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My thoughts released; a mind set free |
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These pages contain my thoughts, from meandering ideas and persuasions to deep cerebrations and serious mentations. Why, for what purpose? To release my mind and set creativity free. Somewhere inside the constraints of my mind dwells a writer, a poet, an artist who paints with words. In here I release those constraints and set the artist free. Perhaps, lost somewhere in the depths of thought, is a story or a poem, waiting to be written. |
| Today's proving to be another rough day, but I must admit I'm feeling a little better than I did yesterday. A big part of it is the steroids I have to take during my chemo infusions. They tear up my stomach, cause insomnia, make me dizzy, and fatigued, and the effects last a day or two after I'm done taking them. I was up quite a bit during the night, but then slept in this morning until almost nine, so a decent amount of sleep. But I found myself dehydrated this morning to the point of needing to go into the hospital and having a liter of salt water pumped into me. The last chemo infusion has left me with no desire to eat, drink, or even move much. I am making myself eat, even though the food tastes off and I have no appetite, but drinking is proving to be more challenging this time around. I knew this last round of chemo was going to be the roughest one, and I'm handling it pretty well. But it's one day at a time right now, and soon I'll be feeling a bit better with each new day. I'm hoping I'll start to improve this weekend since next week is starting out busy. Monday, I have to travel to Fergus Falls to see my cardiologist because this last round of chemo has me in and out of Afib. Then on Tuesday, I have to travel to Fergus Falls again to see my VA doctor about the neuropathy. This last round of chemo has made that a lot worse as well. I will also be discussing my cancer treatments with her, since I'm now done with chemo and just doing immunotherapy. I want a referral to the cancer center in Fergus and a new oncologist to discuss where I go from here. It's been a long and miserable journey since I was diagnosed last May, but I made it through and now just hope that the cancer is gone and I can ring that damned bell! |
| Tuesday and Wednesday wrapped up my chemotherapy sessions; unless something changes, I'm all finished. For that, I am very thankful. The timing didn't work out as planned; I was supposed to be done two weeks ago and would likely be starting to feel better. One of my medications made me very sick the night before and the day of that infusion, so I had to cancel. My oldest had invited us to his place for Thanksgiving, and we had planned on attending if it was in the cards, but as it turned out, my wife ended up working today. This is fine, since I'm sicker than hell from the last infusion, and if she works Thanksgiving, it means she will have Christmas off; a fair trade in my book, especially since I'll be feeling a lot better by then. Hell, I'm hoping to start feeling better in a week or so. However, each infusion is rougher than the previous, and it takes longer to recover after each one. So, I may be feeling pretty rough for a week or two before I start to recover from this last one. I do know the steroids I take during and the day after my infusions make me feel awful. Their purpose is to help my body recover from the damage of the chemo, but I'm not sure if they're helping or not. I felt better when I woke up this morning, but half an hour after taking them, I'm tired, sick, and dizzy. I did talk to the doctor on Tuesday about the ill effects of the steroids. She agreed they can make a person pretty sick, but she advised me to take them. She reasons that I'll be feeling ill from them for a few days, but without them, it will take me a lot longer to recover from the infusion. A few days of misery versus a week or more of added misery? I'll take the steroids. This year, Thanksgiving is delayed for a few weeks if I start to feel better and regain some normal sense of taste; if not, then it's cancelled, and I'll look forward to Christmas. No matter what, I give thanks today, and evey day for all the little blessings in my life. |
| I went to the hospital this afternoon, at one-forty-five, to have the portable pump removed that provided me with the last dose of chemo over the last twenty-four hours. That's it for the chemo, unless something changes when I talk to my new oncologist. I will get a referral on December 2nd to talk to another oncologist and switch to Lake Region Cancer Center for maintenance and check-ups. I had a liter of water pumped into me while I was there, which helps me flush the chemicals out since I'm not able to drink enough water since the surgery. It also prevents me from dehydrating, which is also a good thing. I'll go in on Friday and have another liter pumped in, then we'll see how it goes; I'll likely have to have IV fluids about once a week until the effects of the chemo start to wane and I can eat and drink more again. I'm also back to bleeding from my sinuses from the chemo. They gave me a saline solution to spray into my nostrils to help keep them moist, and the salt has a septic value to help stop the bleeding. The problem is, salt sprayed onto raw tissue burns like hell. I've also developed other bleeding issues; my skin tears easily, and I bleed a lot from any cut or abrasion. I have minor blood vessels that are leaking, leaving me with unexplained bruises, and my stomach lining, after being stretched from the surgery, tends to bleed. I have an oral medication that's supposed to help. The bright side is, I should begin to heal and get over many of the side effects in a couple of weeks, and by Christmas, I should be feeling pretty good again. |
