Reward Myself

Today's the day we head to Assateague Island National Seashore.  It's also the final day of my half-year, which included a goal of three trips to Maryland Attractions.   I've admired the art at the Walters Art Museum after shabbos morning at Beth Tfiloh and strolled the boutiques of Chesapeake City.  I almost included a short time at the National Harbor during a trip to DC, but we really only had supper there, with more dedicated site seeing pre-empted by the closeness to dusk and the difficulty of parking.  So we just ate our supper, not itself an easy or entirely pleasurable outing, and moved back to our hotel.  I did not credit myself for a Maryland tourism visit.  Ocean City became the next destination, postponed at least once, but about to be fulfilled.  Always gratifying to complete these initiatives outlined six months in advance.

The trip, and some of the pleasures that go with petty travel, also qualifies as a reward.  I submitted an entry to the NEJM Fiction Contest.  Not a level of writing that has a chance of publication there, but a challenge to myself to see if I can move from journalism or op-ed writing, or from describing elements of my life, to fiction with universal themes.  I could, though with a lot of abandonments and restarts.  That gets a reward.  So does persevering on my exercise program, though at a reduced intensity, despite some right leg problems.  As my BP rose, I increased amlodipine.  BP down last evening and no apparent side effects.   My doctor helped with the decision of what to do, but I selected from the reasonable options.

Our curtains got hung.  Our living room approaches full entertainment capacity.  I'm off my SSRI reasonably successfully.  In the last six months I've read more than my quota of books, submitted articles for publication, have some semblance of herb and vegetable gardens.  Been a good six-month cycle.  Worthy of a reward.

Trapped in Hi-Tech

My Big Screen TV does not accept the Comcast Stream.  When I try to sign on, it takes me to authorize, gives me a code number which I enter, responds Success.  Then instead of giving me my shows, it takes me back to authorize with another code number.  I called Comcast who sent a technician who told me the problem was TCL Roku's TV.  I called TCL Roku which took me through the steps, concluding that the snafu rests with Comcast's inability to recognize me for their TV.

Doctors have a variant of this.  "Doc, I'm short of breath."  Cardiologist insists it's a lung problem.  Pulmonologist insists it's a heart problem.

While I personally suspect a Comcast issue, as my TV seems pretty normal, when I seek the assistance of the Google Repairman, I am hardly the first to report this.  The TCL technician also understood the troubleshooting steps, but so did the Comcast technician who had the advantage of being onsite.  I could get a new TV, but it seems an expensive way to resolve the impasse.  Or I could dump Comcast as my streaming service, which is always tempting to do, especially since I rarely watch this despite the monthly subscription.  There are other streaming services.  

Give Comcast one last try when I have an extended time to be left on hold until they connect me with somebody far overseas instructed by his company to read his script rather than listen to the customer.  

Going to the Doctors

Two doctor appointments this week.  Dermatology for followup of a pigmented facial lesion with gradual advancement.  I assume they will want to do a cancer screening as well, since technically for billing purposes I classify as a new patient due to the interval since last visit.  Forms filled out in advance.

Primary visit more problematic.  I really don't feel my best.  Withdrawing SSRI has made my mind more alive.  Joints hurt, BP higher, some lab concerns, Some decision branch points.  A few can be punted to the scheduled cardiology visit after a quick patch.  Or maybe the joints need to go to ortho.  I don't really want a knee arthroscopy if topical, or even systemic SSRI's will do the job.  May need some GI studies but very unhappy about what transpired with this last year.  May ask for referral to a different practitioner and GI group, if only to get a different prospective on safety of colonoscopy preparations.  Never had Covid, so not really Long Covid.  Some minor urologic symptoms.  While luxury Executive Evaluations at Mayo or Greenbrier claim expertise, their value is more to the companies that are highly invested in the highly paid people that get examined.  It's probably not good medical care for anyone. 

My medical care has been good, though with a few tweaks that may add benefit.  Best to just let it. proceed.

Deadlines

As the half-year concludes, I find myself with a few time-defined tasks, some externally imposed, others by my own SMART goals that mandate time frames.  Externally I have two writing assignments due and two doctor's appointments, and a synagogue activity that I agreed to perform at a certain time.  My donations are now overdue but I think I know where I want to send them.  I'd like to finish my audiobook to add to the list of books for the half-year and one more trip to Maryland stands in the way of completing my day trip initiative.  That's a lot, particularly the two writing submissions, but it gives direction to time that could proceed in a less satisfying way.  It is that tangible list of what I've done that generates inner happiness far more than the pleasures of amusement.  So at my keyboard and doctors' exam rooms and a few other places I need to be until the half-year cycle resets next week.

