Category Archives: Health

family, Health, miscellaneous

I Never Expected This

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Dateline: 5 April 2020

Well, the title of this blog post is sure a true statement. I never expected something like this corona virus that would send the world reeling. I never would have expected a stock market meltdown such as we’ve had. And I never would have expected…

…my wife to be in the hospital. On Thursday she woke up to a painful abdomen. It wasn’t long before she realized it wasn’t just gas, that something was wrong. We monitored it, but the pain was tolerable so we went about our normal routine. That is, normal for being socially distant and close to sheltering in place.

Friday morning the pain remained. It had also hit her hard during the night. After a couple of hours we called her primary care physician and arranged a video appointment. That happened but with much trial and error. The doc decided she needed to come in for an office visit. They aren’t doing many of those due to the pandemic, but she said come in before 4. This was around 11:00 a.m. The lab called us back and said we should come in before 3 because they would leave early on a Friday with not a lot to do.

The doc decided she needed a cat scan, so they scheduled it for the Mercy urgent care facility closest to our house, at our request, because we figured we’d be going home afterward. The thing took almost four hours, at which time they said we needed to head straight to the hospital operating room. The problem was most likely a ruptured appendix. We did so, getting there at 6:00 p.m.

Of course, I couldn’t go into any of these places with her. I read in the car. We left so quickly in the morning that neither of us brought chargers and Lynda didn’t remember her new cell phone. Thinking there would be surgery that night (as we were told), I waited in the parking lot, thinking if something went wrong they would call me and let me see her. But Lynda called around 8:00 p.m. and said the surgery would be at 10 Saturday morning.

The surgeon then called me around 10 a.m. on Saturday. They took her early to surgery, got out the appendix laparoscopically, She would be in the hospital a few days due to antibiotics due to the rupture, all of which time I wouldn’t be able to see her because of the corona virus.

In video calls since then, I’ve learned that her heart went into a-fib, she’s quite nauseous, she has an air bubble in her stomach, and water on her lungs. During which time I can’t see her due to the pandemic.

So, today, Sunday, I kept myself busy. I studied for Life Group in case I had to teach (which I didn’t), I had quite a few phone calls and many messages about Lynda. I did some more genealogy research, and I accelerated a de-cluttering effort in the storeroom that I began about five days ago. I actually saw some progress on both research and decluttering today.

And, of course I prayed—much, even almost without ceasing. God has this under control, all of it. He has Lynda’s health, he had the world’s health, and he has my peace of mind.

The nurses told me today that Lynda isn’t in any danger. What she’s going through (except the a-fib) is normal after an operation. Her body just needs time to work through it.

So I will rest easy knowing the Great Physician has this. Amen.

America, Health

Staying Quiet at Home

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When I was out and about on Thursday, I didn’t see any blooming redbuds. When I walked the neighborhood on Saturday and Sunday, there they were. It’s nice to greet them each spring.

As I write this we are in the midst of the growing corona virus pandemic. According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, worldwide cases now exceed 700,000 and deaths are over 35,000. In the USA it’s 143,000+ cases and 2,500+ deaths. In my county in Arkansas we have 33 cases, up 5 since Saturday. Thankfully, no deaths to this point.

We are under many restrictions imposed by the government, and other restrictions self-imposed. Our church cancelled in-person services before our governor restricted gatherings. School has been closed two, or maybe it’s three, weeks now. We go out as little as possible. I’m cancelling a doctor appointment this week, and will not be able to go in the building when Lynda goes for a doctor appointment tomorrow.

In some ways this isn’t much different than normal retirement. We’re a little more isolated, but, since I’m only working a little as my former company needs me, I don’t get out much for that. Normal weekly trips were for church, groceries/meds, and doctor as needed. Now it’s mainly groceries.

