Tag: health

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Double Dooty

Summer woke me up because someone knocked on the door this morning. We both assumed it was probably a package, but there wasn’t anything at the door when we checked. She got around to come coffee in an Ember mug and remarked on how nice it was to have hot coffee to the last sip. I commented that it’s also nice to have only one cup that’s immediately washed and put away, rather than a countertop full of poorly-rinsed coffee mugs that collect over the course of a week or two. That upset her, which irritated me.

Eaddie snuck out for church at some point, and Summer wanted to go to the gym. I went outside after the dogs tore something else up, and had to drain the flooded basement. While I was back there, I noticed a hole in the roof where something was likely nesting. Summer took my car to the gym after some protest because of the lack of turn signal and drive stalks. I took a shower, and when she got back, she had a glum look on her face. She then proceeded to tell me about witnessing a hit-and-run in the parking lot in such a way that I was on edge the entire time thinking something happened to my car, which irritated me further.

I eventually took the dogs out for a run since it was finally mostly dry out. When we got back, the girls were home doing a ton of laundry and cleaning up. I messed with some more accessories for my car and installed some kick panels on the center console, then went back to my parents’ house for mango soup.

When I made it back home, I spent a bunch more time cleaning up while Summer cross stitched in front of the TV and Eaddie finished up her laundry. I got Summer’s license plate frame installed, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about adding one to mine. We’ll have to test it out once I get it registered.

I was sleepy for most of the evening, but general aggravation that had accumulated throughout the day got my blood pressure up. I felt a bit of a bronchial cough coming on all night, so hopefully I’m not getting sick.

Easy

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M3SORED

I had an absolute fit trying to sleep last night. I went to bed for a couple hours, maybe dozed for a few minutes, but laid awake for most of it. I ended up getting out of bed and puttering a bit, then trying again. My mind wouldn’t quit wandering about any random topic. It could have been remembering facts about the Byzantine Empire, or cats. It could have been pondering alternative methods to make peanut butter. Anything but sleep.

I dozed again briefly for about 20 minutes before my alarm went off, then got up and ready to go to Kansas City to pick up the new Model 3. Summer was a dear and loaded all of my accessories into her trunk. Eaddie was slow to rise, but we eventually made it out the door.

The drive to Kansas City was pretty terrible. It rained pretty hard for most of it. There was a ton of fog and mist, so I really had to push the car through it. We charged in Ozark, Lowell, and Nevada before making it to the showroom. Eaddie sat up front with me while Summer worked on her laptop in the back.

The parking lot was absolutely packed with cars for delivery. It was the greatest concentration of Cybertrucks I’d ever seen, and it was a little bit glorious. I had a pretty good idea which car was mine, but we went inside to check in since we needed restrooms by then anyway. I talked to two different staff members. The first was kind and led us to the car to check it out. That was the end of any courtesy we received. I guess they were just too slammed with deliveries to entertain the idea of helping us get a charge on the Model Y, and I got a deadpan one-word response when I asked if I could drive my car before I accepted delivery.

Fortunately there didn’t seem to be anything amiss. I loaded up my floor mats, and we made our way to a public charger a couple miles away to leave Summer’s car while we took mine out for the day. Our first stop was the Red Door Woodfired Grill. I didn’t know what to expect, but it was delicious. We got super meaty calamari, and three excellent entrées. Eaddie had a big cheeseburger, I took the recommendation of the prime rib French dip, and Summer had a sirloin. The portions were small, but I guess they were going for “upscale sports bar.” The flavors were on point, but I think it did me in on sodium for the day.

Our next stop was IKEA. Summer was reluctant, but Eaddie and I outvoted her. We didn’t waste much time, and basically made a quick pass through the whole place so we could get to some meatballs. We were all full from our late lunch, but they both actually really wanted meatballs. I started feeling bad, with a racing heart and likely high blood pressure. The city driving started it, and the racing heart pushed me to the edge where I just had to sit down in the restaurant after taking my metoprolol and a clonidine. We shared a plate, and I eventually felt good enough to walk out of there.

We got back to Summer’s car and headed toward home, stopping to charge in Belton, Nevada, and Lowell for a long final leg of the trip. Eaddie rode with me from Nevada to Lowell where I developed a really elaborate pee-dance for about 45 minutes. I didn’t let myself go through the same thing, and stopped at Ozark for another break while the girls continued on home. Just past Ozark, I nailed a small-to-medium sized opossum dead-on. It didn’t make much of a sound, and I didn’t see any damage when I got home, but I still felt bad.

