Sore Hip and Sleeping A Lot

For some reason my left hip has been bothering me for the past few days. It's like a pinch, and it happens mostly when I'm sitting or lying down, or in the process of sitting or lying down, or in the process of standing up. In other words, it doesn't bother me when I'm standing or walking. I have no idea what it is. I keep meaning to reschedule my doctor's appointment but keep forgetting until it's too late and the office is closed. I suspect the pain will stop just before any appointment I make.

Been sleeping a lot, too. Today I decided I wasn't going to get up until I was ready to get up. That was about 7:00 p.m. Other days I have gotten up when I felt like going back to sleep. Every now and then I need one of these extra-long sleeping sessions. Otherwise I feel even more tired than normal (i.e. normal for me).

I've been procrastinating doing some things I need to do, like grocery shopping and mailing an important package. (It's merchandise that was defective. I'm sending it back to be replaced.) Fortunately, this is one of those times when my procrastinating hasn't left the dogs and cats with minimal food! They have plenty of food. In fact, so do I. But there are a few things I need in addition to mailing that package.

An old friend who I really would like too see was in town a couple of days ago, but I was sleeping and didn't get his phone call. When I had my Blackberry phone, I could turn off all sounds but the ringing of the phone. That was great because I would still get phone calls when sleeping, but I wouldn't be awakened by other sounds, like emails and such. But with my even-more-expensive iPhone, I can't do that. I have to turn off all sounds or no sounds. I have chosen to turn off all sounds rather than be awakened by unimportant things. And this is why I missed my friend when he called to say he'd be in town. So there's another down side to my chronic fatigue - missing phone calls I don't want to miss.

I have several wasp nests in the eves of my house just outside my back door. I don't want to bother them, and I probably won't, but they're right in a spot where I'd like to inject some expanding foam because of a gap in my house where the older part of the house meets the newer part of the house. I don't know. Which is more important: dozens of lives or my house gap? I think I'll put off filling the gap until the wasps have left for the winter. (They might be hornets. I can't tell the difference, and and don't think a lot of other people can, either. What do you think?)

This is the largest nest, and the

one that's closest to the "gap."

Psych and the Internet

One of my favorite shows on TV now is Psych, and my favorite color is green, so when I got my I-really-can't-afford-it iPhone, I wanted to get the cover that Shawn has on his iPhone in the show. I checked on Amazon.com and found it. It wasn't expensive, thank goodness. Some of the other cases I saw that I liked cost a small fortune. So now I have the official Psych cover on my iPhone.

That's Buddy on my shoulder. He mostly wants to be held when I'm trying to do something on the computer.

With some effort I've finally hooked up my DirecTV DVR to the Internet. There's no extra charge for this, except for the price of the "connection kit," which consists of an electronic box to pick up a wifi signal, and a couple of cables. The kit cost a little less than $40. (It used to be $80.) It would have been real easy to do if I'd read the instructions thoroughly before I started. But when it comes to instructions, my masculine side emerges, and I skip them. Eventually, though, I had to look them over. I also looked at the online instructions on the DirecTV website. Now I'm connected. After I finish doing my daily computer ritual things, I'll go check it out to see how it actually works. (After you connect it, you have to wait a bit for it to download what it needs to actually connect.) What I'm most interested in is watching movies over the Internet on the TV instead of the computer. I paid for Amazon Prime, but haven't watched many movies because I don't want to watch them on the computer.

I didn't go to see the doctor yesterday because the appointment was canceled - not by me! I'll have to call and reschedule. I should have done that today but I completely forgot about it until now.

The grass I planted in the backyard is doing very well, but the weed are growing up among the grass, so I'm going to have to mow. I didn't want to because the grass is young and fine and I'm worried I'll kill it. But the only way to get the weeds mowed is to mow the grass.

The Air is Cool Once Again

Got the air conditioner fixed. It was the capacitor, as I suspected. Seems like this happens every couple of years. Fortunately, the repairman doesn't have to come into my dirty house to swap out the capacitor. It's in the part of the AC unit that's outside. It doesn't cost much, either, thank God. It will probably be around $70, if I recall correctly. The dogs and cats are happy. Especially the dogs, who don't weather well in the extreme heat.

Didn't sleep well last night. Probably because of the heat. I did have a fan aimed right at me all night, but it's not the same as AC. The fan can't get rid of humidity like the AC does.

Doctor's appointment tomorrow.

Coughing, Then A Headache.

I was coughing more than usual this morning. I always cough a little because I have allergies that cause the mucus to drain into my lungs while I'm sleeping. But today I coughed a lot. I was a little worried that, maybe I'd caught a cold. But the coughing has stopped. Instead, now I have a headache. I think it't the weather. It feels like it's the weather. It was sunny this morning, then we got a heavy thundershower. Then it was sunny again. Now it looks like the rain could come back. Good news is that the temperature lowered to 80 degrees F (26.6C).