Sometime late this week there’s supposed to be a pre-construction conference at Centerton that I’m supposed to chair. They are trying to figure out how to make it a digital conference. But, I also need to sign the approved construction drawings as city engineer. We’ll see if I have to go in to City Hall, speak with no one, just do the signing in the lobby.

For the last two weeks I taught our Life Group via a Zoom conference. It’s been a learning experience, as each week we were cut off before I’d finished. I think we have it down for next week, but we’ll see. It was good to see everyone and hear them, even if we couldn’t be together. On Saturday we had a family Zoom conference, which went well. Nice to see the grandkids, our son, our daughter, and my sister. This may become something regular.

These bloomed all December through January, dropping their flowers during February and March. Here they are blooming again.

Meanwhile, spring has arrived. I’ve upped my walking, now trying to get three miles a day, trying to lose the last 50 pounds I’d like to lose (the doctor says 30). Yesterday I did the three miles in almost perfect weather. The redbuds are blooming, and the dogwoods aren’t far behind. Forsythia are still yellow, and a few jonquils have blooms. Our Christmas cacti have a few late blooms to brighten my reading time in the sun room.

We will get through this. The corona virus hasn’t peaked yet, but the end may be in sight. I suspect we will have another month of social distancing, though even longer wouldn’t surprise me. We’ll see how it goes for us. My prayer is that we humans, in the USA and around the world, would be smart about this and do what we can to end it.

Church History Novels, Genealogy, Health, reading, research, The Teachings, Writing

A Wonderful Rainy Day

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That was yesterday, a rainy day. And it was wonderful.

My plans for the day were to go to Wal-Mart around 7:30 a.m. to get groceries and prescriptions at the pharmacy when it opened at 9. Alas, at 7:00 a.m. a hard rain was in progress, and radar said it would be thus for hours. So I put off Wal-Mart till another day and went to The Dungeon for my work.

That work consisted of: stock trading, writing in my work-in-progress, filing. I didn’t have much stock trading to do so I mainly watched the market. For The Teachings, I decided to take a step back from writing and check my timeline. It seemed that I had Adam and Augustus in leapfrogging scenes that didn’t make sense. I mostly finished that, though I might look at it again today. While I added only a few words, as I read earlier chapters in the book, I corrected typos and phrasing, which felt good.

As the rain continued, I came upstairs for more coffee and went to the sun room. I alternately watched the rain, the birds at the feeders, and read. My current read is an historical novel from the 1950s about Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd. I’m now 32 pages into this 460 page book and enjoying it.

As the afternoon went on the rain began to taper off. The Wal-Mart run looked promising. So Lynda and I hopped in the car and got there about 3:30 p.m. The parking lot looked normal for that time on a weekday. The store wasn’t particularly crowded. We were able to get almost everything we needed. The lines at the checkout weren’t long. The pharmacy was crowded but they had lots of workers, so I was in an out without delay. As we were ready to leave the store it was raining again. I went for the car and pulled up to the front, we loaded in our groceries, and off we went to top off the gas tank then home. Through all of this we were more or less able to maintain social distancing. A most enjoyable trip.

At home in the evening I did the usual. Heated leftovers. We had small helpings of a frozen dessert. As we watched news all evening, I pulled up a genealogy book to work on. This is a maybe-I-will-maybe-I-won’t work on it project. It’s on my to-do list for 2020, to look at in March. So I did that. I spent the evening editing and researching. My main research for this was done in 2015-2017, and the thing has sat idle since then. Lot’s more records and the research of others could be on line now. So I looked for sources, made some notes about what needs to be added to the book and about sources I need to read. Soon I’ll develop a work plan and decide what to do about this thing. Whether this book ever comes to be or not, genealogy is so enjoyable to me that the time spent was uplifting.

So here it is Friday. I’m in The Dungeon, into my workday. The clouds still obscure the sun but there’s no rain in the forecast. The market is up a little, though the gains don’t look sustainable. I’m registered for a webinar later today. The Teachings is open before me in Word, waiting to me add to it. The neighborhood streets are calling to me to come walk on them. The sun room beckons.

