Month: September 2024

30 September 2024

I am absolutely insane. I was going to take it easy today because we had rain showers during the morning. However….

While trying to go to sleep last night I finally came to the conclusion that I would not be hiking any significant distances and not camping any more. I knew I needed to clear some space in the house and I figure a lot of that space was taken up with gear.

I figure I can offer it at a very significant discount to my blog readers and if worse comes to worse, I can have Vietnam Vets pick it up and put it to good use.

There are two areas where the camping gear is stored: the upper shelf in the utility room and in the guest room closet. As it turns out, I have a lot of gear!

1. REI Kingdom 8 Tent (2018 version) 150”x100”x77”
2. Kingdom Garage (attaches to Kingdom 8 Tent)
3. Coleman Triton 2 burner propane stove
4. REI Camp Roll Table
5. Red Camp Xtra Chair – 2 Camp Chairs
6. REI Camp Folding Cot
7. Coleman Camp Oven – 10 inch square rack adjusts to 3 heights
8. Hennessy Hammock,Ultralite Explorer with Asym Zip 2 lbs 4oz
9. Helio Pressure Shower – Nemo Equipment, 11 liters
10. Thermarest Luxurymap Camp and Comfort pad 25”x77”x3”
11. High Country Sleeping Pad
12. Go Anywhere Portable Toilet – supports 500 lbs.
13. Summit Sleeping Bag (Talus TSII) 14°F
14. REI Siesta Sleeping Bag 30°F, long
15. REI Quarter Dome Tent 2 lbs 7 oz 88x35x42
16. Osprey Aether 70 backpack with rain cover
17. Osprey Statos 36 backpack with rain cover
18. REI day pack Flash 22
19. Sea to Summit Traveller TrI Sleeping bag 50°F large
20. MSR Mens Snowshoes Revolver Ascent 22 inches
21. SeatoSummit Sleeping bag TR Travelle 750 + loft Ultra dry down
22. SeatoSummit Coolmax fabric Adaptor Traveler Insect shield/repellent gear
23. Convert II Footprint ground cloth for Convert II tent 100% nylon
24. Convert II Sierra Design 4 season/2 person tent
25. SeatoSummit Aeros Pillow – Premium regular
26. Travel kit (toothbrush, sewing, etc.)
27. Thule roof carrier similar to Thule Force XT carrier large
28. Bear Vault – Model BV450
29. Bear Vault  – Model BV500
    
    If anyone is interested, make me a very low ball offer and it’s yours. Of course, I have to have a place to store it until I dispose of it and since I was cleaning out the closet and the shelf in the utility room, I opted to store it on the patio bar and some shelving I have out there. It’ll be protected somewhat from rain.

No good deed goes unpunished. I noticed some of the blown-in insulation had fallen down in the closet. When the guy came to install the fiber optics for ATT, I didn’t pay attention to how he ran some wires. It was a joke how he “fixed” it. I still don’t understand why he had to cut such a large hole in the ceiling.

I tried to patch it using cardboard and duct tape. It seems the plaster in the ceiling doesn’t let duct tape stick. I swept up two 10 gallon kitchen bags of insulation and finally gave up.

My ultimate goal was to clear out some space on the upper shelf in the utility room. Here’s what it looks like now. Imagine it stuffed to the gills with camping gear.

Of course, I’m exhausted. I’ll pay for this tonight and tomorrow. It’ll be a four tablet Advil night.

I will keep my day pack for short excursions. I figure with my neuropathy in my feet, that’s all I can do. I’ve also noticed a large knot on the sole of my left foot where I should have an arch (I’m flat footed). When it rains, it pours insulation.

Stay tuned!

29 September 2024

Today was dust bunny day. I did just the basic vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, mopping, etc. but I decided I needed to clear out rugs from under the bed. For a while there, I was tripping over rugs in the living room and bedroom and finally got smart and removed them. I decided to store them under the beds.

I’ll either donate them to Vietnam Vets or put them out for bulk trash. They’re good rugs but I can’t see putting them down again. I noticed a lot of dust bunnies when I pulled two out from under my bed. I decided I needed to pull the bed away from the wall and vacuum behind the bed.

Ive had worse situations with dust bunnies. Today wasn’t so bad but I found out how weak I am in trying to pull the bed out and then push the bed back. In my defense, it is a heavy bed. I finally managed the job after a couple of rest breaks.