| I was up early for my last chemo appointment. It's only ten minutes to the hospital, but I got up thirty minutes earlier than I normally would because the forecast was saying snow starting around midnight. It didn't. It's been spitting a bit, but nothing is sticking. However, by noon it's supposed to start snowing harder, the winds are forecast to increase, a d we could get up to ten inches. We'll see. As is normal, it's also supposed to get colder and stay below freezing for the next five days. It sounds like winter has arrived. |
| It's been a tough weekend. My check-up and endoscopy went well today, and I'll be able to receive my last chemo infusion tomorrow. I'm still having a lot of abdominal problems, and tomorrow's infusion is going to make it worse; it's going to make everything worse, but hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll be feeling better. Just knowing I won't have chemo anymore is a wonderful feeling. Speaking of making everything worse, we are under a severe winter storm warning from late tonight until tomorrow night. The temperature will not get above freezing, wind gusts of forty miles per hour, and three to six inches of snow! WVen worse, we may have freezing rain for a bit before it turns to snow. Yes, a nice coating of ice, under a thick blanket of wet, heavy snow, and strong winds to top it off. If I could, I'd stay home. I'm not concerned about my or my wife's driving in bad weather; it's the idiots out and about who can't drive on a nice day that cause concern. |
| I don't know why or how it happens, but out of thin air, I find myself journeying back through the years. I'll lock on to some almost forgotten memory, and sometimes smile as I relive the memory; other times, I may cry, depending on who or what the memory is about. Yet other times, I just find myself wondering what (or what doesn't) go through some people's heads. Today was such a day. Not feeling well, I sat in my recliner and closed my eyes, waiting for the Tylonal to kick in. While relaxing, I found myself back in time to my college days. Unlike some, I did not go to college after high school; I furthered my education by enlisting in the United States Air Force. It wasn't until I was in my thirties that I decided to go back to school and work towards a couple of degrees. One class I really enjoyed was the Composition class, where I could unleash my inner author (with the guidance of a great instructor and a wonderful muse). I had passed Comp. I with a 4.0 and was now about halfway through Comp. II and still maintaining a 4.0. There were a few of us maintaining 4.0 grades, so our instructor decided one day to put us into groups. The idea was to place one of the best students in a group of students who were struggling. It sounded like a good idea, but it was far from it. I was in a group of four students: myself, one younger female, and two wrestlers. The female was all into the two jocks who were also college-age kids, and they all got along. But none of the three could write worth a crap. Not only grammatical errors, but everything about their writing was wrong. Previously, every student worked on their own story, but now it was each group would work together on the same story. We had class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Monday, we would get a subject to write about, on Wednesdays, we would go over our work in the group and decide which item we would pursue, and on Friday, a rough draft needed to be turned in. Of course, the female loved the items presented by the jocks, but no one liked mine. They tore it to shreds and insisted on one of the other three items being picked, usually the females. It didn't matter to these fools that they were all three failing the course and that I was one of the few at the top of the class. I had a private conversation with my instructor, informing him that they would not even look at what I wrote, and insisted on picking one of their stories, meaning I would lose my 4.0. He told me I could turn in my own item if the group didn't figure it out. He even addressed the class about how each group had one of the top writers in it to help those who were struggling. The result, all three of my group members informed me when I again presented my story that I should just nod my head and agree with them. The groups didn't last very long, and when I entered Comp 111, I was delighted to see that none of my previous critics were in my class; they had all failed out. Me? I held my 4.0, enjoyed the classes, and was delighted when my instructor asked for my permission to use my items in future classes. |
