Subj : Extra Sweet To : Sean Dennis From : Ruth Haffly Date : Mon Oct 27 2025 13:55:03 Hi Sean, RH> I know, I've heard about that too. But it won't stop me from drinking RH> the diet version. SD> Oh, I wasn't trying to put you off of drinking diet Coke. SD> If I am going to drink Coke, as I occasionally do at places who do not SD> offer Pepsi or Dr. Pepper products, I prefer to drink Coke Zero Sugar SD> rather than Diet Coke as the latter has always had an astringent, SD> bitter taste in the background to me that I do not like. I'll drink water (with lemon) or diet pepsi if Diet Coke isn't available. Depends on what I'm eating will decide which I'll go with; yesterday's Lebanese lamb plate had diet pepsi with it. The Chicken Parmesan I had up in NY at the dinner out with Steve's family had water with lemon as my drink. SD> Being born and mainly raised out West, it was much more common for me SD> to drink Pepsi products than Coke products. I was raised with neither in the house, until my mom's mother passed away and my mom inherited some stock in Coke. This was during my last year of college. I came home for Christmas break to find some Coke and Sprite in the fridge; I'd had some Coke off and on over the years but always away from home so it was quite the surprise to see it there. I'm not sure how long they bought it because I got married a few months later. (I didn't go home for Thanksgiving break because I went down to NC to see Steve; we made the engagement official on the Bogue fishing pier on Emerald Isle the night before Thanksgiving.) SD> My personal favorite is diet RC which I can only find in 2-liter SD> bottles at Kroger. Canned diet RC is all over but I prefer 2-liter SD> bottles. Anything carbonated in 2 litre bottles would go flat before we finished it. Got some plain carbonated water in one litre bottles to make fig soda after I made some fig syrup a couple of months ago. The one litre bottles yielded about 2 glasses of soda for each of us when combined with a couple of tablespoons of fig syrup. SD> These days I am more likely drinking water with lemon (to hide the SD> nasty taste of our city water). We have a reverse osmosis filter on our kitchen sink for the same reason. We also buy the flavored sparkling water (in cans) at Wegman's. Saves buying lots of lemons. (G) RH> Hopefully you will get it soon, and that you can regain some function. RH> Hooked to a machine for several hours, several times a week does not RH> sound like fun. SD> That and my doctors told me that in my case, if I get to that stage, I SD> will most likely not live much longer. Not what you want to hear. SD> That reminds me, I need to get to the VA tomorrow for an electrolyte SD> lab test and to uh, drop off a sample. Tests and more tests these SD> days... I know, I have to see a spine doctor later this week. My regular orthopedic doctor noticed something when he did x-rays of my shoulder last month, wants me to get it checked out by a specialist. RH> We just lost a good friend of ours--former Navy, retired FDNY, had a RH> home was packed tight with people. He was the one who made chicken RH> piccota for a lot of our Legion get togethers; after I made it for the RH> first time several months ago, I told him and got a "good for you!". RH> I'll never make it again without thinking of him. SD> I'm sorry for your loss. It's always so difficult losing friends and SD> family but it's a part of life we have to accept. All part of His SD> plan. I know, we can celebrate the fact that he was in our lives for the last 11 years. His wife commented after the service that she will have to learn how to cook now; he'd done all of it at home as well as at the fire department. SD> I am afraid that I may suffer the same fate (kidneys working, then SD> failing again).ÿWhat angers me is that, once again, a majority of the SD> problems that lead to my kidney failure were the fault of the spotty SD> care I get from some providers at the VA. I now know better. Any possibility of getting them to admit it and you being compensated for it? So far, in 16 years of dealing with the VA, Steve has done well with his doctors. It's the higher up levels that have, at times, been more frustrating. SD> As for the chicken piccota, it's nice you have something to celebrate SD> your friend's memory with. Yes, it was something I'd never had until I had his. Then I came across a recipe earlier this year, saw how easy it was, and made it. Instead of slicing the chicken into strips as he did or buying regular breasts and pounding them thin, I buy/use chicken cutlets. They're thin so they cook fast and easy to work with. --- Catch you later, Ruth rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28 .... There cannot be a crisis today; my schedule is already full. --- PPoint 3.01 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28) .