Category Archives: At Home

COVID-19 is changing me

Ray Whiting -- Posted on by

I have been good and (mostly) diligent in trying to follow all the public health protocols to keep myself and others safe from the virus — masking, distancing, vaccination.

It is discouraging and depressing that so many people have actively chosen not to take the vaccine now that it has been available for virtually anyone who wants it. And even more depressing that deaths and hospitalizations are again on the increase because of pure stupidity on the part of too many people.

I had considered going to Kroger later this morning. I decided not to, but instead put in another order for delivery. It is more expensive that way, including the delivery charge ($9.95) plus 15% tip for the shopper. But taking a Lyft so I can do my own shopping can sometimes cost even more, since the Lyft charges fluctuate and I always tip the drivers, so it’s “six of one, half dozen of the other.” I don’t mind paying for that service, as it keeps me out of public circulation and helps someone else make some money. On the other hand, of course, it means I’m not wandering the aisles filling my cart with things that aren’t on my list. 🙂

But it also means I am not walking to/from Kroger, which isn’t a good thing. I have trouble taking a walk just to be taking a walk. I need a destination or a reason to be walking somewhere. Walking to/from Kroger was just part of doing what needed to be done, but I wouldn’t walk it just to be walking. It is depressing to notice the ways that my body has changed over the years, especially since the Big Surgery. And the onset of the pandemic occurred within days of the Big Surgery, so while my recovery was moving forward, the rest of the world was closing down, so I didn’t really have much reason to be going places.

Now, having said all that, I DO generally feel better and somewhat more able than I felt a year ago, so my recovery continues, and I know I need to increase my level of activity. While I’m not walking distances, I do sometimes turn on Radio Garden and listen to music from all over. I particularly like Bollywood Punjabi radio for dancing as I work — no particular dance moves, but just moving my arms and legs and body to the music. It’s all exercise, right? (Radio Garden is amazing! http://radio.garden/listen/bollywood-punjabi-radio/NWQCPIx6)

Today I will be making yarns ready to dye, and tomorrow I’ll have a dye session.

My thumb is still hurting a bit from the trigger joint, but not as bad as before the cortisone. Last time it took a few weeks before I got my full range of motion in my thumb, so I’m trying to be patient about it. I really want to get back to the projects that have been waiting for me to be able to knit and crochet. Hard to feel like doing it when doing so makes my thumb hurt.

Onward into the day I go.

Another Month Gone By?

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Well, it would appear a month has gone by without a post from me. At the end of July, my WordPress got corrupted. After several days of the tech support team working on it, they finally pulled a restore from another server, which allowed me access once again, but in doing so it wiped out my posts after July 4. I don’t even remember what I posted about.

My trigger thumb came back and yesterday I was finally able to get in to see the dr. for another cortisone shot. I had been scheduled for two weeks ago, but the dr. called in sick so I rescheduled for last week but he was again not seeing patients in person, so it was moved to yesterday.

Today the thumb is less sore, less stiff. Last time it took 3-4 weeks to regain full mobility. I hope it doesn’t take that long this time. If the problem returns in another 5 or 6 months I will probably request the surgery where they go in and do some sort of release to allow the tendon to do what it should and fix it permanently.

While I was at the clinic for the ortho dr., I was able to visit the lab for blood/urine samples. I’ll see the endocrinologist in a couple weeks to see how my diabetes and other issues are doing.

In general the last month or two has been incredibly stressful for me — sales have been down, money has been getting tighter and I’m starting to feel like I did several years ago — stuck, poor, limited, and insecure about the future. It’s not a good feeling, and in some ways that feeling of ‘stuckness’ has affected my eating habits and other choices I’ve been making. Not always the best choices, either, which makes me feel bad, which leads to more poor choices.

I could fill a dumpster with so much stuff that I really should get rid of. I know I’ve talked about it, and thought about it even more, but it is ridiculous to hold on to things I don’t need and most likely will never use. There are boxes in the closet filled with things that I packed when I left New Orleans. I think the sheer volume of “stuff” is intimidating to me. I need a plan of action so I can sift and sort my shit in a rational manner.

