Greedy Goldfinch

There are hundreds of tiny goldfinches in the remaining branches of the trees above the bird feeders, and even a lot in the bottle brush that is struggling to make a comeback. We left some straggly branches just to provide places for the birds to perch. They are quite accustomed to us and kept on feeding even when I was throwing the Kong for Spike right underneath them.  They are particularly bright this time of year and make me feel hopeful that there are some things in these crazy times that never change....

It used to be that when you called a doctors' office you reached a real person who could at least listen to you an attempt to do whatever it was you called for. Now it feels just like calling AT&T or trying to resolve a computer problem....hours spent in robot message hell. My pleas for somebody to call me fell on deaf ears. Leaving a message with a robot does not inspire confidence that anybody will ever read it. 

Finally, today with the help of my neighbor who is a doctor I got a call from a real person who explained to me that a referral to their office required two weeks to 'process' I said I had been told that it was an urgent referral and she said it was right in front of her and was marked 'routine'. At least she realized that arguing about it was pointless and made an appointment for me. I think these people live in an alternate reality if they actually think someone would call and beg and plead for the services they offer unless they were reasonably desperate.

The truly bizarre postscript to this  phase is the letter that arrived in the  mail today urging me to call their office and make an appointment! 

The extra is a close up picture of just one part of the tile in our bathroom. It is almost impossible to get a decent shot of the whole thing and I am waiting to hear from David to finish up a few details before I try. I understand he had Covid and is waiting for a negative test. In the meantime, the bathtub is perfectly usable and I have already taken several lovely baths. All I need now is some bubbles....