Today found me at work, wrestling with a canister of creamer and a recipient canister that goes in my coffee vending machine. The transfer wasn't going very well. I ended up with creamer all over me, the floor, and the canister. I got "enough" in the canister to serve our needs for a while, though.
You may not know we put a lot of powders in a coffee vending machine. French Vanilla. Creamer. Sugar. Hot chocolate. And ground coffee, of course. If I don't keep the canisters topped off (and the coffee cups loaded), I will have some very unhappy customers.
And they talk. Boy, do they talk.
When I got home, I had to wash my pants. I looked as if I'd been rolling in white powder.
I'm surprised the driver let me in her vehicle.
I had trouble falling asleep last night. Do you ever get "that thing" when your bladder feels irritated but not infected? The only cure, I've found, is to drink a lot of water. I did that, but then I was up for a while urinating.
#6 had the light on for a while. I don't think that light and I will be friends. [singing "Why can't we be friends"]
Anyway, I fell asleep and slept OK, but I woke up exhausted and added some time to my alarm. I did my God Time later (before I got online).
I took my shower, deciding I didn't need to shave my legs today, but I would absolutely have to do it tomorrow. I fed the cats their num-num and got Ron going.
Our ride was interesting. We had another client on board who spoke fluent "babble". She kept rambling and babbling and repeating things she heard. We have ridden with her before. I believe she was going to a day program.
I feel sorry for her at-home caregivers, even if they are paid it isn't enough.
We met another client and got to talking about the catio. Ron invited her over (!!!) without asking me first. He doesn't realize, with paratransit, when you go somewhere you have to stay at least an hour. That means I'll have some strange woman I don't know wandering around in my home, which I consider very private, for an hour or two. We'll also have to lock up the cats so they don't get out.
Ugh. Still annoyed about that. Don't invite strangers over without asking your wife. The house is a MESS. All that will do is give her something to gossip about.
And people in the blind community gossip. I don't know if she is active in it but I know a lot of people are. It is a tight knit group with lots of gossip. I don't need that.
We got to work. I emptied the "yuck bucket" out of the coffee machine and endeavored to service it. I filled the small grounds canister, and I already told you about the creamer. Then I did the big grounds but I couldn't get the canister back into place. I think I got it, at any rate I made a cup of coffee and it brewed, so it's making coffee - primary objective. I emptied the used grounds into a dumpster with custodian permission.
I saw Snack #2 was out of order. "Coins Only". I checked the coin mech up, down, and sideways. I couldn't find anything wrong. Then I realized, "coins only" - it was the BILL validator. I opened it up and found half a bill. I disassembled the mechanism and found the other half. It looked like a rag. I can't believe anyone thought the machine would take it.
Someone came to me complaining the bottled vendor wasn't taking her money. I sold her the drink and opened it up. Sure enough I had a coin jam. That meant disassembling the coin mech and pulling all the coins out. Then I had to find the bad coin that started the whole mess (looked like a Chinese nickel), pluck it out, show it to a few customers as I complained, and then reassemble the whole thing and put it back.
I realized it was low on quarters so I stocked the quarters, in the process also verifying that, yes, I had fixed the coin jam.
Tired yet? I was.
I also did snacks, meter readings, got drinks for Ron and replaced them in the fridge, and other things. Not bad for a depression.
We left, our ride was waiting for us. Ron has this "thing" about being out there on time. He never does it. I have to literally drag him out of the building as he complains vehemently. He doesn't want to wait on someone, he wants them to wait on him.
I find that rude.
We have been left because he didn't want to go out on time and they cancelled our ride. They can do that.
I was happy I got the front seat. We picked someone up at the "Full Truth" church of something or other, she seemed nice enough.
We got home and I mentioned the name of the church to her (Ron didn't know). Ron started in on how no one is saved through works, etc. He was pretty hostile. He gets pretty hostile around churches, praise music, and other people talking about God. It's ironic because he's always preaching at them.
Mind your witness. You have to be very careful how you present yourself when you're an evangelist. I know. I know I often fail, especially here. I know I am petty and selfish, and many would consider "lazy". They, however, aren't taking my medication cocktail.
I dragged him in the house and put my pants in the wash along with some other clothes. I started the load and took a short nap (about an hour). When I got up I put my clothes in the dryer and did my God Time. We finished up about the same time.
Now we're supposed to go to dinner but it's not looking good for that. We'll see.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Monday, May 30, 2016
$2.50 cheesesteak
I woke up around 8 today, did my God Time, and showered. Still horribly depressed.
We were (well, I was) going to the pet store to return the unwanted leash and harness. Ron was going to hang out at Starbucks.
Our ride was almost an hour late and then took the scenic route. She said she hadn't seen us in a while so maybe she wanted to talk.
We got there, walked in (Ron had left the walker at home and hung onto me), and got Ron his drink. Everyone has "their" drink at Starbucks, except me. Ron has a skinny vanilla latte with lots of splenda. He got a 20 ouncer - 3 shots of espresso. More on that later.
The Kolache Factory was out of cream cheese, so I settled for bacon and cheese. They were pretty good but I was really wanting more of a sweet. I also got a diet soda.
I went to the store. I got the refund and shopped a little for cat food. I bought a can of Blue Wilderness Red Meat feast (I think),and some other items. I only spent $5.
I came back to Ron and hung out with him while he drunk his coffee. I finished my soda and read part of a newspaper.
Our ride came. A child was in the backseat watching a noisy program on a tablet. The grandmother was riding in a wheelchair in the back. For those of you who are Christians, you may find this as disturbing as I did - one little high pitched voice kept going on about "releasing the Halloween spirits". Teaching kids to play with Bad Things. Not good.
Ron had an absolute hissy fit about having to listen to the program and called the head of the paratransit program. I think they need to have a policy, if you have a device and you want to watch a program or play a game, you need to have headphones.
It was really annoying. Just because you act like that in a personal car doesn't mean you get to do that on paratransit. Some people, like Ron, have a low tolerance for auditory "clutter" and get easily upset when things are talking or yapping at them.
That's the head injury, although he was that way before the accident too. It's just amplified.
I do know this: a bus driver would have made them turn it off. I've seen it.
We got home. It was cloudy so Ron decided to hang out on the catio while I took a nap. I didn't have a problem with that, but 3 shots of espresso had him very loud and talkative on his cell phone, out on the catio.
I had to get up and ask him to stop. He did quiet down and "let" me sleep.
When I got up (I had an odd dream last night - in it I was seeking another "elbow" of sleep, and complaining that no matter how much sleep I get I'm always tired - which is very true), I helped Ron organize his dresser and find his paratransit tickets. He had mistaken some coupons for the tickets. We threw out the coupons and replaced them with the proper tickets.
Torbie came in and put her paw on Ron's hand, very gently, and he gave her treats. I thought it was pretty cute. I need to get a video of photo. She also sleeps with him, curled against his left side, under his armpit. She's a really nice cat. I'll be glad when we fix her foot.
I took some supplements and added a lot of vitamin C to my drink mix. We had shared the couch area with two interesting souls, an Asian man, eating a banana, who kept picking dry skin off his lips, flicking it on the carpet; and a white guy reading a thriller and coughing wetly.
The other day at Walmart we had a woman coughing wetly like that, she was wearing a surgical mask but had pulled it down so she could gossip with another woman. She kept hacking and hacking. I don't know what she had but I don't want to catch it.
At any rate, I am taking more of the things I believe to be immune boosters. I also had a cyst in a weird spot which is getting better from all the "attention".
I'm almost done with the vitamin C drink.
We have to get up early tomorrow: sandwiches. Sales were pretty dead last week and I have leftovers.
Ron also needs to adjust the order, more turkey and chicken, fewer hot dogs. They aren't liking the hot dogs at present.
Someone was complaining the other day, wanted us to sell cheesesteak. I told him we couldn't sell cheesesteak for $2.50 (the current sandwich price). He could get cheap, or he could get cheesesteak, and at present people wanted cheap. He was kind of pissed but it's true. It would probably cost US $2.50 to get a cheesesteak and we need to make a profit.
We are not running a charity.
Ron and the other vendor set prices and the other vendor has shown a shocking reluctance to raise any prices. I don't know if it's because he doesn't want to change prices, or his wife doesn't want to hear the complaining when they do. At any rate, we are "stuck" selling them for $2.50
Tomorrow should be busy, I have to reprogram bottled water rows, we got some 20 ounce Ozarka, which sells at $1. I have to change 18 selection slots back to $1, from 75 cents.
I always worry I'm going to forget how to do it.
We were (well, I was) going to the pet store to return the unwanted leash and harness. Ron was going to hang out at Starbucks.
Our ride was almost an hour late and then took the scenic route. She said she hadn't seen us in a while so maybe she wanted to talk.
We got there, walked in (Ron had left the walker at home and hung onto me), and got Ron his drink. Everyone has "their" drink at Starbucks, except me. Ron has a skinny vanilla latte with lots of splenda. He got a 20 ouncer - 3 shots of espresso. More on that later.
The Kolache Factory was out of cream cheese, so I settled for bacon and cheese. They were pretty good but I was really wanting more of a sweet. I also got a diet soda.
I went to the store. I got the refund and shopped a little for cat food. I bought a can of Blue Wilderness Red Meat feast (I think),and some other items. I only spent $5.
I came back to Ron and hung out with him while he drunk his coffee. I finished my soda and read part of a newspaper.
Our ride came. A child was in the backseat watching a noisy program on a tablet. The grandmother was riding in a wheelchair in the back. For those of you who are Christians, you may find this as disturbing as I did - one little high pitched voice kept going on about "releasing the Halloween spirits". Teaching kids to play with Bad Things. Not good.
Ron had an absolute hissy fit about having to listen to the program and called the head of the paratransit program. I think they need to have a policy, if you have a device and you want to watch a program or play a game, you need to have headphones.
It was really annoying. Just because you act like that in a personal car doesn't mean you get to do that on paratransit. Some people, like Ron, have a low tolerance for auditory "clutter" and get easily upset when things are talking or yapping at them.
That's the head injury, although he was that way before the accident too. It's just amplified.
I do know this: a bus driver would have made them turn it off. I've seen it.
We got home. It was cloudy so Ron decided to hang out on the catio while I took a nap. I didn't have a problem with that, but 3 shots of espresso had him very loud and talkative on his cell phone, out on the catio.
I had to get up and ask him to stop. He did quiet down and "let" me sleep.
When I got up (I had an odd dream last night - in it I was seeking another "elbow" of sleep, and complaining that no matter how much sleep I get I'm always tired - which is very true), I helped Ron organize his dresser and find his paratransit tickets. He had mistaken some coupons for the tickets. We threw out the coupons and replaced them with the proper tickets.
Torbie came in and put her paw on Ron's hand, very gently, and he gave her treats. I thought it was pretty cute. I need to get a video of photo. She also sleeps with him, curled against his left side, under his armpit. She's a really nice cat. I'll be glad when we fix her foot.
I took some supplements and added a lot of vitamin C to my drink mix. We had shared the couch area with two interesting souls, an Asian man, eating a banana, who kept picking dry skin off his lips, flicking it on the carpet; and a white guy reading a thriller and coughing wetly.
The other day at Walmart we had a woman coughing wetly like that, she was wearing a surgical mask but had pulled it down so she could gossip with another woman. She kept hacking and hacking. I don't know what she had but I don't want to catch it.
At any rate, I am taking more of the things I believe to be immune boosters. I also had a cyst in a weird spot which is getting better from all the "attention".
I'm almost done with the vitamin C drink.
We have to get up early tomorrow: sandwiches. Sales were pretty dead last week and I have leftovers.
Ron also needs to adjust the order, more turkey and chicken, fewer hot dogs. They aren't liking the hot dogs at present.
Someone was complaining the other day, wanted us to sell cheesesteak. I told him we couldn't sell cheesesteak for $2.50 (the current sandwich price). He could get cheap, or he could get cheesesteak, and at present people wanted cheap. He was kind of pissed but it's true. It would probably cost US $2.50 to get a cheesesteak and we need to make a profit.
We are not running a charity.
Ron and the other vendor set prices and the other vendor has shown a shocking reluctance to raise any prices. I don't know if it's because he doesn't want to change prices, or his wife doesn't want to hear the complaining when they do. At any rate, we are "stuck" selling them for $2.50
Tomorrow should be busy, I have to reprogram bottled water rows, we got some 20 ounce Ozarka, which sells at $1. I have to change 18 selection slots back to $1, from 75 cents.
I always worry I'm going to forget how to do it.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Dinner out with Ron
You may wonder how that goes, dinner out with Ron.
Well, in most cases it involves calling paratransit between 1-3 days before the event and scheduling a trip.
Tonight, we were daring and called a cab. The place was only about 2 miles from our home, anyway.
After about half an hour, a cab showed up. We got in and rode to our destination, a "Checkers" fast food restaurant. I had read the menu to Ron, online, and he liked it.
The driver offered to take us through the drive-through. **Next time do that**
We got out after paying the man and went inside. Ron was able to stand up long enough to order (we had left the mobility devices at home).
We sat down and they got out food to us pretty quickly. We got the "Baconzilla" combos, which, in my opinion, were better than the Sourdough Jack I usually eat when I'm having bacon.
I had a waffle cone afterward, and it was good. I took my medication.
We called the first driver. He was out of the area. Ron called a couple more drivers. No one was picking up.
The secret to using a cab in Houston: cultivate a list of drivers and treat them very, very, well. If you meet a nice, new, driver who's willing to work your area, save their number and add them to the list.
Ron got hung up on, it seemed, by one driver, so he decided to call Yellow (cab).
"Tell them" he said "There's a $5 tip in it for them."
Pretty soon we heard a cab was on the way. Good.
He was a nice guy and got us home quick. The fare was $6.40 cents. Ron handed him a ten.
"Ron" I scolded him "You said there would be a $5 tip. You had better give that man at least another dollar!" The driver grinned at me. Ron produced an extra couple dollars.
Cultivate, and treat them well. That means generous tipping. If, that is, you ever want a ride anywhere.
Later on the driver who "hung up" on Ron asked if he still wanted the ride. Apparently he had had technical difficulties. Happy to hear he didn't get hung up on.
Well, in most cases it involves calling paratransit between 1-3 days before the event and scheduling a trip.
Tonight, we were daring and called a cab. The place was only about 2 miles from our home, anyway.
After about half an hour, a cab showed up. We got in and rode to our destination, a "Checkers" fast food restaurant. I had read the menu to Ron, online, and he liked it.
The driver offered to take us through the drive-through. **Next time do that**
We got out after paying the man and went inside. Ron was able to stand up long enough to order (we had left the mobility devices at home).
We sat down and they got out food to us pretty quickly. We got the "Baconzilla" combos, which, in my opinion, were better than the Sourdough Jack I usually eat when I'm having bacon.
I had a waffle cone afterward, and it was good. I took my medication.
We called the first driver. He was out of the area. Ron called a couple more drivers. No one was picking up.
The secret to using a cab in Houston: cultivate a list of drivers and treat them very, very, well. If you meet a nice, new, driver who's willing to work your area, save their number and add them to the list.
Ron got hung up on, it seemed, by one driver, so he decided to call Yellow (cab).
"Tell them" he said "There's a $5 tip in it for them."
Pretty soon we heard a cab was on the way. Good.
He was a nice guy and got us home quick. The fare was $6.40 cents. Ron handed him a ten.
"Ron" I scolded him "You said there would be a $5 tip. You had better give that man at least another dollar!" The driver grinned at me. Ron produced an extra couple dollars.
Cultivate, and treat them well. That means generous tipping. If, that is, you ever want a ride anywhere.
Later on the driver who "hung up" on Ron asked if he still wanted the ride. Apparently he had had technical difficulties. Happy to hear he didn't get hung up on.
Working on a Sunday
A long day today.
I slept pretty good but #6's infamous outside light did wake me up once. I assume stray critters are setting it off. I have to admit, if my cats were outdoor, it would be the perfect revenge, waking me up every time one of my cats went in their yard. As it is I'm just weary.
I am so sick of the construction. It has been going on for weeks. At least he does start and stop at semi-decent hours. With one exception, he hasn't parked in my driveway either.
He would never do that with one of the other neighbors. I don't know what makes him think it's OK. We have never, ever, given him permission to park in our driveway.
Baffled on that. Why no boundaries, with us? I couldn't tell you. He probably couldn't tell you, either.
My house was flooded, and vacant for 2 years while it was being flipped by first one owner, and then the other. I can only guess he might have helped out the flippers and that's why he feels a sense of ownership on our property.
But that was the previous owner. I asked him for one favor, once. I had a broken water line in my yard and I couldn't turn off the water. I went over in tears and asked him to do it. He did. I thanked him and called our handyman to fix it, which he did. That was it.
Enough about him.
I wasn't pleased when #7 decided to start his whole yard care routine (he has a very large yard) at 7:30 in the morning, but happily we were already up.
I got up, did my God time, and took my shower. I had some energy because I woke up with a headache and took some caffeinated headache pills. I probably didn't need them but I didn't want to take a chance with truck day - getting dozens of cases of inventory to work.
Our ride was late so we got there well after opening. I parked Ron and got a flatbed.
Imagine our joy when I found a half-pallet of 20 ounce Ozarka water! The holy grail! I happily called Ron and then proceeded to buy 8 cases. As I was loading them, someone else came along and started loading her cart, too. We knew a good thing when we saw it!
