Lucky 13 and Spring Plans

My blog is now a teenager, this being my 13th year as of today.  In some ways it seems much shorter, in other ways much longer, and it has changed a bit over the years.  I used to have smaller, more frivolous posts, then I began writing less often but (hopefully) more thought-out posts.  I've had my moments of wondering what I'm doing still writing here, but the occasional feedback has been nice and I still appreciate this as a good record of major events and milestones in my life.  But, while inspiration comes and goes at times, I have no plans of stopping anytime soon.

We've not had as nice of a spring day since I last posted, which was on the first day of spring.  Since then, it's snowed more often than it had all winter (including today) and the number of days with snow in the last 3 weeks is probably only outnumbered by the amount of days with rain.  The sun has shown up a few times, but we've not come close to temperatures we had that first spring day.  By this time last year I'd already had a few fires and grilled dinners while neither has happened yet this year.  But, there I go talking about the weather again.

There hasn't been much other than the weather to talk about that's been happening recently, but I do have plans for when the weather finally does turn and my attention turns to projects around the house.  

First, I want to paint the dark paneling on the porch and possibly replace the ceiling tiles.  And if I replace the ceiling tiles I'll take a hard look at insulating the rafters to hopefully retain more heat in the early spring and late fall so we can have it open longer.  Not sure the color just yet, but perhaps use up some paint we already have.  With all the windows there's not much wall space so shouldn't take much paint to do it, but lots of taping on the trim.

Second, I want to somehow rearrange our computer room, the room I spend most of my time in - by far now that I work from home.  I'm thinking of moving the dresser and the file cabinet to at least give the illusion of more space, and I want to flip the rug around the other direction due to a small stain on it and so I'm not vacuuming against the grain, so to speak.  To do this I'll need to move those and more to the porch so it should be warmer out so we can leave the door open.

Another thing we've been waiting on for some time now already.  We've had a sofa and ottoman on order now since last August but due to the pandemic furniture just hasn't been in stock.  Currently it is expected to be delivered in late May, and I really hope this will finally happen.  We could look for something else, but availability is an issue everywhere.  The plan is to move the living room rug a bit to better fit the space with the new sofa and the new buffet table we bought a couple months ago that replaced our larger TV stand in the living room.  The old sofa will then be moved to the porch.

I have another vacation coming up in May so hopefully I can get at least some of this done then, but as long as they get done I'll be happy.  I took a half day off today so I think I'll go out to lunch and relax a bit.  Happy blogday to me and have a nice weekend, everyone.

Happy Spring 2022

Happy Spring equinox, everyone.  It was a beautiful day today, sunny here with temperatures getting up to the mid-60's.  I slept in and we had a lazy morning but then early afternoon we took a walk down to the Atwood area for a lunch and conversation at Wilson's and a short stop at the Harmony.  The bike path was very busy, as expected for how beautiful this Sunday was.  There were lots of walkers like us and bicyclists trying to make their way, too.  It is a bike path, after all, though on days like this and for summer events the walkers seem to outnumber the bicyclists by a lot.  I got this picture looking back on the way down when few were around us for a minute, and it was much busier on the way back.

The green in the far right middle is fake grass, but still a nice outdoor area behind the ice cream shop that we will visit when it gets warmer.  Otherwise, there's not any green that is noticeable yet, unless you look very close and in the right place.  We do have a few things around the yard starting to grow, and you can now just start to see buds on the trees.

We had some new snow on the ground yesterday morning, but not much and it didn't last long before melting.  The next few days will be cooler with a 'wintry mix' at times, but only a couple nights below freezing in the forecast and no highs below, thankfully.  You can finally really feel that spring is in the air, so hopefully soon I can write less about the weather and more about going out and doing things when the opportunities arise.  I plan to walk more now that the weather is getting better, and just try to get out to do more things.  There will come a time when the heat of summer will force us inside, hopefully not too often, but working from home now for so long I know I need to make more of an effort just to get out of the house a whole lot more often than I have.  Winter is not an excuse anymore and with the pandemic seemingly under control getting out and about should be easier to do this year.

Happy Spring, everyone.  I have high hopes.

Latest Listening Pleasure 39 - The Warning

I can't remember exactly where or when I first learned of The Warning, but it was about 2 or 3 months ago and probably while in some Youtube rabbit hole.  They are the Villarreal sisters from Monterrey, Mexico.  Yes, sisters - Daniela, Paulina and Alejandra - and surprisingly young when you see some of their earlier videos as kids, but even then you could see the talent.  

I found they first got some popularity from an early cover of Metallica's song Enter Sandman back in 2014, and they actually collaborated on that song for Metallica's Blacklist album that came out last year.  They've been writing their own music now for a while and have a couple releases out there, and a new song coming out next Friday called Money.  And they do seem to have lots of fans already, with several Youtube channels posting all sorts of videos with and about them, even livestreams of their shows.

There's a 5 minute documentary video they released a few days ago and shows their charm and growth, musical and otherwise, including talking with the parents.  Unfortunately, though, it doesn't look like they allow embedding so you can see it here, I recommend it.

Instead, here's the latest video and single by The Warning, Disciple.

What seemed to catch me first was the voice.  I like a strong, female rock voice (think Lzzy Hale or Liv Sin).  Then to see her play guitar and sing live was impressive, while the younger sisters were no slouches, either.  Plus, I must admit, I was intrigued by the novelty of what were young kids playing good songs well.  They've grown up a bit now and play tight and loud and have some very good songs out.  I think the best is their most recent EP, Mayday, but that's to be expected as its the first I heard.  I have one earlier album from 2018, Queen of the Murder Scene, that is also very good and a little more diverse.

And if you know me, you know I love the live stuff.  Here's a great livestreamed show I watched almost a month ago.  Live, from Saltillo, Mexico; The Warning.

