Random 5 for June 15, 2025 – Surgery, guests, disappointment, marches, local politicians

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Sasha wondering why we need house guests.

Hip, hip hooray! – Four people I know had hip replacement surgery in the past six weeks. The ages vary from 52 to 85. They all healed differently. This surgery has come a long way from past decades when people could expect to spend a month or two in a rehabilitation facility before coming home. None of them said it was easy despite the progress made in techniques. Fortunately, joint replacement is not common in my family. We have other stuff, but our joints work just fine. My 95-year-old brother has all his original parts and my mother went to her grave intact too. Fingers cross that I won’t need that in my lifetime.

Visitors – We are expecting house guests later this week. We are cleaning and sorting things. We are late setting up our outside yard because of rainy weather but it’s looking good now. If it ever stops raining, I’ll post some pictures.

Not meeting expectations – I bought two tops, same style in two different sizes expecting to take the less comfortable one back. They both seemed to fit until I washed them. Despite following the cold water and low heat instructions, both shrank. The smaller one is a definite no. The other shrank widthwise but since it was big to start with that was ok. What wasn’t ok was the length. Not a fan of short tops that end at the waist so back they both go. I’m always leery of 100% cotton clothes and this was yet another reinforcement lesson.

Civil rights march of 1963

Déjà vu 1960s – Congratulations to all the folks who marched in the “No Kings” demonstrations yesterday. (I saw several of my regular readers marched!) I saw the crowds in many cities. We can only hope this sends a message to the Congress members who are up for reelection.

And the wrap up here — Locally, our congressman’s office saw large groups of people marching. Streets were closed and police were out in full force. Everything was peaceful. Locals have been regularly picketing his office which is on a main thoroughfare. He lives a few blocks from me and I wondered if anyone marched by his home. He has done diddlysquat for our district, instead pushing an agenda that doesn’t affect our area. He had an extremely slim winning margin and I’m hoping his first term will be his last.

So how was your week.

53 thoughts on “Random 5 for June 15, 2025 – Surgery, guests, disappointment, marches, local politicians”

  1. I’m glad to hear hip replacements have come along – I knew people in the past who had them and had a really tough time. I don’t think I will need one – no one in my family has needed one and I seem to be doing OK so far (knock wood). And yes, hope the peaceful but widespread protests have some effect!

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  2. I have at least two friends who desperately need either knee or hip replacements and they are just refusing. Meanwhile, their mobility is becoming more and more of an issue. Those that have gone ahead with the surgeries have done really well. I, too, I don’t have to face this in my future, but my 93 year old mom is still with all of her original parts also…a good sign?

    I was out of town for the “No Kings” march, but up in a little town in Marin County Northern California and it felt like every person who lived in that town was out on the street. I was impressed! And hope it makes a difference somehow. 😉

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      • We have food rotting in our fields and businesses that can’t open because the workers aren’t showing up. People who think this is only a California problem are going to find out very quickly how interconnected we all are. I think people who aren’t upset at the tactics seem concerned about their own creature comforts and personal bank balances may be persuaded to think again during the midterms. My fingers are crossed, but I wouldn’t be confident enough to make a bet! I’m probably too cautious to hold my breath, too! 😉

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  7. Clothing sizes are so irregular anymore, but that’s awful what happened when you washed them. I am no fan of short tops either. In my opinion, it is difficult to look put together in 100% cotton clothes, once you sit down. You get up and you’re a mess of wrinkles. I remember getting a skirt suit once that was made of rayon. It was a straight skirt with a battle-jacket type top. It sounds horrible, but was actually very cute and that was the style at the time. I took the bus and by the time I got to work, without even holding my tote bag on my lap, I stood up and looked like I slept in that outfit. It got worse throughout the day, sagging and bagging and sadly that was the end of that outfit.

    My friend Ann Marie was 80 when she had a total hip replacement. Because she worried about her husband being alone for too long at their apartment (he is 10 years older and in poor health), she asked her doc if she could be discharged the same day. When she told me that pre-surgery I thought “no way!” My mom had a hip replacement in 1981, then a hip revision (they remove the original prosthesis and replace it – her “stem” had come loose) in 1990. The first surgery she was hospitalized for three weeks; the second surgery for 10 days. I was proven wrong when Ann Marie went in very early, had the surgery and was whisked away in a friend’s vehicle before sundown!

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    • That’s how it was for my step-daughter. Surgery around noon, home by supper but she’s 52. I hope your friend had help at home because she couldn’t take care of both of them.

