Eyes!

[lydamorehouse]

 Shawn had the first of two cataract surgeries this morning. 

We had to drive into Minneapolis because her doctor operates out of the Philip's Eye Clinic. Rather than bother with the highway, we drove down Lake Street.  We saw TWO deer in the cemetery at Lake and Cedar, which is always cool.  The Eye Institute is between Chicago and Park Avenue, and so I drove past the site where Uncle Hugo's had been, which is now a sad, overgrown fenced, empty lot. I had been feeling bad that so many of the buildings here in Midway in St. Paul haven't been completely rebuilt, but Lake Street still looks so devestated by comparison. I was a little shocked and very heartbroken. Does the city not want to invest? There's that wonderful, colorful section of Mexican restaurants and shops and it just stood out as this joyful section and I thought how nice it would be if that vibrancy could return to the whole street.

At the Eye Center, we got checked in. I ended up at the reception desk a little longer than Shawn because I happened to be carrying our pharmacy card in my wallet. As I was fishing that out for the receptionist, someone's audio book started playing. They had clearly forgotten to plug in their headphone first because a VERY LOUD, clear voice started reading: "He was hard as a rock at the sight of her stiffening nipples...." 

Ah, whoops!

For me (and maybe this isn't fair,) this is made a bit funnier by the fact that the median age in that waiting room had to be 65. Which I mean, is not to old for porn enjoyment by any means, but it was a little like sitting through "American Gigalo" with your son's grandma (which I did up at Grand Rapids one year) while the BDSM scene is happening.

Shawn's surgery went fine.  I got really hungry at one point and so I broke down and risked vending machine food (they had a microwave and such in a little cafeteria area). I wanted to eat my food outside, but I was informed that if I went out the door would lock. Also, it was somehow UNSAFE. When I gave the receptionist the ??? face, she very seriously told me that "people had been hurt." I said, "Eating breakfast for five minutes outside on a Tuesday at 10 am?" She was like, "I'm sorry you don't agree, but also the pagers won't work if you leave the building." I did not want to eat indoors, since Minnesota is #1 in the nation for COVID infections right now, but I felt very bullied into staying indoors for the two minutes it took to gulp down my sandwich in the cafeteria. I should probably just have gone out to flaunt my ability to withstand BEING IN A BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD, which was clearly what this lady was dog whistling with her "we've had people get hurt" racist bullsh*t. 

Ironically, when I went to go get the car to pick up Shawn after the surgery, I saw a cluster of smokers beside the building and I was really, really tempted to yell out, "Hey, be careful, you know people have GOTTEN HURT!!," but I didn't because 1) didn't want to be accidentally taken seriously and/or perpetuate this racist crap and 2) it was only funny in my head.

Shawn is home now, asleep, after been fed a lovely lunch by me. I was upstairs under the covers with her for awhile, but I was feeling like I needed to try to get some work done today. She gets to take her eye patch off tonight around six pm.  Fingers crossed it all continues to go well.

Tonight I have an orientation zoom for the Q Quest presentation I volunteered to do tomorrow and Thursday. I should probably plan out my presentation at some point here today, as well. 

Stuff to do!

How are you all?

Comments

[sabotabby]

I'm glad Shawn is okay!

It's always bizarre to me how people conceive of safety. Like at school, it's safe for kids to hang out unmasked at lunch in close unventilated quarters for 45 minutes, but not to give them an hour, which would give them more time to get outside and back.

[lydamorehouse]

Yes. So much yes about how people CONCIEVE safety. I just don't live in a world where it isn't safe to go outside for five minutes. I have, for much of my adult life, lived in so-called "sketchy" neighborhoods. I would much rather hang out in those places than eat, unmasked in a cafeteria in a CLINIC for five minutes.

I will tell you, because I know you will appreciate this--that was my second ever eating indoors without a mask moment since the pandemic started. I'm sure you haven't had the luxury to chose not to, but I've been really fortunate and I know you would be like me, if you could.

[sabotabby]

Oh no, I refuse to eat indoors unless it's with a small group of people who I know well and have had consent discussions with. That's under 15 people in total since the pandemic started. I've had to do a hard "no extra help at lunch" rule because I get 45 minutes to eat and I don't want anyone unmasked around me. No restaurants or anything either.

[lydamorehouse]

I should have known. I am impressed.

[sabotabby]

At this point I feel like I'm only hurting myself. Everyone else is doing it.

