Monday, February 29, 2016

Being ignored

Have you ever felt invisible?
I'm not too sure that you have, but if so not more than once I hope; since it can be devastating.
My situation has occurred on and off for more than twenty years with being treated as if I did not exist, upsetting and scary.
The times most memorable sadly are when I have been in a wheel chair, which continues to this day on and off, being in a wheel chair that is.
Somehow people seem to think that all who end up in one have also lost their minds...well the jury is still out on mine, kidding, I think, but they would only talk to Hubby during those times.
And not even look me in the eyes or face or at all.
Geez, I hate that!
Fortunately, it taught me to be more aware of people who have to use any and all assistive aid devices and to make an effort to speak directly to them.

I do have a theory about people who have a problem with anyone who is called physically challenged or challenged at all is fear.
Okay, go with me here, the fear of there for the grace of G-d goes I, hmm?
Just the same or similar why people fear or ignore homeless people.
Either way one looks at it, it makes me think it can be racked up to ignorance.
Aren't most reasons for being extremely narrow minded caused by that ignorance especially in bigotry as in racism, and against Gay people and anti-Semitism, etc., that proves that hatred is stupidity!
Lack of not wanting to know with understanding.
Educated people are more aware, make that intelligent people even without formal education also.
Thus the Orange Frothy Haired Guy attracting lesser educated people who hate people, anyone who's different from them, he promotes that behavior with what he has spewed.

Getting back to the local level I have recently tried to start a dialogue with a local anchor and he is constantly ignoring me, causing me to be hurt by his lack of being a team player and having interest in his audience.
At this point I don't know if he is just plain rude or something more ominous is taking place here; he is a Georgian from where the KKK is from and I do tell everyone that I am a Jew, nah, it can't be...!
Hopefully I am wrong, he is very young, but also is supposed to be very bright.
Well, not answering me makes me think he isn't, just an opinion, could be his immaturity.
I do have a habit of letting the news anchors know when they make a mistake and they seem to appreciate that I am listening/watching them, the seasoned ones that is, and they correct their mistakes when on air again and thank me for the catch.
He stopped talking to me after I mentioned one of his infrequent ones, mistakes that is, and today he made another saying that it is three weeks till we vote here, but it's only two on the fifteenth of March; he did see my message and did correct the mistake when next on air, but never thanked me for noticing, everyone else does. I correct my own albeit it might take me a few weeks since no one tells me. OH! That is because I told them all years ago not to due to me being too sensitive and not taking criticism well, WHOA a fellow sensitive, Geez, okay now I get it! STUPID ME!

I suppose that me needing to be validated is me being a bit too needy, ya think, but I do have too much time on my hands, truly!

Moving on...

Thanks to Robert Van Winkle, our evening senior meteorologist, for the great week's weather ahead!
Back to norms of fifties during the night and low eighties during the days and sunny too!

If I have notified, I can't teach any of you for you're all most likely smarter than me, but if any of this at all tonight is absorbed worthy is that it is so important to talk to people directly no matter what their circumstances might be and remember to answer messages on instant if you know the people. I know that I have been neglectful of answering ones from people that I don't know at all, but I do not feel as safe as most others are that are dealing with strangers so I have to be careful.


On this another realization of inward understanding of what makes me tick as well as the others in this tiny world, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask all of you to kindly count all of your blessings and share all those overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Completing tasks...

...at this ripe ole age it should be a given.
But sadly it isn't always in a timely fashion; eventually though just not as soon as expected, ya know?
Today for instance I did a dark load of wash and Hubby put it into the dryer and there it still is.
Awful, hmm? I see wrinkles in my future, other than on me, uh oh and ha! More drying with a splash of water and voila, wrinkle free! Too bad we cannot get rid of ours as easily, hmm?

Today, after badgering a "nice person", a college professor, author and editor and with so many other important titles that have left my memory at this particular moment in time and that I do like her and respect her, but her post for her course caused me to debate her on a topic that was actually my opposing lifestyle more than most people's.
Her teaching career is now also making money from her personal experience, which in this case I felt was common sense, but is her field of study or research and sharing all of it for a fee.

I feel that so many things in life should be considered that most people do know, and assuming otherwise is somewhat insulting and if you truly have anything worth sharing that it should be free!
So I goaded her into a debate with me feeling and that teaching people what I really believe they should have been taught as children, by responsible adults, parents coming to mind, and assuming otherwise was somewhat dishonest. I even suggested it reminded me of the Orange Frothy Haired Guy claiming that he loves the poorly educated. (With the unspoken part of that suggesting because those people he can take advantage of...due to lack of knowledge.)
GOOD GRIEF!
Well, we all know me, give me a brilliant person to argue with and I will.
Proving once again that I am not that smart, duh!
I suppose I needed a refresher course on that one about me, hmm?

And so I do not know now why I had to retreat to my bed earlier today than usual with a severe bellyache perhaps due to eating my leftover ziti for lunch, which I make the light way with low fat and fat free cheeses, heart smart sauce and lean beef and onions, garlic and mushrooms with oregano and basil added. A side salad and a slice of toast turned into garlic bread.

I had taken the Nexium already but had added in the Pepcid Complete as I had been told, still no help.
Moist heat packs front and back since this pain went straight through.
Supper was soup and crackers consequently, again as per Hubby though on a bed tray.

I suppose my lunch choice was a bit too much, but breakfast had been oatmeal with honey and cinnamon the old fashioned longer taking to cook oats, in a pot on the stove, Hubby made it this morning, we do take turns for all meals usually. I owe him a few.

So Maybe, just maybe conflict also irritates my tummy?
Probably guilt, regret, yup.
Who knows why I do these things, and my last name isn't even Orange Haired Frothy Guy!

Oh my!

On this note of an enormous realization of another flaw in my character, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all those overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

PS I did like Trainwreck in spite of the two naked male butts which were healthy looking and all the F words, which I believe weren't really needed.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Movie Night!

And yes, we still have them.
No longer Block Buster though, duh, Netflix these days, but still only weekly since we don't stream, we snail mail!
I know, I can hear you all saying, so archaic, no I can't; hear you that is...
Any-who...
Last week's choice was Terminator Genisys, if you guessed it, it was a Hubby pick, and yes you guessed right.
Although, I did watch the whole thing and it was pretty good, oops did I say that out loud?
Tonight's pick is mine and it is Trainwreck. Peer pressure I suppose, I know I am too old for that group to have been pressured, oh well...curiosity?
There you go.

I find the trailers to be helpful as well as the award shows to make it into that Queue, in that the holding tank or wish lists of future viewings, odd spelling Q-u-e-u-e, definition says tail in front or back, man's, or a braid hmm, right? ( How I hate euphemisms for body parts, PENIS! You can look it up too, really.)
Right now we have ten others in there, the queue that is, the place online for holding your future viewing choices, many have not been released to DVD's yet but a few have.
We still enjoy movies as always, but it's been ages since we actually went to a theater and the waiting time for the biggies to come to DVD has diminished considerably so to us it's worth the short wait.
So Last week we watched Terminator Genisys, we had viewed Inside Out the week before that, we are nothing if not diverse in our tastes in entertainment.
Although, some R movies and animated flicks have been returned before we completed our viewing, due to us not liking them at all or being too childish or too graphically sexual, apparently we are fine with gratuitous violence as in last weeks choice, okay that IS not right, for shame! Only explanation is it is more CGI than real, yep that's good, I'll take it, ha.
I won't mention any names/titles, since to be truthful I have forgotten most, but one was in our recent past.
See, I don't want to influence anyone one way or the other.
Mostly I prefer to give honest opinionated critiques when we have enjoyed the flick, okay?
They definitely don't need me causing BIG Movie to lose money due to me suggesting that something isn't a quality worthy of a multi-billion dollar success, yeah right like my voice has that type of power, if only...!
Unified we all do.
Just like our vote, remember you Super Tuesday states this TUESDAY March first this week!
I made a BIG mistake for Florida I had said March 16th for our vote, it is actually the 15th of March, oops forgive.
I know you all knew though, albeit early voting has been going on via mail already. Again, here you must be party registered, and it is too late to register at this time.

Anyway, if only they were really parties, like the having fun kind, not scratching our heads kind, although that was unfair my side is not that way... and yep I am again on the fence, but I can say this much either B or H gets my vote, get me? Whomever wins the nomination, of course, since I have to wait till November.

