We have our own excellent place for brisk walking, right in front of our house, up five lots, and U turn, do 2-3 laps, and we figure that’s good for the back—not far, but just doggedly getting out and doing it, and being careful about chairs and such—and long sitting, so periodic turns about the garden. It’s a good thing we *didn’t* go, because conventions being what they are, you end up pushing yourself, because —good time!—or —I can do this!—and then you go back to your room and admit your back’s killing you. So she’s being sensible, measured activity, activity, then rest, and not climbing stairs and carrying things.
We’re ok. And we will definitely be at Miscon next year. We’re missing a Scotch-tasting party tomorrow. Sigh. But we’ll be in much better shape for Jane having sat this one out.
Thanks for all the good wishes.
If the atevi had a shuttle whose name was “Silver Cloud” in Mosphe, what would that be in Ragi, do you know?
Just out of curiosity, does the Reunion station of the Foreigner universe have any relation to the Reunion station of the Chanur universe? — you’ve probably been asked that question a gagillion times, but answer it one more time here, please, so that one might read the answer?
And under the heading “you are glad you don’t live in OK any more” — parts of TX and OK have had 20 inches (!) of rain this month so far. (There was a video on Weather.com of a guy riding his jet ski down the street in Chickasha, OK) We here in the flatlands have gotten 7.7 inches of rain this month so far, almost half our average yearly rainfall of 16 inches, just in this one month! And the month isn’t over yet!
Mmm. Have to think on that one.
Re Reunion, nope. no connection. 😉
My brother moved out of Texas and into Oklahoma—has a house not the highest on his block, though not at the bottom of the hill—and the rains put 18 gallons of water (he was dumping them from uptake in a wet-dry vac) across the patio threshold onto his livingroom floor, while his patio drains were taking in all they could and he was using a broom and pond net to try to sweep the water to the side, with a pump and 1″ hose doing its best to clear the patio.
I proposed digging a foot square pit, lining it with stone and screen and putting a much more potent 2000 gph pump in there during such events: 2000 gph would output about a gallon a second down a 3″ hose or pipe, headed past his house. Not cheap, but it sure beats what happened.
We had 5 inches overnight here in Tulsa. We’ve been through the water in the ductwork before and have a french drain. It’s a gravity feed down the hill across a neighbour’s yard and has been draining for a week or so. Another place we have has a pump to get it out into the street. We’re on a very deep clay bed just here.
Some number of mayor’s ago the then mayor made a concerted effort to widen and concrete the creek beds in town and built retention ponds along them. The ponds are used as soccer and football fields when not full of water. It’s been a win-win situation. Of course, that mayor didn’t last long, spent too much money!
Didn’t I hear of a drought in Texas? [gd&r]
We did have a notable drought, one year and the next, now a few years ago. Exceedingly high summer temps and no rain for weeks and weeks. It affected all of central and southern Texas, lowering lake and river levels, city reservoirs, and so on.
For going on a month and a half now, we have had lots and lots of rain and unseasonably cooler weather for April and May. This morning at around 9:30am, I went outside to do something and hey, it felt like the lower 70’s, possibly near upper 60’s. For daytime here in late spring / early summer, you understand, that is very, very odd. It’s generally in the 90’s to mid 90’s by now, during the day.
I am not complaining. We need the rain. We could use the cooler temps. It’s bound to be good for the plants and crops and wildlife and people working outdoors. Without a working A/C compressor, I really welcome the cooler temps. But I may have to get two patches in my roof. Eek, expensive. I can’t yet: paying off debts / back taxes. Waah.
Jet ski in Chickasha, OK? Oh, that’s just bizarre. Climate change or weird anomaly, either way, whoa! Understand, I’m used to seeing Oklahoma as vast stretches of red dirt land with, if you’re lucky, very scrubby grass clinging to it. (I have relatives in Norman and Duncan.)
BCS: Not vast stretches of red dirt here in the east of the state. Rolling hills and trees, generally.