Forgot Shopping List

As inflation boosts prices, I've gotten to a more purposeful trip to the grocery about once a week.  The weekly ad arrives at midweek.  I read it usually the day it comes, marking what I want to get and what I might purchase, then create a mental sense of what I might like to do with what I bring home.  On Sunday, the ads from the circular take effect, so I log onto the Shop-Rite site and mark onto my electronic card what coupon requiring goods I might like the shopping card to recognize.  Then pick a day to go there.  Before I go, I return to the circular, putting what I am definitely planning to buy, including things I need not in the weekly ad, onto the left column and the maybes into the right column.  And so I did.

When I got to Shop-Rite, though, I had left the list on the kitchen table.  I could have gone home to retrieve it but took my chances at letting visions of the products on the shelves prod my memory.  Turns out I did very well without the list in my personal possession.  Only missed one item on the must list and considered all from the right column.  Not bad.  And I didn't deviate a whole lot from what I had intended, though a reduced half turkey breast is hard to pass up even if it forces me to make something else bulky from the freezer for shabbos.  I now purchase with what I plan to use it for in mind.

Hot dogs on sale.  Didn't need them as I already have some but they last forever.  Vegetarian beans on sale, not part of circular, but now I have two, maybe even three suppers.  No lettuce, always throw it out.  Yellow squash becomes accessory to shabbos dinner.  Scallions and red pepper and cucumber become salad for shabbos dinner and beyond.  Pretzels and corn chips become munchies.  My new desk lamp from IKEA could use a modern LED bulb, also on sale.  Added a multivit to correct borderline low iron on my last lab results.  Won't neglect the GI investigation but it gives me a fighting chance of returning as a regular platelet donor.  Some berries and Luigi's Water Ice for pareve desserts.  Everything purposeful, but sale price directs the purpose.  Best way to go in time of rising food prices.

Minyan for Friendship

As much as my synagogue experience leaves me seeking more fulfilling experiences, there are a few valid reasons for restraint on absolute avoidance.  While the intersection of Hebrew School and Rabbinical Junior College is where the Rabbi and lay leadership seem most comfortable, a more stimulating, if not more interactive version of Judaism hovers in cyberspace for my taking.  And I take some of it.  Worship doesn't attract me.  Some of the cultural norms do.  Most importantly, though, is support of friendships.  Not exactly the people I share meals with, not frequently people I share ideas with, either.  But people who have made commitments to their family for which I can help create the minyan they need.  The Gabbaim probably have their invitations rejected more than I realize.  Decent people.  I'll default to helping them out unless I have a specific reason not to.  The synagogue has not been very inviting a place for me but it is for them.  A few hours allotted for their benefit should not be withheld.

Juggling Ideas

Since my day trip tomorrow will fall victim to rain, I declare today and tomorrow writing days, allotted time for what I hope will be public expression.  Medscape monthly submission due next week.  NEJM fiction entry due next week.  Been off SSRIs long enough to tell that story.  Listening to an audiotape whose author deserves feedback.  

Ideas develop better when interactive, but often some undistracted sessions connecting my mind and my fingers on the keyboard generates the best thinking and more refined expression than the sponteneity of oral interaction.

See what I can create for submission in two days.

Could Still Revise

Next Semi-Annual Initiatives set.

1. Complete Legacy Documents:  Financial
2. Campaign for Congresswoman who I like: Community
3. Visit both kids: Family
4. Entertain guests three times: Friends
5. Tell my story:  Frontier
6. Meet physical measurement targets: Health
7. Replace sterling Menorah: Purchase
8. Declutter entire first floor: Long term
9. Visit family cemeteries: Travel
10. Read three books: Self
11. Submit three articles: Mental
12. Complete My Space: Home

They do not become Sunday weekly planning just yet, but they seem compatible with SMART goals to pursue, though Tell My Story may lack specificity and end points.  That's not to imply that the goals of the current half-year will be abandoned.  Some are continuations.  I still plan to work on my gardens which have had a mixed result.  Wife time could still be better defined.  Anniversary trip will stay on the agenda, only later.  It may need some planning this half-year.  Monthly expenses will get logged each month but having the estate plan settled seems a high priority to take over the Financial initiative.  OLLI Committee probably isn't going to happen.  I continue to read.  My health goals took some deciding.  I met the exercise target, though displaced by injury.  I feel better though at the price of some ongoing leg pain.  Better to focus on wt, waist, BP as end points that I can influence, even when injured.  Might still get my Maryland trips though not quite by deadline, as the last is weather dependent and restricted by day.  