| Last night, I found myself with blood dripping from my nose while watching television. After an hour, we called the hospital. They wanted me to come in and get checked. Of course, by the time my wife and I had gotten dressed and she drove me, the bleeding had finally stopped. They confirmed what I already knew, it's a result of the chemo. It had happened before my surgery, but not as severely as last night. But after a few hours of being poked, prodded, and a litre of saline because I was dehydrated, they sent me back home. The rest of the night went fine, but at a little after five this morning, I woke up to a lot of abdominal pain and cramping. A couple of Tylonal helped to settle things down, and by six, I was feeling a bit hungry. I decided on a light omelette: two eggs, three types of cheese, and seasoning. I decided on a blend of Italian seasonings, so I also tossed some pepperoni in the omelette and sat down to enjoy the fruits of my labour. I had eaten about half when a wave of nausea hit, and it hit hard. I found myself in the bathroom not only losing my breakfast, but also vomiting up a rather large amount of fresh blood. My wife heard me getting sick and got up to see how I was doing, and with me vomiting up yet more blood, decided to take me back into the hospital. After another couple of hours of being poked, prodded, and given a couple of different meds through an IV, they decided I need to have an endoscopy to determine where I'm bleeding. It's thought to be similar to the sinuses bleeding from the chemo, but in this case, the stomach. The medication I'm now on is supposed to help with clotting; the chemo thins both my blood and the walls of my blood vessels. It also decreases my platelets, which are needed to stop bleeding. Tomorrow or Monday, I have to return to have the endoscopy; they will call and let me know when they can get me in. But they are listing it as an emergency because I cannot get my last infusion until after the endoscopy. I am also on a limited liquid diet until they determine the cause of the bleeding. For now, the bleeding has stopped; they stuffed a tube down my throat and pumped a bunch out until there wasn't any more to pump. I have to take it easy and watch for signs of bleeding, bloating, and dehydration. It seems like with every infusion, I get to experience something new. |
| This depends on, or that depends on.... We've all heard this or something similar. But it also depends on the type of depends we are using. It can mean "be controlled or determined by". Similarly, it can also mean, "turn on or hang on" as well as, "be contingent on; be conditional on; be dependent on; and all, etc... as the list of meanings and uses goes on and on. But that's not the depends we are talking about, although some of the meanings could be associated with the type of depends I'm talking about. The depends I speak of are adult diapers or undergarments for people who have lost some or all control of bodily discharges. Now, why am I speaking of Depends? It started last night after I retired to bed and then again today while driving back from my wife's therapy session. Last night we returned home from shopping late, so supper was also late. The last few days have found me feeling nauseous after eating, and last night was no different, and soon after I finished, I needed to take my anti-nausea meds. I have two types, one dissolves on the tongue and works great, but I can only take two of them a day, and I had already taken both. The other type is a small pill that works for about twelve hours, but it makes me tired and dizzy. So, shortly after taking one of these, I found myself heading to bed. Around one-thirty this morning, I woke with stomach cramps and the need to get to the bathroom real quick. I made it, but just barely, as the chemo also has me suffering from diarrhea for the last few days. After I returned to bed and before I fell back to sleep, I found myself thinking about the chance that I didn't get out of bed quickly enough; should I invest in some bed pads just in case? I soon fell back to sleep and didn't think about it again until today. My wife dropped her car off at our mechanics to get the oil changed, winterized, and the snow tires put on. I drove the Yukon in with the dogs riding with, to give her a ride home. After we got home, she made pancakes and sausage for breakfast, we ate, then it was time for her to go to physical therapy. Since she didn't have her car, and since it's a nice sunny day, we (me and the dogs) decided we would give her a ride. After we took the scenic route home, stopping in Ottertail for some milk, then continued on home. But before we got to Ottertail, my stomach began to churn, and I knew I'd have to run to a bathroom soon. The problem is, my digestive system is so torn up from the chemo, I don't know for sure if or when I have to go, until I'm actually going. Sometimes I'm barely in time, other times it's like I'm sitting here for no other reason than it's better safe than sorry. Anyway, today I used the bathroom in the store just to be safe, but after a few minutes I understood that it wasn't time yet. So, we got our milk and a bottle of brandy (strictly for medicinal reasons) Then drove home. By the time we arrived, I was barely able to make it into the house and to the bathroom in time. Had I been afflicted with diarrhea like I was last night, I would have never made it. So, again, the question arises: should I get a package of Depends just to be safe when I'm away from home and a bathroom? When I'm at home, I'm fine, I can get to the can in time. But what if I'm out shopping and the bathroom is in use? What if we are out driving and it hits? I have one week