And, a curious, minor event asks me to watch. Three of the four Christmas cacti in the sun room have new buds on them. I noticed them about two weeks ago and have been watching them. One bud started blooming yesterday. This is an extra treat, one that I’ll watch again today, and enjoy.

Health

Out Of It Today

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While on the trip to Texas this month I caught a cold. I think I felt the first symptoms around Feb 10 or 11. It came on fast but not deep. I was able to keep functioning, and drove all the way home on Monday.

But once I got home the cold deepened and went to both a head cold and chest cold. The last two nights I’ve had to get up due to coughing fits and spend the rest of the night sitting in my reading chair. I may sleep some like that, but not long or well.

Hence, I’m sleep deprived today. And my mind isn’t working well. It was just a few minutes ago I remembered this is my regular blogging day. I intended to write about the Jewish War in 66 a.d. and how that works into my book, but no way can I do that now.

So this post will have to suffice for today. Hopefully I’ll be back to full strength on Monday.

Bible study, Health, home improvements, Writing

A Busy Day With A Twist

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Writing the Leader’s Guide for this has taken more time than writing the book, and it’s just as long.

Here it is Friday evening, and I’m just now getting to my post for today. I have three book reviews backed up, but I haven’t felt like writing those posts yet. They take a little more time to write, and with other things going on I didn’t feel like taking that time.

Today was very busy. I started at the computer, with my end-of-week stock trading tasks. At the same time I was putting finishing touches on the leader’s guide for Acts Of Faith. There may be one chapter that I need to do just a little more work on, but, except for that chapter, I believe I’m done. Over the weekend I’ll re-read it, add that little bit of stuff, and it will be done.

After that I went outside to continue clearing downed tree trunks away from the lot south of us. Midway through my first saw cut my left baby toe started hurting, suddenly and badly. I thought I must have done something to break my toe. I couldn’t work without pain, so I sat down on the tree trunk and pulled my shoe off to find a nail through it. It wasn’t stuck in my toe, but I couldn’t tell if it had punctured it or not.

I had wanted to work about an hour and a half, but I decided to cut it off at an hour. I got a lot done after the nail incident. I knew, however, I needed to get inside and find out what I’d done to my toe. I soaked my feet in Epsom salts, then looked at it and had my wife look also. Neither of us could find a puncture mark. Still, I contacted my doctor about it. My last tetanus shot was eight years ago. I heard back from the nurse and she said yes, I needed to get the shot.

We had to go pick up our newer van from the body shop, and I had to go by Lowe’s to return a light and pick up the right one. After that I went by the pharmacy and got the shot. They say it’s going to hurt for up to three days, but so far no pain. Nor does my toe hurt. I think that the nail, while it punctured my sneaker, didn’t puncture the skin.

So now it’s evening. We’re done with supper and watching a little tv. I’m about to get us some dessert (probably some fruit). I hope to read a little later.

One thing I learned recently, that just really came to my consciousness today, was that writing the Leader’s Guide for Acts Of Faith has been significantly more time consuming than writing the Bible study was. It’s also almost as long as the Bible study, both in words and page length. I don’t know how long it will now take me to get it to market, but I hope in a week for the e-book. I hadn’t planned on issuing it as a print book, but perhaps I will. I’ll have to think about that.

Bible study, C.S. Lewis, Church History Novels, Engineering, Health, poetry, reading, Writing

An Enjoyable Loss of Sleep

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Will this be my only poetry book, or will inspiration to write more ever return?

This morning I awoke at about 4:30 a.m., did a restroom break, went back to bed, and couldn’t sleep. This has happened before. Normally I go right back to sleep after being up in the night, but sometimes, only on the later in the night awakenings, I don’t fall asleep. At 5:30 I decided lying there with disjointed thoughts was silly and got up. Throwing on a long sleeve shirt, slipping my feet into my aging and almost done-for slippers, I took my mug of water and headed for the sun room to read.

