when you need it. This video is mesmerizing. The Sun

I am not very communicative lately. Dealing with constant pain is very wearing. I managed to get out briefly yesterday with a friend, though. It was a gorgeous day that took three extra-strength Excedrins and two cups of coffee to get outside to enjoy. My fingers hurt. Bah! Also, humbug!

Send me cheery stuff, people. I need some cheer. Please. My email is in the upper right. 🙂

I didn’t vote. Yes, I am a horrible human being. I just could not manage to get there. I should have planned ahead and asked for a ballot to me sent to me. I’ve done that before. But planning ahead is not my thing. Living in the moment, coping with the pain. Which the ibuprofen seems to have given up on helping with. Yay.

I was really pleased that Scott Brown was defeated in NH. He was talking to people on the sidewalk here in Mass when he ran for office here last time. I was walking down the sidewalk (better days), He turned and looked at me, but apparently I wasn’t up to scratch, because he looked at me and deliberately turned his back to me. Sorry, Mr. Snob. Never voting for you for anything. You want to represent me, at least have the courtesy to acknowledge my presence. A nod, a quick hi’, something. But no.

I was very not happy that Martha Coakley lost to Charlie Baker. We’re Massachusetts. We’re supposed to have a brain. But, if you don’t vote, you can’t complain, right?

Anybody out there have any ideas for dealing with pain that does NOT involve ibuprofen or Tylenol or Aleve? I would like to be able to function now and then.

There’s a program called Second Opinion that I’ve seen sometimes. One ep they discussed allocation of resources, and how doctors decide who to give their resources and attention to, beyond the ‘here, have a pill and go away’ stuff. Since I am not Jane Goodall , Sophia Loren, or Mrs. Gotrocks, (Important, beautiful, young, rich. Those are the criteria, it seems.) I am in the latter category. ‘Take three aspirins and never call me again.’ So nobody really tries to help with pain management. I am not worth the effort. Like I’m not worth giving a polite nod to on the street.

So that’s my whine for today. Aren’t you glad you checked in?

Found picture on google, from here:

wames.org.uk

Find article here:

Brain Abnormalities in CFS

The comment by Unwanted House Guest is interesting, too, since I have all those ‘mental aspects’. Why yes, I am ‘mental’. Thank you for noticing.

AND SO AM I

Comcast version. I wanted to post screencaps from my chat with Comcast today, but not worth the effort. Could not find an easy way to do it. Suffice it to say that OMG, could someone just fix the mess that cable is? Please?

Health version. OMG, after the renovations that exacerbated the asthma so I had to go on a stronger med, they are working in the storefront right below me, and something is making my allergies go insane. Have the windows open today and much better, but if they don’t finish up soon, I will have to get out seven more blankets or freeze, cause I’m not closing them again for awhile. I’ve spent two days and most of a night just sneezing, dripping nose, stuffed up feeling, like the worst hay fever you can imagine. Oi. My expensive new allergy pills did not help. Thanks for nothing, generic Allegra. I need to move. Seriously.

Also, I think the Prednisone has finally kicked back in. This is the first day I have not been in full-body, every little move really, really hurts, mode. So yay. I’m sure my bones are swiss cheese by now, but pain. Really, pain sucks, if you didn’t know. Constant pain sucks constantly, exhausts you, and severely limits your ability to do ANYthing.

I have been pretty miserable for a couple of weeks. Had to go back on Prednisone, and still having quite a lot of pain. Wasn’t on line at all for several days, except for checking mail and weather on my Nexus. So here I am, reading the blogs, and came across this. I love this guy anyway, but this is just really funny and why I don’t watch the news.

Been off it for a couple of weeks now. Been mostly miserable the whole time. Seriously hoping that my body will adjust soon, but going to doctor this week just in case something else is making me feel this terrible. Still, I managed to actually cook something yesterday. A lovely red pepper, garlic, and a chopped up tomato with egg scrambled in. Tasty. I’ve been making a sort of smoothie thing, too, with either fruit and cream, or tomato, pepper, cucumbers with lemon/lime juice. The first one of those I made was with produce straight from a friend’s garden and it was like drinking summer. Lovely.