I like all bottled waters, but the customers vastly prefer the Ozarka.
It's all about what the customers want. It doesn't matter what I think will sell, if they won't buy it.
I got that, the soda Ron needed (not much) candy, and snacks. I got a lot of snacks.
I paid and got everything loaded up (tipping is appreciated!), and we went to work. I had to unload the carts, which already had a lot of drinks on them. Then I had to load everything, including the 8 cases of water.
I was worried, because I had literally a whole table full, plus the chairs, stacked up with drinks. Happily they had anhialated (ah, screw it), the bottled vendor and it had to be stocked. That wiped out the fridge, which in turn led to vacancies for several cases of soda, which freed up room.
I was pretty busy doing snacks for a while, got them put away (tricky), and then helped Ron with the bottled drinks. I got a whole cartload of drinks for him and then reloaded the fridge with room temperature drinks to chill for Tuesday. Plus, the 8 cases of water.
My back is definitely worked, but not sore.
Finally, all done. We had a very short wait to come home. I had been drinking a lot of soda at work.
I was worried it would be noisy when I got home but it was quiet. I laid down for a nap. I couldn't really get one due to all the caffeine but I did have a weird dream about Captain America. I have to admit, I probably like him best.
Torbie joined me, sleeping in my bed. I need to get some things together for their carriers, things that smell like home, and us, for when we go to the vet. I plan to use Ron's pillow case, mine, and the towel on my TV chair. The cats are always competing with me for the chair. That will provide friendly scents of home, while they're at the vet.
I am still debating whether to board Torbie if she has surgery on her foot. I would like her to be supervised and I feel a little helpless nursing a sick cat.
Which is funny considering Ron came home on a catheter, in a wheelchair, with a broken leg and ribs, and a head injury. Oh, yeah, and a stroke. He's always said I make a good nurse but I've never really nursed a cat aside from the usual post-neutering type stuff. That is mainly feeding them and not picking them up for a while.
I'm sure Torbie would rather be home so that's probably what I will do.
Now we are going out to dinner at a new fast food place near the house. Ron wanted to "take me out" but I want something simple.
Anyway, the cab should be here any minute. I'll tell you what I thought of the food place.
I slept pretty good but #6's infamous outside light did wake me up once. I assume stray critters are setting it off. I have to admit, if my cats were outdoor, it would be the perfect revenge, waking me up every time one of my cats went in their yard. As it is I'm just weary.
I am so sick of the construction. It has been going on for weeks. At least he does start and stop at semi-decent hours. With one exception, he hasn't parked in my driveway either.
He would never do that with one of the other neighbors. I don't know what makes him think it's OK. We have never, ever, given him permission to park in our driveway.
Baffled on that. Why no boundaries, with us? I couldn't tell you. He probably couldn't tell you, either.
My house was flooded, and vacant for 2 years while it was being flipped by first one owner, and then the other. I can only guess he might have helped out the flippers and that's why he feels a sense of ownership on our property.
But that was the previous owner. I asked him for one favor, once. I had a broken water line in my yard and I couldn't turn off the water. I went over in tears and asked him to do it. He did. I thanked him and called our handyman to fix it, which he did. That was it.
Enough about him.
I wasn't pleased when #7 decided to start his whole yard care routine (he has a very large yard) at 7:30 in the morning, but happily we were already up.
I got up, did my God time, and took my shower. I had some energy because I woke up with a headache and took some caffeinated headache pills. I probably didn't need them but I didn't want to take a chance with truck day - getting dozens of cases of inventory to work.
Our ride was late so we got there well after opening. I parked Ron and got a flatbed.
Imagine our joy when I found a half-pallet of 20 ounce Ozarka water! The holy grail! I happily called Ron and then proceeded to buy 8 cases. As I was loading them, someone else came along and started loading her cart, too. We knew a good thing when we saw it!
I like all bottled waters, but the customers vastly prefer the Ozarka.
It's all about what the customers want. It doesn't matter what I think will sell, if they won't buy it.
I got that, the soda Ron needed (not much) candy, and snacks. I got a lot of snacks.
I paid and got everything loaded up (tipping is appreciated!), and we went to work. I had to unload the carts, which already had a lot of drinks on them. Then I had to load everything, including the 8 cases of water.
I was worried, because I had literally a whole table full, plus the chairs, stacked up with drinks. Happily they had anhialated (ah, screw it), the bottled vendor and it had to be stocked. That wiped out the fridge, which in turn led to vacancies for several cases of soda, which freed up room.
I was pretty busy doing snacks for a while, got them put away (tricky), and then helped Ron with the bottled drinks. I got a whole cartload of drinks for him and then reloaded the fridge with room temperature drinks to chill for Tuesday. Plus, the 8 cases of water.
My back is definitely worked, but not sore.
Finally, all done. We had a very short wait to come home. I had been drinking a lot of soda at work.
I was worried it would be noisy when I got home but it was quiet. I laid down for a nap. I couldn't really get one due to all the caffeine but I did have a weird dream about Captain America. I have to admit, I probably like him best.
Torbie joined me, sleeping in my bed. I need to get some things together for their carriers, things that smell like home, and us, for when we go to the vet. I plan to use Ron's pillow case, mine, and the towel on my TV chair. The cats are always competing with me for the chair. That will provide friendly scents of home, while they're at the vet.
I am still debating whether to board Torbie if she has surgery on her foot. I would like her to be supervised and I feel a little helpless nursing a sick cat.
Which is funny considering Ron came home on a catheter, in a wheelchair, with a broken leg and ribs, and a head injury. Oh, yeah, and a stroke. He's always said I make a good nurse but I've never really nursed a cat aside from the usual post-neutering type stuff. That is mainly feeding them and not picking them up for a while.
I'm sure Torbie would rather be home so that's probably what I will do.
Now we are going out to dinner at a new fast food place near the house. Ron wanted to "take me out" but I want something simple.
Anyway, the cab should be here any minute. I'll tell you what I thought of the food place.
Saturday, May 28, 2016
No atheists in flood plains
No, we didn't flood. We didn't come close.
However, areas north of us got hammered and are suffering pretty badly. I haven't really watched the news so I don't know how bad, but some areas got about 20 inches of rain.
Factor in the forecast: 40% chance of rain. Now they had forecast plenty of rain the day before, but of course it was clear and sunny.
Ron and I agree, no atheists in a flood plain with the water creeping up to your door. I shudder to think what my flood insurance rates will be this October.
I woke up around 8, right about the time #6 let a toddler run around (the construction area!) screaming at the top of her lungs for a while. I was happy I was already awake. The light didn't bother me last night, either.
Then the construction noise started up a couple minutes after that. I reminded myself they wouldn't always be sawing and hammering, it just felt that way. Not to mention they are rapidly running out of room to expand.
The construction went on all day, circular saws and a lot of hammering. I suppose they hadn't finished installing the siding. When we left later, the laborer was holding a paint sprayer. That, at least, bodes well.
I got up, did my God Time, took a shower, and got on the computer for a while. I cleaned the litter boxes. I talked to Ron for a while. I petted the cats.
I was exhausted, so I took a nap. Biscuit and Torbie joined me, Biscuit in the bed laying against my leg. He's very trusting. I was careful with him.
I was still able to nap for a while, especially when the laborer went to lunch. At least he got an hour lunch.
When I got up, Ron and I talked about going out somewhere. He mentioned Burger King. That sounded good. How about Arby's?
The paratransit has a program called MSP. Basically the paratransit company pays $8 towards the fare if you hire a cab through the program. If it's less than $8, you owe a dollar, if it's above $8 you owe the difference between $8 and the fare.
We paid about $5 to go to Arby's, not counting the tip. The driver was salivating over the sandwich his wife had packed him, it had jelly, eggs, avocado, and jalapenos on it. It sounded revolting to me, but he'd probably think the same of a tuna sandwich, or the lox and cream cheese sandwiches I used to eat.
Since the driver lives nearby, Ron saved his number to his phone book. I need a list of all these cab drivers.
I need to write down all Ron's numbers because some of them are very valuable, like our handyman.
While at Arby's, I watched a security guard dressed like a policeman, eating his sandwich and talking to his wife/girlfriend on speakerphone. I could hear parakeets in the background, making a ton of racket.
I like parakeets, but I'd have to be sadistic to own one with 3 cats. No matter how I secured it, the poor thing would get eaten at worst, terrorized at best.
Ron's telling me he wants more headphones. He really likes the wireless ones we got to prevent Torbie from eating his headphone cords. She's got a real taste for those.
I wonder what she'd look like on X-ray.
We had a good ride home after we ate (and I took my pills). The driver missed the turn (an accident) and the fare was a few dollars higher but not much.
#6 was wandering around in his driveway, glaring at the eaves above his garage. I didn't see anything wrong.
I had seen him earlier when I rolled the sunshades down over the windows, but I ignore him. I figure if I pay him attention, he will start wanting things. For instance, during the work today he was parked to the side of his driveway, almost but not quite, in our driveway. I don't see why he didn't just move his wife's car over and then park his truck in her spot.
Our cab drivers were pissed the laborer had parked directly across the street from our driveway, making it difficult for them to enter, or exit, the driveway.
Just rude.
I'm still depressed. I can't wait to go to bed. I'm just constantly exhausted at these levels of medication but I have decent symptom control.
I'll just be glad when I get raptured and I won't need medication any more.
However, areas north of us got hammered and are suffering pretty badly. I haven't really watched the news so I don't know how bad, but some areas got about 20 inches of rain.
Factor in the forecast: 40% chance of rain. Now they had forecast plenty of rain the day before, but of course it was clear and sunny.
Ron and I agree, no atheists in a flood plain with the water creeping up to your door. I shudder to think what my flood insurance rates will be this October.
I woke up around 8, right about the time #6 let a toddler run around (the construction area!) screaming at the top of her lungs for a while. I was happy I was already awake. The light didn't bother me last night, either.
Then the construction noise started up a couple minutes after that. I reminded myself they wouldn't always be sawing and hammering, it just felt that way. Not to mention they are rapidly running out of room to expand.
The construction went on all day, circular saws and a lot of hammering. I suppose they hadn't finished installing the siding. When we left later, the laborer was holding a paint sprayer. That, at least, bodes well.
I got up, did my God Time, took a shower, and got on the computer for a while. I cleaned the litter boxes. I talked to Ron for a while. I petted the cats.
I was exhausted, so I took a nap. Biscuit and Torbie joined me, Biscuit in the bed laying against my leg. He's very trusting. I was careful with him.
I was still able to nap for a while, especially when the laborer went to lunch. At least he got an hour lunch.
When I got up, Ron and I talked about going out somewhere. He mentioned Burger King. That sounded good. How about Arby's?
The paratransit has a program called MSP. Basically the paratransit company pays $8 towards the fare if you hire a cab through the program. If it's less than $8, you owe a dollar, if it's above $8 you owe the difference between $8 and the fare.
We paid about $5 to go to Arby's, not counting the tip. The driver was salivating over the sandwich his wife had packed him, it had jelly, eggs, avocado, and jalapenos on it. It sounded revolting to me, but he'd probably think the same of a tuna sandwich, or the lox and cream cheese sandwiches I used to eat.
Since the driver lives nearby, Ron saved his number to his phone book. I need a list of all these cab drivers.
I need to write down all Ron's numbers because some of them are very valuable, like our handyman.
While at Arby's, I watched a security guard dressed like a policeman, eating his sandwich and talking to his wife/girlfriend on speakerphone. I could hear parakeets in the background, making a ton of racket.
I like parakeets, but I'd have to be sadistic to own one with 3 cats. No matter how I secured it, the poor thing would get eaten at worst, terrorized at best.
Ron's telling me he wants more headphones. He really likes the wireless ones we got to prevent Torbie from eating his headphone cords. She's got a real taste for those.
I wonder what she'd look like on X-ray.
We had a good ride home after we ate (and I took my pills). The driver missed the turn (an accident) and the fare was a few dollars higher but not much.
#6 was wandering around in his driveway, glaring at the eaves above his garage. I didn't see anything wrong.
I had seen him earlier when I rolled the sunshades down over the windows, but I ignore him. I figure if I pay him attention, he will start wanting things. For instance, during the work today he was parked to the side of his driveway, almost but not quite, in our driveway. I don't see why he didn't just move his wife's car over and then park his truck in her spot.
Our cab drivers were pissed the laborer had parked directly across the street from our driveway, making it difficult for them to enter, or exit, the driveway.
Just rude.
I'm still depressed. I can't wait to go to bed. I'm just constantly exhausted at these levels of medication but I have decent symptom control.
I'll just be glad when I get raptured and I won't need medication any more.
Friday, May 27, 2016
A lot about Torbie's foot.
Last night I realized that #6's new outdoor light does flash in my eyes. It gets set off when it rains, too.
It rained. So it kept flashing on and off. I finally fell asleep and slept OK. I woke up feeling pretty refreshed for me.
We had heavy rains this morning, so the light went on again. It lit up the bathroom, my room, and Ron's room in particular. It's literally pointed right at our house.
I have to wonder why he thought that would be a good idea. If I weren't talking my Haldol, I'd wonder if he were trying to spy on us.
However, the realistic part of me realizes he has his hands full running his own business, married, and 6 kids. It's still just rude, though.
I guess I can expect them to turn the light on during their parties and light up my bedrooms. Ugh. I'm trying to see it as I get the use of their electricity. I can only hope the bulbs burn out and are prohibitively expensive to replace.
I got up, did my shower and God Time. I ate something and took my pills. Ron and I had planned to go to Walmart this morning but he cancelled that due to the rain. I understood.
He went back to bed. I got up around 8. The contractors were there, I think that's one thing I find upsetting. I could deal with the light keeping me awake if I could get a nap during the day, but today it was circular saw, compressor, nail gun, and other noises, including my favorite "Loud talking in Spanish right outside my bedroom". Needless to say I did not get a nap although I tried.
Now that I am awake and willing to go to Walmart, they are completely quiet. Maybe because #6 came home, and they're talking inside or something. [edit: #6 left again later when it started raining so I don't know what kind of glitch they encountered. Hopefully it will bode a quiet couple of days for me.]
I watched Supernatural for a while, worked on my computer, and measured my bedroom window in case I decide to hang some light-blocking curtains. I couldn't hang it, but maybe Ron could or our handyman. I'm sure he'd be delighted, especially if I explained.
I also want him to put some blinds in Ron's bedroom window to provide him some privacy. He shouldn't have to wonder if someone's out there, looking in. Ron, that is, not the handyman.
Ron slept until 1 PM. When he got up, he was cranky. Apparently the neuropathy had been bad and he drank a lot of vodka to knock himself out.
Bad idea, Ron, but I didn't tell him that. A big part of that goes to my lack of experience with chronic pain. It may really be that bad.
I don't know.
When we went to Walmart I read him the warning on the back of the Tylenol and he just scoffed at me. Well, I did warn him.
Walmart was interesting. When our ride arrived, she stood on the porch banging on the front door. I told her we would be out in a minute (I opened the door a crack). She continued to stand on the porch. I opened the door again and told her we would be coming out the garage. She got upset at me.
Why, I don't know. She wasn't prepared for the rain today and got soaked as a result. The company also has a policy where the driver "has" to "help" the client even if they say they don't need it. They have to exit, come around the vehicle, open the door, and help the client with the seat belt.
I told her I didn't need help but she kept trying. I guess I looked helpless today.
We arrived and I managed to find a Kiddie cart. I dried it off and got Ron loaded. He was happy. He wanted cat treats, a small pet bowl, rubber bands, for me to look at the portable power stations, etc. I did all that.
I needed protein bars, and unscented litter, which I got. The cats adore the unscented litter so I want to be sure I always have some in stock. They're good kids and don't ask for much.
I plan to donate my stash of unused, NIB (new in box), litter to the shelter. They can really use it. It will mean an "outing" which will take up most of a day but I don't want to just throw it out. I want it to go somewhere where it can do some good.
In the meantime, Ron rescheduled the cats' appointment for Thursday. We have to get sandwiches during the appointment window Ron had set for Tuesday. I just hope we can get Torbie fixed up with minimal trauma. She is pretty old so that's going to be a factor in any decisions made.
We won't be putting her down, of course, but if the vet says it would be too much of a strain to knock her out for surgery, I'm going to agree. If the vet feels it needs surgery, we'll do it.
Torbie may be a cone-head for a while. Have you heard of the "cone of shame"?
[not Torbie]
Torbie equals about 3 of that cat.
That will be a challenge for us, because Ron is the ultimate enabler and will hate the sight of her in the cone. He's going to want to take it off.
I have a hard enough time talking him out of letting Baby Girl out and she isn't even asking!
I might just board her at the vet instead. I would visit her every day, of course.
We'll see. The vet may not want to do anything with the growth on her foot anyway. She's had it for 3 years, and she passed the animal shelter health inspection. If she'd had anything wrong with her they would have put her down, so they didn't see that as a problem.
I am assuming you, as a reader, have no desire to see a photo of said growth on her foot. I wouldn't want to see it on your cat. So, no photo for you.
I will put up a photo of her "new" foot if we get it "fixed".
Back to Walmart. It was pouring pretty heavily the whole time we shopped. I worried a bit about flooding and would we be able to get home?
I got what I needed, I only spent $50. At Walmart, that's impressive. That included the cat litter ($12) and the protein bars ($14).
The cats love unscented litter. I have two boxes in the front room, both set up with cat litter. Box #1 has been there a while, and is the scented litter. They don't use it.
