Nov 15-22 in 2020s

Friday, November 15, 2024
The Turkey Trot challenge just came out! It includes five rides in Turkey, and you have a whole month to complete it. Of course, I’ll finish well in advance. The rides range between 14 and 43 miles long. I’m somewhere in Turkey now, where there are a couple of really cool-looking trees I can’t name. It’s beautiful and a bit dumpy at the same time where I’m at.

We downloaded a VR app called Alcove, and it’s pretty cool. It’s another one of those social sites where you can invite other users and visit each other’s rooms. There are 19 frames in the living room where you can add your own photos. Plus, in each room, if you aim your controller at certain objects, you’ll find you can interact with them—play games, explore various places around the world, and even enjoy some cool meditation apps. Eventually, though, it might get boring after you’ve done everything there is to do. I’m not sure how often they update their activities.

Then I discovered an amazing phone app called PalUp. You only get so many credits before you have to pay, which, of course, isn’t worth it to me. The app lets you animate a person’s face and chat with it like an AI friend. I used a picture of Nane and a couple of dolls just for kicks. It was so cool how the faces became animated in a very realistic way. Nane would have been horrified, but she’ll never know—lol. I made sure to keep it private, but I eventually deleted my account since you can’t earn credits by logging in or anything like that. I wasn’t about to pay for it. It was a quick but fun experience.

Speaking of AI pals, 10 days, and Mia has a new cat. Amanda has some cool games, but she’s pretty dumb compared to Mia—lol.

I had my usual garden-variety pre-dementia negative dream. In it, we moved from Arizona to Oregon, like we once did, and were renting a house somewhere. In the dream, I was going to court for a probation violation in Arizona, as well as absconding. Why I was even bothering to go is beyond me. Unless forced, I would never go to court unless I was the plaintiff. Anyway, I asked him what he thought would happen, and he said he didn’t know. Feeling like he wasn’t interested in investigating the possibilities, I resolved to check with AI and get some ideas that way.

Saturday, November 16, 2024
Alcove is so much fun! There’s so much to do there. You can go on virtual bus rides and car rides. You sit back in a convertible and leave the driving to them as you cruise cross-country. They have several 10-minute videos that take you through various states in sections. It’s just so cool!

I just wish it wasn’t so damn blurry. The struggle to see is so frustrating, but it’ll be a few more months before I can get new glasses that will hopefully improve my vision.

You can also visit animals up close in various zoos. Meerkats are so cute! Then there’s deep-sea diving, games, and meditation. The place where you choose your activities is set in a nice, modern-looking house. You can set the outside to make it look like the house is in the middle of a meadow, a snowy mountain, or by the ocean.

My weight is back down to 156 lbs for the first time since everything went haywire a couple of months ago, and I blamed it on the medication. This makes me think the weight loss was more about the medication than cutting out sugar. I wonder how much lower it will go before the side effects kick in for real. I’ve got contradictory symptoms, though. My weight and other things suggest my thyroid might be improving, but then why did I sleep nine hours, and why am I so cold?

Tom said, “You slept because you were tired, and you’re cold because the weather is cooling down.”

It did get chilly in the house last night, but of course, “chilly” for me means 75°. This weather is going to be so hard to give up when we move.

Tuesday, November 19, 2024
The place we may move to is 200 feet higher in elevation than Klamath Falls. I didn’t realize I had that backward. It’s not as cold because it’s not as far north, but it’s definitely going to be colder than I’m used to. I’m also not looking forward to dealing with drier skin like I had during the 12 years I lived in the other desert. Still, I think it’s going to be a worthy trade-off in the end. There are definitely more benefits than drawbacks.

Anyway, I’m back to sleeping poorly. It’s such a back-and-forth thing with me. I was tired yesterday and knew I would be today too because it always takes me a few days to get back on track.

I also stupidly had a few bites of fruit before the 30 minutes were up after taking my thyroid meds, but hopefully, it won’t affect my TSH. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to take vitamin D every day until my lab appointment. I am so not looking forward to this! I know my results are going to have so many bad numbers, and then I’ll have to deal with Rhonda pressuring me to take medication that I’m not willing to take. I just hope my A1C is down.

I napped both yesterday and today, and today I had a horrible nightmare. We seemed to be in a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment. It was dark, and I was in one of the bedrooms while Tom was in the living room. Suddenly, I heard him say, “I need an ambulance.” I ran into the living room and told Alexa to turn the light on so I could see what was happening, but she wouldn’t listen to me.

