Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Raaaiiin
OMG Yaaay Minnesota! We went from having icky freezing rain and winter weather, to having an amazing thunderstorm and raaaiiin!
Legal blah
Forgive my absence recently. I have spent the time since my last update
dealing with some horridly agitating legal issues, going crazy trying to
find ancient paperwork I have related to such things, and trying to
figure out where to come up with the $500 I need to retain the attorney
and get the ball rolling on having the issue resolved. You can imagine
the stress and negativity revolving around all this, which is why I
chose to stay away from here till I was in a better mindset. Hoping it
won't cost more than $500, but it will depend on if the attorney can
settle the situation without further taking it to court. Not sure
catching up on stuff I might have missed is possible at this point, but
will do my best. What did I miss?
Thursday, January 10, 2013
My Allergies
Two things that set off my allergies to the point of borderline
bronchitis, asthma reactions, and sinus infections, without fail are
cigarette smoke and birds/bird dander.
The later of which is rather unfortunate, because I love birds, I love working with them, and many of my friends have them. I'm not sure what it is with avians, but I can't sleep with feather-down anything without horribly miserable results. I can normally handle several hours at someone's house that has birds and I have worked at pet stores and wildlife rehab where we had huge rooms with nothing but birds. Just seems longer I stay, the worse my symptoms get. Taking allergy or sinus medicine only helps so much, so normally if I know I am visiting one of my featherhead friends and their flock or working a job with birds, I'll take meds before going or while there if I have to. Must find a way to overcome this, so my dreams of falconry can one day become a reality.
I am highly sensitive to cigarette smoke and residue, and I have come to the conclusion with repeated experiences that it doesn't have to be from a live burning smoke either. If it is an environment where someone frequently smokes, or something that is exposed repeatedly to said smoking, it kills me. I suffered through it for years because my mother is a smoker. She tried quitting, and she always tried to smoke outside or in the utility room, or roll the windows down in the car so it didn't bother me as badly, but it didn't help much. After years of living on my own in a smoke-free environment, it's like night and day when I am around smokers, and maybe because I have not been exposed to it every day for upwards of 7 years now, and with my other health problems, I have become far more sensitive to it, the smoke and residue or whatever else it is with the crazy chemicals that go into those things.
When I visited my family, I couldn't ride in my mother's car long because it made me ill. Visiting friends or family who smoke, it's on clothing, on furniture, everywhere. It's worse for people who freely smoke in their homes or vehicles, or even some I know who did for years but no longer do, because it gets absorbed into the furniture, blankets, fabric, and other surfaces. Mike and his mother told me horror stories about how his grandfather used to chain smoke indoors, and their shock and horror when they went to clean the house after he passed, and when wiping down the wall, yellow came off and they thought they had somehow ruined the paint, only to realize those walls were supposed to be white, not yellow.
I don't have a problem with people who smoke, many of my friends and family do. When I am around them and they decide to light-up, I will constantly change position around them so the smoke does not drift toward me, and stand downwind so it blows away from me. It's something I have always subconsciously done, I learned to with my mother, but once I got older and started to get odd reactions from people wondering what on earth I was doing, I had to explain I was just trying to avoid the smoke because I was allergic.
I normally won't say anything because I am afraid it will seem rude or nagging or complaining, especially if I am a guest somewhere. Most people feel bad because they didn't realize I was allergic and don't want it to cause a problem for me. Many will try and limit their amount of smoking around me, which I appreciate. Taking allergy medicine doesn't seem to make a difference, which is why I think it's developed into a combination of allergy and chemical sensitivity.
It is what it is.
The later of which is rather unfortunate, because I love birds, I love working with them, and many of my friends have them. I'm not sure what it is with avians, but I can't sleep with feather-down anything without horribly miserable results. I can normally handle several hours at someone's house that has birds and I have worked at pet stores and wildlife rehab where we had huge rooms with nothing but birds. Just seems longer I stay, the worse my symptoms get. Taking allergy or sinus medicine only helps so much, so normally if I know I am visiting one of my featherhead friends and their flock or working a job with birds, I'll take meds before going or while there if I have to. Must find a way to overcome this, so my dreams of falconry can one day become a reality.
I am highly sensitive to cigarette smoke and residue, and I have come to the conclusion with repeated experiences that it doesn't have to be from a live burning smoke either. If it is an environment where someone frequently smokes, or something that is exposed repeatedly to said smoking, it kills me. I suffered through it for years because my mother is a smoker. She tried quitting, and she always tried to smoke outside or in the utility room, or roll the windows down in the car so it didn't bother me as badly, but it didn't help much. After years of living on my own in a smoke-free environment, it's like night and day when I am around smokers, and maybe because I have not been exposed to it every day for upwards of 7 years now, and with my other health problems, I have become far more sensitive to it, the smoke and residue or whatever else it is with the crazy chemicals that go into those things.