Bad news: My air conditioner just quit working. That means I'll be calling the repairman tomorrow. He's probably overdue for a visit anyway!

I watched the movie "Red Tails" yesterday. It was very good. See it if you haven't already.

I thought I had more to write about, but I guess I don't.

Saturday

Can't be more creative with a title than that. Not much happening.

I made an appointment with my doctor for Wednesday. Going to be very proactive about this chronic fatigue. That's the only thing bothering me, other than the usual growing older aches and pains. I think. Seems like there's something else, but I can't identify it at the moment. Ah well. I have a few days to think about it.

I've done some research and thinking about Roscoe's knee. I'm thinking that he'll probably need the surgery. I'm going to call the vet and ask him what the chances are that it will heal naturally. I'm betting they're quite low. I think he was just letting me put off the surgery because of the cost. I'm going to ask more directly this time. I don't want Roscoe to suffer if he doesn't have to. Of course, he'll be in pain after the surgery, and he'll need special care and physical therapy. But I made a commitment when I took him in. This is something I have to do. (I wish every pet owner was like me in this regard.)

The newness of my iPhone has worn off. I like it. It's interesting and fun. I even got Siri to read me a bedtime story a few nights ago! I had to ask twice, though. And she told me about her friend - I forget the friend's name. She was in the bedtime story, so I asked Siri about her. She was a brilliant psychologist but she's retired now. That's what Siri told me.

Can't think of any more to write about. It's been a boring few days.

Very Busy Yesterday, And Very Tired

I got a lot of things done yesterday. I finally got my driver's license renewed. It expired on my birthday last month! I wanted to get my new license with the "veteran" designation - something that's new for Texas. So I procrastinated, planning to dig out my DD 214 for proof of my honorable discharge. I procrastinated too long. I went a couple of weeks ago to renew my license, but that's the day my car died, so instead of renewing my license, I went to the car mechanic. By the time I was done having my car taken care of, it was too late to go back for the license.

I also got some merchandise mailed - it was something that I ordered by mistake and had to send back. If you know me at all, you know I don't get out of the house much, and usually like to put things off until one day when I must leave - usually because I'm out of food. And that's what happened yesterday.

I also tried to borrow some money, but didn't have the necessary paperwork with me, so that had to be postponed. The people I went to borrow the money from have now called me three times to see if I'm coming back!!! They really want that interest I'll be paying.

I got some groceries, too, yesterday. I'm good for a couple of weeks now! And so are the pets.

The final thing I did resulted in some bad news. I took Roscoe to the vet to find out, once and for all, why he's pooping in the house and having trouble standing up and walking. Well, it appears he has a torn ACL in his knee. Instead of trying to explain, I'll just give you this link, where you can learn all about it, if you like. For now Roscoe is taking some medications, but he will most likely have to have surgery, which will cost a minimum of $800. The vet said I'd be able to make payments. That's one of the benefits of being a steady, paying customer.

I'd stayed up all night the night before (Sunday night). Not really by choice but because I couldn't really sleep. I watched another movie on my iPhone that I didn't like much. It was a "chick flick," and I don't usually like those much, but I already had it so I watched it. It was "Love and Other Drugs." Because I'd stayed up all night, but yesterday afternoon I was exhausted. I went to bed at about 7:00 p.m. And I fell asleep real fast! Got up today at 4:00 p.m., so I'll probably be up all night tonight, too!

Up All Night

I had intended to sleep a little bit last night. In fact, I even "went to bed." But I couldn't sleep. First, I had eaten a large, fast food dinner only a few hours earlier and it was weighing heavy on my abdomen! Also, I didn't take anything to help me sleep because I didn't want to sleep all day today. Then, since I wasn't sleepy, I decided to watch a movie which was two hours long (and I didn't even like it much). Then I started playing Words With Friends, to which I'm quickly becoming addicted, with a friend in England. And now it's just after 6:00 a.m., and I'm awake. The good news is that I'm actually not tired! That's different!

Today I have some things to do, beginning with going to get some money. Then I have to mail something, drop some things off, and buy some food. It won't take all day, so I'll be able to come home and sleep if I get too tired. Oh, and I have to remember to call the doctor. I also need to talk to the vet about Roscoe. I'm getting worried about him. He's having trouble walking to the point where he poops in the house when he can't get outside. Funny he hasn't peed in the house. That's weird, now that I think about it. I really need to figure out what's wrong, and then take care of it.

If you want to play Words With Friends, my user name is "arealwacvet." Don't be upset if I decided not to play. Eventually I'll get tired and want to step away from it. But I'll come back, eventually.

I've Been Real Tired

I've been real tired, lately. Even more tired that usual. I've tried to make an appointment with my doctor, but they say they're going to call me back and never do. I'll try again tomorrow.

I have been busy trying to get used to my knew iPhone - a phone I couldn't afford and shouldn't have bought. But when Virgin Mobile said they were going to offer it, I decided I wanted it. I confess - I have coveted. I coveted "apps" that I saw advertised but that were only available for the iPhone. So now I have the iPhone and some apps and it's getting old. So is Siri. I wanted to play with Siri, and I have. She's no fun. You'd think Apple could have programmed a little fun into her.

