Mt_Rider

Sheeesh, here I thot you'd gotten up on a horse. I will be riding on Saturday. They contacted me this time. Things are warming up, despite snow drifts up here. Most snow is gone. But we also snowed a bit a couple days ago. I'm not sure if I'm well or not. But again the stimulation of the Bible Study was too much for me. OTOH...we filled 2 banquet tables end to end - and squeezed more in. A lot of voices tho not all talking at once. It's only the second meeting of this session so usually people drop off or miss here and there. I missed the first one due to ear hissing thing. But today was rough too. "Hot flash" in the middle and freezing later. Hmph. Came home/ate sandwich/went to bed. Nap and then read Kindle. Called mom and talked. Then got up and took dog down steep hill from cabin to pasture below. Walked around with her sniffing every square inch. But was very glad DH waited for us with car after he was done with the ducks/goose. I'm not sure I could have climbed the driveway. ...which I do frequently. Just. Don't. Have. It! I was FREEZING when I got home from Bible Study. It was a nice sunny day. I've begun to wonder if I'm experiencing a circulation problem after all? I probably need to check why my legs turn pink and veins turn purple when standing for like...shower. Quite bright. It's kinda new in my various symptoms. So...I'm trying to get to bed earlier. So far the past couple days have been better. Not 3am. Trying to hit midnight. Sometimes....yes... MtRider

ACK....I didn't hear about that. All my people are in northern VA.....Ashburn and D.C. etc. But.... Mom's on 3rd floor of Assisted Living. Hope they don't shake/rattle/roll! 2 hip fractures in one lifetime is enough! MtRider ....hmm, wrote this...got distracted....didn't hit 'send'

Hmph! Today was difficult. Nothing huge, but like being pecked to death by ducks. No, not my ducks. I missed "seeing" the partial eclipse that we had. I punched a hole in a card and held a white piece of paper to look at the sun shining thru the hole - sun behind me. I went out to check several times. But I'd forgotten that the thing is over in just minutes. I must have missed it. Been a long time since I've been in an eclipse area. I did see the ...what I call "ashen" look to everything out the window. So that's probably when it would have shown a chunk missing on my paper. Can't remember how much eclipse happened in Iowa or on Maui. But this is the 3rd one I've had at least a part of. DH came home with heavy bags for groceries....he goes with his client to shop on Mondays. Gets some things for us and saves a trip into town. I was about to get in shower/wash hair when ***BLINK*** Electric is out. Then came on. ....Then went out and stayed off. Gaah! We went thru the whole "hurricane winds" for days and kept power. The past 2 days are calm.....what happened? I go down to put ducks away for the night...with dog walk and driveway walk.......IN THE SNOW! Yes, really! Meanwhile DH is putting away groceries and trying to ease nasty spasms in his back. But.....at least he was able to start the pellet stove by connecting it to the power station (SUCH a good investment!) and it was running warm by the time dog and I got the birds in and walked up the hill again. In the snow....sweeping steps as we went up. Walked in house and ....the lights are on! Okaay... So I rush in to shower/wash hair. I dry it near the pellet stove heat so I JUST have to get washed/rinsed before the crazy electric might go back off again. But.....at this point, we're back on regular electric. So far. This has been a day when the sun don't shine and the electricity don't run. About 'par' for my weird days. I was reading where the lack of solar energy pumping into the [TX] state's or national power grid made a moderately significant difference in power available. But...don't cloudy days do more than a brief darkening? Ears are roaring right now....above normal decibels, so I think my neck is needing to shift position! I'm sitting in front of pellet stove on a milk crate and typing with laptop on a chair. Need to do Hawaiian before the power (thus our router) goes off again. Not really expecting it ....but who ever does? MtRider ...a somewhat unsatisfying day but not really a bad day....

