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There were kangaroos
It’s been a long and anxiety-filled nightmare of a day. I know I’m among many around the world feeling the same and I guess there is some comfort in not being the only one. But it really was difficult. I think for the first time all the networks here had rolling coverage throughout the morning and into the afternoon. I don’t normally watch television much during the day but it was hard to break away from. The Scientist sent me off to refill a prescription in late morning and it was a case of taking up way too little time. When I returned I made the decision to get out of the house and away from media as much as possible. My destination was our local Whiteman Park to do a long bit of walking while listening to music on my phone.
This should have been simple enough but I realised just about the time I reached the entrance to the park that I’d left my earphones at home. I often can zone out while walking so the only course of action was to return home and retrieve the earphones. It’s not that it’s far away but it’s tedious to take the time to do that trip again. Just before noon I arrived at the park and found decent parking without having to weave through the many parking lots around the village centre. Once there I applied sunscreen and then set off. I realise it would have been more effective to do the sunscreen at home but better late than not at all.
My walk was on the longest trail, which as a short and long version. I’d done the short version, albeit in a long way (after taking a wrong turn) on Saturday but today I wanted to do a lot of walking. For the most part the walk wasn’t eventful. took along my camera and took lots of photos and listened to music. I tried to listen to a Crowded House album that I find pretty soothing to hear. Sadly I just wasn’t able to zone out even though the music was pleasing when I wasn’t distracted by angry thoughts. Once that finished I moved to an Augie March album that I’ve been listening too regularly on walks. It’s got some amazingly beautiful music but the subject matter can be rather unsettling. It’s an interesting juxtaposition. Strangely I found this music worked a lot better for me and the album runs over an hour so it kept me going for longer.
But despite the improvement the effect of music on my nerves, I was still quite agitated and often found myself in various states of mind that unpleasant. My stomach had been churning all this time and I’d been unable to eat anything all day. Still I didn’t feel hungry and I wasn’t even tired from walking after several kilometres.
A brief relief came when I came across some kangaroos near the Kangaroo Flats station on the park’s railway line. At first I only saw a couple but there were actually at least half a dozen within my sights. I even managed to take several photos and my trouble thought escaped for that minute or two that I was there. It was a rather blessed relief in a sense to feel the weight lifted.
The rest of the walk was fairly uneventful. I finished one trail and then went down another pathway to another part of the park. In the end I walked over nine kilometres and still didn’t feel very weary at the end of it aside from a bit of discomfort on the ball of my foot which was already irritated by too much friction on another walk.
I did eventually get a sort of appetite after forcing myself to eat a few nuts I keep in the car for emergency purpose (hunger sickness). And now it’s late at night again and I don’t even feel all that sleepy even though I got very little sleep last night. Hopefully I will be tired enough to sleep anyway tonight.
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Relief
After checking many times in the past week, I can confirm my absentee ballot was received. So glad my vote will be counted.
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Blast of summer
Yesterday we have an isolated, but massive, spike in temperature that left us with a preview of the summer to come. Well, I don’t know if it’s going to be a hot summer or not but it was definitely summer-like yesterday. I think it officially reached 37.2 C at our closest reporting station although my car registered 38 at one point.
I’ve been working as a carer for extra hours the past few weeks and yesterday I had my charge for four hours. We’ve been going to Whiteman Park, a state park located near where I live over the past three Saturdays. The plan for yesterday was to go, have a drink at the café and then do a walk on one of the trails before relaxing on the train ride at the end. Unfortunately the heat was a bit much for both of us and the water ran out too quickly so plans didn’t work out as expected and I ended up leaving G near the beginning/end (starts and ends in the same place) while I rushed off to get more water. It didn’t look like the train ride was going to be possible but we somehow did manage it in the end and it left G with a better feeling for the day than just the memory of it being so hot and being so tired and thirsty.
Meanwhile, our air conditioning got a pretty good workout during the day and well into the evening.
