October chit-chat

[agate]

Here we are in October already. There is talk of Hallowe'en and fall foliage.

What's been going on in your life? If you don't let us know what's happening with you, there will be nothing here.

I'm still catching up on tasks left undone all during these last several weeks, when I've had a lot of extra paperwork, all because this building still has no qualified manager. It's been nearly 10 months now.

This week I go to see the ENT doctor and the audiologist in connection with my hearing and the hearing aids. This happens about every 6 months. In a couple of weeks I'll go for that updated COVID vaccine everyone is being told to get.

That's what's happening here. I'm doing ever so much better these days, maybe because I stopped the Glatopa shots.

Now what about you?

[Prot]

I was doing OK, till I decided to put the other clothes horse up to hang the towels and flannels I'd just washed on. It took me a while to put it up. The result? The pain I'll always get when doing too much, which actually for most people would be not very much at all. This is how it's been since being discharged from the physical rehab centre in early January 2022. Putting the towels on the clothes horse will have to wait. I hurt too much to do it now.

This morning was better. Saw my daughter,a granddaughter, and the youngest great grandson. The great grandson is at the 'doesn't know what fear is yet' stage and loves climbing on things. He's very energetic, to put it mildly!

[agate]

Wow, Tim, you have a dynasty going there! How nice that you could enjoy some family. I find it energizing to watch those little bundles of energy bouncing around--my grandson is a case in point. Though he's 6 and in first grade, he's still climbing all over things. He's constantly cartwheeling and whirling around.

Someone should invent a way to borrow or harness some of that energy so that those of us who are short on it could make use of it.

[jingle]

Yesterday morning it was 37* here in Missouri ....... this afternoon it was 80!! I did some major shopping - $207 at Walmart, WOW. I got it all carried in but not unpacked and put away yet. When I knew I was going to move I tried to let myself run out of things. Today I was trying to stock up again.

[Prot]

When I visited my father in Charlotte, back in 1995, we went into a supermarket. It had a far greater variety of foods than a British supermarket

[Virginia]

Jingle, you are very smart to get all that much and get it carried inside. Was it mostly food stuff?

As for what is going on at my house, actually nothing. I am just so heart sick over what is happening in our once beautiful mountains. It is just so sad for those of us who have lived most of our lives going to the mountains. Asheville is about 3 hours from me and some parts of the mountains are a little closer. I went almost every year in October when the leaves started to turn. It was so pretty and the people are just nice, friendly people. There are people who think it will never be the same again. I don't think it will in my lifetime. I noticed our Governor looks tired. He has been going there every day. He has always been a kind man and I think just seeing this happen in the state he loves is hard on him.

[agate]

That is the smart way to move, jingle--let yourself run out of things so you'll have less stuff to move, and later you can restock.

Tim, you mentioned a greater variety of items in a US supermarket than in the UK. That can be a mixed blessing. Sometimes there are so many choices that you can't find what you're looking for.

Toothpaste, for instance. You don't just go buy a tube of toothpaste. You have to choose between cavity protection, whitening, tartar control, sensitive teeth, added fluoride, and a variety of flavors, just to mention a few of the choices.

Virginia, that hurricane certainly wreaked havoc on your state--I wonder if those who lost everything will want to return to the ruined area and start over, or will they want to try other locations?

[Prot]

Good point. Some choice is good. Too much choice can indeed make it hard to find things. Not forgetting weighing up the pros and cons of the various toothpastes,or other products.

[Virginia]

Tim, I never have too many choices when I go to the grocery store. As far as basic things I know what I want, but the more choices I have in fruits and vegetables the more I enjoy shopping. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do much of my own shopping lately. I also like a lot of choices in meats so I can choose what looks the best.

I just had a text that was interesting. There was no name and I don't recognize the area code. It was a nice text informing me that on September 26th the Biden Harris administration had offered help to the people of N.C. who have been affected by the hurricane. They have made available shelter, water, etc. So far our governor reports that 57,000 people have requested federal aid and that aid has started to be distributed.

Agate, there may be some people who will not want to go back, but many will. This is a once in a century flood. In my lifetime this has never happened before. I read that only 1% of the people had flood insurance and flood insurance doesn't cover mudslides which there were many.

[Prot]

Virginia. I rely on my daughter to get my grocery shopping for me. I use something called 'Click and collect'

“Click and collect” is a shopping service that allows customers to order items online and then pick them up at a designated store location. Here’s how it typically works:

1. Order Online: You browse and purchase items on a retailer’s website.
2. Choose Pickup Location: During checkout, you select a store location where you want to pick up your order.
3. Receive Notification: Once your order is ready, you’ll receive a notification (via email or text).
4. Pick Up: You go to the store, often to a specific counter or area, to collect your items.

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register....


My daughter or a granddaughter collects the shopping and brings it to me.

[agate]

I've just placed an order for some freebie items offered by my health insurance plan (United Health Care). Several times a year I can order up to $40 worth of OTC items through this plan, from an online catalog. I stock up on things like cotton balls--but this time I'll be getting a couple of jar and bottle opening gadgets.

I already have a number of these but I'd like to try something different. The new pharmacy I'm using sends the rx's by FedEx, and to keep pill bottles from popping open on the way, they're using childproof bottles that are really difficult to open.

Anyone else have this problem? I looked online for suggestions but the suggestions didn't work. One involved a thumbtack.

