Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Comments
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Safety is important in other ways. The last few mornings my lunging and stumbling upon waking up would have been funny if it weren't so scary. I moved a nightlight into my room. If the light bothers me, I will pull the edge of my night-time headwarmer down over my eyes.
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Thanks Sandy. That is a great idea. It flashed on me as I was reading that there is actually a tree right at the bottom of the last step and it makes it very dark right in that spot. We know the step is there of course, but not just exactly where, when there is no way to even guess the edge in the added gloom of the tree making it one big black spot. We actually have several outlets on and around the deck.
Fortunately for us maybe is the fact that the man who owned this property before we bought it was a city fireman. So, ( cells phones were not popular as much then and the reception would have been poor likely in the woods here anyway ) he had electrical outlets all over the place. We assume he kept a lot of phones and maybe a couple of radios for his work as well. All of our rooms save for a couple are almost overloaded with electrical outlets which has turned into a blessing many times. We did have some issues one yr. and by fortune one of our friends is a electrician so for the price of some needed new wires we had the whole place checked out and brought up to date. Probably out of date again by now as that was at least 8 or more yrs. back.
We had him put up some new pretty oval kitchen lights that are LED ( looked like a major chore to us ) and he had them up in mere minutes. He just grabs those wires seemingly w/o more than a casual glance and takes metal wire cutters, cuts and strips and does all sorts of things while I'm trying not to have an accident while watching it all. I'm nearly sure there will soon be a big electrical arc or something. Well, he has been doing it for a long time -- but we only see these things now and then and always leaves me on the breathless side.
MC -- I don't like too much light at night either. Unfortunately, there is a dusk to dawn light out beyond my bedroom window. It seems only to allow just enough for me to make it to my half bath at night and generally I'm sleepy enough to barely notice it. So, I took the night light out my Dh insisted I have in my room. The two together and I might as well to have left the night table light on.
Wish Chicago area was having better tomorrow. We were okay today as plenty of sun. There was a bit of ice on front door sidewalk but nothing much else. Not sure about tomorrow but hope you stay safe Sandy. Ice is just downright tricky. Dh got us some of those cleat thingys you slip on your shoes/boots. But we put them up and every few yrs. find them AGAIN. They ( for that reason ) have never done us much good. If we find them again maybe I'll put them in my desk drawer so I might actually get to try them and see if they really work.
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I have a ground-floor apartment, and am leery of perverts. I am also next to the laundry-room, and my neighbor works nights sometimes and has severe neuropathy and uses a walker. I can complain about the laundry-room light, but I have no right to complain about Ron leaving his porch light on. I have blackout curtains, and am quite happy with them. My nose and sinuses are happier when I close my BR door and let the air-cleaner do its own sweet thing. My night-cap worked well, and when I wanted light, it was easy to lift the edge.
It should be quite easy to install some night-lights around the deck and stairs.
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When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning
light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food
and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving
thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Tecumseh -
Love the Tecumseh quote!
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Think about a motion sensor light for the back steps. It can turn on as you get close and would also be on for going downstairs.
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Our dreaded freezing drizzle never materialized, thank goodness. Drove to the ophthalmologist--all's good in the eye dept. I was surprised my prescription hasn't changed, because I was having trouble reading fine print. The doctor and his staff tried to measure my glasses to see if Warby Parker had put enough reading-correction area at the bottom of the progressive lenses, and he & his optician claimed it was because Warby & other online glasses vendors use digital lens-grinding machines. I decided to be a good little patient and buy a pair of glasses from his optical shop even though his frame selection is fairly limited (he's a good friend and comps us the exams), but I also asked for a reading-only copy of my prescription. (I knew by now not to order Zennis--they're cute & cheap but fall apart easily; they won't replace lenses, and no independent shop will put new prescriptions in their frames)
I drove to Warby Parker's newest boutique nearer to me (I don't order online because I like to try on frames--with guidance, at that) to pick out some frames for readers--I still can't wear off-the-shelf drugstore readers because of my astigmatism. First thing was I noticed the wide selection--including several designs in wide and narrow, as well as different bridge-fit options and at least two colors for each. I picked out a whole bunch. The supervisor asked if he could help me, and I explained that I was told I needed a larger reading-correction area than a digital lens could provide, so I was buying my readers there but my progressives from my doctor's optical shop. I tried on a plethora of frames, comparing them to the Warbys I'm currently wearing. The supervisor eliminated a number of my choices, pointing out that it isn't just how frames look (size, shape color), but also, for progressive lenses, where my eyes "sit" relative to the reading area. He said my eyes sat too high in my current frames...and just then he had a brainstorm. "Let me get our optician," he said, and brought her over.
