I have been having trouble with my memory for about two years, little lapses that have increased in frequency and import. One of my dearest friends had a chat with me as she has really noticed that I lose my place while engaging in conversation and often repeat what we've already discussed. I also have a tendency not to remember specifically how to do tasks, such as putting the choke chain on Sparkle the correct way so it doesn't hurt her. I literally had to take a photo with my phone of the correct placement so I can use that to make sure I hook her up correctly. My friend made me promise to talk to my doctor when it was time for my next appointment, and to write down what needed to be said/covered, which I did.
Today was the dr. appt. with my favorite doctor. I told him that my friends had concerns that I'm starting to forget things, repeat things, claim no knowledge of ever having something as a part of my life. He laughed and, after looking at my chart to check my birthdate, said that happens to a lot of people in my age range and has become part of the "new normal" as we age. He double-checked medications to see if any of my prescriptions could be interfering with my cognition, and told me to stop taking the daily aspirin as that "may" have a cognitive link. He also told me I no longer needed to take the milk thistle as my bloodwork no longer has a link to a possible liver issue. He did a couple of little tasks with me and was ready to bring me up to speed.
He strongly doubts that I have early dementia, but he's going to put me through a series of lab tests to see if anything is going on. He says that "cognitive functioning" naturally diminishes as we age, and he's leaning toward that as a catch-all diagnosis. He's going to prescribe Aracept as a precaution after he gets back the lab work I'll be doing tomorrow, lab work that includes a check for syphilis (really) because that can cause the symptoms of Alzheimer's. We already have another appointment scheduled for 7 weeks from now to touch base again and he told me he's convinced I just have normal loss of cognition, and nothing serious or to be worried about.
I feel better for speaking up about the cognition issues and am especially relieved that he sees my lapses as typical loss of cognition, rather than early onset Alzheimer's Disease. I'm not totally sure what the medical difference is, but one is a natural progression of aging while the other is a specific physical condition that can, and does, affect people and their quality of life.
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Monday, February 25, 2019
Good Neighbors and Fences
Robert Frost once wrote about good neighbors and fences, but his point was in asking who is walling one in and who is walling one out. If we truly are good neighbors, we don't need a fence. I have a chainlink fence around my property, including the long side of the property I share with a 3-unit rental. The entire length of the fence is planted with oleanders that serve as a privacy barrier.
My dog trainer is also a botanist (retired), and when she saw the half-dozen young children next door playing in the oleanders, she told them to stay away from the plant because it's poisonous. The kids heard the word "poison" and ran to get their mom, who then engaged in a confrontation with me because I shouldn't have poisoned plants coming through the chain link fence, where the children can touch them and get sick or die.
Yep, we went from zero to sixty in about 5 seconds flat.
I calmed her down and told her the children would have to chew on the leaves/branches to get sick, and she responded with the fact that they are just children and may do that. She told me I had to take the plants off "her" side of the fence or she would call the police. I assured her that I would take care of it as quickly as I could, but Nancy told her to tell her children not to play where the plants are. That was like adding fuel to a fire, so I quietly told Nancy to cool it and assured the woman that I would go see my gardener right then and see when he could take care of this issue for me.
I walked down to my gardener's home and left a note for him to call me, which he did. I explained the issue to him and he shook his head that the woman would have been threatening me. I told him that I needed to have the removal of the oleander as soon as possible, so he set aside today (Monday) to take care of the problem. He was able to speak to the woman in Spanish and tell her that the plants would not "kill" her children, but she was still freaked out.
Antonio, my gardener, just finished clearing "her" side of the fence, so the oleanders are trimmed back. We'll keep an eye on it and hope that this satisfies the neighbor. Antonio will add trimming them to his monthly gardening to-do list, which is fine with me.
The answer to Frost's question about neighbors and fences remains elusive, but cutting back the oleanders is now a part of my being a good neighbor.
My dog trainer is also a botanist (retired), and when she saw the half-dozen young children next door playing in the oleanders, she told them to stay away from the plant because it's poisonous. The kids heard the word "poison" and ran to get their mom, who then engaged in a confrontation with me because I shouldn't have poisoned plants coming through the chain link fence, where the children can touch them and get sick or die.
Yep, we went from zero to sixty in about 5 seconds flat.
I calmed her down and told her the children would have to chew on the leaves/branches to get sick, and she responded with the fact that they are just children and may do that. She told me I had to take the plants off "her" side of the fence or she would call the police. I assured her that I would take care of it as quickly as I could, but Nancy told her to tell her children not to play where the plants are. That was like adding fuel to a fire, so I quietly told Nancy to cool it and assured the woman that I would go see my gardener right then and see when he could take care of this issue for me.
