Monday, October 20, 2008

Seriously.

Well.

Could be that maybe, just maybe, some pieces of the puzzle might be coming together. But seriously, folks, I swear that the moment you hit your 30s, your body is on a downward spiral, and you might as well go ahead and buy that little compartmentalized daily medicine box, and put away your cha-cha shoes. You're old!

Every stupid year, some stupid health issues come up and, once again, I have to have some annoying, expensive tests to figure out that it was nothing. Or at least, nothing that anyone could find.

Talk about feeling like a hypochondriac.

Earlier this month, I had my physical. This is the physical that I put off due to a funeral, then showed up for a day late, and finally got around to having two months after it had been originally scheduled. Of course, I had forgotten to get my labs drawn a week before (we were really busy at work), and as my appointment was at 8am, I did not have a chance to go over my results with my doctor as I usually do.

However, at my appointment, my doctor did have the chance to give me a list of vitamins to start taking, due to the fact that I passed the magical age of 36. Oh fun. She also added a test to my lab sheet, to check my vitamin D levels, as that is something they start testing at my age.

You can see where this is going, right?

Well, what with being sick, I haven't had the chance to get the mail since Thursday. So today, at lunch, I checked the mailbox, and found my lab reports, along with a note, and a prescription for a quite large dose of vitamin D once a week. Turns out, of course, that my vitamin D levels are low. I have to have a recheck in 12 weeks, and we'll see what's going on.

In the mean time, I have something else to worry about.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Sick and Tired of being sick and tired

Yet another day spent mostly in my room, either sleeping, reading, or concentrating on not feeling sick to my stomach.

Finally, around 4:30, I made myself sit up for awhile, browsing sites on my laptop, trying to make sure I felt well enough to go run an errand that had to be done tonight. By 6, I was able to take my son to Target to buy him a new winter coat. And yes, he needs it now, because it is really cold when he has to get on the bus in the morning (before 7am), and he outgrew his old one by several inches.

Luckily, we found a nice black wool, zip-up coat right away. Even luckier, he liked it, and it looked good. We also needed to look for some new sneakers for him, but I was not in any shape to spend any more time shopping. And my son's major concern - the new Indiana Jones movie - was taken care of by the big display right at the front of the store. :) We ducked into the soft drink aisle to grab more sprite zero, left the store, and ran through a drive-thru to get my son a burger and fries. I managed to eat some fries, which really helped, but I am just drained after the last six days of feeling like hell.

I am hoping that tomorrow is a lot better.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

What in the heck???

I'm still sick. Yep, still. Since Tuesday. Erg.

Yesterday morning, I managed to stay at work for about 2 hours before having to go home. My headache was horrible, and tylenol did nothing to help. I slept about 4 and a half hours, then got up and ate a little something. After my son got home from school, I rested for about an hour before getting up to help him warm up leftovers for dinner before taking him to the high school. I drove back home, slept another 30 minutes, then went back to the school to watch my son march with the band at the football game.

Yes, I went to the football game. And I sat next to Troy and breathed sick germs all over him. Heheheh... no really, I only had the headache at that point, and just felt really weak. I remembered the camera this time, and got a couple of nice pics of my son in his band uniform, and a few of the band while marching. The only reason I went was because the freshmen only marched in two games this season, Homecoming (forgot my camera) and last nights game. Luckily, the game went fast, and we were home by about 9:30, and that included taking the time to buy my son two burgers from the grill (they were having a fundraiser for a sick child, half-price burgers and brats - there is nothing more torturous than the smell of a good charcoal grill when you have hardly eaten all week, and know that if you tried to eat, you'd feel worse). I'm sure I bugged Troy by mentioning that it smelled SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOODDDD too many times.

Anyhoo, so when we got home last night, I still had a headache, and my legs hurt really bad from walking. so I took a couple of Tylenol PM tablets thinking that I'd get a good nights sleep, as I was exhausted.

And. They. Didn't. Work.

I tossed and turned all night. I was so tired, but I just couldn't get fully asleep. I woke up at around 4, and was nearly sick. I held off, had a bit of water, and went back to bed. I slept until around 10, when National Geographic called for the 10th time in the last ten months to see if I want to join the DVD club. Nope. I decided that I felt well enough for some breakfast.

Sure.

Then I decided at around 12:30 that I had better have some soup, as I needed to eat something more than a cookie (hey, that's all that sounded palatable at the time). By 2, after feeling worse and worse all day, I finally got sick sick, and then slept the rest of the afternoon.

Right now, I am in bed, with the laptop, trying vainly to not be bored out of my mind from the enforced leisure. Seriously, I've been sick since Tuesday. Tuesday! I haven't really been able to sit up long, except on Thursday during the day (in hindsight, I should have stayed home Thursday, then maybe I wouldn't still be SICK), so trolling YouTube for funny stuff hasn't been possible (the laptop is OLD, and has a slow wireless card, so video is excruciatingly slow). I can't concentrate on anything complicated, so reading political threads and articles hasn't really worked except in small doses. I tried making some new jewelry to go with the dress I plan on making for next fall, but I couldn't sit up long enough to do THAT either. I've read quite a bit, but there is only so much you can read when you have a headache and feel nauseous.

