Monday, May 8th

[Bethers]

Ok everyone, come out of hiding. Nothing really to say here. I'm having another do nothing kind of day. I've been testing step counters and the two I downloaded on my phone stay pretty much the same as if I count. The various ones I've tried on watches are always behind steps. I expected the opposite. All are better than none as they motivate me. But I prefer the ones that are more accurate. I remember the first step counter I had was just that, none of the other bells and whistles, purchased at Walgreens. I drove Sparkle crazy because I was always counting my steps and checking against it. After doing that quite awhile I decided it was so close to my count I didn't need to do it. Here I am 12 or more years later and doing it again. Fancier and more expensive are not always better. And just like with cars, I don't need lots of those bells and whistles.

Yesterday I finished watching season 1 of the Joe Pickett TV show. I started reading the books last summer and I'm pleased with how the characters really fit my vision from the books I've read. I never read the earlier books so it's nice to have gotten more of the back story. Season 2 starts early next month and I'll be watching, even if not doing so diligently on the days they come out.

I told Ty we'd take a ride today but changed my mind. I got him out for a good walk this morning and a bit ago he barked and ran to our door because his new friend, the new maintenance person here was working best us, so I let him out to give her kisses. He's happily forgotten my earlier promise.

[IrishIroamed]

Hi Beth & all that follow~~~
I have a Samsung phone and it came with an app called Samsung Health. The step counter is pretty accurate so I stopped using one on my shoe. I keep my phone in my pocket, so it can probably tell when my hip is moving for the steps. It also let's me know if I do stairs, but nowadays, it's mostly uphill hiking.

Made it to Vegas today. New state for my map and and out of mountain time to Pacific. Punk won't care. His dish always has good in it. He's a leisurely Easter.

Only planning on Lake Mead and the sign graveyard, but I'm sure I'll find somewhere else to wander to.

Have a good day ladies.

[chalet05]

Beth, I used a phone app 'Pacer' until I got my watch. The two seem to agree! I wish we were all a close family, but it seems there are a few of us not speaking - mostly with my daughter and my sister (their choice) who are both narcissists (in my opinion).

It's beautiful weather here with a thunderstorm last night. We've set out on the porch a couple of times where it's warmish but with a breeze along with birds and butterflies. Pretty quiet.

Sheila, what is your granddaughter (?) studying for White Coat? Hope you get to go. Cousin's daughter sent me all the family pictures taken so will go through those in a day or two so cousin can be there - he admittedly is not tech savvy. He's coming to go to the restaurant with us here tonight. Another cousin came to visit yesterday.

Hope all are doing well!

[OregonLuvr]

I was busy this morning. Rearranging my shed as I have to put stuff from my deck in there so that they can power wash my house and then paint it this weekend as we are going to have nice, fairly hot weather. Took a load to the donation center that I have been procrastinating about and not sure why. It is only a few miles down the road LOL I will have more and I kept saying I would just wait until I had it all but heck that could be awhile so I took it. Stopped and got myself a "real" mocha instead of a homemade one. Very tasty.

Now had a light lunch and think I am done for today. Tomorrow is a whole new day. Wednesday I am going for a hearing test. I hear okay but sometimes it is difficult to hear the tv, especially a movie as I think they mumble. But I am sure age plays a part in our hearing so anyway I am going to see if it is worse or better than I think it is. I know some of you gals have hearing aids so if needed I will be asking you some questions. I sure am not so vain I wouldnt wear them if they help. My neighbor said NO WAY..,..boy not me, I like all the help I can get.

Supposed to be a great weekend. I still have planting to do but might get that done Thursday. I will be busy this weekend but since they are painting and I will be gone part of the time anything big will have to wait until after the housepainting is done.

[chalet05]

Karen, I recently discovered I had no hearing in my right ear. Never had a wax issue, but learned wax gets harder as we age! Got some drops which are helping. I know hearing in that ear is bad already. Not saying you shouldn’t get tested just my recent experience.

[OregonLuvr]

Anita I dont think I have alot of wax but who knows. The test will tell the tale I guess ha ha

[Bethers]

I've had hearing aids since my late 30's. Depending on your loss if they are necessary, there are lots of choices today. I'm in the severe loss category so many of the newer and less costly options don't work for me. But hearing aids now cost not much more than I paid for my first, not as good ones and have continually improved. That said, they have been a financial burden but it's been worth it. I don't know where you're getting tested but good audiologists will not charge for your exam, hoping that you'll stay with them to purchase, if aids are recommended.

[OregonLuvr]

Beth I am getting tested for free at Costco. I dont think I have severe loss but hey I dont know. I do hear conversations and phone calls just fine, it is mainly the tv movies and I have my tv set to speech clarity and it helps for some shows but not movies it seems. My friend says she thinks they mumble too and she is way younger with probably no hearing loss,,,,yet

[Bethers]

Karen I've always said they mumble in movies. It's one reason I use closed captioning most of the time. The other is when they raise the volume of music, etc that's supposedly background and to me it's louder than the talking.

Just walked Ty and I guess letting him off leash here won't be happening the rest of our time here.

Yep, rattler in the garden on our path. He or she rattled which meant both Ty and I turned and saw it. Luckily Ty was on leash and obeyed me. I went a long way around to avoid passing it again. I know they're out there, but geez, on the trail. Not nice.

