Daily Reads

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

More frogs

Not at plague levels, but we've been in this house six years and this is the first year we've had frogs.

This one was on the house by the kitchen door when I got back with my daughter after picking her up from her college art class.

Don't get me wrong, I like frogs. But they have their place in the scheme of things and I'm not sure this is it. 

Oh well, as long as they stay outside.....


Monday, October 10, 2016

Crud

I've posted about spraining my foot back in July. It's was 12 weeks ago yesterday. Today I had another follow up appointment with the podiatrist because it's still hurting, and any footwear with even the slightest raised heel makes it worse. It's not too painful padding around the house barefoot, but days when I've had to hike around a few stores?

They took some Xrays and apparently two of my long bones (metatarsals?) look odd so they've ordered an MRI so we can see if it's natural, the result of an old injury, or if I'm still dealing with a bad bone bruise. Looking the stuff up on the internet isn't encouraging. Supposedly most bone bruises heal within two to three months, but some can take up to a year. Since I'm almost always an outlier (absolute text book which no one ever is or way past left field) I'm psyching myself up to be told that I'm one of the year-long healers.

As I said, crud, and maybe worse crud.

Friday, October 07, 2016

PSA -- Get Your Flu Shot!!

For the two people who check this blog occasionally: Get Your Flu Shot!!

I was on Base this afternoon to pick up some scripts and saw the sign for the annual flu clinic. It was a really slow day, so I and my daughter were in and out in only about 10 minutes.

The one year I couldn't get a flu shot was back in '00-'01. The base never got enough for even all the active duty and by the time I started working at the hospital in January, they were out too.

It started as a mild bronchitis which probably set me up to get flu. I remember watching the stupid OTC med ads where some idiot is standing under an umbrella in the rain and whining "I have the flu and I feel miserable". All I could do was quietly wheeze at the TV "You don't have the flu! You're standing up!" I have never hurt so much in so many places (all over actually) for so long. I'd rather go through labor and delivery without meds again that that.

What is worse than the flu is the pneumonia that is a known complication, and which, of course, I caught. And of course just as I was getting better from that I developed pleurisy. In the middle of a blizzard.

All told I was out of commission for well over a month. I can now see how the Spanish Flu was able to kill so many people, even otherwise young and healthy persons.

Tl;dr  Get Your Flu Shot!