When I visited my family, I couldn't ride in my mother's car long because it made me ill. Visiting friends or family who smoke, it's on clothing, on furniture, everywhere. It's worse for people who freely smoke in their homes or vehicles, or even some I know who did for years but no longer do, because it gets absorbed into the furniture, blankets, fabric, and other surfaces. Mike and his mother told me horror stories about how his grandfather used to chain smoke indoors, and their shock and horror when they went to clean the house after he passed, and when wiping down the wall, yellow came off and they thought they had somehow ruined the paint, only to realize those walls were supposed to be white, not yellow.
I don't have a problem with people who smoke, many of my friends and family do. When I am around them and they decide to light-up, I will constantly change position around them so the smoke does not drift toward me, and stand downwind so it blows away from me. It's something I have always subconsciously done, I learned to with my mother, but once I got older and started to get odd reactions from people wondering what on earth I was doing, I had to explain I was just trying to avoid the smoke because I was allergic.
I normally won't say anything because I am afraid it will seem rude or nagging or complaining, especially if I am a guest somewhere. Most people feel bad because they didn't realize I was allergic and don't want it to cause a problem for me. Many will try and limit their amount of smoking around me, which I appreciate. Taking allergy medicine doesn't seem to make a difference, which is why I think it's developed into a combination of allergy and chemical sensitivity.
It is what it is.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Update
Time for that update I said I'd get around to writing. Still catching up on posts and comments in different places. If you are waiting to hear back from me on something time sensitive, best contact method is my email.
The holiday was quiet. We had originally planned to try and make the trip to NJ to see Mike's family, but unfortunately that didn't work out. Instead we stayed home. Mike had time off from work since he's a contractor, which was a welcome relief for him because he hadn't had a real vacation so to speak since we started that job. Unfortunately it wasn't paid time off under his current contract, but they make contractors take the time anyway because no one would be in the office to work anyway.
Thanks to the IRS finally straightening out the problem Mike has had with tax returns, he got a small portion unexpectedly, and that along with holiday gifts from his mother and grandmother helped us *finally* replace our bed, because we desperately needed it. We have a REAL bed again! After going for 2 years ( because of the nightmare issue with those nasty neighbors we had at our previous unit and the resulting bug issues and our old bed getting broken during treatment processes ) sleeping on failing air mattresses, bean bags, and the floor, it was such a welcome relief. The day the bed was delivered and assembled, we were actually looking forward to going to bed that night. It's been such a welcome relief for my angry body, to be able to sprawl on a piece of furniture besides the couch again.
Ember is all better. Thankfully it turned out to be a sprain. Staying home and not doing much of anything for a week gave it time to heal. She's back to her old self again.
Still waiting to hear back from Mayo about my referral for the oral surgery. I sent a small fortune worth of copies of paperwork they requested to review my account. I am hoping they will reduce the outstanding balance some so I don't have so much to try and pay off before they'll see me for the surgery. The round of antibiotics I had helped tremendously to clear up the infection for the time being, which helped reduce some of the pain I was experiencing. It still hurts, and I can only still chew on one side of my mouth and have to be very careful with what I eat. Thankfully Aleve is working again for the pain, so I was able to stop taking the Vicoprofen. I'm worried about taking too much of the stuff, as long as they have drawn this out. But at this point I don't have much choice. I normally have to take some form of pain killer daily anyway because of my Fibro/Dys, but not nearly as much as I have had to take with the tooth problems.
Christmas cards and such were sent out. We had delays here because of winter weather conditions effecting travel and such, but hopefully everything has gotten where it needs to be by now. Pardo, thank you for the card and enclosed gift. It was a nice surprise and greatly appreciated. I got lots of other cards, thanks to everyone. It's always so much nicer to get real mail from someone you know, and not bills and spammy junk fliers. I still have a few cards and stamps left over, if anyone missed out on the address exchange and would like one, doesn't matter that it is after the holiday. It's the thought that counts, right? I had many people I wanted to send cards to, but they never got back to me with addresses. For shame!
In related news, I received a little package recently, and I am afraid I have no clue who it is from. Sometimes I am horrible with recognizing real life names and connecting them with people's online names. The package didn't include any card or other identifying info besides the return shipping, so it got me thinking that maybe it was something someone purchased and had mailed to me from the seller?
It showed up at the door, delivered by a guy driving around in a Uhaul rental van of all things. Which made us a little hesitant to open it. Mike was like "Were you expecting a package?" to which I replied "No, I have no idea what it is."
Upon opening it, I discovered a little tooth-less skull smiling up at me. I love collecting such things ( I lost my original collection in Katrina ). I appreciate and respect the animals in spiritual sense and not liking to see such things go to waste, I love taxidermy and natural history things, and such items also make excellent art and anatomy references. I love dead things!
Mike eyed it incredulously when I showed it to him. After a moment he grinned and asked "So is that a gift or a threat?" I laughed, thankful he is not phased in any way by my strange love of natural objects, including skulls and bones. Woe be it to him when we have a place of our own and are not renting anymore, and I can go back to scavenging finds like I used to when I lived in Louisiana, and have a safe place to let them naturally clean themselves.