Box #2 (since last week) is loaded with 2 inches of unscented litter. They love it. I am changing that single box 2 times a day.
So I know they will enjoy the unscented litter in every box. I just need to do the changeover. I also need to dump some of the unwanted cat litter into my half-bucket of interior orange paint, that was supposed to be exterior. I'll have a fit if I keep thinking about that, though.
I may just try to sleep in tomorrow, though, and take it easy. I don't know how I'll feel. I need to do some reorganizing, too, so Ron can get his walker out into the garage easier. At some point the door to the garage will have to be replaced. It was clearly kicked in at some point in the past, and the house robbed. So that would make at least 2 times that we know of.
However, I don't think they would want the things I value, like Biscuit and the other cats, my comfortable bed, and the Bibles I hand out.
It rained. So it kept flashing on and off. I finally fell asleep and slept OK. I woke up feeling pretty refreshed for me.
We had heavy rains this morning, so the light went on again. It lit up the bathroom, my room, and Ron's room in particular. It's literally pointed right at our house.
I have to wonder why he thought that would be a good idea. If I weren't talking my Haldol, I'd wonder if he were trying to spy on us.
However, the realistic part of me realizes he has his hands full running his own business, married, and 6 kids. It's still just rude, though.
I guess I can expect them to turn the light on during their parties and light up my bedrooms. Ugh. I'm trying to see it as I get the use of their electricity. I can only hope the bulbs burn out and are prohibitively expensive to replace.
I got up, did my shower and God Time. I ate something and took my pills. Ron and I had planned to go to Walmart this morning but he cancelled that due to the rain. I understood.
He went back to bed. I got up around 8. The contractors were there, I think that's one thing I find upsetting. I could deal with the light keeping me awake if I could get a nap during the day, but today it was circular saw, compressor, nail gun, and other noises, including my favorite "Loud talking in Spanish right outside my bedroom". Needless to say I did not get a nap although I tried.
Now that I am awake and willing to go to Walmart, they are completely quiet. Maybe because #6 came home, and they're talking inside or something. [edit: #6 left again later when it started raining so I don't know what kind of glitch they encountered. Hopefully it will bode a quiet couple of days for me.]
I watched Supernatural for a while, worked on my computer, and measured my bedroom window in case I decide to hang some light-blocking curtains. I couldn't hang it, but maybe Ron could or our handyman. I'm sure he'd be delighted, especially if I explained.
I also want him to put some blinds in Ron's bedroom window to provide him some privacy. He shouldn't have to wonder if someone's out there, looking in. Ron, that is, not the handyman.
Ron slept until 1 PM. When he got up, he was cranky. Apparently the neuropathy had been bad and he drank a lot of vodka to knock himself out.
Bad idea, Ron, but I didn't tell him that. A big part of that goes to my lack of experience with chronic pain. It may really be that bad.
I don't know.
When we went to Walmart I read him the warning on the back of the Tylenol and he just scoffed at me. Well, I did warn him.
Walmart was interesting. When our ride arrived, she stood on the porch banging on the front door. I told her we would be out in a minute (I opened the door a crack). She continued to stand on the porch. I opened the door again and told her we would be coming out the garage. She got upset at me.
Why, I don't know. She wasn't prepared for the rain today and got soaked as a result. The company also has a policy where the driver "has" to "help" the client even if they say they don't need it. They have to exit, come around the vehicle, open the door, and help the client with the seat belt.
I told her I didn't need help but she kept trying. I guess I looked helpless today.
We arrived and I managed to find a Kiddie cart. I dried it off and got Ron loaded. He was happy. He wanted cat treats, a small pet bowl, rubber bands, for me to look at the portable power stations, etc. I did all that.
I needed protein bars, and unscented litter, which I got. The cats adore the unscented litter so I want to be sure I always have some in stock. They're good kids and don't ask for much.
I plan to donate my stash of unused, NIB (new in box), litter to the shelter. They can really use it. It will mean an "outing" which will take up most of a day but I don't want to just throw it out. I want it to go somewhere where it can do some good.
In the meantime, Ron rescheduled the cats' appointment for Thursday. We have to get sandwiches during the appointment window Ron had set for Tuesday. I just hope we can get Torbie fixed up with minimal trauma. She is pretty old so that's going to be a factor in any decisions made.
We won't be putting her down, of course, but if the vet says it would be too much of a strain to knock her out for surgery, I'm going to agree. If the vet feels it needs surgery, we'll do it.
Torbie may be a cone-head for a while. Have you heard of the "cone of shame"?
[not Torbie]
That will be a challenge for us, because Ron is the ultimate enabler and will hate the sight of her in the cone. He's going to want to take it off.
I have a hard enough time talking him out of letting Baby Girl out and she isn't even asking!
I might just board her at the vet instead. I would visit her every day, of course.
We'll see. The vet may not want to do anything with the growth on her foot anyway. She's had it for 3 years, and she passed the animal shelter health inspection. If she'd had anything wrong with her they would have put her down, so they didn't see that as a problem.
I am assuming you, as a reader, have no desire to see a photo of said growth on her foot. I wouldn't want to see it on your cat. So, no photo for you.
I will put up a photo of her "new" foot if we get it "fixed".
Back to Walmart. It was pouring pretty heavily the whole time we shopped. I worried a bit about flooding and would we be able to get home?
I got what I needed, I only spent $50. At Walmart, that's impressive. That included the cat litter ($12) and the protein bars ($14).
The cats love unscented litter. I have two boxes in the front room, both set up with cat litter. Box #1 has been there a while, and is the scented litter. They don't use it.
Box #2 (since last week) is loaded with 2 inches of unscented litter. They love it. I am changing that single box 2 times a day.
So I know they will enjoy the unscented litter in every box. I just need to do the changeover. I also need to dump some of the unwanted cat litter into my half-bucket of interior orange paint, that was supposed to be exterior. I'll have a fit if I keep thinking about that, though.
I may just try to sleep in tomorrow, though, and take it easy. I don't know how I'll feel. I need to do some reorganizing, too, so Ron can get his walker out into the garage easier. At some point the door to the garage will have to be replaced. It was clearly kicked in at some point in the past, and the house robbed. So that would make at least 2 times that we know of.
However, I don't think they would want the things I value, like Biscuit and the other cats, my comfortable bed, and the Bibles I hand out.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
6 foot boards
I'm trying to be philosophical.
#6, as part of his remodeling and expansion (without either building permit or HOA approval) installed a motion detector light for the backyard. All well and good, but one of the lights faces into my bedroom and the bathroom. Probably Ron's room too but I didn't check.
*It doesn't seem to be waking me up.* I just wake up periodically (I think we all do) and see the light is on, close my eyes, roll over, and go back to sleep. The light does not touch my bed or near my head, just the bathroom wall past the foot of the bed.
But still. Rude. REALLY? HAD to point it at our yard?
I could understand if we still had the cats free-ranging, he might do it as a passive-aggressive way to get "back" at us for "letting" the cats in his yard, but he put this up a month after I put them on lockdown.
At the rate he's going, even if he moves out, the next people will just be another large family, lots of screaming children, party bunch. He has formatted his house for just that lifestyle. So much for the sweet little 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1200 square feet, 2 car garage. Now it is well over 2000 square feet, 5 bedrooms, no car garage.
My only hope is the insurance company will conduct an inspection and raise his rates and/or tell him they will not cover his "expansions".
Yes, we could talk to him, but he doesn't have a good sense of boundaries. The next thing I know he would be wandering around in our backyard "seeing how bad it is" or some BS. I'd just as soon live with the light.
It does make it easier to get up to pee, in the middle of the night, and, happily, he isn't leaving the light on ALL the time. I just feel a little violated.
It's been a week for that.
I get it, they're helicopter parents, worried about security. But why do they always let their toddlers run in the street?
I'm trying to take the attitude it protects my house, too.
I did sleep OK but woke up exhausted. I did my God Time later. I took a shower, shaved my legs, dealt with my cycle stuff.
I have one favorite pair of pants. They were in the dryer. When the dryer finished up I snatched them out and hung up my clothes.
Off to work. It seemed like everyone had a complaint or "suggestion". I had one guy trying to tell me how the other guys should run their business. I walked away. Ron had wanted to use him for trips to Sam's Club, but he proved himself very unreliable and very demanding. He kept dropping heavy hints he wanted free merchandise.
I don't do handouts. You make enough money, BUY what you want.
Then I had a woman stalking me for milk, which we haven't sold in years. The last time we sold it I ended up throwing 80% out. We haven't sold it in probably 4-5 years.
"We're not selling milk" I told her. I should have told her to go bother the other vendor with her "suggestion". I also told her it would not be cheap and people wouldn't like that.
Our repairman was late and Ron left a nasty message. I wish he hadn't done that. Yell at me, but not the repairman.
The repairman wasn't happy when he did show up, but I made Ron apologize. I also told the guy Ron has been in a lot of chronic pain, which he is, from his back.
Finally done, we got ready to do the inventory. Ron got his digital recorder, and it wouldn't work. Ron frantically tried to get it to work while I got a pen and paper.
I made an old school list of our inventory. Then Ron got the thing working and I read it off.
Now, we're leaving.
We went to Home Depot. I realized recently, to my horror, that my "house paint" was formulated with an Interior base! I was pretty upset. Now, at least, I can do touch ups and stuff without worrying about it flaking off in a year.
I also got an extension cord for Ron, and some boards for the gate. The HOA doesn't like the way Ron styled the gate, so he has to redo it. I bought some painting supplies.
Then I paid and our driver picked us up. It would be pretty funny to try to take 6 foot boards on paratransit!
We ran by a Burger King on the way home. I ate and took a nap (a pretty good one, in spite of contractor noises coming from #6).
When I got up, I talked to Ron for a while, waited for "The Big Storm" due, and went out on the Catio with him for a while. We sat and talked, we like to do that.
fggggggg
Biscuit came in and is walking on the keyboard. Time to go.
#6, as part of his remodeling and expansion (without either building permit or HOA approval) installed a motion detector light for the backyard. All well and good, but one of the lights faces into my bedroom and the bathroom. Probably Ron's room too but I didn't check.
*It doesn't seem to be waking me up.* I just wake up periodically (I think we all do) and see the light is on, close my eyes, roll over, and go back to sleep. The light does not touch my bed or near my head, just the bathroom wall past the foot of the bed.
But still. Rude. REALLY? HAD to point it at our yard?
I could understand if we still had the cats free-ranging, he might do it as a passive-aggressive way to get "back" at us for "letting" the cats in his yard, but he put this up a month after I put them on lockdown.
At the rate he's going, even if he moves out, the next people will just be another large family, lots of screaming children, party bunch. He has formatted his house for just that lifestyle. So much for the sweet little 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1200 square feet, 2 car garage. Now it is well over 2000 square feet, 5 bedrooms, no car garage.
My only hope is the insurance company will conduct an inspection and raise his rates and/or tell him they will not cover his "expansions".
Yes, we could talk to him, but he doesn't have a good sense of boundaries. The next thing I know he would be wandering around in our backyard "seeing how bad it is" or some BS. I'd just as soon live with the light.
It does make it easier to get up to pee, in the middle of the night, and, happily, he isn't leaving the light on ALL the time. I just feel a little violated.
It's been a week for that.
I get it, they're helicopter parents, worried about security. But why do they always let their toddlers run in the street?
I'm trying to take the attitude it protects my house, too.
I did sleep OK but woke up exhausted. I did my God Time later. I took a shower, shaved my legs, dealt with my cycle stuff.
I have one favorite pair of pants. They were in the dryer. When the dryer finished up I snatched them out and hung up my clothes.
Off to work. It seemed like everyone had a complaint or "suggestion". I had one guy trying to tell me how the other guys should run their business. I walked away. Ron had wanted to use him for trips to Sam's Club, but he proved himself very unreliable and very demanding. He kept dropping heavy hints he wanted free merchandise.
I don't do handouts. You make enough money, BUY what you want.
Then I had a woman stalking me for milk, which we haven't sold in years. The last time we sold it I ended up throwing 80% out. We haven't sold it in probably 4-5 years.
"We're not selling milk" I told her. I should have told her to go bother the other vendor with her "suggestion". I also told her it would not be cheap and people wouldn't like that.
Our repairman was late and Ron left a nasty message. I wish he hadn't done that. Yell at me, but not the repairman.
The repairman wasn't happy when he did show up, but I made Ron apologize. I also told the guy Ron has been in a lot of chronic pain, which he is, from his back.
Finally done, we got ready to do the inventory. Ron got his digital recorder, and it wouldn't work. Ron frantically tried to get it to work while I got a pen and paper.
I made an old school list of our inventory. Then Ron got the thing working and I read it off.
Now, we're leaving.
We went to Home Depot. I realized recently, to my horror, that my "house paint" was formulated with an Interior base! I was pretty upset. Now, at least, I can do touch ups and stuff without worrying about it flaking off in a year.
I also got an extension cord for Ron, and some boards for the gate. The HOA doesn't like the way Ron styled the gate, so he has to redo it. I bought some painting supplies.
Then I paid and our driver picked us up. It would be pretty funny to try to take 6 foot boards on paratransit!
We ran by a Burger King on the way home. I ate and took a nap (a pretty good one, in spite of contractor noises coming from #6).
When I got up, I talked to Ron for a while, waited for "The Big Storm" due, and went out on the Catio with him for a while. We sat and talked, we like to do that.
fggggggg
Biscuit came in and is walking on the keyboard. Time to go.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Depressed, headache day.
My period finally kicked into high gear this morning, to the usual "massacre" levels.
The estrogen variations caused another nasty headache. Plus I am pretty depressed.
I slept in until 8. I did my God Time and took a shower. Since I'm always tired lately, I took a nap. Ron and I went to the Waffle House for dinner in the midst of a lot of traffic.
Ron and I sat out in the catio for a while until fire ants started biting me. I need to poison them.
Other than that, pretty uneventful for a depressed, headache, day.
The estrogen variations caused another nasty headache. Plus I am pretty depressed.
I slept in until 8. I did my God Time and took a shower. Since I'm always tired lately, I took a nap. Ron and I went to the Waffle House for dinner in the midst of a lot of traffic.
Ron and I sat out in the catio for a while until fire ants started biting me. I need to poison them.
Other than that, pretty uneventful for a depressed, headache, day.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Raped by Windows 10
Things just haven't been easy lately. Anxiety, sleep trouble, endless depression, problems with Ron, problems with work, etc. A mangled, dying, cat. Not today, thank God, but I still miss him.
I cried my eyes out over Gravy the other night. He loved to sleep on my bed and he would have loved the new mattress. I had a migraine on Sunday, then I started my period, which is still in the spotting stage.
I think my poor ovaries are about done.
I am certain menopause is wreaking a special havoc on my brain, as well. Probably one reason I feel so hopeless lately.
I really strive to be positive here.
Anyway, I slept in and got up just in time to take my shower. I did my God Time later, before I turned on the computer.
Biscuit was absolutely adorable. We have a whole routine of frantic begging (his) when I get up and stagger out of bed. The minute I put on my glasses he goes galloping into the front room, meowing frantically for his num-num.
I select a victim, get a foam plate, and place the plate on the table. I open the can as he squirms in delight (by now, Baby Girl has usually shown up as well), and plate the food, placing it on the table. He wasn't very interested in today's selection, he had a few licks and wandered off. Baby Girl continued to gobble.
You would never guess we have 3, count them, 3, food bowls filled with fresh dry food at all times. The way those two carry on at "can feeding time" you'd swear they haven't eaten in a week!
I gave him a Friskies this morning. Sometimes he loves it, sometimes not. Today was a not, but Baby Girl nibbled around the edges.
Then we left for work, well, the warehouse. We needed some bottled Coke which the one warehouse had. I can only imagine my trials if we had food shortages.
Anyway, we got there and I put Ron in the kiddie cart because we weren't buying much. He sat in the "kiddie" seat, fastened onto the cart, as I pushed it around. I got the Cokes, some coffee, and a case of hot chips.
Hot chips are a very popular seller, so I try to always keep at least one in reserve. A minivan cab came to pick us up, but it already had a wheelchair and an "ambulatory", plus me and Ron. The driver managed to get everything squashed into the one remaining seat area.
Halfway to work, I realized I had forgotten my bag. I turned my head and the driver had loaded it! Whew.
I had Ron call in a compliment right then and there.
We unloaded the other client first and then we were taken to work. The driver helped me unload our stuff. Ron didn't want to wait with it and accused me of being "paranoid".
It's a very bad neighborhood, and I've already seen: some people at work think it's really funny to take something we need and make me beg to get it back. Better to just prevent it.
People generally do not want to stand near Ron, due to his disabilities. They act as though he is "catching". Ron finds this most upsetting at church during the greeting (a period of time where everyone says Hi and shakes hands). "They act like I'm contagious".
I tell him he's wrong, but the rest of the time he's right. So, Ron, just by existing, exerts a protective radius where people won't enter. I do use it to advantage.
We got to work and started stocking. I had trouble with the coffee machine door. It is not very rugged. The repairman is coming on Thursday to take away the broken validator for a warranty repair.
Good. We just got the thing, it BETTER be under warranty.
I was just utterly exhausted when we got home. The yard had been mowed, happily no windows broken. Ron called the yard guy before talking to him and said we would be available to pay him in an hour.
