I hope everyone's holiday goes well for them. It's supposedly going to rain here, but it doesn't look like it at the moment. The weather isn't being very cooperative for me feeling well today. I woke up not feeling all that great, but I'm getting better as the day goes by.
October is wrapping up, just a few odd hours left in it. I hope some of the wetness goes with it, at least for a while. I'm tired of having to get the lawn mowed & deal with fire ants.
Again, a Happy Halloween to everyone, good candy hunting to all.
This is being a especially wet Autumn for us. It's raining today & may up tot the next 10 days. We have a flash flood advisory in effect. Looks like the Halloween crowd could get soaked.
The rain is doing odd things to my system. It's staying dreary, so I'm having a hard time fully waking up. I've been really stiff as well, hopefully this stuff will level out soon.
Blogger is being weird again, so I'll make this short. I'm not sure if it's our weather or just the net. I've had problems with net all morning.
It's a quiet Tuesday & not is going on for us. We've got a chance for rain for most the upcoming week. We've definitely made our monthly rain average.
The rain has brought out a lot of fire ants. Yes, I'm still fighting those things. Yesterday, was the 1st time I've ever been bitten by 1. That seriously itched. He got me after I picked up a neighbor cat formerly known as Ruffian, now Pumpkin. I'll never get used to that name. The ant must have been on him & transferred to me. Then he bit me & I killed him. I win. HA!
I'm basking in the nothingness right now. Neither my roomie or I have any plans. We're pretty much clear until the start of the month. Here's to doing nothing.
The Ultimate Fight Club has teamed up with the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada in an HIV awareness program. The article tells more. What I'm most interested in, is the fact this is a sports organization recognizing this issue & wanting to take part in it.
This isn't just them being involved with HIV awareness, this is directly with a LGBTQ organization. This is a big step in the USA. The group is stressing this is no longer a gay disease, but 1 spread by lack of education & information.
They are promoting testing & respect. Forrest Griffin is the spokesperson for this campaign. He pointed out he was tested for HIV before each of fights in the UFC octagon. If the fighters can have that much respect for their opponents, why can't everyone else for their sexual partners?
October is winding down. Today is the last Sunday of this month. It's been a fairly pleasant, if somewhat wet, month. I could've done without the influx of fire ants, but who couldn't have?
Halloween is just 4 days away & Daylight Saving Time ends in 1 week. Thanksgiving is just a little over a month away & Christmas is less than 2.
We're a full month into Fall & only 2 remain. I wonder how cold & wet this Winter will be? Hopefully not too bad.
It's hard to believe there's just a little over 2 months left in this year. 2013 has flown by. Today marks 10 months without Alice Cat & this is the 2nd month without Fluffy. There's been enough loss & stress this year. I hope the last weeks bring us some peaceful times. We could use it.
For a long time, scientists have been trying to cure HIV. This has been an uphill battle. According to this article, a war we are no where near winning.
The virus exist as either active or inactive. Only the active can be readily dealt with by conventional methods. The inactive, also known as provirus or latent cells are hidden throughout the body. These are just waiting to be activated & begin the replication process anew.
The problems here are, we have no good means by which to battle the latent cells. Plus, there's no way to accurately locate & estimate the number of provirus cells that exist in a body. According to this research, the number is somewhere 60 times greater than previously thought.
I know this seems like a serious blow & it is. However, it's new information & it can aid in the battle against HIV. This may be unsettling news, but it is still something more in our arsenal against this illness. No one ever said this was going to be easy.
I slept well, but not overly so last night. I woke feeling fairly well, that began to fade shortly after. My eyes are like a desert today. I've put drops in them & nothing much is helping.
We made a drive to Fort Smith to pick up some fire ant killer that actually works. Luckily that went easily. Then we picked up some food & headed home.
My allergies have decided to play havoc on my gastrointestinal system. Ever since we got back home, I've been gassy & crampy. Finally, a bathroom trip led to a bout of diarrhea & nausea. Oh yippy! My allergies probably brought this on, but the car ride didn't help any. But we needed the ant killer & now it's done.