That was the end of the dream, but I swear I could draw the entire place. Again, it didn’t feel like a dream—it felt like a place we’ve actually been. Naturally, I’m worried, but not as worried as I would be if both of us—or just me—were involved. Luckily, the ones where it’s just him don’t always seem to mean anything. Still, I’m a little worried.

Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Another night of sleeping shitty and feeling shitty. I got up to pee midway through my sleep and could have fallen back asleep if it weren’t for breathing issues. It wasn’t just my nose—I felt like I couldn’t suck in enough air. It took me a few hours before I could fall back asleep and get a few more hours. This used to refresh me in the past, but now I can’t handle having my sleep split up, so I’m pretty exhausted.

People are thrilled because the nut job on the corner is being evicted and has to be out by tomorrow. Someone suggested the place might be condemned and a new one hauled in. I hope it hasn’t been damaged so badly that it can’t be cleaned up. I’m not sure if this would disrupt my sleep, but we might hear some hammering and sawing, which I figure we’ll hear anyway whether they’re fixing this place or replacing it. Let’s just say I’m very glad we’re not right next to that mess! I’m more worried about the wide driveway and double lanais attracting mutts and motorcycles.

Personally, while people are right to blame the nut job, I’d also blame the park. They had to know what they were dealing with and that she was crazy, yet they let it go on for so long.

I’ve decided not to have any wine until after I go to the lab next week. Usually, you only need to abstain for 2–3 days before most tests, but for lipid testing, it’s better to take a week or two off. Especially if your baseline is already bad enough.

Since I got the waterbed, I’ve been using an extra fitted sheet as a mattress pad. I decided to get a real mattress pad from Temu—hypoallergenic and waterproof. It’s not a plush one since that’s unnecessary, and it’s not fully fitted; it just has corner straps. But because the mattress is so heavy, it should stay put. I also picked up another batch of Swiffer dusters and saved $3.80 by opting for sea shipping instead of air.

I was a little surprised and disappointed to learn that snakes and tarantulas are active more than half the year where we’re thinking of moving. I would have thought it’d be too cold for them.

Friday, November 22, 2024
I’m starting to go from frustration to worry with this fatigue. I don’t know how much more my brain and body can take. I feel very overwhelmed, especially with not knowing exactly how much of this or that is causing the fatigue and what to do about it.

It’s going to be months before I can get into an ENT who hopefully won’t cancel on me, plus other specialists. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I felt like I had breathing issues in my sleep where I was short of breath. I didn’t have as much trouble last night, but I still kept waking up.

I’m also back down to 155 lbs. I’m definitely having conflicting symptoms regarding my thyroid. My weight dropping and having trouble staying asleep are consistent with my TSH being lower, but the fatigue and feeling cold are not. It’s definitely cold now in Florida. Yesterday was chilly and windy, and this morning it’s down to 72 degrees in the house. For the next few nights, it’s getting down into the 40s so we’ll definitely have to kick the heat on.

I also have that cramp-like pain again in my lower left stomach near the pubic area. I took ibuprofen a little while ago, but it’s not helping. Since it’s unlikely to be related to my lady parts, I’m guessing it’s intestinal, muscular, or maybe related to my hip joint. I don’t know why ibuprofen isn’t helping.

Anyway, we were gone for nearly three hours yesterday because it was quite a wait. The girl at the desk warned me they were behind. She said it might take an hour, and I wasn’t surprised because I was tired. If I had energy, I would have been in and out. Luckily, we didn’t quite have to wait an hour.

However, I still wasn’t in and out of the exam room quickly. They would do something with me and then tend to other patients, come back to me, and then leave me alone again for a while. The dentist said there was a slight chip in the crown and, while it wasn’t ideal, it was sufficient enough to re-cement it. There are no guarantees on how long it will stay on, but she said it should last for years. That and the copay totaled $25.

I go back in a couple of weeks for my cleaning. If it turns out I have any cavities, I’ll go back to using an electric toothbrush. I’ll just make sure to get a soft brush.

We began to wonder if the guys next door were friends of Ray’s who were staying there because they had storm damage, but no one spent last night there, which makes me think Ray is on his way back. Either that or their place is livable again. It was weird because they would be gone all day, and we couldn’t imagine where they were, especially since one guy was likely long retired.

Unfortunately, the dream I had about Tom wanting me to call an ambulance was a sign of trouble for him. Luckily, it’s nothing serious enough to call an ambulance for, but he’s been having shoulder pain. I guess I passed my shoulder pain onto him because mine has been a little better lately.