On this note of what, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Friday, February 26, 2016

A Day of Ups, yep mostly Ups and a wee bit of Downs

So far all I can say is what is vague.
But someone near and dear to me got one set of test results back that were pretty darn good, but there are more tests to come; stay tuned and perhaps I will be allowed to relay more info. and to whom I am referring.
We had gone out today and since we had coupons for the restaurant, after getting gas at our local Sam's Club pumps for $1.63.9 a gallon, topping off our tank for a mere fourteen bucks we went over to Ruby Tuesdays in our local Town Center Mall. Hubby wanted to find a new watch band, but no luck there, checking their kiosks.
Hubby had babyback ribs, half a rack with fries and onion rings and I had believe it or not lobster tails(2) for a mere $7.99 and their open salad bar for an additional $2.99!
They have on their menu a sirloin steak and lobster tail, typical surf and turf, with two sides on their menu for $22 something, so I asked about just the lobster tails and voila I got a great deal, in my opinion!
Get this we also had one of those coupons with $5 off and for those really nice meals it came to just over $22+ for both including tax, but not tip!
Nice!
But I have been having nasty spasms on and off all day long most likely due to  temperatures fluctuating I suppose to going in and out of buildings I suspect.

We really can't complain too much for about access to great eats.
Hubby and I decided on just soup for dinner, but instead of me trying to make my homemade brews with the way that I feel, he went out and over a just few blocks away to PC's seafood restaurant, and picked up lobster bisques, two bowls for the two of us! No muss no fuss, best no dishes!

Lazy days...summer year round here even without the eighties temperatures!

So here I lie on my bed, again, with paddle fan above me turning rhythmatically.
Although, when first coming into the room Hubby put the air-conditioning on lower to cool me down and then I got cold later on so he turned the heat on...DAMN MY THERMOSTAT IS BROKEN! Back on with the fan, now just right.

Oh well!

On this note of things could be worse, and believe me they have been... allow me now to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Right this minute ...

...our weather is cooler, highs only in the high sixties, around seventy, but less active, and a bit breezy, less tomorrow, and nice and dry!
By Monday and Tuesday back near eighty, yay!
Although, we have been informed this nasty weather of tornadic quality will be coming through on and off over the next eight weeks, due to El Nino!
Let's count, today is February 25th, so approximately till April 21st and then we will have a lull of about five/six weeks till June first when our official rainy/ hurricane season begins, ending officially on November thirtieth!
Who stole my paradise?????????????????????????

Cleanup from those tornadoes that hit in my county of Charlotte County Florida and left over fifty homes with major damage, including eleven totally uninhabitable had begun as of right after, yesterday!
Red Cross, emergency crews and utility companies as well as insurance companies and the media, of course are all there.
Rubber necks stay away! Nasty and upsetting for all going through the trauma, watch the TV instead please.

Moving on...

After yesterday's frightening day of worrisome time, of hours, fortunately for us was more an act of preparations than actual action.
Knowing what to do is a great idea for all natural disasters, so we had a dry run.
Tornadoes, in my opinion are the worst since being made ready is a momentary thing compared to days for knowing your fate with many hurricanes, except of course Charley, which made a last minute right turn a hundred miles south of where it had been expected to go!

Thanks to both Hubby and myself being scouts and him being a fire chief and deputy and trained in emergency management since 1984 back in NJ and then being part of the First In Team, first in after disaster strikes, here in Florida as a deputy we have been through many hands on experiences too.

You would think you would worry less, well Hubby does, but I still worry about the when to do, so I become a fanatic with keeping the TV on and look at all my apps on the phone with the weather channel, weather bug, and local affiliates and weather underground; some might say excessive, well yeah! Actually, I feel better informed and capable knowing where we stand.

Any-who, as many might think that you get used to this and no you don't and if you ever do then you will be in trouble due to apathy!
But Hubby just acts and doesn't worry, he's my happy medium.
Although that can get annoying when you worry and he says don't.

On that note of be happy don't worry, self talk, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and to share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!





Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Damage by tornadoes documented in picture format

Just a few miles from our home in an area in Charlotte County ours here in southwest Florida, an area called Deep Creek, click on the link below to see photos an EF1 tornado that hit them with 97 mph winds, over four thousand without power, but Florida Power and Light were quick to reconnect over one thousand and still working on it for the rest:

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/16615152/2012/01/27/storm-causes-damage-to-port-charlotte-home


In our panhandle to our extreme north in Pensacola was hit even worse, click on the link below to see:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrBTzuJL85Wtk0AfQFXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=Damage+To+Pensacola+From+Tornadoes+2-23-16&fr=yfp-t-201

We were very lucky again.
And yes we realized how lucky, again it happened only a few miles from our home.
It is only since 8-13-04, twelve years this coming August since we experienced that sort of devastation from Hurricane Charley a category four hurricane.
It is a little like going through a death sort of, that type of experience with each time it happens to someone else it becomes fresh again with the that horrid experience, so it is too easy to sincerely commiserate.

Coverage from local news must be acknowledge for they stayed on air after normal news times with continuing coverage updating in real time to warn people in harms way, CONGRATS all local affiliates of NBC, CBS and ABC out of Lee County Florida, great job!

On that note of sure we are that is dealing with this very strange weather, none of this is normal for us here since this is our dry season. But allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!






Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Weather coming our way at noon tomorrow!

I have a free phone app for severe weather warnings from our local NBC TV station and when those storms come in the middle of the night it goes off both for watches and warnings, and so I would yell for Hubby to get up and to get Gus to get us into our safe place, for now we chose our laundry room that has no windows and block walls on three sides.
Only thing is I get watches and warnings mixed up.
A watch is a tornado is a slight possibility and a warning is when a tornado is seen in your area and so take cover now!

Moving on...

We went to my gastroenterologist today.
His office procedures were backed up due to their computers being down.
So our wait was much longer than usual.
My hepatic steatosis is nothing to be worried about, and he is a liver specialist, whew relieved for that!
As far as my reflux and GERD go since my OTC medications have not been helping me anymore he was going to investigate with my insurance company to see if they will pay for a couple of prescription grade stronger medications that he feels I should have and try.
And I am also now scheduled for an endoscopy next month.

The office was very warm and so my spasms went berserk!
I carry extra Baclofen with me, but Hubby had trouble finding my pill container in my enormous pocket book that I have a tendency to carry everything and anything one might need, and has been useful due to all that I have for any emergency. Just last week Hubby needed a band aid while we're out and voila I had it!
And no I do not actually hold it, it travels under the seat compartment of my walker.

I did feel well by the time the Baclofen kicked in and Hubby took me out to lunch to our local Greek restaurant Olympia, he had hot open face turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and veggies with lentil soup, not Greek at all.
But mine was; I had spinach pie with Greek salad and their wonderful cabbage soup.

On that note of hoping you all to be well and now allow me to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!




















  

Monday, February 22, 2016

As I watched the news shows...

This morning they showed two centigenarians both women, one a hundred and ten year old grump who only appeared to enjoy napping in her nursing home and not much else and the other was a mere hundred and six with the bubbly personality of a much younger woman.
And she was the one enthralled with her visit to the Whitehouse to meet the president and the first lady! What a sweetheart!
One wonders, on occasion how one could be so happy and the other be so grouchy.
And my goodness the amount of these centigenarians seem to be multiplying exponentially, even when Willard Scott used to wish these people on the Today Show, then they were to be considered unique individuals a happy birthday had been wished to all those one hundred plus years of age, these days they seem to occur much more often in nature than the once a week that he would express a collective celebratory congrats to seemingly these now not so unique specimens of what we all wish that we could be, okay some of you, who are well.
There are cells/zones all over the world where longevity is still considered somewhat of an amazing feat and a more plentiful happening.
But I'm not so sure...go with me here... diet and exercise type lifestyles have been thought to be the answers by many who observe and study these not so unusual anomalies, as far as I can see these days.
And many when asked how they were able to get to their ripe old age, but politely with euphemisms used like "miraculous longevity" and others that cannot be extracted from this minute brain of mine at this time.
The interesting part is how many say things like eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise via working at something they enjoy or living a distance from a market or water source and having no other way than to get what they need other than walking in all types of weather and terrains etc.
And then there are the ones who eat what they want, including what many in the health field consider dangerous like bacon and eggs daily, smoking cigars or cigarettes, and drinking too and not just water but scotch nightly or wine or Manhattans, you get my gist.
I wonder though if any of the studies take into consideration how much really depends on heredity?
Good genes should be what they should really test and not living in a place with toxic air and water sources.
Just some more thoughts to throw out to all of you...!

Moving on...

Tonight is a full moon and so, you got that right half price 18" pizza from our local Coal Fired pizzeria, Bocca Lupo, at seven dollars and fifty cents plus tax, what a deal. Only one this time, since we still have a few slices in the freezer, oops! Plus salad fixings too in our fridge from the grocery this week, we just have to make it, but neither of us were into it tonight.
Two skinnies for me, slices that is, thin and plain cheese pizza; the owner is from good ole NJ and knows how to make them great, and Hubby had a wider one and a thinner one for his two slices, the rest went in the fridge for possible lunch tomorrow!

