|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 17, 2024 19:12:21 GMT -5
The other thing that is also gone is your personal history as a young child. After my dad died, I realized that (as I'm the oldest) now any memories of me and my siblings have are only our own. There is no one older to remind us. It's kind of weird, when the only source of info about very young you is gone. I was about five years old when I was hit by a car crossing the street in front of my home. Clean hit in that no wheels ran over me but I was under the car. I remember nothing about the incident. My dad's dental office was attached to our home. When he and other neighbors rushed outside after hearing the screeching vehicle brakes he found me. I guess they had the driver either back up to uncover me or they pulled me out from under the car. The only thing I remember about it after the accident was my dad telling me as I lay on the street waiting for the ambulance was that I asked him if I was dead or alive. Dad told me I was alive. For the next few years, Dad would kindly chuckle when he reminded me he told me I was alive. It’s stuff like this. For me, my mom reminded me of when I turned the hallway into a slide. I was 4, my sister 2 and my mom was about 22 months pregnant with my brother. My sister and I took the dishwashing soap and turned the hallway into a slide. She was pissed, spanked both of us and stuck us in our room, and then cried as she tried to clean a container of dish soap off the floor. She got it done, then went into the carport for a smoke and drink after cleaning up our mess (this would have been around 1963 or so). While she was out having a smoke, we took the second bottle of dishwashing soap and did it again. Mom said she was afraid to touch us again, she’d have killed us!
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 17, 2024 13:57:27 GMT -5
Well, that may not have been the smartest idea.
Whatever crud I have been fighting the last 10 days or so finally took a turn for the better. I decided I wanted to make spaghetti for dinner tonight, so went to the grocery store.
About 2/3 the way through, my legs turned to water. I needed th3 dart to hold me upright. Paid, got out of the store and TD brought the groceries in. I’ve still gotta put them away.
What the hell happened to my legs?
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 16, 2024 11:14:51 GMT -5
Annoyed.
While I was gone, I got an email from Express Scripts to tell me that it was time to refill my prescriptions. I did this when I got home. I went into Express Scripts to find out that to fill my maintenance meds, I need new prescriptions. About 2 weeks before I left, I had my face visit with my doctor in order to get those damn refills and you mean to tell me that he never bothered to call the scripts in in the almost 3 months since that appointment? So now I wait and am still waiting.
This is why I prefer that they hand me the scripts as I'm walking out the door. At this point, then I can make sure that they're sent in and on file.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 16, 2024 8:49:49 GMT -5
Tl;dr if you must overdo it on OTC painkillers go with ibuprofen not tylenol What about Naproxen? That's my go to for early migraines and body aches 99% of the time. Same. Prior to my joint replacements, I had blood work done every 6 months for kidney function. I got pulled off of it a couple times to let my kidneys recover. I was also taking the max dose daily.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 16, 2024 8:47:51 GMT -5
Tylenol would never be approved for OTC by the modern FDA. Too easy to overwhelm and damage the liver (DILI; drug-induced liver injury). The metabolic product (after processing of tylenol by CYP2E1 in liver) is conjugated by glutathione for elimination. Too much, you run out of glutathione, the metabolized product hangs around and poisons your mitochondria. No functional mitochondria =no ATP= liver cells start dying. CYP2E1 metabolizes both alcohol and tylenol. Some alcohol can have a protective effect (distracts/slows CYP2E1 from turning tylenol into potential metabolic poison). Alcoholics however develop higher levels of CYP2E1, as a response to constantly needing to metabolize more alcohol. This means alcoholics metabolize tylenol faster, and therefore potentially build up toxic metabolites that overwhelm the glutathione detox mechanism faster. Tl;dr if you must overdo it on OTC painkillers go with ibuprofen not tylenol So you give equal opportunity to damage your kidneys.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 16, 2024 8:44:14 GMT -5
I think this cold is potent enough to traverse the web! Me too. It’s brutal.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 15, 2024 16:01:29 GMT -5
I got my conditional approval for my Nexus card renewal, but they want an interview. Only problem is that nothing is available through Sept! They’ll do it remotely, but the stupid site doesn5 work and won’t let me choose a date for it.
I think I’m just going to drive up to Blaine one day and see if I can walk into an interview. Either that, or I could get an appt tomorrow in either Champlain NY or Montana!
