June 1 2022

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2022

Good morning.

Joe, hope you have a good day.

I woke up before 4:00AM and couldn't sleep so got up and did some things. I mopped, folded some laundry and cooked some beans in my pressure cooker. Laid back down for about an hour and now I feel drained. Will have a cup of coffee and make some lunches with the beans. I'm also going to make this recipe but using tofu instead of shrimp. Will head to the gym later.

I spent $180 over my allotted budget on groceries. It adds up so fast. Not sure with inflation if I can lower it this month by $180 bucks but I can't do deficit spending like this. ?.

https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/camarones-a-la-diabla/

Editorial Team / Admin · Jun 1, 2022

Hello all!

Tweety, looks like a yummy recipe. Do you "sear" the tofu first?

Joe, waking up to a thunderstorm can be scary! Hope today isn't as crazy at work.

We are off soon, to the jam (an hour's drive away).

Have a good day!

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Jun 1, 2022

Must have been a bad night for sleeping. I woke up about 2 am to a thunderstorm. Dory was nervous but at least it was a normal thunderstorm nervous, not a cognitive dysfunction fueled panic. Finally back to bed about 3:30. Now I am home for a nap so I can go in to work the floor tonight. Only 1 LPN and an aide scheduled, with a current census of 4. Don't know if I will stay all night. Depends how things go. Had a meeting this morning about plans for moving the pyxises when the time comes. Hubs feels better but still sounds like Sam Elliott when he talks.

No Stars In My Eyes · Jun 1, 2022

HIYA!

So, Ado, maybe if your husband acts fast he can get a job doing voice-overs for commercials on TV, because Sam Elliot makes a ton of $$$ doing that!

Hey Joe, No thunderstorms here. Just sun-sun-sun. As my mother would say, "It's hotter than the hinges of Hades"! But it could be worse, as it is "only" 92 right now, with 43% humidity. It sure feels hotter.

dianah, Have fun doing the jam! (That seems like a silly thing to say, because I think you usually DO have fun jamming!)

Tweety, I (we) don't do a budget; probably should, but I have never figured out how to do one, even with instructions, and doubt I could stick to one done for us by someone else. I generally figure out bill-paying according to when the SS checks come and what is on automatic withdrawal payments. Then we know which checking acct has $ for purchases. We load the debit card to cover our supper take-outs. And then we hold our collective breath(s). Then we wait until the next SS check is due in.

I have a bunch of stuff I need to be doing, but I am so very disinclined that I'm not sure if I will get much done. There's a ballgame on at 3 PM. I stayed up late last night...the score was 7-6 in our favor. The bottom of the ninth inning would have been the other team at bat, but it was so late I didn't even want to stay up to see if we won, lost, or had a tenth inning. So, I don't know what the final score was. I can look it up when I get through posting here.

I did manage to get to bed and sleep, just before 1:30 AM. Mostly because I didn't read; I just did part of a crossword puzzle and then put out the light. Woke up three hours later, and like a zombie, I went down to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll, and sat up on the side of the bed, finishing the crossword puzzle. Lay back down and slept until 11 AM.

Hubby is doing okay today, but I suspect it's the little bottles keeping the shakes away. Nannie says "I think he must be feeling much better today." I told her (again) that with his chronic disease(s) he has good days and bad days, and that when he went to the doctor tomorrow, they will try to figure out a plan so he will feel better more often than not. She made a face at me like it didn't make sense. I had to explain to her that a chronic disease doesn't just go away because he was discharged from the hospital. She shrugged her shoulders and then, as she was finished with her lunch, she dozed off.

Not that this means a heck of a lot, but I read last night that 80-90% of lifetime smokers do NOT develop lung cancer, due to a gene they discovered that stomps on the cells that might most likely turn into cancer. They aren't sure why exactly that is; something about someone's DNA, and they are studying it. But, not developing lung cancer doesn't save a person from not developing emphysema or COPD. But, I just thought it was an interesting new discovery.

Getting on time for the pre-game show. Ugh, it's just talk-talk, and showing clips of other games, and plays, etc. And THAT makes Nannie confused because in the different clips of different games, everyone is wearing different uniforms and she thinks the actual game must have started, but she can't tell which team is which. So, lately I have not been turning on the Game until there is only 10-15 minutes until the first pitch is thrown.

Yakkety-yak-yak. I'm going up to the kitchen to get something to nibble on, but not "spoil my appetite" for an early supper. Will check back w/ y'all later.