until my next and last chemo infusion. I know from experience that the next week will show some slight improvements in how I feel, but not in my digestive issues or how often I need to use the bathroom. Then the last infusion, but also it will be the worst, as each infusion leaves me sicker and weaker than the previous. So, it will be at least two or three weeks after the last session before I can even begin to recover and start feeling better, and likely another month or more before I can even think about not having to stay within minutes of a bathroom. Pride tells me I'm not ready to depend on Depends, but common sense (which is now uncommon) tells me it's better to play it safe than to suffer an accident. I wish I knew how much worse this is going to get before it starts to get better. Like the neuropathy, my digestive problems will continue to get worse for a while, even after the last chemo session, but unfortunately, no one is telling me how long things will continue to get worse. They can't because everyone is different. So, now I contemplate, do I depend on my ability to get to the bathroom, or do I get some Depends just in case I can't depend on getting to the bathroom in time? |
| We have a new neighbor, a young mother of a three-year-old daughter (I'm guessing the age). The other day, she walked over to introduce herself and her daughter when my wife and I returned from some shopping. The mother seems nice, and I was impressed that she came over to introduce herself and her little girl. The girl is shy and didn't do much except hide behind her mom's leg. But, she did say that it's almost Christmas and she wanted Santa to bring her an iPhone. I found my mind wandering (it often takes off on its own) to a time far removed. Instead of a little girl asking for an iPhone, I saw a little boy asking for a Slinky. I also received a Viewmaster and some assorted viewing discs, clothing, and an assortment of other toys, I'm sure. Sure, a bit over half a century has passed, and with it, something extremely valuable has passed by as well. Imagination! Back then, I could use my imagination to create whole worlds. I didn't need something to entertain me; I could entertain myself with the simplest of toys. Likewise, my love of reading developed as a direct result of my imagination, of reading another person's story while using my imagination to create my very own version of what was described in print, and to be able to transport myself into the story; to not just read it, to be there and to live it. Do children still have that ability? I say yes, it's still alive nd well in the minds of the young. But, it begins to go dormant as soon as gadgets like cell phones, tablets, and movies take the place of using one's own imagination. Does anyone else still look up at the clouds and see the many different shapes that drift across our sky? |
| Having a month-long break allowed me to start feeling a lot better. My taste returned to normal, I was eating better, not tired all the time, and just feeling better than I have in almost six months. Then, last Tuesday, the chemo infusions started back up, my last two infusions. Because they were tearing me up so much, they were reduced in potency, and for a few days, I didn't feel much worse than before the treatment. The last few days, however, the side effects have begun to return. I find myself feeling tired and run down, my neourophay has gotten more intense, and I'm suffering a lot of digestive discomfort. Today I also noticed I have little appetite and have to make myself eat. Of course, the change in my taste has a lot to do with it; nothing tastes the way it should. The symptoms are not as severe as before my break; they are actually a lot milder so far. But, having now had a break from them, I'm reminded how miserable chemo is, and how I eagerly look forward to ending the chemo. I have eight more days until my last chemo infusion! After, I know I'll feel even worse for a couple of weeks, but then I can start to recover, to feel better, and get my life back. |
| I had a terrific break in my chemo routine, thanks in part to the medicine that made me sick and forced me to miss a session. The added time had given me time to start healing; I was feeling a lot better, not back to my old self, but well enough. Now, four days after my last infusion, I'm once again sliding down the banks of the River Styx. I had felt like I had been wading, waist-deep, in the deathly waters, trying to avoid someone in a boat. I'm not that far gone yet. I may be slipping down the bank, getting closer to those dark, swirling, and unwelcomed waters, but I'm not in them yet. I'm hoping this is as bad as it's going to get from my last infusion, but I'm sure the next one will knock me down even more. But it's supposed to be the last session of chemo, and even knowing it's going to be tough, the thought of being done with them gives me hope and strength. Next month, I will see my VA doctor to talk about some options for the neuropathy, and at that time, I will discuss with her my desire to talk to a different oncologist. My current oncologist informed me that doing a CT Scan won't show anything until the cancer returns, yet he still has me scheduled to take one a week after my last chemo session. I asked what options are available if the cancer shows up, and he answered, "There aren't any, you'll die." Not his exact words, but close enough; and enough reason to seek out another opinion, and possibly, more options. |
