Eve of another year.

That is of my aging will continue to happen tomorrow and beyond! (If I awake again tomorrow morning.) I share my birthday with some pretty awesome people, alive now and in the past Princess Diana, Liv Tyler, my cousin, and most are pretty darn great, but one that I saw that is the antithesis of awesome David Duke, yuck! But if interested read the rest I am in pretty great company! https://www.thefamouspeople.com/july-1st.php

My age doesn't matter to me, since I do understand that others are concerned about the number, and chant "age is just a number"! So why not just shout it out into the rafters, like I do!
Only one more one half day to not be the same age as Hubby, as of tomorrow we will be the same age, although in November he becomes again a year older, YAY!

I always say I am proud of that number getting larger yearly, only if for no other reason is that the alternative of it not growing yearly is it stopping forever! DEATH, is the only alternative to not getting older as we all know.
And alas I am getting too old to think of dying young as a way of being beautifully immortal in anyone's eyes!
For that ship has sailed away long ago!
So as I go on this journey, of a lifetime, so very trite... I ask myself daily how to make the most of each and every day.
Many find working hard till the end, others do not feel the necessity to, many have no choice, and some do.
Preferences are as different as the people who make them.
Hobbies are great.
Volunteering is wonderful and kind hearted.
Physical activities are terrific.
Individuality is what being older is, allowing for yourself and others to understand, a very personal choice, what we do with our well deserved time.
You would think as we make that journey people on both ends of the spectrum would understand... some do, some don't.
Being judgmental is exhausting and a waste of yours and my time.
Let's all make a pact to help the world towards resolving these hard times, since that alone benefits us all in the long-run.
Exteriors do not matter, what is inside does.
Our human being legacy to each other! LET IT SHOW!

Well, if you must know, I am more than sure most of my old northern chums know, since either they have already arrived at this primo age or are almost there.... drum roll please......


68 is my new number as of 6:30 P.M. tomorrow; Mom always had said that I was polite enough to wait till after she and my Dad had their dinners to arrive! HA!

And as we all know that was the last time that I was ever polite again, ha!
Like I told the doctor's nurse when I mentioned I had asked their receptionist not to call me "honey" that I felt that it was not business like, her retort was that many older patients like it, my rebuke was  because their generation was taught to be polite and not say anything and ours was taught to be honest!
Okay, okay, now before you all start saying that isn't true remember who your parents were, and mine were possibly ten to fifteen years older than yours, hmm? In other words I had pretty much free reign being raised by in those days people that were the age of many grandparents back then, ya think?
Now people are still having babies into their fifties, CRAZY! Oops that was judgmental, forgive.

So I still contend people in their eighties are of the ilk of allowing people more leeway/acceptance in conversations, than many Baby Boomers are, not all, but many.
Now all I am going to say is we are entitled to our own opinions, okay!

On that note allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night!
And pray I awake... in time to celebrate!
KIDDING!

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

Not giving notoriety, a good thing.

Whether a domestic terrorist or international one their names should not be front page news.
What they did should be.
Taking their power away, since when if names get out sickies might call them martyrs, their names should be redacted from all media and public viewing.
Otherwise these animalistic creatures who care so little for life itself will be able to gain publicity, and crazy followers; possible copycats! Let's prevent this!
Anonymity is what all mass murders should be given to them in any media content.
Once a name is put to a face people look for a human being inside, and they do not qualify for that!
And that is why I do not mention our current pres by name, he to me is the Orange Frothy Haired Guy. Sorry if anyone's offended, but those are my feelings!
I feel he is inhumane in so many ways, no better than some of these terrorists in my opinion.
"Our prayers and thoughts and condolences are with you", again are sent to the families of the murder victims and still nothing is done!
HOLLOW WORDS!
Pat answers to NO ANSWERS!
No actions.
WAITING!
Frustration.
Fear of our national due process is taking way too long! But we must be better than him! We answer to a higher power... THE CONSTITUTION! He has no idea what that means.
All pertaining, i.e. in matters concerning pres DJ being FIRED!
Any mistakes and the due process could be caput!

Happy good night all!

Stay safe.

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

So I saw the internist this afternoon, and...

Dr. Luis Casanova was quite receptive.
He heard me out about my concerns, and said that we can try a few things to bring the liver enzymes down into the normal range.
Get rid of the Gabapentin and the Simvastatin altogether!
He feels they are causing the higher liver enzymes in my blood work.
I worried about my hereditary high cholesterol responsible for my Mother's, Father's and Brother's deaths ( My brother was nineteen years older than me.) And they all died in their seventies, Mom 70, Dad 79, and Brother 75!
None with high blood pressure, heart disease, or obesity!
So I told him that and he said my cholesterol is stable now and it will take three months before the Simvastatin to get out of my system.
I said I thought it was the Fenofibrate the newest of the cholesterol medications that was given to me in the hospital back in October of 2016 for my high LDL, that now is almost normal.
He disagreed, that is alright, and wouldn't cause the issue. I disagreed saying I found literature that said it could cause liver enzymes to go higher: .https://livertox.nih.gov/Fenofibrate.htm  , I am right again!
I said that I have been on the Simvastatin for over ten years and had not had an issue with my liver until put on the Fenofibrate.
The Gabapentin also was given to me for my spasms and neuropathic pain, and I told him that I had weaned myself down to the 100mg twice a day from much higher previous doses.
I never got out the reason it initially was given to me was when I had a major spasm like a Grand Mal Seizure with my hip while on my old scooter in Beall's Outlet at their register and I remember people just staring, unable to know what to do! At that time I was put on a very high dosage!
He said the pain thing, and I wonder why he doesn't seem get it that MS is painful!
Maybe he thinks that the pain management is taking care of that?
Not yet, guess I should have asked.
When I left I said that I will try going off the Fenofibrate for the month, since we agreed that is when I will be having another blood test to see if it worked.
But... when I got home I said to Hubby that I would try going off all three, the Simvastatin, Fenofibrate, and the Gabapentin that I removed from my pill keeper. ( In actuality they all have nasty side effects!)
Although, the Gabapentin I am doing away with only my morning one right now of 100 mg. for the week and then I will try to get rid of the other 100mg. at the end of that week.
As they say, "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger!" Who are they?
Hope that is true.
I DO NOT WANT TO DIE!
I really only want to get into the clinical trial for my MS, but if this works, I still have to have a total of three months where my enzymes are normal, and everything else too!
Wish me luck!

