USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Michelle420]

Its been sinking in for 30 years, Drifter. My heart skips beats too. I ignore it. She gets a sneeze and she runs to the doctor believing she has Ebola.

Yeah, I am sure there is more of a history attached to it. But I was just basing it on the one convo. No worries.

 

[Gracie]

I asked your opinions, so yeah...no worries, lol. Its all good. I have no patience for this chick and I guess it showed in my text although I was careful doing it. I said "not to be rude" but she took it as such. Oh well. Like I said..no loss and less drama in the coming years.

 

[Dajjal]

Bastard neighbours downstairs finally seemed to go to bed at 6 am in the morning. I might start hoovering the floor at 8 am to wake them up.

 

[Dajjal]

 

[Gracie]

The sleeping tiger awakeths?

 

[Ernie S.]

Well..someone is totally pissed at me. Acquaintence of mine I have known many years just told me (via text) that she wants nothing more to do with me. Which is fine. She has always been a manipulative whiney hypochondriac so its no loss.

However, she got all indignant over something and I wanted your opinions on whether I was "too rude" to her.

All this happened via text. And I shortened it enough so you get the gist without the rest of the bullshit. The red font is what pissed her off.

Her: I just got out of the hospital.
Me: What's wrong?
Her: I have A-Fib.
Me: Are you better now?
Her: My blood pressure is 230/185 and has been for years. My heart was vibrating instead of beating.
Me: MrG has a-fib. He's on warfarin. That is probably what they will put you on.
Her: No, they want to do surgery.
Me: Surgery is dangerous. If you want to control your BP naturally, maybe try a Paleo Diet? Weight is an issue, I am not trying to be rude.
Her: WE ALL HAVE OUR FLAWS! Even people with bad attitudes like you!!!!!
Me: Do you get defensive when your doc tells you you need to lose weight or do you save that for me?
Her: I will not be friends with you any more. Your tongue is too sharp. My heart cannot take it.
Me: You want me to baby you and I refuse to. If you want to live, you have to get some weight off. It will help your doctors AND you.
Her: I am done with you. Begone.
Me:. Ok. Adios.

Now..this gal weighs 375 lbs and is obese and has been for many years.

Was I rude in suggesting a paleo diet or ANY diet? Is that having a sharp tongue?

Being overweight is a lot like smoking. The effects creep up on you over many years and you barely notice until you end up with COPD in my case, or heart problems or diabetes. Any of these problems can be helped a great deal with life style changes.
I always got a bit miffed at people who suggested I stop smoking. I've tried to quit dozens of times and the last attempt (I was on the prayer list for it) failed just like all the others did. Suggest I quit and I'm going to get ticked off because it reminds me of my many failures.
I'm going to bet your friend has tried dozens of diets over the years and realizes her problems are related to her obesity but just can't muster the self control necessary to stick with a diet.

Me? I'm wearing a nicotine patch as I type and about to slap on the first patch from the stage 2 box. 14 days without a cigarette. Hopefully, I have sufficient motivation to stick with it this time. I'm breathing much better. My lung capacity has nearly doubled. I've gained 4 pounds and saved $135.... well, let's call it ten bucks since I bought a Mucci pool cue worth about $400 for a buck and a quarter.
I'd ask to be put back on the prayer list, but hesitate since all your effort didn't keep me stopped last time. I feel as though I've let you down.

Leg? A lot better. I still have a slight limp and I'm able to bend the knee 150 degrees. I was picking up a few degrees every week, but lately the progress has slowed a lot. Every gain comes after a lot of discomfort from putting a wide elastic band from foot to thigh and more or less forcing the joint to give me a bit more over an hour or 2. I do that 2 or 3 times a week and suffer for 2 days after. Painful yes, like dieting, but it works

 

[Ernie S.]

Got new neighbours downstairs in the flat below me. They have been there a couple of weeks and as far as I can see they are entirely nocturnal. They do not appear to sleep at night, but stay up talking until morning.

THATS JUST GREAT.!

Maybe they are vampires.

Garlic!

 

[ChrisL]

Happy Monday! (It is Monday, right?)

 

[Ernie S.]

Happy Monday! (It is Monday, right?)

Monday is relative. For me, it's more like Friday. Half day today (4 to 10 PM) and off tomorrow.

 

[ChrisL]

I went to see my grammy in the nursing home this weekend. It is just sad seeing her now. I was just telling my friend that I miss her so much and she isn't even dead yet. She reverts a lot back into her childhood nowadays. She sometimes thinks my aunt (her daughter) is her mother and has no idea who I am. Other times it seems she knows who I am but she still has that childlike demeanor about her. She carries a stuffed cat (that looks surprisingly realistic), which she just adores. She constantly has it in her arms and pats it and talks to it like it is a real cat or something. Anyways, it seems to make her happy and I suppose it is kind of like therapy for it. It is kind of cute how much she cares about that thing.

