Health

Health

Opps I am Lazy

It has been a bit O time since I posted anything at all here. Just find myself in a state where I don’t have much too share or choose to share, or maybe just lazy? I have been keeping up on my reading of my favorite blogs but not leaving comments.

Lately it seems that whenever I open my mouth it ends up with me saying something stupid sounding or I get misunderstood and whatever people thought I meant leads to them thinking poorly of me and I end up feeling the outcast. Go figure.

We did go to the baseball game here and watch the RiverCats. The MS Society sponsored a night out at the game providing us with discount tickets. We all had a good time and the weather was great for it. Not to hot and not to cold – just right as the story goes. I wonder if I am two faced accepting the discount tickets when I really have some issues with the local organizations leadership?

Sunday night I had the pleasure of meeting some people from the now defunct tent city. My friend works for an organization that find housing for the homeless. They arrange renting house and placing homeless into them. It is quite the program. I watched a video some of them put together about tent city a few weeks ago. It was interesting talking with them. Whenever we have a dinner at M and M’s you never know who you will meet.

A few weeks ago I met a young man (18) from a communist Latin American country. He came here to “find work” and a “goodier life” but can not – seems running from political oppression does not get you a green card. Many of the folks have been (or are) experiencing some sort of mental illness, substance abuse problems, etc., but a lot of them just were living one pay check to the next and lost their jobs.

More on this front later – maybe.

I sat watching my computer screen logged on to the Ca Supreme Courts site this morning only slightly hopeful that when they posted their ruling it would say that Prop. 8 was over turned. Oh sigh . .. seems it is ok with the State of California to allow a minority group of people to be denied the same rights afforded the majority. I have lived in this state all my life. I am disappointed with the ever growing crime rate, the noise, the shootings, the graffiti, the loud music, the list goes on . …
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You don’t see homosexual gangs running around shooting each other, destroying others property, yet last time I looked they are the only minority group that the State feels necessary to put onto paper a law that discriminates, denies, and purposely sets apart as not equal . …

I am not saying that racial discrimination does not exist, nor that urban poverty is not a catalyst, I am just pointing out that most educated folks realize this, while at the same time apparently think it is OK to deny gay and lesbian marriages. The court and the voters have spoken.

MS Walk Sacramento

I have not gotten up this early in a long time – 6am – well it is super early for my lazy butt.
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It was cold cold cold this morning LOL and last week I was b’ing about the heat LOL!
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Here is a shot from the terrible camera in my cell phone of the MS walk end at the State Capitol. Crummy pic I know but hey – did I mention it was cold???
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another shot
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The A/C Sucks and MS Blows

I have been doing lots of other stuff other than writing post here on the blog. Kind of forgot I should post once in a bit/
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Finished up the kitchen and have been slowly making a bit of progress on the upstairs bath. Trying to repaint etc.
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The temperature went from 60’s to high 80’s and a 90 day AUGH. I so dislike the heat!! It really drains me. Many naps needed tee hee. One bed room upstairs has a portable A/C with a snorkel for the exhaust. We are not allowed to use window A/C here it is against the association rules. The main A/C units coils (inside house unit) are old, old, old . .. so if you set it for anything under 82 it runs so much it freezes over. Then the water trickles down, down and finds it way to the downstairs hallway ceiling. Hence I can not get coo enough downstairs. Upstairs is hotter except in the one room.
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So, until I win the lotto or get the oven and Annie dogs charges paid off the credit cards I really can not afford the fix the darn thing. The new laws around here really suck too. Instead of being able to just get the coils replaced and new freon added the whole system also has to pass muster. The air-conditioning standard is called the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, or SEER. The higher the SEER rating, the more efficient the equipment.
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Beginning October 1, 2005, you must have your home’s ducts tested for leaks when you have a central air conditioner or furnace installed or replaced. Ducts that leak 15 percent or more must be repaired to reduce the leaks. After your contractor tests and fixes the ducts, you choose whether to have an approved third-party field verifier check to make sure the duct testing and sealing was done properly or to have your house included in a random sample where one in seven duct systems are checked.
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Duct sealing is not required in the following situations: 1) when homes are in specific coastal climates; 2) when systems have less than 40 feet of ductwork in unconditioned spaces like attics, garages, crawlspaces, basements or outside the building, or 3) when ducts are constructed, insulated or sealed with asbestos. There also are specific alternatives that allow high efficiency equipment and added duct insulation to be installed instead of fixing duct leaks.

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I so do not wish to measure the total footage of ducts that are in the attic. ? Emmmm . … Too chicken to even get a new estimate three years ago it was scary enough! So, the more expensive SEER unit and maybe the ducts not to mention the like I don’t have that much money right now . …
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So, Johnny-Five ( what I call my little portable A/C) and I are spending a lot of time together. No Cable upstairs so I read and snooze until the sun goes down.
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I remember when I could hang outside all darn day in the 100 plus weather and still function. Now another story! Everything that is wonky gets wonkier and sometimes I get a creepy crawly I am ready to get out of my skin thing going on and if I don’t cool off soon I end up feeling like an alien is inside doing its best to get out while my brain goes to another planet. It almost feels like I am drowning in the hot air. Weaker, number, goofy, an dizzy. What the heck happened to Spring??
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Another one of the lovely multiple sclerosis gifts that total blows (and not cool)- HEAT sucks.
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Well, off to hang with Johnny-Five and hopefully like in the movie he stays alive!
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Weeds Along the Path

434674345_f0f7a314a2_bEvaluating information given on web sites and blogs takes a bit of thought. I try to use what critical thinking skills I have left to sort out the obvious garbage and weed through the hyperbole, disinformation, and “spin” set forth as fact.

I feel kind of trapped within a system that is not necessarily set up to reach out and provide what I think (yep that is the rubber burning smell you noticed) would be helpful to me. That is after all what it comes down to sometimes, yes, I think of me, myself, and I. Such a selfish endeavor you might think. But, if I don’t look out for number one (yeah, that would be me again) who will?

First, I am tossed into this giant rat maze. Running around from one path to the next while still recovering from shock– what the heck just happened? Stumbling around one path to the next not sure of the construct that surrounds me – my relationship in the system (maze) makes it hard to clearly see unbiased – but my brain has not totally checked out yet (at least I hope not).

Even when information is published by respected sources like the MS Society, medical journals, or the FDA – it does not necessarily make it gospel. Advancements happen; old truisms are replaced by new ones. Heck I have enough trouble figuring out the cable menu system because they change it every week. How am I supposed to weed through all the research on drugs, procedures, biomedical models, and yes, the dimensions of mind and spirit?

Blogs used to be grassroots in nature. I great place to seek out info presented uncensored. Most bloggers had no hidden agendas, wearing their leopard spots on the sleeves of their blogs. Not so – anymore. Once blogs were recognized as a means for profit a rake and hoe became needed to weed through the ingenuous, the bogus, and find the genuine. The real bloggers behind the blog title that are sharing their truths, fears, joys, and pathways they take in their lives. Having a sponsor does not mean a blog(ger) is ingenuous but blogs selling something IMHO are not dependable sources of fact and tend to feign a sincere interest in my well being.

Now that I have used up my reserve brain energy writing this . …

Kudos – to those of you who share on your blogs for the sake of sharing and the rest of you all are headed to my compost pile that is at the end of this pathway.