Happy Birthday, Becca Anne! Sounds like it was nice - except that tornado warning part. But all's well that ends well. Yeah, Jeepers.....I follow my dad in nicely low BP. My mom's high BP might be due to my dad's method of keeping his low. LOL As for tinnitus..... uh, for decades I've had TINITUS!!! Never found out what causes that but I've always got hissssssing in my ears. Both! And the volume of it does vary. I usually don't "hear" it - normalized. But what I was experiencing was SO MUCH louder and with that "extra pulse/surge" included.... Every time I turned my head, it sounded like it was grating over sand. Or oyster shell. Every time I tried to do something, it was HISSSSING! One does not bend over ....keep head and neck level and rather immobilized. So DH kept saying, you're fighting something off.....viral/bacterial. I kept taking the herbal stuff that wards off any number of icky things. We've used it for years. Never had it take so long tho. 10 days. And I'm still taking it - til it's verifiably gone! I still have a bit louder hisss. Even a couple of those surges. But I'm feeling much more normal. Even walked the dog today......CUZ the WIND stopped. In the news they said our area of KS, NM, ...some other SW states were getting hit with severe winds! Which led to fires! All over the place. THAT'S when those of us who labored to move FEET of snow, were so very grateful to God for that same snow!! While areas that didn't get that last huge pile of snow are dry/WINDY/ fire risk....we're mostly fine. It's blowing so hard that if something isn't nailed down, it's blown off and blowing who-knows-where. We do get wind like this now and then. Haven't had this strong for quite some time! I didn't even go outside these past days of WIND. Shakes even this log cabin. But the news was saying that it was hurricane force winds in some places. Not sure we got that hard but maybe. This valley does throw wind smack up against the house. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/06/weather/southwest-weather-wind-storm/index.html Quote: Wind alerts are in effect for nearly 18 million people from Texas to North Dakota. The greatest threat of 100 mph winds will be near the base of the Rocky Mountain Foothills and will include areas near Boulder and Fort Collins, Colorado, according to the National Weather Service in Denver. End Quoting But even if it rips down tree limbs with electric wires....or even just the electric wires....we're still quite WET from the melting of those huge snow piles. Waterways are running high. I didn't hear of any fires in our county but elsewhere in these SW states....lots and lots of fires. So I hope to go into the next days with no excess ear hissssing and no excess Wind Blowing things all over! Or fires......hate fires! Today was pleasant. So...I could walk dog again. Normal. MtRider ..... "normal" can be quite underrated!

I finally feel nearly normal today. Hissing in ears is down to normal. Only a few "surges". I didn't lose energy until ....6pm. I've been losing energy about noon. ...after sleeping hard and long. Whatever that was....I don't think I quite "got it". But it took our usual herb/nutritionals so long to knock it down. Glad I didn't fully 'catch whatever'. Winds of spring are about to knock the house off the hillside! I just stayed inside. Don't need any more attacks on my nervous system. Wind does a wretched number on my ability to think or move or ....function! Motion and Noise and Buffeted by wind.... Dug out a spiral notebook and will begin to make a LIST .....for a visit to Maui. I've got a few wks yet but.....I have to pack carefully and that will take some figuring. And finding things. And get (or find) a new pair of reader glasses. My most recent pair broke in half. I've been using a wobbly discarded pair with my fingers crossed til I can get into town and get another one. But I'm thinking I have an unused pair ...somewhere.... Can't see anything close up without them. Much better day but I'm TIRED....... .....yeah, Necie. I can't figure out this is Saturday either. Must have lost count of day or two ....with being home/inside for 10 days! MtRider ....making a list!

....to add: This guy. Astrophysicist Dr. Hugh Ross - The only reasonable conclusion I could see was that the Bible must be the inspired Word of God. https://www.cru.org/us/en/how-to-know-god/my-story-a-life-changed/hugh-ross.html MtRider .....not the video I watched but this is his story....haven't read it yet.