That is it for tonight friends. Oh, one more thing, access for blogs can only be made from Google or Facebook no longer Twitter or other ways, notification was as of January 11, 2016, sorry I forgot to mention it.
      
On that note of being here to document, inform and think, I think, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Guilt by association

BIG questions often in the news when married women are questioned about their husband's dirty dealings and at times also pronounced guilty if their husband's have done something unspeakably horrendous or even financially devastating for not intervening or stopping them; should they also be held or as in recent cases now one in particular going on, be disposed? (Absolutely, most times, even if they know nothing!)

Devil's advocate below and some possible thoughts on the other side:

Maybe I am one of those of the generation who believes that men with that much power hardly ever confide in their wives, so it might prove to be an exercise in futility to question those spouses, especially if doing something they would not want them to know about. I have known men to be much better at keeping secrets than most women.

I think only us regular Joes and Janes know where the money goes, since most of us either share or have a designated spouse taking care of the finances with input from each other in an open honest sharing situation. At least that's how we do it, and I do realize the young' ins think differently with separateness. Even many seniors second time around with prenups. To us though, Hubby and myself we believe that means they are preparing for divorce, the young ones, and that is just sad. My parents taught us everything is "ours", not yours or mine.
We also have a tendency to inform each other where we go and when, nothing to do with keeping tabs on one another; we feel that it's just being polite and respectful.

Getting back to what's in the news the innocent or out of the loop spouse is accused oh too often of being asked why didn't they know? And see, what I am saying here is many are so trusting of their loved one, like many of you are, so you can relate, and they believe everything they are told by them.
Just a theory, not an excuse, but I do think it might be a waste of time for any criminal investigation to deter punishing the proper person with information that most likely is not attainable, instead of going to a neutral source.
My other reasoning is if they recently found out they, the spouse, more than likely will clam up protecting the worthless SOB, just a thought; where do you stand?
With the advent of well renown sport's figures, comedian, coaches, financier etc. becoming monsters of embezzling, raping, abusing and molesting women and children we must all question whether or not the people being considered prime witnesses are not always unbiased or can become fearful of ramifications and are being threatened or blackmailed when they are interviewed, so never impartial.
Unless they are the victims themselves! (Also perspective can be compromised.)
Whole different story then in actuality and a necessary procedure.
Indirect/incidental victimization is also an issue in the other cases.
Most spouses involved with people who do these things are part of the horrific fallout, and although not guilty may very well feel that way, thus lie detectors might not work if used.
  
Oh yes I have been thinking and trying hard to figure out what good it does to question periphery case persons, mainly spouses in these cases that slows the actual process of prosecuting the alleged accused person.
I'm just saying... why put the victims through so many lengthy months and years of waiting to receive vindication? I know due to procedure and to prevent mistakes, but still why so long, really?

Just many thoughts... DISCUSS!

On that note of really wondering why, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and let me ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share all those overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!



Saturday, February 20, 2016

BLANK!

Everyone, I just want to let you all know you are not going blind when I touched on the side panel to adjust the " post settings", for some ridiculous reason it published my blank blog, unwritten as of yet!
BUT NOW! THIS IS IT FOLKS!
I will not apologize since I really believe it was not my fault.
In reality I have consistently tried not to cause head scratching, really?
Although, I must admit there are times that even when I fill the page with an abundance of words, many of you must scratch your heads and that is true?
But at those times it is done intentionally, ha! (So I say and after I lied and said that I did not! For shame!)
Reasoning below:
Part of my enjoyment of writing is when people wonder or want to understand or think, about anything... ya know how that is, causing interest or feedback.
I think many of my readers are international, as many as ten countries show up on the overviews, but most views are from the US, due to the overviews on the Google page the count for today was a total of nearly fifty, but it doesn't register on Facebook.
So weekly I still only get a few hundred, and for my month's count it is over a thousand, usually, these days.
To date, I have just under 64K for the seven plus years, a little more than five months till eight that I have been writing this.
Not impressive at all, but that is not why I do this, who knows...
It's for me as a diary, my family legacy, sort of.
And if anyone can relate, that will be fine.

We all think to someday leave remembrances for family for when we are gone.
My cousin who recently passed away in December suggested that I do this back in 2008, this blog, he was into his eighties when he died. And also there are so many questions I forgot to ask my parents before they died, back in 1982, Mom, and Dad in 1986. I was a young Mom then in my thirties, ya know?
Thanks Cuz for this great idea!
Any-who, this has been helpful in keeping my sanity at times.
How?
And are you sure?
I can hear ya; nah I can't hear you or be sure, but I bet you are wondering, maybe, hmm?
Well, as I said before it's like writing down those pros and cons columns for making BIG decisions, getting to see in written word what is actually going on, on any given day, better than worrying, okay, I still do that, but not as much, truly!

Anyway, so I muddle on and amaze myself with my verbosity and veraciousness.
I'm not saying it's all good, definitely not Pulitzer worthy, but it does make me realize that my brain is still working, sort of... I know questionable, ha!
I think therefore I am, ha!
Otherwise who knows what mischief I would get into; most would have to admit this is harmless entertainment for one's self.


Next time you judge a blog for being a narcissistic way for a person to be full of them self in too much sharing, perhaps rethink, it might not be...I'm just saying, judge not or you could be judged, whoa bible gal and not even accurately, oh well, forgive and allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and please count all your blessings and share all those overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Friday, February 19, 2016

Obstructions

Preventing something from getting through.
On the top of this blog format there is a location to write your title, but it has been dropping down with saying: our home landline phone number, not now, password, and our email address, none of those that I share here or elsewhere!
Hacked?
Or just plain scary.
I have notified Google again at their "report an issue" tab.
Little does whomever is responsible for doing that knows nothing will stop me!
Oddities in life, make that online life.

Moving on...

Just had an incident.
Physical.
I had cut back again, nearly two weeks ago on my Gabapentin, for over a year I had reduced my dosage from 1800 mg. daily down to 600 mg. prescribed years ago for my spasms. And has to be done slowly in increments decreasing, in weeks. Well a little less than two weeks ago I cut that back to only one pill 300 mg. at bedtime.
I still take my Baclofen, also an anti-spasmodic and it is more versatile and able to have its dosage played with without difficulties. I currently am taking 40 mg. of that when I had been taking 80mg., although since stopping the Gabapentin I have had to periodically take an additional 20 mg. and that is what I just had to do.
Contrasts in temperatures definitely sets those spasms off, and after having the oven on for cooking the whole chicken I made for dinner the area by the kitchen was very warm, and you all know the saying, "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen", and so I did!
And got onto our bed with the paddle fan gently cooling me, but the contrast...Oops, SPASM!

This was the lower back, right side one; my neck and under my left front breast are the scariest ones!
And in actuality I have had every body part go berserk at one time or another with spasms!
Hip going out online at the register while in my scooter at Beall's Outlet was so embarrassing!
It appears as if my body parts have minds of their own at times; or are dancing to their own tune.
I suppose if I am upping my Baclofen too often I might have to give in to going back to the Gabapentin/Neurontin higher dose, hope not.
This medication is very strong and used for Epilepsy too.
I do not have Epilepsy but it is commonly used for Multiple sclerosis spasms as well.
The weaning process as I said above takes time and guts to be willing to try to cut back without ramifications, any-who it also is another one of those drugs that causes weight gain, and that was one motivation.
Tuesday, while getting my earlobe check I had brought the PA a dietary supplement of natural quality and a natural cleanse too to get approval to use with all my health issues and seven prescriptions and other vitamins that I take daily. The cleanse was a no-no due to it raising my keytones and that has to do with being prediabetic and glucose, but the other product was considered okay and I have been taking it since then.
Anyway, I am desperate.
I eat healthy choices.
But cannot stand very long or go outside or do many exercises that I used to without second thoughts!
Oh pooh!

