Mt_Rider

Well Little Sister, now you've got confirmation of your knee, shoulder. Hope you can get something to ease the pain and increase the function! Do those of you who run low on D3 get any increase if you spend time in the sunshine? Balance between sunshine for D and not sunburn. Mine was low but is fine with a gummy per day. So I'm not experienced with what you're talking about. Ugh! I went to Women's Bible study today. First tho......I spent time trying to clear my hearing aids and put new filter (?) things in. Teeny-Tiny Itty-Bitty parts. And me with hand tremors. (DH would be worse) So I tend to put it off....until the hearing aid doesn't work. Well, I was trying to do it quickly before leaving.....and couldn't get L one in the ear. I had the "tail" on backwards and had forgotten to put on the new flexible, clear plastic thing that covers the very small "bug" in your ear canal. Got it on the first one and oops- forgot on the second. Sheeesh....high level of general competence here! Missing parts are not in the recommended procedure!!! Finally got out the door and was not quite late but rushed. Used the wheelchair this week. Was worn out by the time I got back up the stairs at home. Dang...I need more stamina! Was freezing all afternoon - sign of fatigue or just can't keep up body temp. ..or I'm sick?????? For the second time recently, I thot I was going to lose lunch. Got to bathroom but didn't. Placed buckets JIC.... This is not the time to get sick!!! Ginger ale and ginger cookies relieve this but... what is this? So other than another load of clothes down stairs to laundry and collecting dry clothes to put away, I've been laying down resting/reading/talking to mom. IS it a virus or is it from all my sorting/arranging? Pushing too hard? I really can't tell. But if that's the case, I'm going to have to carry a barf bag and ginger ale/ginger cookies on the flights to Maui. Might be a good idea anyway. Will take us 15 hrs total - including airport wait times to reach Kahului, Maui. O'hana! MtRider ....I definitely need more sleep than last nite. But I've got a good record for the rest of the week.

Not sure if I mentioned but I've also been looking for all the books which are recipes, manuals, How-To's, resources of data for a post-hooey situation. I was missing the big ole book by Dr and Nurse Amy Alton. Was quite a costly item and I had no idea where I'd put it. I thot it was on the bottom shelf... I found that today...surprise. So we have 6 reference books of various topics like wild edibles & medicinals, Ball Blue Book, Carla Emory - Country Living, LDS book on Making the Best of Basics. I've had most of these for years/decades. But they're all together and would be in the Grab It pile. Reference material! Things get lost too easy in this house. If I reorganize the living room book case - I'll put them over there. But for now - stay put! Don't go running off! Sheeesh! Did more sorting/organizing of living room space. There is a little bit of space now. Not just a walk way. Still got a lot piled up in front of the pellet stove but ...a little by little. Got all the small First Aid stuff for human and dog (mostly cleaning her ears occasionally.) All on the small desk but will still undergo more change when I get to that point. I did walk the dog tonite. Hmph...all this bending, contorting to reach things, lifting and moving.... and the walk was short cuz I couldn't really push too far. I thot I'd be okay cuz I'm moving a lot. But stamina gave out on me. Hmph! Well, I can get that back but I get really exhausted from a day of sorting and such. Lotta motion but... I do have to sit down a lot. MtRider

I FOUND the battery bank device!!! Oye! If I hadn't been digging out ALL those spare corners where "STUFF" gets piled in a house with virtually no closets..... I'd sorted thru EVERY bag and box on one side yesterday. Began on the other side this morning. I just found it. WHY on earth I ever stuck it back in that "hole"... Probably to get it away from the potent sunshine from the window. But sheeeesh! All wrapped nicely in a safe bag made of air tubes for shipping. Well, now I've got stuff outta that "hole" and I really am wasting precious space with this arrangement. Going to be sitting here and walking around over there....and pondering for a while. HOW can I rearrange to better maximize that portion of this tiny "living room" space. Ugh....I forgot to post this when I typed it out 2-3 hrs ago. Since then I have further reorganized the Living room. Slid a small child's antique school desk into The Hole. Cuts off most access to the desk's book shelf under the top. I can put stuff in there that I don't need often. (note to self....never gonna remember something is in there - outta sight/outta MY mind!) Oh well. It opened up more space to get thru the "living room walkway". Puts the dog's Water/Food dishes On Top of dog food Tote thing more out of the way. Everyone will be pleased about that. Lots of half gallon and gallon stored water now out of the way under that desk. Took me the longest time to figure out a new configuration but this works. MtRider ...sitting down! Eating!

