Tuesday Ramble

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.

John Ruskin Read

Needless to say, yesterday was one of those days that made you really wish that you had called in sick. It was downright 'nasty' in the morning. The rain was coming down in torrents making early morning travel quite treacherous, especially the sidewalks in front of those homes that hadn't been shoveled. The slush had become quite icy, and I found myself hanging onto fences with one hand and the cane with the other. No matter where you live there is always some who are inconsiderate of others and refuse to shovel. 

Take the house next door to my building, for example. Actually I was kind of surprised.  After all, they not only own a big three-story house in which they rent out two apartments, but they also have a parking lot next door which fits about eight cars...so we know that they are raking in the dough. Yet, not one bothered to shovel. Heck, if they didn't want to do it, why not pay some kid $25 to do it. It's not that they are not out there trying to earn a buck. I know that there are some who are elderly or disabled who cannot afford to pay someone to do it. In that case, wouldn't it be nice if the neighbors chipped in to help? That would be the kindly thing to do. 

The old man who lived upstairs from me in my old home used to do that.  A rare breed, he always shoveled for our shut-in neighbor, and he was almost as old as she was. He was nice that way, but also had his idiosyncracies.  I'll never forget when he rang my bell and told me I should store my garbage in my freezer.  He was always offering such odd advice as that.  But, then he passed and his irresponsible addict son took over and the war began between he and my landlady, each trying to put me in the middle. I read where they sold that house in January.

Went for my cat scan yesterday. Now I will be on pins and needles until the 21st when I see the pulmonologist.  When the radiologist wished me 'good luck' yesterday as I was leaving, immediately I thought that he had found something. My next stop will be the needle in my thyroid to draw out the fluid and biopsy it.  OMG, will I be glad when all of this is over.  I also stopped yesterday at the clinic to see my doctor, but found that she doesn't work on Monday.  I've developed a fairly constant tickling in my throat which has caused a chronic cough...almost always when I am at rest....in bed, in my rocking chair, even seated at my desk at work.  On the train, people look at you like you have the plague, and I don't blame them. 

One morning I was watching Fox news and their regular doctor came on and began talking about how some blood pressure medications can cause this.  I looked it up and sure enough, my Lisinopril will cause this.  For a couple of months I have been racking my brain and blaming just about everything...sinuses, thyroid, post nasal drip...and now I know.  And, as I recall it began when she raised my dosage. 

Wow, I am certainly pretty long-winded, aren't I?  I only started out to say a few things, and I wrote a chapter in a book.  Sorry about that.  Speaking of books, I cannot seem to put "On the Right Path" down.  The more I read, the more I see myself...from her disillusionment with Christianity, to having your childhood friends turn against you, to her smoking and drinking days of her early twenties. Like the author says about herself, after having led such a sheltered life, "I was like a child exploring life for the first time" and did not know how to act. My gosh, this book could have been written about me. It has me totally mesmerized. 

Well, have to run now.  Gonna be late if I don't get a move on.  Remember...

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.

Aristotle Onassis