On that sorrowful pitiful note, sorry, no not me...allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all those overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Hesitation

The act of verbal, bodily movement or written pausing, hesitation.
Who would think that life would give me another pause to deal with at this time, now as of today, ha!
But it seems that it has and this one is a bit concerning.
You want to know why that is, hmm?
Because I have never ever have been accused of stopping before to think before engaging my verbal communication or even in my written words while touching the keyboard right here, I have never been accused of being that much of a thinker, so why now, must I think?
My behaviors in life since childhood had always been done without much forethought at all, maybe, at the very longest, two seconds, perhaps?
Thus all those mistakes and regrets, but you would think I would have paused, hesitated sooner, hmm?
NO!
This is an odd medical event and it is not thinking so much as being lost in thought, got that?
That has got to be it, nothing else fits.
Pausing is an interesting aspect of communicative behaviors and can possibly be mistaken for true consideration of another's comment or a decision to say something of profound value.
Is it possible that my generic OTC stomach GERD medication is causing this?
This week's flavor of the FDA questioning of medication once approved to go from prescription to OTC is now being accused from some vague testing in Europe/Germany that these products may very well cause kidney damage and dementia!
I have been on this so-called safe med for at least two years non-stop now, as per gastroenterologist,  for my once medicated severe GERD that I had been on the former prescription version!
Oops!
This is not my first go round with a drug albeit prescribed being recalled or found flawed.
So far no harm, lasting, no foul, to stop and find another replacement... but where?
Train of consciousness is how I roll with talk and writing; thus this verbose prose.
Sometimes I get lucky and make some sense, and tonight I hope that I have for your sakes.
Sorrowfully this is all subterfuge for my truer thoughts that I have been requested to not say aloud at this time.
Hard for me, but another is involved, so out of respect...I must hush my thoughts...and not speak out loud, so shush.
Maybe you will be privy, someday soon, or maybe not.
On that mysterious note of loyalty, allow me to be the very first to wish you all a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all of your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!



Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Controversy

Gets the blood going or boiling.
Anyway we look at disagreements we all know that eventually we will either understand the others point of view or forget about our differences of opinion and move on.
Smart people never let it change their actual relationships.
And go with me here, since respect to not be yes men/women to one another is not expected by truly interesting more logical thinking people.
But alas shouting matches are never ever any good either.
That said none of us will ever agree with everything a person/friend/associate/ family member says and you know why?
Sure you do.
We are NOT of one brain!
Even people married forever do not always agree for that very reason.
Some say they only think that they have one brain, even Hubby and I kid about it since at times we finish each others sentences, but that is more from just knowing each other for so long and so well, so it could appear that way.
On matters of opinion we have been far afield on many topics.
For the very reason of not wanting to cause any issues I will not mention which topics here, but it may have to do what he and I consider funny.
Oh don't get me wrong much we find very funny about lotsa things, but as too many from our generation think that euphemisms for women's body parts we differ and he likes those ridiculous names for them, but has been known to cringe when I use the proper biological identities of male or female body parts.
Men!
No BIG deal.
Take that anyway you want, bud dump bum.
Being the only gal in the family with a husband and two sons I learned a lot.
They would get silly like us young girls did as preteens and teens way back when we were all growing up together.
Misogyny was not taught in the home so that still baffles me if I hear any talk using that way of thinking while forming those words, I say something and it has been known to make me angry, too scary!
Adults, men or women must respect each other in every generation.
Just some thoughts.
My conversation though today was a difference of opinion with another adult woman over medication Vs. natural ways of handling a common ill.
We both made good points and being me and having been on a debating team when in high school and winning of course the one debate I recall actually having to prepare for; she was smart enough that once she responded she was done, but not me I had to get the last word in.
Thankfully when dealing with extremely professional people they have thicker skin, oh no I did not personally attack this highly intelligent person I just gave my systematic reasoning for my conclusion of my point of view, twice. I will call it an even end result.
Enough said and done. now, hours later.
A true test too know if I had gone too far is to check to see if I had been unfriended and as of this writing the answer is a resounding NO, whew!
I like her and respect her intellect.
Online intonation is so hard to get and so misunderstandings are all too common unfortunately.

Moving on...

Today, I chilled while Hubby went on to needing to do.
He asked me if I had anything that needed to be done and other than us changing our sheets that we do weekly and he or I have done it or together that was it for my needs today on our king size bed.
The swimming pool was calling him to be cleaned and so he did that as well and the "O" ring needed replacing on the filter.
With summer like temperatures down here pretty much all year round the pool is filtered and cleaned too daily, no winterization here.
Fortunately, we also have our pool supply shops are open all year round too for parts or whatever.
Grass slows slightly for cutting to about twice a month, although with the unusual rain fall this winter that has made that not always the case, causing it to be a bit more often.

On that note of COME ON DOWN with our high seventies daily, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!


Tuesday, February 16, 2016

An unknown type of insect bite...

...has been determined as the cause of my earlobe injury, but is healing well with just the topical antibiotic.
The PA Patti diagnosed the probability of it being a brown recluse as a possibility but maybe, maybe not; she had just moved down here from good ole NJ.
Any-who, she was unaware of the fact brown recluse spiders were here in Florida.
And interestingly enough she had been working at the same hospital up north that our own Number One Son was born in, Hackensack that is now an incredible teaching hospital.
Unfortunately, when I delivered our son after twenty-nine and half hours of consistent labor back in May of 1972, it was rather a runned down facility then, but where my OBGYN doctors were affiliated, which at the time I had no idea that they should not have had me going on that long I should have been induced sooner. And when I wanted to breast feed right away the nurse looked at me as if I had two heads. I had gone to La Leche League, the support organization for breastfeeding :http://www.llli.org/ and they had said you should do that to give your baby all those immunities from the colostrum you produced right after delivery, and at that time they were no help.
Bottle feeding was preferable at the time, breast feeding was just coming back into its own as an acceptable natural healthier alternative, but they appeared to have no clue.
Fortunately, these days Hackensack University Medical Center: http://www.hackensackumc.org/ is one of the most prestigious teaching facilities in the tristate area, make that four state area, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and most likely Pennsylvania.
Anyway, I felt she would learn about our critters soon enough.

Moving on...

So we left on our way and Hubby said that we were out of fish pond food and could use some more wild bird seed and so we decided to go to the Tractor Supply store out by interstate I75, our usual supplier.
And so we did and also thought it would be nice to get some lunch at the Cracker Barrel not far from there. I so enjoy their rainbow trout and Hubby who has lost some weight recently deserved and also enjoys their meatloaf, mashed potatoes with extra gravy and macaroni and cheese, biscuits and corn bread. I chose three lighter side items fresh salad and another one with cucumbers onions and more tomatoes, using the fat free Italian dressing for both and sharing a little with Hubby and apple slices, no carbs for me! He's not much of a veggies guy. When we eat out it's nice when he can get what he wants and I can a healthier choice too.
We both had ice water with a side of lemons.
I was dropped off at home...
Hubby was off again to take our chariot in for the part needed for the rear suspension that had been diagnosed where the noise was coming from when Hubby mentioned it while there for the oil change a few weeks ago, but they had to order the part.
When they finally finished with the car late this afternoon and turned it back over to him, he took it for another test drive telling them he would be right back if he still heard the squeaky noise over the speed bumps since that is when it would happen, and sure enough it was still there.
The head of the department got into the car with Hubby for another ride and heard it too and said well its not the shocks!
According to Hubby it has to do with some rubber thingies that protects those noisy components or some such thing; he's outside doing the garbage or I would ask him to clarify, sorry!
Now they are ordering again these new parts to fix it, hopefully the right way this time, and this is the dealership's service department where we bought it brand new from on November 15. 2014 and we have less than 8K miles on it, if it wasn't still under warranty Hubby said he would have fixed it himself!

Oh well....

On that note of what else, oh I read I also have Angina Pectoris on my medical portal when sent and emailed about my today's office visit, and that was dx'd from that hospital stay on 2-2-16, besides them also dx-ing emphysema and hepatic steatosis, but I'm still here and so are you!
Of course!
I'm not going anywhere, are you?

On this absurd note allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and asking you all to kindly count all your blessings and to share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

 And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!


Monday, February 15, 2016

After I posted last night ...

... on this end, on my laptop here on this Blogger site came up corrupted for some reason.
The published version that I was seeing here was incomplete.
It had been blacked out on the top and the first sentence was missing.
Oddly enough on my phone it was fine?
Frustrated by my inability to upload those pictures yesterday and the fact that when I posted on this end it looked just dreadful, it nearly gave me apoplexy., doesn't take much these days!
I suppose the "report any issue" box that appears at the bottom left on here was a godsend, since I used it and wrote to them about my issue and voila today all was well again!

Moving on...