She looked at the frames I chose and the ones I was wearing. "Mind if I try something with your own glasses?" she asked. "If it doesn't work, I'll change it back." She came back, put them on me and handed me the reading card. Amazingly, even the smallest print was perfectly legible, yet all I had to move were my eyeballs--not the frames nor my head. Turns out she had made a "pantoscopic tilt" adjustment, changing the angle of the frames to bring the lenses closer to my face at the bottom. And I looked in the mirror--my eyes were sitting lower in the lenses. Funny how no optician before--not even my ophthalmologist's--had checked for tilt (or mentioned it)!
But I was torn--there was a cute little purple frame that I was definitely getting for readers, but the other pinkish pair also looked great on me. I put two & two together and decided that this optician could adjust the latter for me if I got them as progressives. So I bought them too (albeit not photochromic, as I'd be wearing them for dresswear). And the optician at this Warby store said I should bring my other ones (bought last year) and she'd adjust those, tool
Getting up early again tom'w--the handyman who's re-doing our bathtub caulk & tile grout (the holes in both was letting water into the walls and causing my kitchen ceiling to start "bubbling" again, though not as bad as when our toilet tank leaked and flooded the bathroom and wrecked the kitchen ceiling) is coming at 9am. He'll be here all day, so I have to get myself to the mani-pedi & back so my housekeeper can keep an eye on him while I'm down at the salon. Grout (and repair of the guest room wall, which plumbers had to open up a few years ago to fix the pipes) tomorrow, caulk Thursday.
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Busy lady. Hopefully i will have that kind of energy again. Someday.
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Today I choose life.
Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy,
happiness, negativity, pain...
To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue
to make mistakes and choices -
today I choose to feel life,
not to deny my humanity but embrace it.
- Kevyn Aucoin -
Wow, glad the bad weather didn't find you in Chicago Sandy. Also really glad ( sometimes its amazing ) that the eyes/glasses question was solved. I've had that issue for a long time and always had adjustments for it save for one Eye Center that I decided to try. I went three times to the Ophthalmologist who just couldn't figure it out. Now that you spoke about this I instantly realized that it is exactly what happened there. I finally ( had to of course pay for the original exam ) got a refund for the frames/lenses that I had chosen and went back to Sears who never had a problem, ever.
So, it still seems to be a matter of course, for anywhere I go ( last two times I've used our local Walmart ) that this adjustment is automatically made. The Dr. at Walmart is actually a V.A. Dr. who is part time at the V.A. and so also works Walmart too. I have found ( I know people have negative experience as well ) that Dh and I have down well at our V.A. and their range of services. I think they deal so often with people of much higher age and the related issues that come with that, so we have few complaints. Good for you Sandy and I'm thrilled to finally know why those glasses from the new EYE Center of a while back were such a failure.
MC I hope you do get your energy back. I feel part of the key is using vitamins ( knowing that which comes directly from food is always better ) that may have higher amts. of vitamins and minerals in them. I attribute the ones I take for keeping me boosted. It is a brand called Alive which I started using several yrs. ago --- right after my dx. and txs. They now put a serving of vegetables in and chg. for it too, but I take it as older bodies don't process at the level younger bodies do so I figure whatever I can do to get extra will help me. Likely there are several brands on market now -- Centrum-One a Day or whatever. I just stay with what has always seemed to have worked for me partly due to blood tests for deficiencies etc. through the V.A. I also learned for sure that my energy level rises upon getting up and starts to wane around 1:30 p.m. So -- I try and adjust my schedule to accommodate for that. Wishing you well.
Anne, thinking of you daily and hoping things are moving okay in a good direction for you.
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You know a snowstorm's gonna be bad when they name it just like a hurricane. Last week's was "Gia;" this one coming in is "Harper." Forecast for the Loop north to WI is 1-3", 3-5" in the south 'burbs, and 5-9" south of that incl. St. Louis (and likely NW IN--which usually gets slammed worse by "lake effect" than we do; we get the "lake effect" snow only when the wind comes in from the east over the lake, but even the usual W to E wind pattern makes it worse in IN & MI). Unfortunately, Kim aka NativeMainer is gonna get slammed: the forecast for coastal New England northeast of Boston (and most of VT, NH & ME) and the Maritimes is calling for >24"!!!
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I have been sleeping eleven hours a day. I am going to get bloodwork today in anticipation of infusion tomorrow. Very curious, something is different..
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ChiSandy, your weather forecast helps me be more appreciative of our weather here in South central Texas! It's been overcast and drizzly for several days but we don't have to shovel rain. Of course, we still find something to complain about re the weather, it is such a convenient target and acceptable topic of conversation.
