My Weblog

Doctor Visit

I am back from the doctor's office. My encounter with the doctor was fine. However, I thought I might have frostbite by the time I left the exam room. They REALLY had the a/c goosed up. I WILL be taking a jacket with me next time I go in. AND, it took forever. My appointment was at 11:30 and I've only been home a few minutes! Apparently it was a clerical thing which makes me unhappy, but it is what it is. I was told that the delay had to do with switching my records over from my previous doc to this one--within the same practice! What in heaven's name could take that long? And, if it really does take that long, shouldn't it have been done before I got there or shouldn't they go shopping for new software?????????????????

Anyway, this is a female doctor. She seems to get where I am coming from which is nice. They, of course, have all these tests they want to do. IF I am having some sort of symptom and she tells me that because I have this particular symptom she wants me to take a given test, I'm okay with that. However, taking tests just so they are in the file (and, I suspect, somebody somewhere gets paid off by medicare)--that I am not likely to cooperate with. she asked me about a bone density scan. Well, years ago I had one and I was diagnosed with osteopoena. Last year I went through the whole dental thing because there was no bone left in my jaw to which my teeth could be anchored. Is there really any reason to doubt that I might have bone density problems? Probably not. Now, if I have a humped back, and she wants a bone density scan, I'm okay with that. I am lifting heavy stuff at work and walking about 2 miles a day and getting calcium in my diet. And I have the Lord on my side. I'm not rushing out to get a bone density test. She asked about a colonoscopy. I had a really bad experience the one time I had one of those. Though I understand the procedure is different now, I don't think I have any symptom that warrants going through whatever particular form of torture the docs have dreamed up. If anything, I think I should probably be tested for celiacs. Both my daughter and my grandson have been diagnosed with that. My mother, many years ago, before anyone had ever heard of celiacs was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome which is one of the things that has been frequently been misdiagnosed in celiacs patients. So, celiacs test, yes, maybe. Colonoscopy, no, not now.

And so that part of the conversation went. There is some new 3 page form that you have to sign if they prescribe an "opioid". This has to be some bureaucrat's idea on how to prevent drug abuse. It is just useless mumbo jumbo. If I were a drug seeker or an addict, I'd sign anything that got me more drugs, right? yeah.............

She asked me who my lung doctor is. I said "you". She asked me who my cardiac specialist is. I said "you". She seemed okay with that for now. Chances are, as things progress (I don't expect them to because It says in Peter that I have already been healed) she would want to press me on that. We shall see.

I spent the morning more or less just "waiting" to go to this appointment. Now, I will see if I can accomplish something worthwhile this afternoon...........

It took me a while to get started after I woke up. I woke up with a headache. It's a crap shoot as to why. Sometimes when the pain pill wears off, I have a headache. I also blew some very bloody discharge out of my nose earlier which is a pretty sure sign to me after all these years in this body that the mucus membranes of my sinuses are infected again/yet. But I took some ibuprofen and finally felt better.

So far, I've tackled more of the floor in both the master bath and the hall bath and I've done the usual clean up in there. I used my new kneeler and that made working on those floors a lot less painful.

I put away a few pieces of clothing that had dried, including 2 shirts destined for donation. I also now have a load of whites running in the washer.

I worked on the shredding. It's coming down. I wish that when I finished this pile I could say I'm done with some degree of certainty that it's really done, but I'll have to do a lot more digging in the file cabinets before that will happen.

I guess next is the kitchen. Once I'm done out there, I'll probably head down the hall. I don't think I'll be back any more tonight. I do hope you had a blessed day.

I never seem to know what day it is.................

Today I DID know it was Monday. But, as I drove to work, I noticed that there were no cars parked at the high school. And Costco was closed. Hmmmmm.....Wonder why.............In that I didn't know what day it was, I went to work thinking it would be our usual slowest day of the week. Silly me! It's a holiday. Today is the day we celebrate Memorial Day. We were busy! I looked around and saw most of our "regulars" working away. I guess it was kind of an "all hands on deck" kind of day.