Happy good night all!

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

Pacing! But so much more!

Big difference between that and going for endurance.
One, endurance, is pushing oneself to your limits and the other, pacing, is knowing that it isn't necessary to push yourself that far and that it might even be detrimental to you.
My interpretation entirely.

Funny how we all see the same things differently, maybe not all but many, well not many, some do, ha! I do think that is very true, if not then why are we all at such odds with our understandings of what is going on with this administration?
Truly, I cannot get why this has been allowed to go on for this long!
And in almost any other industry, okay even on smaller levels of government if the person "in-charge" was doing any of half the stuff this Orange Frothy Haired Guy is continuing to do daily they would ask them to step down for the betterment of the company, city, county, state, or in this case... the U S of A!
WHY NOT?????????
I know that the pat answer is "it's complicated", hey folks many relationships are!
Are we all fools!
He is just not into any of us decent common sense thinking people, and we know he hates children in my opinion!
Or at least he acts that way!
So many red lights, three marriages, going bankrupt several times, enjoying saying bad things about people that all have low intelligence with anyone who doesn't agree with him, women are definitely talked about as sexual objects not people, becoming a prisoner of war is as if it was your fault, saying that you do not have the right to be called a hero for surviving anything, constantly bragging about untrue accomplishments, and so much more!
The ones responsible for this situation should have done a better background check on this LOSER! (NOT ME!)
Yes, this relationship is very COMPLICATED!
And I still do not understand why we cannot just say, YOU'RE FIRED!
That he would understand, maybe.

Digest!

Happy good night all!

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

The blood work came back and...

Unfortunately, it came back all bad for my liver enzymes, still too high, not in the normal range!
And so I will be unable to be involved in the clinical trials.
I will be seeing my internist in two days hopefully to find a way to change it all!
My neuro's nurse as well as the doctor will help me if my new internist doesn't!

Right now I am very upset, besides about my blood work, but I just wrote a whole blog's worth of in depth info and with one foul swoop it all disappeared!
Oh well...

I am summarizing what I wrote now, too exhausted to remember it all!

So I will move on...

Below are pictures from my vantage point of me sitting down under the tiki hut! YAY! I had finally made it down with my cell phone and the house phone since Hubby was at Publix shopping. I had taken Aussie out and was curious how our neighbor's new boat lift looked, it was installed in just two days!

 Our boat still all covered, since the threat of the first storm and all of the too hot to go out temperatures!

 There it is below off to the left, their home is directly across from us. The previous neighbors were from Montreal and had lived six months there for thirty years, they were never boaters! The new ones are from Michigan and she is a veterinarian and neither are retired yet, and so not here all of the time.

Number One Son called to let us know he just bought his new older sailboat a 31 foot Southern Cross that had been around the world. To him that was a plus for the 1980 boat.

It is on the other coast of Florida so he and Hubby were discussing the logistics of getting it over here.

Ahhhhh Florida!

Happy good night all!

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

Time goes swiftly when you are having fun...

...woes, pain, suffering, joy and sadness, happy political news, horrifying political news, and stating opinions on each, divulging personal health issues, being a champion for us little guys in the consumer wars and distracting oneself from reality by traveling to different places, finding recipes and projects in forms of enhancing our home and appetite, harvesting homegrown fruits or even with craft ideas etc., if only for a few minutes... and this blog is celebrating its tenth year today! A sort of anniversary I suppose, amazing to me, other than Hubby and our marriage not much else has held my attention for this length of time!( With Hubby is five times that and counting!)
HA,Ha,ha!
But very true.

To me it has been a way to express myself in diary format nightly to an anonymous audience mostly without fear of retribution for my opinionated rationales way too often by many people's ideas I am more than sure.  Whew!
The Queen of RUN ON SENTENCES! But with feelings! Yes, many.
Grammatically incorrect more times than not.
No editor, so no one to keep me on the straight and narrow.
FREE AS A BREEZE!
No constraints.
Now how many in this blogging business can say that!?
Although, shocking as it may seem I have not missed a day and even when hospitalized twice, oh maybe, but I did double up adding in some twofers!
So with approximately 3,650 of these under my belt I have unwittingly done this drab, hacky, nonsensical crap would you believe ... for totally FREE!
CRAZY!
Many might say well it isn't worth the paper it's written on, and to them I say, then DON'T PRINT IT OUT!
So you too can be entertained by feeling superior, or educated by my crafts or how-to-do projects and recipes or feel happier or healthier or maybe relatable to anything that I might have shared.
So I do this not due to being someone who likes to see her stuff in writing, but to help man/woman kind! Sounds noble, hmm?
Nah... I do it to make sure my ole noggin is still functioning, by recalling things that have happened that very day!
SELFISH!
And yep, I do like seeing it all there forever! There I said it!
A snippet of my life's history, a legacy for my family to access when I am gone or still  here or never.
Inventory in a way.

