Things That Are Just Annoying

[mlooney 3,417]

In addition to my twisted ankle and bashed knee, it's forecast to rain until about midnight.  Finishing my tea and going back to bed,

[mlooney 3,417]

On one hand my knee and ankle still hurt. On the other hand I'm hungry. On the gripping hand the new mattress topper I put on the bed is very comfy. I'll get up in an hour or two,

[mlooney 3,417]

Migraines suck

[ChronosCat 155]

So this is maybe a little more than annoying, closer to frustrating, but yesterday we had a major rain and wind storm that knocked out the power a bit before noon. Some 36 hours later (roughly) we still don't have our power back. We do have a generator, so we're not in danger, or even truly roughing it, but it can't power everything in the house and we can't run it all the time. So we've had to put up with long stretches of doing without power, and even when we do have the generator running have to choose carefully what we use the power for.

On a more mildly annoying note, that same storm brought a lot of warm air with it and melted all the snow. We had a white Halloween (very unusual), and a white Thanksgiving (not so unusual but not something that happens every year), but it looks like we won't have a white Christmas (which is pretty unusual; most years there's at least a little bit of snow on the ground).

[Darth Fluffy 302]

1 hour ago, ChronosCat said:

So this is maybe a little more than annoying, closer to frustrating, but yesterday we had a major rain and wind storm that knocked out the power a bit before noon. Some 36 hours later (roughly) we still don't have our power back. We do have a generator, so we're not in danger, or even truly roughing it, but it can't power everything in the house and we can't run it all the time. So we've had to put up with long stretches of doing without power, and even when we do have the generator running have to choose carefully what we use the power for.

On a more mildly annoying note, that same storm brought a lot of warm air with it and melted all the snow. We had a white Halloween (very unusual), and a white Thanksgiving (not so unusual but not something that happens every year), but it looks like we won't have a white Christmas (which is pretty unusual; most years there's at least a little bit of snow on the ground).

Hope your power comes on soon. Ours has gotten much better in the time I've lived here; more buried lines, better protection at the substations, and the repair crews are good. Which is all nice, as we get occasional hurricanes. (The coast gets a lot; most of the time we just get the outskirts, but every now and then . . .)

[ChronosCat 155]

Still no power.

22 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Ours has gotten much better in the time I've lived here; more buried lines, better protection at the substations, and the repair crews are good. Which is all nice, as we get occasional hurricanes. (The coast gets a lot; most of the time we just get the outskirts, but every now and then . . .)

One of the downsides to living in the middle of the woods is that buried lines aren't really practical for the most part - and there are a lot of trees and branches to fall on the lines. I'm pretty much used to our loosing power at least a few times a year, though usually it's only for a few hours, or at most a day. It's only when a really big storm causes damage across a wide area that we wind up without power for days; the last time was three or four years ago, and prior to that it had been a couple decades since it had last happened.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

32 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

Still no power.

One of the downsides to living in the middle of the woods is that buried lines aren't really practical for the most part - and there are a lot of trees and branches to fall on the lines. I'm pretty much used to our loosing power at least a few times a year, though usually it's only for a few hours, or at most a day. It's only when a really big storm causes damage across a wide area that we wind up without power for days; the last time was three or four years ago, and prior to that it had been a couple decades since it had last happened.

Our soil is shallow clay in this region. Trees do not root deep, and they fall fairly easily. When I moved here, I wondered why the homes had few trees nearby for shade. Can't do that; they fall on the homes way too often.

We had outages from above ground lines coming down. Over the years, they've been burying the lines. More of a problem still, the further out of towns you go. Points for investing in the infrastructure, though. It's cheaper for the utility as well, in the long run.

[ChronosCat 155]

More-or-less the opposite of annoying, but to complete the saga in a single thread: we finally have our power back! It's quite a relief, not just because it's been challenging relying on our generator for the past few days; yesterday the power company had estimated it would be restored Saturday evening (granted, they were giving the same prediction for all the out-of-power streets in our area, and those weren't all connected to one another, so it was probably meant more along the lines of "we'll have power back to everyon in town by then"). I'm very glad we didn't have to wait that long!

On 12/20/2023 at 5:55 PM, Darth Fluffy said:

Our soil is shallow clay in this region. Trees do not root deep, and they fall fairly easily. When I moved here, I wondered why the homes had few trees nearby for shade. Can't do that; they fall on the homes way too often.

Trees falling due to loose roots are not uncommon around here, but neither are they common enough to be a major concern when deciding whether to allow trees near one's house. Trees breaking (either due to dying, or due to being too thin for their height) are somewhat more common, and far more common than that are tree branches (sometimes big ones) snapping due to winds or the weight of snow.

Incidentally, a while back (probably five to ten years ago) we actually had a tree fall on our previous house, but luckily the house was sturdy enough and the angle right so the tree just slid down the roof before falling to the ground without causing any major damage to the house (though it did take out our TV antenna along the way).