| I just returned home from a visit to the local hospital, where they did some labs and pumped me up with a liter of salt water. Because of my recent surgery, I have a difficult time eating propper and I don't drink enough water. Therefore, I get a bit dehydrated, I'm usually low on proteins, and my electrolytes are out of whack, especially potassium and magnesium. But, with the recent potassium and magnesium supplements, as well as some Ultima Replenisher, I have my electrolytes up in the normal range. Surprisingly, my blood counts are almost back to normal; they always drop after an infusion, and my proteins are in the lower end of normal. I have another week before my next, and likely last, infusion. At least that was the message the last time I talked to my oncologist. I also have an appointment set to talk to another oncologist from a different cancer center to see if there is more that can be done to ensure the cancer never returns. Right now, it's about ten more months of immunotherapy, but I have read and heard that there may be more I can do. So, another oncologist seems to be the direction to go. |
| Another busy and productive day for us. We received a call this morning that the pork we had ordered was ready. One hundred and seventy pounds of pork, four smoked hams, a lot of bacon, link sausage, sausage patties, and bulk sausage, as well as over a dozen roasts and a couple of dozen packages of pork chops, four pounds of lard, and a half dozen packages of liver; the average price comes out to be $3.30/lb. We drove over and picked it up, got it home, and organized it in the freezer before my wife had to get ready for work. Today is her first day back after the accident, but she's still on a lot of restrictions and only working four hours a day for the first week. If things go well, she'll work six hours a day next week and then increase to eight hours by week three. She'll remain on work restrictions until she meets with her doctor again, and hopefully, they (workers' comp) will continue her therapy. Even though I just had an infusion, I'm feeling pretty good. I even cooked her lunch while she got herself ready for work, then after she left, I started cleaning out the sinks and washing machine as they were all stained from the rusty water. It took about three hours, but I have cleaned up most of the rust stains, and the sinks look great. There's still a bit of rust buildup in the bottom of the toilets, but I ran out of Iron Out, so they will have to wait for a while before I give them another dose. The washer cleaned up pretty good, but there's still a bit of orange discoloration around the top of the washing tank. I also cooked up a package of the fresh pork liver for me and the dog's lunch, then took them outside to enjoy a sixty-degree day for a while. Now, I'm feeling pretty tired and looking forward to a restful afternoon and evening. But first, I should find something to fix for dinner, my wife should be getting done with work at four, then a stop by the store to get some more rust stain remover so I can finish the toilets and clean up the showers. |
| It's been a busy day; the water guy was over two days ago to check our water system because it's gotten very rusty. I should have notified the landlord sooner, but with the chemo and medical appointments, and me spending so much time lost in the chemo fog, it just got worse and worse. The old softener we had was likely installed when the house was built, a definite antique. But it seemed to do the trick even though the water still had a bit of an iron taste. (All the water in this county seems to be heavy with iron) But I called the landlord about our water having a slightly orange color after sitting, and he called in the water guy to get us fixed up. He checked everything on Monday, then ordered a new, modern softener and installed it this morning. It's amazing to have crystal clear water again. But now we have to learn how much soap to use. For example, we hand-wash our dishes, and we had so much suds using the amount of soap we normally do that we had to rinse everything twice. I imagine the laundry will be the same; we won't need half the soap to get things clean. After he left, I had to go in to get an infusion of water after they removed the 24-hour chemo pump I came home with yesterday. This takes a couple of hours, which puts it time to get dinner going when we did get home. We had to stop and get some baby potatoes and cabbage, as well as another bottle of iron out, so we can start removing the rust stains from our clothes and dishes, as well as the sinks, showers, and toilets. Now, dinner is done, the dishes are washed and put away, and I'm relaxing for a bit in here. Tomorrow I'll be home alone, well except for the dogs; my wife is finally being returned to work, but under restrictions and only four hours a day for the first week, then six next week, and up to eight the third week, but still with a lot of restrictions. (She was injured while working in a care facility when a rather large patient was being assisted to the bathroom and passed out, landing on her as she did her job to let him down as gently as possible and keep him from injury. In the process, he landed on one of her legs that was at an incorrect angle, and she tore a tendon off her hip.) Anyway, I don't foresee any problems and am hoping I'm up to cleaning up some of the rust-stained items and having a nice dinner ready for her when she gets home. |