Thanks for the tip on Amazon, Jeepers. I'm still counting on finding the battery bank I have....somewhere. It's SUPPOSED to be Front and Center! In one of the GoBags. I spent time today clearing the last of the STUFF that piles itself onto the shelf by the door. Hmph! Rearranged. Vacuumed. Put stuff back and .....it's STILL HARD to fit everything into that space. And no Battery Bank in any of them! WHERE O WHERE did I put that??? I really love organizing. Love the organized effect too. Really pushing energy to do all that tho. LOVE looking at all those flowers, Necie! Those don't really grow here...what with our short season of "Springsummer" . Only July is usually safe from frost. Martian...Hope your dh gets over his cold quickly - for both your sakes. lol I'd love to be stable at on location (we've been here decades but always with one foot nearly out the door) and could plant such things as you are, BeccaAnne. Not a lot of fruit/nut producing things grow here. Except currents. Lots of those - the type with a multitude of stickers! Little Sister, your doctor is gonna tell you to stay off the knee. lol Like that's gonna happen. But I'd do the same. I hope you can slow down and get that thing healed up tho. It's hard when you've got things-to-do!! MtRider ...late again tonite... But no where to go tomorrow....

sheeeesh! It just began pouring down RAIN! With bits of groupel. First rain of the season. THANKFUL I'm not out on the mountain on a horse right now! Of COURSE DH left the window down in the car.... MtRider .....even up here we're trying to change the season...

It was SUMMER (nearly) at our house so I dressed warm but not WINTER gear. I got into the village and began to see FROST on the pine trees - which happens when we have clouds at a certain low temperature. I had put on the silk long underwear, under jeans. I had thick wool sox in my larger (Dad's) boots. I had a knit hat but it doesn't cover my ears and couldn't find the ear band (found later). But I should have had the down vest along with the jacket and wool shirt/tank top. Shheeeeeeeeesh it was FREEZING! Literally but ... So damp too. Big issue was my hands. Wimpy UNlined leather gloves. Not the usual insulated work gloves. It was SUMMER at our house, she wailed. I hate being cold!!! I survived but I was paying more attention to my hands, rubbing them along my jeans so the friction warmed them - thru the thin leather. Nose was cold so I put on a cloth "the C" mask that I have in back pocket for dust protection on the rides. No dust but warmer nose. I've ridden there in ALL kinds of weather but I'm careful of how I dress. This caught me completely by surprise. I've never been that cold - even in summer rain/hail storms....(raining little ice cubes). Took me a long time to get warm when we got home. Of course by the time we did arrive home, "summer" had fled and the COLD FRONT had moved in on us too. Oh well. I hope I got 'the riding effect' I pay to get. Tonite I began to tear apart the many bags/knapsacks/etc I have on a ledge near the door. They are there so we can "throw them over the rail and get them in the car if we EVAC". They have a variety of B.O. items. I try to keep my "best-est stuff" in one or two that wouldn't be thrown over the edge. We also have the pulley set there. But I'm specifically looking for a small battery pack to recharge a cell phone....what do you call those? It has 4 small solar panels to recharge itself. I want to bring to Maui....and WHERE oh WHERE did I put that? It wasn't cheap! That pile on the ledge needed some serious clearing! Oye...it can get messed up every time I'm in a hurry and can't find something. So ...it's still all over. There's a walkway to the door. I found some things, including the ear band. A few I didn't remember I had. Sheeesh! Cleared/trashed an entire drawer of junk and filled it with all my various hats/scarfs/ear wrap - winter head gear. I have size XL head and so much does not fit me. Larger than DH! So I'm still looking for one of those wrap things - a "buff" that can wrap in various ways. But every time I buy one, it doesn't stretch enough to fit me. My mom made me one ages ago - even before the Survival show made them popular. I wore it out. Even my ear band is a bit too tight - especially with my hearing aids in! Might have to stitch my own if I could find some stretchy material. There are zero places to buy just cloth anywhere around here. But I am encouraged to be sorting that whole ledge. I'm only half done but hope to finish tomorrow. However...I have not found the battery bank in any of the bags. Rats. MtRider ....still feel a bit chilled so going to bed where it's WARM!