What's not on the list has its own tales.  Creating a movement, new adventures, synagogue, committees, alterations to personality not reconsidered.  Writing book expanded as telling my story can be done that way but also through other media from YouTube to Website to documentary in a variety of forms.  But book will probably be the most enduring and best to pursue.

So I have a mixture of continuation, change in focus, new directions.  And enough with very finite end points to declare them completed or not.

Onset of Summer

Father's Day appears in proximity of the summer solstice.  I guess the Dads of evolutionary biology were in their busy season.  Now the summers need an escape to the air conditioners in the Northern Hemisphere.  The summer finds me well as a senior citizen with one small loose end on last week's lab results.  Energy could be better, disposition has taken a hit when I stopped my citalopram, and for good reason, my doctors' visits cluster around this time.  But I'm also ready to eat into some of that accumulated recreational deprivation.  

The amusement park did not go especially well at making me more animated.  See if the regional beach days do better.  

Summer also brings me to the second half of each year with new semi-annual projects to pursue.  Completed the twelve initiative list, put it in weekly planning nylon pouch to stay dormant for another two weeks, then adjust the whiteboard with the new list.  And I didn't do too badly with the concluding set of projects.  I'm ready to make the transition.

Maybe even fewer physical symptoms and more intrinsic cheer.

BP Abruptly Elevated

As I go to Review of Systems positive, really not at my best self-assessed well-being but with a doctor's appointment looming, my Blood Pressure has taken a sudden surge upwards.  The first time I assumed it was from missing the medicine the day before, but I've had other omissions with a barely noticeable effect.  Not so with the next two that seem to be setting my BP at a new level despite full compliance.  In anticipation of the doctor's visit, they sent me a lab slip which I will fulfill shortly.  

There are other clues.  I'm achy.  My mood and focus have reversed, which I attribute to my own decision to stop a longstanding SSRI.  I seem to need less sleep.  An ankle injury has only partially recovered but I tolerate the treadmill when my legs can maintain the effort.  While off the treadmill, my legs which I expected to be stronger, ache quite a bit.  And the blood bank turned me down.  

Just have to see what the lab says and then the doctor assesses.

Unfocused

My ability to focus and express has become inconsistent.  I do not know the cause.  Perhaps an effect of letting my SSRI use lapse, but consider other causes.  And it may not even be accurate since I have written decent responses to things others have presented.  But I feel restless.  I don't feel annoyed, though, even when I have reason to.  Responses still are thoughtful and articulate.  What I generate spontaneously has not been.

Semi-annual planning, a major project for this month, has helped.  So have my several timers which force limited attention, though more to tidying my home than expressing or even generating mental ideas.  As much as I look forward to some brief getaways, I do not feel in genuine need of an escape.  Since stopping my SSRI I have needed less sleep, even feel more alert.  

I currently have a few defined mental projects, some with deadlines, so plod away and keep score.

Terminal Amusement

Made it to Dorney Park, likely my last sampling there, maybe any amusement park.  Left with an impaired right lower extremity:  hip, knee, and ankle which will keep me on NSAIDs and off treadmill a few days.  To make the outing adult, and as an alternative to forecast rain, I started with a nearby winery, Vynecrest, which I must have been to before since I have one of their stem glasses in my collection.  Perhaps too generous a tasting.  I could stand at the bar with a total of 8 oz of wine for $10 or sit at a table for $12 which gave a total of 12 oz.  While I could have used the sit down time to work on my upcoming semi-annual projects, that was too much wine.  Even 8 oz I could feel when I returned to my car.  But pleasant wine, and I learned the winery had a retail outlet not far from me if I wanted to buy any.  But the destination for the day was an afternoon's amusement.  And that I got.