[Redetotry]

We have had storms the last couple of days. I had forgotten that in 2009 we had an el derecho. We were in the basement and came up to another landscape. We live on a very wooded street and you could not tell where the street was because of the downed trees. Fortunately we didn't have any damage to our home but we did loose several very large trees and the power was off for about 10 days. We are under another storm warning tonight for storms, straight line winds and hail.

I don't have hearing aids but I have my ears cleaned about every 6 months as I get so much wax build up. The difference is amazing. I'm particularly frustrated with the health care here today. I sent a note through My Chart and then decided to try and call my doctor. Amazingly I got through and talked to a nurse. Who said she would talk to the doctor and call me back. I have heard nothing either from My Chart or a call.

I used to have a Fit Bit Zip step counter and loved it. When it stopped working I tried to buy another but they were no longer making them. It was small and I could just put it in my pocket. I haven't found a replacement that is simple to set up and only counts steps.

Yikes Beth I'm so glad Ty was on his leash! I'm not afraid of snakes but that was too close for comfort!!

[BarbaraRose]

Yikes Beth! I have never seen a rattlesnake out here and am glad for that! They have programs out here that teach dogs to stay away from rattlesnakes.

Went to the ortho specialist this morning in Palm Springs. The Dr was very nice and very young! She said I have multiple tears in my knee so surgery is not an option unless it gets much worse and I need a total knee replacement. She recommended PT and topical anti-inflammatory gel, which I got. She also recommended a cortisone shot which I turned down. Not in nearly enough pain to go thru that! She also wants me to get an X-ray done to see how bad the arthritis is in there.

It is another very windy day here. Not as hot as they said it would be over the past few days which is nice. Just a lot of dust in the air.

I applied today for an entry-level, part-time position at the local library. That would be so nice!

I think I have some hearing loss too. It isn't the volume on the TV that I have a problem with, but everything sounds muffled. Do you have to be a member of CostCo to get a hearing test there? If not, do you need an appointment?

[BirdbyBird]

Are cortisone shot for knees painful? Having just had a similar shot to reduce the inflammation in my spine, I will say that it wasn’t bad at all and as I understood it the purpose is to calm the painful inflammation and providing an opening for the PT to strengthen the muscles with the hope that proper muscle development will help the joint or spine work better in the future. What ever you decide, I hope you find some relief.

[Acadianmom]

I have been to Lafayette and back twice today so hope I can stay home the rest of the week. I do have a doctor's appointment in Abbeville in the morning. I gave up trying to find a woman gynecologist in Lafayette four months ago and made an appointment with one in Abbeville. They probably scheduled my appointment for 4 months away hoping I would cancel. Ha, Ha fooled them, I'm going. I mostly need a referral for a mammogram. Now I need to find the letter from that clinic.

My son and I went to Sam's this morning and to an RV shop to find a 12 volt light bulb for the camper. Thank goodness Sam's didn't have a coconut cake so wasn't tempted to buy one. Went back tonight for one of my Meetup meals. We went to Longhorn's Steak house. The dinner salad was so big I brought most of my steak and potato home.

I probably have some hearing loss too. Some things aren't clear, especially the new music. My sister is getting really hard of hearing. I have to tell her everything twice unless I'm 3 feet from her.

Beth, I would be afraid to go out at night unless I had a lot of light to see any snakes.

Thursday night there were storms coming thru when I was camping but most of it went South of the campground. There were tornados that hit about 30 miles to the Northwest of my house and about 20 miles East of my house. The radar is showing rain all around me tonight but I don't know which way it is moving.

I don't know if cortisone shots for knees are painful but I had one in my foot one time and it hurt a lot.

Martha

[OregonLuvr]

Barbie you do not need to be a member of Costco to get a hearing test or use their pharmacy. I do haopen to be a member to shop there and get my gas (cheapest in town). Hope that helps your knee. Maybe a knee brace might help. I hurt my knee skiing but the knee brace never helped me.

[JudyJB]

I don't think I have a hearing loss, but I hate the music that so many programs think we need in the background. And sometimes, the background is louder than the people talking!!

Many years ago, the company I worked for sent me out of town to a several day training program on how to increase learning retention. It was the big "thing" in the 1990's, and I was teaching technical writing to GM employees and my employer's employees at the time, so they thought the class would help me improve my teaching techniques. The theory was that people learned better with low lighting and regular living room type lamps instead of bright florescent lights. Also used lots of games, but the big thing was that supposedly people learned better with music playing in the background. So with low lighting, comfortable sofa chairs, and music, we were supposed to learn the French words for a lot of menu items.

However, out of the 50 of us in this big room learning and reciting what the French called a lobster or a crab, the background music was driving me nuts, and I felt very distracted. At the end of one of the sessions, they asked us how many of us felt the music helped us learn. Only two of us said the music was distracting and driving us nuts. We said we could not concentrate at all on the French words. Frankly, I cannot understand the other 48 people who could listen to music and focus on memorizing French terms both at the same time!! Like a lot of other educational theories, that one disappeared fast, but I wonder why TV shows think we need exciting music to feel excited or scary music to feel scared. I can hear the words spoken by the actors, but often I find the music much too loud and distracting!!!

So, I can imagine how hard it must be to pick out stuff when you wear hearing aids!!!