That's enough, I hope that any and all who have read this drivel get something from it in some poignant or silly way truly!

With that thoughtful/less commentary allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night!
 Here's to another ten years!
I am toasting with my club soda and lime!

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

Always on vacay!

Seems that way with so many choices to do things from swimming to boating to sightseeing to eating out, is all within seconds to minutes from our actual home! Ahhh Florida our home, where we live and staycation, since staycay is soooooooo easy to do!
Our pool and our boat are right in our own backyard literally, the convention center is a couple of miles away, as well as museums, and farmers markets, theaters for live entertainment, and movies too, less than five miles away! Amusements are as close as an hour and a half to three hours from home.
Did I mention beaches?
Yes, we have them too!
Fishing, waterskiing, probably parasailing too, but I do not know exactly where, since I do not do that, ha! (Not that I do any of the others anymore either, but we do have them available if YOU want them!)
Fine and medium dining is within minutes all different nationalities of cuisines and chains too!
Italian, German, American in barbecue/seafood/fine dining etc, Chinese, Thai, Indian, Irish, fast foods from every chains that they're!
Hubby is out getting Wally's Barbecue that just so happens to be cooked by a chef from the Cordon Bleu school, the owner!

Anywho, in spite of all those advantages we have not been making use of many of those lately.

Today I watched many doggie training videos for mini/standard Australian Shepherds, since I have found out they are wired differently, although extremely intelligent!
Very high energy! Yes! For sure!
So I threw the ball more today and spoke with my lower voice register to teach him who's the BOSS!
He has been barking and playfully biting, but now he has his adult teeth, it does hurt, but as of yet he has not broken the skin and never ever does it viciously, no growling involved, only in play!
The barking is due to him seeing himself in our bedroom mirror, he thinks it's another dog I suppose, wonder if that is so smart? Yep, we have recently allowed him onto our bed, actually he is quite agile and had not asked permission, but we have made it quite clear to him that it is to be a quiet space. Thus my using youtube for the special dealing with training sites from people that have Aussies!
One owner had trained her Aussie for when hers barked or bit, she either held their muzzle closed or stuck her finger in their mouth with saying a deep low "no!", both that I have tried and had seemed to work. Yelling and smacking, heaven forbid does not get through to this breed or any other for that matter!
Unfortunately,  it was still too hot to play outside.
But Hubby surprised me with a neat little harvest of one of our crops picked last evening and cut up this morning: Very small compared to previous ones, has to be the heat, a pineapple! This area was the pineapple capital before Hawaii!

BUT SWEET!

This year we also have a bumper crop of mangoes and avocados too! 

Finally got a cool down with a pour down! Look at that rain total of nearly an inch and half, 1.42 in little over an hour! And still pouring!

Be careful what you wish for comes to mind, over and over again!
Tis the season!

Happy good night to all!

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

Ditto!

But working through it...i.e. hands/fingers still jumping.
I even had it in short spurts with watching Netflix; just getting to the continuation of one of the Marvel shows.
Yes, to all with Multiple sclerosis yelling at the screen those are forms of spasms too and I have two medications for that, Baclofen and Gabapentin!
And yes I am taking an extra dose of the Baclofen, now normally 60 mg. a day but with this added little hand dancing performance an extra 20 mg. has been taken, the limit, I think.
Although, years ago a non-neuro, an internist who's not my current one, prescribed 80 mg. tablets twice a day!
And I took it.
That is why it is important to have the right doctor for the right ill!
Albeit, GPs used to do it all! Too much to keep up with these days!

Nowadays many of us have body part people, as I call them, for me a pulmonologist/lungs/for my asthma/sleep apnea, neurologist/brain for my MS/stroke/TIA,nephrologist/kidneys for my CKD, ENT/ears,nose, throat/for my allergies/chronic sinusitis, internist for my blood pressure/thyroid, probably could go to those specialties too although he is the coordinator and often internist recommend "specialists" although theoretically I do not need a gatekeeper with my PPO health insurance, neurological ophthalmologist/eyes for my several bouts with optic neuritis and optic neuropathy, gastroenterologist/digestive system for my GERD/REFLUX/esophagus /stomach/colon/intestinal issues, podiatrist/feet for my plantar fasciitis, anesthesiologist/pain due to my spinal stenosis,...  whew! I think that is all of them... it really takes a village to try to keep me healthy and excellent health insurance coverage, besides Medicare AARP UnitedHealthcare F plan!

But I suppose I need to call Monday for additional help that is to my neuro about my hopping hands and my ultimate usage of the Baclofen!

Oh and my blood work was sent late Friday to my doctor that ordered it, Dr. Casanova my internist, but it will not be posted till Tuesday in my portal online with the lab!
Previously, I was entitled to see it first!
I wonder why they did that?
Could they know I posted it?
After all it is mine, and H.I.P.A.A.,http://www.hipaaoralprivacy.com/hipaa.html is a BIG JOKE!
Ever since 2009 while hospitalized for my first IV steroid therapy I was asked in front of my roommate in a semi-private room, which most are I might add, I was asked all my private(Secret info) I might add in front of this stranger while the nurse put it into her computer with its display on the wall that I could see from my bed several feet away!And that is why to me its a joke! Not private at all!
Oh well, and as we know in America we are entitled to our opinions!

Happy good night all!

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

Now I think that went well, sort of?
Still bouncing, and correcting though.



  

Due to jumping hands, beyond my control...

