Just need to talk to my friends (223)

Lorita

Sending prayers for you and your family, Nanny. I know how hard this is for everyone. Hopefully she will go peacefully. I am so sorry.

jfkoc

Nanny…♥️

Carl46

I'm sorry, Nanny.

Iris L.

Stay strong, Nanny!

Iris

harshedbuzz

Good afternoon. Sunny and windy today; it feels much cooler than the 72F high for the day.

"Nothing like living in the country". I'd wager I seem at least as much wildlife out here in the Philly 'burbs. I had a young deer on my front step the other morning— she could have rung my doorbell with her nose if she wanted. Possums and fox are pretty common, turkeys a bit rarer, and DS reports a gaggle of teen girls in the backyard last night looking for a cat.

Ramona— Hi and welcome. I am sorry for your reason to be here but glad you found this place.

Carl— The thing that intrigues me about the dire AI warnings is that they're coming from the very people who are developing it rather than random conspiracy theorists.

Lorita— I'm glad your washer was an easy "fix". I once made a service call on the dryer that came with my old house. The issue turned out to be lint/dust behind the dial which was kind of embarrassing.

Gothic G— We're a subset of the Baby Boomers known as Generation Jones. It's a completely different experience. DH, born 1947, sometimes talk about "our generation" and wonders why I, born in 1957, can't relate to the stereotypical boomer stuff. I was a senior in high school when the Vietnam war ended; both his brothers and many of his friends served there.

Judith said "Big Chill…memorable Roman shades". Ooh, do tell. I saw the movie but couldn't elaborate on the window treatments.

Ron— I hope the pulmonary rehab bring some positive results for you.

Iris— I hope the lingering cough clears up for you.

Nanny G— I am sorry to hear about your dear aunt. I am glad you are there to help reassure her DIL as things unfold. Prayers for peace in the coming days.

____________________________________________________________________________

I came home and crashed. Yesterday was 3 appointments for mom ending with a 4:30 cardiology appointment in an office that closes at 4pm. It didn't go as badly as I feared, but he disagrees with pulmo about needing to repair the mitral valve to treat the pulmonary hypertension. He's willing to do a right heart catheterization and consider medication if appropriate. He's not pushing it in any way— it might help her feel better but maybe not and it wouldn't avoid progression. Her call to make and she tends to be something of a magical thinker who doesn't understand how organ systems work and she's still enjoying life. She's not ready to be done and isn't picking up on the doctor's lack of enthusiasm given the 20-25% she might see improvement. I feel like emotionally, she is compelled to do this. I will defer to her (given the low risk) and support whatever she decides.

We went out for dinner after to a new place with good Italian but known for massive servings. We finished up with a blood draw this morning. I am so tired DH is buying me dinner.

Be well.

HB

Lorita

HB, I was kind of embarrassed, too, but still glad it wasn't something bad.

I thought there was a dollar limit on what you could contribute to a political campaign. Am I all wet?

GothicGremlin

Lorita - The eye drops aren't that complicated, it just sounds complicated. They gave me a printed chart on my way out. All I have to do is check the boxes when I'm done putting in the drops.

Nanny - I'm so very sorry about your aunt. It never gets easier, that's for sure. 💔 Please make sure to take care of you too.

HB - my s.o. (a software engineer and security person) thinks, and I mostly agree, that the dire warnings coming from AI companies is so that they can offer up their own weak regulations to congress. If they wait for congress or the states to come up with regulations, they'll be a lot more stringent. So best to get ahead of it now. Then, no sooner did we have that conversation, but I saw a short blurb on Politico pretty much confirming that very thing.

Generation Jones - I'd never heard that before, but it makes so much sense. We're pretty close in age … I went to the wikipedia page on Generation Jones, and I definitely fit into that box. I loved that they mention disco! Disco was huge for me. 🙂 (but not the Bee Gees)

As for me, I'm getting all of my bureaucracy stuff done this week because next week I'll be out of commission for awhile. We need to go to Home Depot tomorrow and get some light bulbs and some yard stuff. We also need to get a shredder. The one we've had for years finally died on us.

So yeah, nothing exciting over here, just getting stuff done.

Iris L.

GG, I loved the Bee Gees. I loved disco. Disco Forever, Baby! I'm a true Baby Boomer.

But now it's time for bed.

Good night.

Iris

Carl46

Lorita, most democracies have dollar limits on campaign spending and also limit how soon before elections campaigns can begin. The US had campaign spending limits, but the Supreme Court decided that violated the first amendment. As a result, we now have the best government money can buy.