I was not happy. I really wanted a nap. I ate some yogurt, took my meds, and got what I could, though. When I got up #2 had tradesmen (electricians) next door working on his addition so I doubt I could have slept much longer anyway. They were talking loudly in the side yard right outside my bedroom.
Ron had been very stiff all day. He said he hadn't slept well due to the pain. I found him asleep when I got up.
My inner bitch wanted to say "OK, time to get up and get ready to pay the yard man!" but I decided to be a good Christian instead.
I did my God Time. When I finished, I started my computer (I frequently let it go to sleep because I hear cold starting it again and again is bad for the board and power supply).
Imagine my horror when I had a welcome message from Windows 10. Apparently Microsoft did something sneaky and when I closed the "upgrade" window, I actually agreed to the upgrade. Cheap, sneaky, and dirty. I hope someone from Microsoft is reading this.
Anyway, I figured out how to get out. It wanted me to click "OK" for the EULA (user agreement), I said NO and it asked me if I wanted the upgrade. I didn't find a "Hell, no" button so I went with "decline". After about 10 minutes, and a reboot, it got me back to where I was. Everything appears to be behaving. A friend also sent me a link on how to opt out of future "Would you like to upgrade" messages.
If I could figure out the directions, from the article, after a full day's worth of medication, you should be pretty well set: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3074339/windows/how-to-escape-that-forced-windows-10-upgrade-you-mistakenly-agreed-to.html
I was FURIOUS. I left a message on the Microsoft facebook page ranting about them raping my hard drive, Windows 10 was worse than Edlin (a notorious line editor program from 20 years ago), etc. It was the worst insult I could produce without profanity.
It's just a nasty, sneaky, thing to do - trick someone into accepting an upgrade they don't want.
I hope they didn't get you, too.
Oh, another odd thing. I was talking to a driver the other day about some of the fashion faux pas I have seen when people come in for an interview. Hint - a black suit and a button down, with conservative dress shoes.
One guy, I shared, wore ripped jeans and a hoodie. Ron liked the gal who wore hot pink leggings. The driver (a man) went on this whole tangent about how some women could only wear leggings due to their figure issues, and had to wear leggings everywhere, even to job interviews.
"She was a size 10, if that" I said.
"Oh, she was BIG" he laughed, and meant it.
I had to wonder what he thought about my figure, not that I care. He must have seen me as some obese monster. He was at least 200 pounds overweight!
So, if you want to work at the Post Office, dress conservatively. No stripper heels and short skirts. Modest and conservative. No hoodies and t-shirts, this is a business. Wear a button down and sport coat or suit. Wear conservative business shoes in black.
Now, once you get hired and do your orientation, anything goes, pretty much. They will give you a general idea of the dress code, which everyone pretty much ignores. They don't wear heels or very short skirts (sorry, guys), but pretty much anything else, as long as you can do the job. At least at our plant.
Pretty soon I have to drag myself outside. I think I will clean the litter boxes first (the unscented, 2 inch deep litter seems to be the most popular), then put the waste in the garbage and then take out the garbage. When I threw away the num-num trash from Biscuit's dinner, I noticed the can was pretty full.
I was pretty annoyed at Ron. I wanted to talk to him and he held up his hand, wait. I waited a minute, then left.
I came back in a couple minutes later and began talking to him. (He had his headphones on). He held up his hand again and told me he was watching the news, something about North Korea.
Really? Spin doctors feeding you THEIR version of the "news" is more important than talking to your wife?
I found it insulting but I will forgive him. He has a bad habit of doing this and I find it demeaning.
I cried my eyes out over Gravy the other night. He loved to sleep on my bed and he would have loved the new mattress. I had a migraine on Sunday, then I started my period, which is still in the spotting stage.
I think my poor ovaries are about done.
I am certain menopause is wreaking a special havoc on my brain, as well. Probably one reason I feel so hopeless lately.
I really strive to be positive here.
Anyway, I slept in and got up just in time to take my shower. I did my God Time later, before I turned on the computer.
Biscuit was absolutely adorable. We have a whole routine of frantic begging (his) when I get up and stagger out of bed. The minute I put on my glasses he goes galloping into the front room, meowing frantically for his num-num.
I select a victim, get a foam plate, and place the plate on the table. I open the can as he squirms in delight (by now, Baby Girl has usually shown up as well), and plate the food, placing it on the table. He wasn't very interested in today's selection, he had a few licks and wandered off. Baby Girl continued to gobble.
You would never guess we have 3, count them, 3, food bowls filled with fresh dry food at all times. The way those two carry on at "can feeding time" you'd swear they haven't eaten in a week!
I gave him a Friskies this morning. Sometimes he loves it, sometimes not. Today was a not, but Baby Girl nibbled around the edges.
Then we left for work, well, the warehouse. We needed some bottled Coke which the one warehouse had. I can only imagine my trials if we had food shortages.
Anyway, we got there and I put Ron in the kiddie cart because we weren't buying much. He sat in the "kiddie" seat, fastened onto the cart, as I pushed it around. I got the Cokes, some coffee, and a case of hot chips.
Hot chips are a very popular seller, so I try to always keep at least one in reserve. A minivan cab came to pick us up, but it already had a wheelchair and an "ambulatory", plus me and Ron. The driver managed to get everything squashed into the one remaining seat area.
Halfway to work, I realized I had forgotten my bag. I turned my head and the driver had loaded it! Whew.
I had Ron call in a compliment right then and there.
We unloaded the other client first and then we were taken to work. The driver helped me unload our stuff. Ron didn't want to wait with it and accused me of being "paranoid".
It's a very bad neighborhood, and I've already seen: some people at work think it's really funny to take something we need and make me beg to get it back. Better to just prevent it.
People generally do not want to stand near Ron, due to his disabilities. They act as though he is "catching". Ron finds this most upsetting at church during the greeting (a period of time where everyone says Hi and shakes hands). "They act like I'm contagious".
I tell him he's wrong, but the rest of the time he's right. So, Ron, just by existing, exerts a protective radius where people won't enter. I do use it to advantage.
We got to work and started stocking. I had trouble with the coffee machine door. It is not very rugged. The repairman is coming on Thursday to take away the broken validator for a warranty repair.
Good. We just got the thing, it BETTER be under warranty.
I was just utterly exhausted when we got home. The yard had been mowed, happily no windows broken. Ron called the yard guy before talking to him and said we would be available to pay him in an hour.
I was not happy. I really wanted a nap. I ate some yogurt, took my meds, and got what I could, though. When I got up #2 had tradesmen (electricians) next door working on his addition so I doubt I could have slept much longer anyway. They were talking loudly in the side yard right outside my bedroom.
Ron had been very stiff all day. He said he hadn't slept well due to the pain. I found him asleep when I got up.
My inner bitch wanted to say "OK, time to get up and get ready to pay the yard man!" but I decided to be a good Christian instead.
I did my God Time. When I finished, I started my computer (I frequently let it go to sleep because I hear cold starting it again and again is bad for the board and power supply).
Imagine my horror when I had a welcome message from Windows 10. Apparently Microsoft did something sneaky and when I closed the "upgrade" window, I actually agreed to the upgrade. Cheap, sneaky, and dirty. I hope someone from Microsoft is reading this.
Anyway, I figured out how to get out. It wanted me to click "OK" for the EULA (user agreement), I said NO and it asked me if I wanted the upgrade. I didn't find a "Hell, no" button so I went with "decline". After about 10 minutes, and a reboot, it got me back to where I was. Everything appears to be behaving. A friend also sent me a link on how to opt out of future "Would you like to upgrade" messages.
If I could figure out the directions, from the article, after a full day's worth of medication, you should be pretty well set: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3074339/windows/how-to-escape-that-forced-windows-10-upgrade-you-mistakenly-agreed-to.html
I was FURIOUS. I left a message on the Microsoft facebook page ranting about them raping my hard drive, Windows 10 was worse than Edlin (a notorious line editor program from 20 years ago), etc. It was the worst insult I could produce without profanity.
It's just a nasty, sneaky, thing to do - trick someone into accepting an upgrade they don't want.
I hope they didn't get you, too.
Oh, another odd thing. I was talking to a driver the other day about some of the fashion faux pas I have seen when people come in for an interview. Hint - a black suit and a button down, with conservative dress shoes.
One guy, I shared, wore ripped jeans and a hoodie. Ron liked the gal who wore hot pink leggings. The driver (a man) went on this whole tangent about how some women could only wear leggings due to their figure issues, and had to wear leggings everywhere, even to job interviews.
"She was a size 10, if that" I said.
"Oh, she was BIG" he laughed, and meant it.
I had to wonder what he thought about my figure, not that I care. He must have seen me as some obese monster. He was at least 200 pounds overweight!
So, if you want to work at the Post Office, dress conservatively. No stripper heels and short skirts. Modest and conservative. No hoodies and t-shirts, this is a business. Wear a button down and sport coat or suit. Wear conservative business shoes in black.
Now, once you get hired and do your orientation, anything goes, pretty much. They will give you a general idea of the dress code, which everyone pretty much ignores. They don't wear heels or very short skirts (sorry, guys), but pretty much anything else, as long as you can do the job. At least at our plant.
Pretty soon I have to drag myself outside. I think I will clean the litter boxes first (the unscented, 2 inch deep litter seems to be the most popular), then put the waste in the garbage and then take out the garbage. When I threw away the num-num trash from Biscuit's dinner, I noticed the can was pretty full.
I was pretty annoyed at Ron. I wanted to talk to him and he held up his hand, wait. I waited a minute, then left.
I came back in a couple minutes later and began talking to him. (He had his headphones on). He held up his hand again and told me he was watching the news, something about North Korea.
Really? Spin doctors feeding you THEIR version of the "news" is more important than talking to your wife?
I found it insulting but I will forgive him. He has a bad habit of doing this and I find it demeaning.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Tow truck
It was a challenging day that almost ended with a call for a tow truck.
First, I got up late, exhausted from the migraine. I did my God Time later. I verified that yes, my cycle had started. I decided to try using the menstrual cups again. Just because I had a bad experience last year when the neighbors were having a party doesn't mean it was the cup's fault.
So far, so good, on that. I wore a pad for backup, which I didn't need.
I took my shower and got dressed. I wore a turquoisy solid tshirt with my capris.
We went to work. We had to pick up the Wonder Twins again, severely autistic and poorly-cared for twins of adult age.
"Is he shitty? He's walking like he's got a shitty diaper" our driver exclaimed. "I hope he ain't shitty."
He wasn't, or if he was I didn't smell it.
The other one wasn't riding today.
We got to work and I began stocking. I found a note in my area of the stockroom. Occasionally, the other vendor will make a purchase for me with the wholesale company. They have a $500 minimum order and it helps reduce their load. They also have a minimum case count and it helps reduce that. All they have to do is accept it and sell it to me when I come in.
I had written a note politely asking them to buy coffee cups and hot chocolate, please. Someone wrote a huge NO across the note and put it back in my area. OK. I guess "we" are in a cranky phase.
I pretended I hadn't seen it and did my usual light chatter to the other vendor. If he was trying to bait me, I wouldn't bite, and if he was feeling cranky I didn't want to trigger him.
We can do a "will-call" pickup on our own. It is more difficult but we will manage. Ron and I agree we will buy 2 cases and keep them in the garage. We can make room for them.
I did snacks, which were pretty wiped out. I was busy with that for a while. Ron said canned sodas were "dead" and didn't need stocking. The bottled vendor only needed 2 cases. I helped Ron replace what he needed.
We hadn't scheduled a long day, and as it turns out we didn't need it. We left a little after the other vendor and came home.
#6 saw us coming home and entering the garage. I gave him a little wave.
About 10 minutes later, I looked outside to find his truck parked in our driveway. Not our street, our driveway.
No other neighbor would even consider doing this, but for whatever reason he has this attitude "Well, if they aren't using it, I might as well, I need the parking anyway."
He doesn't understand, a lack of a car does not mean we don't need our driveway. To the contrary, we need the driveway more than the average person. Ron can't walk up the driveway from the street, he needs to be let out as close to the house as possible. We walk, two abreast, with him pushing the walker. We need space to do that. A year or two back he had this whole idea he could just park the "schoolbus" 13 passenger van (they use it for a school carpool). I said no and he nearly had a tantrum on our front porch.
For whatever reason, he "owns" our property in his head, even though we have owned it for over 12 years. Admittedly, the house was unoccupied the first 2 years he owned his home, so he probably got used to seeing it as an extension of his property. I had a hell of a time getting him to leave our property alone.
I was rightly furious. I was this close to calling a towtruck and teaching him a very expen$ive lesson. Park in our driveway? Get towed. It wouldn't happen twice.
He had just seen Ron struggling to walk 20 feet into the open garage. How could he think it was OK to block access?
I blew up. I went for my computer, threatening tow trucks and damnation.
Ron fled outside and talked to the guy, asking him "When are you going to move your truck out of our driveway?"
"Oh, about 15 minutes."
Asshole. If he had said that to me I would have walked into the house and called the tow truck.
Ron didn't tell me this until later, just that it would be moved shortly.
"Ron" I told him. "I am going to take a nap. If it's still there when I get up I AM calling a tow truck."
I laid down and took a nap. Biscuit joined me and slept on my left leg during the entire nap. I was very careful of him and we both had a good nap.
#6 was busy trimming limbs off his tree and cutting them up, I guess he got an insurance letter. He also moved the trampoline away from my bedroom wall to the back fence.
When I got up, the truck was gone, parked across the street, where it should have been the entire time. What if Ron got sick and we needed an ambulance? This guy has a very good idea of Ron's limitations, and, if he's clever, has figured out I must have some too if I'm not driving.
UGH.
I did my God Time, admittedly a little angrier than I should have been. I hope God at least listened to my prayers for other people, and yes, I did pray for #6 in addition to all the rest.
After that we went to Carl's Jr. We had a regular driver we like. The van was full after we picked up a slow guy absolutely obsessed with food. "I want a hot dog, and a hamburger, and fries, and a soda, and..." He wasn't large but he wasn't thin either, his caregivers are feeding him.
It was funny at first but became very tiresome. We picked up a lady in a wheelchair who also had a cat, a very old gray and white shorthair. We talked "cat" for a little bit until the foodie was unloaded. We were next, finally.
The cashier was a little confused but got the order and change right. Everyone seemed to be following the health code regulations.
I worry about Ron because he is bleeding again, not a lot, but any amount is concerning. He's had two colonoscopies, he is "fine" but it's a strain. As a result I am a little hypervigilant.
We ate and had a good time. We met a missionary who gave me, unasked, $10 for Bibles. I plan to put that toward Bible Promise books. Those are always popular when I hand them out and I know mine was a comfort to me after Gravy died. It was nice to have all the verses about death and rebirth together in the same place.
We had an interesting ride home. The driver had an easy time picking us up but then went to the local mental hospital (I kid you not), picking up a woman who could have been my sister, Fetal Alcohol, and, as it turns out, a very similar form of bipolar.
You have to remember 1 in 500 have FAS. 35% of FAS are also bipolar, so 1 in 1428 citizens are both FAS and bipolar. A rather alarming statistic.
She was manic, more than a little loud, and rather jittery, but we had an interesting conversation. She was a little too frank with her symptoms, and, I could tell, scared the crap out of the driver.
She died laughing when Ron mentioned buying a yellow car, and I said "That's the kind of thing you do when you're manic."
[sigh] A little taxing but not a bad kid. She was probably half my age. She was not taking lithium and didn't seem to have good symptom control.
I am just not impressed with what I see from the new stuff. Give me the old school drugs anytime.
We got home, the truck was still gone, Ron staggered up the driveway with great difficulty, and we came inside. He wanted to go out on the catio so we did that for a while. It was very relaxing sitting there hearing the birds, watching the cats, and talking.
Happily, I don't have to get up until 6 AM tomorrow so that will be a real treat. Most work days I get up at something around 3-4 AM.
First, I got up late, exhausted from the migraine. I did my God Time later. I verified that yes, my cycle had started. I decided to try using the menstrual cups again. Just because I had a bad experience last year when the neighbors were having a party doesn't mean it was the cup's fault.
So far, so good, on that. I wore a pad for backup, which I didn't need.
I took my shower and got dressed. I wore a turquoisy solid tshirt with my capris.
We went to work. We had to pick up the Wonder Twins again, severely autistic and poorly-cared for twins of adult age.
"Is he shitty? He's walking like he's got a shitty diaper" our driver exclaimed. "I hope he ain't shitty."
He wasn't, or if he was I didn't smell it.
The other one wasn't riding today.
We got to work and I began stocking. I found a note in my area of the stockroom. Occasionally, the other vendor will make a purchase for me with the wholesale company. They have a $500 minimum order and it helps reduce their load. They also have a minimum case count and it helps reduce that. All they have to do is accept it and sell it to me when I come in.
I had written a note politely asking them to buy coffee cups and hot chocolate, please. Someone wrote a huge NO across the note and put it back in my area. OK. I guess "we" are in a cranky phase.
I pretended I hadn't seen it and did my usual light chatter to the other vendor. If he was trying to bait me, I wouldn't bite, and if he was feeling cranky I didn't want to trigger him.
We can do a "will-call" pickup on our own. It is more difficult but we will manage. Ron and I agree we will buy 2 cases and keep them in the garage. We can make room for them.
I did snacks, which were pretty wiped out. I was busy with that for a while. Ron said canned sodas were "dead" and didn't need stocking. The bottled vendor only needed 2 cases. I helped Ron replace what he needed.