Well this was sort of a write-off day. Couldn't settle. It also started groupeling. That small white snowballs that bounce when they land. Melted right away. Did get to schedule a horse ride for tomorrow - Friday. Saturday will be nasty cold rain/snow. I said yes! Need ride! Trying to figure out how much I'll be willing to push with medical appts this year. Scheduled yearly exam....didn't last year cuz we were focused on the Is It MS tests. I'll see primary doc after Maui. Otherwise, don't think there are any issues. Hope your heart monitor time will give some useful data, Jeepers. You all are so busy with canning and organizing and such. I'm still trying to dig out of this disarray. I got some organizing but not much. Not much energy recently. Uh oh. DH just came in to announce: Israel just sent bombs over to Iran's nuke facilities. Usually they sabotage without fingerprints on the job. Well, did they destroy it? Dunno. MtRider

Auto correct ..making words up. If that small program can make us crazy, think of what actual A.I. can do? MtRider

Sorry to hear of your heart issues, Becca Anne. Mother. So many of us have to alter our lives for some non-standard-issue body part. Jeepers too. OOTO has challenges. And our family members: Miki....Mother ....Almost all of us are facing AGING! So "preparing" certainly included these more annoying and/or threatening parts of our lives too. We all have to take these into account. Make sure to have all the meds and alternative products lined up. All the adaptive equipment which can be of great assistance. I love my adaptive equipment! Allows me to still GO and DO!! Make sure to include spare parts for any of those adaptive things. Cane tips. Strips for blood sugar or .... ? Batteries for thermometers. Tires for wheelchairs - thankfully mine are now solid. Don't have to let a bit of air out when I travel from HI - sea level ...to CO - 8500 ft. --- The air expands as you got up! Bag of chips POPPED in back seat when DH was driving up. Scared him nearly off the road! Anyway, just another encouragement to seek out new adaptions : ways and means and devices! Fight for what we'll need if things blow 'south'. MtRider