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 15, 2024 14:40:56 GMT -5
One last thought on this subject and it applies to children everywhere. Don't get so caught up in your own lives (like I did) and not ask your parents what their lives were like as kids. If my parents were alive today, I would ask them those types of questions because once they pass away, their personal histories are gone forever.What little I remember about my parents young lives is how they met very shortly at the end of WWII. My parents met on the then U.S. held Japanese island of Okinawa. My dad was with the U.S. Army dental corp and my mom, with the U.S. government. As a little kid, I assumed all single young adults went to Okinawa to meet their future spouses. My assumption expanded to Hawaii. But that was because they went to Hawaii for some R&R from their work in Okinawa. They also went to Shanghai, China for R&R too. I have the pictures. I later learned that young folks also met each other in the States too. The other thing that is also gone is your personal history as a young child. After my dad died, I realized that (as I'm the oldest) now any memories of me and my siblings have are only our own. There is no one older to remind us. It's kind of weird, when the only source of info about very young you is gone.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 15, 2024 14:36:41 GMT -5
I am going to be a bit out there on cough suppressing. The Ricola herb cough drops don't do anything for me. However, and this is where the weird comes in, sucking on Jolly Rancher hard candy seems to cover my throat with some kind of layer and minimizes coughing. I would be very hesitant to even mention it here had I not told several friends and acquaintances of this over time and they had the same result. Mind you I rarely have an actual cold but the pollen coughing is no less real and annoying. I don't like those candies but for me at least if the choice is between hacking and candy (+ toothbrush for obvious reasons), candy it is. It really doesn't do anything for me, and I am sure a hard candy would do the same job (possibly cheaper). I don't need or want the additional sugar, and the drops are sugar free....especially since I suck on them as I'm trying to go to sleep and once the tickle is gone - spit it out or chew it up and swallow it.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 15, 2024 13:15:03 GMT -5
The walk in clinic did give me something for cough last time that worked. I believe it is called benzonatate. Still no results for hubs test. I hope we can see it. He has an appointment next Wednesday if we can't. That's the pearls. Though I belive it actually "perles". I have a stash of these, but since we are still coughing up so much crud I don’t want to totally stop the cough but to keep the tickle away until I could do a productive cough. The non productive coughing is effort with little results, and my ribs and throat hurt too much to cough for nothing……if this makes sense. Again, my biggest fear is this turning bacterial and infecting my hips. So I want that crud in my lungs gone NOW! All it does is provide a great substrate for bacteria to munch on!
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 15, 2024 10:58:59 GMT -5
Is it wrong that now I kind of wanna see what a mess AI would make of translating the Bible? And how wrong, exactly? Like, am I still allowed at the YM table or am I going to be down with the televangelists? Oh, I'm totally with you in the desire to see that AI would do with the original Aramaic/Hebrew versions of the Bible. I'd read it while drinking my margarita and partaking in all the yummy snacks because this recovering Catholic is totally in the agnostic world. In the famous words of Amy Farrah Fowler, I'm not opposed to the idea of a deity, but i find that notion that one takes attendance baffling. I’m parking here.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 15, 2024 10:57:21 GMT -5
Everyone: what are your favorite cold symptom relievers? I MUST be able to get through an hour without symptoms tomorrow evening, but this cough is still dogging me. I have taken: Nyquil, last night; Dayquil, this morning; Zicam for a runny nose every 12 hours; Excedrin to keep the headache at bay. Still coughing. May be persuaded to run to the drugstore for Chloraseptic cough drops. After tomorrow evening this cold can have me, I won't care any more. NyQuil and Sudafed. The Sudafed needs to be the stuff behind the pharmacy counter that they make meth from. We are still coughing, and have been eating Ricola cough drops by the Costco sized bag. I am not attempting to block the cough as both TD and I are coughing up crap and I’d rather have it coughed up and out rather than stay inside my lungs. The cough drops keep the tickle to a minimum. Whatever going around is brutal. TD slept on the sofa half reclining. I was up from 2-3 am coughing. My ribs hurt and I have lost m6 voice.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 14, 2024 18:15:49 GMT -5
We finally made it home. Canada Place Cruise Terminal is a clusterf#$& to end all and we should have just told my sister to meet us at Sun Sui Wah that we’d get there by taxi. We did finally meet up, but private car pick up was in an underground garage 2 stories under, not well marked on the street and not a lot of cell signal so impossible to communicate.
Anyway, all was good. We had dim sum and TD’s favorite waiter was there and the food was good as always.
