Good Bye June...

Today is the last day of the month, so long June.  This marks six months down & only six remaining in 2011.  This month is going out with a heat wave.  Most likely we'll top a 100 F again today.  We passed that for heat index by 10:00 AM.

It's hard to be into anything or do anything in that kind of heat.  We did some cooking this morning & that was about it.  Besides writing this & taking a shower, my tasks for the day are nearly finished.  

It looks as if the heat is heading right into July with no sign of it letting up.  The summer is already hard.  It's looking pretty dim for any chances of real rainfall.  The fields around our area, are just tinderboxes waiting for a spark.

Oh well, so long until next year, June

Cya

Sorta Sucky...

Again, not up to another long post.  Went to the dentist yesterday.  The drive was very tiresome.  Even with the AC on the car never got that cool.  I got behind every damn, I want to drive slow ass, in the world.   I left an hour early for my appointment.  It is only a 35 mile drive, yet I was almost late & the majority of the drive is on a 65 mph highway.

The appointment went alright for me, my roommate stayed out in the car & fried.  I finally got out & started getting ready to go.  She was hot & I was trying to hurry to get us on the road so the AC will actually do some good.  I put it in reverse & before you can "oh damn" there' a crash.  

I didn't see the car behind me when I got into my vehicle.  I don't know if the woman was backing out of a space or pulling into the lot, but I backed into her.  Luckily I was just idling out when we collided.  Not much damage that I could see, mainly just paint transfer & a couple of scrapes.  She said she'd been hit there before.

So I went back into the dentist office & copied the insurance papers & we went our separate ways.  I doubt the cops would've even came to a minor accident in a private parking lot.  Hopefully, she doesn't try to screw the insurance company.  Then it'll just come down on us.

Oh well, hopefully the rest of the week will be better,

Cya

Cleaning Time...

Not going to do much of a post today.  I have a midday dentist appointment.  I have to get my teeth cleaned & examined for my six month interval.  I am fortunate that I like my dentist.  I'll just leave with a song that doesn't inspire one to go to the dentist.

Get Tested...

Today is National HIV Testing Day in the US.  Unless you're a virgin, you should get tested.   And one time is not enough.  If you are a sexually active person then you need to tested routinely.  

I am not going to post much more today except to say that I had been tested, but obviously not enough.  You need to keep getting tested up to 18 months past your last sexual encounter.  I had been tested six months after & it was negative.  During the next year I started getting sick.  Over the following months, I became nearly bed-ridden.  Finally, I was in the ER & they retested me & I was +.  It had been well over a year since my last test, that had shown negative.  

Get tested regularly.

Angry Cats, It's Not A Game...

Today was the weekly spray down of the cats.  We have come up with a concoction that albeit doesn't kill off the fleas for good, does take out the ones on the cat & the eggs.  However, it stinks & they hate it with a passion.  They hate the sound of the sprayer, they hate being sprayed & most of all they hate the spray.  

The spray is a mix of about a half ounce of leave-on, instant kill, flea shampoo, a few drops of dawn dish washing soap, 3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar & topped off with water in a 24 ounce spray bottle.  The mix is not strong enough to instantly kill the fleas.  That ratio was too rough on the cats.  But this ratio will kill the fleas within an hour.  

The vinegar acts as an antiseptic & an anti-itch.  Usually before the spraying they are scratching.  Often at just places on their skin, because two of the cats have a flea allergy.  Once sprayed, they howl.  The vinegar does sting.  However, within a few minutes of the spraying, the cats calm down.  They often fall into a deep sleep.  Which is good, because the flea allergy often keeps them too itchy to sleep well.   

A few hours later, they come out, mostly dried & groomed.  They give us evil glares, but are for the most part calmed down & relaxed.  It isn't fun doing the spraying, but it's easier than full out bathing. It seems far less taxing on us & the cats to do the spraying.

Oh well, until next week, the spraying is over.

Cya

Being Practical...

We try to stay practical about most things.  We don't have a lot of choice, we don't have a lot of $.  One of the things we do, is to try & keep with maintenance of our appliances & electronics.  The most basic of all forms of maintenance is the one that most people never do.

That's right cleaning these items will extend their lifespan & improve their performance.   We're going to use fans as the primary example.  A well used fan is going to get disgusting.  A disgustingly, dirty fan does not work as well as a fan in good repair.  A fan in good repair will last longer than one not taken care of regularly.

