Look at that blue sky, too. New phone has a MUCH better camera than the old Moto.

Saw an article about how low-income people are eating less and less fast food, because it has become too expensive. Low-income is below 45,000 per year. That is 2 and a half times my income. And yet, I make too much money for a lot of programs that are designed to help low income and disabled people. I may have mentioned that my soc sec increased I think 3.2 percent this year, so my food stamp benefits were cut by 20 percent. Your government at work. I’m not sure I understand the economics of this, but I do know that there are people in our government who resent the little I do get, and want to take it away. It matters who you vote for. It matters that you vote, because people always vote for the Red Guys, and the only way for the Blue guys to get more votes is for you to actually vote for them. People I have personally spoken to do not seem to understand this. Is US education THAT bad? I think so. Not voting is saying yes to the other guy. Go right ahead and take our benefits, take our freedoms, take our education, take our money. Take, take, take. They do give, but only to their rich friends, not us.

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/fast-food-companies-seeing-low-income-diners-pare-orders-2024-03-27

Those buds I showed you a picture of earlier in the month have still not opened. I think the trees are going to go right to leaves again this year. Last year I did not see one single flower. First time ever. Climate change. It is not a good thing. More bugs, longer allergy seasons, fun times.

My new organizer person came yesterday, and we redid some cupboards, to make items more accessible, as I no longer have enough strength to move heavier things for higher shelves. I tend to ‘all or nothing’ and she just said move some of these here, and then put those there, instead of just relocating entire shelves worth. Worked. Some bowls are on the glasses shelf, some glass measuring cups are where the bowls were. I can easily access everything I need, and the higher shelves have small light items only at the front so are easily reachable. Got rid of some things I never use, too. She is not a pro. She is just doing this because I asked for someone on NextDoor and she replied. She does a lot of good works. Drives people to dialysis, among other things. I really lucked out when I found her. She is becoming a friend, too, which is nice, cause I only have two couples as friends now. Very good friends, but not a lot of them. Which is fine. I am not really a people person, as I think I’ve probably mentioned several thousand times. 🙂

Ordered in. First time in a while, as it is too expensive now. But one place has good food at still reasonable prices, and I actually have cash on hand, so lunch. I usually only order for dinner, but I was hungry and too not together to do any lunch prep. Open package, eat contents. Works for me. I tip well, too, because they bring me food. What’s not to love? I used to order a lot from Papa Gino’s, cause you don’t need cash for that, but the quality of their food has fallen as the prices have risen. Not worth it. At all. Same with Chinese food now. So expensive, and not great quality, so not doing that again. There is a really good Indian place up the street, but I don’t think they deliver, so would have to use Door Dash or some such. Had a bad experience the one time I used Door Dash, so not eager to try it again.

Very fuzzy-headed and off balance today. Doctor says it is allergies. I take at least one allergy pill and use my inhaler at least once, every single day now. Did I mention climate change is fun? Nope. Enough rambling. It is finally warming up a bit. Was pretty chill there for several days. 55 right now. Yay. Be safe. Vote Blue. And all that jazz.

https://lifehacker.com/tech/department-of-justice-apple-lawsuit

I know, I know, but it does happen now and then. Saw an article about how the DoJ is suing Apple. Didn’t read it, but it got me thinking. Remember when big companies had mottos? Walmart, was ‘Everything Made in America’. Google was ‘Do No Evil’. Don’t know Apple’s, or Twitter’s, but they must have had something back then. Now, everybody’s motto seems to be ‘Greed Is Good’, except for Facebook (Meta), which as you may know was started by Suckerberg as a way to rate college girls for “I’d do her” ness, so it was probably something to do with that. Which tells you all you need to know about him. I guess it kind of now is ‘Greed Is Good’, too, though.

In a good way, really. First, here’s an article I just came across:

Why can’t we just say ‘Living With’ rather than battling or whatever. I have never been comfortable with being referred to as battling or a warrior. I am living with a so-far incurable illness, more than one actually. I am getting through each day as best I can. That’s all.

I got a new phone. I know, I haven’t taken off that little sticker. It’s too small to see what it says, too. LOL My old one is needing to be charged more and more often and I saw one in Best Buy that I loved, and wound up getting it from Walmart. It is a Samsung. I have always had Moto, except for my first phone, which was a gift from my daughter. It was a Nokia flip phone that I absolutely adored. Star Trek anyone? It’s not the latest model, cause no way am I paying that much for a phone, but more expensive than any Moto I’ve ever bought. So far I love it.

I think I have made a new friend. I hired someone to help me declutter, and she has come a few times and is really nice and we just talk about things and have fun and she clearly wants to come back. I am kind of taken aback. I always think people are not going to like me, and if they do, they will soon change their minds. So much so that I used to find things wrong with people after a while, so that when they cut me out of their life, I could tell myself I didn’t really like them anyway. Yeah, I’ve had a lot of rejection. My fault, as I always manage to say or do the wrong thing without realizing it. Oh, well. Anyway, it’s nice to have a new friend.

