Maine can be fun in the winter?

Well, I said in my last post that I was looking for things to do, and was taking suggestions from anyone who wanted to offer one. I am still taking suggestions.

This past weekend I went to visit a friend of mine in Southern Maine. She lives a little more than a two hour drive away from me, so within the range I laid out for what I am currently comfortable doing, and had invited me to come up to visit. She also doesn't get many visitors, so it is usually just her and her two young {single digit ages} children.

It was fun. We hung out, talked, watched a movie, etc. Her son wanted to learn how to play chess so we did that as well. He did quite well for someone who had just learned how to play, and who was still figuring out how some of the pieces move. {Like how a pawn moves one space forward at a time but captures diagonally.}

On Sunday we went sledding, the first time I have gone sledding in a loooooong. I had forgotten just how much fun it can be. I had also forgotten how much you can get bounced around. The muscles in my neck are still a little sore but it was well worth it. {Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me, and my phone was charging, so there are no pictures. I'll be better prepared next time.}

This coming weekend I will be heading to a friend's house on Cape Cod for "Movie Night." It sounds like it will be a small one, only a half dozen or so people, but still looking forward to it.

February is still open...

Follow-up and Request for Suggestions

Following up on my last post:

It's been a little over a week since the medication cut was made and the pain is pretty much gone. The aches are still there but no longer constant and continue to ease.

Bloodsugar is still much higher than it should be, but it has not gone up since the drastic cut in the level of my meds.

Sleep is still an issue. Well, not sleep so much as getting out of bed in the morning after I finally do get to sleep. {Usually around 2:00AM, later on the weekends.}

...

Now I just need to start doing things again. Of course being able to sleep so I can get up in the morning would help with that.

I have plans for this weekend and we'll see how they go. Then I guess I need to figure out other things to do for the next few weeks, months, ...

On that note:

I'm near Boston, although probably closer to Providence RI than Boston, and am open to suggestions for seasonally appropriate things to do.

In fact... let me codify that a bit.

I was talking to a friend of mine last night and they were talking about taking a series of day trips just to get out and see/do things. I think this sounds like a really good, and fun, thing. We may do some together, but I'm sure there will be plenty of individual things as well.

I'm not sure that I'm up for long drives again yet, but within a couple of hours of here is do-able.

So what I am looking for, if anyone is interested, is suggestions for things to do, things to see, places to go, that are within a 2 hour drive of the Boston-Providence area. Day trips preferred.

Any reasonable suggestions will be taken, and I will post at least one picture.

Reasonable suggestions that are not seasonal/weather appropriate will be held until an appropriate time. Things further away will also wait until I am up to making those longer trips again.

There are a couple of trips I'd like to take, to see people I haven't seen in too long, which are about 6 hours away, and at least one other that is more like 14 hours away. Those trips will have to wait a bit longer.

So... Any suggestions?

Becoming Myself

"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."

George Orwell

As has been mentioned on here in the past, I am a diabetic.

A few months ago my medication was changed due to the old medication losing its effectiveness. This is known to happen in as few as 5-8 years for some people. I got just about 12 years. A pretty good run by all accounts.

As with any new medication, you start with a lower dose and then adjust it upwards until you find the right level. We, me and my doctor, started adjusting the dose up, having to adjust it very slowly due to possible adverse effects if done too fast. {Think diabetic collapse, necessitating an ambulance ride if I could even make it to the phone.}

To cut a long story short, the meds didn't work as expected.

It was helping, and was improving things to a certain point, but after that point the improvement in bloodsugar stopped. So we kept increasing the dose since we were well below to allowed maximum, and did not see any further improvement.

What I did see, but it took me a while to figure this out, was that it was causing other issues. Headaches, insomnia, nausea, lethargy, just to name a few. {I have some insomnia to begin with, this took me from 6-7 hours a night down to 4-5.} Generally speaking I became a rather large lump who was in constant discomfort, if not all out pain.

I also wasn't always thinking straight. On the worst days it was all I could do to make it through work.

So it took a while, but eventually I caught on to what was happening.

So we cut the dosage back, to about a third of what it had reached, and my bloodsugar is still at the same high-ish level, but the aches and pains have eased and I am starting to get my energy back. The insomnia still sucks, but I have hopes for that as well.

So my doctor is still looking for alternatives and I am trying to get back to feeling like myself. Which is happening. Slowly, but it is happening.

Happy New Year.

I don't know if anyone is still reading this, but it doesn't really matter. I have always felt that I was writing it for me, and not necessarily for anyone else. {Self-doubt still there but, like most everything else, improving.}

Table For One?

Well, a few days ago I suddenly found myself single again.

There's not much to say about it. Things had gotten tense when we both got sick at the same time {Actually, one injury and one new chronic condition} and didn't really ease as things got better. I was trying to find the cause of the tension in order to figure out if there was anything to do, but I guess she wasn't.

I don't begrudge her this. I know how much she had/has going on and how many issues there are with her, her job, and her family.

Still...

Even if I am not upset about what she did, I do have a problem with how she did it.