It has been the most gorgeous summer and autumn I can remember. Probably less than a week of yellow (not that unhealthy, but still…) air days. I get an email, that’s how I know these things. LOL Probably less than two weeks worth of having the central air on. Both of these things are unprecedented, as far as I can remember. I know other parts of the country, and the world, have not fared as well, so I have made an effort to appreciate and be grateful for each lovely, lovely day. Besides, any day that is not hot and sticky is a fabulous day, in my book.

Came across this bit today. True. Very true. One thing you learn in meditation is to not focus on thoughts, but let them just sort of float on by. It really, truly makes a huge difference. Anyway, here it is:

and has been for several days. I like rain, but still….

I forgot to show you my teapot, the one I’ve had for a few years, and that coincidentally goes with my new dishes. So here it is:

I have a few other things that go with, as well. It’s a cheery pattern, and I need all the cheery I can get.

Discovered that my new glasses have a small problem. One lens is not right. Didn’t even realize til I was having the glaucoma tests. Had to look through something with them on and left eye was totally blurry. When I was home, I checked and could not read the closed captioning on the tv, or the vcr clock (yes, I still have a vcr, to watch old tapes from when I used to tape things). So I guess I have to go back and have them corrected. Which means figuring out how to get there, or bothering my friend to drive me again, which sort of takes the ‘friend’ out of the equation and makes it ‘chauffeur’ instead. I do not like that. I can’t return the favor, so it’s very one-sided, and that bothers me a lot. Anyway, I thought I could take a taxi, but it seems the taxi company I’ve used before is no longer in business, and I couldn’t find another one in the phone book. Too much dependence on individuals having cars is not a good thing. Mass transportation was a good idea, and I’ve read that way back when you could mail something from Vermont in the morning and get a reply from Boston in the afternoon. That could never happen now, so thank goodness for email, but that’s a whole different issue. I haven’t ridden the bus in a long time, and mobility issues make it difficult anyway. Sometimes you have to walk quite a way from the bus stop to your destination, and I am not really great at walking any distance. Pain is debilitating in that way. So one more stressful thing down to crappy illness that I would have not given a second thought to before. You really don’t know what you take for granted until you don’t have it or can’t do it any more. The simplest thing, like preparing something to eat, becomes this monumental task that you may or may not be able to succeed at. Sometimes I just don’t eat, because I am in too much pain or have too little energy to make a sandwich or whatever. Boy, you’d think I’d be thin as a rail, but nooooo. LOLAbout the vcr. I am a total electronics geek, it seems. I have a flat-screen tv, a radio/cd/cassette player, a vcr, a dvd player, a Roku, three Kindle readers, a Kindle Fire, a Nexus, a laptop and a desktop computer. Hey, I don’t get out much, so I need to be connected. The only one I really regret buying is the Fire. I wish I’d started with the Nexus, because it is just much nicer and easier to use than the Fire, and you can do a lot more with it, too. Lighter, also. I don’t have a smart phone, but my daughter, who gave me the one I have, says it’s ‘almost smart’, whatever that means. LOLOL I love it, even if it doesn’t stand on it’s head and do tricks. I can make phone calls on it. Duh!!

It’s autumn. I love autumn. Even when it’s gray for days on end.

Discussing how a book is almost always better than the movie that comes after, other person bemoans that they have too many responsibilities to spend much time reading. It occurs to me that this is one of the ‘good things out of bad’ philosophy I may have mentioned before. I am ill. I have pain, I can’t do a lot of things I used to do, want to do. On the other hand, I don’t have to clean the toilet, or do the laundry, and I have loads of time to read, and access to unlimited sources of things to read. Even if I can’t get to the physical library, I can borrow online and get books picked up and returned by my homemaker, I can borrow ebooks, I have Kindle Unlimited, there are bazillions of free books available on line on many, many different sites. It’s a dream come true, when looked at from the reader point of view. It’s a good thing. Except for pain. Pain really sucks. But good comes out of everything, if you allow yourself to see it. I firmly believe that. Life is really all about how you look at things. You choose your reality in so many ways you may not even be aware of. Think about it.

The article, not the gif. Although the gif is good.

English Major?

from shock that some of these were actually banned books. Where’s Waldo? Comments say there was a naked lady (supposedly) in one of the pictures. God forbid a child should see a naked lady. People graphically murdering each other on ‘entertainment’ tv every day is okay, but naked ladies? Or men? Oh, the horror.

It’s interesting to see what you’ve read and what you haven’t, though. I’d only read 39 of them. For Shame.