DW and I liked disco, and even took a class in disco dancing. We were adults in our early 30s at the time. Disco was a big improvement over the dancing of our teen years, in which we stood apart and danced separately. Our parents thought dancing apart was weird, and they were right. Disco is sexy, and 60s dancing (like the Frug and the Mojo) was more like exercise.

One of my SILs, who is of the Jones generation, persuaded me to see the movie Boogie Nights with her when it was in the theaters. I was surprised she wanted to see it, but OK. Turns out she thought the movie was about 70s dancing. 😮

I read about a good stress reliever today; listening to birdsong. Listening to birds has been shown to lower cortisol and relieve anxiety. It is thought that we instinctively associate birdsong with safety, because birds go quiet when predators are about. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure YouTube has birdsong recordings. Worth a try.

harshedbuzz

Good morning. Sunny and seasonal today. The nor'easter off the coast pushed off and the winds have finally abated to a degree. I may get DH into the park today to walk after I catch up on laundry. I need to loop my niece into mom's medical stuff. She's back-up POA; I don't want her blindsided if she needs to step in.

Lorita— I get a chuckle out of this every time I come across this saying.

"Adulthood is feeling relief when you realize the weird house noises are ghosts and not something expensive you can't afford to fix."

Gothic G— Good point about the dangers of allowing self-regulation. I hadn't considered that.

Who knew there were so many disco fans. I never got particularly into it, but when I was a manager at a big grocery store and had to work Saturday nights, we used to ditch the Muzak and put on the local radio station's "Saturday Night Dance Party" instead. Customers seemed to enjoy it; I wonder if it made them spend more.

__________________________________________________________________

I did a deep dive into mom's medical records and may have come up with a reason to put the kibosh on her taking steps to explore sildenafil (yes, she wants to take Viagra) as treatment for her pulmonary hypertension symptoms. She is legally blind in her left eye as the result of NAION (damage to optic nerve from loss of oxygen). A history of NAION in one eye means a 30% lifetime risk for the other eye. Complicating this is her AMD with GA which is worsening. If her vision in the good eye continues to decline, it might be worth the risk, but I don't feel like she's there yet. Her BP is already quite low, reducing it would likely increase the risk of optic nerve damage and falls.

I need to discuss this with her and then reach out to the doctor.

For those following the sage of my student nurse. His first day in the hospital went well. He was given a tour, fitted with his PPE and didn't need to lose his beard. (bummer, I'm not a fan) He was assigned to check on and visit with his first patient who was pleasant and very supportive of the students.

Be well out there.
HB

eaglemom

Good morning

BethL

God bless your nursing student, HB! Nurses are the glue that holds the hospital patients together. Not as true in a clinic setting. Hope he enjoys it. We need skilled, compassionate nurses. (I am a retired nurse.)

Nanny prayers for your dear aunt and for you. So sorry.

We are road tripping this week! As I may have told you earlier, we cancelled a trip to CO a few weeks ago due to me injuring my back. It's all better now and we are not driving as far. GG, I am not deadlifting now, not until I meet with a trainer to check my form. Still doing back squats and all the other things. More later! Hope to get some nice pics to share.

Lorita

Morning, I was awakened early this morning by Stormy having a seizure. He has had two before - a couple of years ago, both at the vet's clinic because he was so nervous with all the people and other dogs around. I kept my hand on his head until it was over. He's ok now. Mike said he didn't want to give Phenobarbital until he had them c!loser together. Years ago we had a poodle, Jellibeene, who had seizures. I gave him Pheno.every night.

Carl, I think I might try the bird songs thing. Listening to Oriental music usually does it for me. There should be a Iimit on political contributions now. Look at what Musk is doing.

GG, I'm with Iris, loved the Bee Gees. Are you nervous about your cataract extractions?

Put a pound of brown beans in the crock pot to.cook. When they'd almost done will add peeled, quartered potatoes and carrots. A whole meal in one pot. Should make some cornbread, I guess.

Went out to feed the cats and, again, heard one meowing. Maybe, in time, they'll come out. At least they're eating and drinking if that opossum isn't getting all of it.

Beautiful, cool, sunny and calm this morning. Haven't seen Billy this morning - guess he's eating nice, green grass.

HB,love that saying. Guess there's plenty of ghosts around here from the Indians who first lived here to all the others and then my family. I'm content with that.

Good your son had a good first day. I hope.he likes.his new line of work. I agree woth Beth, nurses are the backbone of clinics and hospitals. I had some really good friends who were nurses.

I like beards on some men. Charles always grew one in the fall, then shaved it in a couple of months.

Iris L.

Good morning.

I'm getting ready for Bunco.

