Looking out my window...

Exercise Routine: Animated Dreaming Gets Me Going, Going, Gone!

Yes, that is rain. Rain in winter. Near Chicago. Only one day after a huge snow storm. In fact, you can see the last of a remaining pile of plowed snow. And, guess what? It snowed again two days later.

The cycle of life.

For about two years now I have, on occasion, fallen out of bed. This is a bad thing because I have had difficulty in getting back into bed. I've talked about this topic before. Like the time I was visiting my mom and fell between the wall and the bed.

So far, knock on wood, I haven't had any injuries of any significance. And, I hadn't had a fall for several months, leading me to think it wasn't going to happen again.

HA!

So, a couple of weeks ago, it did happen again. I had one of my very animated dreams. I was trying to show someone how big the fish in the lake were. I stretched my arms out. You know, like a fisherman does. It was when I couldn't stretch them any further that I fell.

And, this time I knocked my face, cheek and chin, along with my upper arm into my nightstand. Not serious, but hurt none-the-less. Luckily, after remembering some helpful tricks a physical therapist gave me, I was able to get back into bed without too much difficulty.

Unfortunately, this fall was the last straw for the Chief. He worries about me enough and he had had enough of this falling business. Now we had discussed various ways to stop me from falling out of bed before. But, this time he wasn't kidding around. The words "bed rail" kept coming up again and again. Out of his mouth, mind you, not mine.

"No, no, no" came out of mine. I searched for alternative solutions. I'm rather good at problem solving (LOL).

We could take away the bed frame and be closer to the floor.
Uh, no 'cause I wouldn't be able to get down or up.

We could buy a King size bed (we have a Queen).
Sounded good until I saw how much they cost, plus all the new linens, etc., etc.

We could put a room divider between the bed and nightstand.
Tried it, I couldn't reach the light or anything else.

Then, all of a sudden, the chief spoke "HOSPITAL BED"! I'm not kidding. "Hospital Bed." Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

It was at that point my mind quickly went to a compromise. A new tactic I learned from our POTUS.

Bed Rails.

Of course I put many qualifications on what it could look like, how big it was, and could I handle it without calling the Warden. After searching the internet for a few days, I finally settled on one that was black. Quite fashionable, I thought, as opposed to the hospital "stainless steel" most were. It was adjustable in length, so I could get out of bed without taking it off. And, it could be folded down when not in use. No shipping costs. Returnable to store. Done deal.

After the bed rail arrived the Chief put it together. Wrong at first. But pretty good for not reading the instructions prior to assembling. I kid. We fooled around with where exactly it should be placed and once set, went to bed.

I have to be honest. It was the best night's sleep I'd had in a long time.

More Bangs For Your Buck!

 

Copper Hides Under His Bangs 2010.
Photo by Sharon.

A few people noticed I stopped writing. Thank you. My computer crashed from viruses. In case any of you have not experienced this, I have now crashed twice. Let me explain.

My mom asked if I should just buy another computer. Well, not really. I have a friend who fixes these crashes. But, even with backup, you pretty much have to build up the computer just like you've been doing the last year or so doing before the crash. So, unless the hard drive is killed, or worse, there isn't any reason to buy a new computer. Unless, of course, it's time for a new one anyway.

Most everything we experience should provide us with at least one learning point.  This time around I've learned that computers should be turned off when not in use. Especially overnight, 'cause while you're sleeping the viruses are eating up your data and programs. Even if your computer goes into a "sleep" mode. They do this very quietly so as not to wake you up. But, they do it none the less.

Bad people send out viruses because, well, because they can and they're bad people. The attacks come into our computer through various means: worms, trojans, etc. They come in attached to something else, like maybe the chain letters we all receive. The trojans skip by safe guards because they are like the Trojan Horse - the outside is great, but dangers are hidden inside. Worms kind of tunnel in and once deep inside start to devour everything.

More News...

The Chief and I have been watching the news lately. This is something we have not done for a long time. Why? It's depressing. And, we get our news on-line.

But we recently discovered MSNBC: Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O'Donnell. After that we go to the Comedy channel and watch Jon Stewart and then The Colbert Report. Whew!

In the photo at the top of this post is our super-dog Copper. Copper watches from his place on our bed the same things we do. His now VERY long bangs are intended to send us a message: "I can't watch this political stuff anymore!"

Hmm. I wonder what his reaction to watching Fox would be. We'll never know, because then I would have to hide under my covers with my pillow over my head, and my fingers stuck in my ears.

Nope, not gonna happen.

There's Piles of Poop Everywhere You Look!

Photo of Rabbit Poop (not taken by Sharon)!

Oh, where to begin...I told the Chief last week if I was going to be depressed, this would be the time to do it. Fortunately I've been friends with Prozac for twenty years, so as long as I can keep my sense of humor I should not be in too much trouble.

Perhaps I can depress you with the following:

A) Family member suffering from pain for 'bout 10 years...3 surgeries later and no change...if anything it's worse.

B) Family member suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis. Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Sciatica, Fibromyalgia and MRSA along with other miscellaneous stuff.

C) Dog age 6.5 years old suffering from puppyitis.

D) Myself suffering from Asthma, Osteo Arthritis, Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, Kidney Failure, Venous Insufficiency, Lymphedema Right Arm, History of Breast CA, Fibromyalgia, Hypertension, Hypothyroidism, along with other assorted goodies.

I won't go on. You get the idea. And, such is life. Carry on. Have a cup of tea.

I try to take the piles one day at a time. But, sometimes that is impossible. So, depending on what is happening that particular day, I may take it one person at a time, or one diagnosis at a time, or one tooth at a time. Yep, it does get down to one tooth at times.

The rabbit poop photo is the result of a phone conversation with my mom yesterday. We were talking about "Intelligent Design" not being very "intelligent." For example, rabbits first chew & swallow their food into a pouch that coats it with whatever and then poops it out via another orifice. Then the rabbit eats that pre-poop which now can go into its "real" stomach where it is eventually pooped out of its real anus. They don't eat that stuff, its real poop.

Here is a link which explains it better: RABBIT POOP

Now the above piles of poop are  pretty much what I would call "inside my window." And are some of the reasons I enjoy looking out my window. But these days when I look out of my window I see piles of poop just about everywhere there, too.

Photo of Oil Spill Taken From Computer 2010 
 
Well, I see them on my computer and television windows. Along with, the effort to break through the Gaza Blockade, the Demise of Wall Street, Resistance to Equal Rights in Marriage and Military Service, Individual States so Broke they cannot give their children a Good Public School Education, let alone Feed Them, the Political Criminals in Illinois now on Trial, States that want to ask you for Your Papers, the Catholic Priests preying on the children, a Dutch Boy who should have put his finger in the dike instead, and not to be forgotten... the Tea Baggers who are counting on their loudly repeated discriminatory lies to become truth to those that hear them.

I'm not sure my prozac will be able to handle those piles of poop. Those piles of poop make me want to cry. Cry because some of our fellow human beings have become lost in their own self-inadequacies and self hatred. I cry when I see a comment about our President, referring to him as "mud face."

And if you cannot cry at that... then I also cry for you.