No coffee, you ask? No, I don’t like to take coffee before I weigh and take my blood sugar, and I wasn’t ready for the latter. So I went to the sun room and started to read in Jack, a life of C.S. Lewis by George Sayer. I had loaned this book to a friend and asked for it back recently, as I wanted to read it again. I say “again” as I’m not 100 percent sure I read it before. I think I did, well over ten years ago, about the time our Life Group was studying The Screwtape Letters. I’ll know if I read it before if, in the last chapter, I find a certain scene there. If this is my second time through it, it’s quite fresh and enjoyable, given the time lapse since the first reading.

The windows in the sun room were still open, and it was cold. I regretted not pulling on jeans and my inside jacket. The temperature was to get down to 40 overnight, and I was sure it was that low. Outside, the air was stirring. Breezes came and went. The rustling in the adjacent wood was almost constant, though never strong. Occasionally it came through the open window before me. Why didn’t I shut the window? And the one to my side? Why didn’t I go back to the bedroom and get dressed more properly? For one, I didn’t want to risk waking Lynda. Also, I much enjoy being slightly cold. It was easier to pull a blanket over my legs and chest and enjoy the coolness.

I read with good concentration and made much progress. Shortly after 6:00 a.m., Lynda opened the door. We had a brief conversation. I got up, weighed, took my sugar, got dressed, got coffee, and went back to the sunroom and reading, while Lynda went back to bed for a while. I returned to my reading, but with a little less concentration. Thoughts of poetry began to take some brain space away from the words on the page. Oh, my comprehension was still fine. It’s just that I’d like to be able to write poetry again.

Poetry is probably an affectation for me, not something I should spend time on. When I wrote quite a bit of poetry over a decade ago, I enjoyed it. I don’t know whether I produced good poetry, but it was the type of poetry I like to read, so it was good for me. In my mind I’ve outlined six additional poetry books, and have listed their potential titles on the page. I know the order I’d like to write them in. Yet, I have no inspiration beyond that.

I’m not going to force it. I have too much else to write, both works-in-progress and planned, to devote time to poetry without inspiration. I like to say that poetry comes either by inspiration or perspiration, and probably requires both. I’m going to wait, however, and not apply the perspiration in hopes that the inspiration follows. I think the opposite order of things is better.

I need to get the Leader’s Guide for this done, but it’s progressing painfully slowly. More perspiration needed, I think.

So what will my day consist of, now that the sun has risen enough behind the dense cloud cover to show light through the trees outside The Dungeon windows? I hope to finish a chapter in the Leader’s Guide to Acts Of Faith. I made some progress on it last night. I hope to write a scene in “Tango Delta Foxtrot”, and get that to the halfway point. I have a few short-term stock trades on, a couple of which will come to a conclusion today; I’ll have to pay attention to them, though all looks good right now.

I have some engineering work to do. I went by the office of my old company yesterday and picked up two project for review. One, I’m fairly sure, is small and I can possibly complete in less than two hours. The other may be larger; I won’t know for sure till I get into it. Plus I have construction reports to review. I anticipate spending three or four hours today, and as much as needed tomorrow to complete these tasks. It will cut into my writing time, but the money is good, and it’s also good for me to keep my mind engaged in engineering work.

One other thing I may do today, time permitting. II might create the computer folder and files for my next book. Tentatively titled The Sayings, it is book 3 in my Church History novels series. I plan on starting it next month, but it, too, is taking up gray cells. I need to get a few things on “paper” so that I don’t lose them. Plot threads are coming to mind. Specific scenes are coming to mind as I read for research. I’m not sure I’ll do this, but perhaps it’s better to get it done and see if I can free up that brain power for the real tasks at hand.

So, it’s going to be a full day for sure. Some exercise would be good as well. I would say that this is a day when I have truly “awakened the dawn”.