Every fan is different, so you may have to investigate how to disassemble it.   Some, but very few, actually come with instructions on how to clean the fan.  There are three primary parts of a fan.

1. The outer cage/box
2. The blade assembly
3. The motor

Things you will need.

1. Small brushes, a toothbrush or a cleaned old mascara wand
2. Clean rags
3. 409 or other cleaner (soapy water)
4. Screwdrivers 
5. WD40 or machine oil

Steps:

1. Unplug the fan
2. Remove the grills & the blades (if possible)
3. If the grill & blades can be completely removed, take them to the sink of bathtub & clean them there.  This will get messy.
4. Once those are cleaned, dry them completely
5. Take your brushes & begin to remove all dust & debris from the inner parts of the fan. (You can use a vacuum or hair dryer on cool/low for this part in the beginning.)
6. Once the fan is cleaned, oil the motor & the blade shaft
7. Reassemble the pieces.
8. The fan is now ready to be used.

I know that sounds like it's common sense, but most people never think about cleaning their fans.  Fans should be cleaned seasonally & before they are put away for the year.  Fans that aren't cleaned lose performance & overheat, which leads to mechanical failure.  Fans that are not cleaned regularly are havens for dust mites, allergens, dead bugs & other nastiness.  Never buy a fan that will not let you break it down, so you can clean & there are lot of those kind on the market.  Fan manufacturers don't want you to clean your fans, they want the fan to break &  for you to have to buy a new one.

This is a simple, practical way to save $ by taking care of a household appliance.  Guess what, this also works on computer fans.

Cya

Slight Disgust...

The Virgo that I am, hates it when contest rules, aren't followed.  We have been watching So You Think You Can Dance.  We've watched at least part of every season.  I say part, because we have abandoned the show on several occasions.  There is only so much indulgence we can endure & Nigel Lithgoe has often surpassed it.

I'll stick with the current season.  Last week was mostly a variety or weak performances by the dancers & choreographers. Yet, some how the judges couldn't find any one worthy of sending home.  So, they broke their own rules & sent no one home.  Opting instead to send two sets of dancers home this week. 

The performances went off & surprise, surprise four of the bottom six people were in the bottom last week.  However this time they were joined by a set composed of a tapper & a ballroom dancer.  The other two sets must've felt safe when that couple was called.  The middle set had a Cha Cha & did so so.  The Tapper/Ballroom set had a Bollywood number & did so so.  But the last set had their own style & quite frankly were awful.

Who would stay?  We weren't sure who was staying,  but we knew who was going.  The tapper/ballroom couple was doomed, they always are on this show.  I guess tweens just can't grasp the concepts.  But we thought the Cha Cha set might be saved.  During the judge's reviews, Nigel praised the tapper pair & the Cha Cha'ers.  He criticized the other set. We thought we'd at least lose the weaker set, but that was not the case.  The weak couple who performed badly in their own genre.  The weak couple who the judges harshly critiqued.  That weak couple is somehow the one who got to stay.

Nigel should be lashed for inconsistency...

This has definitely enforced one thing in my mind.  Their are places where even if you can go, you probably shouldn't.  Tappers & ballroom dancers can go on this show, but they shouldn't.  They are never treated well & they never even get close to winning.  Ivetta was a multiple style world champion ballroom dancer & one of the first one's eliminated, because this show has no use for ballroom dancers.  

My disgust for this show is returning.  I'm not sure how much more of it I will tolerate, before I just say no more.  No more, SYTYCD... No more Nigel Lythgoe... No more Mary Murphy... No more Simon Fuller...

OK, my rant is done.

Cya

They Lied...

For the past week, the weathermen in my area have been assuring us that the end of June would actually be pleasant in the low 90's F.  Hah, at best we will be in the mid 90's & probably closer to 100.  The humidity is a bit rough today.  Glad we got a lot work done yesterday.  Doubt we'll feel like it today.

I would love to find a weather person who could be at least somewhat accurate.  They're not even accurate when there's a tornado right outside the window.  I know I bitch a lot about the weather, but it's hard to plan things when you don't know what the weather is going to be like.  So I've developed my own modifiers to the summer weather forecast.