What I heard, the reason for all the rain is we’re supposed to be having a strong El Niño year. If you are without an A/C, ceiling fans should be spinning counter clockwise. If you don’t have ceiling fans, free standing fans are good. I just got a great fan ( http://www.laskoproducts.com/34-compact-power-pedestal-fan-model-s08590/ )for my living room which does not have a ceiling fan (or a ceiling light fixture either — it’s wired for lamps). Because the thermostat is in the hallway, the A/C has to be cranked up to “congeal” in order for it to be comfortable in that room, which makes it way too cold in the rest of the apartment. But with a fan in the living room, I can keep the thermostat set to keep the bedrooms comfortable without it being too hot in the living room. It’s a very quiet fan, also. The actual fan part is small, which works well for my 12 x 12 living room, which has a big, west-facing window.
OT:”How’s that working for you?” (Dr Phil)
“ECB’s Draghi urges euro zone to unite for economic reform — European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has urged euro zone countries to unite in the task of reforming the bloc’s economies, saying sharing sovereignty was an opportunity and not a threat.”
“Shi’ite militias advance on Islamic State insurgents near Ramadi”
I’ve already mentioned the touch of Asperger’s I inherited gave me a quirky brain well adapted to emotionless analysis. It’s my experience “teachers” are everywhere if we’re only willing to learn. So looking at Europe’s divisions, more so in Iraq divided between Shia and Sunni who will not unite, I’m taking a lesson applicable to THIS politically divided country. Divison is not beneficial, cooperation is. But that’s just me.
p.s. That said, I also believe Rogers’ Third Law: There is no such thing as teaching, there is only learning.
I like the Romanish saying, “Even the greatest fool has something to teach you; pay attention and learn”!
I learned something about teaching from the most disagreeable teachers I ever had. I learned what I didn’t want to do to my students.
I learned the same things about management from bosses I couldn’t leave fast enough; “Don’t let the screen door hit you in the butt as you go!” Hopefully I’m applying those lessons properly these days.
For those not dealing with gallons of water, the carpet rakes that have a squeegee on the flip side are very helpful. I have what I think of as industrial size squeegee to use in my basement. It seeps and the low spot is not at the drain. If it is a large bit of water, get the huge one (industrial size) that you buy the separate handle for. I used to go to a church where the basement had water problems (bad sump pump) and they had a few on hand. Wet dry vacs are nice, but I found I can scoop water faster with a deep dust pan and a bucket. Another idea is an old carpet shampooer. Used that in the basement, too.
The carpet rakes such as the Everholder Fur Remover broom, really do help with dog hair. It was one of those as seen on TV things when I got mine. I’ve had it so long, I have no idea what brand it was.
This weekend I had a pinched nerve in the lower spine causing pins & needles sensations on the sole of my left foot–at the 3rd-4th “metatarsophalangeal joints”. So I began taking my 400mg Etodolac, breakfast and dinner. That helped.
But simultaneously I had just gotten a canker sore on the lower edge of my tongue. Nothing treats canker sores, just live with the pain for a week or two! That’s the standard medical treatment. As soon as I started the NSAID, the pain AND ULCER of the canker sore began resolving!!! “Thank you, Jesus!” OK, that makes some sense. That has to be inflamatory. I’m about done with the foot sensations, so I’ll see if the canker sore comes back. I’m going to try that again in a few months when I get another one, believe it!
No good place to put this, so I’m putting it here. The mother-in-law has passed on. I am glad that I no longer feared her. Her passing leaves me feeling tired and vague, but I can summon no tears.
:hugs: Tommie. Sorry to hear of this. It can be difficult to know how you feel or why, when there’s been a difficult relationship there, even if it became more positive.
As much as I loved my grandmother, the years taking care of her, and the difficulties because of it (both of us stubborn and me a chip off the old block) — that, and her prolonged illness and the effects it had on our relationship… I had essentially already mourned her before she was gone. I ended up so very drained from it all at the last. In some ways, I was OK, but in others, I know I’m still affected some. In all honesty, I was more (dis-)-affected by other people’s (very) bad behavior and their drifting away, over those years or after.
So, my sympathies. Of course, your path is different and bears its own rough spots.
Take care of yourself and well, one can hope your mother-in-law is in a better place, whatever there is in that next-door world, past a dimension we can’t quite grasp. One can hope she’s at peace now and you and those others who care about her will feel better soon.