The girls crashed instantly, and I fed the dogs and got things picked up a little bit before finally settling in. I’ll have to do some shuffling tomorrow to get the Model 3 into the garage.

The Brewdy Kitten Café

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Down ‘Till Out

I didn’t sleep very long, and it hurt all day. I got up and warmed up the last of the pizza for brunch. Summer did some work from home, and I did a load of dishes. I eventually had a shower and took the dogs out for a nice, long run. Mom and Dad saw me by the roundabout and circled around to holler at me, but there was traffic. We kept running through the neighborhoods until we got home.

I cleaned up some more stuff in the fridge, and roasted the turkey carcasses in the oven so I could make soup. Eaddie was playing in a community concert at Tech in the evening, so we eventually got around for that. Summer and I ran by Walgreens first, but the pharmacy was closed. She needed a lemon, so we ran to the Neighborhood Market for that, then picked up Dad for the concert.

I was surprised at how many empty seats there were, on account of how many people were playing in the band. It was a decent concert for a single day of rehearsal. Then it was back home where Summer crashed and I cooked down the turkey bones into soup. I was up pretty late taking care of that, so hopefully the end product is worth it.

Bone Sifter

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That’s an A

I wasn’t sure who would be at work today. Maggie stopped in briefly, but left. I eventually saw Charles and Gary separately at different times of the day. I sat in the dark for the entirety of it. Just before lunch, a girl knocked on the door and wanted to know if I could help after she locked herself out of her Prius. I told her I didn’t have any tools to try such a thing, and she said nobody else was capable of Googling a locksmith for her, so I called one for her and then waited with her until he showed up.

After that, I went to Arby’s for some cheap lunch. Then the afternoon dragged until I finally left a bit early. The car was reporting that I would have to charge to make it home, but I pressed on. I stopped to see Summer in Conway, then took the highway to Plumerville before getting back on the interstate. That got me home without any stress.

I felt like my blood pressure was super high, but it wasn’t when I checked it at home. I took the dogs out for a really long run over to Ridgewood Brothers. Robert took another spin on the Onewheel, and then I continued around Kroger and up the bike path to the middle school before heading to my parents’ house. Dad was flying the drone and following us around until we got there. By then I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes, so we headed home for treats.

I warmed up some leftover pizza and cleaned up as much as I could. Eli and the girls were watching some documentary series on Michael Jordan, so I went to my room and wrapped up my own stuff before bed. I should be safe with over 90% of my Vine orders reviewed, so I’m excited to see what the next tier unlocks.

Break couldn’t have come soon enough.

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Don’t Be Salty

I was super tired this morning, and got a slow start because of it. I switched things up a little so I could get out of the house earlier, and got to work a couple minutes early, right behind Randy. He hung around the office for a while today. Maggie was out, so otherwise it was super quiet. Charles was the only one that stopped in at all, and he talked to me for a little while.

I met Randy and Jim at Skinny J’s for lunch, and they had a $6 turkey sandwich that was pretty good. I hate paying for a lunch meat sandwich in a restaurant, but I felt like the price was okay, and all of the food I’ve ever had there has been pretty good. I did my best to avoid any extra salt because my blood pressure had been high all morning. I ended up taking a clonidine to try and get it down a bit.

Randy got fighting mad with some of the other admin, so we worked on the Technology Handbook some more, then had a pretty easy afternoon until we left. Even though we were out a little earlier than usual, I still ran into stupidly slow traffic on the way home. Cars were driving under the speed limit for absolutely no reason, and not allowing people to pass.

I got home in a rush just before Summer got there, and took the dogs out for a run. It was pretty cold, and still wet in places, but they did a good job. We skipped the basin trail in favor of some more neighborhood blocks, stopped to see Dad, then made it home for some hot dogs.

It was only Tuesday and I was already running a pretty bad deficit on sleep, so I did my best to crash early. Eaddie came home and wanted more help ordering for Christmas, and then it was off to bed.

Review all the things!