I'm always checking my watch to see what day it is!! I did lose a day this week somewhere. Cuz it shouldn't be Saturday already! But yep, computer says it's been Saturday for 7..er.....8 minutes. How does it always get so late when I'm not done with Friday yet!?!? I've been watching a fascinating program ... a SUPER SCIENCE/MATH INTELLIGENT guy talking about how science and particularly math can prove there absolutely has to be a God. He says 45% of scientists (real ones, not woke) believe there is GOD behind everything. And 80% of deep math folks do. I think those were the numbers ....but numbers are not my thing. I couldn't possibly follow all that he said but what I could was really enlightening. I'd always thot those science/math types would be lost in their theories and computations and such. Never thot there would be such a high rate of believers amongst them. But I think, from what he said, you have to be entrenched deeply and honestly into the science/math to discovery this. I'd never get past 5th grade math so I came to my belief via personal experience. It works too. Says earth could not have had such large creatures unless they were sustained in a water environment....can't hold up such weight as a Rex on land. ...Don't ask me about his science behind that one. Laws of physics or something. But with the buoyancy of water - yeah, that's why whales can get larger. Rex would have to support some of the weight with water too....but not necessarily submerged. Anyone here feel the New Jersey earthquake. I was kinda surprised to find that there are/have been some fairly serious earthquakes in that NY, NJ, etc region. Not very often. I was reading the history recorded from way back and they all mentioned damage with "a lot of chimney bricks fell down". My mom didn't feel it in DC area. Bro said : I live on a boat and work around heavy equipment. I'd never notice. Yeah. My ear hissssing and surging is quite a lot better today. Still there...but as I've mentioned, I always have a low grade hissssing in my ears. Especially if my neck is flaring up. But the biggest difference today is -- I don't feel like I'm coming down with some illness. Not like that huge drop I got after shower/wash hair yesterday.... Even tho it's late tonite, I'm still feeling normal....with a bit of stiff neck unless I keep shifting positions. But it's beyond time to go to bed and REST.... MtRider

Martianchick Yeah....habits die hard. Some habits are good tho - what if you'd met someone you'd feel badly if you weren't dressed in your normal attire? OR....since retirement, who cares what your chosen new normal will be???? ...... man, I want to just crawl in bed right now! But have to wait for our stew. Energy just dropped like a rock in a well. No retrieval possible. And ears HISSSSSING and surging again. Dang! I thot I had this plague on the run. MtRider ....

Ouch! Jeepers and Little Sister both! Why is it that the professionals can't DO the job? I retract the phrase "I'm feeling better".... I WAS. Didn't do much but did decide I'd be safe to finally take shower and wash hair! So glad I cut it to shoulder-length. Cuz I just comb it out and use the snap/clip things to hold it down somewhat. That's it. The sun was so warm on porch, I thot it would be nice to enjoy that and dry my hair. It worked...... but after shower, etc..... Whew....took everything I thot I had. DH came home with back pain (expected) but it took both of us to put an oven roasted stew together. I was doing bending and lifting and peeling. It will be done in a couple hours. If I'm still awake...cuz the FATIGUE is hitting hard. Sheeeesh! MtRider ....guess I'm not over whatever crud has been plaguing me yet.

Well, I had a good sleep. The intensity of the pulsing - hissing is less. Or else I'm getting accustomed to it. Still there. I'm not feeling as "sick" as yesterday. Taking our herbal stuff and maybe it's going to finally overcome what ever it's been minimizing. Usually able to quickly knock flu bug or whatever is trying to get a foothold. Bright sunny day with a brisk, chill wind. Not going out for sun bathing. Took me forever to get warm when I got out of bed. Dog and I are not up for doing much. About 3 days ago she did something to the toes of her rear leg. Not a split toe nail. And she will put weight on it but doesn't want to.....so it probably isn't broken. She and I are just hanging out today. DH has his client for 5 hrs and then he's done for the week. I'm hoping to pickup the supper plan that went sideways when this neck/hiss thing began. We'll see if I've got the energy and brain stability to follow a recipe. ?? MtRider ....less and less snow in the once gigantic piles.