If they continue their current trajectory I think we'll all be hearing more of them in the future.  They're just about there, and I think one 'hit' song just might break it wide open for them.  Maybe I shouldn't have predicted that, I just know what I like and find interesting to listen to and lately this has been at the top of my list.  It's always fun when I find my next latest-greatest!

Previous LLP Posts:

LLP 1 - Pain
LLP 2 - Nightwish
LLP 3 - Die Antwoord
LLP 4 - Pain part 2
LLP 5 - Andrew Bird LIVE
LLP 6 - Nightwish part 2
LLP 7 - Paramore
LLP 8 - Newsted
LLP 9 - U.D.O. LIVE
LLP 10 - Nightwish Imaginaerum Movie
LLP 11 - Kiss
LLP 12 - Rick Springfield
LLP 13 - Hyrax
LLP 14 - In This Moment
LLP 15 - Faster Pussycat LIVE
LLP 16 - Sebastian Bach
LLP 17 - Cradle Of Thorns
LLP 18 - Amaranthe
LLP 19 - Lindemann
LLP 20 - Halestorm
LLP 21 - Garbage LIVE
LLP 22 - Arcade
LLP 23 - Nightwish LIVE
LLP 24 - Ace Frehley
LLP 25 - Darkc3ll
LLP 26 - Dementia
LLP 27 - Rammstein
LLP 28 - Marilyn Manson LIVE
LLP 29 - The Harp Twins LIVE
LLP 30 - Diamante
LLP 31 - Steel Panther LIVE
LLP 32 - Scum Of The Earth

LLP 33 - Marty Friedman LIVE
LLP 34 - Buckethead LIVE
LLP 35 - Alice Cooper LIVE
LLP 36 - Poppy

LLP 37 - Code Orange

LLP 38 - Wargasm UK

LLP 39 - The Warning

Beef, Vacation and Weather

This morning I took a road trip north to pick up our next quarter cow, three days short of when we picked up the last one last year and our sixth quarter cow overall.  I mentioned recently that we were about to call them when they had a devastating fire, so I wound up waiting and just called them on Monday.  We expected 4-6 weeks until it would be ready, and that's what they said on Monday, but I got the call that it was ready to pick up on Wednesday as I was recovering from anesthesia while still in the hospital.  Turns out, our order for a split half just worked out well with other orders they currently had so was available much sooner.  We weren't about to complain, and I had the time for a road trip this morning.  It was a little over an hour's drive each way so I was home by noon easily.  A pretty uneventful drive, though I did pass through spots of sun, clouds, and three separate spells of snow flurries along the way.

When I got there this morning I saw firsthand what was left of the building that had burned.  Most had been already removed, but there was an adjacent building that had been boarded off on that end and you could see the blackened remnants on it.  They had a makeshift office and store in one of their production buildings and were selling sausage and other products from a nearby meat plant that had been helping them recover with use of their facilities to continue business for their workers and customers.  The employees were in good spirits and looking forward to getting back to full capacity and the new building they would be getting built.  We were glad to give them our business.

We expected it to cost more this year, not due to their circumstance but everything else that has been going on in the world, and while it does go up a bit each time it's still better than grocery store prices.  This time it was smaller, 108 pounds compared to 131 last year, and $5.98 per pound, up from $5.21 last year.  Still a good deal and we're glad to have it.  But we do have a few steaks and a couple pounds of hamburger to eat yet from last year's cow.

Otherwise, we've been teased with Spring weather now and again though it has definitely not fully arrived yet.  We still have some leftover snow from several inches that fell earlier in the week and temperatures have still been mostly below freezing.  Pictured here is how the back yard looks currently, still a smattering of snow and no thoughts of any fires or outdoor chores quite yet.  Milder temperatures are expected this coming week and I hope this will be a definite turn of the corner towards Spring.

So that's about it for this vacation week, it was nice but for the medical stuff and I will have another week off in 2 months to look forward to.  And I still have the weekend here before I must turn my attention to work matters again.  Stay well, everyone.

And Another Thing!

March.  A bit of Spring, a bit of Winter, and a whole lot of dirty snow piles, bare trees and filthy, dormant grass.  We've had melting and freezing, puddles and ice sheets.  Temperatures have been teasingly warm then plunge below freezing again.  We've only had about half the snow we normally get, but it's not over yet.  Today's high is 60ºF (16ºC) - highest of the year so far - while a week from today only 29ºF (-2ºC) expected.  Today is also rainy with thunderstorms expected tonight and there is snow possible next weekend.  March is a necessary evil, but at least we know we're going in the right direction.

The last few weeks have been extra stressful for me.  Work has been very busy and I have so many extra projects on my plate and keep hitting obstacles in trying to accomplish anything.  Home has been difficult recently but hoping to get that moving in the right direction again just like the weather will be.  I was going to write about work in more detail last weekend, but it would have just sounded like complaining as I really can't give details.  Suffice it to say that I took this whole upcoming week off on rather short notice, and they let me.  I had to have off in the middle of the week for a medical procedure and my wife convinced me to just ask for the whole week off.  A very good idea as I had time to use up and will get all my time back at the end of the month.  And it will be very nice to have the time away from work, hopefully get myself a bit more centered again.

Tomorrow I go in for only my second Covid test ever, the first was when I was admitted to the hospital in November.  That may seem strange to some, but I've been mostly holed up at home since I had Covid in early 2020, when you could only get tested if you went to the hospital (that was bursting with Covid at the time).  The numbers have gone down far enough that our local mask mandate expired at the end of last month, though still required at medical facilities and some government buildings while private businesses can decide for themselves.  Fitting to happen while Spring is arriving, but will still feel a bit strange when I do get out.  It's been so long now, and I've spent the last two years on the over side of cautious.  Anyway, I have to have the Covid test a few days prior to going in for a colonoscopy, ahead of schedule do to my recent diverticulitis.  Good times.  At least it was the impetus for a whole week off.