| I restarted my chemo infusions today after a month break to recover from the two I had after surgery; they knocked me down, kicked my ass, and left me feeling like I was wading in the river Styx trying to avoid some guy in a boat. But after a month, I was feeling pretty damn good. I wasn't healed or over the damage chemo inflicts, but I was heading in that direction. I suppose I could say I had found the bank and was halfway out of the river, with one leg on the shore and one still in the water. Oh, and it seemed I'd ditched the dude in the boat. Now, after six hours of infusions, then a portable pump to infuse the last batch of poison over the next twenty-four hours, I find I've slid off the bank and landed on my ass in the river, again. It's not as bad as it was, but I'm feeling pretty rough. I'm hoping the steroids I take tomorrow and the next day do their job and help me feel better. If they do, great; if not, I'll suffer a bit for the next few days or maybe a week. No matter, it's bearable; I think it feels worse because I had the break. It sounds very positive that I will only have one more infusion in two weeks, then the chemo part is over. However, I do need to have some tests run, some scans done, and talk to my oncologist before the next infusion. There is a slight possibility that I may have to do two more because he reduced my infusions down to 70% since they were tearing me up so badly. I'm sticking with Oddball's outlook on this battle, especially since so many of you are sending me positive waves: "Crazy! I mean like so many positive waves maybe we can't lose! You're on!" from the film "Kelly's Heroes". Like Oddball, I have to express optimism and hope during a challenging time. |
| We all have them, good days and not-so-good days; even the occasional bad day can afflict us. I've been having a string of pretty good days with my break from chemo, but then, like usual, a few bad days are sure to come along, and they did. Nothing too serious, thankfully, but still bad enough to make me miss a few days here. A couple of days ago, I found myself feeling sick, tired, and full of aches and pain; the worst I've felt in quite some time. It seems I contacted some food poisoning somewhere. Nothing too serious, most people wouldn't even be aware they had eaten something contaminated. Others may get a bit of an upset stomach and maybe a touch of diarrhea, but with my system battered by the chemo, I'm very susceptible to any infections. Long story short, I got a stomach bug that normally wouldn't bother a person much, if at all. But for me, I got pretty sick. The medication they administered seemed to wipe the bug out, and today I'm feeling pretty well again. The only lasting effect is that I need to stay close to the bathroom yet. On the upside, I will be starting my daily tasks over again and will once again have all the badges arrive on the same day. It also meant having to miss a visit with some family that was in the area, not just me, but my wife stayed home to take care of me. How is that a plus? Because we learned this morning that everyone who got together ended up sick with either the flu or Covid! Tuesday, I start my chemo again after a nice break and recovery from the last two sessions. Two weeks after that, I have my last chemo treatment, and then it's just the immunotherapy for about ten months. I'm hopeful that after a nice break and some time to recover from the previous treatments, the next two won't be quite as bad. They are also reducing the strength since it wreaked so much havoc on me, another possibility of me not getting quite so sick after. |
| Yesterday I had an endoscopy, again. My throat, at the point of the surgery, keeps restricting and making it difficult to swallow. On Wednesday, he looked at his handiwork and expanded the area to 20 cm to make it easier to swallow. The problem is, in stretching the tissue, some swelling is normal, which tends to restrict the now unrestricted area. Thankfully, the swelling tends to go down in a couple of days; tomorrow should be a lot better. With the break in my chemo, I'm finding I'm feeling a lot better, so I've been staying busy doing a lot of the things I put off because of the chemo. I have until next Tuesday before I do another infusion and the unwanted side effects flare again. But, I only have two, one on Tuesday, and the last two weeks later. I got this! Yesterday, we stopped at Menards after the endoscopy, since I was feeling pretty good. We had a few things to pick up and wanted to look at the freezers in case we needed to get something more for putting food in; we recently ordered a whole pork, and our 7 cubic foot chest freezer is just big enough to hold it, but there's not much room for anything else. Luck was with us, they had a garage ready (it can be in temps as low as -10F), can be used as a refrigerator, and would hold a half a beef (17 cubic feet). Oh, and it's an upright, so it's easier to find items. This model was listed for about $550.00, which I thought was pretty good. But they also have a seven percent sale going on, so we'll get a rebate check to add to our collection. They come in handy when buying materials for the camper or other fix-it projects. Now, as long as we have the money on hand (we received some back compensation for about three months), we are going to look into a quarter beef, so we have most of our meat purchased for the winter and then some. This seems like a nice way of reducing costs for the winter, and should help out since our funds tend to be pretty low with all the medical costs going on, and my wife is out of work until next month. |
