE* Oct. 1, 2022: Just a few months after buying my house, it is back on the market. It looks like all they did was add a swatch of white wood along the bottom of the front of the house, put in cheap, ugly faux-wood flooring, and painted the wooden cabinets in the kitchen white - which looks awful. The backyard looks awful--and yet they are asking for $35,000 more than I got. For what?)
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1172-Joshua-Ave-Clovis-CA-93611/18793770_zpid/?view=public
Mom's rental part 3:
As of August 31, Mom is still dealing with her weird tenant. Her new lawyer has served her eviction papers and the police served her a notice saying she had to show a business license by the 19th. We think things are finally resolving. Mom has heard from neighbors that someone was moving things out of the house, and the lady's lawyer contacted Mom's lawyer and wanted to do a walk-through TONIGHT. Hopefully there is no damage (There's actual concern she'll sneak in later and vandalize the place.) and Mom can get her house back. (She's still going to take her to civil court though.)
Moving claim:
If you'll recall the story of the movers and the horrible job they did unloading everything--all of the damage they did, etc.--I was told to open a claim against them. I did. I had all of this paperwork to do, tracking down (or trying to) similar items to compare value to, etc. I spent months working on the paperwork off and on and got it submitted by the deadline. But, regardless of the value of the item or how much it would cost to replace/repair it, the standard fee is 60 cents per pound. Hundreds (probably more like thousands) of dollars in damage occurred, and I was offered $192. That's it.
Whatever.
I am here now. My body continues to break down, but at least I am near family.
There's no going back...
In case you missed them, here are links to the other sections of this story:
Part 1: https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-great-northwest-move-part-1-saying.html
Part 2: https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-great-northwest-move-part-2-movers.html
Part 3: https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-great-northwest-move-part-3.html
Part 4: https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-great-northwest-move-part-4.html
Part 5: https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-great-northwest-move-part-5.html
Part 6: https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-great-northwest-move-part-6.html
Comments
Thanks for visiting. Ha...and eeew...about licking the back of the guy's head to make him move. Ha ha ha! The deer are sweet (except when they are mean to each other because they want to hog all of the food.) I appreciate your stopping by.
CHEERS!