I've been watching while the whole world reacts to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and I like what I'm seeing.  Not just governments and their sanctions, but private businesses shunning Russia in many ways.  I don't like the unnecessary suffering because of this, both Ukrainian and Russian civilians, and I think this may end up being the downfall of Putin.  We can only hope.  It would be nice to see Putin and Trump share a prison cell.  Sounds like a late-night television sitcom, doesn't it?

Enough for now.  I'm seeing some sun peek out so hopefully there is a chance for a good walk sometime today between showers.  Have a good weekend, everyone.

February This-And-Thats

It's been mostly another slow, winter week around here.  We're way below normal snow totals so far, and most days recently have been very cold, but there was one day that got above freezing and I took advantage by taking a good walk during a long work meeting.  Aside from the weather (for a change!) there are a few things I'd like to touch upon, so time to start typing again and see what spills onto the page.

• I've not gone back for another try at the labyrinth, and just as well.  I thought about it briefly yesterday morning but the temperature was about the same as last week.  Not sure I would've gone even if it had been nicer.
• "The Mitten" is still along the bike path, and while it looks like it's been there for some time now all panels are still intact.  I've not crossed the road in some time to see the second half but its probably the same.  And no, I've still not heard the story behind how it came to be there.
• 
  Covid numbers are going down and my cabin fever numbers are going up, so I want to start venturing out again.  Last weekend was the first time I've gone out to lunch since before Christmas, and today I'm going to make a useful but not absolutely necessary trip out to the hardware store.  Maybe I've been too careful about it since it started getting bad again last fall.  I know lots of people are pretty much acting like normal now and have been for quite some time.  I guess I'm just very wary.
• I have an appointment with the surgeon again tomorrow about my ongoing diverticulitus issues.  I've not had a flare-up since the last time I wrote about it, but I did have a scare a little over a week ago that thankfully did not progress.  My diet has pretty much gone back to normal except for minor changes.  And I started eating dairy again without taking lactaid and seem to be handling it as well as I did before all this.  If I'm ever on antibiotics again I will be very, very cautious about it, though.
• We recently decided it was time to order another quarter cow again and from the same place we got it last time, then they had a devastating fire.  It was mostly the offices that were lost, but they're still in the process of reorganizing and completing their existing orders with the help of other meat processing companies in the area and will not be ready to take any more orders until at least next week.  We liked them and want to support them, so will wait until they are ready.

Today is Superbowl Sunday.  My Packers had a very disappointing loss in the first round of the playoffs so I don't really have a dog in this fight.  I like things about both teams so I'm just hoping for a good game to watch.  Aside from my errand, we're not going to be leaving the house at all today.  My wife has a nacho day planned for us with all the fixins to go along with the pomp and circumstance of the big game.  Yes, we really miss socializing and having people over.  Hopefully soon.

The Labyrinth

Late yesterday morning I set off to see and walk the Labyrinth at Olbrich Park, made out of donated Christmas trees after the holidays.  There's a short video about it here.  A peaceful, meditative walk sounded like something I could really use and I hoped to visit before there were too many people since it was a weekend.  There weren't so many people when I got there, but it was anything but peaceful.  I guess no one read the sign at the entrance.  Or, more likely, they just didn't care.

There was an entrance area by the parking lot made of old Christmas trees, then along the right side of the path to the labyrinth they had several different types of trees used as Christmas trees displayed and labelled, more kinds than I thought there were, actually.  Then at the labyrinth I noticed small children making noise and running around as kids do.  Parents stood around in the labyrinth talking, blocking the walkways, or else walking in pairs being anything but contemplative.  And a dog walker taking several minutes to dig her phone out of her backpack while it continued to ring or more likely an alarm.

I managed to get halfway through, well, not quite due to people gathered in the middle, then stepped over the tree branches lining the paths to leave.  There was simply no way to use the labyrinth as it was meant at this time.  On the way back to the car I really noticed how cold it was.  I had never checked the temperature before I left, but it was only 6ºF when I got home.  If I realized that I might not have gone in the first place.  Maybe I'll try again after work some warmer day this week, but this visit was not the experience I hoped it would be.

DNA Testing

For Christmas I got one of those DNA testing kits for me and my wife.  It had always sounded interesting to me and seeing it on sale and needing gift ideas I finally got them, the two-three and me one for health and ancestry.  We submitted them several weeks ago and we both got our results recently.

While the results are an interesting read I can't help but feel a bit underwhelmed.  There's a lot of fluff to go through to find results and numbers you want to see, but that's more of a website navigation issue, I think.  And no, I do not want to do a ton of surveys or pay $29 a year for more underwhelming reports and features, thank you.

I thought I'd find the health portion more interesting but thankfully I tested negative for all variants they look for, no predispositions and not a carrier.  The wellness and traits section where they give you a percentage of likeliness I do find interesting, and while many do reflect my actual traits some do not.  It correctly gives me a bigger chance of not being able to match a musical pitch or be bitten by mosquitoes, but also says I'm less likely to be afraid of heights or likely to have fair skin.  Almost all with varying percentages.  99% chance I don't have red hair, 1% I do; 58% chance I do not have cheek dimples, 42% I do.  Yes, interesting information upon first read but nothing that you can really do anything with our about.

The ancestry report was more interesting, but about what I would have expected.  Growing up, I was always told that I was 75% German and 25% Irish (a simplified guess, I'm sure, but easy to understand), and the results weren't that far off and had a few other odd finds, like I have more Neanderthal DNA than 64% of their other customers at less than 2%, whatever that really means.

98.8% Northwestern European.  Not surprising, I know I'm not Native American.  Of that:

44.2% British and Irish.  County Dublin and Greater London appear to be at the top, but it does list 18 other regions.

40.2% French & German.  Not sure why they lump these together.  A closer look shows all to be regions of Germany and Netherlands.  No berets for me.

8.9% Scandinavian.  I hadn't expected that, but it seems I have some roots in Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

5.2% Broadly Northwestern European.  Apparently all the above but unidentifiable.

