Out of the darkness

Man, I'm having a hard time breaking out of this funk but I'm cracking through a little. I may do a post about it tonight, but for those who might be concerned, I'm okay, just working through stuff in my head and dealing with the heat. Well not so much the heat, I like that, it's the bad air that gets me down.

It's not so bad today after the thunderstorms last night. We had a couple of beauties. The early storm had the most magnificent lightning I've seen in a while. Huge forks across the sky and lots of them. Nature's fireworks. Probably the closest I'll come to seeing any this year. And the followup at 1:00 was pretty impressive if only because it's rare to get them so late at night. The lightning wasn't as good but the rumbling was very impressive. Shook the house. Anyway, the air is cleaner and that helps a lot.

I've started an exercise program of sorts. I've decided part of my problem is I spend too much time inside and my rythums are all off because of my crazy schedule so I'm going to try to block out a certain time every evening to either walk or swim. Swimming is certainly easier to get into and I've managed to hit the pool two days in a row in this heat. I think it's helping already. I'm feeling more focused and I think a scheduled event I can look forward to will be comforting.

Otherwise, there's not much to report around the old complex other than wheelchair guy is really mean to his son. They periodically have shouting matches out in their garage which happens to be just across from my windows. Actually WG does most of the shouting. I can't usually hear what the kid is saying but it makes me want to run out and holler at him when he starts dragging his shit into the parking lot. Maybe it bothers me more than it should because it kind of reminds me of how my ex used to stage public scenes all the time. Kind of a PTSD thing.

So anyway, I'm still kicking but I have a lot to do today so I'm off. I'm hoping to be back later tonight.

Sad

I find I'm gripped by a profound melancholy and I'm not really ready to talk about it right now. I'm still processing.

Lost

I went to the doctor yesterday morning. A new lump had developed where the tumor was and of course I freaked out. Turned out it was a normal development and just some residual 'weeping' of some gland or something. The doc extracted the fluid by sticking yet another needle into my face. The good news is, with the residual numbness, I didn't feel a thing.

So, I get into the parking garage feeling better good that it was nothing to worry about and that the visit went so quickly, and I get to where I thought my car was and -- it's not there. I freak out thinking maybe it was towed, since it was hard to believe anyone would steal such an old car. I look around for no parking signs, but not seeing any I finally figure out that I'm probably on the wrong floor. I'm parked of course at the far end of the garage from the elevators so I trudge back up and sure enough somehow I didn't notice that I got off at the fourth floor instead of the third.

To add to my misery, I had a brand new pair of shoes on. My old sandals are too beat up for the well dressed look, so I got out my Etienne Aigner slides. Very classy black slides with a low spike heel. The leather on the instep was so soft, I didn't think they would be hard to break in. Wrong. By the time I got the elevators, I could feel the blisters starting.

So I hobble to the third floor and go to where my car is supposed to be and it's still not there. Now I'm really freaking out. I pace up and down the row for a minute trying to remember exactly where I parked and incredulous that I don't see it. At least this time I found the stairs at the bottom corner so I don't have to hike up to the elevators again.

By the time I got to the second floor, I was hobbling pretty good but thank the Goddess, there was the little blue mobile unit, just waiting for me. I never get a spot on the second floor and I swear I had to take the elevator down to the walkway, which is on the second floor so it's a mystery to me how I ended up where I did. Anyway, I was glad to find it. The truly impressive blisters I'm left with, not so much.

Trash talk

I'm working this weekend so I just have time for a quick little story. It's a long hike to the trash compactor for most people who live here in the McCompound so most people drive their trash over and drop it off on their way out. A lot of them balance the trash bags on the top of their trunks.

Yesterday I got to the end of the driveway and there was mini-van with two bags on top of their car. They apparently forgot to drop it off. I beeped my horn and tried to tell them, but they thought I was impatient and shot off into traffic while I was gesturing and trying to convey the problem.

I guess it clicked though by the time they got a few feet down the road, they turned around and gave me a happy wave in thanks. It could have been pretty nasty if they didn't realize it until they got the highway and watched the bags smash into somebody's windshield.

My good deed for the day.

Had a bad day


I don't really want to talk about it. But at least the sunset was nice. And that was from the front deck that faces east.

I got nothing

I'm feeling better, but still not great. I did see a lot of helicopters today. I realized afterwards that I should have grabbed the camera and taken some pictures of the one that buzzed the McCompound. I sometimes wonder if people believe me when I report these sightings.

Better

Going off the bad meds worked. I'm not freaking out anymore. I skipped a dose and got the old brand back today. My apetite came back. I had a huge dinner and now I'm comatose from too much food. I'm going to bed.

I have nothing much to say anyway. It wasn't as hot when I drove to the pharmacy. For some reason I had an bug influx this afternoon on the deck. I saw three different stingy things and one thing that probably didn't sting but could fly and was big. I brought the flyswatter out there and I haven't seen any since. I think they know what it is.