Well fortunately, none of the earthquakes were damaging ones. Just the shimmy and shake or JOLT! And then done. Snowmageddon - Now some of those got very real if we'd have had an emergency that needed a hospital or something. Everyone in Iowa is familiar with spring flooding (especially the Mississippi) and tornadoes. Doesn't everyone have these experiences? I did have to look up Jim Cantori ...cuz don't have TV. Just Internet. We're just lucky that our family isn't the type for breaking bones and such. A very few car accidents in our history - Mom's broken hip x2 and such. Yet it does seem like SOMETHING is always going on. Yeah....doggie dear is gonna cost us! Unless a different option comes up, we're going to see a woman fairly close to here. It's literally going to cost us as much as both of our (reallllllly GOOD deal ) airline tickets. To board a dog....for 18 days. And there just aren't that many choices. So glad 'I' & T are going to take care of the birds so they came over tonite to learn what to do. Went home with the fresh egg that one of the ducks laid today. 'I' is one of the ....might be the ONLY long-term person I know out here. Even her first husband has died. Where'd everybody go? .....to lower altitude, to care homes, move closer to family as they were aging, passed on......... Well, yeah. This altitude and winter are kinda tough. 'Spose it will come to that for us too. ANYway, we're going to go see the woman about the dog on Tues. Check it out with dog with us. Then we have to run around to do other things Tues. Stop and get a certain license after taking the class. I have afternoon appt at the medical center. What ELSE am I forgetting? The week after that, we're going to TRY to attend a CERT training. 3 evenings and part of a Saturday. I was feeling so poorly these last few days, I was beginning to wonder. But tonite I'm okay. {now what's up?} MIGHT be....tho it's only happened once that I recall....it's the same kind of odd fatigue attack I get in the fall. Some with MS get it in spring or fall. We'll have to play the CERT class 'by ear'....?? It will help if it's not a large class. Tooo much! And I've already got certification for 1st Aid/CPR/AED. ....have to gather the suitcases too. Some are still in storage...cuz DH went there without me and ....brought back one. Details! He just does not comprehend details! MtRider ....now I reallllly have to shift sleep schedule earlier. But Maui is 3-4hrs behind us. I'll be great there.

Yeah....everyone (Becca Anne....Little Sister...etc ) needs to be cautious as we're getting into full spring and out doing things! Give yourselves time to get winter muscles into shape again. Other issues as well. I called a neighbor friend tonite. She's been up here almost as long as we have, tho I knew the lady that lived there before her. So many people have moved away. I don't know half as many as we used to. I rode my horse around and got to know many. Now I don't do that - I pay to ride at a ranch. I have a morning ride tomorrow. ( I much prefer afternoons but.... I'll take what I can get) Anyway, she's willing to take care of the ducks and goose while we're on Maui next month. She's coming over tomorrow evening to see how that goes. Our weather is moderated enough to run water from hose to fill the bird's kiddy wading pool. They're loving that...it is not that warm out! Because it's a month from now, she can fit putting them out and then in before dark (when danger lurks more) even if she's working full time and odd hours. She'd take on dog too but she's got 3 pits. Her males vie for the attention of the female. Ours is female and ...I don't think that would mix well. So tho we have options for her, they are expensive options because we'll be gone almost 3 wks. She'll cost more than one of our tickets to Maui. DH did get a great deal on those tickets. I hate to leave her that long but we have almost no options. She's such an attention hog! I lost energy today....later found that I had not taken ANY of my pills today. That never happens. We'll see how that goes. Did take a short nap. MtRider ...ya just never know what I'll forget these days....

I was beginning to wonder, Miki. Hadn't given your daily update. New dog will do it! How does Aninja get along? I may be crazy....but I'm signing DH and I (since he has to drive me anyway) for a CERT training coming up soon. Between now and when we leave for Maui. DH thinks it's an energy drain. I think I want to meet some local folks who are into disasters..... well, you all know what I mean. No volunteer commitments. That would be another level up. Which means I ...maybe both of us....already know this stuff. Maybe. Let's see: I've been in minor earthquakes in Iowa, Hawai'i, Colorado and Georgia. I've been in..mostly near... tornadoes too numerous to count. Flooding events that blocked roads in Iowa, CO, little bit Maui (tho I drove thru that....but it wasn't good.) Gigantic wildfires, of course. Huge snow accumulation. With or without blizzard conditions. Electrical storms and outages. One hurricane - Maui. Have has local landslides reroute traffic. I was on a school bus in the middle of a huge 60's riot. I have been on the scene or in charge when others had injuries. I've had (minor) injuries to self-treat. Sheeesh! No one is gonna want to live near me. OTOH....everyone here has stories too. Otherwise, what would draw you to this forum board? But none of these really scream PREPPER, right? Cuz that's not something I'd reveal in this era.....not with folks outside an inner circle. In THIS era, however, I can see why some watchful folks are getting a bit edgy. Seems like disasters are everywhere. Some of that is the effect of constant media reporting. MtRider ...