[dreamshark]

"I had been feeling bad that so many of the buildings here in Midway in St. Paul haven't been completely rebuilt, but Lake Street still looks so devestated by comparison. I was a little shocked and very heartbroken. Does the city not want to invest?"

This is because the Minneapolis City Council is completely and absolutely incompetent. Small business owners like Don Blyly have been BEGGING for the council to do something about the byzantine legal hurdles and bureaucratic nightmares standing in the way of rebuilding, but most council members have been far more interested in grandstanding than in actually doing their jobs. I am beyond fed up with every one of them. I would have loved the opportunity to vote against my own council member, one of the grandstandiest of the lot of them, but the DFL machine did not allow for that. She "ran" unopposed in the DFL Primary and, unlike in some of the other wards, no grassroots candidates emerged to oppose her in the general. I left that column blank on my ballot.

[lydamorehouse]

Shawn did that over hear for one candidate. Sometimes the vote of no confidence, even when you know it isn't likely to succeed, is important for the soul.

I'm sorry to hear about the City Council. I guess I'm glad I don't live in Minneapolis any more? There's a lot of stuff wrong with St. Paul, too, but y'all have had a much harder time on that side of the river lately, I feel like.

[dreamshark]

Of course, that's just my opinion. There may be some people over here who are deliriously happy with their council members.

[lydamorehouse]

Well, I mean, that's probably always true? Thing is? The person Shawn refused to vote for? Melvin Carter. She's just more to the left than he is? I don't blame her, but I had to laugh given the options over on the other side of the river. :-)

[minnehaha]

I hope she recovers and has perfect results from her surgery.

K.

[lydamorehouse]

Thank you, your wish came true!

Shawn had a follow-up appointment today and she tested 20/20 in that eye!! She's never seen 20/20 in her entire life.

[mtbc]

Great about that audiobook. (-: And yay for eye surgery, exciting times.

[lydamorehouse]

See above! Shawn is now seeing (in one eye, atm) 20/20, which she's never experienced before in her entire life. She's always been severely nearsighted.

The sudden porn reading was HILARIOUS (if awkward, no doubt, for the owner of the book)

[dreamshark]

LOL at the earbud malfunction in the waiting room. Why doesn't something like that ever happen when I'm sitting around in a boring waiting room??

[lydamorehouse]

I don't know! It was a little surreal as the porn continued....

[offcntr]

Best to Shawn! Denise had her cataracts out a couple of year ago, and got her vision corrected at the same time. She still needs glasses to read, but the top part of her bifocals is now clear glass.

[lydamorehouse]

Shawn's doctor tested her at 20/20 today (the one eye.) He also noted that people with insanely bad eyes (Shawn is THIS close to being legally blind,) often have the best results. She may still need reading glasses, if only because it's an artificial lens, but she's very okay with that. Much like Denise, it sounds like.

Next surgery just after Thanksgiving.

[dreamshark]

So... she got a new lens set for distance vision, I gather. Is the other one also going to be set for distance, or is she doing the one close/one distant combo?

[bibliofile]

I hope the surgery went perfectly and that S recovers fast.

Remember that great St Vinnie's is right there (off of Lake St) for after a followup visit (but probably not the next surgery).

Yeah, people's feelings of fear/scared vary so much, it's hard to know what's happened unless you follow the local news very closely. For the record, recent crimes against people here in Madison have been happening mostly in the afternoon, in daylight -- or, of course, during student drinking times (night) on the weekend.

[lydamorehouse]

The surgery was a success in the first eye. She's now seeing 20/20! Which she has never experienced in her entire life, so that's somethign.

And, yeah, I guess I am always wary when people talk about "dangerous" neighborhoods, because I have almost always lived in these places? Even when I lived in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, my high school had a reputation of being scary because we were on the "wrong" side of town (read: poorer.) That was entirely silly. There was and is nothing scary about the North Side.

Same when I lived on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis. I used to walk to work in downtown and people told me I was crazy because of all the CRIME, but I guess I was lucky? Or people could tell I was as poor as they are? I don't know. I had some fascinating experiences, including being prayed over in Dakota by a fairly drunk guy who was taking the same bus as me. But, he meant no harm, and, in fact, thinking about it now, his prediction that I would become a teacher was fairly accurate, actually. Huh.

ANYWAY, yeah.

[j00j]

Sigh at the racist crime narratives.

I hope Shawn's results are great-- my dad had his cataract surgery a few years ago with a great outcome!

[lydamorehouse]

Results are amazing! Couldn't be more perfect (20/20!)

And, seriously, yes. LE SIGH.