• If it's hot & you want it to rain, subtract 20 -30 % from the predicted chance
• If it's hot, add between  5 - 8 degrees of heat to the actual temperature of what they predicted
• If they forecast a breeze, either there will be none or it will be a squall line of 50 mph winds
• If you are in a fire hazard, expect lightening storms
• If they promise rain, expect hail storms & possibly a tornado
• If it does actually rain, expect a monsoon with accompanying flood waters
• If the temperature is lower than expected, the air will feel like soup from the humidity

Those are my modifiers to the summer weather forecast.  I think if you want a good weather pattern to come into your area, you will probably have to sacrifice at least two lesser weathermen or the head meteorologist from a local station.  

Hope your weather is fairing better

Cya

Still Pictures...

On this day, in 2009, the Eastman Kodak Company made a fateful decision that marked the change that was occurring in our society.  The company decided to no longer produce the film known as Kodachrome.  This was the film that let us have Kodak Moments from 1935 to 2009.  It recorded birthdays, weddings, graduations, family reunions & so much more.  It let the average person make history, at least their own.

But like vinyl,  cassettes, VHS & so many more it went to the great tech oblivion. It's sad to see  technology that was once so ground breaking be rendered obsolete, but that's progress.  I know we still have access to pictures & music, I have a lot on my computer.  But, the feeling of holding a book or listening as a record turns with all of it's imperfections can never be replaced by some computer file on  PC or Mp3 player.

Is it just nostalgia that makes us love to hold onto something like a picture printed on real Kodak Paper?  Or is it that we still just don't quite trust these new digital photos that don't really allow us to interact with them physically?  To me, my Mp3 files are not as intriguing as my old vinyl or even my CD's. They don't have that sense of involvement & intent.  My pic files are nowhere near as breath taking as the ones I see in a picture someone took & had printed.

I guess every generation goes through this, but it still sucks. I liked the crackle of a vinyl record.   I sort of miss the orange tones of pictures taken during the 70's.   I miss having a car that sounded like a car, not some wet kitten.  Don't get me wrong, there are some really cool things here today & I would never be one to get stuck in the good ol' days trap.  But sometimes, I just wish there was a way to go back for just a hour or two.  Who knows, it might cure everyone of their nostalgia.

Cya

What's no longer here, that you miss?

Summer Time...

Today it the Summer Solstice & amazingly it isn't that hot.  We might hit 90F today & the humidity isn't bad.  I'm not going to complain about this weather at all.  Maybe it's a sign of how the summer will be.  At least I can hope it is.  Had some errands to do, but those are done & we are home for the day.  This is going to be a day of doing as little as possible to insure we recoup from the serious heat we had been enduring.

From me to you, 

Happy Solstice

Shopping Day...

Nothing special this morning, just shopping.   Had to hit two stores & it took a while, so I'm a little sick of being around people in a retail setting.  Shopping is something you can rush through, but you shouldn't.  There are plenty of things you miss if you rush.  Did something go on sale?  Did they raise the price on that item, again?  Does that cost more here than there?  If so, is it enough of a difference to go to the other store?

I started at Walmart & ended at a local grocer.  On most things Wally World is less expensive, but not everything.  There's a  lot that Walmart no longer carries.  That fails to mention the  questionable quality of many Walmart products, especially in their produce section.

I won't go to the other store for just a couple of items, but today I needed quite a bit.  I raided the produce, the meat department, the deli & the frozen foods.  I was mostly there because Walmart had decided not to carry these items any longer & that their produce looked like it was on the verge of rotting.

In these times, pretty regardless of what you're talking about;  shopping. meds, diets, etc... you have to be well informed & have a good idea of what you actually need versus what they're trying to make you want. I am a good shopper, but that doesn't mean I like it.  In fact, it generally annoys me.  I don't like the games the stores play with you with pricing & product placement.  I am not a fan of most other shoppers.   I despise shopping around loud people.  Overall, shopping is not a past-time for me, it's just a necessity.

Oh well, it's done for now.

Cya next time

Getting Overheated...

Between the heat, humidity & my meds, yesterday sucked & it looks like today is going to be more of the same. Being +, on meds & in the heat can be a nightmare.  Even when I don't feel that hot, my body is reacting to the temperature.  I do my best to stay hydrated.  But heat symptoms are common for me this time of the year.

• Diarrhea
• Nausea 
• Temperature
• Suppressed Appetite
• Headache
• Slight Dizziness
• Even with a lot of fluids, dehydrated

Fans & the AC help, but still my body knows it's hot & behaves accordingly.  I try to take cool showers, but to no avail.  When I get out of the shower, my body just pours sweat & I feel like a need another shower immediately.  The only relief from this heat is winter.