I have a machine that provides environmental sounds for me to go to sleep by, some of the sounds include birds tweeting. I may look for only bird songs, that's a great idea, Carl.

Iris

jfkoc

Well…all tax questions resolved….took 5 days.

Beautiful day here.

Lorita

Lots of birdsong recordings on YouTube, Carl. I listened to a couple for a minute or two but didn't do much for me, too hectic. I can remember lying in bed early in the morning and listening to a mocking bird.- that was relaxing because it wasn't continuous. Maybe some of the others are not so noisy.

Beans are done but carrots need a bit longer. Took the lid off the crockpot so bean juice would thicken. No cornbread but did make a loaf of bread yesterday. Potato and carrot scraps will go out to the opossum tonight.

Stormy has been ok today, no more seizures. Saw my steer out front grazing so he's ok, too. I'm the one with a problem. While Stormy was seizing I was in bed so reached out to hold his head and really aggravated my costo by laying on my side. Put a new eye drop in my eyes and the right one has burned for over an hour- better now. It was Refresh Mega 3. I like Refresh drops but this one is going back to WM. They substituted a 60 vial box for the 30 one I ordered-$14 difference and aggravated my eye.

eaglemom

At night, I use You Tube Music and play 'Soothing Deep Sleep Sounds.' We both enjoy it. Of course DH could fall asleep on a busy runway. I know several of them have birds in the background.

Lorita I'm glad Stormy is fine today. That would aggravate me about the eye drops. They'll take them back with no questions ask. That's one good thing about Walmart.

HB I giggled about the beard, and you not being a fan. DH has had a beard for the last 40 years. My only qualification was it had to be 'tended' to, not some wild mess on his face. He used to have it a tad bit longer than it is now, but the rule still stands. He originally grew it because he was in management and had a baby face & the older gentlemen tended to ignore his authority. He grew facial hair and they listened, go figure.

GG I'm watching about your upcoming procedures. I'm thinking I won't be far behind in having that done myself. One more thing………

Its time for the monarch butterflies to be heading south. This morning I happened to catch about 6 or 7 zipping around the backyard and in & out of the sprinkler. It just made my heart happy. So colorful.

I guess DH has to have something for his dinner. We had a large lunch, but he all of a sudden is starving to death! Let's be safe everyone.

Carl46

Be safe is right, Eaglemom. One of my acquaintances at the senior center (age 60) told me today that his father is being released from NH after a stroke (not his first). Dad's doctor told him not to drive, but he plans to drive to another NH tonight to visit his wife while his son is working. There are a million drivers out there who shouldn't be driving anything faster than a walker. That's why I drive defensively. It's not just old drivers, of course. I narrowly missed a kid (early teens) doing wheelies on an electric bike a few minutes ago.

I read an interesting self-improvement statistic today. If any number increases by 1% per day, it will double every 70 days. So, if you want to walk 10,000 steps per day and can only walk 1,000 steps, increase it to 1,010 tomorrow, 1,020.1 the next day, etc. and you will be walking 2,000 steps per day by the first of the year. Then it's 4,000 steps by mid-March, 8,000 steps by Memorial Day, etc. Reminds me of the old joke "Grandma walks 20 miles per day. We have no idea where she is."

Lorita

Thanks for the joke, Carl, needed that. So right about driving defensively, even on country roads but people in the country are pretty nice. If two vehicles are meeting one will find a driveway or pasture gate and pull over to give you room and we always wave when we pass. I used to ask daddy who.just waved and most of the time he didn't know.

Eagle, same here about beards. Charles always kept.his trimmed. I think if I was a man, I would have one, otherwise too much shaving.

Try YouTube, Chinese Zen music for relaxation. I prefer the one that looks like peach.blossoms. Got me through some hard times after I lost Charles and I still listen to it sometimes. Good night, everyone, sleep tight.

GothicGremlin

Iris - I love disco music, it's just …. happy music. I mean, how unhappy can you be listening to We Are Family by Sister Sledge? But the Bee Gees? I just never liked them, and their lead singer creeped me out. Here's the video for Stayin' Alive. The guy who creeps me out is the one in the white pants and the blue shirt. It's his hair and his teeth. It's all just too much.

Carl - Boogie Nights! Ha! Not a movie about disco. Somehow I accidentally saw that movie. It had a great cast, but I really, really didn't need to see it.

HB - Your mom is a tough guy. She's got so many health issues, and yet she keeps on going. I'm impressed that she still braves Costco.

Totally prefer the ghosts to expensive house repairs. Unless they're evil ghosts, and if that's the case, then I'm just going to move.

