Saturday, Dec. 16th

[Colliemom]

Good morning from the cloudy 45th. Had rain during the night and I think we are supposed to have some scattered showers this morning.
Temps have been in the 40’s, no snow except for where plows or blowers put it. Looking at a brown Christmas this year they say. But that’s a bit over a week out.

In the meantime it’s been great weather for getting out walking and also making a trip to Traverse City to return an item to Michael’s craft store that I ordered and decided not to keep. Checked out the Hobby Lobby over there and bought a Diamond Painting kit that was on 40% off sale. Had a really good lunch at Cracker Barrel. Was busy place. Nice fire in the fireplace. Love that place. Want to go to Arnie’s Arts and Crafts in Houghton Lake this week too and get a frame for my current Diamond Painting while weather is nice. Dogs have vet appts. And I have dentist appt., so busy week ahead.

Still working on my current Diamond Painting. Nearing the halfway point. Will do more today. One I ordered came yesterday, so two are waiting in the wing and a custom ordered one will be here late next month. I decided this next Winter is going to be Painting 2 bedrooms and my kitchen and making some cosmetic changes. Seriously thinking of hiring a painter to do kitchen.


Beth, sounds like you have a good plan for down the road. Course as you said, it can change. Have fun working on the TT. I’m another one who will not take statins and I do have some osteoporosis in a couple places, but I figure my walking, my D3 and my Chiropractor keeping me lined up, keeps me moving. I think the doctors are pushing some of these meds because they get kickbacks from this pharmaceutical companies plus all the ads that are on TV make everybody think they have to have the stuff. The answer to our problems, Not.Need to put the brakes on here and get cleaned up and dressed for the day. I am selling a light pad and somebody wants to buy it so I need to meet them up in town.

Have a great day everyone.

[Cudedog]

I’m another one who will not take statins and I do have some osteoporosis in a couple places, but I figure my walking, my D3 and my Chiropractor keeping me lined up, keeps me moving. I think the doctors are pushing some of these meds because they get kickbacks from this pharmaceutical companies plus all the ads that are on TV make everybody think they have to have the stuff. The answer to our problems, Not.

Sue, I definitely agree with you. It seems like every other ad I see is for some drug-or-another. Drug companies are not necessarily in the business of helping people.

They are in the business of selling drugs.

Anne

[BirdbyBird]

I deferred taking statins for many many years....until I consulted with a cardiac specialist that has spend his older years in his practice focusing on treating the sons and daughters of his older cardiac patients that have had severe cardiac events. When I went in for my first consultation he did not think I was a crazy old lady for being concerned about my family history. He is on a mission to identify the younger family member that have inherited heart issues but have not experienced the the strokes or massive heart attacks...yet. Both my parents, my brother, an aunt and several cousins have have had serious heart issues. FIrst step was to identify what my inherited risk factor was. After taking the Calcium Cardiac test (which insurance doesn't pay for...) my numbers were through the roof. These numbers aren't affected by diet or exercise as much as ones genes.
Looking up the research online confirmed what I heard in my follow up appointment. My numbers were in the low 500's and placed me in about the 95% probability that I would experience a major heart issue. He put me on the same dosage of Statins that he puts his recovering cardiac patients on to help prevent a second cardiac... Nature and nurture play a big part of keeping healthy. I will do what I can. I will say that I have not experienced any side effects and yes my cholesterol have gone down considerably below what they have ever been. I have already outlived my mother and if I manage to live as long as my father did, my hope is that my quality of life may be better has his angina, by-pass surgeries and poor medical follow up and care didn't help him much in his last 10-15 years.....

[Cudedog]

Good points as well, Tina.

Much food for thought.

Thank you.

Anne

[chalet05]

Tina, thank you! I'm happy not to be the odd man out. I also refused statins for a number of years, but given family history, I have taken them for I don't know how long.

[JudyJB]

I have taken a statin for over 12 years--20 mg per day of zocor/simvastin in the evening. (This was prescribed for me by internist doctor at U of Michigan as a preventative.) I saw a cardiologist for the first time last year, and found out that my heart is normal-sized and there are no problems with it at all. My cholesterol dropped substantially when I started the statin, and having had many cat scans over the past 10+ years for kidneys and CLL, I have been told several times that my arteries and veins are "squeaky" clean, and that my chances of a heart attack or stroke over the next 5 years is less than 5%. (My dad died of a stroke at age 74, and my mother had a heart attack, but survived to age 93.)