I walked down to my gardener's home and left a note for him to call me, which he did. I explained the issue to him and he shook his head that the woman would have been threatening me. I told him that I needed to have the removal of the oleander as soon as possible, so he set aside today (Monday) to take care of the problem. He was able to speak to the woman in Spanish and tell her that the plants would not "kill" her children, but she was still freaked out.
Antonio, my gardener, just finished clearing "her" side of the fence, so the oleanders are trimmed back. We'll keep an eye on it and hope that this satisfies the neighbor. Antonio will add trimming them to his monthly gardening to-do list, which is fine with me.
The answer to Frost's question about neighbors and fences remains elusive, but cutting back the oleanders is now a part of my being a good neighbor.
Friday, February 15, 2019
OH, BOY! Did the rain come down...
The Coachella Valley is ringed with mountains, ranges that get snow in the winter and are considerably cooler in the summer than the desert floor. From these mountain ranges in winter, we get rain run-off, as well as snow melt later in the year, that flows through the washes that cross the desert floor. Yesterday, we had horrendous amounts of rain in the desert and mountains, and the run-off raging water through the washes that attach to the mountains has caused significant damage and road closures.
There are major thoroughfares that cross Interstate 10 between Desert Hot Springs and the plethora of little cities on the western side of 10, including Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and others. The rain combined with the run-off to turn those washes into raging rivers that simply are not passable. For all the workers who live either "up the hill" in the Yucca Valley area or in DHS, their access to their jobs was denied by the raging water and the debris it brought into the washes.
Of course, there are those who think they are smarter than the forces of nature and, thus, tried to navigate the swollen rivers. There were many rescues of people who made bad decisions, but their vehicles will have to be replaced once the waters recede and the debris fields, which now include their vehicle, are cleared off the roadways. I'm not sure why people think the numerous travel warnings not to engage with the fierce run-off doesn't apply to them, but there are always people who think they can make it when no one else can.
The roads will be back open as soon as the crews can make that happen; however, until the roads are clear, people are going to be backed-up in long, slow lines of cars going one at a time through the limited access to the other side of the freeway. Yesterday, many of the students throughout the Valley were sent home for safety, and I'm pretty sure they are staying home today, too, which makes this weekend a long one as Monday is also a holiday.
Don't mess with Mother Nature is still good advice. Too bad so many individuals don't heed that advice. Live and learn, but there's always a price tag associated with that lesson.
There are major thoroughfares that cross Interstate 10 between Desert Hot Springs and the plethora of little cities on the western side of 10, including Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and others. The rain combined with the run-off to turn those washes into raging rivers that simply are not passable. For all the workers who live either "up the hill" in the Yucca Valley area or in DHS, their access to their jobs was denied by the raging water and the debris it brought into the washes.
Of course, there are those who think they are smarter than the forces of nature and, thus, tried to navigate the swollen rivers. There were many rescues of people who made bad decisions, but their vehicles will have to be replaced once the waters recede and the debris fields, which now include their vehicle, are cleared off the roadways. I'm not sure why people think the numerous travel warnings not to engage with the fierce run-off doesn't apply to them, but there are always people who think they can make it when no one else can.
The roads will be back open as soon as the crews can make that happen; however, until the roads are clear, people are going to be backed-up in long, slow lines of cars going one at a time through the limited access to the other side of the freeway. Yesterday, many of the students throughout the Valley were sent home for safety, and I'm pretty sure they are staying home today, too, which makes this weekend a long one as Monday is also a holiday.
Don't mess with Mother Nature is still good advice. Too bad so many individuals don't heed that advice. Live and learn, but there's always a price tag associated with that lesson.
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Facebook Fail
I don't know what I expected when I made the decision to use Facebook as a vehicle to keep in touch with people in my world, but I'm a bit taken aback by all the posts on my pages from people I may--or may not--know. I open my Facebook account and there are photos and messages between people I don't even know. I have a long list of people I don't know who want to be my friend, which strikes me oddly: how do they even know I am looking for friends?
All in all, I'm not enthused with my Facebook experience. I joined a local community group to get information about what's going on in my residential area, and there are word fights going on between the person who started the page and other people who have joined it. There's profanity, poor spelling, atrocious grammar, and just generally things I'm really not into at this stage of my life.
I keep getting messages on my cellphone about people who want to be my friend on Facebook, but there is no sign of them on Facebook and I have no idea how to "friend" them from my phone. Some of the contacts I'd like to be "friends" with because they are part of my past and I'd love to know what they are doing in the present; other people I don't even know, but it seems that having a person in common means you want to "friend" these strangers.
I am not a big fan of the Facebook experience. I'm going to give it a try for a solid month before I make any final decisions about whether I'll keep my page or go dark. If I had to make the call today, I'd say toodle-loo to the world of friends I don't know.
