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Musings on anything. |
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My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| This year I'm doing our traditional cookie decorating a little differently. The kids are growing up and always have sports or other duties, so they are limited in time. Their mom has remarried and doesn't need me to babysit, so we have less time together. I not only made the dough in advance, I rolled them out and cut out Christmas shapes and baked them. Usually the kids cut their own. This way they are all evenly shaped and ready for decorating. They are in the freezer. I have plenty of sprinkles and will make some royal icing before they arrive. They will have a step brother and sister with them, so that's more to help decorate. They will be coming after school, so this is an evening project rather than a Saturday morning project. They will keep their cookies, not share with others as we started out doing. Last year, I discovered they didn't want to share. They wanted to keep their creations. So, I'll settle for the abbreviated creative process. It will feel like Christmas, sprinkling sparkles on trees, snowflakes, and bells, etc. I will clean up after they are gone, but we will all feel the air of Christmas. I might even get them to sing a chorus or two, probably not. I might even fix spaghetti for a Christmas meal, if they don't convince their mother they need pizza on the way home. |
| Back when food stamps were paper, I worked in a grocery store in a so-so part of town. The alcoholics shopped there regularly, if you call buying cheap liquor shopping. They would come in the morning, buy an onion or a cucumber but not both. Prices were low then, so frequently it was only a nickel. The lowest denomination of a food stamp was $1. That meant giving back real change. They'd go to another store about 8 blocks away, downhill and up again, and do the same thing. They might beg or pick up trash somewhere for small change. In the afternoon, the same man would be back in with enough coins to buy his bottle of Boone's Farm or whatever. It was quite a system they worked out. Food stamps enabled their drinking addiction. Then along comes EBT. Not to mention prices had gone up on everything. You can't get an onion or cucumber for a nickel anymore, so there would not be as much change. I think they really ate the cucumbers, so they were getting a minute bit of nutrition. But with EBT, there is no change. It just reduces the month's balance. The plan definitely did not deceive store workers who could not police the use of the stamps. EBT put an end to that deceptive game. Now it may be worse in other ways. The homeless population has increased and includes women. They tend to congregate. Whereas the alcoholic men from decades ago would rake leaves or do other menial one=time jobs to make a few bucks, they just join the others and lay about in public places. They beg a lot. It amazes me how many men and women refuse free shelter because of rules or curfews. As for EBT, it is no longer up to a cashier to simply take the paper food stamp instead of cash, the computer analyzes what had been purchased. A ready made sandwich is not acceptable. Hot chicken or grocery salad bar are not payable. They are restaurant type items, and the law says they not covered by SNAP. Thus, the homeless person with no means of refrigerating or cooking cannot have a hot meal or a quick dinner. It's an ongoing problem. You hate to see fraud, laziness, or lack of self-pride, but you still want those people to be safe from extreme temperatures and to get at least passable nutrition. We do the best we can. |
| Go to your doctor as soon as you notice a problem. Warning signs that are easy to excuse or overlook are body aches, like you're getting the flu, or you exercised a muscle too much. There's usually no fever or nausea. It may start with a small red dot or big red blisters. The doctor will prescribe something for the actual virus, but the rest may depend on your situation/health and the doctor's reluctance to prescribe drugs, even creams. When you go to pick up the prescription, look for lidocaine. It may be prescribed in greater strength. The store brand my be pure lidocaine and it comes in sprays or creams. You don't want the patch version to place on blisters. Other big brand names include some lidocaine but will have other things. My doctor simply told me lotion or anti-itch creams were acceptable. But the pain is too much for an anti-itch cream. I needed something to numb the skin, and you will, too. The medicine is for 10 days. The doctor said the sores would scab up and pop off. Wrong. They get more painful with time. The nervous system just goes wacky. A slight wave of the t-shirt fabric sends shooting pain in all directions and lasts a long time. Pressing your hand hard against it hurts but doesn't send a shock through your hold body. Lying down or sitting against a padded chair a long time aren't as bad as having your clothes brushing against you. You will not be contagious, so you are safe to mingle if you are able. Don't go around newborns or small children who have not been vaccinated for chickenpox. My neighbor, a doctor, said as long as the blisters are covered, you cannot pass the virus. The blisters are usually only on one side of the body at a time. They form a band. Mine are right at the waist, so every bend, reach, twist pulls at them. The first time I had them, over 30 years ago, they were on my chest and rib cage. I had a friend who had them in her hair, which fell out; it grew back over the following year. If you have not been vaccinated, do so as soon as your insurance allows. I've been vaccinated twice. The first time was the old method, one shot which only lasts about a decade. The second one was supposed to be permanent-a two-part series of a breakthrough medicine. Dada! My doctor told me now the vaccine doesn't guarantee prevention. It just lessens the possibility. I have been stuck in a chair, moving as little as possible, sometimes screaming out in pain. Today after a second dose of Tylenol, I went to the store and bout Lidocaine. I am guessing I'm on the uphill climb anyway, but I am sprayed enough to feel itching setting in. Itching is a less intense kind of pain, so I guess the spray is working. |
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