Finding the park with the GPS went easily.  Plenty of parking with an exorbitant fee had I not bundled it into a package.  Walk to the entrance did not really require a tram, as none was provided.  There were a fair number of modern buses, not school buses, suggesting that a lot of schools or camps offered a day at Dorney Park as an organizational outing for the close of the school year, an impression confirmed as I encountered teens and some younger without a lot of adult parents or chaperones.  They searched bags at the entrance.  My Swiss Army knife got through.  There is an explicit weapons ban, though no NRA pickets at the entrance, as few of those there vote, and most agree that the park is safer without the weapons.  My day bag and I checked in.  After riding on the Carousel, understanding why it is at the entrance and a lovable classic, I sauntered to guest services which told me how to redeem the unlimited soda coupon that came with my purchased package.  There are soda stations everywhere.  At the first, they scanned my ticket, then affixed a wristband which entitled me to a small soda every fifteen minutes.  I had two sodas and a lemonade over the course of the afternoon, never offered a lid or a straw.  People can also purchase unlimited bottle refills, which have a built-in cap and straw, but for my purposes the perk included in my entrance package went well, though I think the dispensers had a little too much syrup relative to soda.  

Even the carousel challenged by tolerance of rotational motion but I entered another ride next to it that challenged it more.  Sit on small chair, similar to a child's swing set, suspended by a chain.  Affix a safety belt.  Then the ride begins, elevating and lowering the seats while the central hub sets the ride in a clockwise rotation.  My endolymph did not adapt quite as easily as it once did.  Then Choo-Choo train which gave me an overview of what was where.  Next the log flume where I got wet.  Decided to save Thunder Canyon for when I was in the water park, though if you were willing to get wet in street attire, they would still offer you a seat.  Turns out that the access to Thunder Canyon from the Water Park had been barricaded so I never got that thrill.  Found my way to the Whip, one of those classics of my youth.  It's in a far reach of the park, accessible only with a long walk, which I needed.  I expected its patrons to be older.  They weren't, mostly little kids with their dads who are also too young to remember when this ride attracted long lines.  I sat in my car while the electronics moved tie car in its oval and at the end of each oval each individual are made its sudden rotational lurch.  Not a thrill ride then, nor now.  Largely displaced for more adventuresome but safe experiences.

I really came for the Water Park which I did not know how to access, as its entrance was near the park entrance.  Another long walk, this time on an upslope.  By now my right ankle, injured a few weeks before but recovering, was reinjured, giving me a minor jolt periodically.  Some more soda.  Tote bag with aquatics needs slung over my shoulder.  Made it to the entrance of Wildwater Kingdom.  Found changing room.  Found locker, opting to pay the extra $5 and not chance everything not fitting into the small locker.  Took out towel and flip-flops.  Got changed.  Locked valuables, then headed to a place where somebody might have a pen to write my locker number on my soda wristband.  Not easy to find somebody with a pen.  They had a wave pool and some water slides more suitable for the school kids on a day trip and a kiddie area.  Basically Lazy River and wave pool were the only reasonable destinations for somebody old enough to be the grandfather of pretty much everyone else in Wildwater Kingdom.  Put the stuff I didn't want to get wet in a cubicle that depended on the Honor System, waited my turn for a tube, jackknifed myself in the center with a little difficulty, then let the artificial current bring me around the circle.  Pleasant, for sure.  Worth the surcharge for the locker, no.  And I couldn't even access Thunder Canyon's ride from the water park.

A quick step into the wave pool.  Too chilly.

Some lemonade this time, then change back into street clothes and home.

Hersheypark has a lot more grandparents with grandchildren for a good reason, even though farther from NY or Philly for a day trip.  Just not many supplemental attractions around Allentown.  GPS took me home uneventfully except for some anticipated Philly rush hour traffic.  

A Terminal Amusement.  

Poor Weather Forecast

All set to go for a day at Dorney Park/ Wildwater Kingdom.  All packed.  Checked the forecast for Allentown right before purchasing non-refundable tickets for about $55.  Looking forward to the outing, make a day of it.  Raining here.  Checked Allentown on Weather Channel.  Raining there too with some clearing in mid-afternoon.  So a day of it becomes a third day of it.  And my alternative of going tomorrow looks like it will have ideal weather.  