As the weather cools down, I tend to sleep more soundly. For the most part this is a good thing. However, there are some downsides. When I sleep more sound, it tends to mean I wake up less & move less often in my sleep.
That sounds like a good thing, but for me it isn't. After a night of really deep, uninterrupted sleep, I usually wake up stiff & remain so for the rest of the day. This often comes with an annoying headache. For me a little waking up & moving from time to time is a good thing when I sleep.
Even stranger are the dreams that I experience as the world grows colder & darker. They aren't nightmares or even really bad dreams. They are anxious, fractious & stressful. Like why are all of my bills not paid & I have no $? Why is there an alligator on my front porch when I live in Oklahoma? Why am I back in college & I've missed all my finals? Why am I in a house I lived in as a child with people I know now?
I'm a fairly aware dreamer. I know these are dreams, but they're still weird & stressful. I have them sometimes throughout the year, but they're worse during the Fall. I didn't do this as a kid or even a 20-something. For a lot of my 30's & past, I've been +, so I don't know if my HIV is making this matter worse or if it's just age. Possibly both. Either way, these dreams are annoying.
I like my sleep, but I don't like waking up stiff or stressed out. These things aren't good for me at all. Hopefully, they'll disappear with Autumn leaves & be gone soon.
I hope the mowing we had last night will be the last of the year. We're normally done with this far earlier. My head is not so thankful for the lawn care. Mowing always sets off my allergies.
The grass lowering revealed many more fire ant piles. I hate those things. Seriously, why won't they just die or move to Boca. I've put out more bait for them. I really hope this is the end of this type of yard work for the year.
I did a bit of winterizing & managed to find about 5 - 6' snake skin in the little rose bush. It was probably a black snake using the thorns to exfoliate. The outdoor spigots are covered. The air conditioners are covered. Anything else can wait until it gets colder. I still have to clean the stoves. The ceiling fans need cleaned & reversed for the season.
Well trash is out, the yard is mowed & most of the chores are done. Woohoo for us. Maybe I can catch up some Netflix & TV.
I'm a tea drinker. I'm not some aficionado or snob, but I like my tea. I like your basic black, basic green, gun powder, Oolong & some non-tea tea's like apple & peppermint. I'm not too into most fruity teas, they taste like Kool-Aid to me. Most of the year, when it's warmer, I stick to black & green ice tea. I don't like a lot of flavorings. Slightly sweetened & that's it, other than the ice.
Now the season is changing & the mornings are frosty, I'm heading back to hot tea. I like hot tea because it warms my hands when I drink it. The steam off of it clears my sinuses & relaxes my facial muscle. The hot tea helps clear my throat & warm me from the inside out. As much as I like ice tea, sometimes hot tea is a miracle drink. It can do more to warm me up & loosen my sinuses than just about anything else.
For some tea is a ritual. Some of those are very beautiful. For me, tea is just part of life. Tea is 1 of the criteria I use to judge restaurants. If you can't make good pot of tea & keep it fresh in a clean vessel, then why I would I possibly think you can do anything else. Making tea is fairly simple. Keeping the kettle & carafe clean should be habitual. If your tea ware isn't clean & you're serving me from it, how clean is your kitchen?
For my household tea is a simple pleasure, but 1 that helps us get through the day. Those things should be respected & appreciated. What's your simple pleasure that makes getting by in life easier?
Monday's back & I'm not faring that well this morning. We had shopping to do, which took me to Walmart. That was such a yippie moment for me.
I woke up very congested. My head feels full & there's a low thudding. I hate sinus crap. The human head should come with pressure release valves.
The only articles I found today of merit were dealing with a topic I've covered a lot already, HIV stigma. China & Sweden seem to headlining the topic of stigma & discrimination against the + people today. Just wait, Russia get back in the game soon enough.
You can Google these topics if you want. They're everywhere right now. 1st is the development & rapid spread of a new strain of HIV in Russia. 2nd is the spike in new HIV cases in Australia. Why am I putting these 2 topics together?
