Category: Health

Bean paste

Among other things, that’s what Katie fed me for lunch yesterday.  Alex dumped a coke all over our booth, the little bugger.  Argh.

I got a call back from the company I most recently interviewed for.  I will be gang interviewed by 4 lots of people over two hours.  Once again, I’m prepping in all seriousness, but I’m not going to be downcast if I don’t get it; I’m qualified for the job and I need to remember that, looking for other work.  Look for how it went next Friday morning, unless I post Thursday afternoon late.

0 hours on cpap, I actually forgot to put it on last night.  Tonight I shall try again.

Walked 4 k yesterday; I was about crippled when I got home, but hey, 270 calories were burned.  It was raining, and Alex slept through the whole thing.

Walkies

Paul and I had a simply lovely walk down at the Quay and then he treated me to sopa de tortilla and hot chocolate, both of which were simply scrumptious (Paul owned to being impressed at how fast I demolished the soup).  We didn’t give blood, thanks to things&stuff because reasons, but there’s an appointment later this week.

I broke down and made an appointment to get a crown, having previously thought that handing over a month’s income was a bit much and then I realized I was being a moron.  I can borrow the money, I can sell stuff to cover it, I can put it on my credit card.  It really hurts – I’m in constant tooth pain – and we KNOW how this story goes.  Until the tooth comes out, it’s all downhill from here.  And it’s all because there was a piece of metal in a pancake at IHOP two years ago.  Shit.

Doxie sent me another scanning unit, which took a charge promptly and which I am about to test.  DOXIE HAS AWESOME CUSTOMER SUPPORT Y’ALL and considering what a tempestuous clown I was asking for support it goes double.

Keith and Paul and Jeff and I hung out after the walk.

Tarot reading yesterday with a friend.  It was essentially the same as the last one, in that it said “Shit’s gonna fly, everything will be okay at the end.”  More specifics don’t seem to be coming.  The future’s uncertain and the end is always near.

Katie is hopefully coming Friday, with Alex, to cut my hair.

woo hoo!!!

4.9 hours last night.  I feel quite bright-eyed, although I don’t reckon my tail’s that bushy.    The secret appears to be having an iron-clad routine before bed and lying in a specific position as I’m trying to sleep.  This is wacky; positions good for my back are not great for the cpap, etc. etc.  I’m designing a bed to deal with my woes; I already designed a zero-g bed so How Hard Can It Be?  This is an automated hammock bed that senses your position and pays out or reels in support depending on ‘where your head is at’ according to the sensor.  Hey, sf is my life.  Cats would hate it though; the bed when in use is more like an electronic hammock than the staid and steady horizontal mass of comfy.

Interview is midmorning. I got a letter of recommendation in hand, maybe two.

 