I think I’m going to see about a house cleaner coming in every two weeks to do stuff that I can’t get to or want to do any more. My monthly cleanings have fallen by the wayside and my weekly cleanings are getting more basic. I think I can live with dirty floors for two weeks. I can’t live with a dirty bathroom for two weeks so I’ll keep that task on an every two week basis.

I get pretty frustrated with my inability to do what I could do just two years ago. The aging process is interesting to say the least. Two years ago, I was an active 73 year old. Now I’m an old 75 year old. Maybe John Knox Village is the answer. Of course, I can hire people to do the things I cannot: mowing the yard, cleaning the pool, cleaning the house. Actually I can still do the last two but I’m less enthusiastic every week. I do like where I live and the house I live in. It’s kinda nice to walk out in the back and jump into the pool on a hot afternoon.

When I was in boot camp at Alameda, California, I remember waking up in the morning and breathing in the fresh sea air. It was invigorating. Every so often you get that experience here where I live if the wind pattern is just right. I’m constantly amazed at how important our sense of smell is. I feel for those who lost it during Covid.

I’ve also decided my hiking days are pretty much over and certainly my camping days. I’ll see if the Viet Vets can use some of my camping gear. I need to make some space in the house. Thirty years of accumulation can get out of hand.

Stay tuned!

28 September 2024

After yesterday, I knew not to over do it today but I didn’t pay that any mind. I raked leaves, cleaned the very dirty pool filter, hosed down the patio, stripped the bed and changed linen, washed, dried and folded clothes. I had to rest between rests. You might guess there was a nap in there somewhere and you’d be correct.

The morning started out really beautiful.

We get some really nice sunrises. I have better views of those than sunsets. I was up and about by 7 and by 8:30 I started the dreaded chores. I don’t really dread them when I feel well but when I have no stamina and no energy, I don’t look forward to them. Anyway, that pool filter had waited too long to be cleaned.

Just to show you the difference from yesterday’s pool photo, here is today’s.

The reason the pool is so clear and clean is because the pool filter was so dirty after the storm.

In spite of being extremely tired, I decided to make Mother’s “Italian” spaghetti for dinner. I’m not sure how Italian it is but it has most of the right ingredients with a few extras thrown in. She would slow cook this for most of the day. It tastes even better the next day and the day after and also freezes well. I may take some of the left overs and try to make chili out of it.

There was an article online this week about the Kentucky/Ole Miss game and mentioned how Kentucky often gets the best of Ole Miss. I remember one year that Ole Miss was ranked number 1 in the nation and Kentucky came to Jackson and beat Ole Miss. Larry Seiple ran a fake punt for a touchdown in 1964 to win the game. John Vaught was the coach that year and he asked an assistant “Who is that kid? Seeple, Siepel?” He didn’t know the name of Kentucky’s punter.

I was there serving as a Boy Scout usher at the stadium. After everyone was seated, we’d head to the end zone and watch the game. The best part was heading home, our assistant scoutmaster (John Stokes) would stop at the A&W root beer place in Pearl, Mississippi and we’d get the quart size root beer and a hamburger. The root beer was ice cold and delicious. You couldn’t beat that even though we ate at the game.

In any case, the article I saw alluded to the 1964 game and sure enough, Ole Miss (ranked 5 or 6 depending on the poll) lost to Kentucky in Oxford today 2017. Who says history doesn’t repeat itself.

Stay tuned!

27 September 2024

I was out of bed by 6:30 and finished with my first cup of coffee and Cheerios by 7:30. I wanted to get the garbage and yard waste bins out for pickup and I anticipated they would be early because, like me, a lot of people didn’t put them out last night due to wind.

I had just hauled out the yard waste bin when the truck came by, not for yard waste but garbage. I motioned to him to give me a minute and I raced back to get the garbage bin. He was very patient with me. Shortly after that, the yard waste truck came by and got the yard waste bin.

I had enough time prior to pick up to gather some debris in both the back and front yards. I was surprised at how out of shape I was bending down to pick up stuff. I was very much out of breath and had to stop and rest after I finally got the yard waste bin out for pickup.

I wanted to get to the pool. It was a mess.