Loss of money annoys me, though I lose more than that in a few minutes in the mutual funds sometimes.  And I have the challenge of making a different day of it.  IKEA in Conshohocken on the way can get a visit.  Maybe see if there are any wineries or breweries in driving distance.  Could use a morning at my keyboard, treadmill, and kitchen.  An annoyance more than a disappointment, but see what I can do with the circumstances.

Sorting My Space

This time I'm going to do it.  Pick a region.  Sort like with like.  Not nearly as easy as it sounds.  I have pens everywhere, pencils everywhere, markers in multiple locations, a bag of crayons.  And that's just stuff to mark paper.  Then there's the paper that can be marked.  Plenty of containers, some quite useful when I get around to finding homes for like with like.  Three-ring binders galore.  3x5 cards.  4x6 cards.  Some rulers that already have a home.  Some tools that are better put with other tools in the basement.  Go region by region.  Time each session.  I can do a lot in about eighteen minutes as long as I only have to do it once.  My assistants:  the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, Waste Management Inc.  Maybe later 1800-Junk too.  Like with like.  Minimize sentimentality.  When done, b'ezrat haShem, at the end of the calendar year, a significant self-reward.

An Anti-Nazir

We have always had people who want to be super frum, even if only for a limited time.  No wine.  No volunteering for the Chevre Kadisha.  Hairdo in the style of Jesus Christ Superstar.  And a Chatat, or sin-offering, at the end of the specified term of deprivation.

For a lot of reasons my synagogue composite has taken its toll on me.  Decided to become an anti-Nazir for a bit.  If the Gabbaim ask me to do something for which I have the skill, that stays.  Otherwise, I put myself in Cherem.  Not planning to change my diet, add to my prudent alcohol intake, or visit the barber more than I already do.  I am planning to protect my space and express thoughts ranging from the relentless pursuit of mediocrity and irritation when I sit at the intersection of Hebrew School and Rabbinical Junior College.  An unhappy consumer who's been denied the invitation of being more than a consumer, or even a creative mind who thrives juggling ideas.  The anti-Nazir.

Recreationally Challenged

Been planning some minor travel with outdoor activities for about a month.  Urgencies like my car malfunction and the need to replace a sink disposal unit get in the way.  Some other things are more timed like a podcast and a civic meeting and agreeing to do something in synagogue.  Nearing the end of those.  And then there are things that other people want me to do that I don't.  Not going to synagogue's annual meeting.  Reconsider if they offer me a promotion from consumer to contributor but don't expect that to happen.  So by mid-week, I expect unscheduled time to enable some minor adventures suitable to summer,

Some things I do alone, others better as a couple, though more are pursued solo.  Beaches, wineries, anything overnight done for two.  Special dinners at home prepared by one, eaten by two or maybe more. Fishing needs part solitude and part random interaction with other anglers.  I visit my ancestral resting places as a sole descendant.  Haven't been to a ball game in a long time, another solo effort.  Bus to NYC myself, though it would be better if I were able to get together with an old friend while there.  Despite some inflationary expense, there are still things that elevate my spirit which I've neglected for too long.  Time to recapture some of them.

Sorting

Now with projects under way, I seem to be entering a sorting phase.  My Space sits a long way from its end point.  Making portions of house suitable for having guests remains impeded by stuff.  I devoted two sessions to My Space,  a usable file box but assigning nearly all the papers, some from the 1970s to a mixture of recycle and shredding, just under ten pounds of the latter.  Then onto stuff.  My office, of blessed memory, had filing supplies that I cannot possibly use.  The operation has been closed nearly twelve years.  I'd give much of it away but I don't know who makes new obsolete paper charts or files folders by date tags.  I'm not at all sentimental about these.  Those organizing shows on TV stress removing stuff from the house that has not been used and will not be used in the foreseeable future, so those filing supplies should find a new home in a dumpster.  I have a box of electric items that also will not be used.  Off to the Delaware Solid Waste receptacles for those.

Quick sorting puts things in categories and boxes.  I have ample permanent storage options in My Space, empty drawers, much of two closets, a few things that serve a mixed purpose of display with storage.  Sort first into the categories, then assign the categories a home.

The living room seems more manageable.  Only two furniture items to address now that new curtains are in place.  Sofa needs replacement and I want to paint a table that I once picked up at a yard sale.  Spray paint seems most expeditious and economical for this, though I could consider more dedicated but more expensive shabby chic options.  I use the table for minor display.  It would just look better with a different color.  The rest is making the room look attractive.  Declutter bookcases.  Settle on displays.  Dust and shine everything.  Maybe repaint if the bookcases can be emptied to enable full wall access.  Replace a pane of broken glass.  New lamp.  Nothing very big.  Within my capacity.

