Scattered Thoughts . . .

I struggle with a wide variety of symptoms as a result of my illness, Systemic Mastocytosis... anaphylaxis and losing consciousness for no known reason... breathing problems... flushing... tachycardia... gastro-intestinal problems... nausea... abdominal pain/cramping... vomiting... dizziness... overwhelming fatigue... pain in areas where mast cells are degranulating... neurological issues (tingling, buzzing, tremors, twitching, numbness, weakness) due to mast cells degranulating near nerves and/or the brain... vision issues... cognitive difficulties... rashes (oftentimes so painful they feel like a bundle of nerves are exposed on my skin)... etc. I can't handle environments warmer than around 74 degrees for longer than 15-20 minutes without experiencing anaphylaxis (cooling techniques help for short periods of time in moderately hot environments). If I eat foods which are naturally high in histamine, I experience terrible gastro-intestinal issues and possibly anaphylaxis within m

When I first unboxed my new Kindle Fire HDX 8.9", I immediately noticed how light it is compared to my much older 7" Kindle Fire. It was even lighter and thinner than Sheila's 7" Kindle Fire HD. We were immediately excited by this revelation! The back of the Kindle Fire with the Poetic GraphGrip soft rubber case. As I tried to hold my new Kindle Fire in one hand, my excitement waned a little bit. The surface of the Kindle is smooth on all sides so getting a good grip on it is difficult. Two-handed operation was a piece of cake but one-handed was a bit dangerous. This 8.9" tablet is a bit wide for even my rather large hands to securely hold the opposing edges in one hand. I figured that maybe I just need to get used to handling this newer, larger Kindle Fire. After a week of use, I can honestly say that I did indeed get used to handling this tablet with one hand. Then again, I do have larger-than-average hands. I still felt I should protect my new tab

For the past year and a half, I've been a very happy user of the original version of the Kindle Fire 7" tablet. This tablet was useful for so many reasons... it housed my complete magazine library, it also housed my complete book library, it provided a beautiful and easy way to show photos, it held all my maps and travel guides in one place at my fingertips, it allowed me to browse the internet quickly and easily, and my old, trusty Kindle Fire allowed me to watch movies, listen to music, play videos, etc. All in all, this trusty, first-generation old dog served its purpose and it served well. So, if my original Kindle served its purpose and served well, why did I feel the need to upgrade?  Only two reasons...  size of the screen and storage capacity. As you will see as you read more of what I have written below, there are many valid reasons to have upgraded but the two aforementioned reasons were my justification for upgrading. As I age and as my health deteriorates (b

Ever since this systemic mastocytosis illness has taken ahold of my body (read death grip), I have struggled with overwhelming fatigue. Overwhelming fatigue... First, I think I need to explain what qualifies as overwhelming fatigue.  This is fatigue which is so severe that it affects my ability to think clearly and make simple decisions...  It is a fatigue so severe that it is difficult to mindlessly hold something lightweight such as a book or magazine or my Kindle Fire tablet long enough to even begin the task of reading...  It is a fatigue which makes reading comprehension frustratingly impossible...  It is a fatigue so severe that my legs feel like mushy goo making walking short distances difficult to impossible...  It is fatigue so severe that I could fall asleep within mere seconds at any moment, even while standing, and then sleep for a solid 4-12 hours...  It is a fatigue which is so severe that it makes my normal triggers (for systemic mastocytosis episodes) beco

Although I have no children of my own... and, I am a guy... I bought myself a Mother's Day gift! (Admittedly, I have been called a 'mother' on occasion but that really has nothing to do with Mother's Day... I'll leave those stories for storytelling times with friends in a pub...) Yesterday, Amazon sent me an email letting me know of their Mother's Day sale on their Kindle Fire tablets. I have been closely following the price of the Fire HDX 8.9" since it was released last autumn so I always welcome news of a good sale. Not only did Amazon offer $40 off the price, but they also offered an interest-free payment plan. I couldn't resist the temptation of this pricing. I've been using the original Kindle Fire tablet for a little over a year now.  I had bought Sheila the new Kindle Fire HD 7" for Christmas a year ago and I subsequently inherited her old Kindle Fire 7".  This original Kindle Fire had served its purpose but is a bit sluggish b

