Fruit Tree Attention

After meeting with our landscaper the other day, it became obvious that we had to remove the remaining fruit from our trees - sooner than later. He indicated that we should cut back/prune the trees to ready them for the new season which begins in March. At that time, the new blooms will be appearing. Josie and I went to Home Depot and picked up a "picker" for us to use to reach the high fruit on these trees. Tomorrow will begin the task of removing all that is left on the trees.

As Josie had the day off yesterday, we also baked some cookies which neither of us really need, but we have to use the cookie dough left over from Christmas. The chocolate chip cookies are great, but they will leave their mark on our waistline.

I had an early morning appointment today with my doctor to diagnose my dizziness. It is getting a bit better, but my experience at the doctor's office will be discussed tomorrow...

Refrigerator Update

The second visit yesterday from the Samsung technicians turned out to be very different from the first visit. I performed a recommended fix procedure following that first visit that didn't work. This time, they still couldn't identify the problem so they completely replaced the icemaker equipment. We will see how it goes from here. If this doesn't fix the problem, we will return the refrigerator for another model.

I went to the store yesterday to get some help for my sudden dizziness. I bought some motion sickness medicine, similar to Dramamine, and it seemed to work for the rest of the day. I still have some dizziness this morning, so I took more of the medicine hoping to eliminate it totally. I'm avoiding the step of going to the doctor until it just will not go away. Most dizziness, from what I've read, is a result of an inner ear issue of some kind. I have no pain or other irritation, so I'll see what happens...

Birthday Distraction

It's a good thing that Josie and I celebrated my birthday on Sunday. While at the store yesterday in the early afternoon I began to feel some dizziness which persisted the rest of the day. In fact, after Josie returned home from work I even had a bout of nausea before going to bed. The dizziness is still a problem this morning although not as severe as yesterday. I have no idea what could have brought on this attack as I cannot remember ever having one like this. At any rate, I am drinking lots of fluids and trying to remove any chance of dehydration as a cause.

Our second visit from the Samsung service tech is scheduled for today. I received a message to expect them from between 3-5 PM. I hope they can find the icemaker problem and fix the issue as we otherwise like the refrigerator. We will decide on a course of action following today's visit.

I had a visit from our landscaper this morning who informed me that it is time to cut back the fruit trees so they will be ready to bloom again in March. Hmm. We still have lots of fruit on them so we have to decide on a course of action to find the best way to save all the oranges and lemons that remain. We already have lots of juice. Oh, well...

Birthday Dinner

Since Josie had to work today we decided to celebrate my birthday a day early by going to dinner. We chose the Longhorn Steakhouse where we haven't eaten in ages. We also decided to go early to avoid crowds and to combine our lunch and dinner. Believe it or not, at 1:30 PM there was a waiting list and we didn't get seated until almost 2 PM. We certainly understand why this place is so popular. The food was terrific and, even though we had a couple minor service issues, it was a great way to celebrate my birthday. I even got to take home a nice (gratis) slice of cheese cake. I'm good for another year now.

Now that my birthday is over, I will restart my diet plan tomorrow. The plan is to stock up today on my required diet foods and put away the heavy carb foods. I'm hoping to have reached my target weight by around the middle of March. The real challenge, as always, will be to maintain the new weight over a long period of time. It's just not in my genes to be a skinny person.

The football playoffs are going just about as predicted. I hope that the KC Chiefs can pull an upset over the Patriots next weekend so we can enjoy some new faces in the Super Bowl...

Yardwork

The goal yesterday was to get an early start for Spring by doing some yardwork. There are several plants that were damaged from the recent freezes and needed to be trimmed back. It was a perfect day to do the work:

I fact, following our efforts with the plants in the back, we sat out and just enjoyed the sun and watched the birds, bunnies and golfers. There is more work to be done - in the front yard - but will be done at a later date.

Today is starting out to be another fine day, weather-wise, but there is a good chance for some rain later this afternoon. Josie has the next two days off so we will find some things to do to take advantage of that free time..

Refrigerator Service

The technicians from the local Samsung repair facility arrived in the early afternoon to check out our icemaker noise. They checked everything and informed me that it was a result of the water line metal connector hitting the metal rear of the refrigerator while running water through the line. As unbelievable as it sounds, I had the material necessary to wrap the line to resolve the problem - according to them. I made the fix after they left and discovered the noise remained. I immediately called them and rescheduled another call - next week - to give it another try. They also changed some other settings on the refrigerator while here, so I'll see if those changes have any effect.

We will make a visit to Walmart today to pick up some paper products, garbage bags and garden supplies. If the weather holds out, we will most likely get some outside work done. It's nice that Josie has the next three days off to get some of these projects done...

Colonoscopy Scheduled

My appointment with the doctor yesterday regarding my Colonoscopy was typical. It cost a co-pay of $45 and I never saw the doctor and was there for a total of 15 minutes. The Nurse Practitioner gave me the usual instructions for the prep, took my blood pressure, discussed any other issues and sent me on my way. The appointment for the actual Colonoscopy was set for Thursday, January 31.

We are beginning to think that we are still in Washington. The number of cloudless days seems to be shrinking every year. What ever happened to the 320 days of sunshine per year in Arizona? We get sunbreaks almost every day, but hardly ever get whole cloudless days. Of course, we do get lots of cloudless days in the summer but you can't sit outside to enjoy them when it is 110 degrees.

Today's activity is centered around a service call from Samsung regarding a noise in the icemaker of our new refrigerator. I have to wait now for a call from them to inform me when to expect the technician...