Easy, they both have to do with a lack of communication & education. According to many of the posts I've read, the Russian strain developed in Siberia. An area, like most of Russia, that doesn't support much in the ways of sex ed. There's little talking about how babies are made, let alone how STD's are spread.
Australia may have better sex ed, but the people aren't getting the message on HIV. People are acting like it's the 1980's & that they don't have access to info about the virus & how to prevent it. They're being indulgent. lazy & ignorant.
I've said before that communication is the key to ending HIV. It really doesn't matter what meds are available or tests are possible, if people aren't going to talk about them & others won't listen. The biggest detriment to ending HIV, even more than lack of funds, is ignorance.
The sunlight is shifting & my battle with waking up during the colder seasons has begun. I don't use an alarm clock. They don't work for me. I get used to them & tune them out. They'd wake the whole neighborhood before they'd wake me.
I do wake up to changing light levels though. Unfortunately, now my light is changing with the seasons & my mornings are beginning to drag. I'll get used to it again, but I don't like it.
Draggy mornings give the rest of the day a similar forecast. I'd like to wake up slowly. I don't want to be jarred by an alarm or racket. I want to slowly come to realize it's time to get up. Morning should be a gradual realization, not a shocking reality. This was a bit of a draggy morning, so I'm not as with it as I should be. I'll write more tomorrow.
The change in the seasons is really catching up with me. The allergens are still high & the atmosphere has is more conducive to breathing issues. I'm having a lot of sinus drainage & clearing my throat a lot. Cold & Flu season is almost upon us. I need to go get my flu shot.
For someone with HIV, keeping tabs on respiratory things is very important. We're susceptible to ailments such as colds, flu, bronchitis & pneumonia. My breathing affects how I function & how well I sleep. If my sleep is off, I'm off. My health is affected by these things, so I try to pay attention to them.
Right now, I'm just dealing with some aggravated sinuses. Around the 1st of the month I'll get vaccinated for the flu again. I know some people are against vaccinations. But I think not getting 1 is a bigger risk for a + person.
Do you have your shots up to date? Flu. Pneumonia, Tetanus, etc... When's the last time you were tested for TB? These are important things for everyone, but especially someone living with HIV or other chronic illnesses. If you don't know the answer to these questions, you should get your shots up to date.
Have a bit to get through today & then I have to make a run to Fort Smith. My roomie is visiting a friend & I need to pick up more fire ant killer. Yeah, death to the fire ants & their ilk. Ilk, I like that word, do you?
Any ways, I need to wrap this up & get things underway. Until tomorrow.
Today is Take-Out-The-Trash Day. Tada... Anyway, during this process of taking the garbage to the curb, I had to avoid the puddles on the drive & the mud patches in the yard. On the way back in, I noticed something I thought I had dealt with already.
The rain seems to have summoned up numerous fire ant mounds. I hate those things. I just treated for them less than a month ago. Apparently, the rain gets them up & going. There were a dozen of so fresh mounds. The stuff I use to kill them is potent & effective, but it seriously stinks. This round of treatment wiped my supply out. So, I'll have to go get more.
That means going to Fort Smith. I just looked for it at Walmart & they're out for the season. I have go to Fort smith this week anyway, so I'll look for some when I'm there. I need some more weedkiller as well.
I am so not a fan of the bugs that live in my yard. I hate the fire ants, fleas, red wasps, the huge roaches (we call them water bugs around here) & the stink bugs. Then there are the slugs & black widows. I do like our praying mantis, walking sticks, dragon flies & mud daubers (they eat spiders), the colorful garden spiders, lightning bugs & locusts (cicada).
I just took out the trash & treated the yard, so I'm a little beat.
Apparently we've entered a rainy season here in Oklahoma. It's been pouring for a while now. It came down most of the night. There was quite a bit of wind as well.
Normally, I like thunderstorms, they help me sleep. But, there wasn't much thunder to these storms, just heavy rain & wind that sounded like it was trying to get through the windows. The winds kept changing course & thus the sound of the rain fall. There was none of the steadiness of a Spring thunderstorm. This was just erratic, annoying noise.
The rain kept waking me up as it shifted from 1 side of the house to the next. I'm a little stiff & there's a bit too much stickiness left in the air.