We hadn't scheduled a long day, and as it turns out we didn't need it. We left a little after the other vendor and came home.
#6 saw us coming home and entering the garage. I gave him a little wave.
About 10 minutes later, I looked outside to find his truck parked in our driveway. Not our street, our driveway.
No other neighbor would even consider doing this, but for whatever reason he has this attitude "Well, if they aren't using it, I might as well, I need the parking anyway."
He doesn't understand, a lack of a car does not mean we don't need our driveway. To the contrary, we need the driveway more than the average person. Ron can't walk up the driveway from the street, he needs to be let out as close to the house as possible. We walk, two abreast, with him pushing the walker. We need space to do that. A year or two back he had this whole idea he could just park the "schoolbus" 13 passenger van (they use it for a school carpool). I said no and he nearly had a tantrum on our front porch.
For whatever reason, he "owns" our property in his head, even though we have owned it for over 12 years. Admittedly, the house was unoccupied the first 2 years he owned his home, so he probably got used to seeing it as an extension of his property. I had a hell of a time getting him to leave our property alone.
I was rightly furious. I was this close to calling a towtruck and teaching him a very expen$ive lesson. Park in our driveway? Get towed. It wouldn't happen twice.
He had just seen Ron struggling to walk 20 feet into the open garage. How could he think it was OK to block access?
I blew up. I went for my computer, threatening tow trucks and damnation.
Ron fled outside and talked to the guy, asking him "When are you going to move your truck out of our driveway?"
"Oh, about 15 minutes."
Asshole. If he had said that to me I would have walked into the house and called the tow truck.
Ron didn't tell me this until later, just that it would be moved shortly.
"Ron" I told him. "I am going to take a nap. If it's still there when I get up I AM calling a tow truck."
I laid down and took a nap. Biscuit joined me and slept on my left leg during the entire nap. I was very careful of him and we both had a good nap.
#6 was busy trimming limbs off his tree and cutting them up, I guess he got an insurance letter. He also moved the trampoline away from my bedroom wall to the back fence.
When I got up, the truck was gone, parked across the street, where it should have been the entire time. What if Ron got sick and we needed an ambulance? This guy has a very good idea of Ron's limitations, and, if he's clever, has figured out I must have some too if I'm not driving.
UGH.
I did my God Time, admittedly a little angrier than I should have been. I hope God at least listened to my prayers for other people, and yes, I did pray for #6 in addition to all the rest.
After that we went to Carl's Jr. We had a regular driver we like. The van was full after we picked up a slow guy absolutely obsessed with food. "I want a hot dog, and a hamburger, and fries, and a soda, and..." He wasn't large but he wasn't thin either, his caregivers are feeding him.
It was funny at first but became very tiresome. We picked up a lady in a wheelchair who also had a cat, a very old gray and white shorthair. We talked "cat" for a little bit until the foodie was unloaded. We were next, finally.
The cashier was a little confused but got the order and change right. Everyone seemed to be following the health code regulations.
I worry about Ron because he is bleeding again, not a lot, but any amount is concerning. He's had two colonoscopies, he is "fine" but it's a strain. As a result I am a little hypervigilant.
We ate and had a good time. We met a missionary who gave me, unasked, $10 for Bibles. I plan to put that toward Bible Promise books. Those are always popular when I hand them out and I know mine was a comfort to me after Gravy died. It was nice to have all the verses about death and rebirth together in the same place.
We had an interesting ride home. The driver had an easy time picking us up but then went to the local mental hospital (I kid you not), picking up a woman who could have been my sister, Fetal Alcohol, and, as it turns out, a very similar form of bipolar.
You have to remember 1 in 500 have FAS. 35% of FAS are also bipolar, so 1 in 1428 citizens are both FAS and bipolar. A rather alarming statistic.
She was manic, more than a little loud, and rather jittery, but we had an interesting conversation. She was a little too frank with her symptoms, and, I could tell, scared the crap out of the driver.
She died laughing when Ron mentioned buying a yellow car, and I said "That's the kind of thing you do when you're manic."
[sigh] A little taxing but not a bad kid. She was probably half my age. She was not taking lithium and didn't seem to have good symptom control.
I am just not impressed with what I see from the new stuff. Give me the old school drugs anytime.
We got home, the truck was still gone, Ron staggered up the driveway with great difficulty, and we came inside. He wanted to go out on the catio so we did that for a while. It was very relaxing sitting there hearing the birds, watching the cats, and talking.
Happily, I don't have to get up until 6 AM tomorrow so that will be a real treat. Most work days I get up at something around 3-4 AM.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Days like this
I woke up with a headache.
I also woke up at 6:30. I took some OTC headache pills and drank a cold diet soda. It helped a little. then I did my God Time and took a shower.
I got to thinking. Ron had made a trip to go to the pet store, but he was stingy with the timing. If it's not something he wants to do, he will try to make the trip as short as possible.
It was short all right, 20 minutes is not enough time to walk across the huge parking lot and return the leash, get new litter for Baby Girl, a new box, and some Nature's Miracle to clean up the "pooped on" areas of the tile (and, as it turned out later, the carpet).
I had the time, why didn't I take the bus.
I had already had 2 diet sodas (150 mg caffeine) and one dose of headache pills (200 mg caffeine). Doc says keep it under 450, so I had about one more soda "allowance". I got a bottle of water out of the fridge (we use them mainly for hospitality "Would you like a cold bottle of water?").
I left the house around 9 AM. Ron was coming at 11:45 and the ride home about 12:10. I figured that was plenty of time to get everything done. In that respect, I was right.
I wore a very shallow necked V-neck tshirt in baby pink with my capris. I took money out of my pocket in case I got robbed. I got my bus pas, but forgot the harness and leash I had planned to return.
I remembered that when I got to the bus stop. Bad word.
I had to wait about 40 minutes on the bus, then another 40 on the next bus. I was so wound up on caffeine I had a panic attack at the thought of crossing 249. It was pretty ugly.
I kept thinking of the humiliation I would have, telling Ron, and others, "I was too afraid to cross the street" - that's the only thing that got me bolting across the street like an escaped felon. I would have hated to see my heart rate and blood pressure.
I will say my deodorant stone did a good job, though.
I got some cream cheese kolaches and my last Diet Dr Pepper.
I went to the pet store, got a litter pan, and some unscented Nature's Miracle litter. A couple of considerations:
1. They had a lot in stock. If she likes it I will need something I can replenish.
2. It was unscented. Very few litters are, apparently. Strongly advised for cats with toilet issues.
3. It was a reasonable price.
4. It was the "fine to medium grain" I was advised to purchase.
I like how the litter pan has a measurement to tell you how deep to pour. 2 inches seems to work best for my guys.
I bought some enzyme spray to destroy lingering poop odors. If it smells like poop to her (I don't smell anything after I pick it up), then she will continue to use that area (also read on the internet). I looked at the adoption kitten and yearned for the pair of black sibling kittens who looked just like a baby Bubba. They would be a lot of fun for some lucky adopter!
Happily the adoption cats were getting a lot of attention.
I paid, put my stuff in the shopping cart, and pushed it to the edge of the pet store parking lot. Then I carried the 20 pound box of litter and the other supplies to the Starbucks and waited outside.
My headache roared back to life.
Ron kept trying to get out of coming to get me. He had every excuse in the world. I finally asked him to please come get me, already. I reminded him his cat was having problems with the litter and he needed to help fix it.
His first ride claimed they couldn't find him and was he near a church? No, we're not. They sent another driver, but he arrived pretty late (around 12).
In the meantime, I had been outside cooking my brains in the heat, humidity, and sunshine for 3 hours. My head was throbbing.
He finally arrived and said he didn't want anything, he'd had a colitis attack that morning and was afraid to make it mad. I went in and got a decaf iced coffee. It made things worse.
I took my Phenergan. I always carry at least one in my bus pass holder for days like this. The next ride came. He was nice. He was quiet. Praise God no air freshener.
We got home to see a little kid from #6 nearly run in front of the vehicle. Apparently they still haven't taught him about traffic, and little kids get run over in Houston on a regular basis. If they watch the news they know this happens and when they're that little, the damage is fatal.
Go to all that trouble to have them and raise them, but too lazy to protect them? I don't get that.
I decided to just throw all the litter stuff into the garage and went straight to bed. But wait, Baby Girl & friends were locked up in the bedroom this morning and she has left a gift by the litter box. I had to clean that up first (poop).
I slept fitfully for hours, my head in agony. I have two relatives who swear that bright sunlight cause headaches, and I think they may be right. I plan to bring my sunglasses tomorrow.
When I got up, I took it easy for a while.
Then I set up the new litter box, 2 inches deep, unscented, medium to fine grain litter in a different brand. Biscuit was thrilled and used the box right away. Well, good to know he likes it, although he was fine with Scoop Away.
I vacuumed around the bedroom litter box and treated both litter box problem areas with the enzyme stuff. Hopefully that will help 'break" the problem.
I ate a piece of bread and I didn't get sick, so I think I'm going to fix a bowl of cereal and take my meds now. I have to go to bed pretty soon and I need to be medicated for that.
What a day.
Oh, and my neck is sunburned where my V-neck exposed some skin I don't, normally. Not much, just a little v right above my collarbone.
I also woke up at 6:30. I took some OTC headache pills and drank a cold diet soda. It helped a little. then I did my God Time and took a shower.
I got to thinking. Ron had made a trip to go to the pet store, but he was stingy with the timing. If it's not something he wants to do, he will try to make the trip as short as possible.
It was short all right, 20 minutes is not enough time to walk across the huge parking lot and return the leash, get new litter for Baby Girl, a new box, and some Nature's Miracle to clean up the "pooped on" areas of the tile (and, as it turned out later, the carpet).
I had the time, why didn't I take the bus.
I had already had 2 diet sodas (150 mg caffeine) and one dose of headache pills (200 mg caffeine). Doc says keep it under 450, so I had about one more soda "allowance". I got a bottle of water out of the fridge (we use them mainly for hospitality "Would you like a cold bottle of water?").
I left the house around 9 AM. Ron was coming at 11:45 and the ride home about 12:10. I figured that was plenty of time to get everything done. In that respect, I was right.
I wore a very shallow necked V-neck tshirt in baby pink with my capris. I took money out of my pocket in case I got robbed. I got my bus pas, but forgot the harness and leash I had planned to return.
I remembered that when I got to the bus stop. Bad word.
I had to wait about 40 minutes on the bus, then another 40 on the next bus. I was so wound up on caffeine I had a panic attack at the thought of crossing 249. It was pretty ugly.
I kept thinking of the humiliation I would have, telling Ron, and others, "I was too afraid to cross the street" - that's the only thing that got me bolting across the street like an escaped felon. I would have hated to see my heart rate and blood pressure.
I will say my deodorant stone did a good job, though.
I got some cream cheese kolaches and my last Diet Dr Pepper.
I went to the pet store, got a litter pan, and some unscented Nature's Miracle litter. A couple of considerations:
1. They had a lot in stock. If she likes it I will need something I can replenish.
2. It was unscented. Very few litters are, apparently. Strongly advised for cats with toilet issues.
3. It was a reasonable price.
4. It was the "fine to medium grain" I was advised to purchase.
I like how the litter pan has a measurement to tell you how deep to pour. 2 inches seems to work best for my guys.
I bought some enzyme spray to destroy lingering poop odors. If it smells like poop to her (I don't smell anything after I pick it up), then she will continue to use that area (also read on the internet). I looked at the adoption kitten and yearned for the pair of black sibling kittens who looked just like a baby Bubba. They would be a lot of fun for some lucky adopter!
Happily the adoption cats were getting a lot of attention.
I paid, put my stuff in the shopping cart, and pushed it to the edge of the pet store parking lot. Then I carried the 20 pound box of litter and the other supplies to the Starbucks and waited outside.
My headache roared back to life.
Ron kept trying to get out of coming to get me. He had every excuse in the world. I finally asked him to please come get me, already. I reminded him his cat was having problems with the litter and he needed to help fix it.
His first ride claimed they couldn't find him and was he near a church? No, we're not. They sent another driver, but he arrived pretty late (around 12).
In the meantime, I had been outside cooking my brains in the heat, humidity, and sunshine for 3 hours. My head was throbbing.
He finally arrived and said he didn't want anything, he'd had a colitis attack that morning and was afraid to make it mad. I went in and got a decaf iced coffee. It made things worse.
I took my Phenergan. I always carry at least one in my bus pass holder for days like this. The next ride came. He was nice. He was quiet. Praise God no air freshener.
We got home to see a little kid from #6 nearly run in front of the vehicle. Apparently they still haven't taught him about traffic, and little kids get run over in Houston on a regular basis. If they watch the news they know this happens and when they're that little, the damage is fatal.
Go to all that trouble to have them and raise them, but too lazy to protect them? I don't get that.
I decided to just throw all the litter stuff into the garage and went straight to bed. But wait, Baby Girl & friends were locked up in the bedroom this morning and she has left a gift by the litter box. I had to clean that up first (poop).
I slept fitfully for hours, my head in agony. I have two relatives who swear that bright sunlight cause headaches, and I think they may be right. I plan to bring my sunglasses tomorrow.
When I got up, I took it easy for a while.
Then I set up the new litter box, 2 inches deep, unscented, medium to fine grain litter in a different brand. Biscuit was thrilled and used the box right away. Well, good to know he likes it, although he was fine with Scoop Away.
I vacuumed around the bedroom litter box and treated both litter box problem areas with the enzyme stuff. Hopefully that will help 'break" the problem.
I ate a piece of bread and I didn't get sick, so I think I'm going to fix a bowl of cereal and take my meds now. I have to go to bed pretty soon and I need to be medicated for that.
What a day.
Oh, and my neck is sunburned where my V-neck exposed some skin I don't, normally. Not much, just a little v right above my collarbone.
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Earned it
Today was long.
I slept really badly last night, too much caffeine yesterday. I probably exceeded my doctor's suggestion by at least double intake, perhaps triple.
Yike. No wonder I couldn't really "go under".
I got up late, did my shower, and have yet to do my God Time. We went to the warehouse.
They were out of Coke Bottles. I had to wait about half an hour for them to get the pallet down and bring it - but I did appreciate the fact that they did bring it.
We loaded the truck, they had a new guy - and I headed off to work.
I was happy I remembered to take my salt tablet this morning, as it was pretty hot and humid today.
I unloaded the carts, brought them out, and loaded them up again with our new inventory. Then I brought them inside.
I was a little irritable, which seemed to magnify Ron's usual bad mood and he was pretty ugly today. When he said we should just avoid each other, I took the advice.
I did all of my work and some of his. I let him figure it out, though. Ron hates the Aquafina water we sell, the labels keep coming off. We won't be buying it again.
It's funny, they had lots of bottled water at the store, but no Ozarka, no Dasani even. One man told me he didn't want to buy a water bottled by Pepsi "I have some issues with them". I told him I got it, I had issues with General Mills "After their commercials" - he nodded in recognition.
I'm allowed to vote with my dollar and that's all I will say.
Biscuit is saying hello so I'm going to pet him for a bit. He's such a happy boy, his tail always in the air like a flag. I'm glad he picked me out. link
So, we got it all stocked. I was pretty tired, emotionally worn out from Ron's sniping and my own sleep deprivation, and physically worn out from the physical labor and the sleep deprivation.
[Baby Girl and Biscuit are wrestling right now]
I was happy to leave. Not so happy when I came home to find #2 having a yard sale, and #6 with a contractor working. I could hear the whine of the circular saw from quite a ways away.
"So much for my nap" I thought. I stood in the computer room for a little bit. It seemed quiet. I pulled out the couch and laid down on that.
Right about the time I drifted off to sleep, #2 started firing up various yard care equipment, showing it off, I assume, to prospective buyers. He did that, off and on, for about half an hour. I tried to fall asleep again. And Ron started talking on the phone.
I did manage to fall asleep for about 2 hours, though. I was happy about that. Not the best quality but I'll take what I get.
When I got up I cleaned the litter boxes, swept up extra litter, and cleaned up a little. I ate a bowl of cereal and took my medication.
And here it is, 8:30 PM and I'm planning on going to bed.
God knows I've earned it.
I slept really badly last night, too much caffeine yesterday. I probably exceeded my doctor's suggestion by at least double intake, perhaps triple.
Yike. No wonder I couldn't really "go under".
I got up late, did my shower, and have yet to do my God Time. We went to the warehouse.
They were out of Coke Bottles. I had to wait about half an hour for them to get the pallet down and bring it - but I did appreciate the fact that they did bring it.
We loaded the truck, they had a new guy - and I headed off to work.
I was happy I remembered to take my salt tablet this morning, as it was pretty hot and humid today.
I unloaded the carts, brought them out, and loaded them up again with our new inventory. Then I brought them inside.
I was a little irritable, which seemed to magnify Ron's usual bad mood and he was pretty ugly today. When he said we should just avoid each other, I took the advice.
I did all of my work and some of his. I let him figure it out, though. Ron hates the Aquafina water we sell, the labels keep coming off. We won't be buying it again.
It's funny, they had lots of bottled water at the store, but no Ozarka, no Dasani even. One man told me he didn't want to buy a water bottled by Pepsi "I have some issues with them". I told him I got it, I had issues with General Mills "After their commercials" - he nodded in recognition.
I'm allowed to vote with my dollar and that's all I will say.