Sorry this is so short. As I said, I'm really very tired. I don't think well when I'm tired.

Not A Great Day

Not a horrible day, by far, but not great, either. I woke up at about 5:00 AM with heartburn (acid reflux) because I've apparently forgotten to take my omeprazole for a couple of days. I got up and took some Tums, which helped. When I have mild acid reflux I burp a lot, so when I finally got out of bed at 8:00 AM I started burping. One of the first things I did was take my omeprazole, of course! Incidentally, when I have a bad case of acid reflux I have the burping (which tastes like rotten eggs), a sour stomach, and eventually I'll throw up. I'm only telling you this in case you have these symptoms and don't know what's going on. The way I found out what I have was by describing the symptoms to a friend whose son has the same problem. Eventually I would have made it to the doctor, of course. But it turned out that I didn't have to.

My not-great day continued by finding out that something I'd ordered a few days ago and was waiting anxiously to receive was the wrong thing! My bad. I'd misunderstood the description on the website and ordered the wrong thing. So I had to call customer service. That's seldom a pleasant experience, and today was no different. Once I got a person on the phone to explain to me why I bought the wrong item, it was easy to fix it. But it was like pulling teeth to get to talk to a person. I found out that, with most of these automated phone systems, all you have to do is sound confused, or try to confuse the phone system so it has no idea what you're trying to do. I have now ordered the correct item and have packed up the incorrect item so it can be shipped back. Back to waiting anxiously.

Then I had to call yet another customer service person about my mortgage. Again, it was like pulling teeth to get a human being on the line. I finally did and got the answer to my question - a question I'd submitted via their "secure messaging system" two days ago and, this morning, got their "answer," which was a cut & paste from their FAQ. Well, I didn't have a FAQ, I had a personal situation requiring a personal answer.

And now that that's all over with, I have a thing going on that requires that I take some imodium. If you know what that is, you'll know why I'm not giving details. Just letting you know the last symptom, if you will, of my not-great day!

I'll end this post with some good news. I have another tomato growing on my little tomato plant! Yay!

Grass

My backyard has never been real grassy. Especially with the dogs going out there, and my lack of frequent mowing. Now, for example, the biggest part of the back yard is covered by wildflowers. (I blogged about this awhile back.) But I've been spreading some grass seed in the bare areas and it's growing very fast and very nicely. I don't know how rugged this new grass will be - if it will be able to stand up to the dog and cat traffic. I sure hope it can.

The secret, I think, is to keep it moist - the ground and the seeds. After I saw how well it was growing, I sprinkled more in the bare spots. Hopefully that will make this area look even better. Now I need to sprinkle a bit in the front yard. Maybe. I have a different type of grass in the front and think this may just look weird if I grow in in with the other grass. Maybe I should spread it everywhere, and not just in the bare areas.

I went grocery shopping yesterday. I spent about $250 and bought few groceries. So what did I buy? Pet food, of course. A betta fish to go in the aquarium formerly occupied by my crawfish (RIP). Other pet supplies. Cheap floor mats for my car. (I only need one but you can't buy just one.) Instead of the carpet kind, I got the rubber ones. I figure those will be easier to clean if I should spill another Mocha Java Chiller from Sonic. I got a small broom to sweep the concrete outside in the gazebo (cloth with mosquito netting). I got some things for the yard - bug stuff and more grass seed. Also some grass killer for my crabgrass and for a small area near the porch where I'm going to kill the grass and put down white rocks. It's an area about two feet by tree feet. I had a pretty bush there but it died. I think termites ate the roots, if they do that. So anyway, now I have to go get groceries again! Not a problem because I have procrastinated so long in renewing my driver's licence that it's now expired. Tomorrow I will go see about renewing it.

It rained a little this morning. I only know that because I slept poorly and woke up at 6:00 AM when Buddy threw up on the bed and my leg. I got up and ate some breakfast. Then at 9:00 AM I went back to bed and slept for a few hours.

I ate an apple a little while ago. I heard that "an apple will wake you up better than coffee," so I tried it. They (whoever they are) were wrong. At least in my case. Maybe it's the chronic fatigue. I really need to remember to call the doctor about it. I have been meaning to but keep forgetting. I know the VA has a sleep clinic. I suspect I'll end up there eventually.

Last night I watched The Green Hornet. I hadn't seen it and it was on one of the movie channels I pay for, so I recorded it. (I wrote that I "taped" it and then changed it to "recorded." That's a habit I'm trying to break, since we don't actually "tape" things anymore!) So I'm about 45 minutes into the movie, and I'm wondering, when does he get the ring and the shiny green suit? Doh! Eventually I realize -- that doesn't happen to the Green Horne. That's the Green Lantern! Okay. Oh well. Glad no one was around to witness that!