Hi Janis,

 JK> > Probably so; I know there were days I really wished we'd had A/C
 JK> when I > was growing up. My parents bought a window unit for my
 JK> brother's bedroom > because they both had bad hay fever--don't know if
 JK> it helped that much > but they took advantage of having a cool room.

 JK> Understand.. My mom and some of us kids (my brother especially)
 JK> growing up had such bad allergies to various seasonal pollens, etc.
 JK> that mom always kept the windows in the house closed to keep the

My parents always had the windows open in the summer (screened) unless
it was raining or temps were in the upper 80s. It turns out that I have
allergy problems too, but they weren't as obvious as my brothers' hay
fever so not diagnosed when I was a kid, and no A/C to help me.


 JK> buggers out.. She did open things up when the pollen count wasn't so
 JK> high..  :)  Like your parents, she did get an A/C for their room, she
 JK> had really bad asthma so I could understand it.

I don't think my parents understood asthma or bronchitis.


>> That's a > routine 6 month check up; the other was follow up on a
>> severe arthritis > flare up I had a couple of months ago in the thumb
>> joint.

>> I hope all went well with that, and your checkup was positive.   I

 JK> > As I was skimming for notes to me and this one popped up, I got a
 JK> call > from the office. The appointment had to be put off until next
 JK> week as > the doctor was called over to the hospital for something
 JK> that they
 JK> > anticipated would take some time to resolve.

 JK> Ah.. understand..

It happens, just glad we were still at home. We ended up going to
Raleigh for other stuff--I needed some Kona white fabric, Steve wanted
to go to Harbor Freight, we stopped at Whole Foods, etc. Had a bit of a
splurge lunch at Red Lobster, hadn't been to one in years.


>> for that arthritis in your thumb?  I have one excercise my mom showed
>> me that helps a lot.. You bend your thumb over to your pinky, then
>> move over to the base of the next finger in line, then then after the
>> 4th finger, you extend the thumb far and wide.. Works for me to keep
>> things "loose".

 JK> > Hmmmmmmmmmm, have to give it a try. It might help.

 JK> Hope it helps.  Btw, you start by bending the thumb to touch the
 JK> bottom of pinky joint .. not sure if that was clear.  Here's how the
 JK> Mayo Clinic's site describes this excercise:

 JK> Start with your hand in a neutral, relaxed position with your fingers
 JK> and thumb straightened. Next, bend your thumb across your palm,
 JK> touching the tip of your thumb to the bottom of your small finger. If
 JK> you can't make your thumb touch, just stretch as far as you can.
 JK> Return your thumb to the starting position. Repeat this exercise
 JK> multiple times with each hand.

OTOH, I could try fingerspelling my way thru the dictionary or something
similar. And yes, I can fingerspell with either hand. (G) Either way, it
might help; I use my hands for quite a bit besides cooking and
keyboarding.

>> enough. I think some eggplant flowers "continued" quite well one year,
>> but I think that might have been due to warmer evenings that year :)

 JK> > Our tomatoes were probably started at that "just right' time. They
 JK> do > taste good. (G)

 JK> Sounds so neat :)  Today I want to start putting coffee grounds around
 JK> all the tomato plants to keep the slugs away... nice warm temps
 JK> generally means the "invasion" will start soon :)  I also want to
 JK> transplant some of the indoor basil I started into the tomato patch to
 JK> keep other marauders away :)  three seedlings should do it..

We have some basil in the herb garden; the tomatoes are all in a planter
that has a good sized water reservoir underneath the dirt. Steve fills
that thru a spout in the one corner, using water from the rain barrel.


>> That sounds nice!  Unfortunately so far it looks like we'll be unable
>> to attend the picnic since my daughter has a work meeting in
>> California that week, and we'll be keeping the grandboys :)

 JK> > Sigh! Too bad you can't come for just a day, like Saturday, with
 JK> them.

 JK> Not sure yet, we'll see.  I'm hesitant to take the boys with us, they
 JK> are great kids, but I'm afraid they'd be bored to death Lol.. we'll as
 JK> I said, we'll see where things go with that whole idea, and if my
 JK> daughter's plans hold to those dates as well.

Keep the options open; the boys may have a better time than you think
they would. Are any of them into 'fancy" cooking/eating?

>> >In August we're going back to VT with the mission
 JK> [...]
>> supper > ready for them. Have trailer, will travel. (G)

>> Lol, that is nice, no doubt.. If we traveled as much as you do, that
>> would be the way to do it for us I think.. :)

 JK> > We just got it last year; our older daughter put a "bug" in her
 JK> dad's > ear and he ran with the idea. All the improvements he has done
 JK> on it
 JK> > over the last few months have given him something to do too. Right
 JK> now > he's adding several inches to the bottom 2 drawers in the
 JK> kitchen area; > I'll have a bit more room to stow stuff then.

 JK> Very nice :)  I can see how that would be a great thing to work on, to
 JK> make it exactly how you'd like it.. :)

What sold us on this one was the amount of kitchen space in it--it goes
all across the front end with a pantry on the entry side, fridge on the
opposite wall. A decent size kitchen to work in, it does get a bit
crowded with 2 people working but not as mush as some we looked at.
Steve started customising it the day after we got it home. (G)

>> Well, doxyclycline wouldn't have helped the infection much (some drugs
>> are specific for certain infections and don't work so well on
>> "others").  It might have held me over until I got to my GP though, so
>> you're probably right.

 JK> > I've learned the hard way, that if I'm not feeling good, then it's
 JK> > better to get to a doctor sooner, rather than later. Saves a lot of
 JK> > hurting.

 JK> Very true :)

>> > Too bad you couldn't have gotten in to see your GP initially. Does
>> he do > phone consults?

>> Anytime I've had to see him, if it was weekday he'd get me in ASAP.  I
>> remember he's called me back on the phone a few times as well, so
>> that's good.

 JK> > Yes, my GP is good about getting back with me too. I've had a few
 JK> after > hours phone calls from him as well.

 JK> Yep, same here.  It's great to have a doctor who understands how
 JK> important that kind of thing is.

Agreed, and one who talks with you, not at you is good. The first doctor
we tried when we moved up here was not a good fit; neither of us liked
him. OTOH, Steve does most of his work thru the VA but changed his
civilian primary care doctor to have the same one I do, once he met my
doctor.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Psalms 18:2 |...God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

--- PPoint 3.01