Knowing that I am not likely to get a heart attack or stroke any time in the next few years is very comforting. I have had none of the side effects with my statin that people worry about. Because of my CLL, I get regular blood work done every 4-6 months, and I have kept a spreadsheet of results since 2016, so I do watch for any changes. Right now, my WBC is a tiny bit high, but my platelets are the best they have been in 10 years! Cholesterol is low, also.

Pouring down rain for past several hours. I had planned on taking trash out this morning, but think I will wait until tomorrow. I did some calling around and found out that the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is open on Christmas Day and even Christmas Eve, so I may go there one of those days for my holiday. Will depend on rain, I think.

I think your plans are good, Beth. I remember someone on our forum a few years ago that had a 5th wheel in the northeast U.S. and one in Florida, so just traveled back and forth to them, depending on weather and season. I have been thinking about eventually finding a place to stay year round, but it will need to be close to one of my sons, and I have no idea where that will be right now.

[JudyJB]

Anne, I agree that drug companies are in the business of making money, and they often charge much too much. Frankly, I dislike the TV ads for drugs and then the ads from law firms when there are problems. Too many people see the ads and then demand their doctors prescribe them.

BUT, I am a good example of someone for whom a drug saved my life. I was diagnosed with CLL in 2016, when the new targeted meds for it were just being introduced. Previous to 2015, the life expectancy for someone with CLL was 4-7 years. Genetic testing by my oncologist showed that I have a moderately more aggressive form of the disease and a form that was previously shown to not react very well to chemo, so I would likely have been on the lower end of that life expectancy. In 2018-2019, I was treated intravenously with a monoclonal antibody (Gazyva,) and after that given a brand-new targeted drug delivered via a pill (Ventoclax). It destroys BCL-2 proteins that prevent cell death so your immune system can destroy the cancerous cells. My lumpy neck cleared up and my spleen returned to normal size within 48 hours of my first Gazyva infusion. My white blood cell count went to normal within a week and stayed there, while the pills worked on my bone marrow.

These are miracle drugs and likely will enable me to live a normal life span. I had no side effects other than lowered platelet levels, and am still kicking, with no evidence yet of going out of remission. The drugs are incredibly expensive, but costs should go down in time. And I am alive, while the husband of a friend of mine who was diagnosed in 2014 passed away several years ago before he could get the new drugs.

[JudyJB]

SCARY MESSAGE --- Just got a horrible message that my computer was locked up and I needed to immediately call an 800 Microsoft alert number!!!!! It said if I tried to close the window or my computer, I would destroy it. Screen turned blue, lights flashed, official-sounding warning voice came on and kept giving me instructions to call numner.

Nope. This was a big SCAM, so I closed the window and am back in normal operation!!!!!

Wow. Never had this happen before.

[Irmi]

Judy, I had the same thing happen on my laptop, maybe a year ago, and I did the same thing you did. I thought
I'd have to buy a new laptop and after shutting down, it's been working fine ever since.

The weather here in central FL is icky. It started raining very lightly around 9:00 and it's raining a little harder now. It's almost 4:30 and we've had only a tad over a 1/2" of rain. Wind gusts are about 15 mph but we are supposed to have pouring rain around 11:00 with winds around 30 mph. So this storm is much milder than the weather people said.

The Father of our church and his wife are having their annual Christmas open house following the service tomorrow and I made a Texas Sheet Cake to take. They always put out quite the spread.

Enjoy what's left of the day.

[OregonLuvr]

Good afternoon. Yesterday we were totally covered in fog all day. This morning was foggy again, dense fog warnings. But the sun came out after lunch and it was really nice out. I have just been puttering around today. Doing a little fighting with a couple of my electronics. I won one battle but not the other.....yet. I am just taking a break LOL Judy I got that message also, after their message about my account was disabled, do not turn off the computer, call this number. Well not happening, so I just shut down the computer. Then happened again a couple weeks later so I did the same thing and it has not been back yet. Someone I know got that message and called that number and even went so far as to go draw money out of the bank but thank goodness she called a family member and they put the kibosh on it but it was very scary. She was an older lady so that pisses me off even more.

