We expected February to bring some relief to our tight financial situation, and we have not been disappointed. Our bills can now be paid as they arrive, and we are even looking at putting away a few shekels to replenish our depleted safety net.
This month Attila received a small increase in his wages, he gained a benefits package, and I began to receive a small pension. We have by no means achieved affluence, but we are able to survive a bit more comfortably now.
My sister took a picture with her cell phone last night, of my Mom, and sent it along to me. Mom looks great, and I can see the relief in Mom’s eyes, that the treatments are almost over, next week will see the last of them.
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We had a terrible storm with freezing rain here yesterday but we were lucky in that it joined the earth in the form of slush, and not ice. The slush was almost three inches thick. A snow plow came by late in the day and scooped it into a great pile of slush across the end of the driveway. Attila shovelled that out this morning, as it is going down to -13C tonight, and everything out there will become hard and inanimate.
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I developed a very bad nosebleed just as Attila was leaving for work last night, and it took hours to get it under control. I managed to sleep through the night, but awoke to find it bleeding again, this time all over the bed and my night clothes. It bled off and on all day long. I think I have it stopped now, thank goodness. I am moving slowly though, as activity seems to trigger it. How every tiresome!
I have had a quiet day. After finally finishing my computer backup project yesterday, I decided to rearrange the computers to create an ergonomic work station for myself. I had been using the kitchen table, but the table is really too high for proper use of the keyboard, and the monitor of the laptop too low.
I moved the iMac, now only used for entertainment, to the top of a cabinet in the living room. The MacBook Air has taken over the computer desk where the iMac used to sit. The laptop now sits atop the elevated back section of the computer desk, where it is directly in front of my eyes. I setup a bluetooth keyboard and mouse to work with the laptop, and they rest on the keyboard tray, which is the proper height for my hands and arms. The bluetooth keyboard and mouse came with the iMac, and will work with any newish Apple computer. I am much more comfortable now, when I work for several hours at the computer.
It is very nice to have the MacBook Air off the kitchen table, it was in the way there, and I had move it in order to set the table to eat a meal.
Attila and I are beginning to think about how we might spend our one week vacation this summer. It has been many years since we have had vacation time in the summer, and there are so many activities to choose from! We are rich with possibilities.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
0°C
Date: 6:00 AM EST Thursday 25 February 2016
Condition: Light Rain
Pressure: 98.8 kPa
Tendency: rising
Visibility: 6 km
Temperature: 0.4°C
Dewpoint: -0.2°C
Humidity: 96%
Wind: SW 5 km/h
Quote
“To resist the frigidity of old age one must combine the body, the mind and the heart – and to keep them in parallel vigor one must exercise, study and love.”
Karl von Bonstetten
Maggie, I’m so pleased for you that things are easing a little financially. As the money juggler in our household, I appreciate that when things are too tight, there’s that constant background worry, which can be exhausting.
Those nosebleeds of yours sound horrible! All I get are little surface bleeds, and those are annoying enough. I remember my mother having nosebleeds like that when I was very little and cauterization eventually helped her, although it wasn’t pleasant. Here’s hoping you find an easier solution.
You are exactly right Wendy, when things are tight the background worry is exhausting!
I plan on asking about cauterization when I finally find a family doctor in this area. However, if I have many more of these lengthy nosebleeds, I may just take myself into the emergency ward at the hospital and see if they can help me. I know that when we need a new furnace, whenever that may be, I will insist that we have a humidity control system installed at the same time. With the wood heat there was nothing we could do to automatically control the humidity. Here, with forced air heating, we have more options.
My heart goes out to you over those nosebleeds. So uncomfortable and worrisome! There appears to be a connection between nosebleeds and humidity, although I don’t really understand why. Hoping you will find a family doctor soon!
Diane, the dryness in the air, when the humidity is very low, causes the mucous membranes in my nose to dry, harden, crack, and bleed. This is made worse by the fine particles in the air, that are blow around constantly by the forced air heating system, which irritate the already stressed mucous membranes. An air cleaner, and humidity control on the furnace would solve the problem, but they are not worth installing on a aging furnace. When we are forced to replace the furnace, we will add the features I need.
The family doctor situation is distressing. We are not the only people in Ontario having to deal with this issue, it is endemic. It is made worse that the medical profession is now highly segmented into specialists, so that health care becomes a maze of experts, none of whom take responsibility for coordinated care. It seems that people in Ontario are falling through the cracks in droves. We are lucky our doctor at the country house will still keep us on his roster!
I discovered that my computer resorted to the default configuration, which included turning on autofill. I hate autofill, it changed three of the words in this entry without my noticing the changes, until of course I reread it this morning!
I had my left nose cauterized back in 1968. I’d had nosebleeds off and on all my life prior to that. So did my Dad. It’s just a weak-walled little blood vessel that is to blame, and yes the dry air contributes. Cauterization was done on me as I was working in Boston at a big hospital and there was an ENT doctor right there. He did it then and there (my nose would just not stop bleeding while I was at work) and they sent me home for the day. I was fine the next day and I have NEVER HAD ANOTHER NOSEBLEED in that side since then! (I did have a small one in my right nose only once but that was minor). So I highly recommend cauterization. Just one day of slight discomfort… not bad at all.
Finding the ENT doctor will be your biggest challenge it seems!
Thanks for the info Bex! I think finding an ENT will be very challenging at the moment, as my only access to health care is through the hospital emergency ward. When (not if, I hope) we get a family doctor I will push for an appointment with an ENT to have it all checked out, and hopefully they will get it sorted. One day of discomfort does not sound like too much to endure for ending the nosebleeds.
Everett gets intense nose bleeds too and they take a while to stop. I set a bowlful of water on a heat register on both floors of his house to help humidify the air, and he hasn’t had a nose bleed since/yet. We shall see.
Thanks for the feedback Kate. Bowls of water are something I haven’t tried yet, I’ve been worried I will trip over them and spill them. But what is a little bit of spilled water compared to a nasty nosebleed!