Today has been completely different with strong winds blowing and the temperature only just made it to 26 C, which feels rather chilly by comparison. I had ideas of going on a bike ride for exercise this afternoon but the strong winds have put me off and I will more likely do a walk instead.
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Mild sprain/strain?
Monday afternoon/evening is when we do our tai chi fan and regular tai chi class. The Scientist and I have “learned” all the fan moves now so we are working on refining and consolidating skills. For me it’s a lot more of continuing to properly learn moves and some of the refinement. The class went really well yesterday and I was in a good rhythm for starting the tai chi class.
The regular class started out well enough with a good warm-up (second one since we also did one for the fan class) and then shiboshi set (set of 18 moves done together). After that we practiced tai chi stances and that also started off okay but at some point I landed on my foot wrong and my ankle started giving me trouble. I thought it would work it’s way out and tried a couple times to do some of the later activities but I ended up mostly watching and resting my ankle. It’s nothing really horrible so I am assuming it’s something like a very mild sprain.
I iced my ankle and kept it elevated last night and it was much better this morning even though I woke up to minor aches and pains during the night. Today it seemed okay to walk on and I was good for most of a moderate walk this afternoon. After that it was irritated again and I decided against trying to use the spin bike this evening. My new plan is to use the bike tomorrow before I go out and stay off my feet as much as possible.
Really, though, I have to laugh at the idea of spraining an ankle while doing a “gentle” exercise like tai chi. :DÂ It is a gentle exercise but definitely not immune from injury, which is part of the reason for doing warm ups…I just need to be more careful about my tai chi stances, I guess.
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Absentee voting
I told a bit of a white lie last week when I told certain family members that I have already voted. It actually didn’t get sent off until yesterday. This time I was sent an email with pages to print out for the ballot and the signed form that has to be included with it. It wasn’t too hard to do although I ended up doing a bit of cutting and pasting of address and envelope labels. Actually the worst part was trying use packing tape to stick the labels onto the envelopes since it was hard to find the end it took some time to get the tape without it splitting. It cost me almost $3 to send it from here, which seems a lot more expensive than the last time I did this. The previous time they sent me pre-printed information by mail and had a smaller envelope that wasn’t covered with tape. :)
I was hoping that Game Fanatic would vote too, but it’s pretty much impossible for him because he doesn’t have a last place resided in the US. In some states children can use the parent’s voting address but that’s not the case for Texas. I now regret changing my address to Texas because North Carolina does allow it.
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Bicycle
Two or three weeks ago, I discovered the chain on my bike had completely dried out and was showing signs of rust. It was a particularly wet winter this year so I guess that may have contributed also. My bicycle is over ten years old and it rides reasonably well but it does squeak a lot, even after it’s been serviced. It’s also showing signs of rust on the body. Not terrible shape but could be better.
This bike wasn’t all that expensive although it wasn’t a cheap one either. I started to consider the value of a getting a new bike versus the cost of service and repairs. I have been looking around at the costs of bicycles lately and the first thing I discovered is the price hasn’t gone up as much as I expected. Also there are lot more casual bikes available and those are pretty much the same price as what I have. The only drawback I’ve found is they don’t have that many gears, seven being the highest on the ones I’ve seen. While I have never used all 21 gears on my current one, I do often use the second set of seven. But then I haven’t used them all that much lately. I probably could get by with the limited gears and I’d gain a rack on the back for storing packages plus a basket at the front. I have a basket already but it doesn’t hold all that much, which makes the idea of cycling to the shops less practical if I can only carry limited amounts of goods. This option really expands the amount of shopping I can bring back. Not to mention it allows more space if I take my camera along for the ride.