Thanks Becca Anne, Little Sister, and Martian! DH did check my neck pulse several days ago when this started. He checked again just now with his stethoscope. All is well for that. Whew! The surging hiss is overlaid on the constant hisssss. It's not on any kind of pattern. EVERY thing disturbs my sleep. Only pain is from awkward position sitting sideways in chair last nite. Very low back/sacral area is not happy. Arnica shuts that up. But it's not that bad today. Just an annoying addition to the hissssing thing! The hisssing has diminished from the days before now. In volume and frequency of the surging. O2 is 93 which is fine. Average for me. - REMEMBER I'm at 8,400k altitude. We have way more red blood cells. Lowest someone should get up here is around 88. pulse rate around the high 60s low 70s. Also normal for me. Temp is up about 1 degree from my normal which is 97.5* So I'm registering 98.6* or so. It's fluctuating. LOL Nearly got sunburned in our 70* (In The Sun) weather late afternoon today. But we're still able to get down in the 20s at night. Snow all over in areas under forest and other places the sun doesn't reach. I do have a LONG history of neck issues...old karate injury back in mid 70s. But I think I mentioned, it's been a looong time since I've had trouble with that. But things always crackle a bit when I turn my neck. I don't have a headache....haven't at any time this week. I'm a bit exasperated with 'modern medical science' right now. After a whole year of every kind of test the neurologist could put me thru.... ....they still don't know exactly what I have. MS is the closest. Symptoms match but they can't find the demyelination. Anywhere. Quite normal blood tests. (except B6 which went off the chart) But I did hear that even the MRI really can't SEE everything. So mild MS is what I'm claiming til someone can come up with something more definitive. However if this much louder hisssing with surges continues much longer, I think I'll go see what's what. DH believes I'm fighting something off right now. Some illness type thing. In chiropractic, if one finds the very top vertebrae pulling out of place, that's what it indicates. He's pushed it back in place X3 in this past week. The lymph glands front and back of neck have been swollen. So we're going on that theory. Mess with the top vertebrae....or any of MY neck...and you'll get the hisssing. Know that from my long acquaintance with a neck collar...long ago. MtRider .... appreciate your concern tho!!!

Wow..."life" does just keep happening to all of us, right? Take care, everyone. I've finally gotten to the stage, after the past week of "preliminary symptoms",.... I think I'm sick. Fighting it but no idea what the 'it' actually is. I've had a week of hissssing in the ears with surges of louder hissing in 2-3 bursts. Then returns to the solid hisssssssss. What is it?!? Temp is up one degree from my normal. Fatigue is up several 'degrees' from my normal. And I seemed to have strained a back muscle a little while trying to sit in living room chair with spine STRAIGHT up, cuz then the hissing is less. But ow! Arnica helps that tho. Nothing seems to stop the hisssing. I have a degree of ear noise anyway but nothing like this! Especially the surges. And as DH said: Looks like your body is trying to fight off something. "But I don't feel sick....just plagued with NOISE and fatigue. Today, yeah. I actually do feel "sick"......whatever that means. I've been taking all the things we take herbally and nutritionally for a week now. I'm about ready to stop and let it happen! Then again, if there is this much build-up..... mebbe not the best idea, right? This afternoon, I was out on the porch in the very warm sunshine {snow drifts still wherever the sun can't get to them} and talked to two friends on the phone. Vit D from the best source. Then broke out in a sweat..... um, was that good or bad? Dunno. ....now DH is sneezing. I haven't sneezed ....wasn't me! Kim Chee Ramen cures him tho. MtRider ...rambling, I know.

Horse ride was wonderful. Sunny day. Cold tho. Wind was strong but not in the trees, fortunately. That's the climb up to higher altitude. My neck was fine. But as the day progresses, it gets to hissssing at me. I actually laid down and took an hour nap. That was good. This wind takes it outta ya! Seems like as the day goes on into night, the neck gets tired and hissing is worse. There is no pain...unless it begins to give me a headache. But not where it's messed up. Sometimes makes balance a challenge but didn't affect riding at all. Very steady......riding may have helped with the balance thing. Last nite was challenging. Difficult to get to sleep. Once asleep tho, I sleep dead out! Going to try for another round of deep sleep in a few minutes. It's EARLY.... Not quite 11:30pm. MtRider ....glad the season for horse riding is here again!!!!

Made it into town for my appt. Did not feel well....just the neck thing. It's better but the HISSSSSing and such is getting on my nerves. Makes me dizzy too. If I don't move much, it settles a bit. The car ride was not fun - stuck a stocking hat over my head and over my eyes. That helped - block out the nauseating sight of everything FLASHING past the widows. {blech} Ride home was easier. Able to STRUGGLE thru a Hawaiian lesson tonite. I'm not usually irritable but that lesson was way past what I wanted to handle right not. Got it done tho. Have a horse ride tomorrow. I have NO idea how that will go with my neck issues. If I get across the first stretch of path and it's a no go.... I'll have to go back. Might help - so I can tell up from down. Not that bad but ....it's driving me crazy. Mtrider .....Bed! To sleep and not feel these confusing sensation.