Biscuit is saying hello so I'm going to pet him for a bit. He's such a happy boy, his tail always in the air like a flag. I'm glad he picked me out. link
So, we got it all stocked. I was pretty tired, emotionally worn out from Ron's sniping and my own sleep deprivation, and physically worn out from the physical labor and the sleep deprivation.
[Baby Girl and Biscuit are wrestling right now]
I was happy to leave. Not so happy when I came home to find #2 having a yard sale, and #6 with a contractor working. I could hear the whine of the circular saw from quite a ways away.
"So much for my nap" I thought. I stood in the computer room for a little bit. It seemed quiet. I pulled out the couch and laid down on that.
Right about the time I drifted off to sleep, #2 started firing up various yard care equipment, showing it off, I assume, to prospective buyers. He did that, off and on, for about half an hour. I tried to fall asleep again. And Ron started talking on the phone.
I did manage to fall asleep for about 2 hours, though. I was happy about that. Not the best quality but I'll take what I get.
When I got up I cleaned the litter boxes, swept up extra litter, and cleaned up a little. I ate a bowl of cereal and took my medication.
And here it is, 8:30 PM and I'm planning on going to bed.
God knows I've earned it.
Friday, May 20, 2016
No dinner photo
I won't put up a photo of my dinner.
We got there, it was well decorated and wheelchair accessible. It was pretty quiet, though.
We ordered. I got the 3 meat plate. Since I'd had my lithium hours ago, I had some sausage, turkey, and brisket.
Ron got a brisket sandwich. Surprisingly, he didn't make a mess.
It wasn't bad. The turkey and sausage were very good. The brisket was very moist but not terribly smoky. Ron hated the sauce. I thought it was pretty good.
"I like Kraft (sauce)" he said.
I had potato salad and mashed sweet potatoes. They were good but unremarkable.
All in all, I didn't feel ripped off. I would, however, just get the turkey sandwich and a side next time.
So, that was dinner.
Now off to brush my teeth, my gums are bugging me.
We got there, it was well decorated and wheelchair accessible. It was pretty quiet, though.
We ordered. I got the 3 meat plate. Since I'd had my lithium hours ago, I had some sausage, turkey, and brisket.
Ron got a brisket sandwich. Surprisingly, he didn't make a mess.
It wasn't bad. The turkey and sausage were very good. The brisket was very moist but not terribly smoky. Ron hated the sauce. I thought it was pretty good.
"I like Kraft (sauce)" he said.
I had potato salad and mashed sweet potatoes. They were good but unremarkable.
All in all, I didn't feel ripped off. I would, however, just get the turkey sandwich and a side next time.
So, that was dinner.
Now off to brush my teeth, my gums are bugging me.
These doses
Boring. I want boring.
Instead, I have a bad night of sleep, a 2 AM wakeup, and a ride to work with a man watching a podcast from Cameroon, on his cell phone, as he drove us to work.
Yeah, it was that kind of day, and it's only 3PM.
I got up with a headache. I took some aspirin with a mountain dew and that seemed to help. I don't think I will have to worry about blood clots. I don't take so much aspirin I worry about bleeding, but I sure don't worry about blood clots. I take maybe 6 doses a week.
I did my shower and then my God Time. Happily, I did not need to shave my legs. A 4-bladed razor, Mountain Dew, and 2 in the morning are not a good combo!
God Time went well. Prayed for everyone, including you.
If you aren't a friend of Jesus just see it as me "sending out good thoughts to The Universe on your behalf".
Anyway. Did that. Ate one of my much better, new, protein bars. I am glad I got them. I took my meds and they didn't aggravate the headache.
Maybe they do that if I'm not eating enough in the morning. I didn't think of that.
Then our ride came and we had the excitement. He seemed to be a good driver aside from the podcast thing. Which is kind of like saying the serial killer used anesthetic!
We got to work and I got to stocking. The boss lady was coming to do our review. I wanted the machines to look OK.
I did that and loaded the coffee machine. I had a phony refund.
Now, I might have thought, oh, poor thing, he just couldn't figure it out, but he knows how to operate the machine.
It started with him shoving a dollar in my face while I was working. "What do you want?" I asked politely. I thought maybe he wanted something I had in the machine I was servicing.
"Guess" he said.
"I don't guess" I replied. "Let me know when you're ready to tell.."
"QUARTERS!"
"The changer is right here." He knew this. I guess I was supposed to put up the tray, take out the coin bucket, fish around for quarters, and then hand them over.
He used the changer.
He came back a little later claiming the coffee machine had "ripped him off" for a dollar. I gave him the dollar (even though I suspected he was just "holding us up") and checked the machine after he left.
He had put it into "ordering menu" but "forgotten" to put any money in the machine. I got some quarters and tested it. Maybe it had a coin jam? No coin jam and it brewed me a cup of coffee. I drank it after it cooled down a bit, it tasted fine and got me vibrating at a nice frequency.
I hate phony refunds, but that's the only way this guy knows to get attention from me. He wants attention but he also wants to boss me around and tell me how to run my business "You need to get a better honeybun".
Or my favorite "Got anything free?"
1. He makes more than Ron and I put together.
2. If I had something free, I wouldn't give it to him. He would just complain about it anyway.
Frustrating. BUT he's only one man.
I finished snacks and helped Ron with the bottled vendor. He had done cans pretty well by himself.
Somewhere in there, Dr Pepper came and delivered 40 cases of soda. He put them up by himself, thank you very much.
Could he get in trouble if I said I? I won't take a chance. I was appreciative.
Ron approved.
The repairman came next to clean our compressors. If they can "breathe", the machine works. If they get clogged up with lint (tons of dust and lint at the facility), they don't. A new compressor is very expen$ive. Smarter to pay a few bucks every year or two for preventive.
If I were able to drive, and I had a decent income, I like to think I'd be the type of driver who would do PM (preventive maintenance) on my vehicle. But maybe I wouldn't.
My Dad once told me he "ran out of oil on the freeway" and "cracked a block". Ouch.
To paraphrase Mr Hermann, who founded a huge charity hospital, "Cars are expensive". He actually said "Wives".
Then the boss lady came and gave us a good review. I was glad I had busted my butt stocking.
She talked a little about the conference, coming up. It will be in San Antonio. If last year is any indicator we will need to find our own way there.
Well, there's always Greyhound. I don't think Amtrak has a route.
Anyway, dinner approaches so I'm going to head out. I'll let you know how it was.
I already took my pills hours ago at work, so I shouldn't get sick. BBQ can be pretty tricky for me at these doses.
Instead, I have a bad night of sleep, a 2 AM wakeup, and a ride to work with a man watching a podcast from Cameroon, on his cell phone, as he drove us to work.
Yeah, it was that kind of day, and it's only 3PM.
I got up with a headache. I took some aspirin with a mountain dew and that seemed to help. I don't think I will have to worry about blood clots. I don't take so much aspirin I worry about bleeding, but I sure don't worry about blood clots. I take maybe 6 doses a week.
I did my shower and then my God Time. Happily, I did not need to shave my legs. A 4-bladed razor, Mountain Dew, and 2 in the morning are not a good combo!
God Time went well. Prayed for everyone, including you.
If you aren't a friend of Jesus just see it as me "sending out good thoughts to The Universe on your behalf".
Anyway. Did that. Ate one of my much better, new, protein bars. I am glad I got them. I took my meds and they didn't aggravate the headache.
Maybe they do that if I'm not eating enough in the morning. I didn't think of that.
Then our ride came and we had the excitement. He seemed to be a good driver aside from the podcast thing. Which is kind of like saying the serial killer used anesthetic!
We got to work and I got to stocking. The boss lady was coming to do our review. I wanted the machines to look OK.
I did that and loaded the coffee machine. I had a phony refund.
Now, I might have thought, oh, poor thing, he just couldn't figure it out, but he knows how to operate the machine.
It started with him shoving a dollar in my face while I was working. "What do you want?" I asked politely. I thought maybe he wanted something I had in the machine I was servicing.
"Guess" he said.
"I don't guess" I replied. "Let me know when you're ready to tell.."
"QUARTERS!"
"The changer is right here." He knew this. I guess I was supposed to put up the tray, take out the coin bucket, fish around for quarters, and then hand them over.
He used the changer.
He came back a little later claiming the coffee machine had "ripped him off" for a dollar. I gave him the dollar (even though I suspected he was just "holding us up") and checked the machine after he left.
He had put it into "ordering menu" but "forgotten" to put any money in the machine. I got some quarters and tested it. Maybe it had a coin jam? No coin jam and it brewed me a cup of coffee. I drank it after it cooled down a bit, it tasted fine and got me vibrating at a nice frequency.
I hate phony refunds, but that's the only way this guy knows to get attention from me. He wants attention but he also wants to boss me around and tell me how to run my business "You need to get a better honeybun".
Or my favorite "Got anything free?"
1. He makes more than Ron and I put together.
2. If I had something free, I wouldn't give it to him. He would just complain about it anyway.
Frustrating. BUT he's only one man.
I finished snacks and helped Ron with the bottled vendor. He had done cans pretty well by himself.
Somewhere in there, Dr Pepper came and delivered 40 cases of soda. He put them up by himself, thank you very much.
Could he get in trouble if I said I? I won't take a chance. I was appreciative.
Ron approved.
The repairman came next to clean our compressors. If they can "breathe", the machine works. If they get clogged up with lint (tons of dust and lint at the facility), they don't. A new compressor is very expen$ive. Smarter to pay a few bucks every year or two for preventive.
If I were able to drive, and I had a decent income, I like to think I'd be the type of driver who would do PM (preventive maintenance) on my vehicle. But maybe I wouldn't.
My Dad once told me he "ran out of oil on the freeway" and "cracked a block". Ouch.
To paraphrase Mr Hermann, who founded a huge charity hospital, "Cars are expensive". He actually said "Wives".
Then the boss lady came and gave us a good review. I was glad I had busted my butt stocking.
She talked a little about the conference, coming up. It will be in San Antonio. If last year is any indicator we will need to find our own way there.
Well, there's always Greyhound. I don't think Amtrak has a route.
Anyway, dinner approaches so I'm going to head out. I'll let you know how it was.
I already took my pills hours ago at work, so I shouldn't get sick. BBQ can be pretty tricky for me at these doses.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Beauty brush
This morning I realized I am becoming what I don't like: negative.
I don't want to turn into Ron. Admittedly, it's hard, because I am fed a steady diet of negativity, complaints, and pessimism. It's hard to withstand at times, especially when I am already battling a horrific depression, headache, etc.
But still.
I woke up about 1 AM with a headache. I took the last of my Aspirin and washed it down with some cold diet soda. That reminds me, I need to put the aspirin into the medicine cabinet. OK, I did that. I even took off the safety seal and took out the cotton.
I am (ha ha) never going to get a blood clot with all the aspirin I take. Doc approves.
I got up later and took a painkiller with caffeine, drinking another cold soda. For whatever reason, it helps to drink something cold and sweet when I am suffering from a headache.
I took my shower and did my God Time, still pretty depressed. I ate a terrible energy bar just to have something onboard.
We went to Walmart, we had a pretty good ride with a guy from Sudan. He said a lot of people are addicted to prescriptions.
I didn't really get into the whole mood stabilizer/psycho off my meds bit because he would probably figure that confirmed it: you get ugly when you don't have your medicine, you are addicted.
No, I am literally insane off my medication and suffer horrible side effects when I take it. If I could stop all this, I would, but for now I can't.
I got a kiddie cart and loaded Ron, put my reusable bags underneath, and went shopping. I got my medication, checking it to make sure it was my medication. One time they gave me Harriet's medication. She and I have the same last name, same birth date, different years. I make sure to emphasize the birth year when I give them my information.
Haldol
Lithium
Wellbutrin
and Depakote.
Yeah, I had it all. I paid the $62 and left. When I talk to Doc again, I need to ask him to please put me back on 3 month refills. They are a lot cheaper per dose. Not to mention, it give me a little more wiggle room before I run out. They have to send out for the prescription anyway, so they might as well.
I got some breakfast bars (a lot better than the horrible thing I ate this morning), a plug in room freshener, Food: soymilk, some cereal, yogurt and cottage cheese. I got drink mix, mostly decaf lemon diet tea. I love the stuff and have to restrain myself drinking it. I got Diet Mountain Dew and batteries.
I also got: brushes. The cats are shedding a lot and I want to brush them. I got a human "beauty" brush designed for black women and a pet brush designed for pets. The beauty brush had softer bristles.
I also got some weatherstripping for the patio door. When they fixed it, I had a small gap on the top half. So I wanted to fix that so I didn't have bugs and air leaks.
I did figure the air leaks would not be as bad as what I had with my old front door, though.
I got a few other things I forget, and 10 packages of Icebreakers Sours for Ron, because he is addicted. He paid for them himself.
I also talked to him about the trail mix in the jar. I explained it made loud rattling noises as he tipped it back and forth, eating it in bed. That it woke me up. He was very apologetic (probably because he was sober) and asked me what I wanted instead.
I bought him a 2 pound bag of trail mix in a zip top plastic bag. He likes it, loves it in fact. He can eat it without making noise and disturbing me. Good.
It is so much easier to talk to Ron in the morning.
Of course, that is usually my worst time of day.
I ate a breakfast thing from Mc Donald's and decided to go ahead and take the rest of my pills for the day. To quote Doc "I don't care when you take it, as long as you take it everyday." I raided my new pill stash to do that.
We came home, I put away the perishables, fixed the weatherstripping, and took a nap. I had a pretty good nap, we had some thunderstorms come though. I like them when we aren't flooding.
I got up and did some computer work, a little organizing, and went over my receipt. I got the brushes and tried to brush Torbie.
She flinched when she saw the hairbrush in my hand, which made me VERY angry. Someone had beat her with a hairbrush. I can't come up with an expletive to truly describe how I feel about that.
She is a lovely, loving, cat with impeccable litter box habits. I can only assume the beating was related to her habit of chewing on headphone cords.
I let her smell it and gently approached her from the side. I gave her a little brush. She smelled it. I gave her a bigger stroke. She smelled it again, as she began to relax. I gave her a good brushing.
Now Biscuit was interested. I let him smell the brush for a while and brushed him. Biscuit has a thinner coat so he doesn't need as much. When I was finished, I had a "beauty brush" full of cat hair.
I used an old comb to get it all out and petted both cats. They have all been shedding a lot and I don't want them to get hairballs.
Someone yaked up a hairball under the kitchen table, but I was able to clean that with a disinfecting wipe. Hopefully I can prevent more.
Have you ever heard a cat with a hairball? They sound miserable. I always tell them to barf for Mommy, go ahead, and gently stroke them if I can.
Then some computer time and watching TV.
Tomorrow I get up VERY early, go to work, and receive a delivery. Not only that the boss is coming so I have to deal with that.
I hope it's just a review. I hope it is a good review.
I don't want to turn into Ron. Admittedly, it's hard, because I am fed a steady diet of negativity, complaints, and pessimism. It's hard to withstand at times, especially when I am already battling a horrific depression, headache, etc.
But still.
I woke up about 1 AM with a headache. I took the last of my Aspirin and washed it down with some cold diet soda. That reminds me, I need to put the aspirin into the medicine cabinet. OK, I did that. I even took off the safety seal and took out the cotton.
I am (ha ha) never going to get a blood clot with all the aspirin I take. Doc approves.
I got up later and took a painkiller with caffeine, drinking another cold soda. For whatever reason, it helps to drink something cold and sweet when I am suffering from a headache.
I took my shower and did my God Time, still pretty depressed. I ate a terrible energy bar just to have something onboard.
We went to Walmart, we had a pretty good ride with a guy from Sudan. He said a lot of people are addicted to prescriptions.
I didn't really get into the whole mood stabilizer/psycho off my meds bit because he would probably figure that confirmed it: you get ugly when you don't have your medicine, you are addicted.
No, I am literally insane off my medication and suffer horrible side effects when I take it. If I could stop all this, I would, but for now I can't.
I got a kiddie cart and loaded Ron, put my reusable bags underneath, and went shopping. I got my medication, checking it to make sure it was my medication. One time they gave me Harriet's medication. She and I have the same last name, same birth date, different years. I make sure to emphasize the birth year when I give them my information.
Haldol
Lithium
Wellbutrin
and Depakote.
Yeah, I had it all. I paid the $62 and left. When I talk to Doc again, I need to ask him to please put me back on 3 month refills. They are a lot cheaper per dose. Not to mention, it give me a little more wiggle room before I run out. They have to send out for the prescription anyway, so they might as well.
I got some breakfast bars (a lot better than the horrible thing I ate this morning), a plug in room freshener, Food: soymilk, some cereal, yogurt and cottage cheese. I got drink mix, mostly decaf lemon diet tea. I love the stuff and have to restrain myself drinking it. I got Diet Mountain Dew and batteries.
I also got: brushes. The cats are shedding a lot and I want to brush them. I got a human "beauty" brush designed for black women and a pet brush designed for pets. The beauty brush had softer bristles.
I also got some weatherstripping for the patio door. When they fixed it, I had a small gap on the top half. So I wanted to fix that so I didn't have bugs and air leaks.
I did figure the air leaks would not be as bad as what I had with my old front door, though.
I got a few other things I forget, and 10 packages of Icebreakers Sours for Ron, because he is addicted. He paid for them himself.
I also talked to him about the trail mix in the jar. I explained it made loud rattling noises as he tipped it back and forth, eating it in bed. That it woke me up. He was very apologetic (probably because he was sober) and asked me what I wanted instead.