I am incredibly disappointed in how this country is handling COVID-19. Once the vaccines came out it looked like we were going in the right direction, but there are soooo fucking many anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers and now the Delta variant is sweeping the country. Virtually all the hospitalizations and deaths are among those who chose not to get vaccinated, and many of them STILL say they won’t take the shot and don’t give a shit about masking or distancing. It’s crazy, but as for me I am not about to change and go mingling with people any time soon. I don’t understanding the thinking behind people not wanting to do even the smallest things that might help protect themselves and (more importantly) the more vulnerable among us. It’s just crazy.

And now we know…

Ray Whiting -- Posted on by

On Friday I had hoped to prep the yarns and get at least some of them dyed.

It didn’t work out that way. I got the yarns prepped but didn’t dye them until yesterday. Usually I do 24 in a session, done in two batches of 12 each batch. This time I did 30 in three batches of 10 each. I don’t know if it was because I didn’t get much sleep, or maybe the Texas heat and humidity, or I didn’t get enough to eat along the way, or maybe my body is just more easily worn out — whatever, it took me all day to get it done. And after each batch was done steaming I took an hour-long nap.

Later into the evening I was able to get the kitchen cleared and undraped, so that’s good. This morning I need to wash and rinse the yarns and get them photographed on the racks, and get the Knitivity Insider mailing posted, and then post pictures to Facebook. Later today, but probably tomorrow, I will need a day to recover and rest. None of these tasks are particularly horrid, but they do add up and I do get tired.

Soooo…. I got busy into the day. Soon as I showered and shaved, I got the yarns into the wash and rinse, took my walk, came back and hung the yarns to start drying. Because of the rainy forecast, the yarns spent most of the day hanging in the fan room. Then I had to edit the rack pictures and get them posted, along with sending out the Knitivity Insider announcement, and then posting to Facebook.

It was after lunchtime that I got to actually eat, and didn’t have a whole lot to choose from. Had a decent supper of a weird sort of chicken soup or stew thing. I started with a couple chicken breasts boiling in a quart and a half of chicken broth (boxed) for about an hour, then shredded the chicken. Then I added in about half a bag of mirepoix, a couple teaspoons garlic powder, a can of cream style corn, a can of black beans (rinsed), a can of diced tomatoes, and let that all simmer for a half hour or so. Then I added a can of condensed cream of chicken and mushroom soup, and about an ounce of shaved cheddar cheese, and simmered another 15 minutes or so. It came out more bland than I expected, but I like bland so it’s okay. Had two bowls of that. I wouldn’t serve it for company, but it’s edible and fairly balanced.

I almost forgot I’d started this post early this morning, and only just now remembered to come and finish it as I’m heading off to bed very soon. All the neighborhood is alive with fireworks, but I feel sleepy enough that it shouldn’t bother me.

An idle day?

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I have the claimed yarns packed for shipping, and photographed the rest for the Blog Reader Specials page.

Later today I should get a short order of pre-hanked Phydlbitz Sock base yarn.

I am struggling with a problem that I don’t know how to fix. My body is getting to where I can pretty well produce a regular collection of yarns each week. The problem is that they aren’t selling as quickly as I can make them, which is discouraging to me — why make more if what I’ve already done isn’t selling? I know that isn’t entirely rational, but also not entirely unreasonable, either.

I know that for most weeks, I can produce 24 skeins, and I could probably do even 30 in a week. Dyeing 30 in a week, and then actually selling 30 in a week, would be wonderful, as it would enable me to keep up with my expenses and have some measure of cushion for the weeks when I can’t produce as much — either for health concerns or for the inevitable disruptive weather we have here.

There are a couple of essays or pieces that have been rolling in my head, but I’m having trouble wrapping my head around how to write them. That annoys me, because what’s in my head keeps nagging at me. I should probably just get a pad and start writing. Sometimes writing on the keyboard isn’t effective, and talking to the keyboard is clumsy even if I had the best text-to-type software (which I used to have but can no longer afford).

I have also thought about just having a Morning Coffee video, talking at the camera when I first get up and have my coffee. I’m not sure that would be super effective either. But it’s a possibility, since I have a ring light and pretty good video editing software. I’m not sure I’m ready for doing live video. In this age of young people dominating the instant video market, I’m not sure anyone wants to listen to an old man sucking coffee and blurting out whatever comes to mind. Especially since I’m not a “social influencer” and don’t push fashion, food, or fame; indeed, I’m usually shirtless with my first 3 or 4 cups of coffee. 🙂

The day moves on. BigBoy has been fed, I’ve had my morning fluffy eggs and meds. There are some domestic chores I should take care of, while I ponder how to move yarns out the door.

