REALLY SICK

I am taking the antibiotics and getting a bit better.  I am still coughing and sneezing and feverish and head coldish.  Blowing my nose every few minutes.  I have barely any appetite.

I am hoping by tomorrow I am feeling much better.

Today I called and got a cardiologist appointment. I also called to get the new RA doc appointment.  The receptionist said the doc needed to review my records before she could make me an appointment.  How weird. 

I need to get these dogs outside soon.  They are getting stir crazy!

Until tomorrow...

HEART MONITOR RESULTS

Yes, I am still sick.  More sick.  The cold/flu has moved into my chest now and I am sneezing, coughing and breathing heavy.  Now, the challenge is keeping it from being pneumonia. 

I called my doctor's office first thing this morning knowing that my doctor is at a conference until tomorrow.  I guess my doctor came back early because he called in antibiotics for me.  That should stop this cold/flu in a few days.

I also spoke to him about my heart monitor results.  He said I was not crazy and I caught the heart flutter a least a hundred times.  I was just happy that someone finally saw the problem after years of folks telling me they can't catch it on a monitor.  The person who reviewed the monitor results said it looks like I have Atrial Tachycardia.  It sounds scarier than it seems to be.  According to Wiki:

Atrial tachycardia is a type of heart rhythm problem in which the heart's electrical impulse comes from an ectopic pacemaker (that is, an abnormally located cardiac pacemaker) in the upper chambers (atria) of the heart, rather than from the sinoatrial node, the normal origin of the heart's electrical activity.

Basically I exhibit a rapid heart rhythm that comes from the wrong place in the heart. 

The next step is to see a cardiologist and see what she says.  The most common medication is a beta blocker.  So we will see what happens.

The doctor also gave me the name of another RA doctor so I don't have to wait until August to get an appointment.

A good day for being sick and binge watching Season 2 of Fortitude on Amazon.  I watched Season 1 over the weekend.  Gotta do something while I am in bed and my head is all stuffed up!! 

Until tomorrow...

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Today is cold and foggy.  Ugh.  I am still not feeling well.  My throat feels like razor blades.  Just watching movies to past the time: The Boss, Crazy, Stupid, Love and Collateral Beauty.  Drinking tea and soup.

Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

NEEDING A NEW GRILL

Woke up with a scratchy throat today.  I had things to do but really wanted to stay inside.  My friend stopped by for a bit and then a neighbor came by to see if he could help me fix my grill.  I have a big grill for parties but it has not been used for years and it is dead.  There is a leak and it is so old that I can't buy the part.  I checked all over the internet.  There is a sale on grills all over the place I will go buy a new one.  I just need a medium sized one.

Then I watched the movie Arrival.  It was pretty good.

Until tomorrow...

SAND: THE FINAL CHAPTER

What a gorgeous day!  I got up early and filled the last 25 bags of sand and took them to the dump.

The final plastic containers are empty.

Now my backyard is my own again.  Since I did the work myself, it cost me about $98.  The dump fee and the cost of the bags.  Everyone kept telling me to hire people and rent a truck or have a hauling company come and take it away.  That would have cost me hundreds of dollars.  After it cost me hundreds of dollars to get the darn sand, I didn't want to pay hundreds of dollars to get it taken away! 

When I was done I went to a neighbor's brunch and hung out with some friends for an hour.

Then I came home and took a nap.

Until tomorrow...

SAND: ALMOST DONE

I filled 25 more bags and took them to a neighborhood garden for them to use.  The sand removal project is almost done.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  When it is done I will have emptied 5 - 20 gallon containers and 5 - 5 gallon buckets.  A lot of heavy sand.

Until tomorrow...

HEART MONITOR

I returned the heart monitor today.  I was so elated to get rid of that thing.  The first week it was kind of fun to push the button.  The second week I tolerated it.  The third week it annoyed me and the last week I could not wait for it to end.