0.3% Finnish.  This made me smile, but only because I'm a fan of Nightwish.

Then outside of Northwestern European it tells me I am 1.0% Ashkenazi Jewish and 0.2% of trace ancestry.  Go figure.

There's also a section where I can connect with family members and lists several of my actual relatives who must also have done the same test.  So it knows who I am and who I am related to now.  And the other day I received an invitation to share ancestry from someone I don't know.  You are given their name and after a quick google search I found she lives with her family in a town south of here.  Likely a second cousin, but I have not responded and not sure I will.

I don't think I want to dive into this that much and make connections and start a family tree or anything like that.  But I'm glad I finally did it and while interesting it does not change anything or is really of any help for anything.  Maybe I'll change my mind in the future, but for now I'll just let this simmer for a while.

Cold, Cold Nights

It was -15ºF when I got up this morning, and -5ºF when I took this video at 10:00 a.m. of the view out the window from my desk.  (That's -26 and -21 in Celsius, my friends.) 

Spike (of the Quireboys) sings Frankie Miller - Cold, Cold Nights

Coldest Week?

I was outside this evening after taking out the recyclables, pondering a recent pile of poop on the snow that had already turned white and the tracks of the likely culprit.  No rabbit or other small animal, but larger and dog-like, judging by the gait.  My wife thinks it was a fox, and while the dog population in the area is much larger you rarely see one off-leash.  The tracks disappeared among the rabbit tracks back in the corner of the yard by the lilac.

Then my nose started to hurt.  It was maybe 2 minutes of being outside, but only 7ºF (-14ºC).

They said on the news this morning that this week is typically our coldest week each year.  Not sure how they determine it since weeks change a bit year to year, but okay.  I like my interesting facts to be more definitive, I guess.  Either way, it's cold.  There is no high temperature in the 10 day forecast that gets up to the freezing point.  As I write this it is already down to 3ºF.

Not a reason to like where I live, but we take it as it goes.

Here's a cool picture of Madison that I saw on this website.  Appears to be late in the day during a warmer time of year, looking northeast over downtown.  One of the best city regulations is a limit on building height on the isthmus and around the capitol building.  That's our house, top right.  ;)

Happy birthday this week to my lovely wife, who hates having it during the coldest week of the year.

The Mitten

Every Monday morning at work we have a short meeting of the department, since yesterday was a holiday we had the meeting today.  For this short meeting I like to call in to listen and take a quick walk around the block, weather permitting, as both usually take about 10 minutes.  This morning during this short walk I noticed some signs, a story placed along our section of the bike path.  It seemed to begin here, but I did see signs across the road on the bike path, too, so not a completed story on this walk.

Today is a bit above freezing, and the next several days will be much colder, so after work I set out for the rest of the walk to get to the end of the story.  At this time I also noticed the very first sign, a title card, that I had missed before at the end of the street by the canoe slide.  A neighbor from up the street soon caught up to me and I let her know what I was doing and she was very helpful righting signs in the melting snow so I could take a picture of them.  You can enlarge the pictures here, but the print is small so provided below the pictures, 16 in all.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present:  The Mitten

Once there was a boy named Nicki who wanted his new mittens made from wool as white as the snow.

Continued after the break!

Quiet New Year, Mostly

It's been a fairly quiet new year so far, aside from my most recent medical issue acting up again.  This Omicron variant is everywhere so we're trying to be extra careful.  We, or mostly just I, had been going out for lunch once every weekend for a while now just to get out of the house, but no longer.  Other than that most trips outside the house are for necessities only.

I say 'most' because we did leave the house today to go look at furniture.  In early August last year we ordered - and paid for - a sofa sleeper and ottoman.  Well, it keeps getting delayed and then delayed again.  At one point it was scheduled for delivery on January 4, but that was cancelled and now has been estimated to be late May.  How does that happen?  I think the scheduled delivery was just a ploy as they do not have the sofa in their warehouse yet and may not ever, the way things are looking now.  We didn't find anything we wanted to replace what we already paid for, though, and all furniture stores are having big issues with stock and long delays in delivery, so we just decided to let it ride for now and not cancel and get a refund yet.  The sofa we have now we planned on moving out to the porch.  It will be a good seating area out there and we may then use the porch more in the warmer months.  But for now, it will remain as our living room couch.

I've been on antibiotics again for two weeks now, yet I started to get a fever and more pain again on Thursday, so I contacted the specialist I'd been seeing.  She had me go to a clinic on Friday, not the overflowing-with-Covid hospital thankfully, for lab work and another CT scan and it showed inflammation and still a micro perforation of my colon.  She does think that this is still treatable at home, but if it worsens I may have to go into the hospital again for IV antibiotics for a few days.  Worst case scenario is emergency surgery to remove part of my colon then I live with a colostomy bag for about 8 months.  For now, another two weeks of antibiotics.  This time a combination of two different antibiotics than I had been taking.  Wish me luck, I really need to get over this hump.

The weather is very cold and it snows now and again but nothing major to complain about.  We had the plumber out again due to a clog in our kitchen sink drain, same guy who was out in December to clear out our main waste line that goes to the the street.  The sink pipes likely have never been clogged or cleared before judging by the muck he got out, the main needs to be cleared every couple of years now due to tree roots.  Not much else that I can think about now, but that's okay, I'll take a quiet new year for now.

It's winter in Wisconsin during a pandemic.  We just don't do much of anything exciting and likely won't for several months, so not sure what I'll be writing about but I'll think of something every now and again.  Aside from my health, just a mundane time of year.

Happy New Year 2022

 A quiet night in with my lovely wife, a good frozen pizza and a few drinks.  Just the times we live in, let's hope for better this coming year.  Happy New Year, everyone!

RIP Jonco

Sadly, another that I've followed on the internet for years has passed, Jonco, of the sites Bits and Pieces and Naughty Bits, among others.  His kids left a message on his Bits and Pieces site this morning.  He schedules future posts to have them published at intervals throughout the day and they left them be, so there will still be posts for a short time it seems, but their message appears pinned at the top.