I found a model that I like quite a bit so my plan is to put aside money over the next few months and buy it once I’ve reached my goal. Meanwhile I have taken my bike to a local, independently run shop for a service and to see if the chain needs to be replaced. It’s interesting that this small shop charges a far more reasonable price than any of the bigger stores around. I rode the bike to the shop yesterday and walked back. It took me about 45 minutes to walk less than three kilometres which was pretty slow for me. A kilometre is usually about 11,5 minutes to start with and often goes down to 10 minutes when I’ve built up to a good pace.
On Sunday, I managed to walk 12 kms in just over two hours, which was a pretty good time for that distance. Also, it’s quite a bit longer than my usual walk. I normally walk from 6-8 kms at most so this was a bit of a stretch. My feet were pretty sore after that walk and my body was till a bit achy yesterday when I cycled, walked and then did 90 minutes of tai chi and tai chi fan. Some of my muscles were really feeling it when I got home last night.
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Politics and family
I admit to more or less blowing my top a couple days ago after seeing the umpteenth post on my Facebook feed about the current US election. Personally I wouldn’t have a problem with the posts if there was anything valid in them. But they almost always tend to be stuff spouted from some right-wing news group and almost always full of inaccuracies. What tipped me over the edge were the ones about the woman from the beauty pageant saying how much of a gentleman Trump was at the time. And the one where it listed several good things Trump has done, Apparently this makes Trump a good guy. Sigh. It’s interesting that I don’t see those from the opposite view posting such vitriolic material.
I went into a mad fury, replying to the ones that most incensed me. In hindsight, it was truly a waste of time. The ones posting are almost always family members. It’s been said to me that I just don’t understand what’s really happening back home because I am not there. Because, you know, we live in a backwater here in Australia. I’ve been told that I don’t have respect for the military and veterans in the past just because I don’t believe that they should be elevated above everyone else just because they are veterans. I don’t get this deifying veterans business that seems to happen so much back home. I don’t disrespect them but they aren’t the only ones who do good things for the country. It’s baffling.
The reality after much back and forth on a number of posts is that it seems the message I come away with on reading or viewing something is obviously totally different than what certain others in my family see. The most telling example is I can read a Snopes article debunking something and see all the sources attributed and another person will just see that one source mentioned that isn’t going to prove anything and claim that Snopes isn’t to be trusted even though this particular information may be presented more as background than the fact check.  In any case, it seems that most people already have a very firm opinion and it isn’t likely to be changed by anyone sharing yet another “proof”.
For years, I avoided engaging in discussion about politics with many family members because it was obvious no good would come of it. But then I was criticised for avoiding this and so sometimes did engage. Sadly, the time has come to return to that rule because it’s been proved again and again that no good comes from this sort of discussion. We are all just too entrenched in our views and it feels as though nothing I can attempt to convey will ever get through and nothing presented to me is valid enough to ever change my view.
On a related note, I happened to see an NPR article that went through various issues in this election and the views of four candidates (including the Libertarian and Greens candidate). To me the only real choices are the major parties since there’s no way of voting for a minor party without having no say on the final outcomes. This is where I find the Australia preference system works far better because a minor candidate can be chosen by listing which candidates to choose if the first doesn’t win. Anyway, it’s funny because I haven’t seen too much posted about most of these issues in recent months so I kind of forgot about them. Not surprisingly, my views were fairly close to those of Clinton, so I think I can feel fairly assured that I am choosing correctly for myself when I vote.
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22 years being a mother
It was around this time 22 years ago today that I became a mother for the first time after a long night of full-on labour. Some aspects of being a mother have been as expected but there have been lots of surprises along the way. Game Fanatic is like no other person his age but he is still amazing and remarkable in his own ways.
Happy birthday to Game Fanatic. Hope today will be a great day for him and I have good thoughts for his year ahead.