Y'know, sometimes this kind of retirement (aimless, and always staying home) makes every day seem like a Saturday. But at least it helps keep us from mixing with the general public and hopefully decreases the possibility of catching whatever 'morph' of the virus is going around currently.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2022

Stars, there is indeed a genetic component to lung cancer that smoking turns on only in certain people that have that gene. Can you imagine the death toll lung cancer would take if we all had that gene. Of course many people that carry the gene don't turn it on by never smoking. There probably is a DNA test for that somewhere. Of course that doesn't mean smoking won't take it's told in many other areas like heart disease, COPD, etc.

Ado, hope that you have good night at work. Two nurses for four patients sounds like heaven, but that would make for a long shift.

I had a good productive day. I made the above recipe and an orzo chickpea dish. Going to wind down now and hopefully go to bed early and get good sleep.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jun 2, 2022

Hello again!

We jammed from 10-1330, then met up at a nearby restaurant (diner-style) with four friends from the jam. Had a nice late-ish lunch and lots of chat and visiting. Dh had fish 'n chips and I had a half-grilled cheese and some tomato-basil soup. It was all good! It was good to see them all, and the jam was fun. My voice is slowly coming back, tho it's still not at 100%.

Dh asked a neighbor who walks her dog (she lives a few doors down) if she would consider taking care of the cats when we are gone. She said yes, and is coming over today to get trained. The ppl who have been doing it, are moving back to Canada (he has finished his studies and his residency and is a bonafide MD!).

The rest of the day will be recovering from the one-hour drive to and from the jam, and from the jam itself (that's some work, it is!).

Have a good evening!

nursej22, MSN, RN · Jun 2, 2022

I agree, a long drive is tiring! I feel like I’ve been busy: short 2 1/2 mile run, swept the driveway. Pumped up one of the tires going flat on my car, but now I see I have a nail in it. Ds will take it in tomorrow to get it fixed. And I weeded around the raspberries and chased the mower around. And I cleaned bathrooms and kitchen. Dh is out of town tonight, I am going to nuke a pot pie.
Interesting about lung CA and genetic cause. I guess it makes sense because so many others cancers do too.
I have a loose budget in my mind. The utilities are on a budget plan so they have set amount, which makes things easier. I try to limit dining out to 2x/week, and I usually only buy Starbucks once a week. And I’m really trying to drive less.
Weather was nice, but starting to rain. Glad I got some grass cut.

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Jun 2, 2022

Twin A called to tell me about the shooting at the hospital in Tulsa. I could tell it unnerved him and had him worried about his mom.

Hubs texted that he now has some fever and chills. I told him to go to the doctor today but he didn't listen. ?

Staffing is still problematic here. I guess it is everywhere. These patients are not much trouble. I do get tired of helping little old ladies to the potty, though. So the LPN and aide probably could have managed but who wants to just *manage* all the time? And what if there's an emergency? There is just an LPN and aide again tomorrow night and that nurse just had surgery and can't lift. I'd work another night but if Hubs is sick it's hard for him to take care of his mom. For obvious reasons, the hospital would like to increase the census but staffing is chaotic. Wish I knew the answer. We are rural but close enough to the metro that many people just go to the bigger hospitals.

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Jun 2, 2022

It is interesting that some people are able to avoid lung cancers. My mother was a smoker who was proud to have better lung capacity than many nonsmokers. But COPD caused problems in later life. And the smoking probably contributed to the pancreatic cancer that killed her.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2022

J22, that was a productive day.

Dianah, a day jamming is always a good one for you.

There's always a freak that will live to be a 100 smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and not be affected. But 99% of the time people are going to have issues caused by smoking either directly or indirectly. I used to smoke because back in the late 70's during the disco days everyone gay person smoked. Literally. Thankfully in 1988 I was able to stop for good.

I'm not that good with a budget, but every now and then I'll keep track. I was curious with inflation how I'm doing and apparently not too good. I have my retirement automatically taken out of course, but also set aside in another bank account my travel fund and emergency fund. I work overtime for stuff around the house like when I had to buy a new air conditioner, hot water eater and appliances and yard/tree work. But I'm not working overtime after burning out last year, and inflation is hitting and my retirement funds are dwindling. So as long as I don't overdraw that's usually my budget.

Speaking of cigarettes my sister, who is friendly with her first ex-husband, the father of her daughter, went to stay with her ex-mother-in-law who is old and frail and lives with my sister's ex-husband. He needed to go out of town for a few days. Anyway the poor lady smokes and has end-stage COPD and on oxygen and set the house on fire smoking and the fire alarm woke my sister up. My sister managed to turn off the oxygen in the house and was able to herself and the dog out of the house but couldn't get to the mother and law who perished. Needless to say she's traumatized. I'm so happy for smoke alarms and that she was able to get out.

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Jun 2, 2022

Wow, Tweety, when did that happen? That is traumatic. I'm sorry your sister had that experience. And glad she and the dog were safe.