I used the net instead of the vacuum to pick the stuff out and it took a while and took a lot out of me. I had to rest again after this effort. I called it a morning after this and crawled back into bed. A 1 1/2 hour nap ensued. Again, no energy, no stamina, and no desire to do any of this stuff. All I want to do is sleep.

In addition to doing my Saturday chores, I need to clean the pool filter. I ran the pump to clean the bottom of the pool from any stuff I didn’t pick up and thought to do the filter chore tomorrow.

John Knox Village sent me their newsletter so maybe the gods are trying to tell me something.

My friend in the Big Bend area of Florida apparently attracts hurricanes. In the last 18 months, she’s now had three. Helene seems to have honed in directly on her. I figure the eye wall passed right over her house. I tried texting and calling this morning but no answer. This afternoon she got out a text telling me she was OK but her property around the house was a disaster with trees down all over the place.

One of the places really hit was Cedar Key. I’ve been there twice and it reminds me of Key West back in the days before the box stores took over. Most of downtown was under chest high water and several homes were washed away. Cedar Key was hit pretty hard by Idalia in 2023 and I wonder how many times it can come back from such destruction.

Tallahassee seems to have been spared major damage. Earlier, it looked like Helene was intent on taking out all the politicians in the capital and capitol. Other than some flooding and downed trees, it seems to be intact.

No one really knows the extent of damage as of yet. The death toll seems to be rising. Most of those are from water and falling trees.

Hurricane season doesn’t end until November 30th so we have a long way to go.

Stay tuned!

26 September 2024

I was awake around 6:30 this morning when wind gusts and rain started pelting the house.

I shut the pool pump off because I didn’t want to put stress on the pump. The pool was already littered with leaves and branches. Already some large branches have been broken off.

Fort Lauderdale is predicting 30 mph gusts with 3-5 inches of rain. We are already under a tornado watch until 8 pm tonight.

The real problem is our area is experiencing King Tides, so with any storm surge at all, there’s probably going to be some flooding in low lying areas. The city drains can handle up to 3 inches of rain in 24 hours but we may well exceed that.

Weather forecasters are predicting a category 4 storm to hit the Big Bend area of Florida and it looks as those Tallahassee is in the sights of Helene. Not only that, there’s Isaac in the mid-Atlantic and another disturbance off the coast of Africa with greater than 60% development. The lack of hurricanes so far seems to be over.

I felt well enough to go to lunch with Joel, Keith and John. We decided on Mom’s again and I picked Joel and Keith up around 11 and then headed over to pick up John. It seems every route we tried was either closed due to construction or led us on a wild goose chase. It was a little after 11:30 when we pulled up to Mom’s. I had French toast with bacon and coffee.

After taking everyone back home, I picked up a prescription at Walgreens. I think that makes 19 different drugs/vitamins I’m on. Even though I felt good through lunch, I was very tired when I got home so I read a little and then fell asleep. I’m a little worried I’m napping for 2 hours at a time and then sleeping for 7 or more at night.

A couple of times I heard wind and rain gusts pounding the side of the house. Looks like it’s going to be a stormy night. I hope everyone in the evacuation area has done so. This will be a very powerful storm.

Stay tuned!

25 September 2024

Poor panhandle of Florida. They can’t catch a break. So far, Southeastern Florida is out of the cone of death and we are only expected to have tropical force winds starting around 2 am on Thursday. Just in case, I topped the Jeep off with diesel this morning.

I’ve got a friend in the panhandle and she just got over Idalia in 2023. She couldn’t get out of her driveway for several days and was out of power for weeks even though she had a generator. The company that supplied the propane didn’t make deliveries. I’ve already invited her down but she’s going to ride it out. Such a strange thing – inviting people to South Florida to get out of the way of a hurricane.

Yesterday, I mentioned my low ferritin levels. Ferritin is a protein that stores iron in the body. My ferritin level was 19 where normal is 24-336 ng/mL. Low levels of ferritin can cause weakness, tiredness, dizziness, headaches, paler than usual skin, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, burning tongue and cravings for licorice, chalk, dirt, or clay.

I admit to weakness, tiredness, dizziness, shortness of breath but deny emphatically I want to eat dirt or clay or licorice. I gave that up in my childhood. I knew those mud pies didn’t taste right.

I haven’t received word as to whether they want me to come in for an iron infusion. I’ll wait a day or two and then call them. Dr. Velez commented on how I was probably not eager to go back to the infusion center – an understatement.