Morning thoughts

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Texas heat is slacking — Pacific Northwest is sweltering with extreme record-breaking heat, while the local forecast for my area is that we won’t even hit 80º today — cooler than we’ve had lately and much, much cooler than what my friends in Oregon are experiencing. And just like we are ill-equipped for long stretches of freezing weather, people up in the PNW aren’t accustomed to the kind of heat they are now having. I heard that only about 25% of homes have air conditioning up there. When it gets warm up there people just open windows and turn on the fans.

As for me personally, the local heat wave we have had is definitely draining and exhausting. I set out to dye yarns on Saturday, but having done the first batch I was seriously wiped out and couldn’t do the second batch. I woke early yesterday and did the second batch, and then it was several hours before I could muster up the ‘ooomph’ to wash out the jars and squirt bottles, or throw a load of dye mop towels into the washer. It just takes longer for me to recover after a dye session. I think part of it is simply aging, but probably most of it is the weather.

I was able to get about five-and-a-half hours of sleep last night. It doesn’t feel like enough, but it’s more than I’d gotten for the several nights just prior to this weekend.

Another Sizzler!

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When I went to bed last night (around 10:30p.m.), it was 82º, felt like 95º, and the humidity was 85%. When I woke this morning just after 4:00a.m., it was 81º, felt like 92º, and the humidity was 82%. Even now, I’ve been up close to two hours, and it feels none better. Just a moment ago, the a/c finally shut off. UGH.

I have some work to do this morning, and then some other work to do this afternoon. I’ll be on my feet a lot, spending most of the day on the skein-winder. I’m not sure that would officially count as exercise, but I can move about (“dance”?) as I work. And it is mostly brainless work, just routine physical labor to get things done, so it’s okay.

Well…. time to shower and shave and get into the day as best I can. Since I don’t have errands to run I don’t have to over-dress, which is a plus in my book. 🙂

I’m In Jail!

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Well, okay, I’m in Facebook Jail — can’t post or comment or like/react for 24 hours.

I’m not sure which is worse — having power outages and can’t access anything online, or being able to read Facebook and not being able to respond or react at all. A lot of my Facebook activity is ‘in the moment’, instant gratification and participation. When I read something there, I can interact with others, or I can share something to my own page and others can react to me. Very much ‘in the moment’ that way. I don’t know if anyone even reads my blog here, and hardly anyone ever actually comments or leaves other indication they’ve visited.

I suppose it is good for me to have a little restraint from time to time on Facebook.

Today we’re starting a long weekend of rain, which doesn’t do me much good emotionally, so I know I have to pay attention and do the things that keep me uplifted and moving forward. Too many dark, wet, dreary days are definitely NOT good for me.

One thing I noticed recently was my blood sugar moving up and down. Not dangerously high, except one day last week I had two small pieces of dark chocolate and caramel, and my glucose went up over 250, which is really really not good. So I followed the endo’s guidelines and used a larger-than-normal amount of the fast-acting insulin. That resulted in a major drop a few hours later and I had to chew a couple glucose tablets. I was really shaky, sweaty, and awful for about 20 minutes until the glucose tablets got into my system.

Many months ago, I would start my day with the long-acting insulin and eat 2 hard-boiled eggs, 2 dates, and a container of yogurt for breakfast. That would carry me fairly well until lunch time and my glucose would be within limits at noon so I wouldn’t need the fast-acting insulin but maybe 3-4 times a week instead of twice a day. A couple months ago I got out of that habit. I started doing this morning routine again yesterday. I also took a brief walk (15 minutes) but fairly brisk pace, and my lunchtime finger-stick was 80. I took another shorter walk to the corner market in late afternoon, and my finger-stick was 91 just before supper. I want to keep my glucose around 80-100, although I can avoid the fast-acting insulin if I’m within the 70-130 range. My personal goal is to keep my A1C under 6.0 (last time it was 6.8, if I remember correctly).

One of my disheartening realities is my body seems to be changing at a more rapid pace. Or maybe just more noticeable these days. My right eye is not focusing at any distance, far or close, so I need to get that checked. Also, my fingers are doing strange things so it is uncomfortable to knit or crochet very long at all, almost to the point where I’m not interested at all in even trying. This isn’t good for me, given what I do for money these days. 🙂

Plus there are other creative things I want to pursue but I don’t have the space or the money. I’ve made my space work for dyeing yarn, but there’s no space for painting or using the loom or the knitting machines or setting up a quilting space. So many things I want to do, so many things I am prevented from doing. Grrrrr. Rather frustrating.

