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Post by elaine on Sept 17, 2023 15:14:58 GMT
Oh no! I hope that she is able to come through quickly. I will hold her in my prayers.
I’m in the midst of battling this new variant - one of my students gave it to me - and it has been really rough on me. I spent yesterday in the ER hooked up to an IV for fluids and anti-nausea drugs. One of the big issues with this variant is the gastro-intestinal issues it causes. It can cause severe diarrhea and nausea. Which can lead to dehydration. I’ve lost 5 pounds since Tuesday.
I woke up for work with a 102 fever and tested positive on Wednesday morning. I had Paxlovid by noon, thanks to a local urgent care. Paxlovid is hard on the liver, that is why they want to check her blood work - you probably know that, though. While my respiratory symptoms are mild - just like a head cold - the digestive issues have been brutal. There is no way I would be able to train for a marathon for another few weeks, at best. I still don’t have the issues under control.
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Post by elaine on Sept 17, 2023 14:48:15 GMT
Here is another very entertaining must-watch-for-a-laugh video by Brent Terhune (warning adult language inside - don’t listen with children in the room):
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Post by elaine on Sept 17, 2023 14:41:54 GMT
We’ve been subjected to long rants from conservatives here about how drag shows should be banned for subjecting minors (questionably) to simulated sex. Boebert and her friend were having actual foreplay at an all-ages show and nary a peep from any of them. That was my thought exactly when I heard about this. The right is so concerned about drag shows and LGBTQ 🏳️🌈 supposed displays in public and they will not say a word about trashy-I-didn’t-even-make-it-through-high-school Congresswoman Lauren Boebert.
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Post by elaine on Sept 17, 2023 14:28:59 GMT
I have arthritis in my thumbs, so I understand things hurting with certain movements - but this seems to be a pretty neutral position so not so painful, at least for me at this time. And, I know you said it’s your opinion, but just because it might not work for your specific condition, doesn’t make it stupid. For some people, maybe many, it may be just exactly what they need - but didn’t ever think would be possible. Right, just talking about for me. Glad it could help others but not me. I just want the feature to be able to be turned off. I don't want it to be the only way to do something. I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t be able to turn it off, but I’m not Apple. I can turn off just about every feature on my Series 7 Apple Watch - all the sounds and haptics, the wake on wrist raise, etc. I just went through my settings menus on my watch and literally just about everything can be turned off. So, if you would want the other features, I would bet that that one will be “turn off-able.”
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Post by elaine on Sept 17, 2023 14:21:37 GMT
I spent yesterday in the ER hooked up to IV fluids and anti nausea drugs, but made it home in time to see the Buckeyes finally start playing up to their abilities. That game was the bright spot of the day! GO BUCKEYES!!!
I was listening to the Mizzou game on the way home from Walter Reed - I can’t believe he made a 61 yard field goal!!! 😱. And that it was to win the game in the last seconds. That is why college football is so amazing to watch (or even listen to).
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Post by elaine on Sept 15, 2023 22:50:12 GMT
My mom keeps getting those and panics. I tell her each time that it is a scam.
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Post by elaine on Sept 15, 2023 14:29:43 GMT
Bookstores are the only thing I can think of. I buy most things other than groceries online now.
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Post by elaine on Sept 15, 2023 14:26:16 GMT
I was watching the today show in a waiting room this morning and they were wishing a happy Rosh Hashanah. I was confused, because thanks to the Jewish Tik Tokers I follow, I know it starts tonight. Although, I suppose we wish people Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas etc all throughout the season, so it probably isnt as strange as I felt at that moment! It was probably also since the Today Show’s typical cast will be off tomorrow. That said, the beginning of a holiday at sunset confuses a lot of non-Jewish people, so they wish “happy whichever holiday” on the day where the holiday starts at sunset. I take the well wishes whenever they are expressed. ❤️
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Post by elaine on Sept 15, 2023 14:20:25 GMT
IMHO the difference between brunch and lunch is the time, not really the food. Everyone can pick what they want can't they? I say do it all But we don't really do brunch in the UK the way you folks seem to. To me, brunch is just a late breakfast/early lunch combined, served after 10-ish (before that is breakfast) and before 12-ish (after that is lunch), and the food could be anything. Alcohol had never even occurred to me that early, and I don't think I've ever had corned beef hash. One question, when you have brunch, is it instead of breakfast and lunch?Yes, it replaces both meals. And now that dh and I are 60 and our metabolisms have slowed to a crawl, we may not even eat dinner after having a large brunch. Just have a cup of soup, or some cheese and crackers, around dinner time, if we are feeling peckish.