And yay for your son. I'm cheering him on from the sidelines.

Beth - I hope you guys have a great trip!

Lorita - I hope Stormy stays well!

Am I nervous about the cataract surgery? I'm more apprehensive than anything. Being perfectly honest, I'd rather have root canals done in all of my teeth instead of this surgery, but I'm also looking forward to the (hopefully) good results. Mostly I just want it done and over with.

I don't tend to listen to anything as I go to sleep, but for a long time I liked listening to ocean waves.

Gym's been good this week. I've been motivated because of the upcoming surgery. We also made a Costco run today to get stuff for the next month, so we're all set there. We also got our ballots prepped so that we can drop them in the drop box tomorrow. I don't want to deal with that when I'm still recovering.

I saw a fun article on HuffPost today (I rarely go there, but on occasion…). The article that caught my eye was this one: Study Reveals This 2012 Film Is The Scariest Movie Of All Time. The movie is Sinister, which I saw back in 2012. I thought it was more creepy than scary, to be honest. I thought the soundtrack was scarier than the movie - really creepy music. The methodology they used to choose the movie was to measure people's resting heart rate at the beginning of the movie, and then record the changes during the movie. I thought that was kind of cool. I don't recommend this movie to anyone here. 😄

ronald71111

Good morning

Ron

Carl46

Good morning, Ron and ladies!

GG, I am surprised that a person who likes bands that look and sound like they are singing from the grave is creeped out by Andy Gibb. You could whip him without knocking the ash off your cigarette. Gotta agree about Sister Sledge though, that is HAPPY music.

Beth, have a great trip. Wish I was going with. Be safe, take pictures!

Going to Griefshare this morning, Jam Session this afternoon. Members of the senior center get together to play and sing country and gospel music, with a bit of 50s rock n roll. Mostly it's to listen, but some of us get up and boogie. Wish my brother the violinist was alive; that band could really use a fiddle.

ronald71111

Going to Joey’s custard with a group this morning. I heard they had some kangaroos and other animals.

Below is what my nephew wrote from memories I shared over the years that he turned into a song with the help of AI. I have tried to download the music, without any luck. Those of you that would like to listen, it is on YouTube, created by Patrick Neal “Save Me Another Dance”

Save Me Another Dance” is a song created for my uncle Ronnie in memory of his wife, Lou, and the nearly 60-year love story they shared.

Their story began in Kentucky while Ronnie was stationed at Fort Campbell. One night at the airbase club, he spotted what he called “the prettiest girl” at a table and waited for a slow song before asking her to dance—because, as he told her, when he had a pretty lady, he liked to hold her close.

They talked the rest of that night. Ronnie went to see her the next day, and after seeing each other every night for three months, he asked her to marry him. Ronnie and Lou were married March 31, 1967.

Music had been part of Lou’s life long before Ronnie came along. Growing up in Kentucky, she found happiness in music, played and sang in a band, and played an accordion that remains in the family today. She loved polka music, and she and Ronnie loved to dance.

Together they raised a family and built a lifetime of memories. In Lou’s later years, dementia changed many things, but it never changed who she was to Ronnie—or who she was to God.

Lou passed away after more than five decades of marriage. Ronnie still misses her deeply and holds onto his faith that they will see each other again.

But this song is also about the life that remains. Ronnie still has children and grandchildren to love, stories to tell, memories to pass down, and a purpose God has for him here.

Someday, in God’s time, the music will start again.

Until then…

Ron

harshedbuzz

Good morning. We're enjoying a string of gorgeous fall days here. Josephine is still giving winds, but the sky is clear and it's still warmish. I plan to frog march DH in the park later after mom's dental appointment. I have vague plans to travel to Europe in a year or so and DH will need to be in better condition than he is now.

Lorita— I am so sorry to hear about Stormy's seizure. I do hope this is a one-off for him. I'm also sorry the Mega-3s caused you discomfort. There are different causes for dry-eye; I have both poor tear quality and quantity (ocular rosacea) and Mega-3 is my OTC favorite except for the cost.

Iris— I hope you enjoyed Bunco. Any trips planned?

eaglemom— "Tended" is part of the problem. DS and I share the hall bath as it's the bigger one and the whisker clippings are frustrating. Even when he tidies up, he misses quite a few. He's barely wooly enough to grow facial hair. And he isn't one of those men whose face is enhanced by one.

Carl— I hear you on the defensive driving. It's scary out there. Nor only do we have the roaming packs of teens in parking lots, tween on unregulated e-bikes and sccoters, suicidal deer, and aggressive cyclists, mom's neighborhood is a 30-year-old 55+ community which is full of folks like your friend's dad. It's like bumper cars in there.