Something quite nice and a bit concerning happened a couple of hours ago.
My cousin that lives in Ohio that is a little  more than two years my elder and who had been diagnosed with MS at the age of twenty-seven while a stewardess, yes in those days that was what we called them and she did to herself too, she looked very much like the Charlie's Angel actress Farah Fawcett, a beautiful young woman and had worked a total of thirty years for both United Airlines as well as the now defunct TWA; and they had wanted her to do their commercials, well she called me today.
We usually communicate via Facebook, but have been known to call each other on several occasions, I suspect that someone may have mentioned that I messaged her asking, "where are you????" I had not heard from her by any means for a very long time. She told me that she had been hospitalized on the 28th of January due to a fall and was dx'd in having an exacerbation of her MS, her son had taken care of her and they live in the same building, her daughter is a tremendous asset and takes care of her too. She had lost a lot of weight, and not unlike me had gotten heavy over the last several years, but now she said she is that her weight is down to one hundred and three pounds and on her five foot five inch frame, which is now going too far in the other direction.
I asked her what the doctors said and she said they kept telling her it was the Multiple sclerosis.
Knowing me with tact I even asked if they mentioned cancer and she assured me they had not.
At the time she called she was waiting for her physical therapist to come to her home any minute, but we spoke for quite some time, and it was nice we caught each other up on the last several months.
The best news is that her gorgeous daughter who resembles her so much as a young woman is having her/my cousin's second grandchild! And that her son has a serious girlfriend.
I could hear in her voice that although she was very happy to speak/listen to/with me I knew she was winding down or in some pain, it was in her voice.
So I cut her off and wished her well and promised I would call her back soon, and I will.
She is my shinning light to have been contending with this insidious disease for so long and never ever giving up! And I told her that.

On that note of yes my Mom's, eldest of five, littlest brother's eldest daughter is made of strong stuff and has so much to look forward to, grand-babies! I told her how jealous I am, being absent of any of grandbabies myself, what a joy I hear that they give.
Interestingly, my cuz called on the anniversary of my Mom's death thirty-four years ago today at age seventy, a week before her seventy-first birthday, yep on the twenty-second of February 1982, in 1911 she had been born. I was a second marriage baby.
Allow me once again on again divulging too much information to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask all of you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!


   

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope by now that most of you have had the day that was all that you had expected.
No, negativity kids, just pure delight, me too.(Self talk.)
Since we all know that at times things happen and we must not let that get us down.
Frustration with the PICS I wanted to show you.
Lovely cards, candy/chocolates, dinner of ribs, sweet potato and corn, dessert homemade apple pie by Hubby.
Amazing what five apples, a little sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all purpose flour and unsalted butter can accomplish!
OH Hubby's surprise project was him framing a large plastic, water proof, coated chart that we have had for years of our own Charlotte Harbor to hang in our living room over the wall unit and he did. I had seen it in a magazine the concept for a waterfront home, and we are a waterfront home. The idea is to show where you live on that waterfront and it does!
He and I had taken pictures of all the days creations and gifts, but this dumb upload for the phone/camera is not cooperating, again!
See best things happened today, actually a more than wonderful day and then this aggravating phone camera problem continued made me angry and then sad.


Oh well...tomorrow's another day.
It sure is!

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Accomplishments!

Some days with this insidious disease Multiple sclerosis I am beyond moving due to my spasticity, numbness weakness, and spasms.
At times it seems that it will never end and I am over and useless!
But for some unknown reason today, perhaps being motivated by the date, the day before our anniversary milestone being tomorrow, yes so fortunate another, this our forty-fifth!
Most thought we chose Valentine's Day due to why many do, romance, love and lastly corny ( Oops, did I say that?) reputation of being Cupid's day that little dangerous cherubic guy/angel
with a bow and arrow shooting potential lovers in the hearts to coexist in whatever heavenly romantic lives forever and ever. But if shot in the heart we would all be dead, maybe I got that wrong, could be, wouldn't be my first time.
Any-who, in reality the story of the reasoning of the why we chose February 14th to have as our wedding day and therefore our anniversary for happily ever after... was quite rationally due to my theory and a very nice coincidence.
You see, Hubby's grandparents were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary on February 16th.1970. And we had gotten engaged on Thanksgiving of 1969 and so when we were getting ready to go to their incredible golden anniversary I got this brilliant idea and since I was/am a wee bit superstitious thought that for good luck why not make arrangements to have our wedding as close to their anniversary day as possible the following year, since even then your plans had to be made that far in advance!
It was shear luck or coincidence that they at the Maplewood Manor in Maplewood NJ had a date open after Shabbat for my religious relatives, but on a Saturday night and that is how we were able to get the date of February 14. 1971! Even then it was a three day holiday weekend for President's Day, anyway it snowed. We spent our first night at the Marriott in Sadlebrook's bridal suite, and the next day went to the Poconos, but even then no heart shaped bed place, we went to Woodlock Pines in Hawley PA, Hubby's family get-a-way place, and that proved to be a mistake, since they knew us and would not leave us alone, meaning well; trying to be too helpful...ha! Consequently, we never went back, too weird for us.

Oh where was I?
That's right why I feel so energized, since without speaking to one another we both knew even though this is quite an impressive year, of forty-five years under our belt, for our anniversary that we neither wanted to or intended to get reservations to eat out, too crazy!
And can you imagine when we lived ten miles from the Daytona racetrack for nine years, the Daytona 500 used to be on Valentine's weekend, too much hassle but in those days we did wait for hours even with reservations, lunacy! We were much younger.
So we secreted our card purchases at the grocery Tuesday as sneakily as we could be, and a sweet addition too, but I am not telling more since Hubby reads this. And he has been working out in the garage on a mysterious surprise for me, he says nothing exciting or even a big deal, but still...all his effort, and that is truly too sweet! Who needs chocolates?
Any-who, so when at the grocery I made sure the ribs that were on sale were purchased, the St. Louis style, his favorite, raw and so I have been marinating them since this morning the plan is for them to be barbecued by Hubby along with sweet potatoes and additional vegetables yet to be chosen. Oops we both forgot dessert, but Hubby did cut up the cantaloupe.
I had used up the last of the blueberries in my blueberry pancakes that I made for us this morning, more like crepes, perhaps with so many left over I can create something special.
Yes, busy cooking even that fifteen bean soup, for us today but only half the bag with enough left for another lunch for the two of us. I even did two loads of laundry, big wows!
This is more than I have done in years, see energized.

Although, my ear is still not healed and does hurt, but I guess it is safe to say that I probably did not get bit by a brown recluse, unless it takes longer to cause big problems than I thought?
Another minor issue occurred today, I had gotten my hands spotted with purple coloring due to the blueberries and when I went into the shower after breakfast all but one spot came off, and I repeated soaping my purple spot over and over and it would not come off, so I even tried a squirt of the bleach I keep in there for mildew preventive, but no luck with that either.
So right now it looks more like a bruise than a stain.
But I cannot recall when or where.
Also in the far reaches of my brain I recalled my neuro telling me all the IV steroids that I have been on can cause necrosis, dead bones. But when I foolishly Googled what it would look like it looked liked your worst nightmare, like Leprosy or severe burned skin and bones showing breaking off, disintegrating!

Anyway, that is not how I wanted to end this blog tonight, sorry! So again I am pretty darn, yep very sure I do not have necrosis, and on that happier note, true, ha, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy HEALTHY safe good night and ask you all to kindly forgive that image I just put into all your sweet brains, and instead kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

PS MAY your Valentine's Day be filled with lotsa, lotsa burning love, or just another happy day and that is okay too!
 

Friday, February 12, 2016

This weekend is a two-fold celebration in the US, make that three

We celebrate Valentine's Day as many others do in the world on the fourteenth and also Presidents' Day which may or may not be unique to the United States of America this Monday? But it moves from year to year.
Anyway that you look at it children get the day off from school Monday as well as banks being closed, and the stock market is also closed and mail is not delivered, whew!
But stores and the net take advantage of the holiday with many sales!
Most have already started those sales in the name of Presidents' Day!
The merchants take advantage of all those parents of those children being home and other people off from work to sell more to.
Here are two sites to refresh your memory of why we do celebrate these holidays other than merchandising:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day
http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/presidents-day
Oh and the third one, celebration, is that it is Hubby's and my 45th wedding anniversary is also on Sunday! YAY!

Moving on...

Each decade has brought us all so many happenings.
When I look back at each segmented part of our personal lives, in increments, it is so truly amazing to me what all has transpired.
So many changes and then again much has stayed the same, have you found that too?
Have you ever tried taking inventory of life's events; the good the bad and the happy the sad etc, all those emotions that we humans sustain...even the thoughts of all that went how you expected and somethings that turned out so much differently that you had hoped for and all that was and all that never will be?
Some say we should never look back, only forward.
And in so many ways that is true.
Than why are educators and people in government so insistent for us to remember history?
See without our histories we may never learn to change for the better or stay as good as we are, ha!
Just a thought.

A little bit of thinking about the bigger picture of things as me being a biological part of all this minutia in this vast world we all live in, and on that note of you seeing that I am thinking, sort of... allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!








Thursday, February 11, 2016

Wonkish?