Bits and Pieces was one of the first sites that I followed regularly, so over 20 years now.  Both the sites above are in my Favorites list and have been, B&P since I started this blog and NB since it started shortly after.  B&P is not a blog, but he did write about himself there often enough you felt you knew him pretty well.  He grew a community over there of many different kinds of people, some I followed later or have seen in other circles.   While I haven't read every entry every day in some time, it was always there when I needed a distraction or laugh.  All my best goes out to his family.  RIP Jonco.

Christmas Flare-Up and Snow

Not going anywhere on Christmas Day might've turned out to be a very good thing for me.  I didn't feel right all day, but had a big Christmas lunch of ham, peas, and mashed potatoes and gravy followed by a chocolate sponge cake mint roll.  It was delicious and I was full.  My wife had brought her dad over for the meal, and he quickly tired after eating so she took him home as I did some cleaning up.  We had exchanged gifts the night before so this was the extent of our Christmas.

That afternoon before the Packer game I was really getting uncomfortable and I couldn't quite figure out why.  Later that night I started feeling really bad.  I got the chills, shaking for a few minutes, then just couldn't get warm after that (despite my new warm fuzzy robe and slippers!).  My wife had gone to bed early, and I was so concerned I slept separately, knowing something was definitely wrong.

My first thoughts were, where did I get covid?  I almost went to see my Mom and I saw my father-in-law this day, getting covid would not be good.  Here in Dane County we have an over 80% vaccination rate, so as long as we're careful getting covid hasn't been a huge concern, so far.  But, by the time I went to sleep my gut was telling me the diverticulitis was flaring up.  Still very concerning to me, maybe more so, but not covid.

The next morning I discussed with my wife and took my temperature a few times and it was a bit high.  It was Sunday, so she suggested I get on the website and see if there was a number I could call or something, so I got on MyChart, the website used for all my health records, appointment, medications, etc., and made an appointment for a virtual visit.  I had an appointment with a surgeon the next day, Monday, as a follow up to my hospital stay last month, but I wanted to get on the antibiotics as soon as possible.  It took a little over an hour to be seen, but I visited with a healthcare professional over my phone and she saw my records and agreed with my assessment so I got the prescription from my pharmacy about midday and started on it right away.

Monday I no longer had a fever but I still felt pain in my gut, unsurprisingly.  I saw the surgeon and we discussed this flare-up and the various possibilities going forward and which scenarios I may want to have surgery to remove part of my colon.  But the first thing was to get me over this episode.  She agreed with the virtual visit and my desire to get on meds right away, and added another prescription for several more day's worth of antibiotics.  She thought it was possible it got knocked way back last month, but maybe never fully went away so this was it coming back.  Looking back, I think she may be right.  I had meds for only 7 days after I left the hospital.  Now, looking back and piecing it together, I still had that discomfort in my gut for at least 2 1/2 weeks after I was discharged, though it was getting better and eventually seemed healed.  Now I don't believe that was the case and I'll be on meds for 14 days this time.

Rest is about all I can do, and I have been sleeping lots.  Yesterday I worked for only a couple hours in the morning, and today I took off work to rest and heal.  We'll see what tomorrow brings, but sitting up and typing like this is uncomfortable right now and I feel it more when I get up, going from bent to standing up straight.  Hopefully it gets better soon and thankfully it is not as bad as last month, though I waited at least a day too long to seek help last time.  I won't make that mistake again.

In other news, we got a few inches of snow the other night but it got warm enough yesterday to melt most by the afternoon and what was left was a slushy mess.  After my wife was done working she cleaned it all up with the shovel.  It was going to freeze again and that would not have been good to let freeze as it was.  She volunteered due to my condition and I was very thankful.

Now today we are due to get 2 - 4 more inches, but if it shifts a bit we could get more.  It started about an hour ago and is to continue until this evening.  I better keep up on my rest today as it will be the first use of the snowblower this year, and my wife doesn't use the snowblower.  Temperatures aren't looking to get above freezing in the 10 day forecast, so we may not have had a white Christmas but we may have a white New Year.  Stay well, folks.

Christmas, Fire and More

It's close enough to the holiday to say Merry Christmas, everyone!  Not a white Christmas here this year as today was relatively warm, dark, foggy and damp all day and I expect more of the same tomorrow.  It's a quiet evening in tonight and my wife and I will exchange some small presents.  We were planning on visiting my Mom tomorrow along with my brother and sister and their families, but with the Omicron variant being so prevalent and the hospitals bursting at the seams plus some family members' questionable decisions (I'd love to write more - maybe later) we will be staying home for Christmas Day.  There may be a Zoom call with all of us like last year, we'll see.  Here at home, my wife will cook a ham and bring her Dad over for a time and the Packers will play, but that's about it for us.

I did not get to have a firepit on the solstice like I have the last two years, it was cold and just way too windy to consider a fire, and that day the city picked up the stick pile before I could burn it.  Yesterday, however, the temperatures were above freezing and the winds were mild.  I started the fire about quarter to four in the afternoon and was out there until about six.  Long enough, and with sunset before 4:30 it was getting pretty chilly by then.  Last year my last fire was December 28, so we'll see what the weather does, if there's any more.  The fire picture was taken right about sunset, and I had to remind myself to take a picture.  I'm sure I have thousands of pictures of the firepit by now so I don't always anymore, but every one is unique.

About a half hour after sunset it occurred to me to also get a picture of the tree that was cut down as a follow up to the last post.  There was no more activity over there since and the trunk still stands, and stands tall.  It's twice as high as their garage and about as tall as their house, it was a very big tree to begin with.  You can kind of see the fences that would require the use of a crane parked in front of their garage to get the branches out.  But the biggest surprise is how this picture turned out.  Again, this was about a half hour after sunset, the first pictures I took were pretty dark so I tried using the 'night sight' feature on my phone camera.  Quite the difference, I thought, this fully looks like daytime!  But it was not quite completely dark out yet so turned out quite a bit brighter than actual.