The hummingbirds never came back but I have a few bluebirds hanging around. It's a pretty good tradeoff. That is all.

Cool trick

So imagine you're driving down a beautiful highway in Vermont and out of nowhere, a 1940 vintage biplane lands right in front of you as you're driving 70 miles an hour. True story. A 68 year old pilot and his 60 something year old passenger were forced to land when the engine failed. It was either that or try to glide to a runway and the pilot didn't think he could make it.

Miraculously no one was hurt and he managed to pull the plane over to the breakdown lane so only one lane of traffic was blocked until they could tow it out. Amazing. You can see video here but you have to sit through a commercial first. It worth it to get a look at the plane. It's a beauty.

Always wanted to get a ride in one of those. Actually I wouldn't have minded being on the highway when it landed. You would have to wonder if you hadn't crossed over into the Twilight Zone or something.

Meanwhile, I'm still feeling lousy. It's so bad I haven't been able to eat at all, but I dragged myself to the pharmacy today and got them to order my old pills and stopped taking these. He also flagged my account so they won't ever give me this lousy brand again. I expect I'll start feeling better in a couple of days, once this stuff works its way out of my system.

Happy Father's Day

Hope all the Dads out there had a wonderful day with their loved ones. I didn't get to see mine. Hell, with the new medical bills I can't even afford a phone call right now but less a trip to see him, but Dad I know you're reading this, and you know I love you. I'm so lucky to have the best Dad in the world.

What next?

I wanted to post something interesting today but I feel like crap. I've been feeling like crap for the last few days. I think I'm having a bad reaction to the new brand of BP meds they gave me at the pharmacy and the only reason I'm not in the ER getting IV saline is I drinking gallons of Gatorade to keep my electrolytes up.

I'm going to go over tomorrow to see if they'll trade them in for another brand. My luck I'll have to go see the doctor to get it done. Anyway, I'm still off tomorrow so I'll be back.

I haven't posted since June 5?

Yikes. I've been worse than ever about posting haven't I? I'm okay, I've been a bit tired and I've been using what energy I have to blog politics. I have a pretty good drug war post up at Newshoggers today. I also found out this week that Newshoggers is one of the 400 most influential blogs in the country, at least on one ranking system. Go figure.

I'm healing well but ironically I've been feeling worse because healing means the numbness is receding in my face and I can feel the pain. Maybe I'll get around to blogging the whole ordeal tomorrow but tonight I'll just pass on the little news.

There's a huge wildfire about an hour and a half's drive from here that's been burning since the first of the month. A couple of days ago, you could smell the smoke in the morning and by the afternoon, you could see it. It hung around for 24 hours in the dead air. They had a health alert about it and everything. I was blessing the central air that day. I never left the house. It's cleared out since then though and it's not quite so hot either. Those 100 degree days last week were too hot even for me.

Meanwhile, some neighbors moved out and new people are moving in. The Asian nanny is still wearing pajamas everyday. She seems to have an endless supply of the exact same outfit in assorted colors. This week, she's been out on the sidewalk pacing around and talking on the phone every night around ten. I can't understand a word she's saying of course. I don't think she speaks much English.

We seem to have a family of cats living outside as well. There's two big ones that sort of skulk around in the bushes in the late afternoon and the other night I saw five rather largish kittens skittering around under the cars. I can't figure out if they're abandoned or if they belong to the new neighbors downstairs. I thought I saw a food bowl on their deck and the big cats seem to visit there but I haven't seen the kittens since that first night.

That's the young couple with the new baby. I can't figure them out generally. They seem to have a wide assortment of people that sort of crash there sometimes. It's all very strange.

On a brighter note, there's a new guy that moved in somewhere in the McCompound and has been jogging by every afternoon. He's really hot. Much too young for me of course, but still he's fun to watch.

On the mend

I can't believe I haven't posted again. I'm on the mend and am back to work but I end up pretty worn out at the end of the day so posting has been light. Always hoping that this will be the weekend I catch up but for now, I'm off again for a few hours of duty so here's an amusing marijuana story.

BACK ON DRUGS As a test of airport security, a customs officer planted marijuana in the side pocket of a random suitcase at Narita International Airport in Tokyo, the BBC reports (news.bbc.co.uk).

The test failed when the sniffer dogs were unable to detect the pot. But the officer could not remember which bag he had used.

Using an actual passenger’s suitcase is against regulations, and the airport’s customs service has apologized.

Meanwhile, the marijuana is still out there. “Anyone finding the package has been asked to contact customs officials,” according to the BBC. So far, nobody has spoken up.

Even if you weren't a consumer, considering the excesses of the war on some drugs, would you turn it in? I wouldn't. I'd be afraid it was some kind of setup.