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Category: live from planet earth for now

Who Nose?

Not mine but somebody else’s sinuses…

I always since fifth grade and probably before that have had “sinus trouble”. I remember the big green pills that looked kind of like M&M’s that I had to take to help with this when I was a kid. I think that if you live where we do, everyone pretty much deals with this eventually because we have the humidity + crap in the air + lots of pollen and basically, the human nose and our animals, too, eventually go “snotty” and get clogged up and damaged so something gives.

In my case it was a torrential nose bleed. Holy shit! One box of Kleenex later and the bathroom looked like a crime scene! Couldn’t get it to stop no way no how. Didn’t have the right “spray” to stop it. Squeezed my nose as the “inter-google” told us. Hubby drove me to the 24-hour pharmacy to get some of the “right spray”. Bleeding so much that I couldn’t get the spray to the source of the bleed. By that time it was coming out both nostrils! Holy crap!

Ended up in the ER, with my blood-pressure raised so much it was like somebody gave me a cortisol cocktail with a side-car of adrenaline! The nurse said, “honey, calm down”… Sure. All my blood is coming out of my nose and you want me to calm down… Right-o! Not.

Eventually, the nurse gave me a nose plug device, and a cold pack to put across my nose, and the bleeding calmed down. The doc came in after an hour or so, and checked me out. He told the big nurse to jam the Dristan up my nose and with three squirts in each nostril, after a bit, the bleeding slowed to a trickle whereby at that point, I think I could have used a transfusion… They said, “you didn’t lose as much blood as you think.” I thought, “you didn’t see the bathroom!”

And no, hubby had nothing to do with this other than to be so kind as to drive me to the all-night pharmacy, and then to the ER and sit and wait for hours with me until I was cleared to go home… He is a saint. That’s the plain truth of this story.

Next chapter. After deeper examination, I ended up going to a specialist. At the second visit, a CT scan of my sinuses was performed. I have a long list of “issues” that come with long term damage – probably not the worst they’ve seen, but probably not the best either… So I am lined up for a “nose job” – to correct the deviated septum (warped), and open up the circuitous clogged passages that look like some sort of video game maze quest for treasure tunnels…

Apparently, after about a week or so, I should be good to go after they open things up with these little balloons that they poke up in there and “push” these passages open, and tell them “stay”, which apparently they do. Not sure what the procedure is with straightening the crooked septum – some sort of electrical thingy they use, apparently…

And there are these things that hang down that have gotten over-sized that they are going to “trim” somehow. I dunno, but I hope they know what they are doing! I’m sure they do thousands of these because everyone here suffers and the ones who just can’t stand it anymore go and get this done.

Someone who had this done told me how it went for her, but that was five years ago and well… you know, things get “different” in medicine. It’s not like it used to be, that’s for sure. I’ll find out soon.

I’m here to tell you that if I reach this point, I’m there, dude, and I have and I am. Hubby asked, “will there be bruising?”, and I said, “God, I hope not!” I think he is worried about appearances, LOL!

Just tell them I had a “nose job”. It’s the truth.

January 27, 2023
It is the day we say farewell to 2022. Good riddance.

For now, let’s look at the political scene.

It’s crazy, still, but it looks like people are coming to their senses that the orange orangutan is radioactive. Slowly. 2023 will bring more to this ongoing saga. For those of us who are in our later decades, we really are stunned at what has happened.

We also have a shocking situation in Ukraine, with a bully madman having attacked in March, trying to seize what they had no rights to seize. Simple land grabbing via military attacks. They are not winning. The Ukrainians are fighters and clever. It is going to be a long bloody war. Senseless. Devastating. Insane.

Photo by Mathias P.R. Reding on Pexels.com

Eyes on Europe and the UK, where leadership in different countries shift. France remained stable barely. Italy is now under a government that may turn back pages in history. The UK? What a mess. Since Brexit, there has been nothing but an unfolding debacle with monkeys driving the train off the bridge.

Now, the weather.

Wind patterns and temperatures from NASA satellite images and sensors – vectors overlaid

We had our second-most severe cold weather outbreak over Christmas, following a summer of hellish heat. We saw a monster hurricane devastate Florida. We’ve seen fires continuing in parts of the US and we watched Europe suffer horrid heat this year. The planet is changing rapidly as scientists predicted it would, and at a faster rate than predicted. This threatens food supplies, health, and welfare of all people everywhere on the planet.

Politicians don’t do the right thing. Climate deniers block funding for solutions designed to shore up infrastructure that has been damaged or that is degrading due to age. Each time there is a cold snap they retort that climate change is not real. There is a personality pattern that has been identified that shows the complexity of what makes these people deniers. The big question is will they ever relent before we totally destroy our home. It’s not looking positive on that note.

Creepy Disease Outbreaks.

SARS-CO-19

We’ve endured nearly three years of coping and mitigating SARS-CO-19 and all its variants. We are “vaxxed to the max” which has helped us avoid hospitalization with this disease. We’ve seen how miserable and scary this disease can be – and how unpredictable. We still are hearing about the unfolding long lasting effects. With every little ailment, we don’t know if it’s a long symptom or injury from the virus or something else unrelated.