Another takeaway is though I lament the loss of the tree, the dozen or more in this same picture, both near and in the distance, shows that we are not in any danger of being treeless in the area anytime soon.

Have a great holiday and stay safe, everyone.  Go Packers!

Another Big Tree Lost

Another large tree in the neighborhood is being taken down, this one two doors down in the back yard, center of the pictures.  I really do hate to see big trees go, but if it was getting dangerous then I can't blame them.  I didn't want to lose our big tree several years ago, but it was dangerous.  Workers spent two days getting it down to the trunk, and the trunk remains yet.  Then they took two days off for high winds, which probably was a relief to the owners if they had been worried about branches falling.  But no activity again today, so not sure if the trunk will remain for now.  And it just might as it is very expensive to have a tree removed.  This one had to easily cost several thousand dollars just to get it down to the trunk.

The tree just to the right of the one being taken down in the pictures, with multiple trunks, seems to be leaning over the neighbor behind them so I wonder if that will be taken down, too.  I guess we'll see if they resume work next week.  At least it's cold enough all the windows were closed, so the noise wasn't much of a bother.  More than once, though, I looked out the window and thought I saw snow but it was just wood chips from one of the two climber's chainsaws on my neighbor Dave's roof.

With those high winds of the last couple days came a brief change in weather.  We set a record high temperature on Wednesday at 68ºF (about 20ºC).  Winds were 20+ miles per hour sustained and up to 60 mph gusts, I believe.  Between neighbor Dave and I there is a pretty good stick pile out front now.  If it was warmer I would burn it all, but alas, we plunged back to about or below freezing for highs again since.  I still hold out hope for at least one more fire this year.  I may push the issue on Tuesday, for the winter solstice.

Otherwise, plans have been made for the upcoming holiday and all presents have been taken care of, just a little more wrapping to do.  My sister's kids got a big graduation gift as a send-off last year, so they might be surprised but will only get a small, token cash gift in a card to open.  We plan to do the same for my brother's kids when they graduate, but then they are adults and the gift gravy train will then leave that station, too.

I never made a conscious decision to grow a beard this year, but it happened.  Somewhere along the line I just stopped shaving.  It's a much larger percent gray than brown now, and I'm not happy with it so I think it will go very soon, before we get too deep into winter.  Same for the hair, my last haircut was in spring and the gray part is getting more and more, so I may get that cut shorter, too.  I do clean up well every few years, it seems.

Enough for now.  I want to write more later about health and lactose and other things, but all in due time.  Have a great weekend!

RIP Apetor and Booster

 Apetor is a Youtuber that I've followed for many years now, me and his other 1.27 million subscribers.  I really liked his quirky, entertaining videos.  Last night I learned that he died on November 27.  Apetor made many different videos but he had a penchant for skating on thin ice, and that seems to have been the end of him.  I won't say much more here, but this short article tells more about him and how he died.  Below is the last video he made, from November 22, link here for email readers.  RIP Tor Eckhoff.

I got my booster and flu shots yesterday.  I remember feeling a little unwell after my second Covid shot, and I do not feel well today.  I'm not sure if having both at the same time made it worse, but my shoulder that got both injections is also pretty sore today.  Small price to pay for peace of mind, I think.

Thanksgiving Eve Fire Video

I recorded my fire the other night and edited it down to a 6 minute video.  A tedious process, but now done so I'm not going to waste it.  Much of the video is from the first part of the night, then I skipped past most of when I was on a video call with my Mom and niece, with an outro of a fire in the dark.  Air traffic was heavier than usual, not surprising with the holiday, and taking off generally south above me.  The sky was very overcast, the temperature surprisingly moderate at about 50ºF when I began at just after 4:00 in the afternoon.  There were lots of sticks that had fallen on the neighbors yards out front that I grabbed and burned up this night.  The extended forecast was much colder so I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

There is a squirrel distraction about 4:45 and plane lights passing through the trees about a minute later.  Otherwise it's just me relaxing, feeding the fire and being lost in my thoughts.  Sit a spell, relax.

Link is here for email readers.

Happy Thanksgiving Thoughts 2021

With what I've been going through with my health recently and work frustrations bubbling up again I've been pretty down and maybe even ornery lately.  As I sat out by the fire last night I thought it would be good to think of things I am actually thankful for, so I gave it some serious thought and started a list.  Let's see if I can expand on that this morning and maybe get to 10 good and meaningful things for which I am truly grateful.

1. My wife.  It's hasn't always been easy but I just can't imagine my life without her.  I don't know anyone stronger who could deal with me and everything else she's had to deal with the last several years and more.  I've been guilty of being self-centered, taking things for granted and not listening as I should, and improving myself will only help her, so I am determined to become a better person.
2. My health.  I've taken this for granted, too, for far too long and it seems to be catching up to me.  I need to eat better, drink less, exercise more and lose some weight.  Very much easier said than done, but increasing health issues is a good motivator.
3. Family.  My mother and sister, specifically.  I don't like my father and my brother has been pretty distant.  When my mother's husband passed and then the pandemic hit I started to get closer to my Mom and my sister is always there with a smile and encouraging words if I need her.  I love them both greatly.
4. Friends.  I don't have many left these days, more acquaintances than friends.  I want to continue to work on those relationships and in some cases not let the distance between us cause that friendship to wane.  It seems harder to make friends the older I get, but much of that may be me so I should work on that more.
5. Blogger friends.  Delcatto and Blue Witch have been friendly towards me for a long time now and I'm grateful they keep coming back.  I like to read their blogs about them and their lives, and have learned much along the way.  Knowing they are there has helped me try to write better and more interesting things here.  I've not reached out to other bloggers much in a long time now, but Nic has been a relatively recent breath of fresh air and as a bonus he creates music pretty consistently so I always look forward to his next song.
6. Our house.  When this blog started in 2009 we started looking, and originally didn't think we could afford a house right in Madison.  But the market was in our favor and we found a nice house with a nice yard close to whatever we could need or want, right here in the near east side of Madison.  Yes, it is very small, seemingly too small for us at times, but overall I think we found a good one and have improved it in many ways over the years.
7. Madison.  Related to the last one, we live in a good area and city with a majority of like-minded people as us.  That changes rather quickly and surprisingly when you get outside the county.  When we traveled to pick up our last quarter cow it was shocking the amount of pro-Trump flags and signs in the rural areas.  I don't remember such divisiveness before he came along and thankfully don't have to worry about that too much here in Madison.
8. Music.  Music continues to be a joy and an escape for me even as I get older.  I don't go to live shows as much as I used to and am pretty unwilling to travel longer distances for it anymore, but I still enjoy discovering new music and I'm always looking for my next 'latest-greatest,' even if at a lower volume these days. 

