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

Oh did I love those fireworks. It is generally the main reason I go to the first night of our local balloon fest here in August. They have such a nice fireworks show to cap off first night. It is always a bit incredible to me that this little one-horse town does some amazing things for the size of the town. Halloween Parade is normally about three hours long. Christmas had a holiday drive through one of our big parks all decorated and lit up --- about a mile of winding roads -- little hills filled with nativity scenes and other very Christmassy scenes full of elves and workshops etc. Then the Balloon Fest which is three days of fun -- but the fireworks are really my favorite. Hope I wasn't a pyromaniac in another life-time.

Hope you all had a wonderful ( even if like me you spent it sleeping ) New Years Eve/New Year.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year

Your morning thoughts may determine your conduct for the day. Optimistic thoughts will make your day bright and productive, while pessimistic thinking will make it dull and wasteful.Face each day cheerfully, smilingly, and courageously, and it will naturally follow that your work will be a real pleasure and progress will be a delightful accomplishment. -William M. Peck

Sorry I’ve been so lax in posting—been letting real life get in the way of my cyberlife.

Our housekeeper left for AL on the 21st (the day before we did) to help her middle-aged son deal with his chest pains & panic attacks (doctors at UAB were stumped, but the right combo of antidepressant & beta-blocker finally seemed to work). She planned to be back on Tues. to help undo the damage my guys would do with both of the “womenfolk” absent (Bob came home Mon. night but I went on to DC). But just before landing in Birmingham she suddenly felt ill. After a couple of days she finally went to urgent care, where they diagnosed strep and an ear infection. So obviously no flying till her ear popped. AFAIK she was flying home today. I don’t expect her in for at least another day or two because she said her chest really hurt from coughing…

And that brings me to my home situation. Friday night when I spoke to him from Reagan Airport before boarding my plane, Bob said he was staying over at the Oak Lawn Hilton as planned so he could get an early start on work but had to turn down an invitation to dinner from friends down there because he had a cold he didn’t want to give them (she is very frail and uses a wheelchair, walker and oxygen). What he failed to tell me is that he came down with said “cold” on Tuesday and was sick as a dog. He got home Sat. night and owned up to having felt so awful for several days that he couldn’t even sort through the mail & phone messages, and apologized for hand-washing the dishes (I bit my tongue rather than tell him I had to load them into the dishwasher and go through the mail & messages—refrigerating fruit-basket gifts that had been left out for who knows how long). He had to leave the restaurant halfway through dinner to go home & to bed; he came downstairs at 2 am for the last glass of champagne we’d saved him, declaring that it was midnight somewhere, and then went back upstairs. Went to work yesterday. I made him promise to go to urgent care this morning before doing anything else.

Good thing he did—they took a sputum culture and did an X-ray, and it turns out the “cold” was right lower lobar (aka “walking”) pneumonia! He was running a 101 fever (but never takes his own temperature because “that’s for hypochondriacs”). He cancelled office for today & tomorrow and I’m expecting him home any minute so I can put together a plate of party snacks (the charcuterie, cheeses, shrimp & crudities everyone was too full to eat after getting back to our house from the restaurant) and he can watch football. What finally drove him to seek care was that….wait for it….his chest hurt from coughing. (He’s on Levaquin and at bedtime, codeine cough syrup. MucinexDM during the day). Same symptoms as our housekeeper. So he should rest (but won’t); I will understand if she needs to lay back for a few days.

Meanwhile, I had planned to take my Pneumovax booster before vacation (which was delightful, both cities, friends & family) but didn’t have the time before packing; now I have to wait at least a couple of weeks, maybe even a month, until Bob & the housekeeper are well, and I remain symptom-free, because I’ve been exposed to pneumonia from either or both of them! At least I had my Prevnar shot last year (and first Pneumovax at 60).

Seek out that particular mental attitude which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, "This is the real me," and when you have found that attitude, follow it. - William James

Hi, all

The holidays are finally over. We had undecorated the day after Christmas, but the kids hadn't decided what to take and what to leave here. I sorted thru all their clothes and toys last week, but we still had boxes and bins all over. The cleaning service should be here soon, and then I will have a clean, and organized house! Took me almost two hours to declutter so they can clean.

One of my Christmas gifts was a group of picture frames. That got me to thinking thaT I don't have a picture of Tim and his new wife on the family wall. Then I realized the grandkids pix were outdated. So for the last few days I have been picking, editing and uploading them to Walgreens Photo shop to print in the sizes I need. First day, I couldn't get them to upload to Walgreens. I was working on my laptop when Jamie arrived and handed me Alexandria because she had to go to the bathroom.Alex hit the keyboard a couple of times and I shut it off. When I reopened it after they left, I couldn't get on the internet. I had just signed up for a years worth of coverage with the Geek Squad, so I called them. Very nice man said, no problem, I'll just remotely access your laptop and see what's going on. I said, "Don't you need internet access to do that?" I just paid these Geeks $200, and I have to do their thinking? Finally, he ran out of ideas and made an appt for me at Best Buy yesterday morning. Alex had hit the button on the top- we used to refer to them as the "F" keys- don't know what there called now, but he hit the button and my wi-fi was back.

He said my laptop was way too slow and that it was either my hard drive or my operated system that was either too old or too damaged. When he heard how old it is, he said wasn't even worth diagnosing. So, I have my DS picking out a new laptop for me. Geek Squad said $400 and up for a decent one. Not exactly what I want to spend right now, but have run out of options.