After getting diesel for the Jeep, I realized I’m low energy today. I texted Chris to let her know I wasn’t up for movie night. I hate having to cancel events like that, lunches, dinners, plays, because I can’t predict how I will feel on any given day. It might be well I’ve canceled since she might have to come over in the rain tonight.

Stay tuned!

24 September 2024

I was talking with Chris yesterday on the phone when she let on that she didn’t get a very good night’s sleep. She must have jinxed me. I was awake at 4 am. I read until 6 and then got out of bed to make coffee and pour cereal.

I had a 10:30 am appointment with my oncologist and needed to be there at 10:15 so with traffic on I-95 factored in, I wanted to leave the house by 9:30. Of course, I messed that up. I was about to head out at 8:30 when I caught my mistake.

Once at the Cancer Center, I waited for an hour before the nurse came to get me and take me back to an examination room. Once in the room, I waited another 10-15 minutes before Dr. Velez came in. He commented on how well I looked. I then proceeded to tell him about the difficult August I had and he begin to review my medical records while I was there.

After reviewing he recommended Sucralfate which is supposed to coat the lining of my stomach to allow it to heal. Apparently, he saw something from the endoscopy report that suggested I had some inflammation in the lining. Strange that the gastroenterologist didn’t prescribe anything. I decided to try it. After all, what’s one more drug?

After my visit with him, he sent me for a blood draw. He wanted another Signatera test (to check for breast cancer cells) and to check my iron levels. By the time I got home, the blood test reports were posted in MyChart. The only thing that was very low was ferritin. It’s a blood protein which can indicate low iron levels and anemia. He thinks this may be the answer to my low energy levels. I suspect I’ll hear from his nurse tomorrow to come in for an iron infusion. He scheduled me for a December appointment so we are still on the three month cycle with my oncologist.

As I headed home, I stopped by Walgreens to pick up my insulin supplies and then the neighborhood Publix to pick up a prescription of Lyrica. Tomorrow I got back for the Sucralfate at Walgreens. The drugs never end. You’re talking about someone who used to hate taking aspirin.

Tonight is Pizza Hut Pizza Supreme for dinner. After a two hour nap, I’m not in any mood to cook.

Stay tuned!

23 September 2024

It’s been a low energy, blah day. I’ve been good for nothing pretty much all day. Apple did send out updates to their iOS system (Sequoia) and I’ve been updating the computer and laptop. They also sent updates for the iPad and iPhone. That keeps you busy for a little while. Then there’s reading on the iPad and a nap.

The rest of the morning was spent trying to figure out the November ballot. The Broward Supervisor of Elections posted the ballot for my precinct and it’s not the major offices I worry about but the judgeships, amendments to the constitution, and referenda from Broward County.

I try to take my time and research a little about each judgeship. Florida has a system that for appointed judges, you vote yes or no on retaining them. I’ll admit to sometimes voting no simply because I don’t want them to be overwhelmingly approved to keep in office.

We have six amendments to the constitution of Florida this go around. To be amended, you have to obtain 60% of the vote.

Amendment 1 is whether or not to change the district election of school boards to partisan elections. Currently, you run for school board as a nonpartisan position.

Amendment 2 is the right to fish and hunt. I’m not sure why this is on the ballot because all you have to do is buy a license and the state is not going to change that – it adds revenue to the state.

Amendment 3 is adult personal use of marijuana.

Amendment 4 is to limit government interference with abortion.

Amendment 5 is annual adjustments to the value of certain Homestead Exemptions. This is proposing an inflation adjustment for Homestead Exemptions. I’ve not seen this before with any other state. We already adjust Homestead Exemption for veterans and old age.

Amendment 6 is the repeal of the Public Campaign Financing requirement. Right now, Florida funds, out of taxpayer money, anyone who meets the requirements. It’s not like your income tax form where you check that for federal elections.

There are two referenda for Broward County. Referendum 1 changes how membership in the Broward Housing Council is determined and puts it in the hands of the Broward County Commission. Referendum 2 expands the role of the Broward Inspector General to the school board. The school board is already governed by the Department of Education in Tallahassee with their inspector general but the school board has been plagued with one scandal after another.

This year is a relatively short ballot. It only runs for 3 pages. A few years ago we had one that ran for 6 due to amendments and referenda.