Definition of wonk: broadly is someone who knows a lot about the details of a particular field (such as politics) and often talks a lot about that subject. Thanks to:  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wonk  ( I bet you knew that, well I didn't and found it interesting)
Okey dokey, so many of my Facebook friends are wonk-ing this election and informing the rest of us about what's what, and that can be a very good thing, but can also become quite tedious; sorry!
So even with so many more debates happening and more primaries I think we could use a bit of a break, ya know?
Not a long one, but one, okay?

Moving on...

So here's the deal, last night I blatantly accused a brown recluse of causing my earlobe, left, to become a red blister with top notched hole included and many might wonder why I would think of such a thing well here is my reasoning and even Hubby thought it was not an off the wall possibility.

Even I have complained that I have become somewhat of a shut in due to my giving up driving a few years back when I was deemed legally blind and although I have had four eye surgeries and my sight is incredibly better, my leg strength is still no good for pedal pushing, in other words getting up to the speed limit.
That said, Hubby is the driver and most of my outings lately have been to doctor's office visits and most lately hospitals as well and not for fun or even productivity, too cold for street fairs to go to them or other such things etc. and so when given the choice to go grocery shopping two days ago I jumped in my mind and heart, not literally, to go for the ride.
The logistics were easy Hubby would get their motorized cart and bring it to the car, he does enjoy the ride and so he did.
I am so tired these days along with weak legs it is the best way to go, ya know?
In the produce department when I bent down on the cart to pick up the baggies dispenser I knocked over, and my head was at the right height of the produce.

Yep, that is possibly when it could have happened since I was looking in the car drop down passenger side mirror once done shopping, checking my lipstick and hair when I noticed my earlobe and yikes!
I know the problem was not there when we left since I had put on earrings, and no there was no damage at that time!
At first I thought well I had an earache last night in the middle of the night and when I do I use a cotton ball with alcohol on it and put it into my ear to relieve the pain so I can sleep, my mom used to do that, maybe something was brewing then.
But the problem/ blistery red with a hole damage wasn't there then or after my morning shower or anytime while at home, I even did not see it when I put on my earrings that morning, not until we were in the car after the grocery store!
Logical deductive reasoning.
Although, we were home before one P.M. I at first thought it was that chronic ear issue that had to be biopsied last summer, but it had been long gone...so until after dinner and even after I had written my blog Tuesday evening I let it go, but noticed that it appeared worse and that is why I Googled the worse possible scenario, and it scared me enough to go to the hospital since it looked an awful lot like the picture on the site.
But... since I rechecked and that picture was of a bite nine days in and all the people who did have a brown recluse bite ran high fevers with the venom doing that and many ended up on IV antibiotics.

All the hospital doctor gave me was a prescription for a topical antibiotic and paperwork saying what to look for if it got any worse and on that same paperwork I was to see my doctor in 3-5 days; I called and will be seen early next week.
The applications for the medication is at five doses so far and I cannot see any improvement or that it has gotten any worse either; too soon I suspect.
I did have my low grade fever of  99.6 and then later after prepping dinner it was 101.6 but I was working near the oven that was roasting that spaghetti squash I had found a recipe for, PS we did not like it.
More than likely my temperature is down now with removing myself from the hot spot and drinking my nice cold club soda and sitting under the paddle fan in the living room!
Odd with the heat on Hubby had changed the fans direction for cooling not pushing down the heat, still seems counter productive!
So that is where I stand/sit now.
More than likely as so many times before thankfully I hope that I am wrong about why/how this happened since I have been wrong many times before, one can only hope, cannot one.
The doctor's office wanted to see me tomorrow when I called yesterday, but I delayed it thinking the medicine might work and then I could cancel, my insurance fully covers it without any co-pay.
Who knows...
Right now I am wondering about tonight's night's sleep, last night was rough and hard to get comfortable. I still have that foam ring the dermatologist's office had recommended, in spite of it I actually slept on my other side the one that I usually can't.

TMI again, just keeping track of it all and sometimes when you write things down it will make more or less sense.
Try it, it can work like pros and cons columns.

On this note of my trying to figure out things others probably have, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all those overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Was back at the hospital last night

Not the same one, the other one, Fawcett.
And yes, no one talked me out of it.
Although, Google talked me into it.
All these sentences ending with "it", "oh well" is all that I can say to all of you grammar Nazis!
Pictures of a Brown Recluse spider bite did it for me and how my earlobe's red blistery dotted with a hole at the top newest ear injury looked, a little bit too much like a replica of that picture, same ear by the way that had been biopsied and fortunately with medication had gotten better after a few weeks causing me not to need that second biopsy last summer.
Any-who, we went again those less than two miles, another Tuesday, a week since the last, to that adjacent hospital and they looked as if they were giving healthcare away at nine P.M. this time; oh I would have seen my doctor if it had been earlier.
A dozen people from an assisted living facility were there all with IVs in their arms.
Most people would have turned tail and run like the dickens!
But the nurse on the intake desk who would not tell me one way or the other if it was a spider bite in any capacity but still felt it should be looked at and to her looked like a bite, when I had said to Hubby let's leave.
But we stayed, and me with a mask from the dispenser I even went outside due to the sauna like temperature in the ER, cold non bacteria spewing weather was quite refreshing this time, didn't mean a thing that my thinner blood from being a Floridian for nearly thirty years was not at all in my concern for once, funny how that works.
When the wait was causing all to be antsy they actually gave the ER waiters all small cups of low fat vanilla ice cream!
I didn't care when Hubby brought it out to me that it was already nearly forty outside, it was another distraction besides talking to passerbys and my Solitaire on the phone.
 It took until after eleven to finally determine that the doc wasn't sure, he said unless I saw the spider with a piece of me in its teeth ha, not funny!
He prescribed an anti-biotic cream and told me to my doctor in three to five days.
Too late to fill last night so Hubby filled first thing this morning, what a guy!
Hours later I found the one that the dermatologist's PA had prescribed last summer, same stuff!
Two out of three applications, no change yet.

Oh well...
This is very late good night to all.
 

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

New Hampshire!

Now since I confessed my voting situation in my state, New Hampshire is the place that I see that  my choice will be doing great!
Sorry Madeline Albright, but I appear to be feeling the Bern!
Women not only have to be qualified and supported by other women when they run they also have to have made many of the right choices over their political careers that are unquestioningly known to be glaringly watched and recorded for all to see as they happen or to be accessed later on, as well as men's are. That's why I would never run, besides being totally unqualified and incapable of doing the job I have done too many things that I am not proud of, and some were even mentioned here, oops!

All that means is that I am human and used poor judgment in a lot of cases. But in order for anyone, man or woman, to run for president they have to be squeaky clean and super human and of unquestionable integrity; there I said it and that is why I made my choice for the mensch over the questionable lady with too much media covered as well as historically recorded baggage, ya know? 

And so unless someone finds out my candidate murdered, molested or embezzled someone, something, somewhere... Bernie will be my choice as long as all of you who support him makes sure that he wins the nomination, and I have faith in all of your good judgment! Do it so that I can cast my vote in November please, sorry needy me again.

Moving on...

Today we went grocery shopping and it is true that we were out of nearly everything, but even so the bill was over two hundred and fifty bucks!
Bernie, can you do something about that, please?
It is getting to the point where we should all carry food insurance coverage!
We were so guilty of buying healthy things like produce, veggies and fruit and meat, chicken and fish, oops. Things like spaghetti squash, melon, plums, blueberries, tomatoes, sweet peppers, onions, red potatoes, garlic, etc.
And sure I also bought those fancy dried fifteen beans to make soup, two of them for the pantry, a great cold weather day food/soup, wild and crazy gal that I am, but it's been brrrrrr cold here in Florida, barely going above sixty during the day and overnights, forties!
Hubby did get cheeses at the deli but no meats, too many nitrates, ya know.
Oh rice Chex and multi-grain waffles Publix brand, we still had milk eggs, oatmeal, and bread as well as frozen veggies.
Oops it could have been those can goods, stewed tomatoes, store brand, pineapples and peaches in their own juices also store brand.
Yep we did get a lot so much not mentioned too, hope it all lasts a while; at least a couple of weeks for the two of us.

In closing, I feel that the day went well, and I cannot complain, since no one wants to listen anyway, bud dump bum, ha!
I did use their motorized cart that Hubby brought to the car. I do have my own but this is easier than loading mine up, it's in the shed anyway... on this note of managing life as well as we can allow us to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Monday, February 8, 2016

WHOA, OOPS I am so embarrassed but as far as our state election goes...