Hope you're having a better day

Cya

The Heat Is On...

Woke up this morning & it was already 86F with a heat index of 94.   It's supposed to get to 97 today without the heat index.  I won't be doing much today besides trying to stay cool & dry.  Dry is actually more important than cool.  Dry at least means you're not sweating.

The grass is slowly dying & the cats are languishing in the heat.  It looks a scene from the Serengeti.   The problem is that this is only June & summer technically hasn't even started yet.  July & August could be really hellish.

Too hot to care about much today, so here are some hot songs

Changes...

Everything changes, it's just part of life.  Lately there has been a lot hoopla about changes:

• Climate Change
• Change to American Idol
• DC Comics Reboot
• X-Men Comics Retooling
• Netflix site altering

I'm not here to argue about whether these changes are good or bad.  I am not even here to argue the why's of the matters.  I am just here to say that these changes are going to happen or have already occurred.  

The climate change is evident in my local weather.  June used to be a fairly wet & pleasant month month for Oklahoma.  Fear of being rained out was the big concern for sports events & outdoor weddings.  Now, it's can we play ball or have a wedding outdoors in 100+ F heat with a heat index 15 degrees higher?  

American Idol is a shadow of what it was in the beginning.  Judges have come & gone.  The formats have changed.  There will probably be more change in the upcoming 2012 season. Who will be judges?  Will they use AI for their own personal launching pad as Lopez & Tyler did?   Will there even be a season 11?

DC comics is doing a reboot of their universe.  It's a done deal.  The stories are written.  It is the beginning of a new era for that line of comics & it's characters.  Some people are screaming that they'll never read another comic from DC. Yeah, right.  How can you judge something that has yet to be published?

To add to the comic drama, Uncanny X-men is coming to an end after 40+ years.  The fight is no longer between Magneto & Xavier, now it's between Cyclops & Wolverine.  There will be two diverging story lines. Sounds interesting & definitely time for a change over there at Marvel.

Netflix keeps tinkering with their website.  They talk about it on their blog.  People scream about the injustices being down to them by these changes.  They scream that Netflix is the worse company ever & that the company doesn't care about the customer.  The fact is, the company cares about making $ & that's it.  Hello, capitalism.

The point to my rant to day is simple.  Things change, deal with it.  Complaining won't help.  Bitching won't solve your problems.  Changes will occur, that's that.

Cya & have a good day

Almost Forgot About This Today...

I haven't had much to say lately.  I've made it past the doctors appointment.  I've managed to mostly tame the yard. I've watched some televisions & made snarky commentary.  I've cooked as little as possible. All in all, I've been in a dud mode.

So here's a list of things that good with me at this moment.

1. The grass & weeds are slowly dying
2. The fleas are slowly losing the war
3. I am not outside in the sunlight
4. A reality show actually picked who I wanted to move on
5. The cats are doing fairly well
6. I am enjoying people freaking out over a comic reboot
7. Someone else despises my cable company as much as me
8. The house is staying mostly clean
9. Summer shows are revving up
10. Summer is only three months long

There's my list for now.

Have a good one

Doctor Appt...

Went to my doctor's appointment today with the telemedicine people.  We went over my labs & they took a wait & see approach.  Albeit, my absolute CD4 was lower, my CD4% stayed the same & my viral load remained undetectable.

I hate going there.  The place makes me nervous & sends my blood pressure soaring.  However, when I get home & test my BP, it's returned to normal.  The place just nerves me out.

I head back to them in October, so I'll have to have labs drawn again in September.   For now, we go on with life.  Not much else I can do at the moment.  I am not a fan of the wait & see approach,

That's all for today

Have fun

Summer Things...

When I was younger, there were things we did that it seems aren't as popular today. Maybe it was the times or because there wasn't a lot of $ being spent on us kids. But, summer used to seem so full of fun & life, even if it was hot.

As kids, we'd spend our days going outside & playing outdoor games like four-square, tether ball or yard darts.  I wasn't that great at some of them, but it was fun.  When we got hot, we'd turn on the sprinklers & run through them until we cooled down.

On the rare days, when one of the older kids in the neighborhood was in a good mood, we'd head out.   We spend a lot of time swimming in the city pool & local swimming holes.  Sometimes we'd just go to the park & hang out there until it was time to go home.