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Summer teaser and more
We had a brief hint of summer this past week when the temperature rose past 32C…I think it was about 34C where we are, which is probably about 91-92F. I went for a 6km walk at a park that day and wore my walking sandals and managed to get blisters on my feet. I should know better than to do something like that but I thought it would be cooler for my feet. I will do better next time. Anyway, it was warm enough that the house got really warm and I ran the air conditioner for the first time this season. Then it went back to wintry sort of weather on Friday and those windows we opened left the house feeling quite chilly. I didn’t close them again since they have key locks and it’s likely we won’t stay cool for too much longer.
I had a follow up visit for my colonoscopy with my doctor yesterday. I wasn’t quite sure what type of plan it might be but it seems I’m to see a dietician who specialises in IBS. I know there is a diet called FODMAP that was developed at Monash University here in Australia but I hadn’t looked into it so much until I knew for sure this was the problem. Anyway, the gp told me her daughter saw the dietician and with dietary changes her daughter has worked out which foods are triggers. It seems like I will be on some sort of elimination diet to start with and will add foods back gradually.
Coming up this week is Game Fanatic’s birthday when he turns 22. Which reminds me that Lego Lover will be 18 in a couple of months. So weird to think of all this.
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Long update
Following on from my previous post…For the first time I noticed it was 16C at 16:16 and on another occasion it was 13C at 13:13. :D
September ended up being just another month of winter around these parts. The temperature barely reached 20C so hopes of anything warmer was a bit of a dream. So far October has been a bit more promising. We had a couple days last week where we reached the 20s but this weekend it’s wet and windy although not as chilly as it had been. This week is actually promising some real warmth with a 30C day forecast. It will feel like a heatwave after this mild start to spring, I think.
Last month I finally shook off some of the winter lethargy and started to get my act together with regard to my health. I’d been eating terribly and had barely been active so my sugar levels became seriously out of control. This caused me to feel even more lethargic and once I finally checked my blood sugar, I was motivated to do something. This seems to be a common issue every winter so I need to find ways to overcome this in the future. Anyway, I’ve been getting more regular exercise, mostly through walking and the treadmill. My eating habits have also improved. I’m not bingeing so much on garbage and I’m eating a bit more healthily.
I also managed to get around to getting a colonoscopy organised, something that I was referred for back in March. Plus I did a CT scan and blood tests that were overdue. I also saw my doctor who sent me for an ultrasound to follow up the CT scan because of uncertainty over a cyst-like mass on my ovary. The ultrasound clarified that and also showed another cyst on the other ovary. My left ovary decided to hide like it had on a previous scan. Plus I had a thickened endometrial lining much like I had a couple years ago. This was of some concern until I mentioned I’d had the biopsy two years ago which was fine. It is all in my records, I’m sure, but they go back 20+ years and I was seeing a different doctor regularly before so it wasn’t immediately obvious. I had the colonoscopy just over a week ago and that came out clear except for findings that confirmed an irritable bowel diagnosis. So I think I am a bit more on track for taking better care of myself.
On a related note, for some reason my gp had requested an ANA blood test again. This was back in March and I can’t really recall why she requested it because it wasn’t of any importance to anything related to my health as far as I know. I notice they no longer report how high the titre on the report now. Also, that same non-specific diffuse fine speckling that appeared on the last test showed up again. The discrete dot pattern was only listed as a second pattern. I am really curious as to how and why this pattern has changed. Previously it was the few discrete dots and homogenous on almost every test I’d had but this makes two tests with this non-specific pattern. It’s stuff like this that I find really intriguing and I wished I’d had more of a science background…but then I remember back to how much of a struggle I had with high school biology and got totally turned off the idea of going into that field. Not that I was ever that interested but I did like biology in junior high school.
I’m going to be working an extra nine hours a week as a carer for the family friend over the next couple of months. This guy’s other carer is going on holiday so I am taking over most of the hours. It’s going to be interesting taking over since it will be so many more hours per week than I am used to doing. Saturday will be the long day with four hours and I need to figure out some ideas of how to spend that time so that it’s interesting for both of us. It will bring in a bit of extra cash for the Christmas season this year too.