Achoo!

I've gotten the first cold in years and it is making up for all those healthy times.  So here I am, kleenex at the ready, Dayquil downed and feeling like crap.  It was R's birthday a few days ago and I managed to get upstairs, with help.  Each time I do this it gets easier, and I can see progress going up and down the stairs.  To all of you readers, take note that even a simple task like doing stairs can be an incredible effort for some folks.

But enough about me complaining.

The farrier came last week to trim the horse's hooves.  She wasn't real cooperative with her hind legs.  The stroke-like aftermath left her right hind gimpy, and so she balks at having the left hind lifted, and all her weight on the weak leg.  That is the main aftermath, the tongue, eye, ear, just cosmetic, so far.  I feel so sorry for her, but she doesn't seem to be bothered, except for the trimming.  She is 26 this summer.  My first horse was a palomino, he was very beautiful up almost to the end, he was 23 when I had him put down, due to his heaves (like emphysema);  if I had just left him in his stall until the end his passing would have been a horrendous panicky time as he struggled to breathe, and I owed him a quick painless passing in a green meadow with grass to his knees, and the vet there with him.  I vowed then I wouldn't keep another geriatric horse, but how would I do that?  The mare was born here, and never was gone more than a couple of months when she was broke to ride as a three year old.  How would I have her hauled off to a strange place, to learn how to get along with a whole herd of horses?  Anyway.  The mare seems to enjoy flapping her tongue, making a blub blub sound.  I know she looks silly.  The signs I put up, "please don't feed the horse" and "stay out" seem to have worked so that the neighboring teens aren't climbing the fence anymore.  I also hung up "electric fence" and hung some bits of wire on the old insulators, it hasn't been electrified in years, I don't even own a charger any more, but they don't know that.  Back when it was new, I would test if it was working by touching the wire, but I got to where I couldn't make myself do it.  I bought a fence tester instead, I was too conditioned to touch it myself.

This is not my mare, but you get the idea.  I can't get out to the field yet.

From photography forum, UHH

An older gentleman was
on the operating table
awaiting surgery
and he insisted that his son, a renowned surgeon,
perform the operation.
As he was about to get the anesthesia,
he asked to speak to his son.
"Yes, Dad, what is it?"
"Don't be nervous, son;
do your best,
and just remember,
if it doesn't go well,
if something happens to me,
your mother
is going to come and
live with you and your wife...." 


(love it!)

Tea total

I found a type of bottled tea and have been guzzling it since it arrived.  I got it on   *Amazon*, it was free, with the points I have accrued and as a prime member no shipping charge.    And get this, it was delivered on Sunday by the USPS, good thing I saw the delivery truck and we got it before the bottles froze. in the mailbox.  It was very heavy, and I did not ask for Sunday delivery.

Beans, the oldest of the 4 indoor cats, has lost a lot of her weight, and has been throwing up what she did eat.  We took her to the vet who did blood work, and the results were normal.  C brought her home, and the vet called to say the BUN and creatinine on their machine was off by a ton, and so C got to make a second trip to the vet to get the meds for her.  Her hyperthyroid is very bad and so she needs to be dosed twice every day.  She has gotten better at not fighting every time, she will have to be on this for the rest of her life, and if we had to fight to get it done, it would be hard to stick to the regimen.  In addition, I got a supplement that you sprinkle on the cat's food, supposed to add a calming effect and smooth digestion; I hope it does, it cost the earth.

My brace is ready, we just need to go and get it to check the fit, etc.  If this doesn't work I am resigned to be careful and walk slooowly.  It is hard to get anywhere under my own power, and having my knee collapse when I am in a hurry drastically reduces places I can safely go.  As of Tuesday, the 19th, it will have been one year since this implant was put in.  I am still getting therapy twice a week, and it is hard to see any results, as they take place in such small increments.  Maybe I will be able to use the cane exclusively and retire the walker.  It is hard to practice on this extra soft carpet.  The swelling in my feet still limits what shoes I can wear (none), only slippers with velcro closure.

All of the above is a pain to read, and to write, so I will stop.  Here is a little humor:

A Little Late

Whew, it has been a week since I posted here; life has been busy and the time slipped by.  I will leave this abbreviated post and fill it up later today.  Take care, the rain here is a mess, mud slides and trees uprooted, and there are huge swathes of snow still to come over a huge area of the US.

I am slowly going crazy from being confined to the bottom half of the house, being unable to climb stairs to get to the kitchen and living room.  I tell myself it is up to me to insist I want to go up the stairs (with help) but at the last moment I find an excuse to postpone the trip.  I am afraid of falling, more so on the way down than up, but both directions have to be mastered to get anything like a normal life.

Tomorrow.  For certain.  Update:  I did it with no mishaps.

On the desk in front of me is a letter tray that I bought years ago.  It is made of thick plastic, it looks like glass, heavy.  When I worked for Dr. A in his lab, he wanted something similar to use to move petri dishes in and out of the incubator without having to handle them individually.  I told him that Bob in Physiology would be able to make them from plexiglass, after the Christmas holiday.  When I returned to work, he asked about the trays, and I told him Bob had died over the holiday (truth), and I was sad because he helped us a lot when we built our first barn, and was a good guy at work for years and years.  The news made Dr. A express sorrow, but in the next breath he asked about someone else to make the trays.  I never told him he should buy letter trays to use, because he was a jerk and gave me a written letter of reprimand, blaming me for the reason his experiments failed.  This even though I found him all kinds of odds and ends that made the lab work better and worked my tail off setting his lab up.  When I got the lab safety compliance job over all the hundreds of labs, I was tickled that the radiation compliance guy found out that he was using radioactive material without a required class and then a license.   So they confiscated all the contaminated material, and *really* set his research back.  Revenge is a dish best served cold, and this had nothing to do with me, better yet.

I really like this letter tray.  I have a matching memo holder too, just the size for one petri dish.

 Amazon sent me a message about a new book due out in March by an author I like.  I would like to re-read the series while I wait.  I looked through the most favorite bookshelf and found I only had 6 and not seven of the series.  I know I read it from the synopsis online, but where did the book go?  Finally I checked my orders on Amazon, and there it was, I got it as a Kindle book.  I want it as a hardback like the others, but Amazon's price was $30!  So I went to ABE and looked at their used books and picked out one in "excellent" condition for a used book, and best of all it was only $4 and $4 for shipping.  Much better deal.  I hope it is still in OK shape.  Update:  Book looks like new, only blemish is the sticker for a library on the spine.   Mylar wrap of dustjacket is perfect, so I won't have to do it.

My lunchtime stomach alarm went off and I will wrap this up.  Peace.