Well, 10 was an arbitrary number anyway and I don't want to add something lesser just to get to 10.  I may remember something good that I missed later, but I think I have 8 very good things to be thankful for here and it was good for me to consider and reflect upon these.  Now it's time for me to do some cleanup for Kate's family coming over to celebrate the holiday.  It's currently snowing big white flakes outside, and my wife has been busy cooking up the cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and other goodies while the turkey is already in the oven.

Happy Thanksgiving and a great long weekend to all!

Health Update and Lactose Intolerance

My wife discovered her lactose intolerance about 7 years ago and has been taking lactaid when she eats dairy ever since.  There had been times when I would complain about something and she would tell me it's possible that I'm becoming lactose intolerant, too.  I'd always just brush it off and never had any real bad problems.  After all, we live Wisconsin, known as the Dairy State, and I really love cheese and ice cream lots and just can't imagine a diet restricted or without dairy.

Yesterday morning I still felt poorly, I had a bit more strength and stamina but not much.  I had arranged to borrow my neighbor Jane's handyman to help me clean out my gutters and rake and mulch my leaves before it gets too cold and/or snowy out, probably doing a little too much myself but it's hard to stand by and watch someone else do your work.  Once done, about 1:00 in the afternoon, I sat down and had some leftover cheese and sausage crackers.  Three of them, to be exact.  That's only 3/4 of a sandwich slice of swiss cheese.  It didn't take long and I was bloated again, feeling as inflated as a Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.  I was so uncomfortable a cough made my sides hurt.  I had been bloated quite often recently and it was happening again.

Once my wife got home I was discussing it with her and she looked it up, and sure enough the antibiotics can make you temporarily lactose intolerant.  A fact the doctor or anyone else failed to mention when putting me back on a regular diet on Wednesday, still with an IV pumping antibiotics into me.  Hell, I even had pie and small cup of ice cream that day and later complained about being bloated before finally being discharged.  Here at home and as my appetite increased I just ate as normal, bloating on and off and wondering why my movements weren't normalizing.  She convinced me easily and now I'm swearing off dairy at least until I'm off the antibiotics, but this could turn out to be permanent and I'll have to take lactaid when I want dairy forever.

It took 16 hours since that bit of cheese, but this morning I've had so much more 'relief' than I had all week and I'm starting to feel more like myself.  I'm still rather perturbed that I wasn't warned, and I'll be sure to bring it up at my follow-up appointment in a couple days.  I'm sure it tells you this can be a side effect on that full page of small print that comes with the prescription I got after I was discharged, but who reads all that stuff?  I still feel the doctor should have mentioned it when he put me on a regular diet while I was still in the hospital.

So, while that part should be getting better for me now I again woke up with a headache.  I failed to mention this in my last post, but I've had the same migraine on and off since I was in the emergency room last Sunday.  I'd be given different medicines for it in the hospital every day but it would always come back, and it's been a similar pattern since I've been home.  Maybe it's related, not sure, but I really hope it ends soon.  I've also had pretty wacky dreams all week, sometimes waking up panting with my heart beating fast several times a night.  Last night was better so perhaps this is related, too.  But again, I'm not sure.  

I guess all I can hope for is to avoid dairy for the time being and I should continue to improve and these things will work themselves out.  I just want to feel normal again.

Diverticulitis Hospital Stay

Well, I was certainly optimistic in the last post.  I wrote it shortly after settling into my hospital room, still feeling the fentanyl they gave me in the emergency room.  The picture was from the ER and before they hooked up a second IV bag in an attempt to get me rehydrated.  So, nothing much had been happening, now I have something to write about.  Let's start from the beginning...

I felt fine last week, mostly.  Thursday and Friday things that normally happen in the morning happened, but not enough and not well.  Still, I felt normal and figured things would clear out with a little pill to move things along.  Friday evening was the last night I ate food.  Saturday was uncomfortable but still, life goes on and I had things to do and a Badger game on TV so I took another little pill and ran some errands.  I had a bit of time before the game started so I thought taking a walk might help.  I made it around two blocks and was almost doubled over by the time I got back home.  And still, splash mountain had no one riding the ride and my belly hurt even more.  I upped the ante with what I thought would be more effective than the little pill in the afternoon, then again before bed knowing I would be getting up often all night - and I was, just about every hour.  My wife started taking my temperature that afternoon and it fluctuated the rest of the day, between 99.4ºF and 100.8º.  Still, I went to bed hoping to feel better by morning.  In the morning I did not feel better.  I knew I just couldn't take any more of this medicine, I needed outside help but I was unwashed yet so took a very uncomfortable shower and my wife took me to the emergency room.  This was Sunday morning about 11 or so.  