 

[Foxfyre]

Well..someone is totally pissed at me. Acquaintence of mine I have known many years just told me (via text) that she wants nothing more to do with me. Which is fine. She has always been a manipulative whiney hypochondriac so its no loss.

However, she got all indignant over something and I wanted your opinions on whether I was "too rude" to her.

All this happened via text. And I shortened it enough so you get the gist without the rest of the bullshit. The red font is what pissed her off.

Her: I just got out of the hospital.
Me: What's wrong?
Her: I have A-Fib.
Me: Are you better now?
Her: My blood pressure is 230/185 and has been for years. My heart was vibrating instead of beating.
Me: MrG has a-fib. He's on warfarin. That is probably what they will put you on.
Her: No, they want to do surgery.
Me: Surgery is dangerous. If you want to control your BP naturally, maybe try a Paleo Diet? Weight is an issue, I am not trying to be rude.
Her: WE ALL HAVE OUR FLAWS! Even people with bad attitudes like you!!!!!
Me: Do you get defensive when your doc tells you you need to lose weight or do you save that for me?
Her: I will not be friends with you any more. Your tongue is too sharp. My heart cannot take it.
Me: You want me to baby you and I refuse to. If you want to live, you have to get some weight off. It will help your doctors AND you.
Her: I am done with you. Begone.
Me:. Ok. Adios.

Now..this gal weighs 375 lbs and is obese and has been for many years.

Was I rude in suggesting a paleo diet or ANY diet? Is that having a sharp tongue?

Being overweight is a lot like smoking. The effects creep up on you over many years and you barely notice until you end up with COPD in my case, or heart problems or diabetes. Any of these problems can be helped a great deal with life style changes.
I always got a bit miffed at people who suggested I stop smoking. I've tried to quit dozens of times and the last attempt (I was on the prayer list for it) failed just like all the others did. Suggest I quit and I'm going to get ticked off because it reminds me of my many failures.
I'm going to bet your friend has tried dozens of diets over the years and realizes her problems are related to her obesity but just can't muster the self control necessary to stick with a diet.

Me? I'm wearing a nicotine patch as I type and about to slap on the first patch from the stage 2 box. 14 days without a cigarette. Hopefully, I have sufficient motivation to stick with it this time. I'm breathing much better. My lung capacity has nearly doubled. I've gained 4 pounds and saved $135.... well, let's call it ten bucks since I bought a Mucci pool cue worth about $400 for a buck and a quarter.
I'd ask to be put back on the prayer list, but hesitate since all your effort didn't keep me stopped last time. I feel as though I've let you down.

Leg? A lot better. I still have a slight limp and I'm able to bend the knee 150 degrees. I was picking up a few degrees every week, but lately the progress has slowed a lot. Every gain comes after a lot of discomfort from putting a wide elastic band from foot to thigh and more or less forcing the joint to give me a bit more over an hour or 2. I do that 2 or 3 times a week and suffer for 2 days after. Painful yes, like dieting, but it works

Prayer, positive vibes, positive thoughts etc. are helpful. I have felt them on more than one occasion and am convinced that, plus an amazing surgeon's skill, that got me through life threatening surgery two years ago. Prayer and positive thinking always helps, but even that isn't as strong as some addictions.

All I can offer is the formula that works in most cases:

1. You are powerless over the addiction but there is power to block its power it if we accept it, i.e. power that goes beyond will power that often/usually fails us. Some call it God. Some call it group force. But whatever it is, it is real if we are able to yield to it.

IMPORTANT: There is no shame whatsoever in failure or multiple failures. The only shame is the unwillingness to try. By all means use available help if it really helps. For myself going cold turkey was the only answer even though the initial assault on my mind and body was fierce.

2. Quitting cigarettes/chewing tobacco or other nicotine addictions is just as difficult as quitting booze, other drugs, gambling, or other addictions.

3. Quitting cigarettes triggers withdrawal systems that are miserable. While the worst cravings last only about five days after complete cessation--be prepared to distract yourself with whatever it takes during that time but don't use activities in which you normally smoke to distract yourself--those cravings will keep coming for some time and you will need the distractions. The craving attacks are not constant but hit you intermittently and, if resisted, will lessen significantly after awhile.

