Battling the Flu

About the only thing they got right about this season's flu shot is the fact that it's pretty useless for this year's flu season. I got whacked with it Monday. (this is Saturday) And actually it is possible I have had it much longer as the previous Friday I took an emergency trip to my dentist for pain in my upper right back molar that had been getting worse since earlier that week. I just thought I was unlucky enough to be needing another root canal. But he couldn't find anything on the x-rays. So I went home with some prescription mouth wash in case it was gum related and on the following Monday realized I was not feeling well.

By Tuesday evening though the pain in my molar while not quite excruciating (have had that, know the difference) was pretty bad. I called the dentist back Wednesday morning. It was his day off and he was taking his kid to a doctor's appointment a two hour drive away. I was promised he would get back to me, he did, the next night right after the pharmacies had closed.

However he apologized, blamed his wife for not giving him the message and as of yesterday I am on 1500 mg of amoxicillian for 10 days for what is probably an underlying sinus infection on top of the flu. He may have said something else but I was hacking so much I could barely hear him.

Oddly, by that point the pain had subsided substantially probably because I was finally hacking up some disgusting colored phlegm. However as I am very prone to sinus infections I am certain the antibiotics are the right thing to do in my case. At least as of this morning my temperature has dropped from 100.6 to 98.9. Just wish I felt a lot better and not slightly better.

Maybe tomorrow. Poor pups would love to have me back and walking them. It's been a hard week on them, too.

Mr Spock is Dead

Leonard Nimoy died this morning. Perhaps he wasn't the greatest actor that ever lived but he brought to life one of the greatest and most iconic characters ever created in my lifetime. It is a sad day for the Star Trek universe indeed.

The Hot Tub Froze

I know I checked last week and it was still running. But when I didn't hear the humming this morning while feeding the chickens I went and took a look. There was half an inch of ice on top, the lights were off, who knows when the breaker tripped, but apparently long enough ago that the night it dropped to -28.3 and last night of -22.6 caused the pipes to freeze. One pipe blew off the pump and there's a tube of water sticking out from it.

I broke through the ice in the tub to the cool water below and put in a hose to siphon out the rest. When I checked again about an hour later about 4 inches had drained out before the hose froze solid. We were going to have to resort to a bucket brigade to get the rest out then I remembered the de-icer I used to use for the little duck pond. I hope it still works and will be strong enough to keep the remaining water from freezing.

As for fixing the tub, that won't be till spring at the earliest. After that we either drain it for winter or check it daily. No idea why the breaker tripped, it just seems to do it whenever the mood strikes.

The Depth of Winter

That's where we're at. Though it's not been as deeply cold as last winter, it's been pretty nasty the last couple of weeks. A couple nights ago we had a low of 28.3. That's the coldest I've experienced since moving here. It was still -24 the next morning when I had to take the dogs outside. They didn't last long. Luna's paws iced up pretty quickly. I had to keep cleaning them long enough so she could at least pee. I think the high that day might have been 2 or less.

It has been sunny mostly. You'd think that would help.

That same night the blower fan on the wood stove decided to quit and Hal had to poke it's innards to get it running again so we could get the house heat back up. He nursed it though the last couple of days and replaced it this afternoon.

But there is only one more week to go in February. Maybe March will start showing some warmer weather.

Back Home in Michigan

I got home last Saturday night (today is Friday). Driving through the Berkshires Friday morning was a bit dicey, a bit of snow was falling but I took things a little slower than the speed limit and other than one tiny skid.

Had a pretty good time in Massachusetts. Was great seeing my older sister, spent about 4 days in a row with her, then she, I, and younger sister whom I drove out with Lyra had movie night at OS's home. Watched As Above, So Below, which was better than we expected, and then The Orphanage. That was an excellent horror movie best one I've seen in a long time. The 3 of us had a great time, ate popcorn, and chips with onion dip goldfish crackers. Didn't have room for the ice cream, alas.

Ate out a lot with both sisters, did a little shopping, went to Friendly's a lot and ate lots of my favorite black raspberry ice cream. Gosh I have missed that. I brought some home with me though I didn't have a cooler because it was supposed to be in the single digits to low teens for the trip across Canada and Michigan. The forecast was wrong the temps kept climbing till they hit 37 in Michigan. Ice cream got a little soft, I stuck it in the freezer as soon as I got home. Haven't opened it up to see how it survived.

Gained a few pounds while I was gone. I blame myself for over indulging in all that ice cream. I will work it off eventually. At least that's the plan.

It's sure nice to be home though. I think the pups are happy to be here. Ziggy was a pretty good little traveler for his first big road trip, he only whined a little. On the ride to MA my pups were in the way back and Lyra shared the back seat with all our luggage. On the way home I put mine on the back seat. After a fewwe hours Ziggy decided he would sleep on a folded up dog bed on the floor, That gave Luna the whole back seat to pace back and forth and pant, a lot. I now remember that I used to get tranquilizers for her. I'll have to get more before out next trip.

Been walking a lot since I got back, also went to Alpena with Hal's sister for the first 2 days I was here so hadn't gotten much done except laundry since my return. However since then I've been sorting through some of my clothes to donate as well as some household items, vases, knic knacs, etc. I've also been dusting and just picking up stuff. Rearranged the living room a bit, too.

Supposed to snow a bit this weekend. I don't expect to get much. Most of it is going to slide underneath as unusual. It's going to whack MA again though. It just keeps snowing there since I left.

I've not been in the mood to blog lately, maybe that will change once I get used to being home again.