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      • Amazing isn’t it for your step-daughter but youth was in her favor. The doctor also wanted Ann Marie in/out of the hospital quickly as that was the time that RSV virus was so bad and COVID too. A friend of the family from northern Michigan came to help out, but just for a week, but that friend had COVID and didn’t know it (she had no symptoms at the time) and gave Ann Marie COVID in the process, so all three of them of them were in bad shape. They don’t have kids – she was a former nun.

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  8. We had perfect weather and a huge turnout for the No Kings rally in my small city. There were problems, though. They planned for lots of speeches, and then the PA system broke down. The organizer, Rick Steves, ran home and got his personal system which wasn’t powerful enough. I guess problems like this can’t always be avoided.

    I hate to complain because it was very successful, and everyone was in good humor, but: #1 with two other events happening at the same time, it was hard to find parking that wasn’t many, many blocks away, and #2 my back had a hard time standing for two hours and then walking back to the car. Nevertheless, I plan to do it again.

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    • It sounds successful and tiring! Hats off to you. I don’t do the marches any more. I did them in the 60s, now I’m hoping the younger generation will pick up the cause.

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    • Yes I returned them today. It’s a brand I do a lot of business with and they stand behind their product. Funny story — today when I took them back I had the same product on that I had bought a few years ago. They redesigned it so the sleeves are now raglan instead of set in. The fabric looks the same but the one I’m wearing didn’t overly shrink and it’s been washed a lot.

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  14. New York too is protesting. Change hopefully is in the wings. It’s like an ongoing bad dream.

    And as far as your company goes, your home is so beautiful it will be a treat for them, I’m sure.

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  15. Got a chuckle out of the picture of Sasha wondering why you need house guests. I really think that’s what she’s thinking! I will be looking forward to your outdoor photos. I have two shirts I ordered from LL Bean that shrunk like crazy… 100% cotton. I haven’t been doing too good with Bean lately. There are a lot of people that I am hoping are going to see their last term. I think I have aged 10 years with this mess.

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  17. I’m amazed at the advances in medicine with joint replacements, transplants, etc.

    Hey! Maybe we could get Trump a heart transplant. That might help!

    Enjoy your company this week, Kate!

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    • How about brain transplant? Medical advances amaze me. My oldest brother (who is the only one who had a hip replacement and I forgot about that when I wrote this) had it done 30 years ago and spent considerable time in a rehab facility. It was a couple weeks. Now most people come home the same day or the next day. Yikes! Most people are happy after the healing.

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  18. Huge protests out here, even in my area that’s a red dot in blue state. Much bigger than BLM and double the size of the one in April. Except for the massive Latinx turnout in LA and San Diego, though, most of the protesters seem to be white this time around.

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  19. I think King Day was a success in many ways but will it make a difference? I wish it would but the number of people involved was MORE than impressive. If I were more mobile and a whole lot younger I would have been there I think. Hip replacement – guess what – mine was amazing. I was in the hospital one night – went home with walker and cane which I used once (when I was learning “stairs”). Home care/P.T. started next day and lasted 4 days. I was AMAZED. Seriously amazed. I envisioned a couple of weeks of cane/walker staying home, etc. This will sound corny but I went into the surgery feeling strongly/believing that post-surgery my persistent hip pain would be totally gone and life would be great – IT WAS AND STILL IS. I was impressed but I had a great surgeon and organized after-care. No problems with my other hip – I’ll be pushing up daisies before that one goes I bet/hope!

    Hugs, Pam

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    • That is a wonderful hip story! It wasn’t like that for my 2 friends in their 80s. One has spent 2 weeks in rehab, partly because she lives alone and had no one to help her. The other has other health issues that complicated things. I believe your positive attitude carried you through. I marched in the 60s and it was effective but I’m not sure if today’s youth has the same drive that we had to make things different.

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  20. Peaceful protests in the streets are necessary [unfortunately] but also kind of unnerve me, an introvert. I’m glad people are onboard with the No Kings movement and proud to defend democracy. The Donald may not understand why this is happening, but others in the GOP must be catching on by now that WE THE PEOPLE aren’t happy with this president.

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    • I sure hope so. I marched in the 60s and there was change which has slowly been eroded. At this point the young folks have to decide how they want to live and with what freedoms.

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    • Exactly what I thought. Incidentally, I have the same top on today that I bought a few years back and it’s the small size and shrinkage was minimal. Something changed and not for the good.

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  22. I wonder what it will take for our various representatives of all stripes to get the message that a majority of Americans are not happy with Trump’s effort to be king and to pass laws and systems that benefit mostly the already rich.

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  23. They are amalgamating several local councils into one major umbrella. Little towns like ours will be sidelined for funding, yet our taxes will all rocket by at least 10% next year.

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