If the adults got involved, we might actually venture out further & go camping.  This usually consisted of canoeing & tubing.  We'd spent the night in some make-shift get up & have a blast by the river until it was time to go home.

Some of my fondest memories were with my sister driving this old Plymouth.  Half the time we just drove aimlessly while listening to music & letting the air roar through the windows over us.  There was no AC, the car was cool from the wind.  She'd always hit the hills & send us soaring for a while.  Those few seconds of loft we're priceless & wonderful.

Throughout the summer, there'd be festivals, reunions, summer camps, contests at the library & picnics.  There'd be summer concerts in the park & fireworks on the fourth.  Then there'd be the fair. The fair was always a sign that things were winding down for the summer & school would soon start.  

No matter, what we did, the days almost always ended slightly after dark. We'd play hide & seek or chase lightning bugs well past dark.  We'd stay out there until someone called our names for us to come in for the night.  There were some good points to those times, even if it wasn't all roses & sunshine.

So, what was it like for you, way back then, when you were little, on a hot summer day?

Cya

Back to the AC...

It is supposed to hit the upper 90's F today & we had some work to get done.  The humidity has been a bit high & the heat index will probably be well over a 100.  So the AC is back.

I am not a big fan of the AC.  Yes, it cools you, but it also sucks a lot electricity & does strange things to the air.  I realize it dehumidifies the air, but it also makes it somewhat difficult to breath.  I far prefer fresh air, but when it's hot, some things have to give.  Today's goal is simple enough, stay cool.

Two more days & I go see the doctor about the wonky blood work.  I'm probably going to be stressed when I get there & they'll go, did you know your blood pressure was high today?  Of course I did.  I came to the doctor's with weird lab numbers.  So yes, my BP is a little high.

Oh well, that's for Wednesday.  For now, I will just focus on the task at hand. Staying cool.

June 12...

Occasionally I like to look up dates on Wikipedia, as I did today.  June 12 was not necessarily a good day in the  last hundred years.

• 1940:  10,000+ British/French soldiers surrender to Germany
• 1942:  Anne Frank's saga begins
• 1943:  1,000+ Jews were taken away & shot in Berezhany
• 1957:  American jazz musician Jimmy Dorsey died
• 1963:  Activist Medgar Evers was shot by KKK member
• 1964:  Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life imprisonment
• 2003:  Actor Gregory Peck died
• 2007:  Mr Wizard, AKA Don hebert died.

There are many more things that happened on this date through out history.  Much of it was good & some not so much.  However, I think sometimes we need to look back at the not so good & take heed of it. It is too easy to forget the unpleasant things in life.  So, look back & take a moment to give thanks that you weren't there or that it wasn't your time.  By doing this, by paying our respects, I think it frees of us to move on with our own lives with some sense of continuance.  

Hopefully, your June 12 is a good one

Underway...

The yard process is underway.   It will not go quickly & most likely will have to be repeated at the end of the summer.  But plants grow & grow.  I am not a yard person.  I will never be yard proud.  I find that just way too much investment into something that means little, to nothing, to me.

The only reason I do the yard is to keep the clutter down.  The high weeds trap everything, including trash that got blown into the yard.   Mostly though, the weed clutter is a place for vermin to congregate & all vermin must die.  No fleas or mice allowed, thank you.

Mice, opossums, skunks, ground squirrels & the like all bring fleas. They also attract snakes & other predators.  So they must go by whatever means possible.  If I thought dynamite would solve the problem permanently, I'd be the one yelling, fire in the hole.  

I will be glad to get back to cooler weather & frosty times to kill off the vermin & the grass.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Limits...

All things in life are economic to some extent, including us, our very lives.  We only have so much of anything:

• Health
• $
• Time
• Emotion
• Tolerance

I don't like to admit this sometimes.  I can admit I only have some much $ & time, but the others are harder to deal with being in a limited supply.  Yesterday, I decided to get some yard work underway.  I only did a little bit of work spaced out over half an hour with a few breaks in the midst.  But, still I was exhausted & on the verge of being ill.

It sucks that I did that little & felt on the verge of being seriously ill.  However, those of the facts of my life at this point in time.  It was hot, sunny & I am ill.  All these factors curtailed my plans.  I will have to adjust my plans.   Most of what I have left is just some serious weed eating.  Luckily, I have a weed eater with a rechargeable battery.  I'm lucky in that the charge on that battery doesn't last very long.  I can do the weeding as long as it lasts & then I am done.  At least until it gets recharged.