If she had just said "I can't do this and we need to breakup" it would have been fine. But that is not what she did.

I guess she felt that she needed to give an enumerated list of reasons, a couple of which seemed quite mean-spirited. And following it up by moving it into a rant, no... more of a discussion, of a latest issues and how bad that day had been, well, that was completely unnecessary.

Oh, did I mention that it was over the phone?

How about that she called me from her car?

While she was driving on her way to meet some friends?

So yes, I'm OK with the breakup, but not with the way it was handled.

Happy Freakin' Birthday!

A couple of days ago was my birthday. OK, it was Thursday. I took a couple of days off work, after all who wants to work on their birthday.

Thursday was a day to sleep in, and caught up on some reading and movies, and generally just relax. At least that was the idea.

It mostly worked out that way with the exception that I couldn't relax the way I was hoping. I had to stay pretty close to home, specifically the smallest room in my home, most of the day. But that helped me get more reading done.

Friday was more of the same, although I was able to wander a little further afield.

Saturday was pouring rain which suited my mood. Dark, miserable, and keeping me from lighting a fire under myself to get me out and moving.

I did talk briefly to a couple of friends. I will be meeting one of the for a few games of pool this week, and will be meeting the other for dinner next week. Both of these I am looking forward to.

Today I didn't want to get out of bed, but I eventually did. Now I am sitting and typing this in Borders Books, trying to decide if I should buy a couple of magazines I was looking at.

I have just started taking pictures again. If any of them turn out I'll start posting them again.

I am coming back...

I have been away from this blog for a while now, but I am going to return. Hopefully sometime soon.

A couple of quick notes on what I have been doing since my last post:

• I have been dating someone since the end of May / beginning of June.
• My diabetes medications have been changed and we are still trying to find the right dose of the new meds.
• I caught Bronchitis and had to go through two rounds of antibiotics before it cleared.
• I was coughing so violently due to the bronchitis that I injured my back, and it has still not quite recovered.

What have you been doing?

Are you still there?

Namaje.

I Still Miss You Dad

Today is a sad anniversary for me. My father died April 12, 1990. I was 21.

I wrote about this before. But I have more to say about it now.

His name was Harland and he passed away peacefully in his sleep, but it was well too early. He was 55 when a brain aneurysm took him from us. We know it was peaceful because my mother was sleeping beside him and didn't know anything was wrong until the she was up, making breakfast, and couldn't wake him up.

I was working a night shift at the time and had been gotten home and gone to bed as my mother was getting up. Just over an hour later my mother woke me up. She didn't want me to be woken up by my pager going off and calling me to an emergency at my own home.

See, at the time I was a member of the local volunteer fire department, and being that it was a rural area the fire department were the first responders for all injuries and similar emergencies as well as fires.

I remember that whole day quite vividly.

I remember my mother telling me to go back to bed.
I remember thinking I would never sleep again.
I remember holding it together while my sisters fell apart.
I remember my mother breaking down in the hospital.
I remember calling one of my friends and her coming to support me.
I remember seeing my father in a hospital bed with a lot of tubes and no brain activity.
I remember them declaring my father dead and us having to discuss what to do next.

I remember walking out to the hospital and going to pieces in Sandra's arms on a park bench because my legs wouldn't hold me anymore.

I remember my friends keeping me company and making sure I was not alone for the next few days.

However, much of the next few days is a blur, and I don't remember much of them.

...

Every year on this day I take some time by myself to remember and reflect.

I still miss my dad but I am eternally grateful for the 21 years he was in my life, and the lessons he taught me. Especially the lessons I learned when he didn't realize he was teaching.

I am the man I am today because of my father.

Thank you Dad.

Hibernation

How did it get to be April already? It seems like just last week it was New Year's. And I feel like I have been asleep for months.

I didn't feel like I was asleep at the time, at least not until the last couple of weeks, but now I certainly feel like I am waking up. And it has taken me those weeks to wake up. Or at least to get to the point I am at now.

I still don't feel fully awake, but I am starting to feel more fully myself. Spring must be just about here.

Some people seem to think it is here. As I sit here typing this I am looking at a mix of people, some wearing heavy jackets and hoodies, some not, and at least one wearing a golf shirt and shorts.

And me? I don't think Spring is quite here yet, but it won't be long now. This bear is finally starting to come out of hibernation.

I think I'm going to get out of my cave and into the woods to stretch my legs. I can't wait for things to be Green again.

Peace.

99 Things meme

{Nicked from Mosher, but if he really misses it he can have it back.}

I hope some of you will follow along. If you do, please link back to this post. OK, let me lay out how it works.