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Post by elaine on Sept 15, 2023 14:15:23 GMT
I have a 7 and am probably getting a 13/14 because my phone forgot how to be a phone and FaceTime. I can do everything else- text, video, YouTube, etc. it’s just dead air or failed on calling/receiving calls and FaceTime. Very weird. Fully updated to whatever iOS is supported for it, not newest iOS. Anyway, I don’t want to pay a bunch of money so I’m waiting for the 15 to come out and people to dump their 13/14 and I’ll get a refurbished or hopefully pick up a cheap deal. I need 128-256gb and don’t want to pay more than $200. I got my 7 for $180 when the 11 came out.Can I just say that it totally pisses me off that they did away with a lot of the 128 models? its like 64 or 256 is the only option, and 64 you can barely do upgrades to the iOS!!!! but 256 is way too much. I’m trading in my 13 pro Max and it is 128 MB. But, yes, the new 15s start at 256 MB. I back up everything to the cloud; so, without pictures actually being stored on my phone, I don’t need that much memory, but that is also because I do most everything except for pictures and talking to other people on my iPad. Most people these days do everything on their phones and need more memory than I do.
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Post by elaine on Sept 15, 2023 14:04:35 GMT
Thank you! 🥰
An early L’Shana Tovah Tikatevu to all who celebrate. 💕
The holiday begins at sunset tonight around the globe.
Unfortunately, all I am up for doing this year is apples and honey for the family, which my husband graciously purchased for me yesterday. 🍎🍏🍎🍯🍯🍯
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Post by elaine on Sept 15, 2023 13:56:38 GMT
I was born and raised in CA and grew up calling them cray-ons. I have since lived in various places around the country, except for the deep South (I originally wrote just “the South” but some consider VA the South), and I never heard them called “colors” before this thread. Do teachers in places that call crayons “colors” ask children “what color color do you want?” Virginia *is* south (although definitely not the "deep south"). Our part of it is not. I refuse to say that I live in the south. Anyway, no one I know is from the south. Everyone in my part of NOVA is transplanted from somewhere else. I just went up and down my street in my head, for fun, and including me and dh we have people originally from: Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Maine, Arlington (yes, there are a few originals, haha), Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oregon, Minnesota, California, Connecticut, Russia, and England. Several duplicates from New York and Maryland. In my cul de sac people are from Korea (several families), Nepal, Egypt, Bolivia, Somalia, China, Afghanistan, India, New York, California (Nextdoor neighbors and me), WV (my husband), and two families from NoVA. The families from around the world all include parents born in those countries and who speak those languages at home. So, yeah, not representative of the Deep South in my Northern VA neighborhood - white native English speakers are definitely a small minority. I’m betting that they call crayons a wide variety of things not covered in this thread and that my untrained tongue would struggle to pronounce. 😂
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Post by elaine on Sept 15, 2023 0:57:56 GMT
Do teachers in places that call crayons “colors” ask children “what color color do you want?” It is probably like how they use the word “cola” to mean a soda, and then you have to say you want a cola when they ask what kind of cola. 😂 Yes, my husband grew up calling all soda “coke” in WV, and we used to have that conversation. 😂
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Post by elaine on Sept 15, 2023 0:49:22 GMT
I am getting a new Pro Max in Blue Titanium. It has been a couple years since I got a new phone and I’m looking forward to ditching my lightning cables.