Oh well, thus is life.

Happy trails & all that nonsense

Bill Day...

Some credit card bills & the rent had already been handled, but today we did the rest of the bills.  It's always nice to know that they're paid off for the month.  Bills are stressors & once they're dealt wit, you get a little reprieve for a while.

I may have come up with an idea as to why my CD4 numbers were down.  I looked back through my blog entries & almost all of them leading up to my lab draws concerned fleas.  (Which BTW are still being a pain)  That is the time I really started spraying the inside of the house, dealing with flea shampoos/sprays for the cats & finally turned to the flea collars.  Apparently, all the above can make you sick or poison you.  That might have been what knocked my numbers.  Still have to wait & see what the Dr.'s have to say on the matter.

It's been hot the last few days, but not too bad, because the humidity was way down.  Yesterday 94 F actually felt like 94, instead somewhere in the 100's.  The days have been fairly easy with humidity in the low to mid 40% range.  Nighttime is another story altogether.  The last few nights have been rough, in the 70's F but the humidity was ranging from 75 - 85 %.  Sticky.  The high nighttime humidity is killing us & helping the fleas.  Just wonderful.

Until next time

Stay dry

Being Rational...

I mentioned yesterday, some of my lab results weren't all that wonderful.  I have to wait until next week to see the doctor.  Now I'm stuck trying to reason out why my numbers went wonky.  There are tons of reasons, but none of them are all that satisfying.

The first part of this year was not so hot for me.  I have had dental issues, weather issues, appliance & home issues.  This has been the season of breakage & debt.  I've spent way too much on some things I've needed & others that I didn't.

Now, it's time to act like a real grown up, Virgo & make a plan. I'm getting plans put together on the $ issues 

I can see, but that always leaves the ones lurking in the shadows, just waiting to pounce.  However, at this point, there is little I can do about my lab results, except wait.  I do not care for waiting.

By this point next Wednesday I will hopefully have some answers.  Until then I will just have to deal with things as they come.

Cya next time

Not So Happy Face...

Went & picked up my lab results today.  I need them next week for my telemedicine appointment.  I am not that happy with them.  They adjusted my Viral Load test & lowered the detectable level to 20, but I was still undetectable, which was good.  But my Cd4 took a hit.

Cd4's do fluctuate.  They can be altered by stress, illness, inflammation, fever or just about anything you can imagine.   Still, I'm sure they will talk to me about it next week.  Great, more to be stressed out over.  My blood pressure will probably soar when I get there.  I hate talking to them about things that I don't have actual answers to give them.  The month of May sucked & April wasn't all that wonderful, so I have no idea what lowered my Cd4.

Oh well, nothing I can do now, except wait.  Sorry for the short post.

Cya tomorrow.

No Climate Change, huh...

Today, it is supposed to soar into the upper 90's F here in my area.  I'm not here to support the climate change argument one way or the other.  However, in the first week of June we have broken the high temperature record every day by at least five degrees.  It looks like today that the record of 87 F will get passed by over ten degrees.  These records have been established over the past 50 years or so.

This winter was hella cold & icy.  This summer is starting off searing.  We used to have four distinct seasons in Oklahoma.  Now we have two major seasons & two minor seasons;  Cold Wet, Cold, Hot Wet, Hot.  In my area, June used to be a fairly wet month.  It would seem those days are gone, at least for the time being.  

Even with all the rain Oklahoma & the rest of the south got, we are still in a drought.  The rains during the flood came down so quickly, the water had little chance to soak into the ground before running off downstream.  So here we are with a lot of heat, humidity & fire alerts.

Thankfully today may be hot, but so far the humidity is fairly low so things are tolerable.

Have a good day

No...

I read numerous blogs & articles a day & there is often a common theme, the inability of some people to just say, "NO."  For some reason, many of us have a hard time saying this word & we shouldn't.  This word can save you a lot of headache & an overload on your resources.

Time for economics 101, no matter who you are, you do not have unlimited resources.  This is especially true of your time, health & emotion.  There are only 24 hours in a day.  You can do no more than your health will allow you to do. As for emotion,  take this as stress level, level of fatigue or just the point where you get, that no matter how much you may wish to give a damn, you just can't/don't.