Everyone uses the same list of 99 Things.
You will want to remove any brief comments I've added. {They will look like this.}
Feel free to add brief comments of your own.
Change the font of each item as follows:

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to: leave in plain font

99 Things

1. started your own blog {This one should be obvious}


2. slept under the stars


3. played in a band {an elementary school band, but still...}


4. visited Hawaii


5. watched a meteor shower


6. given more than you can afford to charity {It was not much at the time, but it still left me short on bus fare.}


7. been to Disneyland/world


8. climbed a mountain


9. held a praying mantis


10. sang a solo {Trust me, no one wants this.}


11. bungee jumped


12. visited Paris


13. watched a lightning storm at sea


14. taught yourself an art from scratch {Balloon sculpture if you are curious.}


15. adopted a child {Under the right circumstances this would change to a "want to"}


16. had food poisoning


17. walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty


18. grown your own vegetables


19. seen the Mona Lisa in France


20. slept on an overnight train {And it wasn't in a sleeping car.}


21. had a pillow fight


22. hitch hiked


23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill


24. built a snow fort


25. held a lamb


26. gone skinny dipping


27. run a marathon {Walk one maybe.}


28. ridden a gondola in Venice


29. seen a total eclipse {Solar and Lunar}


30. watched a sunrise or sunset


31. hit a home run


32. been on a cruise


33. seen Niagara Falls in person {And want to again.}


34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors


35. seen an Amish community


36. taught yourself a new language {Only if you count computer languages.}


37. had enough money to be truly satisfied {Didn't want or need as much as a kid.}{Never as an adult.}


38. seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person


39. gone rock climbing


40. seen Michelangelo’s David in person


41. sung karaoke


42. seen Old Faithful geyser erupt in person


43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant {OK, it was coffee and a muffin in a diner.}


44. visited Africa


45. walked on a beach by moonlight


46. been transported in an ambulance {After the worst of my car accidents.}


47. had your portrait painted


48. gone deep sea fishing


49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person


50. been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris


51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling


52. kissed in the rain


53. played in the mud


54. gone to a drive-in theatre


55. been in a movie {See an earlier post.}


56. visited the Great Wall of China


57. started a business {It didn't last.}


58. taken a martial arts class


59. visited Russia


60. served at a soup kitchen


61. sold girl scout cookies


62. gone whale watching


63. gotten flowers for no reason


64. donated blood


65. gone sky diving


66. visited a Nazi concentration camp


67. bounced a cheque


68. flown in a helicopter


69. saved a favourite childhood toy


70. visited the Lincoln memorial


71. eaten caviar


72. pieced a quilt {OK, an explanation here... My mother and Grandmother made a lot of quilts and occasionally would ask me to help them layout pieces, and always asked me to help them stretch them for the actual quilting.}


73. stood in Times Square


74. toured the Everglades


75. been fired from a job


76. seen the changing of the guard in London


77. broken a bone {It was even mine.}


78. been on a speeding motorcycle


79. seen the Grand Canyon in person


80. published a book


81. visited the Vatican


82. bought a brand new car


83. walked in Jerusalem


84. had your picture in the newspaper


85. read the entire bible


86. visited the White House


87. killed and prepared an animal for eating


88. had chickenpox


89. saved someone’s life {I hope I'm not in a situation where someone's life needs saving.}


90. sat on a jury {Called several times, never picked.}


91. met someone famous {Bill Cosby, Lee Aaron, and Willie Nelson for a start.}


92. joined a book club


93. lost a loved one


94. had a baby {As the father, not getting pregnant myself.}


95. seen the alamo in person


96. swum in the great salt lake


97. been involved in a law suit


98. owned a cell phone


99. been stung by a bee

So that gives us totals of:

44 Things I have done.
37 Things I would like to do.
18 Things I have not done and could do without.

What have you got?

4 Hours

That's how much sleep I managed to get last night, or should I say this morning. 4 Hours. And that started a LOT later than I had really wanted. Late enough that it might have been better to get none at all.

It was just past 5AM when I published my last post and tried to get to sleep. It didn't work and I tried different things that I thought might help, none of them did.

So around 7AM I gave up and got in the shower. That at least made me feel somewhat better and I started thinking about what I'd have for breakfast. Then I woke up about 4 hours later.

As I check the clock now, it is 1:38AM and feel a lot more awake than I would like.

Good thing I picked up some generic form of Tylenol PM. I'll be trying that out in a few minutes to see if it helps me get to sleep before 2AM tonight. Good thing I don't have to get up early tomorrow.

...

Oh, and as for the phone call(s) I was talking about last night...

None got made today. In fact, I didn't talk to anyone I know today. I barely spoke to anyone at all.

When I got out and around this afternoon I constantly found myself either in a lot of traffic or a crush of bodies. Neither of which I seemed to be equipped to deal with today. I was only able to keep a pleasant demeanour when I kept my mouth shut.

When I went to say anything I found myself ready to tell people what I really thought about being knocked around by the crowds trying to beat each other to the best sales. However, if I kept my mouth shut I was able to smile and be pleasant. {OK, it might not have been much of a smile but it was more than anyone else seemed to be wearing.}

And to quote Jimmy Stewart's character of Elwood P. Dowd in the movie "Harvey":

My mother used to say to me ... "In this world you need to be very, very smart, or very, very pleasant."

I've been smart. I recommend pleasant.

Not quite the same circumstances, but something to keep in mind. {And a movie well worth watching if you haven't already seen it.}

I think I've begun to ramble. So I'm off to take the PM and head to bed.

Wish me luck.