Helenka, Queen of Outer Space

Well, I've been throwing many towels around for the last two days. At least, I did manage two almost decent sleeps. But, yesterday, I sat down to get a whole pile of paper ready for recycling. I was in my office chair, bending over the pile on the bed, fumbling blindly with the staple remover. And it seemed that the staples weren't standard, either. Sigh. So, not only an aching back, but also a couple of shredded nails.

More torso/gastric pain didn't help either. I think I'm going to have to stop getting my entrees at least and just stick to soups and desserts that don't disagree with me. I guess that'll be a conversation for next week. It's not a good time to be feeling sick when I eat.

At least I had some determined distractive TV that included a tiny shocker on Young Sheldon and two inventive epis of Dragons' Den. But my vision was crap all day yesterday, so I delayed watching ST:Disco until this morning where it did an excellent job against the pain. Then, tonight, there was MacGyver but there was too much shooting so I couldn't really tell what was going on. However, I had luscious, glorious vision All. Day. Long. Too bad I didn't have the patience to read my library book. Sigh again.

Anyway, it's almost time for pills and bed. Crossing my fingers for a good sleep.

Sure, why not? Yesterday, we had an alien visit. There was a meteor seen over Lake Ontario (that could have entered the atmosphere somewhere between Syracuse and the lake (so, around 100 miles). I don't know whether the meteor disintegrated completely or whether there may be meteorites found eventually. No matter, I just thought it was way cool.

I took it as a good omen for today. Even though I went to bed with back spasms, I woke up at 8:48 completely free of pain. Yes, please. I'd like more days like that. Even better, I had brilliant vision All. Day. Long. that even watching TV couldn't fuzz it up. So, I really, really enjoyed being able to watch my regular shows clearly, including Young Sheldon, ST: Discovery, and two epis of Dragons' Den.

But, wait. That's not all. Earlier in the day, I managed to harness some of my pain-free state and took all the (clean) clothes strewn across the couch and actually hung them up in the closet. I won't say it looks pretty or is in the correct section, but it's done. So, even though the pain has been nibbling away at me over the hours, I hope I can continue to do more every day so I can get my Kissymas deccies up. At least I have a wonderful goal in mind and S. has agreed to help me. So, yay, yay, yay!

It's almost time for my pills, so I think I will call it a night.

So, let's begin with the mind. After missing a couple of Final Jeopardy clues even though I knew the identity of the person but couldn't remember the name (e.g. key and lightning but not Ben Franklin and prosecutor of Jean Valjean but not Javert), my faith in my ability to recall things - especially music - was restored as I finally solved the earworm from Thursday's Young Sheldon. While Sheldon is in the middle of a quandary, there was this driving music in the background. I first thought it was from Glee but then recalled it was a flash mob during America's Got Talent. Still don't know the name of it.

Anyway, even though the vision was only so-so, I watched ST: Disco (even though S. had to explain what happened at the salvage place) and got something out of Battle of the Blades.

I was too tired to post on Friday - just before my electronic disaster on Saturday. I restarted my computer and allowed Windows 10 to update. Uh-oh. Windows was refusing to talk to ZoomText, leaving me with no method of accessing any browsers or files or anything. ::shrieks::

I couldn't get in touch with Brian because I checked FB on my phone and saw he was visiting his sisters and toddler nephews, so I figured I would wait until yesterday to text him of my woes.

In the meantime, SuM, S. and I planned to watch "Aquaman" on Netflix Sunday night. I thought it was a stupid movie with all those explosions underwater. But it wasted a few hours. I'd asked if S. could visit me to see if there were things she could do, because I can't read the screen.

So, today, after S. tried and failed to resolve things, I texted Brian again. He phoned back. Oh, joy, he took today off as a holiday. With him on speakerphone and S. at my keyboard (and Brian eventually taking over control remotely), I had my ZoomText uninstalled with colours applied through Ease of Access (huh, can't they call it Accessibility?), so I can now read everything more clearly than before in browsers, but not documents. I guess I'll have to tackle that independently. It was a little insulting to learn that my version of ZT is considered "Legacy" aka Ancient!

