Never thought retirement would be like this

Nancy, thought I would share my experience with vertigo and strategies I have taken to relieve it. Notice I said RELIEVE because I have the feeling this recurs and may not go away forever. First, my vertigo began approx. 7 yrs. ago; at this time a virus was going around and people were have vertigo and the doctors were saying this virus had settled in the ear canal. This was temporary and typical of a virus. My vertigo did not recur until about 3 yrs. after; it has recurred about 3-4 times since; it has always been preceded/accompanied by sinus issues and emotional stress. I sought treatment at the physical therapy clinic; they diagnosed it as BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo); they performed the Epley with positive success somewhat; the therapist gave me exercises to do which consisted of rapid eye movements and head movements--these really helped. I have made sure I rinse my sinus tract with saline; I avoid emo. stress with a vengeance; no recurrence since Dec. Hope this helps.
 

Thank you, crochet lady! That does help a lot. I've had all those conditions lately---stress, flu, sinuses. I tried the saline rinse a couple of times. I'll try it again. Also holding my head over steaming water. I just know most it will keep coming back.:( The worst part is you never know when. The Epley thing I did last night helped some, but not completely this time. It makes me sick, so I dread doing it. I surely sympathize. I'll search for some of those exercises on the internet. Thanks for the tip.
 
I hope you get better,Nancy. As for the saline rinese: I use the bulb syringe type and hold my head forward over the BR sink (easier) and blow/breathe out of your mouth while irrigating each nostril. Sometimes nausea accompanies vertigo; I use ginger root capsules 120mg/day and sometimes fresh ginger tiny pieces in water--very effective. The Epley is uncomfortable, but if it is truly BPPV it will help. Please research this (bppv) on internet; there are even support groups on-line for vertigo sufferers.
 

This is one of my inventions (the wood stand, not the belt sander) built with leftover parts. This contraption was for sanding down goat hooves without help. (Actually help doesn't usually help much anyway.) You trim the hoof off around the edges with clippers, and then you're supposed to make them flat across the bottom. The theory was to hold the hoof down on the sander until it is flat on the bottom.

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Monday I went out to work on Mike's hoof. He is the one with one-half a hoof and the vet said I needed to keep it trimmed short. Needless to say he was not cooperative. I could not hold the foot down against the sander. Instead I ended up getting my knuckles stomped down against it in spite of wearing gloves. I left him limping. Before you call the ASPCA, I think he is just trying to get used to the new shape, because I didn't draw blood. At least not on the goat, only on my knuckles. I think the skin will grow back.

We had another goat, Ginger, who learned all she had to do was put her entire weight down on top of the sander and it would stop running completely. I never could use it on her. I think goats should be used to test all new inventions. If there is a weak link, they will find it. On the bright side, it keeps your brain active trying to imagine beforehand all the possible scenarios they can come up with to foil your plans.

I only bring this up to prove that I'm not a snob. What snob fools around building contraptions to deal with goats when they know the goats will win in the end?;)
 
Nancy, haven't read your more recent posts, but noticed 'vertigo'. My husband had nonstop vertigo which started in 2003. Cause unknown but it's suspected a slight stroke. He retired in 2004 because of it. Within another year to 18 months I'd say he was fine. Doctors didn't know if it would go away or be permanent. They told him not to use a cane because he'd be stuck it for life.
 
Thanks for the information, Ameriscot. That is interesting. I'm glad your husband finally got over it. My girlfriend had it for weeks and it went away when she took an airplane ride. My dizziness is pretty much gone now. Only if I throw my head back and look up at the ceiling. So I just won't do that.:) This time wasn't nearly as bad. Probably started because of the sinus infection. I'm pretty sure now it will be a recurring thing.


TV: So Jimmy Smits has now died off of NYPD Blue. Why do these people quit these hit series? It seems like that would be a dream job. I don't think he ever did much afterward. The last few episodes leading up to this event were very strange with characters acting "out of character," imo. Everything else on TV I've either seen or don't care to see (namely, reality shows:yuk:). I've been watching reruns of Blue Bloods lately. Tom Selleck is good a sighing and scrunching up his face a lot.


Goats: Mike is back to normal now, which was limping before the hoof trim. Thought the trim might help. The problem is likely with the joints in that leg. He still seems happy, but I'm afraid if he goes out too far with the others to graze this summer he might not make it back. I guess I can feed them winter food all summer. Maybe they have reached the age where they deserve to be able to retire and not work for their food.


