Category Archives: Ramblings

Brrr….

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I won’t be writing much this morning. My fingers are frozen and I keep making typos. The last 2 nights have been colder than a “well-digger’s ass” or “a witch’s tit” as some folks say. At 2 degrees this morning, I’m lucky to be able to move, let alone walk.

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I’m bundled up like an Eskimo: thick socks, fingerless gloves, a hoody, a wooly sweater, a beanie, and sweatpants. Plus I have a small thin throw wrapped around my left leg because the cold makes it burn like hell. I’ve been sleeping with the same garb, an electric throw, a soft warm throw over that, and a heating pad.

Every morning I wake up with 2 cats on me because…um…electric throw! I have 3 cats but there’s always one who doesn’t want to be near the others. BobCat especially enjoys laying on the heating pad, as you can see!

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We turn the heat off at night because we don’t have central heat, just a propane heater and a couple of electric ones. It stays cold in this old house at these frigid temps, even with the heat on, but we like to conserve the propane as much as we can. We have never left the heat on at night but we may have to!

It’s been a real hassle trying to keep the pipes from freezing. The pipes in the kitchen are frozen; hopefully, they don’t bust because it’ll really be a pain in the ass to fix! We would have had the water running in the kitchen sink but the drain has been clogged and we haven’t been able to use the sink at all. We’re keeping the water running in the bathroom sink and in the tub. We’ve had the water stop flowing a few times but thankfully we got it running again. We have a heater in the well-house to help keep the pipes from freezing but what a pain that is! Every 45 minutes – 1 hour we have to go check that the water is still running, even during the night. It’s hard to get a good night’s sleep as it is, but add the constant watch and the freezing cold and it’s even harder.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Stay warm, friends! Or cool, depending on where you are!

aunt-debbie

My Little Tribble

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Remember Star Trek with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy? There was an episode called The Trouble With Tribbles (1967) that I thought was quite amusing as a kid.

tribbles

from Wikipedia

I don’t remember how old I was when I first saw the Tribbles episode. I do know that when I was in Junior High School and taking a sewing class I made my own little Tribble!

My little Tribble eventually became a cat toy. BobCat plays with it these days and bunny kicks the shit out of it. I really don’t know why I’ve hung onto it all these years!

My little Tribble doesn’t look anything like it used to. It used to have a nose, ears, and a tail, but now it just looks like a furry, round ball with eyes and a mouth! It’s rather funny and I won’t ever get rid of it because I’m attached to it now.

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My Poor Little Tribble

Trouble With Nerves

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It’s been a rough year but most especially the last 6 months. From personal drama to health issues…what’s coming in 2024? I don’t even want to know.

The last 2 months have been difficult beginning with the week before Thanksgiving. I did some chores (because who’s gonna do them if I don’t?) and I overdid it. It doesn’t take much for me to overdo things, but I normally snap back in a couple of days. This time, I didn’t. It started with what I thought was the arthritis taking over my pelvic bone. Then, my left leg kept falling asleep on me. Not while I was sitting, mind you. I can be standing or walking and all of a sudden my leg will fall asleep. If I am on my feet for too long (10 or 15 minutes is sometimes too long) my left leg will start to burn. Just BURN like hell. I also noticed my left leg was swelling up near my knee. I thought surely I had a pinched nerve. Finally, I sucked it up and went to the doctor. Ok, not a doctor but my Nurse Practitioner.

My NP spent nearly 2 hours with me trying to pinpoint the problem. I have never had any doctor spend that kind of time with me for any reason! I explained the problem I was having and she asked a lot of questions and poked and prodded my lower spine. and came to the conclusion that I have inflamed nerves in my lower spine where it meets the pelvic bone. She gave me a steroid injection which helped tremendously for about 24 hours and then some of the pain and discomfort came back. I received a second steroid injection a few days later. It helped a little but not as much as I had hoped.

She put me on a more mild diuretic than Lasix which I was taking as needed. I hated taking the Lasix because I spent too much time in the bathroom and I didn’t want to kill my kidneys. The new diuretic (hydrochlorothiazide or HCTZ) seems to be helping with the swelling. It’s not enough that I have to wear compression sleeves on my lower legs to prevent swelling, now I have to deal with this new area swelling up. Ugh.

I’m still having issues with the inflamed nerves but my NP said it may take some time. I’m trying to be patient. I haven’t experienced a lot of that burning sensation since the injections so I feel like it IS getting better. Weather permitting, I will go see my NP again next week. I was going to go this week but why do today when you can put off until tomorrow? Haha.

I really like my NP and her nurse is spectacular, too! I just hate going because I don’t want her to send me to some jerk doctor who won’t do anything but make me feel worse. They always seem to think they have to TELL me I’m overweight as if I don’t know. I want to say to them, “Hey asshole. I know I’m fat. I don’t need you to tell me that!” I wouldn’t be so much overweight if I had received proper medical care in the beginning. Then maybe I’d have been able to continue my daily exercise of walking (or some form of exercise like my recumbent bike) to keep my weight down. Maybe I’d have my knee replacements by now, too!

Ugh. Anyway, that’s what’s what in my neck of the woods. We’ll be getting snow soon. I don’t mind that as long as we have what we need and don’t need to leave the house. Another excuse not to go to the doctor. Haha.

Toodles, my friends!

Holiday Depression

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I won’t be spending much time online until after the holidays. I may pop in at times to read a blog or two, perhaps even comment. Facebook is my go-to for staying in touch with friends and family but during the holidays it’s just depressing. It’s depressing to see posts and photos of family get-togethers, grandkids having fun, and all that good stuff. Why? I’ll explain.