I helped foil a shoplifter today. We put "green stinkers" on various products. Mostly tools and faucets, that kind of thing. These things go off a little differently than most of our anti-theft devices. Yes they do set off the attention-getting noises at the doors. But they also have a siren like effect that you can hear halfway across the store all by themselves. I saw this guy hustling towards the doors (I was in Lumber) and his packages still had "green stinkers" on them. There was no way those went through a register as the magnetic field on the counter sets them to squawking. Cashiers immediately remove those things because the noise they make is loud, piercing, and obnoxious. I started after the guy using the approved terminology. "Sir, can I help you with your packages?" I continued after him calling just "Sir" or the whole spiel if I could. A customer was outside trying to use his cell phone and he saw me hustling after the guy and saw the guy hurrying away from me. He went and stood directly in front of the guy's front bumper (brave, foolhardy, or uninformed man). The main guy in that area had just hustled after a lady he thought might be shoplifting. He was still outside, behind the car. He hustled up to the driver's side and the guy handed over what he had carried out. I was more aggressive than I should have been though I did not approach the car. My buddy from Lumber surpassed me in "aggressive" and the customer was more aggressive than either of us. But together we got the merchandise back.

What was the guy stealing? Two Bosch drill/drivers valued at about $170 each.

One thing that attracted the attention of my buddy from Lumber was that there was a car parked right outside the doors. There's no parking there except if an employee asks a customer to move his vehicle up there for ease of loading. So, the car, all by itself, attracted attention just by the way it was parked. The other employee managed to get the license plate and we expect the police to be notified............We don't know if they'll pursue it. Sadly, the merchandise did not amount to $500 which is the cut off for grand theft. So, the cops may just shine it on unless they can nail this guy for trying the same stunt other places.

I thought I did good. No one said so. No one said thanks. No one seemed to take any notice. This is such a fun place to work...................

I did stop at the bank and pick up my sad little paycheck. Oh well, every little bit helps! I had planned to go to the grocery store as well, but, honestly, I hurt too bad for that. I'm puzzled by that in that I took half a pain pill. Seems as though it never took hold............

I bought a kneeling pad today. I was decluttering a drawer and sitting on the floor, the carpeted floor, and it was VERY uncomfortable. I decided it would be worth it to spend $9 and change to get a pad. I've been cleaning the bathroom floors--it hurts. I was decluttering a drawer and it hurt. I need to bend over or kneel on the concrete to cut the styrofoam for the garage door and it hurts. Yup, I spent $9 and change. I think it may help. I certainly hope so.

And, now, I'm going to go lie down and see if I can calm my back. It still aches. I'd like to be able to get some things done in this house tonight and if the back hurts this much, I'll not be very successful.

Laters................

A Good day..............

I have stayed pretty busy today and still managed a nap. That means I still have a couple of hours before I need to cash in my chips and go to bed. I work again tomorrow.

Another load of laundry has been done and it's hanging to dry.

I worked on the master bath early this morning and then I moved on to the hall bath. The floor in there is cleaner than it was and so are the baseboards. In both bathrooms the counters have been wiped and the toilet cleaned.

I shredded for 15 minutes today. Mercifully, I encountered few staples in what I was working on so I managed to get the level of the shred pile to just below the top of the box it is in. It's progress...........

I've cleaned up all the dishes and loaded the dishwasher. The working side of the kitchen looks pretty good and the table out there is clear. If only I knew what to do with all the jars of dehydrated food. They are on the countertop on the other side of the kitchen because I don't know where else to put them. I'd love to be able to clear the countertop................

I worked my way through another drawer in the master bedroom. Most of what I culled is in a bag for donation. I've now worked my way through 9 drawers in the master bedroom with 9 to go.

I've watered outside with multiple trips again.

I washed the reusable filter I keep on the box fan out here. It's drying now. I also climbed up and dusted the return on the HVAC system and changed out the filter on it. It was definitely time!!!!!!! I will most likely be seeing less dust for a while. Changing that filter always seems to help.

I made my Turkey Potpie for dinner. It's pretty darned good. My mother and her mother always made this dish. I think tonight's effort is every bit as good as theirs if I do say so myself. Maybe I could have rolled the dough out a little thinner, but that's a job that's hard on the back--requires bending. Next, I need to clean up the mess on the dining room table from rolling out the dumplings. It's not too bad.

Then I am off for a hot, soaky bath. I had one more thing on my list of things to do and that was to try to do another panel on the garage door. I still have 5 panels to go but as the temperature outside goes up my enthusiasm for the project goes down. That's a silly way to be. The truth is, I should be pushing harder on that. What I wanted was to get that whole door insulated to keep the temperature in the garage a bit lower. My hope was that doing so would reduce the stress on the freezer that's out there and maybe knock some $$$ off the power bill over the course of the summer. Well, silly me, summer is here! I NEED to get this DONE!