...in March on the 16th, I will not be able to vote in ours to narrow down the field of choices.
Why, one might ask, and again I do know that you did not, ask that is, well I will tell you anyway...here's the embarrassing part, which is that Hubby and I are registered "non-partisans" and no we have no desire to change our status by our state's deadline, which happens to be February 16. 2016. I know!
Don't be angry or think that my interest in the whole shebang is disingenuous, because honestly it isn't, although in most of your minds this says that it is.
Blame our state, I do, not fair, all registered Americans should be allowed to do their diligence and vote in all elections.
I have been told that many states do allow nonparty declared affiliated voters to cast their vote in "the primaries", but not here in Florida.
Actually, eleven states have open primaries and do allow all of their registered voters to vote in spite of being registered as non partisans: the list is available here:
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/primary-types.aspx  (Many of the states of the leftover states are hybrid, which means they are either opened or closed, check that out too, who knew, perhaps you did, but not me, so much more to learn, really!)
And as it will show you also that eleven states do have closed primaries, including our old stomping ground of NJ as well as of course here in our adopted state of Florida.

So I guess this is it folks my ability to be believed as a true fighter for what I believe in has diminished somewhat in all your eyes, oops! (I hope not.)
But whoa, in my enthusiastic dreaming, in order to have meaning, and a substantial desire to want a specific person to be our next leader has not diminished one iota and never ever will!
I speak my truth!

Confession is good for the soul, so they say... and that is the why that we will not change our affiliation and declare one party or the other; the truth is that we feel they should change the law not us change our desire to vote for the right person, not the party!
And then there is that they always sent all those annoying repetitive pieces of literature, paper wasting mailers and time wasting additionally of phone callers that bombards our homes as well as those emails etc.cluttering in our SPAM files, sent to all of us once they feel that you are one of them!
Obscurity and anonymity are also a choice that we had decided on years ago. (Okay so not so much here. They still cannot track us down and torture us with waste material! HA!)
Complaining then/now is seen to some perhaps as hollow heralding due to not many getting us for the whole need to be a part of the voting system with our right to vote, ridiculous!
We truly believe it's bologna that we cannot vote to narrow the field and most of you should too.
Caving to their game play seems most definitely like the wrong way to go, but I suppose that is just a matter of opinion, mine and Hubby's too.
So the stalemate stays.
And two less votes will be counted, sadly, but only in the primary.
We have to wait until November to be heard and since by then the decision will be made as far as how this tight race goes finally and so wrongfully our choice will have been decided for us.

Alrighty now I have come clean and there is so much more that I can do and that is still find out as much as I can about the candidates and so should you.

And on this note of additional confusion to me and many others I am more than sure, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, a hear!

PS Once I make my final decision, which is coming soon I will be a campaigner for that person until the end of this marathon election season and that final outcome is announced for our new PRESIDENT!




Sunday, February 7, 2016

2016 Election Campaign "flip flopper" Edition

If I recall properly a "flip flopper" is someone who changes their mind at a whim or possibly when additional information comes to light to make them see a different point of view or even so much validation of otherwise what they believed in their heart of hearts was disproved and so what choice did they have but to succumb to another outcome and a change of mind, got that?
Yup, I bet you do.
And so I am on that verge of changing my mind of what I thought to cover all of my qualifications in that job interview simplicity that I mentioned last night for that almighty position of head of our fair country, with the moniker, president. As an employer for our own businesses and manager for someone else's international corporation over many years of hiring and firing people those were a few of the many jobs I did have, and sure enough some times we found polished jewels amongst the many wanting employment and at times we found chunks of non precious stones, duds that had to be tossed.
You see, choosing our head of government is a little more complicated and today someone enlightened me into becoming not so sure about that so-called clear cut choice of mine last night with my oh so logical reasoning to support it, sadly I forgot the "grey factor", and I am not referring to hair color.
I am usually the one who insisted that not all things in life were right or wrong, black or white, good or bad and I suppose I temporarily forgot sadly, but there are grey tones in all things considered especially in human nature. The things that fall between the cracks the neither right or wrong, good or bad, nor black or white.
We as living creatures are NOT simple, but much more complex than many allow us to recognize.
Blanket statements of opinions should be welcomed with enthusiastic fact checking before taken as the gospel.
I am now in reevaluation mode.
Weighing the truths set before me that will allow me to make that all too critical decision in that private tiny booth that we vote in, although mine is a mailer, done in the privacy of our home with my Hubby.
It never hurts one to admit that they might have made a mistake, heaven knows I make them regularly and admitting them has become a whole lot easier as I have grown older.

So my love for Bernie as a human being and he also reminding me of a lovable old uncle not on either side of my family but if I had one he would have been it, it came to my attention that not only was he more than likeable and too young to be my uncle, but highly capable to do the job, and let's face it his hair is already grey, a plus.
Kidding!
About the hair, but not about him.
I was shown that he slightly misspoke about the leadership of North Korea, he knew and he also has many plans on how to handle the world wars throughout this world as well as at home.
I must study.
Before I choose.
But I also must admit until his slight slip up he had been my favorite.
Nothing definite (I think B is my best choice though, hush.) at this point though I have time and you do too, so study up and get out those fact checkers.
This is no joke and one vote can make a difference!
Our generation of Baby Boomers knows this and now you do too.

On this note of trying to be an educated voter and this from that long ago young women who wrote her journalism paper on giving the right to eighteen year olds to vote circa 1969 as a nineteen year old college student and receiving an A for that effort with substantial research of others in government who had felt the same historically.
Knowing what you are doing besides casting that vote without much thought placed behind it is just as bad as not voting at all, truly!
Any-who, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!





 

Saturday, February 6, 2016

2016 Candidates Campaign

CONFUSED!
Do any of you who are of the age of legally voting and have had about four presidential elections or more under your belt recall so many vying for the job?
Well, if you do I have to confess that I DON'T, truly.
Of course at this point in my life it all could be due to selective memory or an older age ability to remember just what we really want to, hey that's the same thing, that could be why I only... where was I, oh right all these people who believe that they are qualified to run the country?

In my opinion if this was a laymen's job interview first of all it would have been over by now; who needs eighteen months to choose an officer of a company oh no, the CEO of America oh wait, just the President?
We all know what the job description is, gets along well with others and has an ability to get his/her point of view taken seriously, knows world history and current events well enough to speak up or out about them and prevents wars by reasoning with world leaders, can set an agenda to fix domestic infrastructures and delegate people to work on those bridges, roadways and water purity conservation and recycling without killing its young, economically make sure all programs that help people actually do and do not cost the tax payers an arm and a leg and is there as soon as a disaster strikes with the ability to make it all alright.... oh there is more much more, but until we place that warm body and their family in that BIG WHITE HOUSE, we cannot tell if grey hair is also a portion of the job description that is a hush, hush, bonus, although most of us women can also deal with that if chosen for the position...the question is now when will Hill and Bill be back on the Hill, mmm?
I narrowed the field, have you yet?
I know we all have difficulty with the outrageous claims clouding the fields.
But while looking over those numerous resumes one must always go with the one with the most experience! That is the real world way it's done.
Thus my choice!
Hey Donny YOU'RE FIRED!
AND HILLARY the job is yours since you are the MOST Qualified!
Case Closed!
Simplified, ta DA!

Friday, February 5, 2016

Leaving well enough... never my style

So far though, this time I have not gotten myself into any trouble, yet.
My one diagnosis of "emphysema" was very scary and made me quite angry!
Why, one might ask? Not really, but let me tell you anyway...thanks, by the way...

Well, first of all it comes nearly ten years after I had quit smoking and secondly, over the years I have had numerous chest X-rays, all unremarkable!( Deemed negative.)
So to be dx'd with mild to moderate emphysema makes me wonder about the usefulness of those "chest X-rays" and why not with my history had I not been given that chest CT scan with dye right away or at least earlier?
Or.........is it possible for this insidious disease to lie in wait all of these years without a smidge of it peeking out onto an X-ray (And yes it is, I have found out sadly.) and then without forewarning magically appear years after anyone would suspect such a nasty occurrence/diagnosis making a GRAND HORRIFIC ENTRANCE!

 NOT IN MY LIFETIME!

Oh wait, it did.

So little miss throw a glitch into the calm seas of diagnoses that were accepted and done with; not me, no sir, I have to know why??????
So instead of ruining my relationship with my one  of the few decent doctors who usually tells me truthfully how it is, and she had said that I was "non symptomatic", but something didn't gel right, ya know, so I called my chronic care liaison, Karen. And I had been oh so tired with those chest pains and breathing difficulty thus that ominous hospital visit this past Tuesday. According to what I had read after, those were classic symptoms, although my oxygen levels were incredibly good, from 98 to 100 %, but they did keep oxygen on me the whole time I was there.
But Karen could tell I was like a dog with her prize bone and that I wasn't going to let this go, and so she was kind enough to recommend a pulmonologist, and now I have an appointment next month, whew a bit of relief for now.