I now have to unpack, most of which is going to go into laundry which I’ll get to later. Well, the warm weather clothes are all still clean, it’s the cooler weather clothes that are mostly all dirty. B
Sheldon was very happy to see me, as was Harriet. Kronk just looked at us like, ok you’re home. So what?
TD and I both caught a cold and the 2 of us sound like we would be on a TB ward. i have coughed so much, and TD and I have gone through a Costco sized package of cough drops. My ribs hurt from coughing so much, and this morning I tried to hurl from it. He woke up at 4 am coughing, which woke me up after I finally got to sleep around 1, so my ass is dragging.
Its spring here…..my eyes are itching.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 14, 2024 0:00:45 GMT -5
Last dinner on the ship I had prawn curry over rice and with naan. The curry actually was a bit spicy.
Clear skies as we sail into Vancouver. Our luggage us outside our door to be picked up with 30 min to spare. That’s a record for us!
Snce ir is so clear, I’m checking regularly for lights. Maybe residual?
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 13, 2024 15:45:49 GMT -5
NomoreDramaQ1015 I would start passive aggressive the shit out of her. If she doesn’t like how I do it, perhaps she should show me exactly how she wants it done and you will do it that way. Take video, tell her you do t want to forget anything. Do it enough to drive her nuts. Your productivity is going to drop, but this is at the expense of doing it ‘correctly’ so it’s all for the better, common good. Maybe if you are enough of a pain in the ass she will back off? It would be petty, but nothing else you have tried has helped. if you could get the others that she targets on board, it’ll drive her nuts.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 13, 2024 15:39:10 GMT -5
It’s not a big deal, but everyone needs to have a card to cross the border. Are you sure it’s not Nexus? Nexus expedites your crossing of the US/Canada border in both directions (which is why you get seen by both US and Canadian border patrol agents). Global Entry just gets you back into the US, it doesn’t get you into Canada. Also, Nexus is half the cost of Global Entry. It makes absolutely no sense, but we will take the benefits. DN3 keeps saying Global Entry but I think he means Nexus. He and NIL already have it and they want to be able to get through Customs faster, especially in Toronto where they said it's a nightmare. I think when they got it, they thought J was included, but he isn't. Do they take a new picture of J? He was about 5 days old in his passport photo and it's good for 5 years. His eyes were not open. Their Nexus card should get them through customs faster, it doesnt matter which country they fly from. They shouldn’t need GE. J does need his own card though. We first tried this coming home from Mexico. It worked. Then we tried it on overseas flights and it worked too. It worked flying into both Vancouver and Calgary. I know at the beginning they had a retinal scan associated with your record (this was 15+ years ago when I got my first Nexus card) but I think the facial recognition software has improved immensely in that you don’t even need your card or passport, a stare into a monitor gives a green check and it spits out a paper with all your info on it. You give the paper to a guard and exit. This was when we flew into MSP earlier this year.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 13, 2024 13:15:28 GMT -5
NomoreDramaQ1015 I would start passive aggressive the shit out of her. If she doesn’t like how I do it, perhaps she should show me exactly how she wants it done and you will do it that way. Take video, tell her you do t want to forget anything. Do it enough to drive her nuts. Your productivity is going to drop, but this is at the expense of doing it ‘correctly’ so it’s all for the better, common good. Maybe if you are enough of a pain in the ass she will back off? It would be petty, but nothing else you have tried has helped.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 13, 2024 11:36:07 GMT -5
Today J is being taken to Fort Erie in Ontario to have his interview for Global Entry. How do you interview a 4 year old. He was excited because after his interview they are going to see Buffalo Carla and she has a pool. He was not listening that it's probably a big chilly for the pool. It’s not a big deal, but everyone needs to have a card to cross the border. Are you sure it’s not Nexus? Nexus expedites your crossing of the US/Canada border in both directions (which is why you get seen by both US and Canadian border patrol agents). Global Entry just gets you back into the US, it doesn’t get you into Canada. Also, Nexus is half the cost of Global Entry. It makes absolutely no sense, but we will take the benefits.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 12, 2024 20:23:17 GMT -5
I guess the VP is up for sale too. Only tens of million $$ and you can be VP too.
Wonder what Nikki Haley’s bank accounts look like?
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 12, 2024 17:21:05 GMT -5
On our way to Vancouver to disembark. My sister is picking us up around 10 on Tuesday. We were going to meet TD’s mom and take her for dim sum, but told her to stay home. TD and I are both recovering from colds and are still doing too much hacking to worry about infecting her with our disease and pestilence.
