Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Five years ago when I was moving, I'd have gone to California if money had been no object: the natural beauty, the climate, and family there made it one of my favorite places. But Indiana, being far cheaper, became my new home--and I'm glad money was an object. Part of the reason is their overregulation. But t hose executive orders California's governor has been writing with regard to COVID--over 50 of them!--have been voided in court . The governor ignored the state's separation of powers, a tenet of our system of government that keeps power from being concentrated and keeps our government from being tyrannical--or at least stops it in progress.  Meanwhile, the mayor of Denver, my hometown, issued a 10 PM curfew punishable by fine . The mayor said it's not a curfew and it's not a law enforcement order. It's obviously a curfew enforced by law, and useless, too, as I know of no evidence that the virus is more likely to spread at night. Most gatherings there w

While much of the country is probably suffering through too much cortisol, I think I am finally making enough. I quit taking it a few days ago when my face started getting puffy, I gained a couple of pounds that wouldn't budge, and I noticed my heart beating a few times: those are clear signs of overdoing hydrocortisone. I'm feeling back to normal now and my face doesn't look like the Pillsbury dough boy.  What finally brought this about? It could be that about a month ago, I really started cleaning up my diet. I haven't been perfect, but I stopped going out for lunch at work and getting anything from the deli except meat, cheese and roast chickens. I stopped buying chocolate chips under the pretense of making low-carb cookies. I also bumped up my kelp tablets to four per day and added L. casei shirota bacteria to my yogurt. After some five years, when I went through an incredible amount of stress with parents, relatives who were worse than useless in helping with thei

Home Improvement Projects I'm finally finished painting. There are still a few places where water is getting in during rain storms; I'll be darned if I know where how it's getting in. On the next warm, dry day (we get a few in Indiana during the fall and winter), I'll go around with a fresh can of foam when the wood is dry and hope for the best.  My garage and vegetable garden. The window sill and the front door on my house are fixed, too. The sill, facing west, got badly weather beaten; the door is just old. I fixed the rot at the bottom of the door, put on a new sweep and numbers, painted the door and spray-painted the hinges with Rust-oleum. The deadbolt broke and I had to do quite a bit of retrofitting to install a new one. I bought and used a wood chisel to make room for a new strike plate. I think I learned how to use one in junior high shop class--one of those "useless" classes going by the wayside--but oddly, I don't remember what project I used it

I had a pleasant surprise when I got out the sawzall today to finish repairs on the front door. Not the way it cut the new door sweep--I probably should have used the jigsaw. It was how easy it was to put the blade in. You have to turn a part on the saw, which I could barely do two months ago when I had nails to cut off . Today--probably thanks to spending my spare time since August working saws, sanders and paintbrushes--it was no harder than turning a knob on the stove.  So I've built up some strength in my hands and probably elsewhere, but my adrenals aren't keeping up with cortisol production. After a day's work (well, three or four hours, to be honest), my neck, back, jaws, and sinuses all hurt and they don't feel better until use a dab of hydrocortisone. Other pain relievers don't help much. This isn't normal muscle stiffness--the kind you get from working out--it feels like I'm inflamed. Last weekend in particular, after a flu shot and a few days of p

Something has finally gone right in this one-thing-after-another season of home repair.  The other week, a kitchen electrical outlet went out. This week, it was the microwave. It started zapping like there was metal in it, so I decided to replace it. As a good citizen, I took it to Recycle Force, a nonprofit that recycles electronics. The place is hard to find--it's on a winding, unmarked road that looks like it's part of a different road, and today, the road was closed for construction. After a couple of two-mile trips circling back around--I was not coming back home with the microwave--I saw a little detour sign by an alley, took the detour up over some train tracks, and saw Recycle Force's sign. At least getting rid of the microwave was easier than replacing the bad outlet. It hasn't rained for weeks here, but since it's supposed to Sunday night, I decided I'd better get the garage primed Friday night so I could paint Saturday and give the paint plenty of ti

How soy makes me feel. Fatigue, puffiness, hunger--these have been keeping me from getting much done the past few weeks. It was discouraging after I felt so well at the end of August. But when I took a look at what I was eating (Atkins bars), I saw they were full of soy protein. Soy is a thyroid inhibitor--just what I don't need. So I quit the Atkins bars and ate more real food, but got a few things from the deli. Hey, more fatty food is good, right? Not when it gives you...more fatigue, puffiness and hunger. The broccoli cheese soup and cole slaw were made with soybean oil. Into the trash they went. I was careful about what I ate today, and I'm feeling better. One good thing about COVID has been working from, and eating at, home. I had scrambled eggs and coffee for breakfast, leftover coconut curry chicken and a green salad for lunch, and the same chicken, some homemade lentil salad and homemade low-carb chocolate chip cookies for dinner. Coincidentally, someone on a chat site

Mark's Daily Apple had a post today that ended with the author wondering about people who have done well in the pandemic. I think I've done pretty well--having my job and being an introvert have helped a lot. I'm also used to living far away from family, and I'm a homebody. Still, this year was pretty stressful  for me and I found some ways of dealing with it.  Years ago, two wise older friends both recommended ignoring overtures from a depressed former friend who wanted to reconnect. It sounded insensitive to me at the time, but they were right. Like a drowning victim, negative, depressed people can take you down with them, and crazy people can make you crazy, too. I've applied their advice continually over the past several months. Hitting unsubscribe to emails with black backgrounds. The self-flagellation will have to carry on without me. Unfollowing people who refuse on principle to wear masks. Likewise, t he fight to save our masks for Halloween will have to c