I will be not finishing tonight's blog!
Will try again tomorrow, okay?
Take care...TTYT!
I hope!
Love,
TWK

Clump on the wall

PLASTER BUMP!
Shadowed, no dust or dirt, just its own shadow, thought it was an unprovoked bug coming to BITE ME!
Came in here, the bedroom to write as per every night these days.
Door closed TV off no one to disturb me except a clump bump on the wall with a nasty shadow! Ha!
Neck was stretched to an ungodly position, not good, called Hubby for two things my phone and two ice packs, and he arrived and examined again the lump, bump, clump on the wall, and reassured me it was just a piece of non aggressive plaster.
So I began to write with packs in place and the aberration unmoving way above my head on the wall to my far right just feet away from my family photo collage...!
The fact that it hasn't moved is a very good thing I do believe?
Where's Stephen King when you need him... why this could be the beginning of one of his macabre tales!
Back in the 1970s he couldn't write fast enough for me, for I voraciously read his offerings as if he was E. A. Poe reborn!
I was also a fan of him.

But I digress...
Today, was a lost day for Hubby and I, since we did absolutely nothing except eat our meals that I made, pancakes for breakfast from scratch and French bread pizzas for lunch, from scratch, and even dinner I made salmon, scalloped potatoes au gratin with California blend veggies= broccoli, cauliflower and carrots!
I guess I did do something, but Hubby went out and got the mail and took Aussie outside more than I did!
But basically nothing... for the day.   
Again another scorcher that is not conducive to moving around out there in the world unless you have no other choice!
I still feel guilty asking for help, even from Hubby.
The problem is I expend too much energy that diminishes my abilities and cause these weaknesses, and that is why I am up and down all day long strength wise.
Considering my training from the state health department on teaching a self help course where you are supposed to PACE yourself, and that class was way back in 2004!
I really should know better, hmm?

Oh well... we both did shop online for new cordless shades for the sunroom, the white accordian fabric ones in there are looking old and nasty and perhaps tomorrow we will go with their measurements that Hubby did take and I wrote down to verify with us to Home Depot or maybe JC Penneys where I had gotten the bedrooms white faux wood and one oak real wood in Hubby's not in shower blinds from after we rebuilt in 2004. They still look great, and those are timeless in design!

Happy good night all!

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

1.Can you see it the elusive nonentity?

2.Yup, my writing station.

Anyone have any ideas how to entertain...

A seven month old mini Aussie when it's too hot, hot, hot to go outside?
Sure he goes out to take care of his business, relieve himself, but then immediately turns around to go back inside, no dawdling, happy for that, since it's way too, must I repeat myself...HOT,HOT,HOT!!!

And as with most youngins two or four legged ones he has quite a bit of pent up energy that needs to find an outlet!
Our sunroom/den has a long narrowness to it and I told Hubby we could set up his tunnel and hurdle from his agility set, the slalom poles have to be dug into the ground, so they won't work there, as one idea for exercise/play.

Sadly, Hubby and my thermostats are way different and with the indoor central air-conditioner thermostat set on 76 degrees F, Hubby gets cold and actually covers himself up with one of our fleece throws and I end up in bed with the fan on too! Ice packs included, oh alright I cannot sit out there too long, since my body doesn't do very well in that position, sitting upright. Still waiting on the good part of the cervical RFA to kick in.

I used to close the doors in the hallway and throw Aussie's ball down it from my lounge chair in the living room and he would bring it back to me, but from where I am now it wouldn't work very well. Our bedroom is to the left end of the hallway, and so I pretty much, all I have, is the wall straight in front of me if I threw the ball straight out.

So any suggestions would be helpful.

Moving on...

I did accomplish his, Aussie's bath this morning easily. He very nearly followed me into the bathroom that used to be designated Hubby's bathroom, but that changed when he put the roll-in shower in it with the four foot bench seat all for my necessary use.

Now it's for Aussie too! I put a towel down on the seat so he doesn't slip on the marble, and have his soap right there in the corner of the seat, under my dispenser of my soap/shampoo/conditioner, his Hartz puppy shampoo without tears or some such name, purchased through chewy.com  He walked into the bathroom and I helped him with a shove onto the bench seat, and then I use the handheld sprayer and wet him down and then suds him up, and he sits there so sweetly like he really likes it, and then after the soap is all washed off I grab his towel off the toilet seat and dry him off mostly and he goes luny all over the house furniture drying himself some more and all he gets... besides being quite clean is three Milk Bones after! For being such a good boy!
Then I take my shower, since by then I am soaked anyway...ha!

From those weekly exploits this Wednesday I did go for my fasting blood work this morning, and headed right home.
Now we will see what we will see soon... I hope.

Resting now, again, most all of the time...!

Happy good night all!

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

So again with another boring doctor story...

Today, I did go to my internist, Dr. Luis Casanova, to discuss my liver blood work and how that was preventing me from being involved in a clinical trial for new Multiple sclerosis medication.
And so the bottom line was to get another newer blood work done as soon as possible to see if my numbers were going towards a more normal situation. So I have my prescription now to take into Labcorp for the fasting work up, and that is why I could not go today, I had already eaten.

The doctor was quite receptive to my reasoning, of being able to see if I can have a decent quality of life and my dilemma of the age thingy, with just two years to spare in the criteria meeting reason.

I had been a test subject before for medications for Fibromyalgia way back in the late 1990s and I would go up to Tampa Florida for that was where they had the grant at USF, University of South Florida Hospital, and at the time our younger son was a student there so I got my twofer to see both of my sons, Number One was already working up there too, having graduated from college. So the two hundred mile round trip was well worth the drive.

