Installed three new ceiling fans and changed some light fixtures at the new to us winter residence. Then went for a scooter ride. I quickly discovered that Florida drivers are every bit as bad as I heard.

Installed three new ceiling fans and changed some light fixtures at the new to us winter residence. Then went for a scooter ride. I quickly discovered that Florida drivers are every bit as bad as I heard.

Worse.  I'm ready to stuff several horn user with their own horns.  Beep at anything and everything.  Moron honked at me, why I don't know.  I couldn't go any faster with traffic surrounding me, but he damn near ate my bumper mounted cargo carrier in his impatience. 

Whoofah. Whirlwind couple of days. Cleaned the ducts where and how I could (which mainly just meant pulling the registers I could reach and vacuuming out). Scheduling a pro, soon. Cleaned the house as deeply as we reasonably could, then hired a service to do a deep cleaning. Got air filters, ordering more when paydays allow. Replaced the furnace filter again. Wiped down the whole house with citrus-based cleaner, used mold killer and general air freshener where reasonable. Ordered some heavier-duty stuff for future use. Did the same where I could with both cars. They need a good wet washing inside - dog hair and spores. Washed all the laundry. Brushed, clipped, and bathed the dog. Brushed the cats. Got allergy meds updated. I'm deathly allergic to molds and mildews. I'm less-but-still-noticeably allergic to cats and dogs.

The last year I've just been getting sicker and sicker. When it comes to mildew and mold, I get asthmatic after a while. I've been getting to that point. Like, I thought I was having real, honest lung disease issues (I've never been a smoker) and/or circulatory issues. Nope, just allergies. Still generally healthy as the proverbial horse with carrying a few extra pounds and mildly elevated cholesterol.

But holy crap, histamine levels, breathing issues, and air quality around here all had me on the brink of breathing panic pretty much at all times. I'm not sure I can stand living here for the long term; we live right next to wet woods because like most of this general area, it's all clay and flat, and water run off and proper draining back to natural water collection and eco-systems is almost non-existent. So yeah... stuff is always wet and mildewy and moldy. While the house isn't, the woods 20 feet from the back door definitely are.

So it's a mess here.

If you have mold and mildew allergies, you're probably WAY smarter than I am and not living next to the wet woods.

Starting to feel better. Allergy shots (coming up), nasal sprays, pills, and avoiding the wet has me back on my feet and feeling better. Scary how yucky I got to feeling, and how quickly I went from "meh..." to "holy crap, should I got to the hospital before I die?" in the last couple of weeks. Scary stuff.

Allergies suck. Give them their due attention, and do what you can to mitigate. It all adds up over time.

Tl;dr

serious allergies can really fuck your shit up

Sick House Syndrome?

As is the building where my company's meeting rooms and sales office is. I felt great heading to the office today. After two hours I had - *HAD* - to leave because I couldn't breathe, face was flushed, short on breath. After an hour away, I started feeling much better. I hate going in to that office, and since I'm already on such a hair-trigger on reactions right now, this gives me all the more reason to skip the in-person meetings for a few months while I'm recovering.

Seriously, this sucks. I've been sleeping in a chair for about a month now - I went to IKEA and got a special chair with all the right angles to sleep in just because every time I lay down, my head fills up and I can't breathe again within minutes. But it's working. This latest round of deep, deep cleaning, and getting super proactive about controlling and avoiding any mold build up will help tons.

Again, cautionary tale; do not just power through your allergies. They can be cumulative and leave you in some deep shit. :\

 


Coffee in hand, sun’s up and headed for a wonderful day.


Picture fixed to keep the water in the pool.  Damn iPhone uploads.

Just renewed health insurance.  The same plan went down $42/month for the two of us.  Not much, but it's in the right direction.

Also emptied the old ice from the kitchen and beer fridges so we have fresh ice for Thanksgiving guests. I didn't think the ice had become stale as we have been using it frequently, but it doesn't hurt to make certain that it hasn't had a chance to get off-tasting.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Started the tedious (not hard) job of updating all my web site referenced to https

A little cleaning up after the chaos, followed by a trip to restock the beer fridges and replenish the wine rack.  We are ready for the next round of festivities. 

I found more good wines on sale today than we drank over Thanksgiving, so we're good there.  But my wall mounted wine rack and the three table top racks can probably hold a hundred additional bottles.  We drank all our wine in preparation for our move last summer, so we started back from zero in August.  And I refuse to buy unless it's on a good sale.  So we've been slowly restocking as we get to know the liquor outlets in the Milwaukee metro.

