What's happening in your neck of the woods? We have finally warmed up to more normal temperatures. Today was a stupendous day, which we wasted by going to the dentist. The practice has changed since we were last there. I was able to say all I want is cleaning, and that's what I got. Jim was pretty much forced in to a bunch of x-rays which he'd already had done in Spokane last July, and so wasn't due for them. (Stephanie was the driving force behind this.) Then there was the "dental exam" which consists the dentist peeking in there and then moving on. They also wanted to up-sell him on a fluoride treatment. I'm pretty cheesed off by the entire experience. We were patients there from 2007 to 2021, so we've got a lot of history with them. However, their behavior today seemed really predatory. I think maybe one more chance and then we're done.
After the dentist there was a trip to Target, which is one of my favorite stores. Safeway is charging $7.29 for an 18 ounce box of corn flakes. Target had them 2 for $7. Safeway pisses me off with their pricing. Eggs remain exorbitantly high. Since all of our cookware here is ruined, we are eating no eggs. They'll stick to the pans. Last night we made hamburgers in the house. We've never done that, we've always cooked them outside on the grill. Since there were no usable skillets at the last condo, we went to Home Goods to buy something, and ended up with a 10 inch Lodge cast iron skillet. It's been good. So we did hamburgers in a pan, and they were actually good. The flat surface produces a killer Maillard reaction.
After Target there was a trip to the cactus nursery. Like everything else, prices have really gone up on cacti. They were nice to look at, and we did not buy anything.
This is at Bach's. They have a lot of plants. That's shade cloth across the top of the structure, it keeps the cactus from sun burning.
Adorable tiny blooming cacti.
Interesting looking plants.
This is a Turk's Head cactus, named this because it looks like a Fez. It starts out life as a green ball, and after awhile it starts growing the red part. It blooms and fruits from the red part, and then the green part slows its growth rate down significantly. When I first saw it I thought it was a graft, but it's not.
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Today is International Women's Day. We should take a moment and think about the women in Iran, Afghanistan and other places where women's treatment is abysmal. Mr. Carter was right.
Other than this, I have nothing new to report.
Some dentists here are reluctant to do National Health Service treatment...which isn't free for most of us, even as pensioners. Even with the basic NHS treatment they do push unnecessary add on treatment.
ReplyDeleteI refuse the fluoride every time--at my age, really? My dentist grandfather would be rolling over in his grave. I didn't realize that cactus blooms were so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame about the dentist. How come Jim got the hard sell and you didn't? Love the cacti! I never see that kind of variety here. I feel kind of sorry for cacti in England. They look so out of place.
ReplyDeleteJimmy Carter said it right, and the sad part is too many "civilized" countries are going backward in the progression. My daughter read somewhere, it is expected it will take another 300 years to reach real equality...and that assumes things remain as they are currently.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder too, if Jim finds it harder to say no to the dentist than you do? I agree though, the upsell would be enough to put me off visiting them again too.
The cacti are spectacular!
The dentist people framed it for Jim that if he didn't get x-rays they wouldn't do the teeth cleaning. My person just said ok and carried on. Luck of the draw, I suppose.
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