Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?

IllinoisLady

The best portion of a good person's life,--
Their little nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love.

William Wordsworth

IllinoisLady

Good to hear petite and yay that is was a minor thing. It rained through the night here and will rain on and off all day. It has stayed cool, but in summer our heat progresses through the day. By evening we are very glad to see the sun go down. It seems much cooler than even if the temp. hasn't changed. I didn't check the weather report today because yesterday said we would be keeping this for a few days. I say, who knows. When I/we lived in California all those years we could pretty much count on what the weather predictions were but moving here all bets were off and it has stayed that way.

One of the hazards of living where we do at the edge of the woods, a small tree went over during the night and part way down I had to stop the car and shove it off the road. My back hasn't felt so great since but I hope a little heat and ice will set it to rights.

Hope you all have a fine day.

Taco1946

I don't remember air conditioning when I was growing up in the Chicago suburbs. We did have it in the FHA housing we had while Ken was in medical school. When my folks to Sun City West, AZ in 1980, they had "swamp" coolers. Worked pretty well until the humidity went up. They also had a solar panel water heater. I know it wasn't as hot then, but I do think about the early pioneers who came to the desert. They were adventurers!

Covid numbers up again today and the state has issued rationing care guidelines. Very scary. I play golf in my own cart with the same foursome. I am getting my hair cut tomorrow. Will be interesting to see if the nail salon will still be open for my appointment next week.

Anyone read any good books lately?

petite1

Taco1946, That's interesting. "Swamp Coolers" I need to know more about that,

IllinoisLady

Blessed are they who have learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate. -William Arthur Ward

IllinoisLady

Dh and I got a swamp cooler for his mother when she lived in an apt. w/o a/c. It worked well for her but it was a small apt. This was back in the late 70's and I would imagine that all apts. in that part of California have a/c now. So, I do think they can be a very useful alternative if you need something but are not able to put a window a/c in for some reason.

More rain today likely. It will be about 88 according to the weatherman. I think humid will be the problem.

Hope you all have a good day.

karen1956

Swamp coolers are the only option for homes that have gas hot water heat - can only use central air with a furnace. We have one room A/C and use tower fans and ceiling fan in the bedroom.

petite1

Hi, ladies. Thank you. I learned something today. Since I had not heard of Swamp Coolers, I checked it out on the internet. (and I live in the swamp LOL) I need a small personal size when I have a hot flash.

ChiSandy

They also make "portable" ACs on wheels you can move from room to room (and presumably run a hose out your window for the condensation). Our apt. in Seattle was a small 1-BR with a tiny kitchen, so the swamp cooler worked ok if we and it were in the same room.

Humidity down today, with a nice lake breeze keeping it around 80F. We have gas hot water heat--installing ductwork for central heat/AC would run us $20-30K. So we have window units and ceiling fans in the master bedroom and guest room--during the day we keep the room doors open and the cool air makes its way downstairs to the front room & living room. When it gets too hot for that, we fire up the window units in the living room and rear den. Fierce electric bills, but it is what it is.

kathindc

There are ac options for homes with boiler systems. The houses on the block I live on are 82 years old, flagstone and brick. About 12 houses have had a systems installed. Some systems are more intrusive to install but it can be done while still maintaining your radiator heating system. Just had all my original windows replaced. This is the last item on my renovation list.

Di2012

love our heat pump......warm in winter.....cool in summer.....we suffered for years baking in the summer, since Puget Sound is waterfront for my across the street neighbors.....nice views, nice sunsets, but would bake us alive since we have 12' windows in the living room!

Sandy, were you living in Seattle when can dealer, Dick Balch hit cars with a sledgehammer on his TV commercials...was loud and obnoxious? He lived across the street and just a bit south of us....party central.....could hear the parties every weekend.....cars up and down the street.....we had to keep our windows open all the time to cool the house down...so we had to hear his parties!

Di

ChiSandy

OMG, Balch was an utter lunatic! But he did go to charity events and offer donors a whack with a sledgehammer on a used Chevy.

petite1

Good morning, ladies. It is a nice pretty morning. I have my PCP appointment today to follow up on labs and my low blood pressure. Hope everyone has a pleasant, safe day.

Beaverntx

petite, hope all is good news at your appointment.

IllinoisLady

One of my fondest memories from childhood is of looking at a globe with my father. "What's the biggest country?" he'd ask me and my sister. We'd spin the globe around and guess. . . . The globe brought me a sense of wonder and adventure. I wanted to go to those other places and see how people did things differently. And, many years later, when I did visit other countries, I took my father's interest and fascination with me. When we plant the seeds of fascination and respect for other people, we are teaching tolerance and peace. -Charlotte Davis Kasl

IllinoisLady

Will be another hot day, but I think tolerable. We are getting sun now and then, but hard to pinpoint when the rain will come. The next week at least appears to be all at least 90 degrees minimum and at times more. Not something I will love but I am so thankful we have a strong working air conditioner and to boot, it no longer leaks air ( hot or cold ) under the house. For the time ( I really haven't a clue ) that it was mal-functioning we did not have the energy efficiency possible wit the nearly new furnace. Our bills did creep up but slow enough at first that it took a while to realize, at which point Dh checked under the house and found it way tooo warm for winter. So fortunate we found the right company that could not only help us and did, but saved us so much "repair " money on what otherwise should have been warranty work.