Broward County has a nice system that if you request a ballot-by-mail (and you now have to request it every year) and you send it back filled in properly with signatures and dates (postage free) then you can go to the website of the Supervisor of Elections and see if (1) they received it and (2) if it was counted. If it hasn’t been received nor counted, you can then take steps to get another ballot. However, my experience with the USPS is they are pretty diligent about making sure those are processed.

In the meantime, we get to be bombarded by political ads, phone calls, texts, emails, and actual visits to the house until November 5th. Democracy in action!

Stay tuned!

22 September 2024

Happy autumnal equinox! We actually had an inclination that fall has started in South Florida! The high today is 88°F and the low is 78°F, but more importantly, the humidity is 65% as opposed to 95%. You can actually breathe without feeling you are getting water in your lungs.

Just this afternoon when I was FaceTiming with my cousin Jimmie, I saw several people actually walking by the house at 4 pm. And, they were not sweating, huffing or puffing. I might start my morning walks again if this keeps up.

Lunch today at Greek Islands Taverna was pretty awesome. Tom, Kurt, Holley and Jim and I had a great time. This was only the second time Kurt had been out and about since his hospitalization and it was great to see him. Tom and Holley had their famous shrimp plate, Jim had ribs, I had lamb chops and Kurt had Moussaka. The waiter was really sharp and he held his own with our repartee. Holley asked how you pronounced the word for shrimp, meaning how do you pronounce the Greek word for shrimp. She left out the Greek and he responded “shrimp.” You’ve got to get up early to match this group with their wit and he met the task.

Of course, we were all stuffed. Jim and I forced our take home boxes on Tom and Kurt with Tom complaining they already had too much food in their fridge. Better them than me.

Holley and Jim dropped me home and I promptly had a short nap before my FaceTime with Jimmie.

Since I had a heavy lunch, I think it’ll be ice cream for dinner. I’m retired and can do what I want! Stay tuned!

21 September 2024

I managed to change linen and wash clothes but that was pretty much all that got done today. Just not enough umf. I got plenty of sleep so that was no excuse. I got about half of the L.A. Times crossword done before I had to start looking up answers.

About the only other thing I did was get in the pool with music on the outdoor speakers and dog paddling around. The water temp was a little chilly when I first got in but I acclimated to it pretty quickly. It’s a real nice pool but I can tell the fiberglass coat is beginning to wear thin. I’ve been told it is very expensive to remove the fiberglass and replace it with Diamond Brite. It’s not critical yet but another year or two it may be.

Otherwise, I spent the day reading online newspapers and reading on my Kindle. I’ve read so much that I’m losing focus in my right eye. I try to take breaks to get the accommodation back but it takes a while for it to reprocess and refocus. Cataract surgery is getting closer.

Tomorrow, I hope to go to a Greek restaurant with Holley, Jim, Tom and Kurt. It’s called Greek Islands Taverna and I’ve eaten there several times over the years and it is excellent. I’m partial to their lamb chops.

I’m not a big fan of lamb but I do like lamb chops. The only type of meat I had like this as a kid was mutton. Where Mother got mutton, I have no idea. Lamb and mutton are not big sellers in the south. Mutton turned me off ovine animals until I accidentally tried lamb chops.

Several years ago, a friend wanted to cook a leg of lamb. I thought “I like lamb” so I went over and found out pretty quickly I didn’t like leg of lamb. Funny about taste buds.

There are very few things that I will not try. I absolutely abhor crème de minthe for example. That’s the only ingredient in cocktails that I can’t get down. Mutton and leg or lamb are not high on my list of foods but otherwise, I can pretty well handle anything.

I’ve had bison, squirrel, wild game Mulligan stew, deer, elk, rattlesnake, and quail. I confess to never eating O’possum nor raccoon. I love conch chowder and pretty much anything Creole/Cajun cooking. I’ve had haute cuisine and crawfish at boils. It’s all good. If I had to choose between highfalutin foods or simple and easy, I would probably choose the simple and easy. It’s hard to beat good home cooking although I don’t do a lot of that any more.

I used to have people over to the house for dinner. I enjoyed doing that even though it was a lot of work. I would try out new recipes and invite people over spontaneously. They would bring the wine and I would provide the food. I haven’t done much of that since my breast cancer. Hopefully, I’ll get motivated to do that again. It’s fun to have friends over.

Otherwise, not much news. Stay tuned!