I bought him a 2 pound bag of trail mix in a zip top plastic bag. He likes it, loves it in fact. He can eat it without making noise and disturbing me. Good.
It is so much easier to talk to Ron in the morning.
Of course, that is usually my worst time of day.
I ate a breakfast thing from Mc Donald's and decided to go ahead and take the rest of my pills for the day. To quote Doc "I don't care when you take it, as long as you take it everyday." I raided my new pill stash to do that.
We came home, I put away the perishables, fixed the weatherstripping, and took a nap. I had a pretty good nap, we had some thunderstorms come though. I like them when we aren't flooding.
I got up and did some computer work, a little organizing, and went over my receipt. I got the brushes and tried to brush Torbie.
She flinched when she saw the hairbrush in my hand, which made me VERY angry. Someone had beat her with a hairbrush. I can't come up with an expletive to truly describe how I feel about that.
She is a lovely, loving, cat with impeccable litter box habits. I can only assume the beating was related to her habit of chewing on headphone cords.
I let her smell it and gently approached her from the side. I gave her a little brush. She smelled it. I gave her a bigger stroke. She smelled it again, as she began to relax. I gave her a good brushing.
Now Biscuit was interested. I let him smell the brush for a while and brushed him. Biscuit has a thinner coat so he doesn't need as much. When I was finished, I had a "beauty brush" full of cat hair.
I used an old comb to get it all out and petted both cats. They have all been shedding a lot and I don't want them to get hairballs.
Someone yaked up a hairball under the kitchen table, but I was able to clean that with a disinfecting wipe. Hopefully I can prevent more.
Have you ever heard a cat with a hairball? They sound miserable. I always tell them to barf for Mommy, go ahead, and gently stroke them if I can.
Then some computer time and watching TV.
Tomorrow I get up VERY early, go to work, and receive a delivery. Not only that the boss is coming so I have to deal with that.
I hope it's just a review. I hope it is a good review.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
"I should make you get naked for this"
Today I read a comment on Facebook "No one understands what it's like to be tired. Only parents understand."
I beg to differ. I am constantly fatigued. I wake up exhausted. I only have energy when I'm manic and that's on top of the exhaustion.
Not to mention, you chose to be a parent, unless, as Ron thinks, "All kids are 'accidents'". He can't fathom someone planning a pregnancy unless it's to "trap" someone. So, when you choose to be a parent, if you're online, you know you are going to be pretty tired a lot of the time. But, based on what I see in the neighborhood - parents running around with their kids, they can't be all that tired. At the end of it, they chose to be parents and would not want that taken away from them.
I, however, did not choose to be ill. I have to take toxic medication that exhausts me. I keep yawning just writing about this. I battle horrific, taxing, depressions that wipe me out. Then I have to take fatigue producing medication on top of that. It gives me severe, chronic, daily headaches and frequent migraines.
And you (speaking figuratively) get a tax deduction. Great. You get someone to love you. I get abcesses and migraines. You can drive. My caregiving will never end, yours will. In fact, every year that passes by your child requires less and less ongoing physical care, and at one point your child will end up taking care of you.
Please don't cry about "your difficulties". Now, if you are a parent with severe depression you have my sympathies. Parents with newborns, parents with multiples, I get it. But if you have a 7 year old and a 15 year old please don't tell me I don't understand "tired".
I am a bipolar, "schitzo", brain-damaged caregiver, responsible for a very disabled special needs man who is blind, hearing impaired, traumatic head injury, "stroked out", bad back, and very mobility impaired. Oh, and he's an alcoholic. He gets a little worse every year. You want to talk tired? Really?
Trust me, you wouldn't want to switch.
Why am I in such a bad mood?
I woke up, slept OK, but really depressed. Praise God no headache, I have had so many lately I'm almost out of aspirin (which is what my pharmacist suggested).
Our driver was 15 minutes early, honked like a lousy boyfriend who won't come in and meet the parents, and banging on the door like a bill collector when that "didn't work". I finally opened the door a crack, to the delight of the cats, and told her we would be out by the pickup time. She got all huffy at me and tried to act as though she were just 'informing' me she was here.
He's blind. I'm not. I saw you. We both heard you. We know you're there.
When we came out she put the car in reverse as she filled out the paperwork. It makes a really annoying "backup" beep when you do that. It is loud and very penetrating. When Ron complained she backed all the way down the street to the corner and then left.
It got better. Our next pickup was 3 miles away, literally. She drove the scenic route as mandated by her GPS and took us 13 miles out of the way, taking the longest possible route one could take and still head for the destination.
Then she fiddled around with the straps in the back for several minutes "tying down the groceries" and creating yet another earsplitting safety alarm. We dropped that customer off and had to endure the "safety scream" again as she undid it all.
I understand the safety features are there in case the wheelchair becomes unfastened during transit. That would be Very Bad. But AGH! Hurry it up already!
I rudely stuck my fingers in my ears in silent protest. Ron said he couldn't hear it if he turned his head "right", which, to me, indicates the depth of his hearing loss. A person ought to be able to hear that no matter how they turned their head.
I have, by the way, begged him to see a hearing specialist. His response "What if they mess it up and I lose more hearing?" This is the same reason he refuses to get the joint replaced in his hand. I tried to tell him the most they would do is clean some wax and then run tests, but he won't hear it.
So, I have to get up and walk into the other room whenever he wants to talk, because he can't hear me. I don't talk about this much but I find it profoundly frustrating. If he really couldn't be helped, I'd live with it, but if help is available and you refuse it...
Ron just offered to see an ear doctor. If I didn't know better I'd say he was reading the blog as I typed.
Next, we had to pick up a lady in a wheelchair, with another safety scream as she strapped the wheelchair down so it wouldn't move.
We did drive past the Brisket House, which I hear has spectacular food. They had 3 hour long lines at their other location. That's some good food! We will see - I want to check it out.
Finally, we got to Taco Bell. All I wanted was a Crunchwrap, some cinnamon things, and a large diet beverage. I settled Ron at the table with our driver, who was eating something off the dollar menu.
I went to the counter to order. A woman stood in front of me, looking annoyed. I saw one manager and one employee in the back, doing busy work and avoiding us.
I would never do that to a customer. Never. The customer gives you money, you don't treat them like an inconvenience.
After about 5 minutes I asked her if they knew we were here. "He took my order" she replied with annoyance.
I waited another couple minutes, watching the manager. He was deliberately avoiding us.
"Hello!" I yelled into the back.
"I'm coming." he said with massive annoyance. We waited another 5 minutes.
He told her the total and looked at me, annoyed. I was clearly "The trouble maker" and the "problem".
I began to order. He interrupted me and said "We're out of eggs".
What?
He basically told me I had to order something without eggs because they were out of eggs - forever - because someone came by and made a big order.
It's breakfast rush. You should have had another bag of eggs in the warmer. I used to be an opener for Taco Bell, about 20 years ago, I know how it works.
Failing that, you should say "I'm sorry, we don't have eggs right now, but we will have more in 15 minutes if you can wait." You don't just refuse business.
I was so disgusted I walked over to Ron and said "We're leaving". Our driver wanted to know what I had ordered and kept telling me they had eggs for him. It didn't help.
We went to a local taqueria. I told him (the boss) what had happened and asked if he had eggs. He laughed and said yes, of course. I thought that a "proper" response.
I wanted a quesadilla with eggs and cheese, but it's not on the menu and she waitress didn't understand. She is, however, very nice, so I settled for "on the side" scrambled eggs and a cheese quesadilla. It was good.
Ron got Chilaquiles, which is probably a contender for "ugliest breakfast ever" but he loves them and didn't get any on his clothes. Our driver choked when the waitress set the food down, left, and I told Ron "I should make you get naked for this". So he wouldn't drop food all over his clothes. We do that at home.
But, he did fine. I nearly dripped cheese grease on my clothes but I caught it in time. Our driver ate the free tortilla chips. He's not a real fan of Mexican food.
At one point in the meal Ron's cell phone started yelling DRUGS DRUGS DRUGS. I thought it was funny. It was the pharmacy. That's what Ron called them in the phone book. I don't know why they call him but he usually makes the trip to go get them, so it works out.
I watched a telenovela on a screen in the corner. A cross-dressing, "transgendered" (presumably, my Spanish isn't that good and the volume was down) boy was in trouble. As we left, he had apparently threatened suicide and the family was having hysterics. I thought they only pulled that programming in America.
Our driver had brought alcohol for Ron - 3 boxes of wine and a bottle of cheap Vodka. I wasn't happy but at least he is drinking the cheap stuff.
We came home, I was exhausted. Since I had eaten a big meal I took all my meds at one, after spilling the AM stuff on the floor.
I picked it all up and took it. Happily Biscuit didn't try to "help".
I went to bed. I was exhausted. Ron made some noise and we had the garbage truck making the rounds in the subdivision. It wasn't the most restful nap I've had.
I finally woke up because Ron had mentioned he wanted to go out on the Catio when I got up. I didn't want to block him from that, but he seems happy lying in his bed now.
He didn't. He told me he had called corporate "on" the Taco Bell and suggested they send a secret shopper. That's really the best way to do it. Send a secret shopper and let them "tattle". They aren't going to believe some random caller.
I'm just starting to hate that store. I only go because it's close to the post office and I can leave Ron there with something to eat.
I got online for a while which is where I read the stuff about "No one understands tired like a parent". Well, as far as I know, every parent I know has chosen to keep their baby.
If I could get rid of my illness, I would do it!
I beg to differ. I am constantly fatigued. I wake up exhausted. I only have energy when I'm manic and that's on top of the exhaustion.
Not to mention, you chose to be a parent, unless, as Ron thinks, "All kids are 'accidents'". He can't fathom someone planning a pregnancy unless it's to "trap" someone. So, when you choose to be a parent, if you're online, you know you are going to be pretty tired a lot of the time. But, based on what I see in the neighborhood - parents running around with their kids, they can't be all that tired. At the end of it, they chose to be parents and would not want that taken away from them.
I, however, did not choose to be ill. I have to take toxic medication that exhausts me. I keep yawning just writing about this. I battle horrific, taxing, depressions that wipe me out. Then I have to take fatigue producing medication on top of that. It gives me severe, chronic, daily headaches and frequent migraines.
And you (speaking figuratively) get a tax deduction. Great. You get someone to love you. I get abcesses and migraines. You can drive. My caregiving will never end, yours will. In fact, every year that passes by your child requires less and less ongoing physical care, and at one point your child will end up taking care of you.
Please don't cry about "your difficulties". Now, if you are a parent with severe depression you have my sympathies. Parents with newborns, parents with multiples, I get it. But if you have a 7 year old and a 15 year old please don't tell me I don't understand "tired".
I am a bipolar, "schitzo", brain-damaged caregiver, responsible for a very disabled special needs man who is blind, hearing impaired, traumatic head injury, "stroked out", bad back, and very mobility impaired. Oh, and he's an alcoholic. He gets a little worse every year. You want to talk tired? Really?
Trust me, you wouldn't want to switch.
Why am I in such a bad mood?
I woke up, slept OK, but really depressed. Praise God no headache, I have had so many lately I'm almost out of aspirin (which is what my pharmacist suggested).
Our driver was 15 minutes early, honked like a lousy boyfriend who won't come in and meet the parents, and banging on the door like a bill collector when that "didn't work". I finally opened the door a crack, to the delight of the cats, and told her we would be out by the pickup time. She got all huffy at me and tried to act as though she were just 'informing' me she was here.
He's blind. I'm not. I saw you. We both heard you. We know you're there.
When we came out she put the car in reverse as she filled out the paperwork. It makes a really annoying "backup" beep when you do that. It is loud and very penetrating. When Ron complained she backed all the way down the street to the corner and then left.
It got better. Our next pickup was 3 miles away, literally. She drove the scenic route as mandated by her GPS and took us 13 miles out of the way, taking the longest possible route one could take and still head for the destination.
Then she fiddled around with the straps in the back for several minutes "tying down the groceries" and creating yet another earsplitting safety alarm. We dropped that customer off and had to endure the "safety scream" again as she undid it all.
I understand the safety features are there in case the wheelchair becomes unfastened during transit. That would be Very Bad. But AGH! Hurry it up already!
I rudely stuck my fingers in my ears in silent protest. Ron said he couldn't hear it if he turned his head "right", which, to me, indicates the depth of his hearing loss. A person ought to be able to hear that no matter how they turned their head.
I have, by the way, begged him to see a hearing specialist. His response "What if they mess it up and I lose more hearing?" This is the same reason he refuses to get the joint replaced in his hand. I tried to tell him the most they would do is clean some wax and then run tests, but he won't hear it.
So, I have to get up and walk into the other room whenever he wants to talk, because he can't hear me. I don't talk about this much but I find it profoundly frustrating. If he really couldn't be helped, I'd live with it, but if help is available and you refuse it...
Ron just offered to see an ear doctor. If I didn't know better I'd say he was reading the blog as I typed.
Next, we had to pick up a lady in a wheelchair, with another safety scream as she strapped the wheelchair down so it wouldn't move.
We did drive past the Brisket House, which I hear has spectacular food. They had 3 hour long lines at their other location. That's some good food! We will see - I want to check it out.
Finally, we got to Taco Bell. All I wanted was a Crunchwrap, some cinnamon things, and a large diet beverage. I settled Ron at the table with our driver, who was eating something off the dollar menu.
I went to the counter to order. A woman stood in front of me, looking annoyed. I saw one manager and one employee in the back, doing busy work and avoiding us.
I would never do that to a customer. Never. The customer gives you money, you don't treat them like an inconvenience.
After about 5 minutes I asked her if they knew we were here. "He took my order" she replied with annoyance.
I waited another couple minutes, watching the manager. He was deliberately avoiding us.
"Hello!" I yelled into the back.
"I'm coming." he said with massive annoyance. We waited another 5 minutes.
He told her the total and looked at me, annoyed. I was clearly "The trouble maker" and the "problem".
I began to order. He interrupted me and said "We're out of eggs".
What?
He basically told me I had to order something without eggs because they were out of eggs - forever - because someone came by and made a big order.
It's breakfast rush. You should have had another bag of eggs in the warmer. I used to be an opener for Taco Bell, about 20 years ago, I know how it works.
Failing that, you should say "I'm sorry, we don't have eggs right now, but we will have more in 15 minutes if you can wait." You don't just refuse business.
I was so disgusted I walked over to Ron and said "We're leaving". Our driver wanted to know what I had ordered and kept telling me they had eggs for him. It didn't help.
We went to a local taqueria. I told him (the boss) what had happened and asked if he had eggs. He laughed and said yes, of course. I thought that a "proper" response.
I wanted a quesadilla with eggs and cheese, but it's not on the menu and she waitress didn't understand. She is, however, very nice, so I settled for "on the side" scrambled eggs and a cheese quesadilla. It was good.
Ron got Chilaquiles, which is probably a contender for "ugliest breakfast ever" but he loves them and didn't get any on his clothes. Our driver choked when the waitress set the food down, left, and I told Ron "I should make you get naked for this". So he wouldn't drop food all over his clothes. We do that at home.
But, he did fine. I nearly dripped cheese grease on my clothes but I caught it in time. Our driver ate the free tortilla chips. He's not a real fan of Mexican food.
At one point in the meal Ron's cell phone started yelling DRUGS DRUGS DRUGS. I thought it was funny. It was the pharmacy. That's what Ron called them in the phone book. I don't know why they call him but he usually makes the trip to go get them, so it works out.
I watched a telenovela on a screen in the corner. A cross-dressing, "transgendered" (presumably, my Spanish isn't that good and the volume was down) boy was in trouble. As we left, he had apparently threatened suicide and the family was having hysterics. I thought they only pulled that programming in America.
Our driver had brought alcohol for Ron - 3 boxes of wine and a bottle of cheap Vodka. I wasn't happy but at least he is drinking the cheap stuff.
We came home, I was exhausted. Since I had eaten a big meal I took all my meds at one, after spilling the AM stuff on the floor.
I picked it all up and took it. Happily Biscuit didn't try to "help".
I went to bed. I was exhausted. Ron made some noise and we had the garbage truck making the rounds in the subdivision. It wasn't the most restful nap I've had.
I finally woke up because Ron had mentioned he wanted to go out on the Catio when I got up. I didn't want to block him from that, but he seems happy lying in his bed now.
He didn't. He told me he had called corporate "on" the Taco Bell and suggested they send a secret shopper. That's really the best way to do it. Send a secret shopper and let them "tattle". They aren't going to believe some random caller.
I'm just starting to hate that store. I only go because it's close to the post office and I can leave Ron there with something to eat.
I got online for a while which is where I read the stuff about "No one understands tired like a parent". Well, as far as I know, every parent I know has chosen to keep their baby.
If I could get rid of my illness, I would do it!
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Cool stuff you might want at $20 each
I lost something (it happens) and in the process of searching for it I found my Kindle, with a run down battery. Not a big deal.
Why? Because I have a portable USB charger. I plugged it in, got the device charged, and it got me thinking about a post on useful stuff you might want. It can also charge my cell phone and tablet.
What is it? A Pocket Juice. I have that exact one sitting right next to me, charging off my computer. It runs about $20. I got mine at Walmart.
What else? How about a Stun Gun? Because life sucks and there are Bad People. No, I have never used it on Ron, although I've been tempted.