We shall overcome

  • Singing that in church on the 50th anniversary of Selma.  I cried, it was really hard not to.  The minister preached an excellent sermon, and owned from the pulpit our shame and Canada’s in the treatment of the First Nations specifically with reference to the residential schools.  The part Unitarians played in Selma was retold.  In the future, they will ask, were you there, and I will have to answer.
  • 1.8 hours on the cpap.  Feel very crusty this morning. I had strange dreams.
  • The Rogue Folk Club is under attack.  They want to redevelop Saint James complex (the United Church of Canada local diocese) and given where it’s located, half a block from one of the priciest stretches of real estate in one of Canada’s priciest cities, I hardly think bake sales and fundraising will help.  Honestly I’m glad John didn’t live to see it.
  • March 14 there’s a demo against C51.
  • March 11 THEOLOGY PUB.  Rob and I are going again but the steak I felt comfy enough to treat him to is not happening again so he’s coming here first for sour owl jowls and then we’ll have soft drinks at the pub. He encouraged me to download Sketchup and it doesn’t fucking work with my Mac OS version so I am really irritated.  I’ll see if I can put it on the other machine. My irritation is softened by our amusing convo yesterday morning.  Me: Hey Rob, missed you in church last week, are you coming? Him: (sleepily) I was planning a leisurely shower and hop on the bus. Me, looking at the clock downstairs at church: Uh, it’s quarter after 10, hon. Him: I set my clock backward instead of forward.  Me: Showing up in time for coffee is a fine Unitarian tradition. Him: Skipping shower…. inbound!
  • Workshops are how to grow a church, who knew.  This is an in joke.
  • My landpeers are not raising our rent – for the second year running.  It’s like a March Miracle.  This is officially the most reasonably priced detached rental in east Burnaby.
  • I got Reddit gold.  If you don’t know what that is, good, and if you do know, ask me for my reddit username so you can bask in the glory that is my helpful commentary to the angry and sad.
  • My pOp played an extremely hilarious practical joke on me and Jeff, and to preserve the dignity of the everyone involved, I am not talking about it on the internet.  I did however light a candle for it in church and it must have sounded funny to the congregation, because they laughed most heartily.
  • I sent off another thousand words to mOm yesterday and as usual she is agitating for more.  It felt so good to have something to send… that chunk is only half way done.
  • The sun and warmth has been glorious.
  • Jeff and I tag teamed to move the fridge, clean under, beside and behind it, remove the MAT of dust on the fan intake, and once I clean the interior the fridge will be cleaner than at any point since we moved in.  I’m thinking of tackling Jeff to help with the kitchen “cupboards must be examined for stale dated contents” clean.
  • I have to call the city of Burnaby today and ask them where the food scraps container we are supposed to get is.
  • The purple and green screeching iridescent ribbons have gone from my fabric stash to church.  I have spent much time thinking what I should do with them, but finding out that the RE kids are doing a Maypole this year means that I never have to look at them and be sad again.
  • I enjoyed my sewing machine so much the last time I’m going to haul it out again.
  • But probably not before I clear off the living room table, which will probably take a couple of hours.
  • Keith is going to come over in the next couple of days and help me get my bicycle in riding condition.
  • I have an appointment with the bone health doc for the end of April. The MOA who called with the appointment info was a truly delightful person and though the call was brief it left me feeling really good.

moar sun

1.5 hours on the cpap.  Yesterday Paul and I ate lunch on his front deck – I had having a most severe craving for European style weiners (for about the last month) and he providentially had some.  Jeff and I don’t buy any kind of weiners at all these days since they are basically a commercialized form of waste. Paul and I left the beer in the fridge and drank mineral water instead.  Paul wasn’t quite feeling up to giving blood, so I’ll book into the next clinic in New West next week.

Day before yesterday we had a blanket on our laps like old folks on the ship deck, and yesterday it was so warm and pleasant we didn’t have to.  Oakalla was so nice Paul took his shirt off (he has long since lost the power to embarrass me) and I contributed to the Caucasoid Hairiness Factor with my legs.  We looked for frogs and didn’t find any, and I identified a Towhee for passing strangers.  We didn’t see any other interesting birds, but we heard the m-e-e-e-e—–p bird in the bushes.  It makes a sound of plaintive disgust, sort of “I am sad and irritated and not energetic enough to make more than this soft little noise” – and I sure wish I knew what it was.  It was definitely warm enough for snakes to come out and Paul was pretty sure he saw one.  The last snake I saw that wasn’t a pet was a baby that Robof9 and Patricia and I saw on the stairs at the old Xantrex building up the hill.  Anyway it was a glorious walk and exactly the right length.

I have unlocked the achievement of getting an appointment for the specialist, and it’s in April, barely.  With not driving a standard so much (I’ve only driven Jeff’s car twice since I figured out what was wrong), and changing my gait just a wee tad, and putting a support pillow in the right place when I’m sleeping, and never, ever running, I can say I feel much better.  I also completely stopped taking any painkillers for most of the last week to see where I was, and I am pleased to say that I’m managing okay in the mornings.

I think what is happening is the cpap is actually getting me oxygenated enough at night that I can heal.  I do feel better.  The only thing that’s worse is my eyes, and I’m going to drill down a bit on that problem next.  I’ve had dry eyes since I was in my 20s but I’m thinking a humidifier in the drier months of the year, maybe one of the personal jobbies for my room, might be a good idea.