Dh and I got new watches last year, so we will wait a year or two. You will love your Apple Watch. I feel naked when it isn’t on my wrist - I use it more than I imagined I would.
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Post by elaine on Sept 15, 2023 0:36:14 GMT
I was born and raised in CA and grew up calling them cray-ons.
I have since lived in various places around the country, except for the deep South (I originally wrote just “the South” but some consider VA the South), and I never heard them called “colors” before this thread.
Do teachers in places that call crayons “colors” ask children “what color color do you want?”
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Post by elaine on Sept 14, 2023 23:43:11 GMT
Not surprising. DeSantis attacks the CDC to gain political points. Again. www.nytimes.com/2023/09/14/us/politics/desantis-covid-vaccine-booster.htmlDeSantis Spreads Vaccine Skepticism With Guidance That Contradicts C.D.C. The C.D.C. on Tuesday recommended at least one dose of the updated Covid-19 vaccines for most Americans six months and older.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida’s administration issued Covid-19 vaccine recommendations this week that directly contradicted federal officials’ guidance as his presidential campaign tries to use the resurgence of the virus to appeal to Republican voters.
With cases ticking up, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended on Tuesday that everyone six months and older who had not received a Covid-19 shot in the last two months receive a booster vaccine. The new shots, approved by the Food and Drug Administration this week, appear to be effective against a vast majority of Covid-19 variants now in circulation, according to data presented at a C.D.C. meeting on Tuesday.
Mr. DeSantis’s administration advised that Florida residents under the age of 65 skip the updated boosters.
“I will not stand by and let the F.D.A. and C.D.C. use healthy Floridians as guinea pigs for new booster shots,” Mr. DeSantis, who has a history of downplaying the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, said in a statement after he hosted an online panel Wednesday to discuss the new federal guidelines.I am home right now battling my first case of COVID. Even though I am not seriously ill - it isn’t in my lungs - I can’t remember the last time I was this sick. Fever, nausea, headache, diarrhea and head congestion and sore throat. My students brought it to me. I never caught COVID even though I’ve been teaching full-time since Fall 2021. Dh and I think that because it has been so long since my last booster - September 9, 2022 - that my immunity is waning. I always get the booster as soon as I can (I’m eligible early) and was looking forward to the new booster in a couple of weeks. People in Florida will start contracting COVID at increasingly high rates as people start turning down this booster. They get what they voted for.
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Post by elaine on Sept 14, 2023 17:24:41 GMT
If you want less expensive shoes with good support for PF, take a look at Skechers Arch Fit line. They have a variety of shoes with this technology. I like wearing my arch fit Cleo’s - which are a ballet flat (skecher makes them both with arch fit and without - I wear the arch fit version). www.skechers.com/skechers-arch-fit-cleo-sport/158538_BBK.html I am on my feet all day and love them.
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Post by elaine on Sept 14, 2023 17:17:18 GMT
Around here brunch is served until 2 pm on the weekends, so eating at noon wouldn’t necessarily indicate lunch, as opposed to brunch, to me.
However, it sounds like your dh has his heart set on brunch and you decided on lunch and purchased those items.
Since dh has been telling everyone it will be brunch, is it possible to freeze the meat and baked beans and reset? There is still time since the meal isn’t until Sunday. Pasta salad and cupcakes would be fine as brunch food. Or, just serve it all - the hotdogs are the only thing that I would find out of place on a brunch table, and those definitely freeze well. (Or just eat them for dinner on Saturday night with the baked beans). The biscuits and butter sound divine - I never turn down a good biscuit.
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Post by elaine on Sept 14, 2023 17:02:17 GMT
(((Hugs))) I wish that I had something to say to make it easier. Take care of yourself and allow all the people who love you to show you how much you mean to them.