Life is so very strange at times, and yet at others, it can be wonderful.
Meanwhile, Smokey, unaware, is much amused by the rattle of a crinkly cellophane window envelope he’s “liberated” from the edge of the wastebasket. LOL. … If only we all could be so happy so simply. — But note that both cats prefer usually to be right with me in the same room. They have their way about them.
(Oh, I wish I were as truly Zen as that sounds. I am not. I’m a mess, a lot of the times. I’d like to think, though, I’m OK enough for company. 😉 )
In this light, the undisclosed store of the Tathagata is proclaimed: “All beings have the Buddha-Nature”.
A monk asked Zhaozhou Congshen, a Chinese Zen master (known as Jōshū in Japanese), “Has a dog Buddha-nature or not?” Zhaozhou answered, “Wú” (in Japanese, Mu). [No!]
No, not “a mess”. Perhaps neglectful of “taking care of business”, lazy in the face of what needs to be done, willful in choosing directions, because you wouldn’t have used such a term if you weren’t aware of how things “should be” different. I’m not talking about imagining some fantasy–nor do I think you were–but about the realm of possibility.
Indecision is when one doesn’t want to do what one knows one should do. It’s ridiculous because in the end one does what one wanted to do all along–should never wins that argument. But it exacts its due in the frustration of indecision. By knowing what one should do and doing it freely, one never pays that toll.
“The”? No, not that.
Tommie, very sorry for your loss. My own MiL and I have more or less worked things out; for several years, she was convinced I actively disliked her (not the case). We still occasionally disagree, but the edges have worn smooth over time. It’s perfectly okay to be ambiguous about someone’s passing, especially if you had never quite resolved your differences.
Tommie, wishing you peace with it all.
I could not like/love her, but something fine and bright has passed out of the world…
I’m sorry, Tommie, you can blame it on my Asperger’s–we do such things, but even if she may have been a problem for you, don’t you think she deserves the recognition of “My mother in law”? It’s not for her, not for your partner, it’s for you! It will lighten a burden. It’s a release.
I will be going so as to pay her due respect. She was in many ways an outstanding person. I named three of my four surviving children for her, and even the one who lives in Australia will try to come.
I suspect that there will be governmental officials as well as ranking members of the Japanese military at the services. I do not know whether it will be my husband as her son, or my son as the male descendant who carries her family name who will inherit her baronial income, or if it will revert to the crown. These sticky circumstances make it a nervous time, but I will be there and perform as best I can.
Mom’s other grandson also has Asperger’s. Knowing him, I think that it must run in my family, as we have a great many persons of similar affect, and consider his behavior outright normal…
@Tommie, That would be a good time to lay down the burden and acknowledge her, “She was my mother in law”, without emphasis if you prefer. Let the resentment go, exhale, nirvana. It’s not only the Christian, but Buddhist thing to do.
(Whoever he may be… 😉 )
—
p.s. There is evidence some Asperger’s is a gene duplication, which can mean a deletion on the homologous pair. My sister and I are on opposite ends of the Asperger’s Quotient, and I am very like my father–everybody said so, to his chagrin.
p.p.s. Not overjoyed by the way the smiles are rendering lately. Harder to see.
@Tommie Trying to be tricky here, I am! (And not trying to add to “tribbleations”.) 😉 Reply to an old post swallowed by the spam filter, and no longer a “Recent Comment”. Tommie, see the one just above.
p.s. A David Gerrold wrote “The Trouble with Tribbles”. Same guy?
p.p.s. Don’t try to use “blockquote”!
There is an old story told in Zen practice.
Two monks were on a pilgrimage. One day, they came to a deep river. At the edge of the river, a young woman sat weeping, because she was afraid to cross the river without help. She begged the two monks to help her. The younger monk turned his back. The members of their order were forbidden to touch a woman.
But the older monk picked up the woman without a word and carried her across the river. He put her down on the far side and continued his journey. The younger monk came after him, scolding him and berating him for breaking his vows. He went on this way for a long time.
Finally, at the end of the day the older monk turned to the younger one. “I only carried her across the river. You have been carrying her all day.”
Before enlightenment, chop wood, draw water; after enlightenment, chop wood, draw water.