Jeff was supposed to go to the fOlks’ but he is going to be very busy with an unanticipated technical challenge.

No Alex yesterday!  How fast we get into habits.  Hopefully I’ll see him sometime this weekend.

 

56 days already…

I am now ready to go back and be punctured for social equity and also, blood.  Hard to be believe 8 weeks went by so fast.

Paul and I had a wonderful afternoon swapping lies and drinking Coulrophobia on his front deck.  (Two decks and two bathrooms, now that’s an apartment). There’s actually a nice view, although frak me, nobody stops at any of those stop signs.  He liked the beer so much he went back to the store for more. Then I gave him some salmon I cooked earlier this week for his dinner.

Buster has brought in from, and Jeff has removed to the great outdoors quantity one mouse.

7 hours total sleep and 3.1 with the cpap.  Progress is being made.

There’s a job in craigslist asking if you can make starbucks coffee in a fast paste environment.  Not sure I’d want to.

 

Feeling somewhat better

I used the cpap for 2.3 hours last night, according to my highly evolved machine.

Doxie sent me an ac charger, yay, now I can use the scanner continuously.

99 words yesterday.  It’s not much but it’s progress.

Had long long talks with Tammy and Sandra yesterday.  Tammy’s continuing to work on her counselling business and we brainstormed some marketing ideas, and Sandra was all bubbly and full of news about family, including comments about the family Bible (what a story, but it’s not mine to tell) and lovely updates about her elderly female relatives (and what a grand ear flapping that was).

Watched Grand Budapest Hotel, and it was lovely.

Applied for a job this morning.

I have not one but two very difficult decisions to make.  One involves my finances and the other my mental health. Wish me luck, I’ll need it.

Now for some eggs and tea and toast.

 

Breathing easy

Many, many hours on the cpap.  I had to go at it on three separate tries, but I gooped my eyes before I slept and woke up both refreshed and not so dry that I couldn’t get my eyes open, so I’d call that a win.  Later on this morning, we’re going to do an early shopping run, and later after that I’ll be off to church – to drop off tea towels and pick up cocoa….

 

Sore

KatieAlexFeb15Walked 4+ km yesterday and my back feels okay but my pelvis is trashed.  Only managed the CPAP for an hour and a half .

Alex is so cute!  Yes I was walking around New Westminster yesterday, and although I have like $60 in my account until more funds arrive I simply had to have a Chronic Taco (Katie and I split one, it was SUPER DELICIOUS).  They cost a bomb but they are simply loaded with nutrition.

As a member of the League of Practical Women I purchased Katie some WD40 which immediately got used to desqueak the horrifically squeaky wheels of the stroller.

Pic back at the apartment.

Note: Baby drool smells GHASTLY once it dries.  I came home and thought, gosh, that’s …. what’s that….. and then ran to change my shirt.  He is Tom Drooly, f’sure.

Buster Boy

He’s curled up next to me right now.  I’ve started letting him in to my room. For a while he was resting his head on the corner of my laptop which was socuteIcoulddie.

I’ve started doing the exercises I found on line and it is already making a difference, not just to my pelvis but also my back.  I woke up this morning with no pain.  I dodged the CPAP, but at least I cleaned it.  I finally went into the programming for the CPAP and checked my actual hours used and it’s pretty bad.  Best night was 3.5 hours; average is just over 2.  I also snugged up and rearranged the mask fitting while I was cleaning it. Back to running the machine tonight.

Mike was gently encouraging me to get over my hate for YYOGA  I will try again.  But honest to glob, if that receptionist is still there and pulls the fat shaming stuff again, I’m going to give her a piece of my mind, complain to her manager, and complain in writing to head office.  And then I’ll say screw it and take Mike on as a private instructor, he is after all trained.  Also, yoga is expensive….

Yay, finished the first part of the thing for church. Now to the edits, after we get updates.