And in 2022, we’ve seen the emergence of influenza and now RSV that not only is attacking kids, but adults, too. It worries scientists and world leaders as the response was not stellar and was variable across the world. This does not help get control early before deaths become widespread. China has failed. Some countries have given up. Some have fared better than others. It’s a story that is a cautionary tale.

What’s Positive?

Always the dragonfly is a symbol of hope and survival.

Hope remains. Living one day at a time, hoping for better times and doing what we can to make those happen. What do we look for? Signs of health. Signs of sanity. Signs of happiness. Signs of peaceful coexistence. Are we idealistic? Yes. Someone has to be. But we are also pragmatic. We are going back to drawing and maybe painting, but beginning with drawing, at least. Got some pastels from Santa – a lovely set of Conte’ pastels. Let’s see what happens.

Happy New Year! Bring on 2023.

January 1, 2023
Christmas AKA the holidaze

Mince Pie

So, it’s been building. That overwhelmed feeling that comes in around Thanksgiving and builds until after New Year’s Day.

Can I do what I need to do in time? What am I forgetting? Things cost too much. Can I make people happy or happier? What? When? How? Oh shit. Then the occasional panic attack, the deep breathing, the thought that at least I’m not trying to bake cookies for everyone (circa the 1970’s – 1980’s). Maybe I should host a cookie bake party. We could drink adult beverages and… Or then, that might be too much, too.

Then there were the days when I felt compelled to write Christmas greetings individually on each card that I sent. And I am verbose in my writing…so, this made me exhausted. I was going to night school, and really trying to be and do everything… I think. After work, I went to class. On the weekends, I studied. Then there was some amount of “free” time which seems ludicrous to me now. The expectation that I thought was there, might have been in my head. I don’t know.

And of course came hosting the holiday meals. I took this plunge one year, when I didn’t know I was expecting, but somehow the smell of collard greens cooking knocked me back! And I love collard greens! Yep, it wasn’t long before other things happened and I made an appointment at my doctor’s office, and you guessed it. A September baby was coming!

But, here I am forty and decades later plus a couple of years. No babies to expect (of my own). Only the drive to have a happy holiday with family, friends, and pray for Peace during these times of turmoil that seems to be everywhere.

The prayers are endless. Pray for the impact of the pandemic to lessen. Pray for a better economic situation for everyone in the world. Pray for those who are alone. Pray for those who are sick and in need of help. Pray for the homeless and those suffering difficulties due to mental health issues… And especially for the people in Ukraine who were needlessly and cruelly attacked.

In answer to the hysteria of the holidaze around here… I can do things to mitigate the stress. I

Just a little green thing

Then maybe, I could just go out and take a run or jump in the pool (yes, it’s still warm outside in December it’s been in the 80’s F for a couple of weeks…).

Welcome to climate change. A curse of humankind, but potentially it’s what happens in end times if someone in the distant past seeded this planet and set this in motion. It could be significant that there are multiple rule books that have been written – multiple versions that have a disparate appeal, depending…

Antiquities from the grands and great-grands

But, then, it’s the holidays. We should be having a good time.

So, why all this stress during the holidays? Lots of theories out there…

I get told that I shouldn’t decorate so much. But it does help me to remember happy times with people who aren’t here anymore. Yes, it makes me sad, but then it makes me think about how much love there was and how they were, when they were here. Some of the decorations are really old – antiques by now, seriously. I do treasure them, because I treasure the people whose these were. The historical significance of these is immeasurable.

Just born so many years ago

Going out to stores to shop is crazy these days. Anything from the angry men driving the two story trucks, to the impatient women all dressed up in hot fashion just to go to the grocery store…

It’s a statement. It requires an escalator to get into it. Behind me in traffic, honking, I think, “Gee, I hope they don’t shoot me!”

I just get in the mode of, WTF? Can you people just relax, already? Then, I say to myself, “look who’s talking…” Eye roll. Get a grip! I guess it just depends on the person and the stress that they suffer, and how they decide to manage it.

Me, I don’t think people should need to look intimidating. It just puts people off. I sometimes think I should experiment and say to the driver, if I got the chance, “Do you need a hug?” But, I don’t. I suppress my impulses to do something that could land me in a lot of trouble. People here are not very friendly. It’s a real mixed crowd. As long as the goats stay away from the cows, everything is fine for them, if you get my drift. Color outside the lines and they’ll be trouble.

So, as I go about my business, I will keep trying to enjoy the next two weeks as best as I can and remember my family and friends even if it is in the tiniest of ways and gestures – of kind words, and do my part in trying to take the pressure off. I definitely need to practice at this. Learn something new every day!

Leading up to the crescendo of Christmas and the Twelve Days thereof, what I always like to say at some point is:

Wishing You and Yours, Peace on Earth, and Goodwill towards Humankind!

The Kiwi Christmas Trees…

December 10, 2022