Both my parents struggled with giving up driving. With dad it was dementia, yet he never got over it. The last thing we ever talked about was me bringing him his car, so he'd have wheels if he wanted to go somewhere. With mom it was vision. She was in her 30s when she finally got a license and the kind of driver who deferred to anyone else driving and yet she insists on being licensed in case there's ever an emergency where she'd need to drive. Girl, if it ever gets that dire, we'll probably go by ambulance.

Gothic G— "We are Family" always reminds me of the scene in Birdcage where Robin Williams helps Gene Hackman sneak out of the club. That never gets old.

My vote for scariest movie is still Jaws.
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It felt like I spent most of yesterday on the phone. I called mom to discuss the risks, as I saw them, of adding Viagra and potentially lowering her BP. FTR, she had no understanding of the mechanics of how she lost her vision, or the interplay of damaged lungs and a failing heart on oxygen levels in the blood or the risk of losing vision in her other eye. Did they not teach health in the 1950s? I feel kind of badly about drilling her on this as for her ignorance was bliss.

Bestie called me to discuss her DD's parenting rules for the one day a week she cares for them. Bestie's hands are very messed up and she likely needs surgery on her dominant hand, but DD insists kids nap in cribs which is hard for friend to get them in and out of. The afternoon nap isn't going well, and I suspect they've outgrown it and would do better with an earlier single nap. She does as her DD asks so this was mostly a gripe session. Then niece called. We haven't talked in a while, so we talked her entire drive into the office which was nice, but I got nothing done yesterday aside from laundry. I kind of needed a day to do nothing.

I did get into the park for a walk. I finally managed one of my favorite trails— a 2.6-mile loop with a 175' elevation gain and I even got my heart rate out of the low 70s. So, yay me. I haven't been able to do this trail since my first knee went south on me and I wondered if it would ever be doable. Being in the park is so good for my head.

I hope all have a lovely day.
HB

jfkoc

Up and out this morning….

Lorita

Morning, I saw one of the outside cats this morning - the black one so maybe the other two gray ones are still here. Stormy seems fine this morning. I give him his pain pill every morning, broken into quarters and hidden in pieces of powdered donuts.

GG, I love the BeeGees, especially Barry Gibb. Funny I never noticed all his teeth.. I could listen to them and the Beatles all day. I saw an interview of him after he lost his brothers - really looks different - but don't we all? Thanks for the link. Really don't watch scary movies. Maybe that comes from living alone.

Beautiful morning, sunny, calm and the temp is just right. HB, I need to get.out and walk,probably be good for Stormy, too. Just can't seem to get motivated. I need to do some paperwork today.Does the time ever come when we can stop doing that? Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in paper.

Safe trip, Beth. Have fun really a nice time of year to travel. This weather makes me really miss Eureka Springs. It is always so pretty with the turning leaves.There is just a hint of yellow on some of the Hackberry trees.

Have a nice time today, Carl.

Iris L.

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/284680#Comment_284680

https://youtu.be/mU01Oia53kc?is=qU5WzVfVC31Zhazh

Iris L.

Ron, I'm tearing up as I listen to this song. It's a wonderful tribute!

Iris

Lorita

Ron, how sweet of your nephew to remember things you told him and to make those memories into the beautiful song for for you. Hope you're feeling much better.many

Good night

GothicGremlin

Carl - Ha! I guess I could whip him, but cigarettes won't be involved since I don't smoke. And Lorita is right, it's Barry Gibb who creeps me out.

I'm with you - all bands can use a fiddle.

Lorita - Barry Gibb is now 80. I had no idea! In my head he still looks like how he looked in that video - with the hair and the teeth.

Ron - your nephew is so sweet to make that song for you.

HB - The Birdcage! You're right, that never gets old. Gene Hackman ….. 🙂 Great use of that song.

I'm glad you were able to do one of your favorite walks. It must have been so pretty with all of the fall colors. We've had a string of nice days, with lots of pretty foliage too. The rain starts on Saturday for us.

I did my Thursday afternoon DJ session - happy '80s music!

Since we're in the spooky season … I was trying to think about what's the scariest movie for me. Mostly I view horror films as roller coaster rides - thrills and chills for a bit and then they're over. The vengeful or rage-filled ghosts are kind of scary, like in The Grudge. In that movie, if you enter the haunted house, that's it, you're toast. That angry ghost will hunt you down wherever you are and kill you. It doesn't matter if you're a nice person, a helpful person, or whatever. Cross the threshold and that's the end. You can never outrun the inevitable.