This weather has left me in a a gripe-happy mood. It's starting to clear up. May be the lawn guy can get to the yard this weekend. Right now, it's a swamp.
The rain stopped the neighbor's table saw for a brief moment
We were expecting guy who mows our lawn
Due to a sale, I have an abundance of potatoes
That's about how interesting my life is right now. I'm not complaining. All 10 of those things could be far worse than are or something downright nasty.
We got some unpleasant news today. Some of our monthly $ will be cut by about $20 a month. That wasn't fun, but it was expected. They think the Social Security COLA for us will be about $10 a month. After all the rearranging with the State & such that will probably be more like $5.
Again things could be worse. They could've cut us more than $20 & not be giving us a COLA at all. I'm doing my best to stay on the bright side of things here. That isn't an easy thing for me.
It's another Sunday & not much is going on for us. I know for some people in my area this is a 3 day weekend, but that isn't going to affect us much, if any.
The neighborhood is changing again. The neighbors to the side & across the street are trying to sell their homes. Not that I knew them, they were just owners of rental houses. I wonder if the new owners will actually live here or just rent the places out? There are more empty houses in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, most the people living in the occupied houses aren't people you'd want for neighbors
This area is flux. For the most part, it's been a downward spiral. I'm not sure if there's any hope of seeing an upswing here. It's nice to have noisy neighbors, but when the area gets to empty, it can get a little creepy.
This was probably a cute neighborhood in it's day. I find it really sad when once nice areas go to seed & decline because no one wants to be there anymore. At least no one that's gong to be invested in them. Maybe after we're gone a storm will just blow all of this away. That might be for the best.
We're well into October & the month has been a bit topsy turvy weather wise. It rained last night. The allergens are still high. We'll probably need at least 1 more lawn mowing.
This up & down thing isn't fun for my sinuses or the rest of me. The weather's leaving me very stiff & stuffy. I'm hoping last night's rain will calm the allergy crap down some. It'd be nice.
We have nothing to do but some cleaning & cooking to do today. It'll be fairly low key for us. Yay! None of us are feeling that great, not even the cats. I may like Fall, but it doesn't always like me.
Have a lot to do today. Unfortunately everything seems to be running in slow mo. I have errands & shopping to do. Then there are some chores to catch up on back at the house.
The weather shift is still messing with me. I'm not feeling that great & there's a bit I need to get done today. I'll be so glad when mowing weather is gone. I've heard a lot of mowing lately & I hate that noise. It doesn't help the neighbor's been working on his house for months now. Power saws are actually worse then lawn mowers for noise.
Hopefully, things will mellow out over the weekend & I'll start feeling better.
This has been a long, tiresome & odd week. Last Friday I wound up at the optometrist & was told of an allergic reaction to the med for my eye issue. I was prescribed something else. There have been a lot of errands this last week & yet another trip to the eye doc's office. Yesterday entailed a trip to Fort Smith.
With all of that & the seasonal changes going on, I'm spent. Luckily, there isn't much to do today. The trash is out. The errands are ran. I'm staying put & doing as little as possible.
The weather is definitely shifting towards the cooler side of things. The leaves are started to fade, not much color yet, but they aren't as vibrant green as they were. In just under a month, daylight saving time will end & we'll fall back an hour. So, dark thirty will be earlier & things will really seem like Fall then.
Seasonal shifts are never that easy on me. They knock me in regards to Spring & Fall allergy seasons. But, there's also an emotional element to it as well. It takes me a bit to shift between them. I like Fall, not so much on Winter, but what can you do, it's coming, like it or not.
I think whatever my people descended from, we hibernated. I have a harder time staying with it during the cooler seasons. It's more difficult for me to expend the energy to care about much of anything. I just want to stay warm & sleep. I'd be pretty happy in an environment that ranged from 50 - 90 F. My roomie would probably drop both of those by 10 degrees. I'd just have to kill of all the grass & bugs in my yard once & for all. After that, it'd be great.