I was on off label stuff of everything from El-dopa to amphetamines/diet pills all under careful observation by Dr. Kannick, a rheumatologist. I had been diagnosed in 1994 with this then exoctic/foreign ill of that time called Fibromyalgia, by three different rheumatologists, one on the east coast, one on the west coast and then finally in Tampa all in Florida. Since then it has been misunderstood still by even other fields of medicine; I even had a neurologist tell me at the time that that is what they tell you when they haven't a clue with what you have...! And do you know what did finally help me in the long run was EXERCISE, causing those endorphins to kick in and I told the doctors this! Thus the gym rat era of my life with going five days a week, an hour and half each day! These days it is a well respected diagnosis and has many ways to be treated, but you must see a rheumatologist to be sure. Although, it did hold up the diagnosis of the MS since no one wanted to look further, saying all my symptoms were caused by the Fibromyalgia. MRIs and lesions are pretty definitive though as well as a neurological workup! Thus my final dx in April of 2006 MS! But I do believe I had it much longer than that.

Unfortunately, MS has created a heat sensitivity that disallows my previous exercises routine to work, plus balance issues, and falling due to that, and muscular syncope, unable to rise/stand after being in a sitting position for a while; thus the motorized wheelchair when out and about!

And yet I WILL NOT GIVE UP!

Moving on...

After the docs we went over to PetSmart and thought that Aussie might need his nails clipped, but not yet, he has had them done twice since we have had him these four months! And today we got a pretty accurate weight on him.... drum roll please...36lbs. at seven months! I did do a recheck of male mini Aussies and they can be as much as forty ponds, WOW! You have all seen him, he isn't fat, he is just right.

From PetSmart in the same connecting shopping area is Home Depot where Hubby picked up the angle irons/hurricane straps for the posts for the tiki hut. The two on the sea wall only will be getting a set of two each, the other posts on the land side are already embedded into cement.

Then off to Bed, Bath and Beyond for Hubby's cashews at 20% off, and then Best Buys for my early b'day present of earbuds for this one set fits both my laptop and my phone, Sony brand. Thanks Hubby... actually, for him self preservation, bad girl here watches Netflix and Youtube while in bed, now I can be stealth! HeeHee.

After that Hubby ran into Firehouse Subs for my Hook and Ladder salad and his NY steamer for our lunches that we brought home to eat.

TADA!

On that note allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night!

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

I believe!

That is in Global Warming!

I have for nearly two decades.

And no, it isn't something in our futures it is showing up all over the world daily!

Glaciers melting, causing water levels of oceans and seas to go up significantly, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, more hurricanes and on and on and on.

Anyone who has access to weather/climate news knows this!

We have been living in Florida since 1986 and yes things have changed, our two to three weeks of cold weather have slowly diminished. This winter we had 90s in February!

And in our old homestead of New Jersey has blurred lines for seasons that they used to have four distinct ones and they have had flooding and hurricanes too!

Below is a picture of our news weather station once again today, showing what I mean, it does have the date and time on it too. This is not normal for Florida people, lower than indoor humidity and so very, very hot! CRAZY!

Now you probably realize why unless we have to go out we don't.

And then we go from our centrally air-conditioned home to our air-conditioned car to an air-conditioned building!

We are true believers, as anyone should be.

The question is what should we be doing to change things or is it too late? Goto the below site to get the facts: 

https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/ 

Check out the Top 50 Things To Do To Stop Global Warming

1. Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl)CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.We recommend you purchase your CFL bulbs at 1000bulbs.com, they have great deals on both screw-in and plug-in light bulbs.
2. Install a programmable thermostatProgrammable thermostats will automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning. They can save you $100 a year on your energy bill.
3. Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summerAlmost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.
4. Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditionerCleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
5. Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchasesLook for the Energy Star label on new appliances to choose the most energy efficient products available.
   
   
   
6. Do not leave appliances on standby
   Use the “on/off” function on the machine itself. A TV set that’s switched on for 3 hours a day (the average time Europeans spend watching TV) and in standby mode during the remaining 21 hours uses about 40% of its energy in standby mode.
7. Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanketYou’ll save 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple action. You can save another 550 pounds per year by setting the thermostat no higher than 50°C.
8. Move your fridge and freezerPlacing them next to the cooker or boiler consumes much more energy than if they were standing on their own. For example, if you put them in a hot cellar room where the room temperature is 30-35ºC, energy use is almost double and causes an extra 160kg of CO2 emissions for fridges per year and 320kg for freezers.
9. Defrost old fridges and freezers regularlyEven better is to replace them with newer models, which all have automatic defrost cycles and are generally up to two times more energy-efficient than their predecessors.
10. Don’t let heat escape from your house over a long periodWhen airing your house, open the windows for only a few minutes. If you leave a small opening all day long, the energy needed to keep it warm inside during six cold months (10ºC or less outside temperature) would result in almost 1 ton of CO2 emissions.

10. Replace your old single-glazed windows with double-glazingThis requires a bit of upfront investment, but will halve the energy lost through windows and pay off in the long term. If you go for the best the market has to offer (wooden-framed double-glazed units with low-emission glass and filled with argon gas), you can even save more than 70% of the energy lost.
11. Get a home energy auditMany utilities offer free home energy audits to find where your home is poorly insulated or energy inefficient. You can save up to 30% off your energy bill and 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Energy Star can help you find an energy specialist.
12. Cover your pots while cookingDoing so can save a lot of the energy needed for preparing the dish. Even better are pressure cookers and steamers: they can save around 70%!
13. Use the washing machine or dishwasher only when they are fullIf you need to use it when it is half full, then use the half-load or economy setting. There is also no need to set the temperatures high. Nowadays detergents are so efficient that they get your clothes and dishes clean at low temperatures.
14. Take a shower instead of a bathA shower takes up to four times less energy than a bath. To maximize the energy saving, avoid power showers and use low-flow showerheads, which are cheap and provide the same comfort.
15. Use less hot waterIt takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of carbon dioxide saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year) instead of hot.
    