Here was the process: When something happened to your heart - a flutter, a feeling, lightheaded, whatever, I had to push a button on the side of the machine.  Now the machine was the size of the old walkman.  For any youngsters out there it is like a portable CD player that plays cassettes.  It hooks to your belt.  Like how some folks hook their cellphone.  It is the width of two cellphones.  On the side there is a button that I had to push and hold for 3 seconds.  Once I got a vibration, I had to unclip the monitor from my belt and use the arrows on the face to scroll down and answer the questions.  What did I feel?  What was I doing?  My answer most of the time was "flutter" and "sitting".  When I was sitting down I usually unclipped the monitor because it was uncomfortable to have it attached to my waist.  But then everytime I stood up I would forget it was not attached and drag it across the couch.  I also didn't attach it when I slept because it was uncomfortable, so I would drag it across the bed.

Since the monitor was attached to you by electrodes that were stuck to your chest, I knew immediately when I forgot it on the couch or bed.  Dragging that thing around was a challenge but once I sent it back, I was still looking for it for days.  Amazing how quickly a person can become accustomed to something.

Now I just wait for the results.  I guess it will take a week since it is a holiday week.

Until tomorrow...

VERY BUSY DAY AT MY HOME

What a day!  I had the handyman fix my lower deck.  It is a long time project.  I have had three contractors look at it and tell me what was wrong with it but tell me they can't fix it.  They were too busy or never got back to me or (maybe) died.  So it never got fixed.

Here's the problem: When the original contractor built my house they didn't (don't start pondering why, it will drive you crazy) put flashing along the bottom of my shingles where they meet my deck.  So when it rains, the water leaks in my house.  Nice.  It isn't a big leak but more of a seep.

To fix it my handyman had to remove my deck floor, take off shingles, and put the flashing on.  Then put the deck back on.  Some of the shingles broke and since the underneath was damp, we decided to keep the shingles off for a few weeks and let the inside dry out.

Here is the deck in pieces (looking down on the deck):

The silver piece on the left side is the flashing that is being installed along the house.


I also had to take my car in for some stuff that was going wrong.  I ended up having three oil leaks and have to have my whole shocks and struts, etc replaced.  That explains why my car is vibrating.  They couldn't do the work today because they had to order parts because my car is SO old.

To top off the night, the squatter from a few months ago returned to the vacant house across the street.  The contractor accidentally left the door unlocked and the same squatter from a few months ago returned and moved in.  He told the police he was renting the house.  He had a suitcase and food.  He is fixated on that house.  So I dealt with the police and the contractor to get the place locked up.

Until tomorrow...

CONCERT SECURITY

My heart goes out to the victims and their families and friends of the Manchester UK attack.

I was just writing about security at events the other day.  When I went to the U2 concert I was thinking that the crowd problem made me concerned if there was a problem.  Then yesterday there was a bombing at the Ariana Grande concert in the UK.  The bombing was outside the concert prior to the security check as people were leaving.  As I was saying at the U2 stadium I was at they were letting us enter in a few entrances but we all had to leave through one exit.  I felt concerned that we were all being stuffed out one exit.  What if something happened? We had no where to go.  The same with getting to the concert.  There was one road in and one road out.  What if there was an earthquake?  Or something else?

I will never go to that venue again.  It is honestly too dangerous.  I don't know who designed it but they were not thinking of safety.  They were thinking of money. 

Until tomorrow...

MORE GETTING RID OF THE SAND

Today I got up and shoveled more sand.  I filled 15 bags of sand.  I made the bags lighter with only 4 shovels full.  I had 3 buckets 1/2 full.  I loaded the car and took it to the dump.  This guy charged me $40.  I got rid of all the sand in the buckets and one 18 gallon tub.  I have 4-18 gallon tubs left.

It really feels good to get rid of the sand.  It has been taking up so much space in the backyard.  I am sick of looking at it.

I spoke to my friend and she wants some of the sand for her community garden.  I won't have to go to the dump again.  I am taking it to her community garden on Friday.  Yippee!

Until tomorrow...