Sheeesh, here I thot you'd gotten up on a horse. I will be riding on Saturday. They contacted me this time. Things are warming up, despite snow drifts up here. Most snow is gone. But we also snowed a bit a couple days ago. I'm not sure if I'm well or not. But again the stimulation of the Bible Study was too much for me. OTOH...we filled 2 banquet tables end to end - and squeezed more in. A lot of voices tho not all talking at once. It's only the second meeting of this session so usually people drop off or miss here and there. I missed the first one due to ear hissing thing. But today was rough too. "Hot flash" in the middle and freezing later. Hmph. Came home/ate sandwich/went to bed. Nap and then read Kindle. Called mom and talked. Then got up and took dog down steep hill from cabin to pasture below. Walked around with her sniffing every square inch. But was very glad DH waited for us with car after he was done with the ducks/goose. I'm not sure I could have climbed the driveway. ...which I do frequently. Just. Don't. Have. It! I was FREEZING when I got home from Bible Study. It was a nice sunny day. I've begun to wonder if I'm experiencing a circulation problem after all? I probably need to check why my legs turn pink and veins turn purple when standing for like...shower. Quite bright. It's kinda new in my various symptoms. So...I'm trying to get to bed earlier. So far the past couple days have been better. Not 3am. Trying to hit midnight. Sometimes....yes... MtRider

ACK....I didn't hear about that. All my people are in northern VA.....Ashburn and D.C. etc. But.... Mom's on 3rd floor of Assisted Living. Hope they don't shake/rattle/roll! 2 hip fractures in one lifetime is enough! MtRider ....hmm, wrote this...got distracted....didn't hit 'send'

Hmph! Today was difficult. Nothing huge, but like being pecked to death by ducks. No, not my ducks. I missed "seeing" the partial eclipse that we had. I punched a hole in a card and held a white piece of paper to look at the sun shining thru the hole - sun behind me. I went out to check several times. But I'd forgotten that the thing is over in just minutes. I must have missed it. Been a long time since I've been in an eclipse area. I did see the ...what I call "ashen" look to everything out the window. So that's probably when it would have shown a chunk missing on my paper. Can't remember how much eclipse happened in Iowa or on Maui. But this is the 3rd one I've had at least a part of. DH came home with heavy bags for groceries....he goes with his client to shop on Mondays. Gets some things for us and saves a trip into town. I was about to get in shower/wash hair when ***BLINK*** Electric is out. Then came on. ....Then went out and stayed off. Gaah! We went thru the whole "hurricane winds" for days and kept power. The past 2 days are calm.....what happened? I go down to put ducks away for the night...with dog walk and driveway walk.......IN THE SNOW! Yes, really! Meanwhile DH is putting away groceries and trying to ease nasty spasms in his back. But.....at least he was able to start the pellet stove by connecting it to the power station (SUCH a good investment!) and it was running warm by the time dog and I got the birds in and walked up the hill again. In the snow....sweeping steps as we went up. Walked in house and ....the lights are on! Okaay... So I rush in to shower/wash hair. I dry it near the pellet stove heat so I JUST have to get washed/rinsed before the crazy electric might go back off again. But.....at this point, we're back on regular electric. So far. This has been a day when the sun don't shine and the electricity don't run. About 'par' for my weird days. I was reading where the lack of solar energy pumping into the [TX] state's or national power grid made a moderately significant difference in power available. But...don't cloudy days do more than a brief darkening? Ears are roaring right now....above normal decibels, so I think my neck is needing to shift position! I'm sitting in front of pellet stove on a milk crate and typing with laptop on a chair. Need to do Hawaiian before the power (thus our router) goes off again. Not really expecting it ....but who ever does? MtRider ...a somewhat unsatisfying day but not really a bad day....