    
    
16. Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possibleYou can save 700 pounds of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year.
17. Insulate and weatherize your homeProperly insulating your walls and ceilings can save 25% of your home heating bill and 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Caulking and weather-stripping can save another 1,700 pounds per year. Energy Efficient has more information on how to better insulate your home.
18. Be sure you’re recycling at homeYou can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates.
19. Recycle your organic wasteAround 3% of the greenhouse gas emissions through the methane is released by decomposing bio-degradable waste. By recycling organic waste or composting it if you have a garden, you can help eliminate this problem! Just make sure that you compost it properly, so it decomposes with sufficient oxygen, otherwise your compost will cause methane emissions and smell foul.

20. Buy intelligentlyOne bottle of 1.5l requires less energy and produces less waste than three bottles of 0.5l. As well, buy recycled paper products: it takes less 70 to 90% less energy to make recycled paper and it prevents the loss of forests worldwide.
21. Choose products that come with little packaging and buy refills when you canYou will also cut down on waste production and energy use… another help against global warming.
22. Reuse your shopping bagWhen shopping, it saves energy and waste to use a reusable bag instead of accepting a disposable one in each shop. Waste not only discharges CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, it can also pollute the air, groundwater and soil.
23. Reduce wasteMost products we buy cause greenhouse gas emissions in one or another way, e.g. during production and distribution. By taking your lunch in a reusable lunch box instead of a disposable one, you save the energy needed to produce new lunch boxes.
24. Plant a treeA single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%. The Arbor Day Foundation has information on planting and provides trees you can plant with membership.
25. Switch to green powerIn many areas, you can switch to energy generated by clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar. In some of these, you can even get refunds by government if you choose to switch to a clean energy producer, and you can also earn money by selling the energy you produce and don’t use for yourself.
    
    
    
26. Buy locally grown and produced foodsThe average meal in the United States travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally will save fuel and keep money in your community.
27. Buy fresh foods instead of frozenFrozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.
28. Seek out and support local farmers marketsThey reduce the amount of energy required to grow and transport the food to you by one fifth. Seek farmer’s markets in your area, and go for them.
29. Buy organic foods as much as possibleOrganic soils capture and store carbon dioxide at much higher levels than soils from conventional farms. If we grew all of our corn and soybeans organically, we’d remove 580 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere!

30. Eat less meatMethane is the second most significant greenhouse gas and cows are one of the greatest methane emitters. Their grassy diet and multiple stomachs cause them to produce methane, which they exhale with every breath.
31. Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possibleAvoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year! Look for transit options in your area.
32. Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmatesSharing a ride with someone just 2 days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds a year. eRideShare.com runs a free service connecting north american commuters and travelers.
33. Don’t leave an empty roof rack on your carThis can increase fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 10% due to wind resistance and the extra weight – removing it is a better idea.
34. Keep your car tuned upRegular maintenance helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. When just 1% of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere.
35. Drive carefully and do not waste fuelYou can reduce CO2 emissions by readjusting your driving style. Choose proper gears, do not abuse the gas pedal, use the engine brake instead of the pedal brake when possible and turn off your engine when your vehicle is motionless for more than one minute. By readjusting your driving style you can save money on both fuel and car mantainance.
    
    
    
36. Check your tires weekly to make sure they’re properly inflatedProper tire inflation can improve gas mileage by more than 3%. Since every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, every increase in fuel efficiency makes a difference!
37. When it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicleYou can save 3,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year if your new car gets only 3 miles per gallon more than your current one. You can get up to 60 miles per gallon with a hybrid! You can find information on fuel efficiency on FuelEconomy and on GreenCars websites.
38. Try car sharingNeed a car but don’t want to buy one? Community car sharing organizations provide access to a car and your membership fee covers gas, maintenance and insurance. Many companies – such as Flexcar – offer low emission or hybrid cars too! Also, see ZipCar.
39. Try telecommuting from homeTelecommuting can help you drastically reduce the number of miles you drive every week. For more information, check out the Telework Coalition.

40. Fly lessAir travel produces large amounts of emissions so reducing how much you fly by even one or two trips a year can reduce your emissions significantly. You can also offset your air travel carbon emissions by investingin renewable energy projects.
41. Encourage your school or business to reduce emissionsYou can extend your positive influence on global warming well beyond your home by actively encouraging other to take action.
42. Join the virtual marchThe Stop Global Warming Virtual March is a non-political effort to bring people concerned about global warming together in one place. Add your voice to the hundreds of thousands of other people urging action on this issue.
43. Encourage the switch to renewable energySuccessfully combating global warming requires a national transition to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. These technologies are ready to be deployed more widely but there are regulatory barriers impeding them. U.S. citizens, take action to break down those barriers with Vote Solar.
44. Protect and conserve forest worldwideForests play a critical role in global warming: they store carbon. When forests are burned or cut down, their stored carbon is release into the atmosphere – deforestation now accounts for about 20% of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Conservation International has more information on saving forests from global warming.
45. Consider the impact of your investmentsIf you invest your money, you should consider the impact that your investments and savings will have on global warming. Check out SocialInvest and Ceres to can learn more about how to ensure your money is being invested in companies, products and projects that address issues related to climate change.
    