Stay warm and dry. If the forecast is at all accurate sounds like a good time to snuggle in at home, maybe with a pot of soup simmering on the back burner.,
BTW, your avocado toast sounds yummy!
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Hmmm, that coming storm does sound like the absolute pits though I'm more concerned about any freezing from the rain/drizzle/sleet that may precede it. It sounds like a good time for a big pot of white navy beans with sweet southern corn bread. I like the beans, but am really after ( being a huge bread lover ) the corn bread that I always douse with lots of butter and honey. May make a pot of chili for follow-up since the storm results will it sounds like, be with us for awhile. Shame on us -- we take corn chips and lightly crush them up on top the chili after dropping shredded cheese on the hot chili -- and no wonder I keep having to watch calories after a cold spell. Well, we have had light winters the last few -- so, maybe I'll be okay after all.
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Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.
In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement
and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy
and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all
moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.
Frederick Buechner -
There is no quiet place in [your] cities, no place to hear the leaves of spring or the rustle of insects' wings. . . .The Indians prefer the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with pinyon pine.The air is precious to the Indian, for all things share the same breath—the animals, the trees, the human.Like a person who has been dying many days, a person in your city is numb to the stench. -attributed to Chief Seattle
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Today ( as was yesterday ) will have good temps. through the day. Rain will come tonight though with temps cooling through the night will turn the daytime hours into four inches or so of snow. Sigh !!! Almost all of our previous snow is gone of course, as we had some time to enjoy both the first REAL beautiful snow of the yr. but as well its leave-taking. Never thought in less than a week to have another.
Well, it is okay. I had a problem with one of my tires seeming to lose air when it shouldn't though with our crazy temps it does happen -- especially in winter. Turns out I had not only a screw but a nail as well in the tire -- so no wonder it wasn't holding air. The fairly touchy sensors in cars today kept registering low tire/low traction which isn't what you want to see with a snow ( hoping no ice/sleet issues ) coming in soon. Whew !! Who knows where and how these things found their way into my tire. Don't know if they ( some time or other lately ) may have fallen out of a garbage truck as it was making its rounds or some truck that had been on our major in and out road as there was some large gravel rocks spilled lately which showed up after the snow melt around out mail-boxes which are on the main road. Anyway -- however they may have gotten in my path -- just glad to have it taken care of so I can feel safe and confident.
I'm still amazed at times that we came back home here with my having learned driving on the L.A. freeways system at an older age than most ( 30 ) and now traverse not 6 lanes of speeding cars, but some of the worst drivers in the world -- made all the more nerve-wracking at times by ice, snow, sleet and slush. Still, I have come to know that is you follow the general rules -- it is likely you will be okay, or as okay as anyone can be.
ANNE -- thinking about you with hope.
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illinoislady- I cannot imagine driving in snowy conditions. I would be one of those nervous drivers with both hands clenching the steering wheel for dear life. I'm with you on the touchy car sensors. Monday, I had a sensor that was loose and my car was in the shop two and a half days. The whole system went haywire and I was stranded on I-95 for 4 hours. Then I had a tow truck driver from hell who was kind enough to threaten to shoot a homeless man on my behalf. That was not a great afternoon It was just a little glitch in the electrical system. Unfortunately this is tourist season in Miami and I couldn't get a rental car. I did catch up with paperwork.
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jo6359, yes, it is not great to have so many sensors. They make me nervous any time. I did ( in my older Blazer 4-wheel drive ) learn to ignore the ones in it. There weren't as many, and the part that they said would make them stop coming on was very expensive. It was a module in one of the computers and having traced the problem it was only the module that was bad and coming on, and not anything actually wrong with the wheels or brakes.
With the car I have now ( an Equinox ) for some reason I feel very edgy if any of the 'lights' come on. Since it is not 4-wheel drive I feel like I need the assurance of doing something if one does come on. This car has front wheel drive and also one wheel that will act like ( grip ) like 4-wheel drive does. Driving in snow does become second nature but when I started out I was just like your description -- hands gripping as tight as possible and I was on high alert for the slightest wrong move. Before I got it down pat I sailed through a couple of intersections unable to stop. Then I learned to slow well before the intersection so only a mild pressure on the brakes would let the car come to a stop.
Glad you were able to use your afternoon for at least some paperwork but being stranded would have tested my patience in a major way. Sounds just awful. Hopefully no more 'lights' issues for a long time.