I did leave the hepatic steatosis dx alone, due to the more I researched it the more I realized my weight and wine indulgence had to be curbed. The wine we had actually given up after years of having a glass or two with or after dinner last year. It was this year that I thought perhaps just a glass during the holidays or for special occasions wouldn't be too bad, and now I am thinking differently, in favor of none at all.
Too dangerous!

The wine is easy for me to not have, but without being able to exercise, even walk, but eating healthy is already in my playbook, always has been.

Any-who, so life goes on here as everywhere, and yes in the near future I will get back to what truly is important in life....THE 2016 ELECTION,
HA!

I so know how much you are all waiting on my opinionated take on it, NOT!
But that never stopped me before, hmm?

On that note of much hope and that my icon has returned and my scary PIC has dissolved back into whence it had come from, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!



Thursday, February 4, 2016

My heart is fine, although... so much for my sincere concern of HIPPA, ha!

I have what is known as mild to moderate centrilobular emphysema.
Sounds scary to me too!
Until I emailed my doctor, since Hubby was able to pick up all my tests' results with a signed note from me and a copy of my picture ID for the hospital record department, and so Dr. Nord said via email that there is nothing to be done since I am non symptomatic in reference to the emphysema and due to quitting smoking nearly ten years ago 7-11-06, I am not going to be hopefully needing any intervention.
Apparently, the CT scan of my chest found that I have Hepatic steatosis also, another scary sounding dx, but in reality it is a fatty liver, diffuse low density in keeping with fatty infiltration, me, unfortunately caused by obesity, ironically due to quitting smoking and gaining too much weight, also nothing to do!
I have no sign of a heart attack or of a pulmonary embolism, best news!
The blood issue was a high absolute eosinophil, most likely due to two of my known medical problems: inflammation due to the Multiple sclerosis and also allergies, guilty of having both, so nothing new there either.
All in all my mysterious chest pain and shortness of breath probably were cause by my GERD and those MS hugs that I so do deplore.
I know that I am definitely relieved, whew.
But Dr. Nord said anytime I want to come in due to any return of those symptoms that she will be fine about seeing me and checking me, no hospital needed, whew!
I HATE HOSPITALS AS MUCH AS INDIE*, (*Indiana Jones, for any of you living under a rock, kidding!) HATES SNAKES!

On that note of the ridiculous, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy healthy safe good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all those overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

PS In my opinion, HIPPA, a law protecting our privacy is a joke since all info is put into the medical computers and most have inner or inter office facility access by way too many, truly!
And I feel that as well my "open book" attitude here hopefully is informative and helpful to others on occasion; one can only hope, cannot one?

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Home from the hospital since last night

Frustration and being in a very busy place made my temporary stay a bit difficult for needy me.
I was not only hooked up to oxygen and a blood pressure cuff, but to the cardiac machine with several of those lines running from me and so when I needed to go to the bathroom facility next door to the ER room it appeared that many of the nurses were not available when I used my call button. I use a walker and my balance is compromised all due to the Multiple sclerosis.
And so after quite some time about twenty minutes I disconnected myself, slid off the end of the table since the side would NOT go down and held on to the table as I found my shoes and the walker.
In over the ten hours I was there I had to go to the bathroom three times, first the nurse was there to help, then Hubby had helped with the disconnect, but this last time, no one came when the button was pressed.
Hubby had gone home to take care of Gus and grab dinner, he had had lunch in their cafeteria there.
I had two sets of blood work hours apart for my cardiac enzyme testing, a chest X-ray in the room too. The only time I was moved was for the chest and other organs CT scan with die that I think I mentioned yesterday.
Food was status quo for a hospital, cold and bad.
I got so upset with the lack of my nurse button being answered and the cold stale food, and questions not being answered about taking my daily medicine and when I would be up in my room; my elderly nurse told me some were warehoused in ER for as long as thirty hours. (She did not say warehoused that was my term, but she did say thirty hours. She also forgot to come back when asked any question...whoosh.....GONE. Like a little social butterfly in the hallways talking to people. Hubby reported that.)
So I ripped out my IV and decided to leave and to give an earful to all who would listen.
The first was the ER head nurse Jason, who politely told me to wait in their quiet room, a what?
It turned out to be an inner enclosed doored lounge with sofas and chairs for people waiting I suspect for answers or whatever.
He also took a while to come in and talk with me or better yet listen to my reasons for leaving. He held the "quiet room" door ajar. I asked him why for the sake of my privacy with HIPPA and all I did not want others to hear me?
He said that he had to leave it open, so I spoke quietly, oh now I get it QUIET ROOM, shush!
It occurred to me later he was afraid that I might accuse him of something with it closed? I suppose it was his CYA.

I told him everything and he was quite consoling and apologetic and even added that if I needed to come back that he would be happy to be MY nurse, huh? (Odd comment, and I wonder if anyone heard that?)
Any-who, I proceeded to leave and then seemed to recall that I had to sign a paper stating it was against medical recommendations, and so I asked up front for that form.
The fellow there said he had called someone to bring it down, but alas no one did, and so I waited outside for Hubby!
I called him there and talked on my cell holding it to my ear not on the speaker as I prefer.
Somethings have to be private, ya know?

Hubby was pretty quick since we live less than two miles from both Port Charlotte hospitals, but this one is designated for heart diseases that is why it was chosen. It wasn't until I was home that I realized my black onyx earring that was in my left ear was missing. The earring is about fifty years old from when I was college bought to match my LIM college ring also gold and onyx. I called the hospital and asked to speak to the nurse and he said he would look and hung up. Hubby even went back against my wishes and looked, and did not find it, and he's the one who usually finds everything! Someday I will give you a list of the thought to be gone forever things he found after all was said and done.

Deje Vu was how the experience went, why I don't like hospitals, it had been a little less than seven years since any wanted me to stay. The last BAD experience was at the other one adjacent to this one. Leaving me with a horrid infection that I had to take 2000 mg. of Cipro for ten days!

Any-who, next time I will have to be unconscious to be admitted.
Geez I sure hope I remember that!
Back in 1983 while still in NJ they coded me nearly killing me, due to an allergic reaction to medicines they injected into me while I was in lower back and neck traction due to an accident.
See, me and hospitals do not get along!
Someone stop me if I think a stay will help any medical problem.
This time it was again a doctor recommendation, of course due to my nasty symptoms, chest pains and breathing problems, not their fault.

I called my chronic care liaison this morning to explain what had happened and she suggested speaking to the hospital administrative office and so I called and got the secretaries voice mail and she called me back, Minerva. After I told her my litany of complaints she said that I should speak to their Director of the ER which I eventually did and she was quite receptive and vowed to speak with her people and anonymously mentioning all that had happened to me while there to make sure that it will not happen again. This woman, Jan, even told me that she spoke with security to keep a lookout for my earring and stylus that also was missing, but Hubby did find the stylus when he was out in the car on his way to the dealership for that funky noise being taken car of; it slid out of the center console when he turned a corner or something.

So this is where I stand/sit now, my doctor's nurse in house called asking me if I wanted Dr. Nord to see me, and I said let's wait till the results of all those tests come back to see if it is necessary. My symptoms have diminished, although I am still rather tired, I did nap for awhile again. And my chest pain is more like periodic tightening, which could be my MS hugs and the pain could be my GERD, but while I was there, at the hospital, I was told my hookups looked good. Even my doctor's representative, Beth J. said they looked good, all was that is except my blood work had something wrong thus the reasoning for the cardiac enzyme test every six hours, and I only had two of the three... oh well the last was scheduled for midnight and I was long gone by then.
Stay tuned, I am!





  

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Bayfront Hospital Port Charlotte Florida

I guess one can say that I am their overnight day long guest.
Arrived at ten fifteen a.m. due to my chronic care person speaking with Dr. Nord and calling me back and telling me to go to the ER to be checked out.
Shortness of breath, extremely tired and mild chest pains.
I am currently a blood donor for myself getting many vials taken from those Vampiras.
I am hooked up to blood pressure, and I am on oxygen.
I have also had a chest X-ray an CT scan with die of my chest and surrounding areas.
The results so far are good, but I am not done with the blood work that checks enzymes every six hours thus the sleepover.
Food has consisted of a yucky dry white bread turkey and cheese sandwich with a squeeze of fat free mayo and a cranberry juice.
Coffee was brought later.
I have a sore throat too, waiting on whether I take my own throat lozenges.
Feeling better than this morning anyway now.
TTYT
I hope!

Which way will the war go?

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