Health, miscellaneous

A Sign of Aging?

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You see many things about aging. Now that I’m in the senior citizen category, I pay more attention to them. Sometimes I identify way too much with them.

A little at the end of the nostril each night makes me sleep a little better.

My day to go to Wal-Mart for groceries is, at the moment, Thursday. I was going on Friday (a change from pre-retirement Saturday), but shifted to Thursday, probably for no good reason. The store is a little less crowded Thursday afternoon compared to Friday afternoon.

So last Thursday (not yesterday) I went. I took with me six cloth grocery bags. I hate to bring home a bunch of plastic bags. We recycle them when we get them, taking them to a thrift store for re-use, but I still hate to take them. I stuffed the six bags in the seat portion of the shopping cart and proceeded with my shopping.

One item on my list from the pharmacy section was a bottle of Vicks VaporRub. Actually, I would be okay with the generic store brand and intended to get that. But this WM is re-merchandising and updating everything. That day they were working on the pharmacy shelves, and had the aisle blocked that I needed to go down. But, on the end-cap was a display with small bottles of Vicks. I said the heck with going around to get to the aisle from the other way, so I picked up a box of Vicks and put it in the basket.

Later, at the check out, my purchases needed only four of the six cloth bags. I left the other two in the basket, paid, walked out to the car. When I loaded things in I found the Vicks, still in the basket, hiding with the two extra bags and obviously not paid for.

What should I do? Obviously I should walk back to the store from my distant parking space and pay for it. I decided not to and drove on home. At some point while driving, I realized I could bring it back on my next trip to Wal-Mart and pay for it with the next week’s purchases. That seemed like a good plan. I managed to (unintentionally) sneak it out of Wal-Mart, surely I could sneak it in.

The next day, Friday, I thought I should put that box in a prominent place on the kitchen table so that I wouldn’t forget it on my next trip. But, the box was nowhere to be found. I hadn’t put it in the bathroom or on my night stand or on the dining room table or on the kitchen table or on the kitchen counter or anywhere such products might be put while waiting to be taken to their proper place. Where was that thing? I began to think maybe I had left it in the shopping cart. That would have been fitting since I didn’t pay for it. And the double absent-mindedness was certainly a sign that I have for certain taken my place among the ranks of senior citizens.

Yes, I really did it.

The story continues, however. Sunday, as I was fixing a couple of fresh vegetables to go with our leftover stir-fry, as I pulled things out of the vegetable drawer in the fridge, there was the box of Vicks, hiding beneath some zucchini. I include the photo to show that it really did happen. It was indeed double absent-mindedness, just in a different way than expected.

The end of the story is anticlimactic. Yesterday I brought the Vick with me to Wal-Mart, hiding beneath those same cloth bags in the shopping cart basket. I went through the store, made my selections, and checked out, making sure this time the Vicks was on the conveyor. I told the clerk about it, and we had a good laugh together at my expense.

So, while I may be of a certain age, when the brain and many other functions begin to go, or have already gone, I had the wherewithal to sneak something into Wal-Mart. I’ll feel good about that for a while.

 

Adam Of Jerusalem, Health, Writing

Sickness Continues but may be Breaking

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Somewhere around last Thursday I came down with a cold. Actually, the symptoms showed up a day or two earlier. They progressed very typically for the colds I’ve had in the past. Saturday and Sunday were pretty bad, as I could accomplish nothing. This morning I feel a little better. It was so bad yesterday I didn’t feel like drinking coffee. Now that’s bad.

It’s been about two years since I’ve had a severe cold, maybe longer. Given that I’m now retired and don’t get out much, I wonder where I got it from. I went to Wal-Mart on the Thursday before my symptoms started, which seems too far. I went to a Martin Luther King memorial service on Monday, and the symptoms started on Tuesday. That seems the more likely place.