    
    
46. Make your city coolCities and states around the country have taken action to stop global warming by passing innovative transportation and energy saving legislation. If you’re in the U.S., join the cool cities list.
47. Tell Congress to actThe McCain Lieberman Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act would set a firm limit on carbon dioxide emissions and then use free market incentives to lower costs, promote efficiency and spur innovation. Tellyour representative to support it.
48. Make sure your voice is heard!Americans must have a stronger commitment from their government in order to stop global warming and implement solutions and such a commitment won’t come without a dramatic increase in citizen lobbying for new laws with teeth. Get the facts
    about U.S. politicians and candidates at Project Vote Smart and The League of Conservation Voters. Make sure your voice is heard by voting!
49. Share this list!Send this page via e-mail to your friends!
    Spread this list worldwide and help people doing their part: the more people you will manage to enlighten, the greater YOUR help to save the planet will be (but please take action on first person too)!If you like, you are free to republish, adapt or translate the list and post it in your blog, website or forum as long as you give us credit with a link to the original source. Thank you.

HOT – Global Warming Tips Now In Video!

On this note of still some hope let me be the very first to wish all of you a happy good night!

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

First things first, Happy Father's Day to all Dads! Delusions of grandeur dashed...-And dot, dot, dot, dashed, ha!

And why, one might asked? The chairs were okay! So no banquette, nor benches nor swing..not even the hammock hidden away in the garage somewhere! Oh well...As you may have noticed there are five chairs and one is not like the others... it is the sole survivor from its mates of Hurricane Charley 8-13-2004, our Charley Chair! It had been in that lovely Gazebo when it took to flight during those 145MPH, cat four winds, but survived somehow... In fact it has had, from time to time that written on its top and bottom parts of its anatomy! "I survived Hurricane Charley, 8-13-04, a Friday"

A chair folks, a very inexpensive one too, but downright durable!

 During Hubby's mostly fine attempt to finish the display today he was using the pressure washer and his shoulders became quite painful, and so that and the rain and heat once again delayed the whole damn thing! Hubby did finish many little tweaks, and even had time to tie the chairs around the table? 

I know, I know many might wonder why? Geez folks, the chairs are not yellow ribbons and the table was never an oak tree... but with one sweet hardy gust of wind they could once again be swept into the canal, and Hubby hates fishing them out of there...and that is why. The odd chair is a necessary chair, it is also a guest chair or a sentry chair or whatever yes a stoic chair to teach or show by example that being a lightweight plastic stackable outdoor chair in Florida is NOT FOR SISSIES!

So there chair! And ha!

                 On that note allow me to be the very first to wish you all a very happy good night?
             
                  And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

PS Hubby chose to try to finish the whole shebang by the dock today, not my idea being Father's Day and all.
The guy even insisted on making breakfast on this day, supposed wait on Daddy day, but as he so often points out that I am not his child and he is not my Daddy, ha, and here is his perfect omelet that he felt the desire/need to photograph:

That is usually my department, ha!

But he also chose after I suggested Plaza Mexico for a celebratory lunch and turns out that was also for dinner!

PSS his shoulders appear to be on the mend, rest and lotion are very helpful for overworked muscles and bones. Thank goodness!

Wasteful Hippy Throwback... or what was old is new again, and again...

Not bad first attempt of tie-dying? Yup, my first, maiden voyage, and I am old enough to remember when it was a new fangled thing in my teen years! Agh, did I just write that out loud?
www.dharmatrading.com
Okay guess I am not that old, since the Asian art cloth effect has actually been around for a mere 6000 years!

Reasoning explained below...
What happened was an old T-shirt styled blouse of cotton that I like in a beautiful turquoise colored, one of my favorite shades of blue had stains that hadn't come out in the laundry. And so I figured what the heck, nothing to lose... so I gave it a shot, in my bathroom sink, tying five pretty purple colored from the vegetable/produce department rubber bands, recycled too, scrunching up the fabric in five sections and I then added hot water and chlorine bleach into that small shallow sink and sloshed it around, and in just a very few minutes it started to change colors, so I let the water out and gave it a rinse with cold water, and to be sure the process had stopped I got the Woolite out and added that into the cold water and sloshed that around some more with the shirt, and rinsed again with cold water and here's the wasteful part finally was when I threw it into the dryer all by its lonesome, one blouse! For shame, but we do have a very small RV sized Kenmore washer and dryer in our laundry room. Anywho, that made it dress ready for my after shower clothes with my dark navy blue 3/4 length jeans and sandals to match for the day and Voila!

I think I would have preferred more turquoise coloring to be left, but it was a good experiment, and now very wearable since I do believe as in everything in fashion it is in its seventh year of another comeback? Bud dump bum! Who cares!

Moving on...

Activity, on the tiki hut is a slow go, without rain, but heat and dry thunder and lightning, it made it difficult for Hubby to do much of anything except clean up the extra thatch and tools etc. The table and chairs were on his mental note list for today, but the weather interfered with that!
 
Update: delay on my colorful kitchen handles project, Hubby is talking me out of it, as are some of the HGTV shows too. Oh well...now I will have to think of another indoor project in this heat.

On that note allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night!

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

Happy Fathers Days' Weekend?

I bet everyone who has their poppas, pop pops, dad, daddies, granddads, grandfathers et al alive and well or closeby are celebrating that fact as well as all those good times that they can remember and make more all weekend long, yay! YOU MUST CELEBRATE!

Our fathers are long gone, and our sons are in Florida too, but far away even here.
The most Hubby will get, not unlike me is a phone call, but Geez that's good.
We have no grands to hear from yet.

So we not unlike many people without any children will just have another day added in, checked off for the year...oh well...remember how lucky you are to be able to celebrate and sure I am a bit jealous!