Clutter: Today I started decluttering my junk room. Didn't finish, but at least got started. The problem is how to get rid of the stuff. You have to take it to the landfill yourself. Right now they are rearranging things out there and you have to drive out right on top of the trash and toss things. Good way to ruin your tires. That's my excuse today, anyway, lol.
 
Found a picture of my one and only dog, Jim. Actually he wasn't mine because he was a year older than me.
He was a purebred Airedale, but we never kept him trimmed. He was a good buddy when I was a little kid.

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Sometimes girl life is the pits. I hope you get over all this stuff that's holding you back and making you feel so terrible. If I knew anything that might help you I'd belt it out. I'm a victim of my own ignorance. I hope you get well soon.
 
Hey drifter, I'm back to 100% physically. Maybe I should quit posting old pictures---it makes me seem too melancholy. I just happened to find them while
searching for some documents, and I always loved old pictures. They've just been missing for years.

Mowed the weeds out of the front lawn yesterday. Planning to check the fence for shorts tomorrow and move a chest of drawers out there. Need to clean
out the gutters before next rain, maybe today. Now that the pine trees are gone, I'm anxious to see if my shopvac hose/pipe contraption will work again
with just regular leaves in the gutters. Otherwise I'll have to hire someone. No more ladders or climbing on the roof at the house in town. Two stories.
surrender.gif
 
Today I literally *walked* most of the fence line looking so carefully for electric shorts that my nose was almost touching the fence.:) Fixed 4 broken insulators but the charge still goes to 0 at the far end, so there is still a *very serious* short somewhere. I'm stumped. Friend thinks someone may have purposely grounded the fence where I can't see it. I always discounted this theory, but maybe he's right, because someone had taken the fishing boat (12' aluminum) out into the lake and left it down over a bank far from the dock. The back end was under water. Had to get a chain and come-along and ratchet it out of the water using a nearby tree, just to bail out the water. It had been there for at least a couple of weeks from the looks of it.

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It is now locked on a chain back at the dock, but they have broken locks before. I don't know much about boats, but this was the last straw in ruining an already deteriorated transom. It seems like it is just two pieces of wood bolted onto both sides of the boat. It's only used for an outboard motor, and we only use oars, but there are holes where the bolts go through. Maybe they are high enough it won't matter. May add fixing a boat transom to my to-do list. My cousin likes to use the boat to go fishing when he visits and it has come in very handy on occasion. I would hate to just junk it.

Nobody went into the cabin as far as I can tell. Amazing.
 
No cats, Meanderer, but I think I figured out today why they left that boat in such an odd place---an awful spot to try to get out, up a steep bank.
Two bolts for the transom are only about 4 inches from the bottom of the boat. The wood has rotted completely and the bolts are loose.
It almost surely started taking on water as soon as they left the dock and they headed for the closest land.

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I should thank them for saving me the experience, or worse yet, my cousin. Yikes!! And they probably won't try to take it out again.
Wish I had a video of it. :devil:
 
I like this diary section because I can bring up unimportant things here. Many times I've figured out how to solve a problem just by typing in a would-be post, then deleting it. There's something about reasoning things out potentially in public that makes you more honest with yourself.

Finished our state and local taxes last weekend. Mine is not unreasonably complicated. By the time you get everything organized to take it somewhere, the hard part is done.
The IRS probably gets annoyed if you still send the forms in by snail mail. Mandatory online filing is probably just around the corner, but I can do that. More lost jobs and outsourcing
to tax preparers and software companies {sigh}.

Dentist appointment was Wednesday. Got the ball rolling for the implants for the bridge. I think it is the right thing to do, even though it will be expensive and time-consuming.
It will be a new adventure.

The bolts came out of the wood pieces on the boat transom easily. No damage at all. Internet says PT lumber will corrode aluminum. After marine plywood, outdoor plywood is next best. That's what was on there, it lasted 30 years with no care, and I have two scrap pieces in the basement. Decided to move boat up on to-do list because I may actually need it if I hire someone to replace the dam drainage system this summer. Besides it is a perfect project---if I mess it up, nothing will be ruined and I can just try it again.

There were only two things about this smartphone that made me not like it at first: (1) it is too slippery to hold, so got a silicon cover but it attracts dust, and (2) dropping calls due to ear hitting the End Call button. Found the setting that senses when it is close to your face and makes screen go black. They claim to have a case on Amazon that makes it work similar to a flip phone. I'll look into that. No need to remember to tote around a camera anymore because it's always with you, so....