Banned books You’ve Read (Or Not)

Yes. I actually like her. Answered my questions, listened to and discussed my concerns. It went well. I am happy. She made me feel more hopeful than I have been that I can get myself out of this morass my life has become. I CAN take more ibuprofen than I have been. It’s the only thing that really helps with the pain. Less pain will mean I can move more. Moving more means my metabolism may actually begin to work again, and I will lose weight faster than molasses flows in January, which is how it’s been going for the past year or so. Since I was pretty much bed-ridden and/or housebound much of last year. I gained about twenty pounds, and have only lost about ten, even though I don’t eat a lot at all. So hopeful, very hopeful.

I bought a new vacuum to replace the duct tape mess, and splurged on some Polish hand-painted dishes. I love these. I bought my first one (different pattern) way back in Jordan Marsh’s Basement years ago, and have bought one or two here and there over time. I don’t have a lot, a few bowls, a pitcher, a couple of sugar bowls, two large coffee cups a friend gave me, but now I got four plates, four small plates, four cups, and four bowls, all in the same pattern. Cheery dishes. It’s a good thing.

They are quite expensive if you don’t buy them from The Christmas Tree Shoppe or other discount store, but I’ve never paid full price. I couldn’t afford to. Here’s the page, if you’re interested: Polish Pottery

I heard from my missing friend in Finland, which made me soooooo happy. Not missing any longer. 🙂

It’s gray and cool and looks like it good rain any second. All in all, a very good day.

My vacuum cleaner is being held together with duct tape. I have been searching on line for a new one. Very confusing, but then read about a particular one that is good with pet hair and has no bag. I hate vacuum cleaner bags. It’s for sale at Walmart, but not Amazon. I seriously was thinking about it, then I came across this on Tumblr. It reminded me of why I don’t shop at Walmart, and that there is nothing I need badly enough to compromise my own principles, nor is saving a few bucks any kind of excuse at all:

“Wal-Mart earned $27 billion in profit last year. They could afford to pay their bottom million workers $10,000 more a year, raise all of those people out of poverty, cost — save taxpayers billions of dollars, and still earn $17 billion in profit, right? It’s simply nuts that we have allowed this to happen. […] You know, this ridiculous idea that a worker on Wall Street who earns tens of millions of dollars a year securitizing imaginary assets or doing high-frequency trading is worth 1,000 times as much as workers who earn tens of thousands of dollars a year educating our children, growing or serving us our food, throwing themselves into harm’s away to protect our life or property, that this difference reflects the true value or intrinsic worth of these jobs is nonsense.”
— Nick Hanauer, Venture Capitalist, on the necessity of a living wage (via cognitiveinequality)

So it’s not enough that I have constant pain anyway, now my right wrist is a bit swollen and quite painful. Don’t see any bug bites (hooray), and not aware of having injured it, so? Pretty good day. After googling a bit, figured out a plan that let’s me have breakfast and COFFEE first thing. Happy campers R US! Also, it is darned cold and getting down to around 40 degrees tonight.
Not hot and sticky. It’s a good thing. Meanwhile, I’m freezing. It it was winter, this would be a heat wave, but since it’s not…OMG It Is Cold In Here.

From here: the Backlot

“Reports say that the entire Palin family was involved in a giant 20 person street fight started by 25-year-old Track, who was upset to see his sister’s ex-boyfriend there. Bristol evidently has quite the right hook, and Sarah was screaming “Don’t you know who I am?” Evidently the fight closed out “As people were leaving in a cab, Track was seen on the street, shirtless, flipping people off, with Sarah right behind him, and Todd somewhere in the foreground, tending to his bloody nose.” “

From a blog on nutrition.  Post is about easy lunches to pack.

…frittata, cheese quesadilla, grass-fed hot dogs

Seriously?  Hot dogs eat grass?  Hot dogs EAT?  I am sadly undereducated, it seems, because I did not know that.  I wonder who feeds them.

Oh, snarky Jean is feeling snarky today, people.

Retweeted by Neil Gaiman and found by me on Twitter: Why we need the Oxford comma, people. Seriously, did you know these facts about Nelson? Me, neither, and that’s not what the author intended to say. Excellent example of why the comma matters. Anyway, made me laugh. I am one sick puppy. LOL

It’s a gorgeous day. I was very unhappy yesterday when they butchered two of the trees directly across from me. No reason that I could see. They looked healthy and fine. The one on the left, they only cut off most of the right side, and left the left. (Ha ha) Symmetry, people? It looks like it could just fall over to the left from the weight.