Hope everyone is recovering nicely from the holidays

Ann

Bob’s feeling better (but typical male, has yet to use the “Acappella” PEP device the pulmonologist at work gave him to help loosen the phlegm from his lungs so he can cough it up). He took some of that codeine expectorant at bedtime and a Mucinex this morning…and nothing else. At least this is keeping him from smoking and greatly reducing his drinking. Housekeeper is back too—her strep didn’t become pneumonia. My guess is that Bob caught his bug from a patient and it incubated while we were in NY on vacation, since he says he felt fine till the morning after he got home. And knock wood, I don’t have it….yet. Heading over to Walgreens to get my Pneumovax booster. (Could go to my PCP, but then he’d weigh me and read me the riot act).

I was without my Wellbutrin during vacation (of all my pills, it was the one I forgot to put in my travel meds pouches), so my discipline against carbs went out the window. Now that I’m getting my blood levels of it back up again, my resolve is slowly strengthening. But my resolve to head to the gym? Not yet. (Maybe try our own bike & treadmill, though). And I got messages from several people on my neighborhood blog willing to teach me to ride a real bike, so I can take the 20” training wheels off the mt. bike in the basement and run errands without feeling like an eco-criminal. I did get a couple of 10,000-step days in NY, though.

Sending healing vibes to all those who need them.

My laptop is probably outdated, too, but it still works fine for the limited use it gets. I'm still using Windows 7, which was the current Windows when I bought the laptop. It was $400 because it had been a display model at Best Buy and was the last one in stock. Otherwise it would have pricier.

Winter is visiting us for a few days. It was wonderful to walk outside yesterday and find the mugginess gone. Our vehicles were dry instead of dripping with moisture. I may have to protect some plants on the patio for a couple of nights since the temperature is supposed to drop to freezing.

Today I'm meeting some old golf friends (who no longer play golf) for lunch at a very nice restaurant. One friend who still plays golf arranged the get-together.

Happy Wednesday to all.

Brrr, cold here today. It started yesterday afternoon. We had rain in the morning with 40' & 50's as temps. The second rain ushered in cooler and cooler air until it was VERY nippy by nightfall. Tomorrow, it rather looks like a high possibility for snow. I've mentioned before that we here ( bordering on the southern edge of southern Illinois ) are in a little pocket and oddly are often missed by some of the STATED weathers. Still, if we are not missed some times we really get a good dose ---- so as for me, I'm not sure what we will get snow-wise, I just know for sure it will be cold. It doesn't sound ( whatever comes ) like it is going to last long --- then more rain and warmer again.

It is being a strange winter here -- but I likely should be glad we haven't had much ( make that any ) for snow though it has sounded like it could come any time. Fingers crossed for us.

Carole, I recall talking to you about upgrades on my Windows 7 --- which I bought specifically because I liked the operation so much. Based on what you said I asked the MSM geeks if they could check my system for possible upgrades. This would be going up a bit around 8 which was the new Windows program. My husband tried it -- sort of liked it, but ultimately had trouble with the up-grade. The geeks told me that I had a 50-50 chance of it working for me. That wasn't good enough for me. Dh had to take his computer --- have everything wiped cleaned -- then have Windows 7 put back in. Though it goes in spurts --- he still has a lot more trouble, when it comes, with his computer than I do with mine so ultimately I made the right choice --- but I do credit your having talked about the issue.

Sun is out here --- that will make the cold tolerable is not liked much. Got to look on the bright side. The sun never fails to make me happy. Hope you all have a fantastic day.

The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
Bertrand Russell

Carole - agreed about Windows 7. My son has offered to build me a new computer this year, but that means I will be stuck with Windows 10. Not sure I'm willing to trade Windows 7 for increased speed until there is no choice when upgrades stop.

Anne, glad you made it through that dental appointment. When you get the permanent crowns, it’ll go a lot faster. (Been there, done that).

I’ve always been suspicious of those TV commercials for “free” apps, especially those silly games. Those games make you pay for each next level...very addictive. So I only download the truly free ones, and put up with the occasional pop-up ads in the free solitaire app. Parental controls on electronic devices is a great idea not just for folks with kids but also who have grandkids visit. There was a news story today about a little kid who told the Alexa “personal assistant” device she wanted a dollhouse and cookies. So today Amazon delivered a dollhouse and 5 lbs. of butter cookies. The parents donated the stuff and promptly activated parental controls.

Hmmm, interesting about how those phones work. The one I have is basically an emergency phone. I have trouble even getting into the ( left a message ) part of my phone. I guess now and then being a bit hopeless can have some benefits -- I don't have to worry about mistakes with my phone ---- I can barely use it as it is --- so life in that way becomes easy.

I'm not sure about Dh's phone so much. It's a lot fancier but I don't think he does too much with it. He likes to text and as I'm not much on the mobility side of phones --- I would not care much for that either. Even though I don't think he does much, we have gotten a couple of packages that had to go back from whence they came. Not sure how it happened. I think some companies, if you don't watch for boxes to be checked or un-checked ( however it is that they try to trick you ) will say you signed up for automatic shipments or something of that ilk. That is one of the reasons that I really have to feel a huge need or be totally unable to find a store anywhere to buy things directly from the Internet.

Cold again here today. Hard to believe the first of the week we will be back up to the 50's and the hard crusty snow ( we didn't get that much ) will melt and help us make mud. We haven't seen the last of the cold but if it is a little less ARTIC in nature I'll be happier when it does return.

I very very rarely order things on the internet. Before Christmas, however, DS wanted us to find 2 popular toys for him. I ended up with Toys R Us as the only place that had them. I ordered online and the toys were available for pickup in an hour at the store I picked (none of the stores are close to us). It was awesomely good service. They even sent an email saying they had been picked up. I want to go back to the days when grandparents gave pajamas and underwear. I didn't realize that it might be for convenience.

I have an iPhone, but also a desk computer. It's a lot easier to see and use, so the phone is mainly for calling and texting. I love texting because you can send it anytime and the recipient can read it when convenient. You can also text back and forth if you're both available.