Scattered Thoughts . . .

I 've been keeping an eye on the extended weather forecast since we're hoping to be able to view the solar eclipse in April.   As expected, the forecast is not looking good for any sort of astronomy around the 8th of April.  I'm not surprised in the least because this is typical for our neck of the woods at this time of year but I am a bit disappointed. Of the 30 days in April, it appears as though only three days might be suitable for astronomy...  the 13th, 15th and 16th.   The forecast is showing it will likely be -Clear- on these days but just because the skies are clear doesn't mean the skies will be steady for astronomy.  Of course astronomy is completely dependent upon a cloudless sky...  we can't magically see through clouds but astronomy is also severely affected by air currents and convection currents as well as clouds that are not in the visible spectrum.  Clouds in the infrared spectrum can also negatively impact the quality of the skies for astronomy. 

I never did finish writing about our Christmas trip to Manhattan so I should try to get back to that now since I am feeling well enough to write at the moment.   I came home from Manhattan with COVID and have been struggling with this virus and complications since then.  (We are now a week into March!)   As if that hasn't been enough to knock me down, I'm also now dealing with a significant re-injury to my extensive spinal injuries which may or may not be related to long-COVID inflammation.  I've had problems with COVID inflammation in other bouts of COVID so I'm leaning toward this spinal problem being triggered by the same.   So, for more than two months, I have been mostly couch-bound.  Needless to say, I never did finish writing about our trip to Manhattan with Lukey and Kenzie.  I'll get back to that now. Our pre-Christmas trip to Manhattan was so long ago at this point that I've forgotten about many of the details of this trip.  Maybe some of the details

F or the past few years, I've been going back and forth on whether to purchase a little mount and tripod that can automatically track the sun.  This upcoming solar eclipse nudged me to go ahead and purchase this little piece of gear of convenience.  The solar eclipse happens very quickly so any automated gear will help.  I want to get as many exceptional photos as possible during this very short couple of minutes and this will likely be my last total solar eclipse of my lifetime. This mount with its lightweight tripod is quite small and lightweight which is nice.  Another nice feature is that it is relatively inexpensive for an automatic tracking mount.   This particular mount is made by Skywatcher and is called the SolarQuest.  After leveling this mount, you simply turn it on.  It will automatically connect to satellites to attain the necessary GPS data and then it will slew to the sun automatically and begin tracking the sun.  You can't get easier than that! This nice little

T his morning, Sheila and I picked up her dad so we could drive him to the airport.  He's heading to DeSantisland for a long visit with some family, friends and Disney.  This part of our trip went relatively well but it was not without a few concerning problems. While I was moving my medications and ice packs to the car for our drive northward toward Burlington, my right leg kept buckling under me.  In an instant, periodically, I was briefly losing the ability to control my leg.  This worsened the longer we were away from home.  Losing control of your legs when you have a spinal issue is not a good thing.  It is not good physically.  It is not good mentally.  It is not good emotionally.  This was a new development that is a bit concerning.   Unfortunately, I've been down this road before when I was originally recovering from my first and second line-of-duty spinal injuries.  At times various times after my injuries, I could not move my legs nor could I walk.  Regardless, this p

I am still in significant pain but I'm now managing to accomplish a few small things for very short durations each day.  It hurts to do anything but I'm getting up off the couch a few times each day.  Although the pain is still rather brutal, I have started on some very light physical therapy which should help in my recovery. My spinal injuries are another one of those things where I get knocked down and sent back to square one far too often.  This is definitely one of those times.  Actually, this time around, the pain is so bad and so consistent that it is reminding me of my original line-of-duty injury.  Things were bad after both my first and second line-of-duty spinal injuries so it is a bit frustrating to be back at this point 25 years ago once again.   25 years ago, the physical therapy required to walk fairly normally again was intense...  eight hours a day, five days a week, for six weeks.  After the six weeks, the amount of time in physical therapy each day tapered of