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

I've got to write a biography for the French Horn competition into which I want to enter the sextet I've written. It's proving to be damned annoying. I don't like summarizing my life for anyone else, much less of all myself. I wish I knew how to get past this.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

7 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I've got to write a biography for the French Horn competition into which I want to enter the sextet I've written. It's proving to be damned annoying. I don't like summarizing my life for anyone else, much less of all myself. I wish I knew how to get past this.

Chat GPT? I've seen jacket covers that had obvious spoofs of the author's life. Write about how your parents sent you to Earth before your home world blew up, and you were adopted by traveling folk singers.

 

 

[mlooney 3,417]

I want this cold to be over and done with

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

33 minutes ago, mlooney said:

I want this cold to be over and done with

Cold as in frigid weather, or cold as in a viral infection? If the latter, wait 14 days. If the former, wait until March.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

On 12/27/2023 at 9:23 AM, Darth Fluffy said:

Chat GPT? I've seen jacket covers that had obvious spoofs of the author's life. Write about how your parents sent you to Earth before your home world blew up, and you were adopted by traveling folk singers.

I got Mrs. Prof's attention engaged long enough to help me with the biography. Now, all I need is help with the Curriculum Vitae, since Mrs. Prof has never had to write one of those (ah, the benefits of being a government employee...).

[mlooney 3,417]

Yesterday sucked and not the good way

1) rode my ebike to Walgreens to get a gallon of milk. They were out.  This is a total of 1.6 miles.

2) Due to it being good weather and forecast to rain over the weekend I decided to ride to Braum's, the local ice cream and dairy store.  It's about 1.5 miles to the store.  Got to the store.  Felt a little dizzy when I got of the bike.  Went in and bought 2 gallons of milk because they had 2 for $6,

3) Put the milk jugs in my backpack. I've done this several times before.  Strained my right arm a bit getting the pack on.  Also a common thing.

4) Started to get out of the parking lot.  Felt a little trouble going out the driveway.

5) Tried to turn to the east on the side rode.  

6) Ended up going west for about 10 feet and fell over. 

7) Could not stand up.

8) A guy who I didn't get his name saw me fall and stopped to help.  He had a pick up, so I asked if he could give me a ride home.  As it happens he was going north, so it would only be 2 block side trip for it.  He agreed.

9) Tried to stand up.  Could not.  Asked him to help me get up.  Didn't help.  My legs were like rubber.  After a few tries I asked him to call 911 as I didn't have my phone on me.  Note to self, never go out with out it.  He had a conversation with the 911 dispatcher, found out the ambulance could only take me to the hospital.  Decided on getting the fire rescue people

10) They show up.  Ask me a few question to establish that I was functional.  I answered  all of them correctly.

11) They take vitals to include blood sugar level.  It was a bit high and my pulse rate was high even for me. I normally have a 100-103 rate, was 125.  The waited 5 minutes and took them again.  They noticed that I was "sweating bullets".    They were not quite sure that I shouldn't go to the hospital ED.  After some back and forth we decided that I should because I still couldn't stand up.  Called for ambulance.  Also called police to take my bike home and put it on my porch.  Would not fit in the police car, so he left.

12) Ambulance arrived.  Fire guy said they would take the bike home. Got loaded on the the ambulance.  Still couldn't stand up.  They got me loaded on there bed thing and went to the hospital.

13) Got put in a room.  Nurse comes in and takes vitals, again with blood sugar level.  All about the same.  Doctor comes in, asks the same questions as the fire rescue guys did.  Poked and prodded me. Did the strength test where you pull on her hand.  Left the room

14) About 3 minutes later a nurse come in and says the doctor says I need IV fluids.  Started drip. I asked for some thing to read.  She came back with a novel about Burma.  I had problems holding the book up. 

15) About this time I could move my legs and if I didn't have an IV,  the blood pressure cuff, and the blood oxygen meter attached to me, I felt like I might be able to stand up.  

16) Took me in for a CT scan.  Had issues getting on the bed of the scanner.  After I got back I had control of my arms enough read novel

17) After about 5 minutes after the scan a nurse came and gave me a meclizne pill, for vertigo.  Legs felt normal, but I was still dizzy AF.  Was left alone for 10-15 minutes.  Got to page 108.

18) Was feeling more or less normal.

19) Doctor comes in and says my CT scan was normal.20) Waited a few more minutes and the nurse comes in and disconnects me from all the tubes and wires. Says I can check out.  Had a copay of $37.50

 Asked her about how I could get home.  She reminds me that the bus stops here. Little did I know at the time that it was the last bus running for the night.