Anyway, I'm just finally relaxing and watching TV. I think I'll watch Bull and then collapse. I need to scrape my freezer tomorrow morning before I get more (yummy) meals delivered.

Even if I don't understand it. At. All. I'd woken up from a doze around 1:30 with the usual silent screaming. But I was stubbornly resisting getting up and swallowing two more pills, relying on stroking my torso in a gentle rhythm. But the pain persisted. So, imagine my shock to wake up AFTER 10 with no pain!?!?!

I also had pretty good vision for most of the day. Even now, I've got caramel font against a chocolate background. So I decided to rewatch this week's ST: Disco epi and I'm so glad I did, because I'd missed the significance of the ending. Well, that sure brings seeing the one you love from a dual perspective. And I caught up on Dragons' Den (Canadian precursor of Shark Tank IIRC). It had been off the air since the end of December. The best pitch was from a distillery that produced DIY vodka: just add water! Also Apple Pie Moonshine. When Covid hit, they retooled to make hand sanitizer aimed at children and also in spray form.

Anyway, time to check on what's happening elsewhere. Nighty-night.

Well, I'm currently in my satin and lace nightie while "attending" the bling group's Halloween Zoom party. We began with listening to a radio play adaptation of "Frankenstein" and their our DJ played music while people chatted. I'm still waiting for The Monster Mash. I'm trying to be patient.

Spent most of the day in bed as my body was going haywire. Church-John sent me an email that he was going to enjoy having my special parking permit until he returns it.

The best part of last night was having exquisite vision. At midnight. So I stayed up to watch Discovery and really enjoyed it. This morning I watched Battle of the Blades even though my vision had devolved to crap. Easy come, easy go.

Anyway, time to get back to the party.

Ha! I wish.
Wednesday night (actually early Thursday morning) was torture for me after I'd gone to bed around 3:15 a.m. I'd had glorious vision, and ended up reading a really, really long fanfic. Took my pills at the usual time around midnight. So, they'd already worn off when I'd lain down. Cue wrenching pain. Yet, I was being - cautious - and didn't want to take another couple Robax. To my astonishment, I was able to fall into the perfect amnesiac sleep, waking up at 9:42 with only mild arthritis in my right hand.

The vision flickered on-and-off during the day, but returned strongly again in the evening. My reward for the pain? I watched a rerun of Young Sheldon and my usual TV. And stayed up reading until around 3:15 a.m. Woke up at 10. At least I didn't have to overpay for great vision All. Day. Long! I caught up on watching last night's animated Trek which I really liked (because it had the real Enterprise swooping in to save the day, accompanied by Next Gen music and appearances by Will and Deanna). I've figured out the best thing about this series is the characters talking about old epis and characters!

Because of my unusual vision, I did some housekeeping on the blind group's Contacts list (desperately needed) and now I'm reading again. Tried to get back into reading "Sapiens" but I'd lost the natural rhythm of the prose. Must keep at it.

Anyway, I'd better stop counting my chickens, but I'm enjoying the metaphorical clucking I'm hearing. Mind you, I haven't watched tonight's news yet and I think there's bad stuff about Covid in it. Uh-oh.

K d;m't think I've ever been so glad to be old as this year. If I don't feel well - in a non-pathological way - I just go to bed and stay there. Today was a perfect day to follow that advice. I got tons of sleep, managed to calm my insides and enjoy the leftovers from Wednesday (the romaine was STILL crisp) and nibbled on granola bars in-between.

There was a promo on the evening news of the upcoming 55th season premiere this weekend of a wonderful investigative journalism program on Canadian TV. It's going to be about the hidden dangers of contracting Covid, how it lingers in the bloodstream and can then affect all the organs in the body. I shivered when the newscaster talked about brain fog. So, I'm definitely recording it.