UPDATE: OMG, now my gmail account is filled with FB posts and people! I didn't know that what shows up on my FB page will also become part of my email experience. This is too much, too invasive; I don't know if I'll last the month of trying this experiment.
All in all, I'm not enthused with my Facebook experience. I joined a local community group to get information about what's going on in my residential area, and there are word fights going on between the person who started the page and other people who have joined it. There's profanity, poor spelling, atrocious grammar, and just generally things I'm really not into at this stage of my life.
I keep getting messages on my cellphone about people who want to be my friend on Facebook, but there is no sign of them on Facebook and I have no idea how to "friend" them from my phone. Some of the contacts I'd like to be "friends" with because they are part of my past and I'd love to know what they are doing in the present; other people I don't even know, but it seems that having a person in common means you want to "friend" these strangers.
I am not a big fan of the Facebook experience. I'm going to give it a try for a solid month before I make any final decisions about whether I'll keep my page or go dark. If I had to make the call today, I'd say toodle-loo to the world of friends I don't know.
UPDATE: OMG, now my gmail account is filled with FB posts and people! I didn't know that what shows up on my FB page will also become part of my email experience. This is too much, too invasive; I don't know if I'll last the month of trying this experiment.
Friday, February 1, 2019
Now Year's Resolution
It's a new year and time to reflect and then refresh one's life. This year, I came up with 3 wishes for the New Year: no more online buying; no further contact in any form with Publisher's Clearing House; and contact my children at least once a week, with a corollary, to use Facebook to facilitate that contact.
Of course, in order to use Facebook, I have to "do" Facebook and I have stubbornly resisted that engagement with all the force of will within me. However, it is time for me to join the 21st Century and not just know that people only contact one another with electronic devices, but they also like to know what you're up to now and then. Facebook is a media that can facilitate both of those goals.
My son spent an hour on the telephone walking me through the process of getting set up and started, but I'm disappointed that I don't have a page with things unique to me. I immediately received a lot of other people's thoughts, feelings, and rages, and I'm not sure if I have to respond to those or can ignore them. I need to put up a picture, but the only photo I have of me that I like is my senior year at Cal Lutheran photo, which I no longer resemble in any way, shape, or form. I'm old now and wrinkles accent my facial features in ways that are not necessarily charming. My face, which used to be an elongated oval, is now square, which matches my body that also used to be a lean, mean running machine and is now … squishy.
And when it comes to stimulating conversation with peers, I'm good with "Good girl, Sparkle." and "come here, Cinnamon," followed by lots of ooing and cooing and cuddling. My life, which used to be an open book into the world, is narrowed to the confines of SoCal as I'm not as confident driving on the freeways as I used to be. A big trip is across the highway to visit the communities on the west side of I-10, which is also where all the shopping is. I love going to Costco and spending money there with reckless abandon just because there is nowhere to spend money in my community (other than the grocery store and KMart).
Somehow, I have to turn almost 74 years of life into stimulating, interesting, charming Facebook posts that attract people who know me to visit my page and feel as if they have been enriched by the experience. We'll see how this happens as the days progress. Wish me luck?
PS: I did use the college senior photo because that's what I wanted to do. The rest of the world can simply deal with it.
Of course, in order to use Facebook, I have to "do" Facebook and I have stubbornly resisted that engagement with all the force of will within me. However, it is time for me to join the 21st Century and not just know that people only contact one another with electronic devices, but they also like to know what you're up to now and then. Facebook is a media that can facilitate both of those goals.
My son spent an hour on the telephone walking me through the process of getting set up and started, but I'm disappointed that I don't have a page with things unique to me. I immediately received a lot of other people's thoughts, feelings, and rages, and I'm not sure if I have to respond to those or can ignore them. I need to put up a picture, but the only photo I have of me that I like is my senior year at Cal Lutheran photo, which I no longer resemble in any way, shape, or form. I'm old now and wrinkles accent my facial features in ways that are not necessarily charming. My face, which used to be an elongated oval, is now square, which matches my body that also used to be a lean, mean running machine and is now … squishy.
And when it comes to stimulating conversation with peers, I'm good with "Good girl, Sparkle." and "come here, Cinnamon," followed by lots of ooing and cooing and cuddling. My life, which used to be an open book into the world, is narrowed to the confines of SoCal as I'm not as confident driving on the freeways as I used to be. A big trip is across the highway to visit the communities on the west side of I-10, which is also where all the shopping is. I love going to Costco and spending money there with reckless abandon just because there is nowhere to spend money in my community (other than the grocery store and KMart).
Somehow, I have to turn almost 74 years of life into stimulating, interesting, charming Facebook posts that attract people who know me to visit my page and feel as if they have been enriched by the experience. We'll see how this happens as the days progress. Wish me luck?
PS: I did use the college senior photo because that's what I wanted to do. The rest of the world can simply deal with it.
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