Ugh

I've managed to pick up a nasty cough/cold. Since I never go anywhere, I'm guessing that I picked it up working at the shelter on one of the nights I was there. Slightly warmer nights this week is giving me some time off, so hopefully I'll kick it before it's time to go back. I think I may go back to masking in the tight quarters of the shelter.

I'm mostly a pretty healthy guy and rarely get colds or sickness. I seem to have a strong immune system. Right now I'm hoping that this head congestion and post-nasal drip doesn't turn into a sinus infection. The worst part is the coughing makes sleep difficult and my abs are sore. My throat is also getting sore.
Sacrebleu!

I did get my seasonal flu shot. My volunteer work at the hospital requires it. My preferred method of avoiding illness is just to stay away from people. That isn't always an option.
Again ... 
Sacrebleu! 

The cool, rainy days aren't helping. I always feel better with some sun exposure -- even if it isn't really warm out. By Sunday it should be mid 50s and sunny. If I haven't kicked this by then, maybe the sun will help.

So...
How do you handle colds, cough due to cold, nasal or sinus congestion, etc.?
Do you have a favorite home remedy?
A go-to OTC product?
Vitamin C, zinc, garlic?
Or do you just ride it out?

Help me out here.
Please.

John

Monday Meditations

I saw this on Facebook this past week and decided it is worth contemplating.

It encourages us to look at people (not just ourselves) from a different perspective than we often do.
As trees grow, they continue to provide food and shelter for birds and other animals. They give shade. They filter the air taking in carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen. They blanket the ground with leaves and replenish the soil, and provide a host of other benefits.

We get old.
I no longer work or produce anything to benefit society. I often say that I am the least productive person I know. Maybe building flowerbeds and planting flowers is productive. It does feed the birds and bees and other pollinators. 
I did switch to a hybrid vehicle this year and that's better for the environment than the older car I was driving, plus it provided work for the laborers that built it (in Mexico).
I am still a consumer of goods that buys stuff and eats out often. I'm not a job creator, but I do need people in jobs that provide services and products that I use.
I may not be productive at this point in my life, but I do pay for other people to produce. I guess it's called privilege.

Maybe I need to focus more on growing and continuing to be a benefit to society. I think that trees are a good analogy since they are pretty passive in their contributions to nature. 

Hmmm...
Are you growing?
...or just getting old?

John

NaBloPoMo Fail

Sacrebleu!
I missed a day!
Yesterday was an unusual day. It was the first overnight shelter night of the season for me and the change in schedule and sleep and everything ended with the day passing by without blogging.
Ugh.

In the grand scheme of life it isn't really important. 
NaBloPoMo challenges me to write and I'm not convinced that that is important either. It just feels good and helps me to organize thoughts. There are many thoughts and ideas that I process through my head that never make it to the blog or any written form, but the process itself is therapeutic and calming.

For example --
This past week I've spent a lot of time thinking about things I am thankful for. I wrote a few things, but not much in comparison to the time I spent dwelling on how grateful I am. The struggles, challenges, and joy in my family and extended family have been a large part of my thoughts lately, but again, that's not stuff that gets written about.

Contemplating what I'm reading often inspires something to write. Sometimes I share the questions when I find the answers to be challenging.
I do wish that my writing was more organized. I suppose it is a reflection of me -- go with the flow and not very organized. 

With only a few days left in the month and with a twofer along the way, I can still end up with 30 posts for 30 days if I continue to post daily, so...maybe.
Or maybe not.
We'll see.

John

Black Friday

Today's retailers will once again make it into the black ink of accounting without gathering any of my money. I will dutifully avoid anything to do with shopping -- in person, or online -- and let the bargain hunters enjoy the chaos of the capitalistic side of the holidays.

I will venture out to the library at some point. I have a couple of books due today.
It's been since spring that I've enjoyed some fiction reading, but I opened the Kindle app on my phone the other day and picked one of the freebies in my library. Maybe I'm on the way to another 600 day streak. I suppose that reading a book about witches, werewolves, and other fantasy creatures isn't any worse than scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, or X.

With the cold weather shelters opening up and several overnight shifts ahead of me, some reading material will come in handy. I like using the phone app for reading as it's very portable, always with me, and easy to read in low light. With the Kindle Unlimited subscription most books are free (the subscription costs a few bucks) and there is an abundance of available material. For books not available on Kindle there is the local library. I haven't yet tried to use the library's e-reader. I may have to do that at some point.
Another advantage of an e-reader is being able to set the print color, background lighting, and font size. Although I rarely use glasses anymore, some actual books are more difficult to read in lower light than they used to be. Using my bifocals or a pair of reading glasses are sometimes necessary.
I have an older android tablet that I may update and use for a reader when I'm at home this winter. The larger reading area might be nice and the Kindle app will keep each device current so changing from the tablet to phone will be seamless. 