4. It takes 21 days for the nicotine to completely leave the system and longer to retrain yourself to be comfortable without tobacco to calm yourself down, to help you focus, give yourself time to think, the tactile pleasure of handling/lighting, give yourself something to do, make yourself feel normal, or just enjoy. During that time expect:

a) Intermittent intense craving attacks to the point you can feel frantic, but if you resist, it will pass after a relatively short time. It will pass more quickly if you distract yourself with a non-smoking activity.

b) The terrible craving attacks that can take you to your knees, if you can resist them, over days and weeks will gradually come further apart and lessen in intensity, and be of shorter duration.

c) The day comes when you realize you have gone hours or a whole day without thinking about smoking.

d) When you get to the point that smoking bothers you and is unpleasant for you to be around, you can pronounce yourself recovered from the addiction. Even one cigarette, however, can break your sobriety or set you back to Day One. Avoid that temptation by remembering what Day One and the many days that followed it were like.

I say this as one trained by the National Cancer Society to run stop smoking clinics. I also say this as one who was armed with this information but quit maybe a hundred times before it finally took. I quit for three years once--I ran stop smoking clinics during that time--and then went back to the darn things. But I kept at it. I haven't had a cigarette since the mid 1980's. And I haven't wanted one for a couple of decades.

 

[Foxfyre]

Bastard neighbours downstairs finally seemed to go to bed at 6 am in the morning. I might start hoovering the floor at 8 am to wake them up.

I probably have related this story at some point, but the last time we lived in an apartment complex, we were on the ground at the end of the building. No neighbors on one side and those on the left we never ever heard--very quiet. But the big blonde upstairs lifted weights and she generally did that routine just before her bedtime which was usually after our bedtime. Think very large weights thumping and clanging down on a wood floor--actually seemed to shake the building at times.

She was eventually evicted I presume for non payment of rent. She super glued shut all the windows, drawers, cabinet and interior doors, and the outer door as she left. Don't know what it cost the management to replace/repair all that. Don't know if they ever prosecuted. But they should have.

 

[Foxfyre]

View attachment 151210

Love the photo. But it reminds me how many times I've watched the big cats and am impressed with how catlike they are. No matter what size or their circumstances, a cat is a cat is a cat:

 

[Dajjal]

Bastard neighbours downstairs finally seemed to go to bed at 6 am in the morning. I might start hoovering the floor at 8 am to wake them up.

I probably have related this story at some point, but the last time we lived in an apartment complex, we were on the ground at the end of the building. No neighbors on one side and those on the left we never ever heard--very quiet. But the big blonde upstairs lifted weights and she generally did that routine just before her bedtime which was usually after our bedtime. Think very large weights thumping and clanging down on a wood floor--actually seemed to shake the building at times.

She was eventually evicted I presume for non payment of rent. She super glued shut all the windows, drawers, cabinet and interior doors, and the outer door as she left. Don't know what it cost the management to replace/repair all that. Don't know if they ever prosecuted. But they should have.

I have already started working out plans to deal with the new neighbours. Firstly I will be amiable and try to draw up a set of rules, like they don't stay up all night in the bedroom below mine. But use the their other rooms.
It is not good to have people waking you up at all hours of the night, but if they use the room below me I will not get any sleep at all. If a quiet word with them does not work I will write them a letter and send a copy to the landlords. I have survived 24 years in this flat, and have seen other tenants below me come and go. I hope to out last these tenants too.

 

[Foxfyre]

 

[peach174]

Got back from the Benson Hospital.
Hubbies sores are healing and Dr. wants to see him everyday this week except Thursday.
Thursday is a trip to Tucson for the bone specialist at 8:30 a.m.
Hopefully he can get the air cast off.
Another busy week.

 

[Gracie]

I went to see my grammy in the nursing home this weekend. It is just sad seeing her now. I was just telling my friend that I miss her so much and she isn't even dead yet. She reverts a lot back into her childhood nowadays. She sometimes thinks my aunt (her daughter) is her mother and has no idea who I am. Other times it seems she knows who I am but she still has that childlike demeanor about her. She carries a stuffed cat (that looks surprisingly realistic), which she just adores. She constantly has it in her arms and pats it and talks to it like it is a real cat or something. Anyways, it seems to make her happy and I suppose it is kind of like therapy for it. It is kind of cute how much she cares about that thing.

Every night, I pull my spare pillow over to me and hug and pet it..pretending it is Karma. Its that soft fuzzy material, so it feels like fur. I presume I will be doing this for some time. Its been 4 months..and feels like a hundred years.

Night night time, Karms. It's sleepy time. Pet pet pet pet..until I doze off.

 

[Ringel05]

Here's the results of my latest project, the one with the hammered copper wrist cuff I pick up in Taos.

 

[Ringel05]

More.

 

[Ringel05]

And the last one.