Happy Birthday, The CG MtRider

Hi everyone. Seems like I can't get in here every day. Tonite my neck is killing me. It's been a bit fragile since an unfortunate move in karate - college era. Wasn't sparing...just moved it wrong. But I haven't had a problem like this in...decades! Living with a chiro, y'know. But it's been hurting for 2 days. I think it was because I was laying down in the back seat going home from our Women's Bible Study breakfast. We do that between studies and while I don't get DRAINED with the Bible Studies, these gab sessions are hard on my brain/nervous system. Cuz with them, the whole length of two tables are all talking and laughing at once. It's just a LOT more to process. But it's fun! But this time I just couldn't sit up in the car. Laying down maybe too awkwardly in the back seat. the dog was crowded into the corner....but she didn't mind. Mannnnn.... this thing hurts! DH adjusted it, obviously. But it makes a lot of HISSSSSSS ing noises in my ears. Arnica gel didn't do much. Nuprin cuts it back...temporarily. Headache hovers. Our driveway is melted all the way to the top....a lot today. UPS backed his truck up half way....just last nite cuz of the condition of the upper half. Today was a nice day of melting. I even missed calling my mom this evening. She was quite herself yesterday and we gabbed for a long time. I wonder if she missed the call or was oblivious? She usually doesn't think to call me. They had a program tonite about Filipino culture that she was telling me all about yesterday....so maybe she didn't notice. Little Sister, I hope you can get off your knee long enough to get some healing. And get that boy out the door and into the Coast Guard! for safe travels for Ambergris....and the H's while they escort you!! to Kappy and Chainsaw Mary. Glad you dropped in with an update. 5 baby ducks...cuz they lured you in! Did you get verified females? We got a mixed batch - but they pull females for a straight run and then ship whatever lands in the box from the now uneven, rest of them. One time we got 3/4 males to females. When grown and in spring, the males end up killing the females, esp with our pond. The drakes are so competitive, they won't get off the female to share and she drowns! Last time we ordered like that! 1 to 3 is better ratio. All the babies are cute and we really like the stronger taste of duck eggs. But water foul are so messy....it's why they call them FOUL! Goose eggs are great and valued too. Both duck and goose have proportionately larger yolks...which is why bakers love them. Wow....Nuprin is working. Pain has receded to the point that I think I'll try going to bed. Have appt in the afternoon tomorrow. The a HORSE RIDE scheduled for Saturday Morning... Ugh. But I need the ride. MtRider ..

Hope your grands find good employment, LittleSister. Necie, do you use essential oils for your soaps - peppermint...apple cinnamon. It snowed again most of today. But it really isn't accumulating. Warmer now. DH came home today very much in pain from back. Next week he's going to split the days he works with client so it's not two days in a row. Better for client - dishes don't stack up as much. One day is always the ride on the disability bus which wrecks his back with such stiff suspension. Fortunately I'm doing pretty well - as opposed to this time last year. So I go down for ducks/goose and walk dog. Everywhere is MUD or Snow. No forest fires in this season. Mom had another adventure..... see in Talked to life-long friend for 2-3 hrs today on the End of Times. Her novacaine from dental work was wearing off so we had to hang up. Pretty good day. MtRider

We snowed all day ...and all thru last nite actually too. But it's the bitty stuff and we've gotten maybe 4". And since the last big snow has been melting in a lot of places, this is melting quickly. We still have snow 'mountains' all over the property. We'll have some til June! My great nephew on DH's side was marveling at that one summer. Had great talk with Mom this afternoon. She called me! Much more alert but a few things she was going on about were....not this side of reality. I just listened and put in my input. But so much better. She was sitting up in her chair. Finally Fed Ex got the foot pegs to my wheelchair delivered to ......well they left the box - in a big plastic clear bag - at the bottom of the driveway. 3" of snow? Phish! That's nothing dude! But I took the car and went down to put more feed/water to the ducks/goose and found it. I also walked the dog...with some difficulty, to the end of our property and back. She was all wet by the time we went back up to the house. DH worked with a client 5 hrs and came home with a sore but not crazy hurt back. He's able to adjust it and then it's much better. He took it easy at the client's ....he's had him before and knows he can sit when he has to. So...it's been a pretty good day. I'm thinking this snow might melt, since we've had a lot of the frost come outta the ground already. It's still soaking in the BIG snow melting. Wondering if we need the snow plowed this time. Depend on when the NEXT one comes thru. Drat, was going to wash my hair today. Didn't get to that. Tomorrow. Our ladies from Bible study are having a brunch on Wed. Before that for sure! Been a long couple of weeks! Everyone will have stories to tell of deep snow and complications. One had her house catch fire but got it put out. Sheesh! MtRider ...gotta do Hawaiian and then bed.