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Back to Black

Today was pretty rainy and warm. I got to work, and Kyle was oddly the only one there. He hung out for a little while, but then left for his office the rest of the day. Charles brought in a bunch of leftover pizza and cookies from a party that he had over the weekend, so nobody got out for lunch. Otherwise I was with Maggie and Randy all day, except Randy kept having to run to central office to help with random things.

I got a call from a message from Tesla that they would have to change my delivery from Tulsa to Kansas City if I wanted to finance through them, since Oklahoma wouldn’t allow them to sell me the car because laws. Then I got a call from Kyle in Kansas City to say they wouldn’t be able to get a red Model 3 with the white interior before the end of the year, thus disqualifying me from the incentive. He had a red with the black interior, or other paint colors I could choose from, but I told him it had to be red. I decided to think on it a bit and then call him back.

I looked up some more comparison pictures and reviews, then called back to accept the black interior, but he said someone just bought it, so they didn’t have a red car for me at all. I told him to cancel the order, and that there were no hard feelings. Just as I was closing everything down and shaking off the excitement, he called back to say that he felt bad about the other car being sold out from under me that he did some legwork and got approved to transfer a red with black from Texas to Kansas City so I would still qualify. I took the offer, then had to redo my loan application because I was dumb and included our entire mortgage amount in what I reported. For some reason I went lawful-good and thought I had to tell the absolute truth, but Kyle said to just change the amount I pay and see if I get a better offer.

Apart from that, there wasn’t any excitement until quitting time. I left a little early so I could pick up some flowers for Summer, and somewhere after Conway I ran into a torrential downpour. There were a dozen cars pulled over, and at least one Miata-sized car spun out in the median. I got to town safely, picked up some flowers from Walmart, then picked Summer up at the lube and took her to Brangus for our anniversary.

After we finished our undercooked steaks, we ran home to clean up before Eaddie’s Christmas concert. We picked up Dad along the way, then sat through two bands worth of music. My heart was racing the entire time, and I couldn’t ever get it to calm down. On the way out, the cranky old grandparents snubbed Summer while they were visiting with Eaddie. We got out pretty quickly after that because it upset Summer. We had a near-successful summon for the Model Y, dropped Dad off at their house, then went home to wind down and get to bed.

Runaway rollercoaster!

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Cleaning Dash

I woke up pretty early this morning and fed the dogs before I got to work cleaning up the house. With my parents’ house in disarray from the water damage, we’ll have the most room to have Christmas here, but there hasn’t been a flat surface anywhere in the entire house for weeks. I had a ton of projects to finish, and precisely one day to complete most of it.

I did a fair job, but I just kept unearthing more and more stuff. Between periods of cleaning, I kept an eye on my blood pressure. Then I’d take breaks to pump out some Vine reviews as I got those particular things cleaned up and out of the way.

Dad texted that Mom was making bún thang, but I didn’t realize that she was only just starting. I took a shower and kept on cleaning. Summer came home from the gym and took a shower, but then complained about feeling lightheaded, so I took her blood pressure again before I left.

The dogs chewed up more of the water hose at some point last night, and I assumed it was because they hadn’t been out on a run, so I knew I needed to get them out. I took the Onewheel to my parents’ house, hoping the wet ground wouldn’t affect me too bad, but it did. My entire leg and shoe were soaked by the time I got there.

I left them in the pen and went in to eat, then took them back home so I could continue cleaning up. It was also our only weekend to really be home as a family, so we had to decorate the Christmas trees. The girls did most of that because I started to feel a little off for some reason. I never did get to the old house like I planned, but Eaddie and I will be the only ones on an extended Christmas break, so I guess that’s my time.

As I got ready for bed, I got a tiny bill from my first ER visit at Baptist Health for $11. It looked like there was also a “pending” insurance payment of nearly $4k, but I also know I’m on a high deductible plan. Hopefully that’s not “pending” a denial before it’s passed along to me, but I have a feeling that it is. I guess we’ll wait and see, but I’ll be really surprised if I’m only responsible for $11 for that visit, when St. Mary’s took $300 for doing basically nothing.

I guess that was my calculated risk to take, so hopefully I still came out ahead over time.

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Surprise Rest

I woke up this morning to a text from Diana, which reminded me of the plans I knew we had for the day. I jumped up and took a shower, followed by Summer, so we could go visit with her. Eaddie was still asleep, so we left her and made it across town in some leftover drizzle from some rain overnight. Diana was super happy to sit and visit for a while, but still had to get packed and ready to travel back north.