Not tree-men, obviously. Just two town employees with a buzz saw. It was the best part of living here, having that line of blossoms out my window every spring. Now I have that line of Tedeschi’s mini-mall. Oh, well. But the weather is very fine, and I am going out with my friend to do some shopping. Took my three extra-strength Excedrin and my allergy pill, had my coffee…it’s all good. Well, except for the trees. 🙂

It’s 10:46 am. I have already taken eleven pills today. Eleven.

it’s sappity-do-day here in Jean’s World. Found this on line. (online? on-line? I think I write this differently every time)

Good Stuff Happens

this from Tumblr. The answers are my own, of course.

1. What is your middle name? – It’s the one that comes between my first name and my last name.
2. How old are you? – Older than dirt.
3. What is your birthday? – I believe it’s the day I was born, but I could be wrong about that. You could try googling.
4. What is your zodiac sign? – I need a sign?
5. What is your favorite color? – Pretty much all of them. Otherwise, everything would be black.
6. What’s your lucky number? – 65038653047569372658595746363734899876453840459457345458.
7. Do you have any pets? -Yes.
8. Where are you from? – ‘Out there’ according to my children.
9. How tall are you? – About yea high.
10. What shoe size are you? – I am not a shoe.
11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? – At least one. Pair, that is.
12. What was your last dream about? – It was an outer space fantasy, starring me and every really cool actor alive. Or maybe I was every cool actor alive. I could have made that last bit up, though.Or the whole thing, now that I think about it.
13. What talents do you have? – All of them.
14. Are you psychic in any way? – Again, all of them.
15. Favorite song? – Signs, numbers, pets, songs, picture frames, lamp shades. Questions, questions, questions.
16. Favorite movie? – Yes.
17. Who would be your ideal partner? – I don’t need a partner. I can run this planet on my own. I am woman, hear me roar. Thank you, Helen Reddy.
18. Do you want children? – Only the ones I already have.
19. Do you want a church wedding? – Been there, done that, never doing that again.
20. Are you religious? – Not even the teensiest bit.
21. Have you ever been to the hospital? – Which one?
22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? – Again, which one? There are so many.
23. Have you ever met any celebrities? – Have any celebrities ever met me?
24. Baths or showers? – I certainly hope so.
25. What color socks are you wearing? – How do you know I’m wearing socks? Have you hidden a camera in here?
26. Have you ever been famous? – You mean I’m not famous now?
27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? – No, just regular sized.
28. What type of music do you like? – Not country.
29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? – There’s that regular size thing again. I’ve not been particularly skinny while dipping anything, no.
30. How many pillows do you sleep with? – I only have sex with humans. Seriously! Do I look like a pervert? I know you have that camera hidden in here somewhere. I WILL find it!
31. What position do you usually sleep in? – Horizontal.
32. How big is your house? – About this wide and that long. Oh, and yea tall.
33. What do you typically have for breakfast? – Food. I tried other things, but none really went over well with my digestive tract.
34. Have you ever fired a gun? – I have. It just wasn’t up to the demands of the job.
35. Have you ever tried archery? – No, was it charged with anything serious?
36. Favorite clean word? – Later.
37. Favorite swear word? – Solemnly. As in ‘I do solemnly…’ The other words are just okay.
38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep? – Four days.
39. Do you have any scars? – No, I’m like Captain Jack, I just keep rebooting to pristine.
40. Have you ever had a secret admirer? – Actually, I have, thank you very much,.
41. Are you a good liar? – Can’t you tell?
42. Are you a good judge of character? – I am not a judge. I never even passed the bar.
43. Can you do any other accents other than your own? – I can only afford the one.
44. Do you have a strong accent? – Yes. It’s been working out quite a lot lately.
45. What is your favorite accent? – Mine. Those muscles! I do like the Welsh accent, too. I’m all about Wales at the moment. Thank you Ianto Jones.
46. What is your personality type? – I think I flunked that test.
47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing? – I’m supposed to keep track of this, too? I’m not going to have enough time to finish this quiz with all the things I have to catch up keeping track of. Geez. I’m not even sure I saved those receipts.