Not all drugs are bad of course and if you are taking something and it is working for you that is a good thing. People just need to research the drugs, and then evaluate their risk factors. I have a friend that had horrible problems after being put on a drug. She was in so much joint pain and she said to me "you should have told me not to take that drug". Oh hell no!!! I never told her to take it or not take it Not my business. She still has a couple ruptured tendons from it but is actually doing much better. We all make our own personal choices and decisions anmd that is how it should be.
Well my last load of laundry is done so guess I can make my bed now.

[Redetotry]

SCARY MESSAGE --- Just got a horrible message that my computer was locked up and I needed to immediately call an 800 Microsoft alert number!!!!! It said if I tried to close the window or my computer, I would destroy it. Screen turned blue, lights flashed, official-sounding warning voice came on and kept giving me instructions to call numner.

Nope. This was a big SCAM, so I closed the window and am back in normal operation!!!!!

Wow. Never had this happen before.

I've had that happen on my iMac a coupe of times. I called the a local computer place and they said if I hadn't called the number on the screen to just turn my computer off and turn it back on. That got rid of it.

[JudyJB]

That message was certainly scary, and I can understand how someone would call that number, and possibly even send money. Sorry to hear about that older woman, so glad her family stopped her. The technique of saying not to close the window or it would destroy your computer is very effective, unfortunately.

[Bethers]

I second what Karen said. We all need to decide what drugs we are willing or not willing to take. And may change our minds about some. When I respond I simply am saying what I do and why.

Judy, v yrs, those types of things popping up on a computer, or phone, are definitely scary. We always have to remember to never call or open anything like that. But it's hard to not do it, especially with a great factor like saying you'll do damage if you close/shut down

I just enjoyed a Hallmark Christmas movie.

I did get a few little projects worked on in the tt today. I started to head out to get some minor things like shelf paper, but remembered it's the weekend, so will go, probably Monday and check dollar tree out maybe big lots. Compare with Walmart and Amazon prices online and then I can start putting it down in all the cabinets.

[OregonLuvr]

Just finished dismantling HENRY. Was time for some maintenance. So cleaned all the sensors, removed any debris that accumulated and wrapped around the brushes and roller. Also the wheels. Washed out the bin, replaced the filters Also cleaned the sensors on the recovery bin. Youtube was great....I love that channel.
Put up my outdoor back patio lights. All is good EXCEPT I cannot get Alexa to discover my dimmer plug. It will happen just not today. I will call tomorrow and they can walk me thru it. I never have trouble connecting my devices. Just sometimes it takes a couple of tries. I gave up on this for tonight. I can turn them on with Google Assistant or the app on my phone.
So my computer or Facebook had some sort of update that of course has screwed up my entire computer. All my extensions were gone from Google, altho I did reinstall them. Now the fonts are super small on Facebook. I am thinking about tackling Microsoft Edge and even Windows 11. My techy life is not so good this weekend ha ha

[snowball]

another out and about day
went and watched one of my granddaughter's in a competition for archery she did good not as good as she would have liked but I thought good...
then we went to lunch tried out a "Shake Shack" I think is the name of it in my feeling it was really expensive a cheeseburger fries and shake cause if you go to a shake place ought to try the shake ... that came to almost 20 including a tip... yesterday at the place we ate at which was totally different ambiance it was a Mexican place ... one dish I really considered getting I can't remember the name of but dd got it and my fork full was so yummy and it with it's rice and beans and tortilla shells came to 19 make me shake my head
after that we went to world market a fun place to go to but my dd who was driving encouraged me to get out of the car quickly cause she was stopped not sure if I didn't pick up my feet high enough but I hit the ground between the curb and the car making it so my dd couldn't out son in law came to help but in that position its difficult for anyone and no bruise I hurt more than normal so irritating so very careful after that and the prices there for some items are not bad I picked up some jam that I know that size in Smith's would have been twice the cost.. it was only like 4.00 picked up several bottles of "Fluff" which I prefer over the marshmallow creme.. found some Ube spread not sure what it will be like but I actually got it for my sister however it's weight might make it so it doesn't get sent
on to Costco then to son's house to visit for a bit then we went back to Ogden and to walmart as well as Hobby Lobby I was going to get the yarn for the fingerless gloves but it was a brand called Hobbi so I got something that hopefully it will work then stopped for pizza and home again into PJ's and on the computer
it's getting late
so far it hasn't been a recommendation for me to be on statins but then I go so often however I really ought to make an appointment soon
you all have a good night
sheila