I apparently must have missed this bit on the news (during an unscheduled nap), but the Blue Jays have made it into the playoffs. So I am happy. What makes me less happy is crappy vision today. I thought it was improving, but no luck. So I watched the animated Trek with almost no colour contrast. If it weren't for the blue character....

Another frustration was receiving an email from Brian with a PDF that I can't read at all. Sigh. I'll email him tomorrow. Right now, I want to read some fanfic and then take my pills abd go to bed. ::crosses fingers::

Unfortunately, I can also feel excruciating pain (for the past few hours) … so I am tending to accept the connection for pain as a damn catalyst for bright, crisp vision. And that's just SO unfair. Sigh.

Though I'd set the alarm for 7:25, I woke up after 5 in the middle of a weird dream that involved some of my female friends and acquaintances and a stupidly renovated building - not sure what it was - but the women's washroom was all done up in chintz, with four corner stalls while there were more toilets out in the open, including one in an alcove fireplace! The private stalls already had "dibs" on them, and someone was willing to make embroidered signs with the names. Whoa!

So, after that weirdness, I had a leisurely getting ready time, which has become simpler as I no longer wear face powder, if it's half-covered up by a mask.

My ride came early, so I was able to pick up a few things at the pharmacy. I was half an hour early for my pedicure appointment, but that was okay. So, the new protocols include having the foot-bath lined with plastic bags and no whirlpool action. But at least I had lots of super hot water for soaking. I was done a little over two hours later. Yes, my nails are fabulous - gold with a gold sparkle overlay.

I was beginning to stiffen up from sitting for so long; it didn't help that I still had 45 minutes until I'd be picked up. So I ate some chocolate and drank half my iced coffee concoction.

When I got home, I found out my cat-sitting services would be required next week. Yay. More hilarity with Ce-Ce!

Relaxed for the rest of the evening despite the grotesque pain, watching TV (including Trek) and munching on chocolate chip cookies. Now I'm going to take advantage of the vision to read.

I know Peppa's little brother George would approve (even if he pronounces it P-ghetti!).

So, not only have I been having … digestive issues (it's very confusing when you can't distinguish between hunger, muscle lock spasms or an upset stomach), IE is finally conking out and leaving me with several stranded tabs. DW was one of them and I was too irritated late in the day to try to work around it.

But Friday ended up being a good day. The magic word being the aforementioned pasta. I had to choose an entrée, but what? I decided on lovely slippery pasta that would not require me to chew and then swallow audibly. It was a wise decision. I've decided - at least for a couple of weeks - I will eat my entrees every other day and then forage on the other days. I was disappointed to not get any phone call from the new medical clinic - unless they're in a state of flux. Sigh. I'll try to be patient in order to be accepted as a patient.

At least I had the new Trek goofball animation to distract me, even if my vision was mostly crap. Sigh again.

What was an accident? I put the wrong eyedrops in my right eye last night. Eeeeek. Containing a steroid and only meant for my blind left eye. So, you can imagine my utter surprise to wake up with brilliant vision that lasted all day long. I'm just ecstatic!

What left me less happy was the searing pain that began after I'd gone to bed around 1:15. I finally had to take a second helping of Robax and a Gravol around 2:30 and only then was able to fall asleep. To add to my worries, I discovered I'd run out of Aleve … yesterday. Eeek. Emergency email to church-John. Luckily, he can go shopping for me tomorrow and I've managed to avoid pain, probably because of everything else that's good.

The good things included reading "Sapiens" and watching my regular TV shows as well as the new, completely wacky, animated Trek series, Below Decks! I also emailed my sis RS about sending in my application yesterday.

Okay, back to crossing my fingers, taking my pills, and my boring regular eyedrops. But I'll have to ask my doc if I can take the wrong kind occasionally. Who knows?