We also seem to have Thanksgiving leftovers to suffice for more than a week.    

.......It's kinda become a thing for me to see how long I can make it last.

I would think it's more of a thing to see how long it will fit! 

Quote from: Baxter on December 04, 2019, 06:02:40 PM

.......It's kinda become a thing for me to see how long I can make it last.

I would think it's more of a thing to see how long it will fit! 

Yep, I'm not in the same shape as I was back then.  But as I mentioned in another thread, diabetes runs in my family. So I've tried to not let myself go as much as I might have done if that wasn't the case.  I had examples of what bad can happen right in front of me growing up.  And examples of how taking better care can ward off those bad things.  So while I ought to loose about 10 pounds and do more cardio, my waist has only gone up about 2 inches over the past three decades and my jacket size is still the same. 

As I write this, I'm in the auxiliary comfy chair in the living room, drinking a mug of hot cider with a shake of nutmeg and a shot of Captain Morgan.  The doggo is snoring next to me.  The surround sound is tuned to Pandora Hipster Holidays.  And I should get off of my butt and finish the Tree before my wife gets home.

But first I'm going to text my niece that she can sing Silver Bells better than the version recorded by She and Him.

Today I located a doctors' office that works with my insurance and made an appointment.  They're just around the corner from my little condo neighborhood, very convenient.  I made this effort because my blood pressure meds are nearing the end of the refill cycle, and I need to get this done so I don't run out.  If it wasn't for this, I'd probably wait until next year for a physical before finding a doc.

I only went in when I wasn't feeling well from my 20s to my 40s.  Now I should probably do the adult thing and have regular checkups.  Responsibility is a humbug!

Yesterday morning, 8:30am. Out leaf blowing in a scrub top, shorts, and sandals. This morning, it's sub-freezing out with rain/sleet.

Helped a buddy caulk the crap out of his RV trailer. He’s got a huge mice 🐁 issue. The builders of his trailer ought to be slapped. The cut holes in the floor 3” in diameter and then run 1 1/2” pipe through which leaves a bloody interstate highway for the little bastards to get in.

I'm a licensed land surveyor in Oklahoma. I went to Topeka, Kansas today to test for their license. I think I passed - hope.

Today I spent mostly sleeping and recovering from an all nighter last night

Get your beauty rest, Sunshine.

I went to the dentist. It’s sooo much fun. Especially the “it’s not covered by OHIP” part.

I got my whiz-bang new knee brace (in stylish Seattle Sounders rave green) I'm supposed to wear it for a couple of hours each day until I get used to it. Seems to work pretty well 👍

Well so much for that. After a week of trying I'm not so confidant anymore. If I have it tight enough to really work then I can barely bend my leg enough to get in and out of the car. Plus it digs in my leg uncomfortably, if it's loose enough to be kinda' comfortable then it doesn't really work. I can't get my foot far enough back to ride the bike either way and it's clanking on the tank etc. Plus I have to wear shorts all the time because it won't fit comfortably under my pants and I have to have access to keep adjusting it.

 I guess I'll just stick to my cane which I still have to use anyway even with the knee brace.

Finished Christmas shopping for the wife. DONE!

We've agreed to just do stocking stuffers this year. We's be freaking broke. I'm so glad she's not a materialistic kind of woman. Makes the holidays so much better when I know that's not what it's about for her. I usually get her one big thing and pepper in some smaller, really personal things. This year, there's no one big thing, and that's ok. Last year was her Gretsch 2450, she plays that all the time, so it was the absolute right thing.

The four month delayed bedframe for the king bed we bought when we moved to the new place finally arrived today.  So I took the last three hours setting it up, getting all the bedroom furniture in its proper and final locations, and breaking down the shipping boxes for recycling.  I also vacuumed under the bed for the last time between now and when we move to an old folks home.  At last, the bed doesn't look like two hospital beds pushed up next to each other. 

And I finally got an explanation of the delay.  Not wanting to open a political can-o-worms, but it turns out that this Kentucky based furniture company actually had its stuff made in China.  The delay was because they were transferring production from China to Vietnam to avoid the upcoming tariffs on Chinese goods.  Everyone can make their own opinion about the effectiveness of the trade war at bring manufacturing back to the US.