Wishing you well petite today. Here's to great lab numbers and a definite reason and cure for your blood pressure.

CeliaC

Speaking of feeling "old" - Here is a pic from my wedding, 30 yrs ago on 6/30. Remember the big shoulders? I feel Amazonian next to DH. LOL!

IllinoisLady

Great picture. I don't recall big shoulders being popular in brides gowns, but then I got married in 1966. Happy Anniversary to you on 6/30.

IllinoisLady

Just saw this and it tickled me so thought I'd share.

karen1956

Celia - beautiful bride! Happy anniversary

ChiSandy

Lovely wedding pic, Celia! (And perfectly appropriate for 1990).

Last night was my inner-ear & brain MRI; tomorrow night will be MRA (arteries) and MRV (veins). Not as bad as I'd feared--but as to the drive home? Had to detour around the scene of a drive-by shooting and consequent crash. Ah, city life.

Starting 7/6 (Mon.), Chicago will require anyone coming in (or home) from a coronavirus-surge state to quarantine for 14 days. Good luck enforcing it: IL saw a slight uptick in cases (though no change in rolling positivity rate) likely due not just to record #s of tests but young idiots defying mask & social distance requirements, especially at indoor bars & rooftop cafes (some staffers, not just patrons). They're also slipping through barricades, crowding the still-closed beaches (albeit distanced from each other), and there are no lifeguards. We'll likely see drownings due to rip currents. There will be inspectors out this weekend at bars & restaurants, issuing citations to violators (though not to patrons). Fines are up to $10K, plus license revocation. Chicago's cases & death curves remain flat, but surrounding suburban Cook County's and adjacent IN's are rising.

My home-repair saga continues: I have a leaky sump pump. Still under warranty, but I'll be on the hook for labor. Plumber is ordering the new one, hopefully arriving next week before the next round of storms.

IllinoisLady

When one begins to practice simplicity, the ego is deprived of the very strategy by which it sustains itself. Nothing will deflate the ego more effectively than to be recognized for what it is. It lives by pretension. It dies when the mask is torn away and the stark reality is exposed to the gaze of others. Simplicity also avails in braking the tyranny of things. Ostentation, artificiality, ornamentation, pretentious style, luxury--all require things. One requires few things to be one's self, one's age, and one's moral, intellectual, or spiritual stature. What one is does not depend on what one has.

Albert E. Day

petite1

Good morning, Ladies. Love the wedding picture and I remember big shoulders in business suits, but not wedding dresses. My first time was about 45 years ago.

PCP visit went well. He was concerned about the low BP and the 10 percent body weight increase. He increased my thyroid medication. He expects it will continue to need to be adjusted over the next year or so. I just hope it works and I go back feeling like myself.

I hope everyone has a pleasant 4th and stay safe.

Taco1946

1966 wedding for me too. Strapless top with short sleeve lace jacket. My mother and I made my dress and then my sister wore it with a different vail in 1969. When it became clear that neither my daughter or my niece would be interested in wearing it, we let my niece wear it as a costume in "Pirates of Pinzanne" her senior year in high school. I think my sister had it cleaned and restored but I'm not even certain of that. The next generation of nieces are all bigger women than we were so if she did, it will go unworn again. I wasn't looking at wedding dresses in 1990 but I know all my suits, coats and dresses had shoulder pads. What the fashion industry does to us to keep us shopping.

ChiSandy

AHA! Now, Petite, it's falling into place: low BP + weight gain most likely means a thyroid slowdown. Hope the meds increase helps. But alas, you still have to "do the work" when it comes to losing that weight.

CeliaC

Re: Wedding dress - I think it was the somewhat "extended" fabric at the shoulders that added to my already fairly broad shoulders, inherited from my mom's gene pool. Lucky for me, DH likes a woman with a little meat on her bones.

Petite - Glad to hear your PCP visit went well. Hope your thyroid function improves.

CindyNY

I married in 1978 in a 3 piece suit! I watched too much Mary Tyler Moore. LOL. It was a light dusty blue green color if I recall corectly. No pictures handy to shake my recall if there were shoulder pads or not. Divorced 17 years later. A lifetime ago!

Petite1 - glad your PCP is getting your meds back in order.

We've had rain and thunderstorms for about 4 days. From drought to flooding in areas. Predict the next few days 88, then shooting into the 90's. And me with no pool.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable 4th. It seems on the strange side to me, but I'm rolling with it.

ChiSandy

Hey, no pool here either--high 80s & dry here by the lakefront, and by Sunday getting muggy into the 90s with no lake breeze. High 90s the rest of the week with severe storms (caused by "heat instability" clouds suddenly firing up) beginning Tues. Heat index forecast into the triple-digits. Welcome to the schvitz.

Meanwhile, the morons have started shooting off fireworks and M-80s again all around my neighborhood--just now on my block (after midnight). Someone's house is gonna burn down and I hope it's not mine. This goes on well into the night, and tomorrow will be a nightmare.

IllinoisLady

Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself.
- Robert Green Ingersoll

Taco1946

Thank you IllinoisLady for today's quote.