When you are asked to do something for someone, you seriously need to consider, can I do this?  How will this affect me?  Do I even have the time or resources to do this?  If not, then say, "No."   If the person gets upset, if you choose to, you can explain to them, that at this time, doing what they requested just isn't feasible for you or that you simply don't want to do it.   But really you don't owe them any explanation at all.

You are not obligated to do that much in life & if you find yourself constantly on the giving end of things & never on the receiving, then quit giving.  Believe me, it won't take long for the previous recipients to take notice. Life  isn't fair & it isn't always perfectly balanced, but it shouldn't be one-sided either.

There are ways for you to practice saying no, without facing anyone.

1. You are not obligated to answer the phone.
2. You are not obligated to answer the door.
3. You are not obligated to answer any unsolicited email.
4. You are not obligated to acknowledge any unwanted attention.
5. You are not obligated to be "ON" 24/7.

Learning to say, "no" can help you relieve stress in your life.  If the people who always ask you to do things in your life start hearing no, then they might better select what to request of you.  Saying no, might actually free up some "you" time.  Saying no, might also get some people to stop looking at you like a welcome mat.  If for some reason some one in your life, won't take no for an answer, then you know who to get rid of, don't you?

Hope you all are staying cool

Gulp, Gulp, Gulp...

Now that's the size of drink I need today & probably for the rest of the summer.  If you listen closely in my house right now, it won't take long for to discern some gulping.  Between my roomie, the cats or myself, there's a whole lot of gulping going on these days.

Soda, tea, iced coffee, kool-aid or water, we aren't picky when it's hot & it is hot.  This time of the year is weird, I can only stand air conditioning for so long before I need to go into the other room & let my head clear.  I'm the same way with most heaters during the winter months.

The heat kicks up the electric bill due to fans & the AC, but also many of the household appliances have to work harder to do their jobs.  The heat & humidity can turn my pills into unrecognizable globs & slightly re-hydrated tablets.  Neither is fun to try & take.

The forecast is for 96 F, but were almost there now & it's only noon.  Another day, another temperature record busted.  The previous record for today was 92 F, I bet we hit at least 97.  Oh well, thankfully the humidity  isn't as high today as it was yesterday.

Cya

Stay cool

5 Months In...

Today marks the fifth month of me blogging.  For me, that's real commitment.  Seven more months & I'll have a whole year.  I wonder what I'll do then.  Will keep on going or will I change gears?  I don't know yet, but I do know that I have every intention of at least finishing out this year.

Today is supposed to get up to 96 F here, with the humidity it'll feel closer to 110 F.  I know some people don't believe in heat indices or wind chills.  Let those people come here & compare our very humid 95 F to their relatively dry 95 & we'll see how long they refuse to believe in a heat index.  

I know I'm prattling on about the heat & humidity a lot lately & I most likely will throughout the summer.   But, for someone who is sick &/or on certain meds, this weather is awful.  It can work it's way up into sheer hell.  Being warm is one thing, but overheating can affect you in so many ways & none of them good.  The heat taxes you physically & emotionally.  It stresses you & your body tremendously.

If you have to be out today, take care to stay as cool as possible & stay hydrated.

Happy Anniversary to me, to me

My Day In 15 Moves...

Here we go:

1. I got up
2. I got cleaned up
3. I surfed for a bit
4. I went to do some shopping
5. I got gas
6. I ate
7. I surfed some more
8. I watched a DVD
9. I went to pick up my roomie 
10. I came home
11. I will most likely cook something, maybe
12. I will surf some more
13. I will watch some TV, maybe
14. I will go to bed
15. In the midst of that I petted cats, took meds & vacuumed

That was or will be my day in 15 moves

Hope you're having a great day

June 01...

June is here & it is going to be a hot one.   June is the month of the Gemini & Cancer, two signs that Virgos are not particularly happy with in a general sense.   This is a month celebrations that span the globe.  In the US we celebrate Father's Day, Flag Day, Juneteenth, Gay Pride & the Solstice among other things.

There are lots of things about this day, it is the first day of the sixth month.  The first part of the year is drawing to a close.  The Oak King is half way through his reign for the year.  Soon Midsummer's Night will be upon us.  What will you be doing then?

I love the long days for the light, but I'm not sure the light is worth the heat that comes with it.  It definitely is not worth the humidity.   What does June mean to you?  Weddings, summer vacations, family reunions or something else entirely.

Whatever June means to you, it is here.

Hello June, it's nice to have you back.. Enjoy your stay...