During this time I’ve suspended my exercising. Walking would about do me in.  The last two days I haven’t felt like eating. So, even though I haven’t exercised, my weight is down several pounds. I’ll have to figure out how to keep it off when I recover.

Once thing I did manage to do was finish reading Adam Of Jerusalem to Lynda, making editing marks as I went along. I also found the strength to type the edits, though I didn’t bother to reprint. I think I’m now ready to give it to my beta readers. One wants it as a PDF, which I can do today and send it. The other wants it in hard copy, but I may not see her for a couple of weeks. I’ll have to think about that.

So, here I am, in The Dungeon for the first time in several days, somewhat on the mend. At least the constant coughing is much reduced, though sinus drainage is as much as ever. I was able to look at the stock market this morning and make a couple of trades. I think I’ll be up to reading a little after a while. And, while I’m not very hungry, I’ll go upstairs now and fix some breakfast. That’s a sign of recovery.

Adam Of Jerusalem, Health, reading, Writing

Editing Consumes Me

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This will be a short post today. Day before yesterday I began to get the symptoms of a cold, yesterday they came on strong, and today they linger. I may be a little better. Maybe.

So, yesterday and today I took life easy. I typed edits in Adam Of Jerusalem. I followed the stock market and made a few trades. In the evening I read four more chapters in AOJ to Lynda. I didn’t do any of my exercises yesterday, and don’t plan on doing any today. Yesterday I also went to the sun room to read, though I think I slept more than read. I hope to do the same today.

It’s been nearly two years since I had a cold. As I’m essentially a home body nowadays, I’m not sure where I got it. Perhaps it was going Monday to the Martin Luther King memorial service at our church. I didn’t speak up close with anyone; perhaps it was in the air.

I’m hoping that by tomorrow, Saturday, I’ll be back to 80%, and to full strength and health on Sunday.

Adam Of Jerusalem, Health, holidays, miscellaneous, Writing

Still No New Normal

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Somewhere in this house, most likely in one of two places, I have a list started of blog posts I want to do. The list is on paper, one of the pads I want to use up rather than just discard. Do you think this morning, my regular day for blogging, I can find it? Of course not.

Instead of whatever I was thinking of for today, I’ll just post a stream-of-thought thing. What popped into my head was: I still haven’t found my new normal in retirement.

I have many things I should be doing. De-cluttering is a key one. Lynda has started on some de-cluttering, in a small way only but it’s a start. I’ve been working on it for a while, but haven’t done anything major for a while.

My main decluttering has been a little printing I did. How is that decluttering, you ask? It was four pages for the members of my new critique group. I printed them on the backs of old printed pages. I have two stacks of these, which are somewhat unobtrusive piles in two places, one quite large the other small. But, since I brought the pages back home with me, you might ask how is that decluttering? Once I incorporate their comments into my chapter, I’ll discard them into recycling. This is a departure from the past, where I kept all such critique sheets. No more.

Also yesterday I printed my completed novel, Adam Of Jerusalem, for my last editing pass through it. All 217 sheets are on reused paper. So, once I finish with this, it will be taken to recycling as well. The pile I pulled all these sheets from may in fact look a little smaller.

Today is a holiday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But now that I’m retired, it’s the same as other week days except the stock market is closed. I’m free to do whatever I want. I don’t even have to prepare any food, as we have left-overs from the prior cooking.

So what am I going to do? I should try to read 100 pages in the novel, editing as I go. I will try to find that list of blog post, and put it where I can find it when I need it. I’ll hit the elliptical, and try to do 1.2 miles on it in 0.2 mile increments. I’ll walk outside, hopefully my 2.4 mile route. It would be nice to read something for leisure, maybe something out of the large magazine pile (which will be multi-tasking since it will also count as decluttering). We may also head into town for a noon service celebrating MLK’s life. We’ll see.

Tomorrow will be another day into retirement. Perhaps, with the stock market open and having trades to make and watch, it will feel a little closer to a new normal.