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Post by elaine on Sept 14, 2023 16:58:58 GMT
After 3.5 years, I finally got COVID. ☹️ I’m hoping with the help of Paxlovid that I’ll feel better by Saturday’s Ohio State game against Western Kentucky. It’s not in my lungs, but the fever and nausea are kicking my butt. Parents have been sending their kids to school with COVID - 2 of my students even told me that had it, but unless they are running a fever, I can’t send them home. Teachers, who previously avoided it, have been dropping like flies at my school.
Anyhow, I will watch football, since I’m not leaving the house. So, that is an upside. 🥳
Go Buckeyes!!!
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Post by elaine on Sept 12, 2023 10:12:21 GMT
If your loved ones are reluctant to have the implants then I would leave them be. It is going to be a huge adjustment for me with realistically a year of committed rehab to be able to get somewhat normal hearing. For someone in their late 80’s I just don’t know whether it is worth it. Not saying that people of that age don’t deserve to hear, just that you need to have a very realistic idea of what the implant will give them and whether they can handle the technology and rehab. I know that both my ENT and the cochlear centre have spent literally hours on 3 separate appointments making sure that I know what I’m in for and am really committed to making it work. I think that it is also *very* important to look at all the science that shows that severe hearing loss in the elderly leads to cognitive decline and dementia. That is one of the main reasons that cochlear implants in seniors is a large and growing recommended procedure in the elderly in the USA. I could go into other reasons - for example, trying to care for a senior with growing dependency (can’t drive any more, etc.) who cannot hear is challenging for everyone and leads to more confusion and frustration on their part. Until you have to care for a parent who can’t hear, it is hard to truly understand the importance of hearing loss in the population. I have had to go to all doctors appointments with my mom since she moved here in 2019, only because she can’t hear what her doctor’s try to say to her, not because she can’t understand the advice once someone tells her it in a way she can understand. I am loud, will speak directly to her without a mask (most doctors here still wear masks), and take the time to ensure she understands what is being said. I have to take her many places to go shopping, for example, because she can’t even hear if a cashier asks her something and she can’t hear if she asks where something in the store is. No one should force someone to have a procedure that they sincerely do not want to have. The statement that it isn’t worth it for seniors is, however, comes across as naive as to the seriousness of the effects of hearing loss on the elderly. It seems like a statement made by someone who hasn’t experienced first-hand what severe hearing loss does to someone who is dependent on others to help them with many tasks of everyday life. The hearing loss is extremely isolating and makes their dependence on others even greater. The frustration and anger that many elderly feel at losing their independence is real. If you want to discount that my mother has come through the surgery fine at 88 - except for a short bout of vertigo that is gone - that is fine. She has already gone through the healing and has her device and had the first of the three adjustment appointments where they turn on parts of the device. She can hear for the first time in a decade when someone says something behind her and she doesn’t see lips or even see that someone is talking to her. No offense, but she is doing fine with rehab even though she is 88. Because she grew up hearing and hearing herself speak, rehab is not as arduous as someone who needs speech therapy. Really, her rehab involves going to 3 audiologist appointments to have the device fully turned on and being committed to using it daily and getting out and listening to a variety of people speak daily to re-wire her brain to hear the sounds as less robotic/tinny.
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Post by elaine on Sept 12, 2023 1:18:32 GMT
Are they (H-E-B) more expensive or the same as other grocery stores? Varies. They have high end specialty items, but the store brands are high quality and reasonably priced. Sounds a lot like Wegman’s. Which I would cry a lot over doing without, but it wouldn’t stop me from moving.
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Post by elaine on Sept 12, 2023 0:26:03 GMT
Well, that was a HUGE concern for my mom too. This is the woman, who when I flew out 3000 miles right after I finished chemo to help her when her husband had a stroke (he passed and I then moved her to an hour drive from me), told me TO MY FACE that she would never have chemo because I looked so awful without hair (and eyebrows and eyelashes). So, yeah, I wasn’t surprised that it was a big concern of hers. I refused to give it credence, however, telling her that my hair grew back and so would hers. I was on the phone with her, and as soon as I started to say, It will grow back, she shut me down and said she would hang up on me. I asked my sister, who lives right by her, to see what she could find out, and she burst out laughing and told me our dad asked her to come over to talk to our mom about it, and mom over heard and locked herself in the bathroom until my sister left. LOL Guess I better cross my toes too that these new hearing aids will work. My mom’s literally top-of-the line hearing aids (my cousin is an audiologist whose office is near my mom’s) helped decreasingly for 2.5 years, until she couldn’t hear much even with them and qualified for Medicare paid cochlear implants in both ears. We chose to start with one. I hope that your mom’s hearing aids work better/longer for her than my mom’s did.
