My heart monitor was silent for more than 36 hours, making me think it was broken. It has two recording modes: I can press a button and the loop (tape?) is recorded, or it can decide it has detected something and retain the recording automatically. In the ten days I've had the thing I have pressed the button three times. It has found the need to record several times each day, with the exception of yesterday and last night. Ringing after it records is extremely annoying. The ring tends to startle me and we won't take about how I feel when it rings if I am in a class. Transmitting the signal stops the ringing, but I can't always get to a phone; using my cell phone doesn't give a good transmission. Before I go to a class I push the transmit button, but don't erase the tape. It seems to remain silent, at least for the length of time of a class, then I actually transmit when I get home. If I was trouble-shooting this as a device, I'd be very suspicious of that silence.

I don't fully understand this thing. I've talked to people in the dr's office, the techs who answer the phone and even managed to get to an engineer (or salesman) for the company. I get a slightly different story from each person I speak to. I have pretty much figured out how to live with it, but I have no idea if any useful data is coming from it.

I am now taking Osher classes at both Pitt and CMU; I'm very busy. I'm taking a drawing class, a stitching class, a class about Pre-columbian and tribal art, a mystery reading class, a class that visits private art collections and artist's studios, and tai chi, of course. I really love the stitching (embroidery) class and the visits to the art collections. Last week we went to a fabulous private home with an interesting collection of contemporary art along with a huge collection of Palissy ceramics. This is certainly a way to get into places I might not otherwise see here in Pittsburgh.