When I was in my 40s and my kids were nearing the age of adulthood, I always envisioned my 50s and 60s with grandkids all around me during the holidays with good food, laughter, and gift-giving. But that didn’t happen. I’m in my 60s and disabled so I can’t travel to see the grandkids, contrary to what some may think. They don’t travel to see us, so I feel even less important and lonely. I have 4 grandchildren within 20 miles and rarely see them. One I haven’t seen in years. One I saw last year and didn’t even recognize her because it had been that long since I saw her last. I see the other 2 (brothers, one is a baby) mostly during the holidays for a few hours. The baby I have seen only once. I will see them this coming week if everything goes as planned.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m taking things too personally but I feel like everyone else gets to enjoy my grandkids while I sit on the sidelines. And poor Dad. He doesn’t even have a relationship with any of his great-grandkids! I see photos of them on Facebook and I love seeing those photos but damn, it’s so depressing! So that’s why I’m going to stay off Facebook until after the holidays. I hate the holidays. I truly, truly hate the holidays.

I’ve not been doing well physically for the past few weeks. I did some major chores and really messed something up. I have pinched nerves as a result. I can’t sit still any longer than I can walk or stand. My rotator cuff injury has been bothering me off and on as well. I’m a hot mess.

Dad is doing ok, aside from falling twice in less than a week. He didn’t hurt himself except for a bruise on his arm. I’m really worried about him and that’s leading to a lot more stress and sleepless nights.

The 3 furbabies are doing well and believe it or not, Jack and BobCat are actually getting along quite well these days! I think they may have had a scuffle or a powwow one day while we were gone because there are times that Jack cowers down to BobCat. Maybe they have come to an agreement of some kind?! Or maybe Alice told them to knock off the horseshit.

I’m making a ham in the instant pot on Thanksgiving, and I’ll whip up some mashed potatoes (the day before) and gravy. I bought pre-made frozen pies because my oven is dead and well, I can’t stand in the kitchen for long. My son and daughter-in-law are bringing the sweet potatoes, rolls, and green bean casserole, (and the 2 grandkids!). My bestie is bringing appetizers. I hope my pain level will allow me to enjoy the day or at least a few hours.

I won’t be blogging until after the holidays so I will wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year all at once! Thank you for following my blog!

Peace, Love, and Rock n Roll,

BAD

Spit It Out, Will You??

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Last month, Dad and I went to the Health Department to get our updated Covid-19 vaccinations. Things went well. There was no delay in being called back. The ladies in the office and the nurses giving the vaccines were on top of things. We were ready to leave when Dad spies a sign that read, “Get Your Shingles Vaccine Today.” He and I both need to get it done so I inquired at the window. Another nurse was called up to the window to answer my inquiry. Her name was Becky and I assumed she would be competent. I assumed wrong!

First, she asked for our insurance cards to check if Shingrix was covered. It took her 40 minutes to come back and tell us that Dad’s would be covered but my insurance wouldn’t cover it. The way she spoke annoyed the crap out of me. It was like she needed a smack on the back of the head to spit it out. She was really trying my patience. (And I really don’t think it was a speech impediment because I heard her talking to one of the other nurses without trouble.)

Finally, after having to concentrate on what she was trying to say, I understood that the state-provided vaccine would be free for me. Okay, that’s great because I can’t afford $200 a pop…and there are 2 flippin’ vaccines 6 months apart! So, off Becky went to see about available appointments. Well, guess what? They didn’t have any state-provided Shingrix vaccines. Did she check to see when they would be getting more in? No. She had to go back and check. She came back and said she didn’t know when they would be getting more in but that I should check back periodically. She then said she would go back to see when they had available appointments for Dad. She should have done that already when she said was checking the first time! Then she came back and asked me to come to her office to see when a good time would be. Holy crap. Her desk was a disaster area! I don’t know how anyone could do their job with a desk in that condition!

Anyway, I made the appointment for Dad to get his first Shingrix vaccine. Becky told us again that the state-provided vaccine would be free but she didn’t know when they would get more in. She said she would try to find out and call me. After an hour and 20 minutes, we finally got out of that place! (The first 10 minutes were smooth sailing!)

Becky tried to call us several times in the following week. Dad answered the first time but she couldn’t speak up and spit it out so he hung up on her. (I assumed it was her, perhaps it wasn’t.) The next time she called I answered and after every 3 or 4 words she would stop and say, “Can you hear me?” I was getting so damn annoyed that I finally yelled, “Yes. I can hear you! What do you want?!” Then dial tone. She hung up on me. I hoped she wouldn’t call back. I told Dad if the phone rings again, don’t answer. Just let her leave a voicemail.

The following week, she called and we weren’t home so she had no choice but to leave a voicemail. She stuttered and stammered through the entire message and told me absolutely nothing that I didn’t already know! Her phone call was a waste of time. If I had been home to answer the phone, I would have told her that!

Things like that really get under my skin! I expected a nurse to tell me that we were or were not covered by our insurance, and then make appointments to get the vaccine. I expected to be told what I needed to know in a timely manner. Being disabled and in constant pain, I do not have the patience or energy for such bullshit.

I used to be a very patient person. Over the years, as my chronic pain and mobility issues advanced, my patience went out the window. I don’t like phone calls or incompetence. I loathe having to deal with people. I despise red tape and bureaucratic bullshit. We all have those things to contend with but I just can’t handle it anymore.