That - rarely using glasses anymore - thing has been a nice surprise. I'm not sure how to explain it. My last visit to the eye doctor was the first visit since retiring nearly nine years ago that my vision didn't improve. It didn't get any worse, but it didn't get better. 
Another weird eye thing -- my eye color has changed. My eyes used to be a very dark brown, but are now more of a light brown, nearly hazel color. I'm not sure when that happened. I just noticed it one day a couple of years ago.

Unfortunately, my eye color is the only thing that has gotten lighter. The rest of me is as heavy as ever!

Enjoy your weekend -- however you decide to spend it.

John

Thanksgiving

It will be a quiet Thanksgiving at our house. In spite of the fact that it will just be me and Chris, Chris decided that we'll have the full meal deal -- turkey, all the fixin's, and pumpkin pie!
I'll take advantage of the nice, warm day that is forecast and get some work done outside (It really is never ending).

I will begin today as I start most days -- quiet time and coffee.
Although I'd rather be enjoying a warm, sunny morning on the deck, coffee by the fireplace isn't a horrible way to begin a day.

John

Wednesday Wisdom

A timely thought from Nadia Bolz-Weber

To my US friends,
Have a grand Thanksgiving weekend!

John

Laundromat Blues

Sunday night I went to load our dryer with the load of towels from the washing machine and ...
Sacrebleu! It appears that the bearings on our 26 year old dryer are shot!
I had to find a laundromat open on a Sunday night and a few dozen quarters to dry the towels.
It has been a lot of years since we made regular trips to a laundromat.

It is possible that we could have had it repaired, but the cost of a repair and then still having a 26 year old appliance with a new bearing vs. a new dryer didn't make much sense. Data shows that it had far outlived the expectancy of such appliances. And at 26 years old, I wonder about the availability of parts.

Yesterday we went shopping and bought a new dryer and it will be delivered tomorrow. I may go into the appliance delivery business. One place we checked had an additional $190 dollars for delivery and pick up of the old dryer! We bought the same dryer from a different place for the same price and a much lower delivery fee.
I haven't seen any lonely Maytag repairman commercials in some time, but I hope that this new Maytag dryer will have a similar lifespan to our last dryer (an Amana). It will definitely have a lighter work load. 

John

Binge Watching

I don't binge watch TV shows like other people binge watch. I watch one or maybe two episodes at a time until I'm finished. If it is an older series (and they usually are) it might take a month or two to watch all of them or to get current on an active series. I just finished the 5 seasons of the new MacGyver series. I enjoyed it and would have liked a season 6, but can understand the network not renewing for a sixth season as the story line was becoming less enticing.

I'm looking forward to the Reacher season 2 beginning in September and may have to find something to watch on those overnight shifts at the cold weather shelter. I started watching The Discovery of Witches series last year, but the cold weather season ended before I got very far. Maybe I'll pick it up again.
I also watched the first three Harry Potter movies before the season ended and wasn't interested enough to continue watching them otherwise. 

It's that time again and so I'll be looking for something to pass the overnight hours.
What would you be watching if you were in my place?

John

Before the Rain

I knew it was going to rain today and I still needed to finish filling the flower bed with topsoil. 
I needed two more trailer loads (about 2/3 cubic yd) and then to spread it all out.
It's just started raining, but I finished with plenty of time. I even managed to fix and eat a nice breakfast after my mini morning workout.

It comes out to 108' x 8' x 5" or just over 13 cubic yards of dirt.
Next is to repair some of the timbers that have warped or were knocked loose when filling with dirt. Then I'll put up the fence panels and then I'll plant some bulbs and add mulch.
I am looking forward to spring/summer when all of the flowers are in bloom!

John

Weekend Recharge

What a privilege to meet with some of the people that will be volunteering at the overnight shelter this cold weather season. Our shelter had an orientation evening to familiarize us with our new location and some of the new procedures that will be in place this year. It was good to see some familiar faces and especially exciting to see some new faces. 

It looks like we'll be open a night or two this coming week and then open for several nights in a row beginning next weekend. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this, but the cold weather and the need for the open shelters isn't going to wait for me to be ready. There is going to be a lot of people-ing in the coming months.

Here is a link to our Facebook page. From here you can sign up to volunteer, purchase supplies from our Amazon wish list, or make a contribution. If you are not a part of our local community, consider finding a shelter near you to serve. 
It's that time!

John