I don't think I mentioned that I made a big batch of macaroni salad yesterday. I did something I've never done before--I added an entire array of veggies to it. I added at least 3 cups of veggies including, onions, a bit of broccoli, some peas, celery, some red bell pepper, a few chopped tomatoes, and some corn. I've been slacking on the smoothies this last week and this seemed a way to get some more veggies into my system.

We were all hit with the news this morning that a digital scrapbook designer died last night in a house fire along with her husband and one of her children. Everyone is shaken and saddened by it. I always admired her work and it's sad that she won't be blessing us all with her talent any longer. One never knows when the time will be up. It is important to be prepared so that what comes next is a wonderful thing, more wonderful than we can imagine, rather than the alternative.

I'm going to give myself a few more minutes to relax and then I will go clean up the dining room table and start getting my turkey and dumplings packaged up for the fridge and freezer. Then that hot bath and off to bed. I hope you had a BLESSED day.

Correction: I don't think the computer is fixed after all

I think I know what happened. However, something did indeed happen. I have two files with downloaded stuff in them. These two files were on two different drives but had the same name. I wanted them on the same drive. Well, the main drive one is there. However, the old 500 GIG hard drive stuff never made it to its new home. I think my buddy saw a file with that name on the main drive and thought it was a duplicate of what was on the auxiliary drive. Unfortunately, that was not the case. And since the auxiliary drive is no longer in the computer, I can't access what's on it. Ugh! More time to be spent on this computer. That, however, is just the price to be paid for not paying a pro $90 an hour to do it............. So, another computer work day coming up sometime this coming week. However, my buddy says he'll come in "work clothes" and help me out with some of the jobs I can't manage.

I finally pulled myself together and got a little accomplished last night. I did a little kitchen clean up, but definitely not enough. I spent 15 minutes with the shredder. I'd like to say I'm shredding 15 minutes every day but that would be a lie. I think I can honestly say I'm giving it 3-4 times a week. Sadly, the shred pile (without adding anything to it) is still 2 inches or so above the level of the container. Most of what I'm shredding has staples in it. Supposedly I can put those through the shredder with gay abandon. I refuse to do that. I really want this shredder to work well as long as possible and I think if I pull the staples before shredding, maybe I can extend the shredder's life.

I worked on folding and putting laundry away. I'll wash another load shortly.

I got all the furniture in the master bedroom dusted and I went through a drawer and eliminated some of the contents. What I pulled out went into the trash as what I eliminated was very "personal" stuff, stuff I wouldn't think of donating...........

I figure I've gone through about half the drawers in the master bedroom. There's more stuff I SHOULD declutter, but I can't do it. There's "pretty" stuff I just love. I don't wear it anymore, but I can't bear to part with it.....Silly, I know, but there you have it.......

I also watered outside with multiple trips in and out. Grabbed the trash can from the curb and started filling it up again.........

Today I've already started on the master bathroom. I'm getting down on my hands and knees (no small feat) and cleaning sections of baseboard as well as where the flooring meets the baseboards. I am sad to say I've come to the conclusion that I don't own a tool that really gets that area clean, no tool, that is, except my own 2 hands........... While I'm at it, I'm also hand washing the flooring as well. It has little divets in it that just don't quite get clean with a mop. Maybe the steam mop would do it, but it's a rectangle-shaped room, long and not very wide. That steam mop just seems big and unwieldy in there...........

I have a good list of things to try to get done today. I don't know how many things I'll be able to knock off the list, but it won't be for lack of trying.

Tonight's dinner will be what my family called "Turkey Potpie". You probably know it as Turkey and Dumplings. I have pre-cooked Turkey and canned turkey broth. I just need to add some chopped onions and celery to the broth and get it all heated to a simmer and then make the "dumplings" and drop them in. Shouldn't be a big deal but it will taste delicious. My paycheck this past Friday was REALLY dismal. I expected that, both because I chose to take that week off and because of the reduced work schedule after. I'm avoiding the grocery store as much as I can so as to have money for other things so eating from the "pantry".

So, anyway, I won't bore you with the things on my to do list. But, no doubt, I'll be back later to tell you what I've managed to get done. YOU have a BLESSED day.