I am BORED. BORED. :(

And I want to eat some Doritos, or really anything savory at this point. I should have had my son walk to the store earlier and get some.

I have no idea how I am going to get the laundry done this weekend if I don't feel better tomorrow...

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Sleepy...

Worked all day, ended up having to park in the back parking lot after lunch, and felt like I almost wasn't going to make it to the building. Worked a little late, then had to take my son to a constellation party tonight at school for science. Walked around way too long trying to figure out where this was going to be, then stood for an hour while the kids made observations, and looked through telescopes*. I got to see Jupiter and 5 of its moons, which was cool.

And when we got home, I had to do laundry, because my son forgot to throw his band shirt in the laundry basket after he wore it last. He has to wear it to the game tomorrow night under his band uniform. The dryer just finished, so it's time for me to go to bed. I definitely overdid it today, and tomorrow evening I will have no time to rest before the game. :( Oh well... dozing off as I type, so good night all!

* Apparently, Johnny Carson donated 30 very nice telescopes to the school in honor of Carl Sagan! How cool is that???? The kids can check out a telescope over the weekend if they want! We are totally doing this the next time we go visit Manson (very little light pollution).

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Yay! (TMI alert!)

I am feeling a LOT better in the last hour or so, although I really wish I could find my bottle of tylenol, as I still have a headache. And I should really eat something before I go to bed, but don't want to.

This was a weird stomach thing... Unpleasant, headache, body aches, fever went up and down until around 3 or so today, intense nausea but no vomiting (as in, I tried, and couldn't!), and the Other Problem.

Anyway, I am not terribly sleepy right now, as I slept in this morning. I slept a LOT yesterday, except for last night when the Other Problem keep intruding.

I cannot WAIT to feel well enough to eat REAL FOOD. You see, we went on a massive grocery shopping expedition on Sunday afternoon, then went HyVee Monday night to get the rest of the stuff that we couldn't get at Super Wal-mart (call me nuts, but I like the hyvee brand cheeses a lot, and for some reason walmart did not have the type of pizza sauce we like, nor any good roasts). So, for once, I had planned out menus for the next three weeks, was all organized... and then promptly got sick and was unable to eat any of it.

Here is what I ate the last 48 hours:

3/4 cup oyster crackers (including some in soup)
1 can of chicken noodle soup (minus the chicken), made with 1/2 can water instead of full can (condensed nutrition), over two days
about 9 vegetable crackers
1 tablespoon of cashews
3 pieces of wheat toast with margarine - one yesterday, two for lunch today at around 2pm
10 holiday grapes (most of these were eaten monday night, but I had a couple last night because I was so sick of tasteless food)


Anyhoo, I think I am finally sleepy enough to actually sleep.

Here is what Obama really said to "Joe the Plumber":

'Spread the Wealth'?

Responded Wurzelbacher, "the reason I ask you about the American dream, I mean I've worked hard. I'm a plumber. I work 10-12 hours a day and I'm buying this company and I'm going to continue working that way. I'm getting taxed more and more while fulfilling the American dream."

"Well," said Obama, "here's a way of thinking about it. How long have been a plumber?"

Wurzelbacher said 15 years.

Obama says, “Over the last 15 years, when you weren’t making 250, you would have been given a tax cut from me, so you’d actually have more money, which means you would have saved more, which means you would have gotten to the point where you could build your small business quicker than under the current tax code. So there are two ways of looking at it – I mean one way of looking at it is, now that you’ve become more successful through hard work – you don’t want to be taxed as much.”

“Exactly," Wurzelbacher said.

Obama continued, “But another way of looking at it is 95% of folks who are making less than 250, they may be working hard too, but they’re being taxed at a higher rate than they would be under mine. So what I’m doing is, put yourself back 10 years ago when you were only making whatever, 60 or 70. Under my tax plan you would be keeping more of your paycheck, you’d be paying lower taxes, which means you would have saved…Now look, nobody likes high taxes."

"No," said Wurzelbacher.

"Of course not," said Obama. "But what’s happened is that we end up – we’ve cut taxes a lot for folks like me who make a lot more than 250. We haven’t given a break to folks who make less, and as a consequence, the average wage and income for ordinary folks, the vast majority of Americans, has actually gone down over the last eight years. So all I want to do is – I’ve got a tax cut. The only thing that changes, is I’m gonna cut taxes a little bit more for the folks who are most in need and for the 5% of the folks who are doing very well - even though they’ve been working hard and I appreciate that – I just want to make sure they’re paying a little bit more in order to pay for those other tax cuts. Now, I respect the disagreement. I just want you to be clear – it’s not that I want to punish your success – I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you – that they’ve got a chance at success too.”