48. Can you curl your tongue? – Wanna see? Just tell me where that camera is.
49. Are you an innie or an outie? – Come on. Where is it? I’ll show you if you tell.
50. Left or right handed? – Left or right-handed what? The open-ended questions! What kind of meme IS this?
51. Are you scared of spiders? – Nooooo. See ‘Are you a good liar’ above.
52. Favorite food? – Not okra.
53. Favorite foreign food? – Also not okra.
54. Are you a clean or messy person? – Aren’t we all?
55. Most used phrased? – I have to keep track of phrases, too? I’m going to need a lot more paper.
56. Most used word? – Oy, vey. No, that’s not it. That’s exasperation showing.
57. How long does it take for you to get ready? – Depends. Ready for what?
58. Do you have much of an ego? – No. Most of it spilled out of the bowl while I was scrambling it. Oh, wait, that doesn’t say ‘egg’, does it?
59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? – Are you hoping for something a little…you know 😉 ;), here?
60. Do you talk to yourself? – Yes, and I am a very good conversationalist.
61. Do you sing to yourself? – No, I sing to the world. The inhabitants just aren’t always around to listen.
62. Are you a good singer? – You’ll have to ask my listeners. As soon as the applause dies down.
63. Biggest Fear? – Getting these answers wrong. What happens if I fail this quiz?
64. Are you a gossip? – No. Gossip is for people who know what’s going on. Or think they do.
65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen? – Seriously? Do you know how many movies I’ve seen? Another thing I was supposed to be keeping track of?
66. Do you like long or short hair? – Yes.
67. Can you name all 50 states of America? – Why, have they forgotten them? Didn’t they have a SIGN???
68. Favorite school subject? – Reading, writing, but not arithmetic.
69. Extrovert or Introvert? – Again! Extrovert or introvert WHAT?
70. Have you ever been scuba diving? – No. I inherited all the scubas I could possibly ever need.
71. What makes you nervous? – Nerves.
72. Are you scared of the dark? – No. It’s exactly like the light, except you can’t see anything.
73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? – There is not enough time in all of eternity to correct people’s mistakes. There are just so. darn. many.
74. Are you ticklish? – Try me and find out for yourself. But first, where is that camera?
75. Have you ever started a rumor? – Yes. I started the rumor that……..
76. Have you ever been in a position of authority? – Not sure. What position is authority usually in?
77. Have you ever drank underage? – Have I ever drunk underage what? Water, booze, orange juice, potato salad? Underage WHAT?
78. Have you ever done drugs? – I have. Antibiotics, allergy pills, the usual stuff.
79. Who was your first real crush? – Well, it wasn’t actually me, but I was in a car that accidentally crushed a tiny little animal, unrecognizable when I got out to see what we’d run over.
80. How many piercings do you have? – Again, I was meant to keep track? Let’s see. There were all those vaccination shots, some cortisone a couple times. Allergy shots. Like everybody.
81. Can you roll your Rs?” – No, but my Ss curl quite nicely.
82. How fast can you type? – About this fast.
83. How fast can you run? – I have people who do that for me.
84. What color is your hair? – Hair-colored?
85. What color is your eyes? – My eyes is eye-colored.
86. What are you allergic to? – Allergens.
87. Do you keep a journal? – I blog, does that count?
88. What do your parents do? – I don’t know. What DO dead people do?
89. Do you like your age? – No. I’d rather have one with swashbuckling adventurers, one of which being me.
90. What makes you angry? – You do not want to go there.
91. Do you like your own name? – Yes. I chose it didn’t I? Oh, wait…
92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? – Baby is a good one (well done you), infant, tiny person. That’s all I’ve got.
93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? – Is that a hermaphrodite?
94. What are you strengths? – All of them.
95. What are your weaknesses? – Weaknesses? We don’ need no stinkin’ weaknesses. (Tiny little cliche there.)
96. How did you get your name? – Found it hidden in a suitcase in the attic.
97. Were your ancestors royalty? – Puleeze. I, like everyone on the planet, is related in the distant past to everyone else. Of course some of them were royalty. Once royalty became a thing. Before that, not so much.
98. Do you have any scars? – I thought we covered this already.
99. Color of your bedspread? – I don’t spread things on my bed. I do like to spread things on toast, though.
100. Color of your room? – Which one? I have several in my apartment.