Laid back day

I didn't know exactly what to expect of today. But, the computer is fixed. I now have a 2T hard drive and a 1T hard drive and a spare (in a box) 500 GIG hard drive and the computer is functioning just exactly as it should be. My buddy from work e-mailed me around 7 this AM and let me know he'd be here around 10ish. He arrived with a Burger King bag filled with breakfast (eggs, pancakes, sausage, and biscuit) for each of us. And we chatted and the computer is fixed. Glory be! He's gone home now and I can get on with my day. Can you imagine? He comes to do work for me for free AND brings me breakfast? Hmmmmmmmmm.......

I haven't planned the day. I had no idea how long it would take to get the computer thing finished. So, I guess the first thing is to plan what happens the rest of the day. Correction: The first thing is a nap. Then planning. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night so I will make up for that first. I'm sure the "planning" will consist of "clean this" and "declutter that" and "scrub that over there" and don't forget to wipe down this and this and this............

Wrestling alligators in my sleep............

I must have been wrestling alligators in my sleep. And I musta lost. Maybe that big ole tail hit me. My left shoulder is all tweaked out. It's sore and a bit more, like it's cruisin' to hit me with a muscle spasm in my deltoid. That is NOT a good way to start a work day. If it spasms in the middle of lifting something heavy and breakable, my name will be MUD.

I'm ready all but shoes, hair, and food. Part of my food is prepped. Basically, I'm waiting for the ibuprofen to hit before I start trying to lift my arm above my shoulders to work on my hair. I guess I'll do shoes and food and hope the pain is relieved by the time I'm done.............

Just watched a video of someone's kid graduating from high school. Sometimes the contrasts are just too great, you know. This young lady had grandparents that came from Massachusetts. I had no grandparents who came from PA. She had aunts and uncles in attendance. I didn't. I was 2nd in my class and was a graduation speaker. It rained a bit during my little speech and my mother left the stadium so her hair wouldn't get wet............ People cheered wildly when this young lady walked up to pick up her diploma. My parents would never have thought of doing that. I so often wish it had been different...........

What more can I do?

Well, I haven't done too bad, but I have more chores on my to do list that I haven't gotten to yet. Worse news, I'm wearing down.

I started doing a final cleanup of the dresser top and dusting everything that is left on there. Mostly I only needed to give any amount of attention to a tray and some perfume bottles that were on it. A fair number of the perfume bottles bit the dust. I finally decided that it does no good to keep perfume I don't like. Should have been an easy concept but it took me a while to get there....... I washed and dried the wubbie and it's back on the bed. I also managed to dust one of the nightstands and the window sill before my allotted time ran out.

I have a bunch of cleaning cloths on the "sanitize" cycle going now in the washer.

I started putting dishes away only to discover that the dishwasher had misfired and either never ran or ran for just a few minutes. So, I've reloaded it and run it again. I have the crockpot soaking and I'll be going after that soon.

I hauled a couple of large bags of trash outside and then hauled a very heavy trash bin to the curb. Tomorrow is crack o'dawn trash day.

I watered outside and I have some plants inside that I need to water tonight.

I have restored the dining room table to its former "glory". Note: It is only "glorious" if you look at the stuff on top of the table, not the table top itself. It is badly in need of being refinished.

I have also crawled around and washed baseboards and portions of the floor in both bathrooms.

My desk looks like it's been hit by a tornado. Largely, that is because of everything being moved around and splattered wherever with the computer repair work. I'm not too sure I really need to rush to straighten it up because there is more computer work coming on Saturday. But, I have to admit to you that the sight of the desk in its current condition gives me a lot of distress.....Perhaps I can at least try to restack some of what's here............ We'll see.

So that's about it for tonight. I did manage about a 1 hour nap, but that means I should be in bed around 11. I don't know what more I can get done in this last hour, but I'll do what I can.

I hope you had a great day. In spite of the computer craziness at work and the hard work here at home, my day went well. I'm particularly pleased that the bedroom is beginning to look better. There is still MUCH to declutter in there, but I can see progress. Better yet, if anyone else had seen the "before", they too could see progress. Now that's saying something! I can't wait for the day I can say the same thing about this room. Next to the garage, it probably contains the most stuff to be decluttered. One day I'll get it where I want it. The trick is to keep plugging til I get there.............Goodnight now.

It is HOT in this house..........

Every day I turn the thermostat up before I leave home. The "bad" part of that is that it's hot in here when I get home. And, I've learned that if I get hot, I just seem to get hotter for a long period of time thereafter. I think we are getting to that time of the year where a nap on my return from work is mandatory, not just for rest and to relieve the back muscles, but to move me to the east side of the house where it's naturally cooler in the afternoon.