Good day in Ketchikan. There were 3 other cruise ships in dock with us, Seaborne Odyssey, Celebrity Summit and a Carnival ship I couldn’t get the name. That meant a lot of tourists. Our excursion was all you can eat Dungeness crab feast….at 9:30 am! Our pile of crab shells was pretty spectacular when we got done. The idea of crab so early seemed a little off, but made it work.
It pretty much rained all day. TD got off in town and bought a few things. I went through the gift shop on the dock, but didn’t really see anything that I wanted to buy. They did have some nice stuff, but I am done with buying knick knacks, we have too much crap anyway.
My sister sent me a pic of Harriet at the groomers. She was well overdue, and was just a little put upon that someone was grooming her. She doesn't like it.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 11, 2024 17:51:36 GMT -5
Back from our whale watch excursion this morning. This time, we happened into a grey whale migration stop on their way to the Bering sea to eat, and we had no less than 6 whales around the boat. There were spouts and breaching all over the place. Saw a few bald eagles and a few sea otters. The sea lions put on a show for us, they were sunning (if you want to call 43° sunning) themselves on a buoy and a couple of juveniles wanted up sooooo badly. They’d get themselves up, and a big ole male would knock them back into the water. Then they’d try it from another angle, with the same result. The guide said that normally they are slugs, that this is th3 most energy she had seen ou5 of them for awhile.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 10, 2024 15:25:37 GMT -5
I need to get someone to look at the ductwork for the dryer vent. Would this be a plumber? I've never had to hire anyone to do anything like that before, so not sure where to go. I baked the lasagna last night, just made my pineapple upside down cake. Next is salad, and then will bake bread sticks if they want them, but maybe enough pasta to skip those. Son is flying in this afternoon and he texted back and said looks like the president is coming in about 5 and son's plane is supposed be in about 2, so maybe will miss it. But I bet its still a traffic mess, they said there is a game here and some roads blocked off, looks like when traffic is bad they would change some schedules. It's a beautiful day here, says 85 out. I don't have the AC on, my thermometer says 79 in here, I have a small fan on and its quite comfortable. I got my little clippers and will top off the charge and see what I can do with them. We found a seafood market on the docks by downtown Olympia, going to go up there next week and get fresh seafood and make us some gumbo, DIL really likes it as do I. It's only about 5 miles from here. That's why housing prices are so high here, but I love it in this location. I can walk down to the lake and sit dockside and fish, really pretty place. And its nice and quiet out here and very very clean in this park. Besides where would we stay that water, sewer, and trash is included in the rent? The roads are ALWAYS bad around the airport. I have missed a red eye sitting in airport traffic at 11 pm. Our normal 1 hour 30-45 min trip took 3 hours. The only time traffic has not been a mess in that area is during Covid.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 10, 2024 0:01:41 GMT -5
Just threw a load of laundry in this evening. Everyone is at the show, we can watch it on tv from our room. TD is still sounding like he’s hacking up a lung. He lost his Kindle today. He had it after breakfast, we went down to the living room, he with his reading and me with my knitting. At around 1 we decided to go to lunch, then came back to the room. We were supposed to cruise by the Hubbard Glacier today, but the weather was too bad so did a U turn out of the fjord. Today was just really crappy all day. It rained, and rained harder…..with wind.
We go into Glacier Alley tomorrow and the Coast guard is supposed to come on board and talk. There are no events while they’re on board from 9 am to 7 pm.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 9, 2024 14:22:47 GMT -5
We have 2 sea days today and tomorrow, and they look like they are going to be rough. We have heavy overcast skies, and rain. Only 5 days left until we get into Vancouver.
There are 3 weeks we will be home, and in that time I need to find something to wear to my niece’s wedding in Indiana. After the wedding, we are shooting up to see my cousin and his wife in Peru for a couple days. There will be drinking and more drinking. It’ll be good to see them again.
Next trip is to Salmon Arm BC for TD’s family reunion for a long weekend. This is in July.
Sometime in there, old friends of mine want to meet up in the San Juan Islands. I haven’t heard anything about this recently, so don’t know if it’s still on. If it is, I need to make reservations, or just plan on going for the day. However, TD and I both talk about hating to drive any distance after dark these days.