I have this one, except in purple. Vipertek stun gun
It has a flashlight in addition to the stun gun, runs about $20. Happily I have never had to use it, but if it's legal in your area I would get one. It never hurts to have one around.
You know I talk about preparedness now and then. My experience: no one is coming to save you. You are on your own.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a water filter?
See, what people don't know, after a flood or other natural disaster, sometimes you end up with a "boil order" - the tap water isn't safe to drink unless it is boiled. That is a huge hassle, I found out after Hurricane Ike. Ron kept screaming the house smelled funny.
He didn't seem to care we would die of thirst, if I didn't boil the water, he just wanted me to shut off that burner!
I wish I'd had this: Sawyer Mini. It's a super awesome, $20, water filter. It is very highly rated and very easy to use. I could have had my water without "stinking up the house". You can occasionally find these at Walmart in the camping area, or there's always Amazon.
Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed our little shopping trip.
Why? Because I have a portable USB charger. I plugged it in, got the device charged, and it got me thinking about a post on useful stuff you might want. It can also charge my cell phone and tablet.
What is it? A Pocket Juice. I have that exact one sitting right next to me, charging off my computer. It runs about $20. I got mine at Walmart.
What else? How about a Stun Gun? Because life sucks and there are Bad People. No, I have never used it on Ron, although I've been tempted.
I have this one, except in purple. Vipertek stun gun
It has a flashlight in addition to the stun gun, runs about $20. Happily I have never had to use it, but if it's legal in your area I would get one. It never hurts to have one around.
You know I talk about preparedness now and then. My experience: no one is coming to save you. You are on your own.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a water filter?
See, what people don't know, after a flood or other natural disaster, sometimes you end up with a "boil order" - the tap water isn't safe to drink unless it is boiled. That is a huge hassle, I found out after Hurricane Ike. Ron kept screaming the house smelled funny.
He didn't seem to care we would die of thirst, if I didn't boil the water, he just wanted me to shut off that burner!
I wish I'd had this: Sawyer Mini. It's a super awesome, $20, water filter. It is very highly rated and very easy to use. I could have had my water without "stinking up the house". You can occasionally find these at Walmart in the camping area, or there's always Amazon.
Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed our little shopping trip.
"You have got to tone it down"
I'm sorry. Today is going to be difficult.
First, let me take a moment to be thankful for the good things in my life. I have a comfortable bed, good storage underneath, a nice little home I love, I live in Houston! The best city ever!, I have good public transit, my illness is pretty well managed (per my doctor, who I am also thankful for), I have a job I excel at, even with my troubles; the depression never lasts forever, I have wonderful cats, they use their boxes and enjoy their food, I'm healthy, and I could go on forever.
That said, today was difficult. I drank some milk last night. Apparently, I am now lactose intolerant, as I dealt with wracking abdominal pains for hours last night - horrible crampings, as I swore I'd eat more fiber and never consume another drop of milk again. I didn't have any other symptoms so I am certain it was the milk.
I finally fell asleep. I did not sleep well and I woke up with a headache. I took something, missed my God Time, and took a shower.
We went to the warehouse. I got some snack items I needed to ensure we had enough to last the next couple days.
Like I tell Ron "They never complain when we are out of Coke" but God help us if I run out of Milky way, or Cheetos.
While waiting, Ron launched into a bitter tirade of complaints about God. He is very angry God is "making" him stay on earth and basically thinks if he has a big enough, long enough, tantrum God will change His plans and come back sooner.
"It doesn't work like that" I told him. I also told him to please watch the negative tone. He told me to shut up.
Today, I told him literally "I woke up with a head..."
"Be quiet! You are too negative!" He bleated "I don't want to hear it!" Yet, if I say the same thing he launches into tantrum/cursing/personal attack mode.
"You can't shit in my mouth and call it pudding!" he screamed at one point.
"What am I doing?" I asked him. "I'm the only one who helps you."
Our ride picked us up to go to work. She was playing praise music and the lady in the front seat was a Christian, she wanted to get her praise on. She and Ron got into an immediate conflict because he wanted to whine about God's timeline and "forcing him to stay on Earth" (when he's with me he will say "With all these people")
At the end of it, she scolded him for complaining and he almost got ugly with her, but I managed to restrain him. I asked her to pray for me and she said she would.
We got to work.
"God is torturing me [with life on Earth]" Ron complained. "Don't try to shut me up. I'm going to keep complaining until He comes back"
"So" I replied "You're just going to crap all over everyone until He takes you?" At that point, we were at work, and he told me to go on ahead.
This is the really frustrating thing about work. I left him and headed to our area. He knows how to get there. One woman stormed up to me, all upset I have "abandoned him to walk on his own".
"He's acting like an asshole" I replied.
"Still...."
"I told him so, and he wanted to walk by himself." I was very upset, almost in tears. She could see I was telling the truth.
Ron is used to manipulating the situation so I look like "the bad guy" but, had I stayed, he would have launched into more vicious verbal attacks and very well could have hit me. And, in his mind, it would have been "My fault' because I didn't leave him when he asked.
He got to our area just fine, after all.
Ugh. I ignored him when I got to our area, setting up and getting to work on snacks, which needed some work.
I'm sorry for all the negativity, but I swear, I would have a nervous breakdown if I didn't have you.
Later on, when we left, he did the same thing "Go on ahead". I warned one of the police officers to move and he got an attitude. "He will" I told him "Run into you" (the way the man was standing assured it).
He said something basically implying I must be having a bad day. Yes, I told him, but he will still run into you if you don't move.
He moved. After I left, before Ron arrived.
When we got to the bus stop area I told Ron I worry about him saying the wrong thing to the wrong person and getting us thrown out of the building. "You just said [a customer] could go to hell."
"I said that to you" he replied. "I can talk to you."
"Ron" I told him "No one can take a steady diet of this, especially someone who already has problems with depression. You have got to tone it down."
I actually suggested he get counseling. Personally, I think he needs AA, counseling, and antidepressants.
He got quiet and did a lot of muttering, but at least he behaved on the way home.
In fact, I got a neighbor driving us. All he wanted to do was complain about the homeowner's association and how he felt everything was going to hell in the subdivision. I wanted to tell Ron "See, how do you feel about this? This is how people feel when you go on the way you do!"
I was exhausted and still battling my headache. My digestion was pretty weird and I didn't want to eat.
I just wanted to go to bed. And Ron decided he wanted to go out on the catio. He woke me up exiting, and he woke me up coming back in. He left the door open because I have the only key.
Then he made some more noise, and #6 brought in a lot of groceries and kept banging their front door, it was not a good nap.
I woke up with a renewed headache. I drank a cold Diet Dr Pepper and took some of my aspirin. It appears I am almost out of aspirin. I need to check. I have other things I can take but I don't like to be on my last anything.
Oh, what a day. Thank you for listening.
First, let me take a moment to be thankful for the good things in my life. I have a comfortable bed, good storage underneath, a nice little home I love, I live in Houston! The best city ever!, I have good public transit, my illness is pretty well managed (per my doctor, who I am also thankful for), I have a job I excel at, even with my troubles; the depression never lasts forever, I have wonderful cats, they use their boxes and enjoy their food, I'm healthy, and I could go on forever.
That said, today was difficult. I drank some milk last night. Apparently, I am now lactose intolerant, as I dealt with wracking abdominal pains for hours last night - horrible crampings, as I swore I'd eat more fiber and never consume another drop of milk again. I didn't have any other symptoms so I am certain it was the milk.
I finally fell asleep. I did not sleep well and I woke up with a headache. I took something, missed my God Time, and took a shower.
We went to the warehouse. I got some snack items I needed to ensure we had enough to last the next couple days.
Like I tell Ron "They never complain when we are out of Coke" but God help us if I run out of Milky way, or Cheetos.
While waiting, Ron launched into a bitter tirade of complaints about God. He is very angry God is "making" him stay on earth and basically thinks if he has a big enough, long enough, tantrum God will change His plans and come back sooner.
"It doesn't work like that" I told him. I also told him to please watch the negative tone. He told me to shut up.
Today, I told him literally "I woke up with a head..."
"Be quiet! You are too negative!" He bleated "I don't want to hear it!" Yet, if I say the same thing he launches into tantrum/cursing/personal attack mode.
"You can't shit in my mouth and call it pudding!" he screamed at one point.
"What am I doing?" I asked him. "I'm the only one who helps you."
Our ride picked us up to go to work. She was playing praise music and the lady in the front seat was a Christian, she wanted to get her praise on. She and Ron got into an immediate conflict because he wanted to whine about God's timeline and "forcing him to stay on Earth" (when he's with me he will say "With all these people")
At the end of it, she scolded him for complaining and he almost got ugly with her, but I managed to restrain him. I asked her to pray for me and she said she would.
We got to work.
"God is torturing me [with life on Earth]" Ron complained. "Don't try to shut me up. I'm going to keep complaining until He comes back"
"So" I replied "You're just going to crap all over everyone until He takes you?" At that point, we were at work, and he told me to go on ahead.
This is the really frustrating thing about work. I left him and headed to our area. He knows how to get there. One woman stormed up to me, all upset I have "abandoned him to walk on his own".
"He's acting like an asshole" I replied.
"Still...."
"I told him so, and he wanted to walk by himself." I was very upset, almost in tears. She could see I was telling the truth.
Ron is used to manipulating the situation so I look like "the bad guy" but, had I stayed, he would have launched into more vicious verbal attacks and very well could have hit me. And, in his mind, it would have been "My fault' because I didn't leave him when he asked.
He got to our area just fine, after all.
Ugh. I ignored him when I got to our area, setting up and getting to work on snacks, which needed some work.
I'm sorry for all the negativity, but I swear, I would have a nervous breakdown if I didn't have you.
Later on, when we left, he did the same thing "Go on ahead". I warned one of the police officers to move and he got an attitude. "He will" I told him "Run into you" (the way the man was standing assured it).
He said something basically implying I must be having a bad day. Yes, I told him, but he will still run into you if you don't move.
He moved. After I left, before Ron arrived.
When we got to the bus stop area I told Ron I worry about him saying the wrong thing to the wrong person and getting us thrown out of the building. "You just said [a customer] could go to hell."
"I said that to you" he replied. "I can talk to you."
"Ron" I told him "No one can take a steady diet of this, especially someone who already has problems with depression. You have got to tone it down."
I actually suggested he get counseling. Personally, I think he needs AA, counseling, and antidepressants.
He got quiet and did a lot of muttering, but at least he behaved on the way home.
In fact, I got a neighbor driving us. All he wanted to do was complain about the homeowner's association and how he felt everything was going to hell in the subdivision. I wanted to tell Ron "See, how do you feel about this? This is how people feel when you go on the way you do!"
I was exhausted and still battling my headache. My digestion was pretty weird and I didn't want to eat.
I just wanted to go to bed. And Ron decided he wanted to go out on the catio. He woke me up exiting, and he woke me up coming back in. He left the door open because I have the only key.
Then he made some more noise, and #6 brought in a lot of groceries and kept banging their front door, it was not a good nap.
I woke up with a renewed headache. I drank a cold Diet Dr Pepper and took some of my aspirin. It appears I am almost out of aspirin. I need to check. I have other things I can take but I don't like to be on my last anything.
Oh, what a day. Thank you for listening.
Monday, May 16, 2016
"I already did"
Monday. I was up half the night with a seriously teed-off bladder. I managed to overcome that, but I was up half the night drinking glasses of water, then peeing, going back to bed, up again to do same. Pretty exhausting.
I woke up at 4 AM oddly energized. I was a little manic. Good. I had a busy day. I got up, did my God Time, took my meds, ate, took a shower. So far so good!
Then the Haldol kicked in and killed the mania. Booo.
We went to work. I reprogrammed the bottled vendor and Ron kissed my hand in gratitude as the customers laughed. He stocked water in the rows I had just "done". I got the sandwich delivery and stocked it, made sure snacks would be OK until tomorrow (barely) and went to the warehouse with our driver.
It was raining. Of course. "I don't mind the rain" I told our driver "I just mind the spots on my glasses." After all, it was a fairly warm rain.
The warmest rain I've ever felt is hurricane rain. It feels like a hot shower in the morning.
We got there, I went in. I got everything on Ron's list and some stuff I needed (Hershey bars, Heath bars, some cookies, and granola bars - oh yeah, and peanut butter M&M's.). As I was leaving, I realized Ron hasn't asked for Coke!
I knew we needed bottled Coke. We were O U T. So I loaded the truck and went back in to buy 4 more cases.
Ron wasn't answering the phone so I did this all on my own. Then he called. "Get me 4" he said.
"I already did". He was relieved.
I had a heck of a time loading all the drinks (14 of them plus the snack items) onto one handcart (all I had available), but I did it. It was really fun rolling it into the building.
The store had Ozarka bottled water, in the 16.9. That's what we're selling for 75 cents. Pretty good deal, huh? So I had four, 40 count, 43 pound, cases of water on the cart, plus 3 bottled Sprites, 4 bottled Cokes, three bottled teas, and my snacks. Boy, that was a challenge pushing that up the ramp! Did it!
I will probably be a little stiff tomorrow, though.
Once we got in I took the cart over to the fridge and filled it up with the needed drinks. That took a while and cleared off about half the cart. The waters are really heavy.
I got everything going and finally done. We left. It was still raining a little but not hard.
We came home. #6 came home (I guess for lunch) at the same time we did. We said Hi.
I went in and went straight to bed. I was beat. I slept 3 hours and woke up with a headache. Now why of all things would I get a headache in the afternoon? I never get afternoon headaches, except today.
I had to take some OTC headache pills with caffeine. I hope they don't mess me up too much.
The caffeine kicked me out of the depression (which is why I am very careful not to abuse it, it would be totally easy to do so), so I decided to take Baby Girl for a walk. Ron had talked about this. So I decided to give it a try. I got the harness and put it on her. She was a pretty good sport.
Then we went outside. She mainly stood there looking around.
Eventually she started walking around. She went under the chair on the porch. I moved it. Then she went into the bushes. I pulled her back right as she rolled over on her back and twisted herself, slipping the harness (it was too loose!). I managed to catch her. Then I had to bring her in the house, right the chair on the porch, and hold the harness so I didn't lose $20 worth of gear. I did that. She was pretty cooperative as cats go.
Especially considering I had her on a leash. I have had cats that tried to give me hand surgery for that.
I came back in the house, turned on the computer, and did my thing. After I finish this post I will order some pizza online. I am a "club" member and this next pizza is free. Yay!
I woke up at 4 AM oddly energized. I was a little manic. Good. I had a busy day. I got up, did my God Time, took my meds, ate, took a shower. So far so good!
Then the Haldol kicked in and killed the mania. Booo.
We went to work. I reprogrammed the bottled vendor and Ron kissed my hand in gratitude as the customers laughed. He stocked water in the rows I had just "done". I got the sandwich delivery and stocked it, made sure snacks would be OK until tomorrow (barely) and went to the warehouse with our driver.
It was raining. Of course. "I don't mind the rain" I told our driver "I just mind the spots on my glasses." After all, it was a fairly warm rain.
The warmest rain I've ever felt is hurricane rain. It feels like a hot shower in the morning.
We got there, I went in. I got everything on Ron's list and some stuff I needed (Hershey bars, Heath bars, some cookies, and granola bars - oh yeah, and peanut butter M&M's.). As I was leaving, I realized Ron hasn't asked for Coke!
I knew we needed bottled Coke. We were O U T. So I loaded the truck and went back in to buy 4 more cases.
Ron wasn't answering the phone so I did this all on my own. Then he called. "Get me 4" he said.
"I already did". He was relieved.
I had a heck of a time loading all the drinks (14 of them plus the snack items) onto one handcart (all I had available), but I did it. It was really fun rolling it into the building.
The store had Ozarka bottled water, in the 16.9. That's what we're selling for 75 cents. Pretty good deal, huh? So I had four, 40 count, 43 pound, cases of water on the cart, plus 3 bottled Sprites, 4 bottled Cokes, three bottled teas, and my snacks. Boy, that was a challenge pushing that up the ramp! Did it!
I will probably be a little stiff tomorrow, though.
Once we got in I took the cart over to the fridge and filled it up with the needed drinks. That took a while and cleared off about half the cart. The waters are really heavy.
I got everything going and finally done. We left. It was still raining a little but not hard.
We came home. #6 came home (I guess for lunch) at the same time we did. We said Hi.
I went in and went straight to bed. I was beat. I slept 3 hours and woke up with a headache. Now why of all things would I get a headache in the afternoon? I never get afternoon headaches, except today.
I had to take some OTC headache pills with caffeine. I hope they don't mess me up too much.
The caffeine kicked me out of the depression (which is why I am very careful not to abuse it, it would be totally easy to do so), so I decided to take Baby Girl for a walk. Ron had talked about this. So I decided to give it a try. I got the harness and put it on her. She was a pretty good sport.
Then we went outside. She mainly stood there looking around.
Eventually she started walking around. She went under the chair on the porch. I moved it. Then she went into the bushes. I pulled her back right as she rolled over on her back and twisted herself, slipping the harness (it was too loose!). I managed to catch her. Then I had to bring her in the house, right the chair on the porch, and hold the harness so I didn't lose $20 worth of gear. I did that. She was pretty cooperative as cats go.
Especially considering I had her on a leash. I have had cats that tried to give me hand surgery for that.
I came back in the house, turned on the computer, and did my thing. After I finish this post I will order some pizza online. I am a "club" member and this next pizza is free. Yay!
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