21) Waited about 20 minutes for the bus.  He arrives, asks me where I'm going, then starts blasting the local rock station on the radio.  He turns it down and ask me if I wanted to get off at the justice center as it's only a few blocks from my destination and would save me 30 minutes.  Passed on this as it's actually 6 blocks and I didn't feel like walking that far as the destination I asked for is literally across Pine from my house. Starts blasting rock again.  Good thing I like rock.

22) Got home.  The bike and back pack was on the porch blocking one of the doors.  I tried to open the other locked door with my key.  Had trouble getting key in hole, so I curse a bit and  so I moved the bike and go in the unlocked door.  Unknown to me I dropped my wallet/keys on the porch.  Took bike into the living room where it's normally at.  

23) Got in and freaked out about my wallet not being in the pocket of my hoody.  Spent 30-45 minutes looking for it.  Did not find it.  Decided to look on the for it in the morning as my porch light was burned out.  

24) Went to bed.  Tried to pick up my Chromebook.  Dropped it.  Picked it up.  It's bricked.  Cussed some more and went to sleep thinking I would look for in the morning.

25) Got up in the rain.  Went out and found the wallet/keys.  

And how was your day?

[ijuin 572]

Ouch. Sorry to hear about the Chromebook—that was really adding insult to injury.

[Don Edwards 548]

I've been dealing with a much smaller annoyance: trying to find a thermostat setting on a space heater that will cause it to produce heat at night when the temperature in here is 65 degrees, but won't cause the thing to produce heat during the day when it's nearly 80 degrees.

[mlooney 3,417]

6 hours ago, ijuin said:

Ouch. Sorry to hear about the Chromebook—that was really adding insult to injury.

Well it's not as bad as it could be.  Makes me stay out of bed longer, which is something I need to do.

[ijuin 572]

6 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

I've been dealing with a much smaller annoyance: trying to find a thermostat setting on a space heater that will cause it to produce heat at night when the temperature in here is 65 degrees, but won't cause the thing to produce heat during the day when it's nearly 80 degrees.

I can not wrap my mind around wanting the heat to be on when it is 65 Fahrenheit. I am sweating and need the cooling on at that temperature.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

On 2/3/2024 at 9:54 AM, mlooney said:

And how was your day?

Your day sucked, most assuredly. All I had happen this time was to come down with another stinking upper respiratory infection, just a couple of days after coming off of powerfun megaantibiotics. I'm still sick. Gotta call the home health nurses' office today and report that I blew up some yellow-green gunk last night. I'm going to ask if they have my lab results from yesterday.

[mlooney 3,417]

I set up slowly, like I've been told to do.  Didn't feel dizzy.  Took one step towards the bathroom, suddenly had a down rush and fell on my butt.  More or less crawled to the bathroom.  Set on the toilet to do bathroom things.  Slow got up and took my morning meds and a anti vertigo pill.  Moved very slowly back to bed.  Staying here for while. 

[mlooney 3,417]

Meclizne works like a charm.  I almost heard a click when it cut in.  Went from feeling more than a little dizzy to more or less normal in less than 30 seconds.  Still staying in bed for a while however.

[Don Edwards 548]

5 hours ago, mlooney said:

Still staying in bed for a while however.

I do that fairly often - I'm rather a night-owl. Unfortunately, I'm in Earlybird City. Seriously, I think they start rolling up the streets for the night at 1 PM.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

On 2/3/2024 at 10:54 AM, mlooney said:

Yesterday sucked and not the good way

1) rode my ebike to Walgreens to get a gallon of milk. They were out.  This is a total of 1.6 miles.

.

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25) Got up in the rain.  Went out and found the wallet/keys.  

And how was your day?

Hell of a day, man. Any Idea what brought it on? Did the medical prodding reach any conclusions?

 

[mlooney 3,417]

1 hour ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Hell of a day, man. Any Idea what brought it on? Did the medical prodding reach any conclusions?

 

I have an issue with my left ear. 

[ChronosCat 155]

First of all, sorry to hear about your troubles, mlooney; you have my sympathy.

Now on to a much less serious annoying thing:

I'm a fairly big Godzilla fan, and I like to have physical media for my entertainment when possible. As a result I have collected DVDs and/or Blu-Rays of every Godzilla movie to have an official English-subtitled release - which is to say, every Godzilla movie except the anime "Monster Planet" trilogy released in 2017 & 2018. That trilogy was released on DVD & Blu-Ray in Japan shortly after their initial releases, but of course those discs don't have English subtitles. As far as I can tell, even years later the only way to see the English translation legally is by streaming them on Netflix.

As I've mentioned before, my internet is too limited for doing much if any streaming, and so long as that's the case there's no way I'm paying for a streaming service. This means that if I want to see the Monster Planet trilogy and understand what's being said, I'll need to visit my sister and ask to use her internet and the Neflix account she's sharing with a friend... or wait and hope that one of these years they'll finally do US Blu-Ray release. (Well technically I could also try learning Japanese, but I don't really want to learn another language just to watch anime & monster movies.)