I can think of two people right now whose husbands are no longer here due to them passing away, and for them I am sure their legacy for one being all their children and a bumper crop of grandchildren are thinking of their loss sadly but fondly and their loved ones are deeply missed.
My heartfelt thoughts are with everyone like myself who have lost their pops/dads/grand-dads, you get the idea!

Just like Mother's Day happiness and sadness occurs.
Loss is like that.

But people please do not forget to say that you love these people!
You never know how long you have, seriously.

Here are some photos of happier times: 1. Hubby in the middle, number one son on the left, and younger son on the right 1986 by new hot tub in Ormond Beach FL home, 2. from left Mother-in-Law our younger son, my Dad, number one son, and me standing behind him in MIL living-room in Oradell NJ 1983?. 3. My Dad on his birthday it would appear in our kitchen in Bamber Lake NJ 1984? 4. Fathers Day 1985? Dad and me in our living room in Bamber Lake NJ.

Took about an hour to chose some pictures in boxes, there are some more, but many were damaged due to the hurricane, irreplaceable, protect yours... i.e. due to Hurricane Charley 2004 we did not have any warning when it made that last minute turn.

Moving on...

I heard back from the research center in my neuro's office today, and at first it sounded good, two studies on new MS medication that I might meet the criteria for, but they wanted to check my most recent blood work from March, and that showed that even though my liver enzymes were better than January's they were still not at a safe enough level to qualify for the study. The neuros nurse Crystal suggested calling my internist and ask him what could be done to help me get well enough for the clinical trial I asked his nurse Maggie. (Could be statin related, taking it for twelve years)

I now have an appointment for early next week to see what can be done. Probably new blood work first... but who knows for sure.

Hubby went out to pick up Chinese food tonight from our usual China City, and he brought home two combos, one chicken and one shrimp and a quart of egg drop soup! Comfort food.

Here are the four fortunes from the cookies: "The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything"

(Ditch all meds... I like it! Probably means clear the clutter from your mind?)

"The fortune you seek is another cookie."

(Okey Dokey! I don't even eat them I just open them.)

Next...

"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart."

OKAY!

"What you desire is always possible. It will come to you."

Sounds good to me...

  

So on that note allow me to be the very first to wish you all a very happy good night!

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

Mostly done!

                                       Hubby reminded me of the dock lights already there.
                                         So the additional lights are temporarily nixed.
                      The coolness of the tiki hut can be attributed to the same concept as a much larger sun                                               umbrella concept that is quite a bit sturdier.

                                    Things yet to be done are: placement of the table or not if UV ruined those                                                older molded heavy duty latticed designed plastic chairs.
                   Other decorations will come over time... right now I have one of those hand painted palm                                     fronds from my cousin that he had painted years ago that could begin the                                                    concept, it does have that island tiki look to it.

                 Then we have a few DIY building options, a banquette seating arrangement, or benches or                                make a swing out of the metal frame from the old couch from the sunroom, with               putting wooden slats on it! Hubby can build any of those fairly easily from left over decking!
     Or find and buy new molded chairs, which would be the easiest, we will see what we will see.
               
     The table is already recycled white plastic pipe legs from our first table thirty-two years ago on the other coast pool side set with a newer deck rectangular wooden table top from the leftover removed dock boards. All from when the dock was reconfigured a few months ago.So the possibilities are endless!
                    I came up with a DIY craft project indoors for me, hand painted colorful kitchen cupboard handles, everything from stripes to polka dots to metallics. I have all my acrylic paints and brushes in my craft drawer in the laundry room with my plastic drop cloth, get the sand paper from the garage via Hubby to rough the surfaces to take the paint...oh my and all of it... in my kitchen, mine are so blah, white spoon shaped handles on white raised paneled cabinets, screaming ordinary!
Thinking about it...I'll get back to you.

Phillips screwdriver to take them all off... but I am not so capable as I once was, and Hubby does have so much to do... but there are only twenty-three handles... really... shouldn't take that long, maybe?
Thinking, thinking, thinking, planning, planning, planning... and if I don't like it, all it will take is high gloss white Rustoleum to change them back! Just a couple of cans... so why not?
Ta Da!

On that note allow me to wish all of you a very happy good night!

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

Hubby came inside

Well... doesn't Aussie look quite handsome in his new nautical harness? Believe it or not he has on a XL, that fits puppies from 27-47 lbs. He is around 30 lbs now at seven months in four more days! It arrived a day later than it originally said it would be, but it and his Nutro Essentials with chicken, sweet potatoes and brown rice two 15lbs. bags full were tossed on our front doorstep by FedEX. The outer bag ripped and taped, not the food bags, but the ones they came in!

Hubby pic.

 Below is why Hubby came inside, but he did manage to nearly finish the project of the tiki hut!
And he did say that underneath it without any modern conveniences it was much cooler and comfortable, like even without a paddle fan that we do have on the upper pool covered patio overhang, and once when we had had in our Gazebo that blew away with Hurricane Charley...But this is a low cost structure, even so, so far with all the duel rolls of thatch and wood etc. it is about $500 complete, give or take a few bucks! So that was some good news about it doing the job it had been intended to do, shade!

 Although, I think it could use some low wattage LED lights, the non heated kind so as not to harm the flammable material of the thatch (all natural no chemicals for treatment), and they provide less brightness so you can enjoy your evening/night-time surroundings with their low glow in the background.

There will even be some thatch leftover, so if the wind decides to be irreverent and steal some we will have a bit of a back up... just as long as it isn't another hurricane! 

Happy good night to all!

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