Dining room just needs some cleaning and maybe a little more thought on what is displayed.  Chandelier should be polished.  Cleaning the breakfront and its contents could be a more of an effort that I am willing to exert for a minor purpose.  

As much as I enjoy making lists, these projects are few enough that I can just pick one or two a week and get it done, much like replacing the curtains, which was a much more involved undertaking.  Within my capacity.

Tasks Completed

Torah assignment. Shavuot. Hanging Curtains. Getting car warning lights checked. Replacing kitchen disposal.  All done.  Haftarah to be done soon.  Partly challenge, partly annoyance.  All probably tests of me to balance opportunity to meet challenge or complain about the annoyance.  I did both.

Now done, what moves me forward?  I'm still kinda resentful of my synagogue experience so  some Saturdays someplace else await.  Made Shavuot dinner with mostly success but one snafu.  Make another dinner without snafu.  Purpose of hanging curtains was to satisfy wife so we can have guests.  Replace couch.  Paint table.  Put things away.  Then guests.  Car enables travel to Dorney Park and Ocean City within the next couple of weeks.  Kitchen disposal out of the way moves me to make the kitchen more fully functional for which I really need only minimal help.

Good initiatives all.  Completed with some grumbling but with satisfaction as my reward for completion.  And all tasks purposeful.  This matters too.  

Some Getaways

Been doing a good job at getting outside every day, sometimes to tend to my struggling garden, other times to find a park with a bench to sit on.  Made a key decision to get away from my synagogue by essentially firing the VP who fills the Torah reading schedule.  My presence the rest of the year will be more selective.  There are why's, some lingering for years, but it's not a good experience and my mind's contents seem very unwelcome.  This one's a big getaway, but will be kept discrete.  See if anyone notices.

Most getaways are changes in location, usually recreation driven.  I have one hanging on from my last semi-annual projects, a third trip to Maryland.  And there's a picnic which can easily be assembled from leftovers of my elegant over-prepared Shavuot dinner.  And there's a water park session.  Dorney Park seems the best option, also before the half-year concludes.  

I've been doing OK avoiding ruts, though I must say the synagogue's unresponsiveness to me has forced a decision on my presence.  I can deal with the intersection of Hebrew School and Rabbinic Junior College but I'm less favorable to deaf ears on the relentless quest for mediocrity.  There's a limit to the formalities of goot shabbos, yasher koach, nice tie in the absence of better substance.  That's a getaway that's not really a respite.  The day trips, and later real vacations, those are respites.  And I'm ready to drive off to do them.

Fiinding an Installer

My sink disposal leaked.  Not a massive surge, but enough to leave a small puddle in the tub under the sink.  Can it be repaired?  Should it be repaired?  From an online search that instantly directs me to somebody experienced at this, a bottom leak usually requires replacement.  From a practical standpoint, I've had the device for decades, replacing it once, maybe twice, in the forty years I've lived in my house. A new unit with all the advancements in technology over the time since I last bought one costs under $200.  From that viewpoint a disposal is disposable.  

At Kakiat Junior High School the NY State Board of Regents compelled the boys to take wood shop one year and metal shop the second year.  Plumbing was not in the mandatory curriculum, or even offered in the later years to the kids directed to the academic curriculum.  Knowing this would have saved me some money over the years though far less than I was able to earn as a doctor.  Fair exchange.  I handle the prescriptions, somebody else installs the new disposal unit.  All I need to do is find somebody who knows how to do this and agree to a price.  Finding somebody is easy.  Determining a price has not been, even in this computerized age that has the big box home stores offering installation and several popular Home Advisor type sites matching homeowners with contractors.  I would think that this would be a straightforward project for any plumber who has an inkling of how long it takes and what might go wrong.  If periodontists can give an upfront price for an implant, I would expect a plumber to be able to offer an estimate for a common installation.  The Angi's List and the Home Depot not being helpful at all in getting this relatively minor project to completion, that leaves me to call a few plumbers on my own and see what they charge, then pick one.  Or go to the YouTube Videos on how to install a sink disposal and learn the skills that the NY State Board of Regents neglected.