Fall, means it's getting darker. That seems to be a relevant thing nowadays. I notice as time goes by, I'm getting more restless. Not sure why. I just want to do something at least somewhat diverting & there isn't much to choose from around my area. BTW, cleaning the house is not a diverting thing to do. It's a necessary thing, but not diverting.
I'm back from the eye doctor's & all seems to be going well. He thinks I probably either irritated my eye somehow or had viral conjunctivitis. Then I went & aggravated with that 1st prescription. My caruncle is still somewhat swollen, but not as badly. It's also not blood red like it was. It's moving toward a more normal pinkish color. My eyes are still a bit strained from dealing with all of this.
As I get older, there are more & more things I'm reactive too. I don't know if it's due to my age, my being + or just exposure to a new med. It could be a combo of any of those things. Regardless, it goes to show, you have to stay on top of your meds & be as aware as possible of how you're reacting to them.
The eye doctor said this probably would've mended on it's own in the beginning, before the 1st meds. I'm not upset I went to the doctor over this. I'm not upset I was prescribed something I reacted badly to. Going to the doctor over my eye was the right call. Just the wrong doctor. There was no way I could've known I was going to react to the 1st med. Now, lessons have been learned & I can go on from here. That's life.
I have some stuff to get through this morning. I have to go shopping at both groceries, because for some stupid reason Walmart simply can't carry everything I need. Then I have to stop by & pick up my mail & drop something off at my roomie's doctor's.
At some point, I need to get cleaned up, so I can be decent when I go to the eye doctor. I hope the appointment goes well. I really hope he doesn't send me right back to Walmart for another prescription.
OK, this morning was definitely chilly. We were in the upper 40's F. We're supposed to warm up to something a bit more seasonal in a day or so.
My eye is looking better, but the caruncle is still swollen. That is 1 seriously ugly word. Caruncle. Sounds like something that should be a foot disorder, not a part of your eye. I go back to the eye doc tomorrow afternoon.
The weather shift has left my allergies in a tizzy. I've been sucking on lozenges all to keep my throat clear. Hopefully all this will settle down soon.
I hope every is having a good weekend & enjoying October.
I've got a new med, Lotemax. I was reacting to the 1st med I was prescribed & this 1 is to help with that & my original eye issue. Here's hoping it works. I've got another appointment with the eye doctor on Monday. We'll see then I suppose. No pun intended.
OMG! it got damn chilly. It's only 59 F here & it's rained about a half an inch already. Our low is supposed to be in the 40's. OK Fall, we talked about this. You have to last longer than 2 weeks before changing into Winter.
I've got things to catch up from yesterday, so this will be it for now.
I've been to 2 doctors offices today. My primary doc sent me to an eye doc & he told me my eye was reacting to the drops I'd been prescribed. Oh frickin' yippie for me.
I have errands to run & a prescription to fill, so I'll be out for a while. This will have to be brief. Apparently I have another medicine to go my "I'm allergic to that," list. Wonderful.
We'll be going out later to get the monthly bill thing started. It's a bit of a drag, but then it's mostly done. Still, it means a trip to Walmart, yuck.
My eye is still weird. I think it's getting somewhat better, but it's hard to tell. I'm supposed to use the eye drops for a week. If things aren't better then, it'll be back to the doctor's for me.
I've got things to do before we head out, so I'll blog more later.
Blogger is acting up on me today. Apparently, it was yesterday as well. Today it won't let me save & keeps messing with my typing, crunching it all together. I did a post yesterday, albeit a very brief 1. However, it didn't show up. When I looked, Blogger had saved my post as a draft copy & didn't publish it.
I'm not sure what Blogger's problem is. However, my eye is still not great & I don't really feel like posting that much as it is. I especially don't want Blogger screwing with what little post I can muster right now. Hopefully, my eye is on the mend. This is very annoying.
OK, the eye thing is weird. Looking at white is unpleasant. I can't tell if the eye drops are working, but it's only been a day. I've tried covering the eye & that works as long as I'm not trying to read.
I probably have a scratched or irritated cornea. I look like someone socked a albino bunny in the eye. It's not as swollen this morning & not as watery. At leas there's that much.