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We want someone else to act. But miracles aren't what other people do. They're what each of us does. They're what happens when ordinary people take extraordinary action. To be a miracle doesn't mean you have to tackle problems across the globe. It means making a difference in your own living room, cubicle, neighborhood, community.
Regina Brett -
The snowstorm that's going to make life really inconvenient for so much of the US and Canada is south of me, luckily. We have about 8" on the ground from storms a week ago, and right now the issue is the temperature. It's -20F right now and will get down to -25F tonight. I still have to go out in it to run some errands but I'm tough...as long as the block heater on the car worked overnight!
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Brrrr pingpong. I would not like those temps you have at all though if there were little or no wind and you didn't dilly-dally with chores or outings one could manage but just hearing them brings the word shivering immediately to my mind. I hope you did okay.
We were gray for the first part of the morning and actually a lot warmer than I expected. It hds rained ( fairly hard a time or two thru the night Dh said ) but it was not doing anything but a heavy mist most of the day after we got up this morning. Cooled a bit in the afternoon and the snow started around 1:30 p.m. or bit later. Darkish out now but I think maybe 3 inches. I know the ground which was showing everywhere is now all white once again.
Hope we don't get too much more if any snow. Just have to wait and see. I haven't/didn't move the snow off the deck but likely I should before we lose all the light.
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IllinoisLady, I grew up in Montreal, which got just as cold but it was that damp cold that freezes your bones. Montreal is on an island and has hot, humid summers and cold, damp winters. At least up here it's quite dry so the cold is much more bearable. The bright blue sky didn't hurt, either!
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It was the low 70s today. A beautiful blue sky and sunny. We keep hearing that you guys are going to be experiencing nasty weather come Monday. I hope you miss the worst of it. We're going to hit the 50s on Monday. The way my friends are carrying on you would think we're expecting snow. They already have their scarves and boots out. Most importantly you guys stay safe
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Humans! The most complex of creatures, and for this reason the most dependent of creatures. On everything that has formed you, you may depend. Do not balk at this apparent slavery. . . . a debtor to many, you pay for your advantages by the same number of dependencies. Understand that independence is a form of poverty; that many things claim you, that many also claim kinship with you. -Andre Gide
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Wow !! We are snow covered again but I'm not sure how much. Our deck and sidewalks weren't so bad but there was a lot of wind with the snow so it seemed not more than maybe 2 1/2 inches of light snow that pushed easily. It was as close to dark as possible when I went out last night to rid the deck and sidewalks. Towards evening our wind can stop -- but it didn't last evening. It was fairly nippy out of doors. I don't button my coat so that I don't have to del with restricted movement but as well so I don't become over-heated while working. I'll have to clean my car this morning.
It's very cold this a.m. and won't get much warmer during the day. Wind chill will I think have us in the single digit space. Maybe some more snow during the afternoon. Didn't sound like it would do much. So far, so good. I didn't do anything with my car so will have to clean it after a bit to go to town and feed kitties. I don't know where they actually go when they go under the fence where I feed ( hoping there is a shelter back there ). There are a couple of straw filled boxes off to one side of the area where it is fairly quiet. I have never seen the cats used them.
Hmm, I could go for 50 degrees right now. These temps will hang out for a bit -- one warming day, but then back down to 30's. Snow and cold are tolerable if need be, but hoping that we don't have any ice storms along the way.
Hope you all have a really good day.
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Here is something I found in my in-box today that I instantly loved and would suit any dog lover I believe.
Epitaph to a Dog.
Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed,
Beauty without vanity,
Strength without insolence,
Courage without ferocity,
And all the virtues of man without the vices.
Lord Byron.
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Wow...left this a.m. after cleaning my car of snow and getting the defroster on at top speed. Left to get into our lane and there was lots of ice. Hoping it was only there, but it was on the road we use to get to the highway. Nothing but a sheet of ice. I went about three blocks and decided it just wasn't very safe. Dh's truck is in the garage so we only have one vehicle -- safer on ice to just let it go. So while there was a good spot at a t intersection I made the turn, backed up and headed back home the same direction I had come. No idea how the highway was because I was still several blocks from it when I chose to abort the mission.
About 3 p.m. it started snowing again. It is a light snow so far, but it has continued to come down so the deck is pretty much covered again. I will wait till the morning to clean it all up again. Sigh !!! Likely it will be dry snow too so won't be too hard to deal with. I don't mind the work so much but do hope we don't have too much wind in the morning.
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As a "Yooper" friend up in Marquette, MI told me when we emerged from our house concert only to find it had snowed 5" over already-icy roads, "Great--you can get traction on this stuff!"
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"The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity of life is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give." -William Arthur Ward
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