Urg.

I am a little upset right now. I finally thought that I was feeling better. I managed to eat some chicken noodle soup with oyster crackers. About 30 minutes later, I was still feeling okay, and was starving, so I had a handful of vegetable flavored crackers, and about a tablespoon of cashews. Like I said, I was starving. This was about an hour ago.

And now my stomach is all goofy again.

:(

And I'm doing my civic duty by watching the debate instead of the season finale for Project Runway.

And McCain is being disrespectful to the moderator as well as Senator Obama. Gad, it's worse than I thought it'd be.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The only thing worse that throwing up, is feeling like you have to throw up and not being able to.

I have the stomach flu, and it sucks. My stomach feels like there is a large massive ball in the middle of it, that needs to come out and won't.

This is my TMI post for the month...

Thursday, October 09, 2008

A very worrying development that the media completely ignored...

Are we still living in a democracy?

Why is a U.S. Army brigade being assigned to the “Homeland”?


Several bloggers today have pointed to this obviously disturbing article from Army Times, which announces that “beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the [1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division] will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North” — “the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.” The article details:
They’ll learn new skills, use some of the ones they acquired in the war zone and more than likely will not be shot at while doing any of it.
They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.
The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.
“It’s a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they’re fielding. They’ve been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we’re undertaking we were the first to get it.”
The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.
“I was the first guy in the brigade to get Tasered,” said Cloutier, describing the experience as “your worst muscle cramp ever — times 10 throughout your whole body”… .
The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced “sea-smurf”).


For more than 100 years — since the end of the Civil War — deployment of the U.S. military inside the U.S. has been prohibited under The Posse Comitatus Act (the only exceptions being that the National Guard and Coast Guard are exempted, and use of the military on an emergency ad hoc basis is permitted, such as what happened after Hurricane Katrina). Though there have been some erosions of this prohibition over the last several decades (most perniciously to allow the use of the military to work with law enforcement agencies in the “War on Drugs”), the bright line ban on using the U.S. military as a standing law enforcement force inside the U.S. has been more or less honored — until now. And as the Army Times notes, once this particular brigade completes its one-year assignment, “expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one.”


The full article is a must-read, and the links provide essential details. Still shaking my head over this...

Two Videos tonight

From bloggerinterrupted.com:

The McCain-Palin Mob

Part 1:



Part 2:




VIDEO: The McCain-Palin mob in Strongsville, Ohio
Wed, Oct 8, 2008Politics
UPDATE - THANK KOS & WONKETTE & DIGG!! Please donate to keep my camera charged and the gas tank filled for more Ohio fun!
It’s no wonder that the slightest incitement from Sarah Palin or John McCain will turn one of their rallies into a lynch mob. Just talk to the folks who attend.
My camera was rolling for literally seconds before people happily said to me, on camera, that Barack Obama is a terrorist. If I hadn’t spent most of my time at the event inside, waiting for the candidates to show up, I could have gotten dozens of these people on tape.
...

I’ve been doing blog video for a while, and presidential rallies a lot longer. And this is the most strange, ignorant, uninformed, angry, up-to-no-good, and gullible group of people I’ve ever seen at a political rally.
Ever.


Other highlights:

• The guy who said he'd never heard of Obama.
• The blonde in the 1st video who keeps getting in the way of the camera when the interviewer is trying to ask questions (what was she drinking before she got there?). And she's GOT MORE COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION THAN OBAMA.
• The parent whose child said that you'd have to wash your hands after touching Obama (wtf???).
• Wow, they really can't get over his middle name, can they. Isn't it the equivalent of John for popularity?
• They keep praising Sarah for being a normal person. Excuse me, but I think we need someone extraordinary to head this country. Personally, I've never met anyone at a bar that I'd want running the country. Seriously, folks. We're in the middle of a fucked up mess here.
• I like how one lady says that she can tell he's a Democrat, because he put words into her mouth...

Don't get me wrong, I do not for a second believe that most Republicans are like this, but enough are. I am deeply, deeply troubled by the fact that these people are CONVINCED that Obama is a terrorist. This is irresponsible, and dangerous, not to mention completely unfounded accusation. There are people screaming, "Kill him!" during rallies for McCain and Palin???? What does that teach your kids? Nice family values, right?

So, in America, the American Dream is that anyone can pull themselves up from nothing, be successful, and become President. I guess whoever crafted that dream did not really mean for it to apply to everyone.

Folks, this is all that the Republicans have at this point. They are behind at the polls, so they feed some story about someone Obama barely knew, who btw is now a respected Professor. Honestly, have we ever seen such underhanded tactics in an election? Don't answer that...

But still, death threats?

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

"Must-watch" video

KEATING ECONOMICS: John McCain & The Making of a Financial Crisis

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Shaking my head at this...

Palin Can't Name Any Supreme Court Cases