T he pain from my spine and down my right leg that has been keeping me couchbound over the past couple of weeks is slowly improving but I am still mostly couchbound.   I've managed to wander the house for very short periods today.  I even was able to sit at the piano for very short sessions last night and today.  Almost all of my days, however, are still spent on the couch swapping out ice packs.   I managed to stay in bed for eight hours last night.  I eventually got up at 5am so I could take my morning dose of medications and put some ice on my spine.   Late last night, I switched to taking Dual Action Advil and then I took it once this morning.  It is clear to me that this stuff is only a fraction as good as Aleve for me.  I don't think I'll be use the Advil again.  That was a complete waste of money and it cost me a bit in pain.  I'll be going back to Aleve with my bedtime dose of medications.   This evening, I was able to feel around along my spine to figure out th

I' m still couchbound due to excruciating pain. The pain started a bit over a week ago.  The pain wasn't terrible in those first few days but, by the weekend, the pain was unbearable.  Sunday was the worst day with constant pain in the seven to nine out of ten range.  Saturday and Monday were pretty much equal with constant pain in the six to eight range.   Tuesday and Wednesday (so far) have been only slightly better with constant pain in the five to seven range.  The pain gets up to a seven when I do some walking or when I delay taking some Aleve or aspirin for the whole night. On Saturday, I finally resorted to throwing some Aleve at this pain.  I took one Aleve in the morning and then one Aleve at bedtime.  I hardly slept at all due to the pain and, by Sunday morning, the pain was worse.  On Sunday, I alternated between Aleve and aspirin all through the day, every four hours.   By Monday, I was feeling a mild improvement although I was still couchbound and not able to get a

B y mid-week last week, I started using my cane because my lumbar spinal pain was making it difficult to walk.  I would also get stabbing pains in the tops of my feet that would hit me like lightning.  At the time, my constant pain level was in the four to five out of ten range.   Unfortunately, this pain did not pass quickly...  definitely not as quickly as I would like.  By the weekend, my pain level increased to the unbearable seven to eight range.  I could not get comfortable.  I couldn't sleep.  I couldn't do anything.  The pain was constantly unbearable. I took two Aleves on Saturday but they didn't touch the pain.  I got no relief whatsoever.  The pain continued to get worse into the night.  By 1:30am, even dozing for a few minutes was impossible.  Getting to the bathroom in the wee hours of Sunday morning was unbearably excruciating.  All day Sunday, the pain was well in the eight to eight-plus range.   On Saturday and Sunday, I used an ice pack on my lumbar spine a

I had a relatively good day today for a change.  I slept about nine hours last night so I'm sure that helped considering I have not been sleeping well due to excruciating bone pain.  My bone pain has subsided to tolerable levels so that allowed me to get some much needed sleep.   Since I was feeling relatively well this morning, I managed to do some maintenance on a photography tripod head which is perhaps the most I've accomplished in any day since developing COVID in Manhattan before Christmas.  So, it was a pretty good day for a change. Tonight, however, I have a fever of 100.4° and that is not so good.   I've been see-sawing back and forth with fevers a few times a week for the past month.  In the previous month of COVID, I had a solid fever and I consistently tested positive for the virus.  I'm no longer testing positive but the fevers are still coming and going along with a few other problem symptoms.   My energy is still quite low.  As I've mentioned in a pr

This week has been quite brutal.   My usual bone pain has recently moved to a level so painful that I, myself, am unable to touch my long bones especially my femurs and tibias.  At rest, the pain is in the seven out of ten range.  When I lightly touch my femur or tibia, the pain skyrockets off the charts.   I'm also overwhelmingly exhausted.  I slept half the morning today and most of the afternoon.  My excruciating level of pain isn't helping me get some useful rest at all, of course. My breathing hasn't been the best either which also adds to the fatigue problem.   My fevers continue to come and go too.   Needless to say, I'm not accomplishing much of anything over the past couple of months.  When things get this bad, I attempt to do a lot of research so that is what I have been doing most of my waking time.  Well...  most of my waking time (which isn't much time at all) is probably spent preparing and cooking meals followed by the time spent researching.  I'v