Lower end of the pond looking at the dam. This will all be green in just a few more weeks:

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For GeorgiaXplant:

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Went out to the farm today
To check on a goat
And measure the boat
And put out some more winter hay....
:banana:


This is a picture of the *upper* end of the pond. It is down about 2 feet due to damaged drain standpipe. The maples are coming out (pink trees).

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It's almost 2 a.m. Good night!
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NancyNGA said:
For GeorgiaXplant:

The%2BOwl%2Band%2Bthe%2BPussycat%2B%2528%2528Final%2529.JPG



Went out to the farm today
To check on a goat
And measure the boat
And put out some more winter hay....
:banana:


This is a picture of the *upper* end of the pond. It is down about 2 feet due to damaged drain standpipe. The maples are coming out (pink trees).

upperlake2_zpsy4lxeqxo.gif


It's almost 2 a.m. Good night!
smiley-gen153.gif
Click to expand...

Really a lovely pond Nancy. I love ponds and really envy you. Send us a picture in a few weeks when the trees are just greening up.
 
Josiah said:
... I love ponds and really envy you. Send us a picture in a few weeks when the trees are just greening up.
Click to expand...

Will do. I think it's prettier in the winter. Not so much brush and weeds and you can see the lay of the land better. The place is full of old terraces made back during the depression. The guy that originally owned it was very poor and planted cotton anywhere he could find a plot. Some very narrow terraces on the sides of the hills. Maybe I can get a picture of that.

The lake is pretty but also has some downsides. Trespassers and complete strangers coming to ask if they can go fishing and swimming, almost before they say hello. If you say no, rumor then gets around that you are a mean person.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to make a decision about this property---is it worth the worry and expense to have two homes. There are the security issues and the maintenance issues. It makes me sad. I'm giving it until the end of summer before I even think about it, see how all the lawn mowing goes,;) but it's in the back of my mind always.

Then there are the goats.:(
 
Spent the afternoon yesterday vacuuming dust from my bedroom and the hallway. I'm talking serious dusting
on hands and knees going over the carpet with a very small attachment. Then left a room air filter running
all day. Woke up this morning with fewer head congestion problems in spite of the worst pollen day so far this year,
according to the paper. It might be that blown-in wall insulation is getting into the air ducts somehow.
On the other hand, it may just be because I don't dust often enough. :p

Picked up 24 forty-pound bags of timothy/alfalfa pellets for the goats today and stacked them in the garage.

Gave myself a curly perm tonight. Won't know how well it turned out until I wash it the first time.
You're supposed to wait 48 hours. hope for carefree hair for at least 6 weeks. Yes!

I believe I set April 1st as the deadline to finish the outhouse. Time was running short, so I cut some corners:

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Seriously, it has become a lower priority now. Don't think it would add much to the value
of the property.;) Haven't given up yet. Depends on how things go this summer.
 
Lol on the outhouse picture Nancy, I've seen similar things when exploring in the backwoods, lol. 24 forty pound bags is a workout for sure, just bringing home one with dog food is a mini workout. I don't envy you having to make a decision about that lovely property, it will be easier on you to let it go...but that decision will surely be bittersweet.
 
Everything is ready to fix the boat tomorrow. Treated the pieces of wood with linseed-oil-based wood preserver. Don't think I will cover it with polyurethane because the wood should breathe and it will be exposed to temps anywhere between 10F and 100F. I'll just keep a jar of wood preserver out there and paint it every year. If it lasts half as long as the last job
(30 years with no care whatsoever), that will be fine. I'll be 83 then. I've already got the next project lined up---a new ceiling light fixture in the bedroom.

This is what happens to cedar trees here in an ice storm.

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Two of these are next to my house. Planted them as babies and they provided cover to keep from looking right into the neighbor's windows, but you can never get them to straighten back up once they get this big. So this afternoon I cut them down {sniff} and loaded the branches in the truck. The goats might like them if they don't wilt too much. The back lawn weeds needed mowing badly, so I mowed half of it. The other half hasn't come out yet. It's mostly St Augustine. This is about as far north as you can go to grow St. Augustine. It won't be out until June.

Some flowers around the house in town. Native azaleas Rhododendron canescens
I brought this bush in from the farm. It has an unbelievably fragrant smell. Not as strong as magnolias or gardenias, but stronger than honeysuckle.

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A nursery azalea.

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These are coming out right now just in time for the Masters Tournament. They are so crazy about having the azaleas come out during the
tournament, one spring it was unusually warm and the groundskeepers piled dry ice around them to try to keep them from blooming.

I also have thrift and sweet shrubs blooming, but they don't take a good picture. The mockingbirds are going crazy now with their songs.
 

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