In the emergency room waiting room there were probably about 8 other people, some seemingly okay and others looked like regular visitors, but no one seemed in the distress I was in.  I do know that you can't tell what someone is dealing with just by looking, just sayin'.  Only patients were allowed to wait, any support persons had to wait in their car due to covid so my wife was outside.  After about 15 minutes I was called into a side room where they were taking vitals.  I explained the whole story and she told me it would be a few minutes but they would come and get me, so I waited about 5 minutes in the waiting room again until they called me back.  By this time I couldn't stand straight the pain in my gut was so bad yet I declined the wheelchair and shuffled back to a room where I started to get treatment right away, as hospitals go, anyway.  They put stickers all over my body, gave me an EKG, chest x-ray, and when I asked they called my wife to come back in with me.  Eventually I was wheeled off to have a CAT scan with contrast, ironically in the same room I'd been in twice already this year for my back shots.  When back in the emergency room they put in an IV, then at some point added a second and had them both dumping into my vein at a fast rate.  I was given fentanyl and hooked up to monitors, something they have to do when giving fentanyl I was told, but I asked them to not give me dilaudid as I've needed heavy duty pain killers enough in the past to know it makes me sick.  My Mom texted me about the upcoming Packer game, I texted back for her to cheer for me because I may have to miss it.  A nurse came in and said it looked like they would be keeping me so she had to give me a covid test, the long swab that goes so deep in your sinus it tickles your brain stem.  I found out later it was negative, of course.  Then it was just waiting for a room assignment.

I was finally wheeled off to my room, in time to uncomfortably watch most of the second half of the Packers game.  Well, I was going to feel the same if the game was on or not.  Once I was settled my wife left and I kind of watched the game, and waited.  I couldn't call my Mom, I would have broken down, so I decided to post here about it from my phone.  (I actually had planned a different post about the first snows as I normally note it on the blog every year, but this would have to do.)  Then I texted my Mom to check the blog and told her I would call her the next day.

Then it was Monday and I was in the hospital and I had just been terribly miserable since the fentanyl wore off the prior day.  I had been given morphine as a painkiller since, which didn't make a dent, along with anti-nausea and various other drugs and IVs.  My IV tree had really grown.  I was not allowed food at all but I had no appetite, just ice chips now and again.  This day is kind of a blur, but I remember not sleeping well and having people come in and out, poking, prodding, asking questions, drawing blood, and you name it.  And the damn IV kept beeping so I had to keep calling the nurse in, a new one every few hours it seemed.  Some I saw lots, others I may not have seen at all.  I do remember a brief period of feeling relatively okay and sitting in the chair for a while, otherwise it was miserableness and beeping and getting up often to drag my IV tree into the bathroom with me.  I was feeling pretty icky unclean by this point.  My wife came in the morning and brought me some things to clean up and underclothes, which I greatly appreciated.  I tried to give myself a quick clean-up, but it was difficult.  I remember when I was admitted that they said they would keep me until at least Tuesday, so I was looking forward to that.

Tuesday I felt a bit better and the doctor said he did see improvement, but I knew I wasn't near well yet so I didn't put up much resistance later in the day to having to stay another day.  All this time they had multiple IVs pumping into me; saline, antibiotics and potassium.  I remember early morning still feeling so dehydrated, and when I pinched my knuckle or back of my hand it kept it's shape long enough to indicate I was needing more fluids.  When I discussed with the doctor he agreed and increased my IV rate from 125 ml to 175 ml, and put me on a clear liquid diet.  I was able to get water, juice and jello now to go along with my ice chips.  I was making progress, feeling a bit better though I felt filthier.  I wound up taking two walks around the floor that day to get moving, totaling 52 minutes of active time per my Fitbit, though I'm sure some of that active time was coming down from walking as well.  I also tried to clean myself up more, but my hair was still filthy so I wore a cap.  The best thing that happened this day was that one smart nurse flushed my IV (she said it did feel as if there was a little clot in the end, put a tight roll of gauze in my elbow and covered it with a cotton mesh sheath to hold it all in place.  The damn IV that beeped if you looked at it cross-eyed the last two days finally worked as it should.  My lovely wife brought more supplies and stayed with me for some time.  Also, I had been texting with my Mom so she didn't feel she had to come up and visit, I wasn't very good company anyway.

Wednesday I felt considerably better than I had.  Certainly not healthy but hopefully healthy enough to go home.  By this point I was utterly exhausted from uncomfortable sleep when I did sleep, and nurses coming in and out at all hours giving me pills, changing IV's, drawing blood, etc.  I saw the doctor early and he was encouraged, upgrading me to a normal diet so I ordered hash browns, one scrambled egg and an english muffin.  Food that I thought would be bland enough to start my system with again.  By mid-morning I could no longer stand the filth.  I rang the nurse and asked for towels and shampoo and new gown and bedding.  I didn't think I was allowed to shower due to the IV, but she taped a sleeve over the area and let me do it.  Man, I wish I had done that sooner as I felt so much better.  They don't make any effort to keep you clean in there, it's up to you.  I took another walk around the floor and waited, hoping I would be let out that day.  On my walk I saw the doctor, he told me he was going to check my blood potassium levels again and a get a stool sample for bacteria shortly.  Sure enough, someone was there to get my blood at the designated time and I ordered a piece of cherry pie and some ice cream to help get things moving for the other sample.  That afternoon I was allowed to be discharged as the sample came back good and my potassium had risen, though not enough but I would get pills to take when I got home.  By last night I was finally home, but it is still apparent I have much more healing to do.  Any kind of shape or conditioning I had has left me as I huff and puff over the smallest tasks now and still feel very weak, but I did go four and a half days without food.

That's my memories of the last few days as I remember them at this moment.  I did take some pictures when I was feeling up to it, but not many.  I'll throw some in here, I think, but this is long so I'm not going to proofread, just put it out there.

The takeaways?  Diverticulitis is highly uncomfortable and can be scary considering your colon has a perforation.  I have a wonderful and patient wife.  And people in the hospital are filthy.  Now I must rest, take my pills and get something to eat.  Please stay well, folks.