Once you get the childproof cap off of the bottles, you can reverse it and it's no longer a problem. I've had quite a wrestling match with these bottles as they came along, so well packaged, and maybe a different opener will make life easier.

I'm complaining about this? Other people have real problems. A news story just now revealed that the hurricane victims are dealing not only with very long power outages and having to haul all of their water--they are also plagued by swarms of stinging insects, including yellow jackets and bees whose underground nests have been disturbed.

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

[Prot]

Jar and bottle opening gadgets are useful things to have, I struggle nowadays with ring pulls. It took me ages yesterday to get the new hand pump to work so I could moisturise my legs. Dry skin and lymphoedema aren't a good thing to have.

[Virginia]

Tim, we do have something similar to that here. The stores that do not use something like Instacart, usually have a shop on line and physically pick up at the store. I have the same problem with that, that I have with Instacart. I know I am maybe being too picky, but I hate for someone else to choose my meats and vegetables. I have received some things with Instacart that I was so disappointed with. Picking it up in person would save some money, but it wouldn't solve my problem of getting the foods I really want. Also in my case I can't very well go get my groceries most of the time.

My SIL has been getting a few things for me, but she is sick now so I am not sure what I will do.

Agate, I noticed you responded to a post I had shared on FB. The young lady that the GoFundMe had been set up for is from Brazil. She has been working at the food stands at the fair. She worked for my nephew some. One Sunday night a few weeks ago she got very sick. The lady she was staying with took her to an urgent care, they sent her to a little larger place where they did a scan and immediately sent her to a large hospital in Winston Salem, NC. She has been diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma. The prognosis for this is not good. My youngest brother got into it by listening to his son talk about what a nice girl she is and that she is in this country with no relatives. He drove to Winston Salem to meet her and said she really is the nicest young girl.

She is trying to get sent to this area. Both UNC and Duke are highly rated for treating this rare form of cancer. Bea (as we call her) wants to come here to be close to my brother's family. There is no money at all. She will need rent, utilities, food, transportation money and all regular expenses. My nephew set up the GoFundMe, but it is just a drop in the bucket compared to what she will need. My brother is trying to find her a furnished place to live, but how do you do that when there is no money. Her Mother is trying to get here from Brazil, but she has no money and will need and want to stay with Bea. It is one of the saddest things that we have encountered. As you know we have already experienced a lot of sadness in my family, but here we are again. But if I mention Bea this will be who I am talking about.

[Prot]

Virginia,my biggest gripe is they'll tend to give you several items with very short use by dates

[agate]

Virginia, you and your family are reaching out to the young woman in her hour of need. I hope that she'll be able to get the help she's desperately needing.

The bottle-opening gadgets already arrived and I'm waiting for some calm moments to figure them out. I can practice on some of the bottles that were recently sent from this new pharmacy.

There has been a very sad experience here yesterday. I went out in the hall to check on a plant I have out there and saw my nextdoor neighbor in the "recumbent trike" she liked to ride around in but I wasn't sure I recognized her. At first I thought it was someone else in that trike. She often has trouble getting it through her apartment door, and a woman was with her. Something seemed all wrong and so I took a few steps to get a closer look.

It was my neighbor in her recumbent trike but she was dying. I kept calling her name but there was no response. Then for a brief moment she seemed to come back to life but it didn't last. The woman with her seems to be a close friend, and she was very distraught but went out to get her phone, came back in and called 911.

I stood by while she started the phone call. They told her it might take 5 or 10 minutes for help to arrive but in the meantime she was asked to get my neighbor flat on the ground and start CPR. She and I didn't think it would be possible for her to get her out of that trike and onto the ground, and I believe she tried to do CPR with my neighbor still lying in the trike.

The emergency people (police, I think) came right away and from then on I stayed in my apartment as we aren't supposed to be getting in the way of any emergency personnel. Later I learned that she had indeed died. Of course there is no staff here in the building on weekends, and even if they had been here, they couldn't have done anything other than what this friend of my neighbor's did.

She was a very nice lady--92 years old. I talked to her just a couple of days ago, and she seemed her usual cheerful self, with her white hair perfectly beautiful as always. She was walking around with her rollator and seemed to be doing well. But I guess she wasn't doing well.

I don't know if the friend already knew CPR or had to learn it fast, but nobody who was around here at the time knew how to do CPR. The emergency people who came immediately asked if this building has a defibrillator. It doesn't. I guess some places have them installed and ready for use.

[Prot]

How are you doing? I think a defibrillator should be a compulsory requirement in such places.

[agate]

I was thinking that too, Tim--that a defibrillator should be required in places like this, with only people over 65 here.

I prowled around on the Internet to find out more about defibrillators, and now I'm not so sure. To be effective, apparently they have to be used within mere minutes of the time when the person's heart stop, maybe only 3 minutes. I'm not sure most people would be able to (a) locate the building's defibrillator (probably hanging in a bright red glass case on a wall), (b) set it up, (c) go through the steps involved to use it right, and (d) position the person properly.

Supposedly they come with instructions built into them, so that a recording walks you through the process if you're the one operating the defibrillator. Supposedly anyone can learn to use it easily. But it has to be preceded by some CPR, and that's what takes some training--and some physical strength.

I learned to do CPR on pets but it was about 20 years ago, and we just practiced briefly on a stuffed animal. I took a pet first-aid class. I don't feel that I know the first thing about CPR on a person.