It was a CRAZY day at work today. First, some sort of coupon showed up on unusually long receipts first thing this morning. The problem is that the last thing that happens when we serve a customer is that printed receipt. You can't exactly ask the customer to stand around while you read all that extra stuff that's printed on the bottom of the receipt. Finally, I found out that our store is offering $10 off on a $50 purchase, redeemable May 31 to June 3. No other store, just ours. Okay. Now I know........... Once I knew, I began pointing it out to each customer. I'm sure the point is to boost our sagging sales, but the coupon won't do that unless a customer knows it's there. Few customers are going to read every printed line on their receipt. So, I began telling customers about it.

Well, all of a sudden, sometime around 1PM the receipts started coming out without the coupon. No one knew why. Then, a bunch of machines (including the one I was on and the one next to it) just froze up. They weren't printing receipts at all and until the receipt printed for the previous customer, the machine wouldn't move on to a new customer. Finally, the receipts started to print out again and the "frozen" thing passed. However, by the time I left work, things were still not "right". The receipts were showing the "Thank you for your service" thing that prints out on receipts with military discounts. What wasn't happening was the discounts themselves. Also, employee discounts were not happening. I hope they get this fixed by tomorrow morning. Customers were pretty understanding about our troubles today, but, sooner or later, there are bound to be a few customers who decide we're trying to cheat them and take it out on the cashiers.............

I allowed myself to buy 2 new shirts for the summer season. Yesterday, the 2nd one arrived. It's a really nice dark purple and it seems to look really good on me. I paid a big $9.91 for this shirt and I'm happy I did. I would still like to have a turquoise shirt, but I haven't been able to find one in my price range (dirt cheap). Oh, well, maybe next year.

I found out that they are now making teakettles with thermometers so you can monitor the temperature of the water. If I had my drothers, I would probably make coffee using the pour over method with a french press or whatever. And to do that well, you really need to be able to monitor the water temperature. I'd love to have one of those teakettles, but there are many other things I need before I can think about spending any money on this just because I want it.

One thing I NEED is a new steam iron. I am thinking seriously about trying to get back into doing a bit of sewing and sewing, done correctly, requires the ability to iron. I have what was once a GOOD steam iron. However, it is now quite elderly. It really is not producing much steam at all. However, have you priced GOOD steam irons lately? We're talking $80 and up. That would be something I have to save up for............

The store has rebates in place for paint. They're actually substantial rebates, like about 25% of the cost. I need to kick loose with the money to buy some as I bought just enough to get started last year and have been waiting for this rebate thing to roll around ever since. I'm going to have to check all my pockets and see what I can come up with.............

Well, I have been perspiring for long enough. By now, surely the bedroom is cool. I'm going to go do the nap thing and then I'll be able to work later in the evening after it cools off outside. Later, maybe.

Not a bad night............

I've been pretty successful with my to do list tonight. I've watered outside. I've put away all those sweaters and ALMOST cleared my dresser. I got down on the floor and, after scrubbing the exterior of the toilet, got back up again. Also wiped down the bathroom counter and cleaned the inside of the toilet and scrubbed a section of the floor. I washed a load of laundry and paid a bunch of bills. I've been chipping away at recording May's checking account expenditures in my budget program. The dishwasher is running and counters and stove have been wiped down. All that I couldn't fit in the dishwasher has been hand washed EXCEPT the crockpot which is soaking in the sink. I added 1 sweater to the donation bags. Undoubtedly there are more but my goal tonight was that dresser, not purging the closet. I did find another skirt that could go bye-bye as well. I also pulled out all the snack stuff for work tomorrow so it should be a breeze to prep in the morning.

I have kind of made a decision. I am going to allow myself a half a pain pill at work without beating myself up over it. Certainly I don't want to become addicted, but I don't think that half a pill a day on work days only could be counted as addiction. And, without the pill, the pain just wears on me to the point I'm wiped out when I get home. Tonight I did take a nap after work, but that little bit of sleep and getting horizontal was enough to recharge me. That is not the way it usually works when I just try to cope with the pain. Of course, I know that I'll have to take steps if half a pain pill isn't enough or if I start wanting to take them every day. But, for now, as, hopefully, my back is improving, I'm going to buy myself some time and protection from pain...........

I guess that's about it for tonight. Now, wouldn't it be wonderful if tomorrow evening goes as well?