Already March?

Ray Whiting -- Posted on by

Well, whattaya know? It’s been over a month since my last post. But what a month it has been!

Week before last, Houston (and most of Texas and the southern states) experienced a freak winter storm. In Houston, we’ve had the occasional overnight freeze, but this year it lasted about a week. The weather folks on the news had to go back to 1898 to find daytime temperatures as low as was predicted for that week we had. At one point our temperature was below 20º and we were below freezing for several days. I had the water trickling in both bathrooms to help avoid freezing the pipes. My power was out from about 4:45 on Tuesday morning until 1:00 Wednesday afternoon, about 30 hours, give or take a little. Literally millions of people lost power and water for several days, and because of so many people with frozen or busted pipes, all the major hardware stores were out of stock, causing further outages until things could get repaired.

We are, of course, still in the COVID-19 pandemic, and people are still refusing to do the bare minimum to help bring the virus under control — wearing masks, avoiding crowds, etc.

I have been very good for the most part, only going to clinic visits and the local Kroger as needed. I am on the waiting list for my vaccine shot at my clinic. I’ll be glad when more people are vaccinated and life can return to normal. Or at least a reasonable facsimile of normal.

Another problem is that my fairly new-ish computer decided to no longer wake up. So for several weeks, I was connected to the rest of the world only through my phone. What a royal pain in the ass that was, but I managed to do nearly all my work through the phone. The one thing I could not do was edit my Web pages — the screen is just too small for me to copy and paste large blocks. I also could not figure how to upload yarn pictures from the phone. Thankfully that is now behind me, and I have what I need to press forward. The one thing I need to get is a hard-drive reader, so that I can extract the hard drive on my old computer and collect the years of files and pictures. Then I can figure out why the old computer wasn’t working, and hopefully get it working again. I will definitely be more diligent in using the external hard drive for storage and regular back-ups.

Not a good day

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First off, Two-ie is no longer among us. He didn’t show up for breakfast yesterday, and I figured he was just gone for a walkabout. He still wasn’t home this morning and I went looking. I found him lying in the leaves and clippings in the back yard.

In other news, I’m all pre-registered and pre-paid for tomorrow’s surgery. All that’s left for me to do is sit and wait and try not to stress. I’ll probably mop the kitchen and spray for bugs, so that will be done when I come home after surgery tomorrow evening.

Beyond that, I’ve not much to tell. Or not much I feel like telling.

Back from the Clinic

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Okay, so I went to my clinic visit this morning. Got up, showered, shaved, ate breakfast and got myself ready to go … and then got a message in the clinic message system saying it would help if I could fast first, but not a big deal if I can’t. I had asked about fasting last Thursday, but I guess he didn’t see that message until this morning. No matter.

Besides the hernia thing in the abdomen, it seems the neuropathy is spreading in my back, which may explain the weird pains and tingling behind the shoulder blade. 🙁

Anyway, my numbers are pretty good — bp 124/70, my weight is up to about 160-ish (my scales say 155, the dr. office says 166, but I’m naked at home and fully dressed at the dr. office). I’ll have to wait the results of the A1C for my blood sugar results, although my daily finger sticks are within pretty good range most of the time. I finally figured out what the A1C is for — to test how my hemoglobin is ‘sugar coated’. Last time it was 5.8, but I am assuming it will be higher this time. Last test was just a short time after my surgery when I hadn’t been eating much and was losing so much weight.

I also got a pneumococcal vaccine.

Until today, the clinic has been arranging rides to/from my clinic visits, but today I scheduled a Lyft on my own just to see what it would cost. Holy Shit! Almost $20 in each direction!

Riding to/from today allowed road vibrations to ride up into my knee and hip, so I’ve got some pain this afternoon. I won’t try to stand around dyeing today, but I can finish pulling the yarns for custom dye jobs to be done as the week progresses; I can pull yarns a few at a time and get them all bundled and ready to go, and sit to rest in between.

In other news, there’s not much to say. The weather is supposed to be cooling later in the week, so I can think about taking my walks again.