We leave for my other niece’s wedding in Ireland the last of Aug. Busy summer.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 8, 2024 16:47:05 GMT -5
Back from Valdez, so much snow still and the weather said snow flurries today. I think it’s too warm, but maybe higher up?
We got picked up in school busses! I haven’t been in a school bus since 1977. They have busses running a circle through town, with stops and then back to the ship. They then stop at 2:30 to go pick up the kids from school.
TD sounds like he is hacking up a lung. I’m guessing his cold has turned into bronchitis….again. On the bus circle this morning, the bus driver stopped at a pharmacy for one couple, so they were probably fighting the crud that’s going around too. My traveling medicine cabinet has been well used. I think there is 1 dose of Sudafed left, and I gave one woman a handful of Benedryl when we were in Japan as her allergies were going nuts.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 8, 2024 16:36:57 GMT -5
Bloodwork done. I'm walking down the hall to go to my car and notice there is blood running down my arm. So back I go. By then it had stopped bleeding but she wrapped it. That must smell like a hospital because the cats won't come near me. The plebotomist did tell me that yesterday a woman pulled the bandage off in the hall and the blood was spurting. That became a hazardouse clean up. Why would you take the bandage off that soon? The woman didn't want to wear it to work. So she got the wrap instead. While I don't pull off a bandage that fast I do wonder why that woman's blood was "spurting" and not just an itsy bitsy little bit but enough that it warranted a "hazardous clean up"? And then you had to go back today because blood was running down your arm? Seems to me that they have seriously inept plebotomists working at that place! I had a blood draw like that. Still had the bandage on my arm, and was walking out of the building and felt something dripping down my arm. Whoops! Went into the bathroom and rewrapped the needle stick with toilet paper to absorb more blood as it was still bleeding. I think what happened was I was maxing out on NSAIDs for my hip at the time and that inhibits clotting. So it can happen, nothing to do with an inept phlebotomist. Add those on blood thinners for other reasons and the phlebotomist doesn’t know that you might not be clotting normally.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 7, 2024 19:26:47 GMT -5
Just got back from a sealife cruise and we saw tons. The best part was we saw a mama humpback whale and her calf cavorting in the sea! We stuck there for about 45 min watching them play.
Saw tons of sea otters, rocks full of sunning sea lions (we did have partial sun today too) nests of birds, including a few puffins and eagles, a porpoise school came up to visit the boat, black bears and goats on the shore and so much more. This was probably one of the best of these cruises I’ve been on for seeing things.
Lunch was provided, and despite it being a deli sandwich, it was quite good. The only drawback was one woman got horribly seasick and hurled.
It was a good day, we are alone in Seward as the Norwegian Jewel took off last night. We will be leaving here tonight for Valdez.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 6, 2024 12:01:24 GMT -5
Pulled into Seward this morning and are docked across from Norwegian Jewel. Much, much bigger than us. We are here for 2 days.
We are going to an aquarium this morning, but not until 11. Once again, I saw the very early morning hours and didn’t get any decent sleep until after 3 am. This is not normal for me, so it is driving me nuts.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 5, 2024 15:17:20 GMT -5
to clarify, it's for the pups. there was a crazy sale and I got this piece for like $4 a couple weeks ago. I just don't want to totally kill it and choke one of them, is really what it is. or, leave it half raw....which I know their systems can handle some stuff raw, but par-cooking allows for bacterial growth and they aren't eating the whole thing in one shot. I think I'm gonna just slice it and throw it in the big pan, like wvu said. I'm already filling the dishwasher tonight with my tacos and black beans 'n rice, so if I can do two things in one pan, that's a win. That makes sense. You could also grind it if you have a grinder.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 5, 2024 15:15:03 GMT -5
Back from Kodiak. Sunday morning early, there wasn’t much open. We went to a local coffee shop, which was a lot like walking into Cheers with the locals. You guys off the cruise ship? Yep. Bears are starting to rouse, be careful they’re hangry. Yeah, if I got woken from a 5 month nap, I’d probably pretty hangry too!
TD went out to take some pics, but it was starting to sprinkle (I had such hopes for no rain). I came back to the ship. At this point, I’m about to go find some lunch. He zonked at 9:15 last night, was up at 5 so he got breakfast. Unfortunately, for the third night in a row I saw 2 am, so woke up right before we needed to go through immigration.
I grabbed a coffee to go on the way out. They wouldn’t allow anything but water be taken off the ship. Coffee is mostly water…..right?
|
|