The past two days were relatively productive days for me for a much needed change. I still ran out of energy within a few hours each day but I managed to get a few things accomplished. I feel as though I have not been 'productive' since I built our fireplace in December so this was a much appreciated and refreshing change to have a couple of productive mornings this week! The weather was nice so I was able to pull the table saw out of the shed so I could cut some wood. I have to admit, however, that just collecting tools was almost enough of an energy drain that I needed to call it a day.  I managed to slow down enough to keep up enough energy to make it until lunchtime. After that, I was so spent that just the simple act of putting tools away was impossible. Yesterday morning I did a little bit of staining... typically, this doesn't affect me too badly but yesterday was an exception. While I was cleaning my brush, my tongue started tingling and then, within a few momen

We finally managed to see some sunshine today! This is something we have not seen here in Waterbury in such a long time that I felt as though I was in a foreign land on a foreign planet! Seeing sunshine and deep blue skies hasn't occurred in so long that it truly appeared as strange as a mint green sky.  It was a perfect day to finally get a few projects accomplished outdoors. Unfortunately, my health was not cooperating so I stayed indoors and tried to recover. My health started heading south late last night after a very filling dinner. I certainly know better than to eat too much (this is one of my triggers for anaphylaxis and gastro-instestinal issues too disgusting to describe here) but dinner was a delicious prime rib and I could not help myself. Nausea set in... some bad cramping... a number of visits to the bathroom... a gurgling stomach all night long... anti-nausea medications were necessary as were extra H2 blockers to help stabilize my health before I crashed into ana

Today was a beautiful sunny day for a change! The sky was crystal clear and you could see for miles. This has not happened in such a long time that I actually felt as though I was in a foreign land! After shooting a few quick snapshots of our visiting garter snake (previous post), I noticed the moon in the sky. The moon was behind some branches with some wisps of very small clouds in the sky around it. Naturally, I couldn't resist shooting a few photos of this half moon in the twilight blue sky. My plan was to shoot a color version of this moon so I could capture the twilight blue sky so that is how I set all the settings on my camera... I propped myself against a lamp post... and fired a few shots. It seemed as though I shot a few decent shots which captured some nice detail on the moon while still retaining the twilight blue sky.  As I was processing this color shot of the moon (using my digital darkroom...  my computer), I accidentally selected a quick conversion to bl

We don't get to see too many snakes in Vermont but tonight we were greeted by a rather small slithering visitor when we arrived back home after a trip to the grocery store.  Our visitor was lying completely still in our driveway... perhaps trying to look like a stick, which he did! He coiled up as Sheila prodded him trying to get him to move from our driveway before someone squashed him but was moving rather slowly in our very cool climate. Sheila feared our little garter snake would get run over by Adam when he arrived home from work later in the evening so she picked him up and moved him to one of our bare wildflower gardens.  The last time I had seen any snake in Vermont was probably more than 10 years ago in my backyard on the river. That, too, was a garter snake but easily twice the size of our current little visitor. I would say that winters are simply too long and too rough for a large snake population here in Vermont but the rugged Adirondack Mountains to our west,

As many of you know, we are planning a short trip to Dayton, Ohio because I am being honored at The National Museum of the US Air Force. In planning this trip, I have been looking at hotels (easily found one... our favorite in the Dayton area) and some local attractions to keep us busy.  I had lived in Dayton for about seven or eight years so I know the area fairly well including the history and local attractions  (as long as my memory is having a good day and I am not struggling with any of my typical mast cell disease 'brain fog') . I just need to verify the attractions we want to see are still open and what days/hours they are open. Dayton was once a thriving small midwestern city but the economy for the past 15-20 years has actually caused a bit of a depression for this beautiful, historic area of our country which has adversely affected many businesses and attractions.   If I had the money and were able to just pack up and move, I would move to this area of the country