| I'm not sure how I managed to miss a day blogging here, but I did; I missed yesterday. It was a pretty busy day, we went shopping in a town about an hour's drive from us, visiting multiple stores We also drove over to Sunnybrook Park since we were in town, and let the dogs get some exercise while we strolled around the park. The park was empty, but the campground still had a half dozen die-hard campers. Today, we headed out in the opposite direction, towards Fergus Falls. About an hour's drive brought us to the Amor Pork Store, a small store in the middle of nowhere that sells pork products from the Amor Pork Farm across the highway. We picked up a few things while we were there, but our main reason for driving over was to order a whole pork to fill the freezer for the winter. It will cost us $3.50 per pound for the pork, including all processing fees. The price also includes smoking all four of the hams and the bacon, as well as breakfast sausage links and patties. We ordered one-third of the trimmings as links, one-third as patties, and one-third as plain ground pork. Now, we have two weeks, approximately, to get the freezer emptied; it's not quite half full, but if we clean out the refrigerator freezer and organize it, everything in the chest freezer should fit. With two weeks to consume some of it, I don't foresee any problems. We also found we can buy a whole beef chuck roll (it's the entire boneless front shoulder) for $5.50 per pound; we just have to cut it up ourselves, which isn't a big deal. We could even grind our own berger, but they also sell frozen, one and a half pound packs of ground beef for the same price. |
| Tonight, we set the clocks back, one of my least favorite nights of the year. The other least favored is the night we move them ahead. I would really enjoy seeing the end of this foolishness; it doesn't matter if it's permanent Daylight Savings or back to real time. I personally prefer real time, but like I said, I can live with either, just pick one and then leave the damn clocks alone. Now that I have my semi-annual rant out of the way, I can move on to how today went. We had some work to finish up outside before winter's snow hits, and we got it done today. I helped rake leaves to put in the flower garden (we use them to insulate against the cold). I mulched a bunch more and, together with my wife, used the blower to get them away from the house, campers, and vehicles to help keep the mice under control. If anyone has any tried and true methods of repelling mice, I sure would appreciate learning them. We use a product called Cab, and it helps, but in the last few years, we still end up with mice getting into the camper. We never had an issue with them in the camper until a friend told us to put dryer sheets inside to keep the mice out. We tried it, only to discover the mice seemed to like them and did the most damage where the dryer sheets were. Coincidence? Possibly, and for sure they didn't repell them, but for some reason the mice are out of control here. All the people we know around us are having problems with mice. How bad? While raking and blowing leaves, I disrupted three mice that were hiding under the leaves. I also saw two run across the floor of the garage (they can get in and out by the overhead doors), and we've trapped four mice in each camper, one a day for four days! As much as I dislike using deadly force, I've concluded that there's no choice. I could use the live traps, but they either are going to find their way back here, or I'm going to be moving my problem to someone else's property. But, if anyone had any ideas of how to repel the little shits, I'm all ears. |
| Today is wet and dreary with a possibility of some snow mixed with the rain. It's currently in the mid-forties, so I don't foresee any snow today. Tonight, however, it's going to drop below freezing, and snow is possible. Tomorrow it's back to partly cloudy and in the fifties, so any snow we do get is going to melt quickly, if it even accumulates. But it indicates we're running out of time to prepare for winter; one of these days, the snow will be here to stay. We don't have a lot to get done outside, and the plan is to spend the day tomorrow getting everything done. Today, my wife is off running errands and spending some time painting with one of the residents she cares for at work. I'm home with the dogs and spent a big part of the day snoozing in my chair. Not sure why I was so tired, but it is a perfect day for napping, reading, and spending some time here. I may even be able to finish my book, Time Trader's, by Andre Norton. It's a re-read for me; I first started reading some books by Andre Norton back in high school. Back then, it was books from the library; now it's an ebook on my Kindle, free with my Prime membership. I am thinking about subscribing to Kindle Unlimited, and maybe even trying Audible since I can do three months for $0.99 a month. |
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