I must be one of the luckiest bone collectors around. Having a significant other who thinks it is neat and isn't bothered by it ( or much else really ), a mother who is willing to break for roadkill on the side of the highway ( and has in the past! Love you mom! ), and friends who are equally as willing to scrape something off the side of the road ( Derrick and the coyote ), if nothing else than to try and be respectful of the departed and put it safe off to the side of the road so it doesn't experience further trauma, and so no other animals trying to scavenge become unfortunate victims themselves.
So anyway, thank you mysterious gift giver! Now step forward so I can thank you properly.
That's about it otherwise. Getting back to art stuff with some pet pendants and other commission requests. Have some pottery at the studio I need to glaze, and some other items I need to create that have been floating around in my head.
Hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday, and that the new year is treating you well so far.
The holiday was quiet. We had originally planned to try and make the trip to NJ to see Mike's family, but unfortunately that didn't work out. Instead we stayed home. Mike had time off from work since he's a contractor, which was a welcome relief for him because he hadn't had a real vacation so to speak since we started that job. Unfortunately it wasn't paid time off under his current contract, but they make contractors take the time anyway because no one would be in the office to work anyway.
Thanks to the IRS finally straightening out the problem Mike has had with tax returns, he got a small portion unexpectedly, and that along with holiday gifts from his mother and grandmother helped us *finally* replace our bed, because we desperately needed it. We have a REAL bed again! After going for 2 years ( because of the nightmare issue with those nasty neighbors we had at our previous unit and the resulting bug issues and our old bed getting broken during treatment processes ) sleeping on failing air mattresses, bean bags, and the floor, it was such a welcome relief. The day the bed was delivered and assembled, we were actually looking forward to going to bed that night. It's been such a welcome relief for my angry body, to be able to sprawl on a piece of furniture besides the couch again.
Ember is all better. Thankfully it turned out to be a sprain. Staying home and not doing much of anything for a week gave it time to heal. She's back to her old self again.
Still waiting to hear back from Mayo about my referral for the oral surgery. I sent a small fortune worth of copies of paperwork they requested to review my account. I am hoping they will reduce the outstanding balance some so I don't have so much to try and pay off before they'll see me for the surgery. The round of antibiotics I had helped tremendously to clear up the infection for the time being, which helped reduce some of the pain I was experiencing. It still hurts, and I can only still chew on one side of my mouth and have to be very careful with what I eat. Thankfully Aleve is working again for the pain, so I was able to stop taking the Vicoprofen. I'm worried about taking too much of the stuff, as long as they have drawn this out. But at this point I don't have much choice. I normally have to take some form of pain killer daily anyway because of my Fibro/Dys, but not nearly as much as I have had to take with the tooth problems.
Christmas cards and such were sent out. We had delays here because of winter weather conditions effecting travel and such, but hopefully everything has gotten where it needs to be by now. Pardo, thank you for the card and enclosed gift. It was a nice surprise and greatly appreciated. I got lots of other cards, thanks to everyone. It's always so much nicer to get real mail from someone you know, and not bills and spammy junk fliers. I still have a few cards and stamps left over, if anyone missed out on the address exchange and would like one, doesn't matter that it is after the holiday. It's the thought that counts, right? I had many people I wanted to send cards to, but they never got back to me with addresses. For shame!
In related news, I received a little package recently, and I am afraid I have no clue who it is from. Sometimes I am horrible with recognizing real life names and connecting them with people's online names. The package didn't include any card or other identifying info besides the return shipping, so it got me thinking that maybe it was something someone purchased and had mailed to me from the seller?
It showed up at the door, delivered by a guy driving around in a Uhaul rental van of all things. Which made us a little hesitant to open it. Mike was like "Were you expecting a package?" to which I replied "No, I have no idea what it is."
Upon opening it, I discovered a little tooth-less skull smiling up at me. I love collecting such things ( I lost my original collection in Katrina ). I appreciate and respect the animals in spiritual sense and not liking to see such things go to waste, I love taxidermy and natural history things, and such items also make excellent art and anatomy references. I love dead things!
Mike eyed it incredulously when I showed it to him. After a moment he grinned and asked "So is that a gift or a threat?" I laughed, thankful he is not phased in any way by my strange love of natural objects, including skulls and bones. Woe be it to him when we have a place of our own and are not renting anymore, and I can go back to scavenging finds like I used to when I lived in Louisiana, and have a safe place to let them naturally clean themselves.
I must be one of the luckiest bone collectors around. Having a significant other who thinks it is neat and isn't bothered by it ( or much else really ), a mother who is willing to break for roadkill on the side of the highway ( and has in the past! Love you mom! ), and friends who are equally as willing to scrape something off the side of the road ( Derrick and the coyote ), if nothing else than to try and be respectful of the departed and put it safe off to the side of the road so it doesn't experience further trauma, and so no other animals trying to scavenge become unfortunate victims themselves.
So anyway, thank you mysterious gift giver! Now step forward so I can thank you properly.
That's about it otherwise. Getting back to art stuff with some pet pendants and other commission requests. Have some pottery at the studio I need to glaze, and some other items I need to create that have been floating around in my head.
Hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday, and that the new year is treating you well so far.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Returning from holiday break
I have returned. Catching up on over a week's worth of emails, comments, posts, etc. More detailed update later.
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