Scattered Thoughts . . .

I've had debilitating ankle pain for the past 11 days now. The first few days I could not even put any weight whatsoever on my left foot. Since then, I've been hobbling and limping around with a cane. Needless to say, very little has been accomplished around here for the past week and a half. A few days ago I wrote that I realized that I probably injured some nerves while working on the waste plumbing for a new bathroom that I am trying to install. There is no doubt that I was hard on my ankles while crouching on the floor and sitting on my feet on an uneven, unfinished wood floor. I was also crouched down in a tight crawl space for part of the plumbing project. These activities were no help to my ankles, knees, shins and lower back, that is for certain. This morning when I awoke, my ankle pain seemed to get a little bit worse again. It was raining out and the moist rain always affects my bones and joints since I've been struggling with Systemic Mastocytosis (or perhaps

For more than a week, I've had severe ankle pain which has left me unable to walk without aid for most of the week. I am now limping around but that pain is still constant. I've had my ankle elevated everyday and I am taking a maximum-allowed dose of an anti-inflammatory medication for the maximum-allowed time. The only side effect thus far is just a bit of drowsiness but that is hardly worth mentioning since I can't do much else anyway. So, what has caused this severe, disabling pain in my ankle?   I often struggle with terrible, debilitating bone and joint pain so this is more than likely contributing to my current problem with my ankle. Now that the pain in my ankle has waned slightly, there is no doubt that in addition to my ankle pain, I am also struggling with my usual debilitating bone and joint pain. The ankle pain was so severe in the beginning that it masked most other pain in other areas of my body. These regular bouts of bone and joint pain are very typica

As most of you know, Adam has been in the process of enlisting in the US Air Force. I had mentioned in previous blog posts that standards had risen considerably in recent months but didn't give many details. I think I'll take a little time to list some of the disqualifying factors that today's young adults face when attempting to enlist in the US Air Force. I recently read that more than 90% of potential recruits are disqualified in the initial telephone interview. NINETY PERCENT DISQUALIFIED before they even get into the recruiter's office! Here are some of the reasons for being disqualified immediately: - Prior arrests (whether convicted or not) - No high school diploma - Overweight - Prior drug use - ADHD/ADD diagnosis, especially use of ADHD/ADD drugs - Tattoos - Piercings - Moving motor vehicle violations - Certain allergies - Responsible for more than two dependents. Single parent recruits with less than two dependents must apply for a waiver

This week a new chapter has begun in Adam's life journey.  Now 18 years old, a Cadet/Chief Master Sergeant in the Civil Air Patrol/Air Force Auxiliary, a student pilot, and a hardware store sales associate, Adam is now in the process of enlisting in the US Air Force.   Adam has had two meetings with the recruiter this week with another meeting scheduled for tomorrow. He has already submitted his 120 page application. Next week is a visit to MEPS. For those unfamiliar with military acronyms, MEPS is the Military Entrance Processing Station. He will spend a couple of busy days there on an active base for his medical exam, more interviews, a written exam and some psych and physical testing.  At this point things are progressing very quickly for Adam. This is the "hurry-up" stage which will probably last another week or so. This "hurry-up" stage is always followed by a grueling "wait" stage. This two-stage cycle will be the everyday mantra for his new

Those of us struggling with Systemic Mastocytosis, and all its variants, have to contend daily with a long list of symptoms. These symptoms are sometimes mild and sometimes debilitating. The symptoms can affect my legs one day and my brain the next. Sometimes symptoms are neurological in nature and sometimes they are affecting my organs. Sometimes symptoms affect my gastro-intestinal tract and sometimes symptoms affect my skin like a burning, hyper-sensitive rash. Sometimes the symptoms can be widespread throughout my body all at the same time. There seems to be little rhyme or reason to it. One common symptom which can be relatively mild or excruciatingly debilitating is bone and joint pain. Today has been excruciatingly debilitating with this far too typical bone and joint pain.  All my long bones hurt... this is a deep pain felt to the core of my body. All my joints feel like they are being stabbed particularly when using them. Even opening a previously opened jar is so painful

When Windows 8 was first released two years ago, I must admit that I found the user interface a bit flat-looking and difficult to navigate. I would try it out at our local stores and always left feeling frustrated because I couldn't figure out how to move around within this new operating system. Well, about two weeks ago, my main desktop computer croaked suddenly. This computer was my main workhorse for graphics, art and photography so it takes much more of a beating than most people's computers. The computer was suddenly non-responsive. It didn't even sound right to me. To make a long story short, I needed a new computer and I needed it as quickly as possible. Two weeks later, I finally have a new desktop computer up and running and configured for my own needs.  I had the option of buying another computer with Windows 7 or I could opt for the newer Windows 8. It really seemed silly to be buying a new computer with a considerably older operating system so I did some

The kids visited us a couple of weeks ago and, as always, we had a nice time. We're overdue for a visit with them again but the house has been a dangerous construction zone the past couple of weeks. Grammy read them a book and then they started watching "Nemo" ... It didn't take long before they were both snoozing and drooling on the couch. Once they fell asleep, I grabbed my camera to get a few shots of the sun falling on their faces during their naps...

Last weekend, I decided it was time to tackle the most difficult part of the waste plumbing project for our new half bathroom. Designing this plumbing was a bit of a challenge because of the very tight, cramped quarters. Not only is everything very close together providing little room for pipes to change directions, but there was very little room to work! Part of my struggles with Systemic Mastocytosis includes cognitive difficulties as well so this hindered my ability to effectively design a drainage plan for this new bathroom.  I must have been having an unusually good day a few weeks ago when I finally was able to clearly envision what I needed to do and I was able to sketch some plans. What is photographed here wass the first part of this project... cutting into the existing waste line and installing a new waste line with fittings for the new toilet, pedestal lavatory, our washing machine, and two new plumbing vents to the roof... all in a very tiny space!  I'm no small

I've been really busy with adding a small half bath to the house lately. Unfortunately, I still have my regular bouts with quite lousy health too. The combination of these two things leaves little time nor energy to get anything else accomplished around the house. One thing I've let go over the past couple of weeks is the lawn. I had some really crappy health yesterday which kept me very close to the bathroom all day so that means it was very difficult to have a productive day. Even on a relatively "good" day, I am only capable of a couple of hours of work at about half speed, at best. On fairly lousy days, I'm lucky if I can clean myself and cook for myself so simple household chores get put on hold quite regularly because of my health. On miserable days, I can do nothing and just walking to and from the bathroom requires more energy than I have to spare. This morning I felt halfway decent and the weather was nice and cool (my health crashes rather quickl

I am still recovering from our outing in Burlington over the weekend for the Vintage Boat Show. At this point I'm not sure which is bothering me more... my usual Systemic Mastocytosis health issues, the overwhelming fatigue from missing a nap while being fairly active or that gash and bruising on my right forearm. I think it is a three-way tie. Although my arm is still throbbing at times (especially since I seem to be knocking it into everything), I am beginning to feel more like myself. There have already been a million supermoon photos posted online but I wanted to add a few more to the mix. Unfortunately, I had a hard time keeping the camera steady because of my health, tremors/twitching in my right hand for days now, and this bruised, throbbing arm.  Compounding these obstacles is the fact that I lost my main workhorse of a computer which I use primarily for art and photography. Until I find the money to buy a new graphics computer, there will be no more digital darkroom no