I am firing my homemaker service. Well, my caseworker is. I have only had this agency a short time, and I don’t think any worker has come more than twice in a row. I usually get a new one every time. Not happy with the work, either, so am done with them. I have someone who will come once a week to vacuum and take out the trash as a favor, so until a new agency is found (virtually impossible now) I won’t drown in trash. Yay. This is NOT any homemaker I have ever had. LOL

What else? My organizer person completely redid my lower cupboards in less than an hour. Got rid of some things I am never going to need again, since I hardly cook now, and everything else is arranged so nothing is behind something else and I can see what’s there and easily access it. Really important when you are in pain. This is not my cupboard.

I had an amazingly good day Saturday which has not happened in quite some time, so I organized my messy big drawer in the kitchen, the window desk drawer, my coffee table tray where I keep everything I might need when I am in too much pain or too exhausted to get up and go find whatever. Pens, scissors, tissues, water bottle, etc. I have discovered that the bottles Kombucha comes in are excellent water bottles, as they are thick glass and do not break easily if Gertrude knocks one off the table. Inventoried and sorted my backup meds and made a list so I don’t buy something I already have. Pain meds, allergy pills, etc. Also sorted some paperwork and rearranged the table where I have the printer and my laptop. Organization is crucial when you are ill. Not having to search for things or move things makes all the difference. It was a very good day.

It’s been bright and sunny for a few days, too, which really helps a lot. Today of course is gray again. So over gray. In New Hampshire, February was gray month. It seemed like the sun did not shine for the entire month most years. It’s been like that this month here in Mass. I am only about 30 or 40 miles south but the curve of the earth at this latitude really impacts daylight. Amount and brightness. Interesting. Oh, looked it up. You can do that. It is 60 + miles in a straight line, 80+ driving miles. Did not think it was that far. you can see how the curve is above 40 degrees. Can’t figure out how to put the pictures side by side. Oh well.

Done rambling. Very foggy-brained today for whatever reason. Be safe, everyone. Vote BLUE.

Been advised to get with it and write something. So. Tried a new med, which I think is generic Cymbalta. It is used for pain as a secondary thing, so doctor advised me to ‘stop being afraid of side-effects’ and just try it. Well, I am the one who gets the side effect every time, but decided to brave it. Nope. First pill, I was awake for almost two days. Waited a few days, second pill awake but not as long, but my blood pressure sky-rocketed. I could feel my head throbbing. Have a cuff bp thing and at one point it was 200 over 190. Not sure exactly how accurate the thing is, but the next day it had gone back to 127 over I forget what, 80 something I think. Not taking that one again. I do tell my doctor that if the odds of getting a side-effect are a million to one, I will be the one. I once took a sleep aid that made me hyper, like being on speed, which I inadvertently took once because it was prescribed by my doctor at the time. He did not mention it was speed and I forget why he prescribed it but it was a very interesting experience. Got a lot done, too. Anyway, it did not help me get to sleep. Duh.

So felt lousy for a few days, because I do feel lousy a lot, then had some stomach issues with pain and everything going through me. Four days of that. On the bright side, I lost ten pounds. In the meantime, my new homemaker came. I get a different homemaker almost every time lately. Worst agency ever. Anyway, sent him to store for four (4) items. He did not return. Was kind of freaking out after an hour and a half, he has my security door and mailbox keys, I will have to call the landlord, what if he’s in an accident, should I call the police, what???? Did call the agency but can only leave messages. Someone called me back (wow) and she could tell me when he got here, when he left for the store, but not where he is at this moment. And then he showed up. IDEK. He said the store did not have everything I wanted so he went to another store. But the receipt is from the store I sent him to and he got all the items and paid two hours after he left here. ??? He is very nice though. But then yesterday I was assured he was to come at 11:30 but he had not shown up at 1pm so I called the agency. I should have called to tell then he was late. No, because every time, you say person will come at such and such a time, but when they arrive however much later, their schedule is completely different than what you said. Frustration. Anyway so no homemaker so far this week, hoping he will actually show up tomorrow. Also had to cancel my organizer person because of being sick earlier in the week.

Then, my laptop has stopped loading the screen. It loads half way and then has a bunch of vibrating lines and the bottom half is black. Unplugged, let sit a couple days, no change. Cannot remove battery like used to do with older laptops. Looked up fixes, none of which worked. Cranked up the old HP, which is what I am using now. So small, but as soon as I signed in and it brought up win10, I just gave a huge sigh of relief. I hate win11 with a passion, so am very happy to be using win10 again.

THEN my phone has stopped holding a charge for more than half a day or so. Ordered a new phone from Samsung that I had seen in Best Buy but didn’t get at the time. Excitement. Got an email they cancelled the order because of some issue with my info, even though my credit card authorized the charge. Waited a week, order again. Same thing. Wound up ordering it from Walmart, which was a pain in itself. Really hope it lives up to my expectations after all that. Supposed to be delivered Saturday. My friend will bring it over Sunday if it does show up. I have things sent to her house because packages are just dumped in the outer lobby with not even a buzz to let you know. And they get stolen. So everything goes to her house.

On the other hand, the trees are working on blooming, it is in the low 60’s, and a beautiful day. And I am not feeling too bad today, either. So yay. That’s all.