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Post by elaine on Sept 11, 2023 22:20:18 GMT
My mom is 88 and she hasn’t been extremely rational about everything - I predicted to my husband that she would complain about how it sounds to her, and she did. If there is anything that I share that would help her, I would be happy to do so. I brought my mom home within a couple of hours after the surgery. I think we were at John’s Hopkins for a total of only 6 hours from initial check-in to her being discharged from Recovery. The surgery only took 90 minutes. Thank you so much. I talked to her last night and she is adamant that she will not do it. Her reason, they will have to shave some of her hair off for the surgery. 🙄 Geez mom, vain much. No really it boils down to vanity. There are some new hearing aids her Dr is going to have her try. Fingers crossed they help. Well, that was a HUGE concern for my mom too. This is the woman, who when I flew out 3000 miles right after I finished chemo to help her when her husband had a stroke (he passed and I then moved her to an hour drive from me), told me TO MY FACE that she would never have chemo because I looked so awful without hair (and eyebrows and eyelashes). So, yeah, I wasn’t surprised that it was a big concern of hers. I refused to give it credence, however, telling her that my hair grew back and so would hers.
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Post by elaine on Sept 11, 2023 10:17:31 GMT
I hope that you recover quickly! (((Hugs)))
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Post by elaine on Sept 11, 2023 10:14:53 GMT
My mom, 87, has been looking into this. She had her CT and is eligible! However, I think when they were explaining the surgery, she burst into tears and ran out. My dad isn't entirely sure what the problem is, but he thinks she is freaked out because she has had brain surgery for a burst aneurysm and she thinks this will be the same and have her in hospital for a long time. I hope my dad can talk her off the ledge, because her hearing loss is frustrating to all. I'm going to share the stories here to see if it helps. My mom is 88 and she hasn’t been extremely rational about everything - I predicted to my husband that she would complain about how it sounds to her, and she did. If there is anything that I share that would help her, I would be happy to do so. I brought my mom home within a couple of hours after the surgery. I think we were at John’s Hopkins for a total of only 6 hours from initial check-in to her being discharged from Recovery. The surgery only took 90 minutes.
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Post by elaine on Sept 10, 2023 2:38:11 GMT
My mom just had her device turned on yesterday! She complains about it being tinny - (which they told her it would at first until her brain rewires how she “hears”) - but she can hear, for the first time in over a decade, when someone speaks behind her and she can’t read their lips. It has been amazing!
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Post by elaine on Sept 9, 2023 22:58:05 GMT
100% yes.
I am a cancer survivor. I am 60. I teach elementary school where we’ve already had multiple cases of COVID this school year.
Honestly? It is a no-brainer for me. I’ve already had my flu and RSV vaccines this year.
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Post by elaine on Sept 8, 2023 23:26:03 GMT
Awesome news!!! Congratulations!
Unfortunately, for me, my 5 years for starting AI’s post-chemo is in October, but they reran my cancer cells with a new test and my cancer still has a high chance of recurrence unless I’m on them for another 5 years (and I’ve had infusions every 6 months of another drug that I finished in December 2022).
My odds still aren’t awesome, but much better than if I stopped taking the anastrozole. I don’t like the anastrozole and the various side effects, but it is better than cancer.
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Post by elaine on Sept 8, 2023 10:06:39 GMT
Youngstown State is coming to the Horseshoe on Saturday at noon.
GO BUCKEYES !!!
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