Summer thought she would have to close the Conway wash, but just as we left Diana’s, she got a call that one of her employees wanted to take the shift. I had been considering going with her just so we could have some time together afterward and maybe do some more Christmas shopping, but getting to stay in town with her was even better. We went home to check on Eaddie and fed the dogs. Eaddie wasn’t hungry, so the two of us went to Mulan’s for a late lunch.

After we ate, we stopped by Walmart for some more treats for the dogs. We browsed minimally aside from that before stopping by the old house to clean out the mailbox and poke my head inside to get an idea of what I might be able to move sooner than later. The problem is that I’m still struggling to find time to break down boxes of stuff that I’ve already moved, and I’m just out of room until I do. Seeing the relative minimalism at Jim’s house last night nearly made me consider burning the whole place down. It’s paralysis, and I had forgotten about the stuff Dad already moved into Bác Vân’s shed next door.

We made it home and I struggled a bit to keep my blood pressure down. Eaddie ended up going over to Eli’s for a while, and I soaked in a bath to try and relax. Summer and I talked some more and finally decided that it would be a smart idea to get another car right now, partially due to the incentives and partially in case of a breakdown in one of the older vehicles. Letting her drive her own car was important to me, and having options was important to both of us.

Eaddie came home and talked with us for a while as well, and then I helped her order a Christmas gift. Then we all settled in for bed.

Contractually convoluted

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Rollin ‘Round Town

Today was a good day to sleep in and have some time to myself. My appointment was in the early afternoon, so I had time to eat some food, take a shower, and open up some more Vine stuff before leaving the house. Summer wasn’t sure if she’d make it back in time to join me, but when she wasn’t home by the time to leave, I decided to take the Onewheel on my own. The sun was shining and it wasn’t too cold, so it was a great day for a ride. Monalisa and the other ladies in the office were fascinated by the Onewheel, but I didn’t wait in the lobby for very long before I got called back.

My blood pressure wasn’t bad, but we discussed my near-blackout events and a timeline of my pressure. Then Crystal came in and we talked about modifying my meds. She was good with me using up my old amlodipine since it wasn’t too far out of date. I’ll just continue to log my stats and share them with her through their clinic portal.

Summer got home shortly after I did, and started to wrap some more presents. I took the dogs out for an extended run since they were really good and we had quite a bit of daylight left, and we waved at a whole bunch of people along the way. As we got back to the house, they just kept on running, so we did another figure-eight around the block before getting back home.

Summer was still wrapping up her wrapping and watching some documentary series about a conspiracy theorist and some hot-to-trot kid from Mensa. I ate some leftover dumplings and then warmed up some for her when she got hungry. Then I laid down on the couch with her for a little while before wrapping up for the night.

Even with medicine, it’s a “best by” date!

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Shop Haul

I actually got plenty of sleep last night, so the drive in today was pretty slow and I still arrived early. I was the first one to the annex by a while, so I eventually drove around the building to see if maybe I’d missed the others. Just as I pulled back to where I started, Randy pulled up and we went inside. Others slowly filled in, and we began scanning devices for discard. It was super cold in the building, especially since they kept a garage door and the side door open. Wind just kept blowing right through the place.

I finally got a call back from the clinic, and we scheduled a follow-up appointment for the next afternoon since they wouldn’t modify my meds over the phone. I loaded up a small box of stuff, and the maintenance crew came in looking like border patrol and moved a bunch of shelves for us. We made our way back to the new shop to unload, and we milled around while the maintenance crew did the heavy lifting. I felt a little bad about it, but that just seemed to be the way there. I did help very minimally, but no one else was really involved at all.

I rode with Randy to meet several others at Cotham’s for lunch. It was loud in there, so Javier and I mostly talked to each other on my end of the table. The hubcap burger is so good that I never want to order anything else.

After lunch, we went back to the office for the rest of the afternoon. My blood pressure had been surprisingly good all day, but I took my meds a couple hours late. I got home with time to take the dogs out before dark, and by the time we got back home, I started to feel a lump in my throat.

Summer was out at her store’s Christmas party, so I unboxed a bunch of Amazon Vine stuff and then did several reviews. Eaddie brought some leftover food home from some new Mexican place in the old Steak ‘n Shake, so I ate that. Eventually everyone made it to bed.

Dry rub barbecue fries?