Um....it's SNOWING again. Got the driveway alllllllll cleared and melted. Not dry, mind you. Lots of snow mountains lining the driveway. Nearly a tunnel in some places. ....well, they are high anyway. Taller than me. Gonna have to find my MIA snowplow guy...cuz it's hard to find a new one, especially in a year like this. Especially with an odd/difficult driveway like ours. Especially since ramming snow with a plow blade requires some speed...and knowing where the edges are. DH's heart issues have settled down and he goes back to work with a nearby client Mon/Tues. He'll only be able to do what he can. Can't set it off again. Hopefully this snow won't get too bad....deep. We've got a couple inches at this point. But we're in the zone that could get more. Envy your planting and such already, BeccaAnne! Oye! We're in the snowfall of the decade and you're already planting. Well, that's the Rocky Mts. Hope you have good luck this year and can get chickens safely barricaded. for Annarchy's household. It's a tighter squeeze and different schedules but pray that it will be a precious time. Glad you aced that test, Jeepers! I think most of us would ace that one! I hope!! Put the rest of life-from-where-I-sit in the Blue Couch. MtRider ....this crazy storm is all over the place. Hard to anticipate how much snow we'll get.

HAPPY B DAY, PAULINE! MtRider

That's one of the current ILLOGICAL ISSUES that gets me crazy in 3.5 seconds. Jeepers, I see our Late Nite Club is meeting again..... I'm really tired and it makes it harder to get up and get into bed! MtRider ..yeah, yeah.....

Had a WONDERFUL ride today. Sunny and actually, warm. I was dressed for it and took off my coat during part of the ride. Snow in a lot of places but no ice. Brought home a pizza....starving. The sun is being covered with clouds right now. The weather maps show a big storm system falling out of western Canada onto Montana, Dakotas, Minnesota.... Wyoming and CO are getting a batch too...soon. There's some snow showing up in the high country of eastern CA. I'd rather not get more snow right away but, can't control the weather. Today was very nice. Miki...is "A ninja" one of your dogs or your relatives' dog or....I don't think you'd be walking a cat. Hope you're having a great time with your family. Little Sister....kinda gives me an ache when you describe your knee or shoulder. Ow! don't over do it! Keep it at a level where it is still possible to heal it.....when you can get to the ortho. Water barrels sound like a success! Necie....I'm beginning to hate stairs too. Too easy to miss or trip or just the exertion. One level living ..... My idea is all on one floor but dug into a hillside so you'd still have a "basement - cool" area. Without stairs! I'm tired. Fresh air and sunshine. Did I mention my mom's in the hospital again. She can't drink or eat enough. Cognitively, she thinks she's drinking/eating. Not. So she's in for rehydration and encouraged to EAT! Old taste buds aren't working so nothing much is tasty to her. And....she's just tired. In her 90's and functions pretty well but ...just worn out. MtRider

I get to RIDE tomorrow. Total surprise cuz I thot the mountain would be snow-packed yet. Maybe it is and we're going on an adventure. Dunno but after all the dealing with snow and DH's heart acting up, I NEED a ride....or two...or three. Seriously. I did walk the road with dog tonite. Just did the ducks too so DH didn't have to move. He was on the floor with "SOT" blocks. Chiro term but it's two wedges that he puts in strategic places to shift spine while laying on back on floor. Self adjustment. Glad he can still do that. His heart hasn't completely calmed down yet so he's still trying to rest. And the forecast for Sun - Mon = ..........drum roll.......more snow! The weather guys/gals are waffling on the amounts. Meanwhile on one of those Neighborhood Gab sites, someone posted a lot of stuff to get done BEFORE the storm hits again. Great. And I'm not sure if our guy is up and running or what! THOUGHT we had a snowplow guy. Heard one of them broke a leg; another had engine trouble; others had different problems during this last blast. Hope the broken leg wasn't our guy!!! It's hard to switch to a new person mid-winter. You need to be established with one. They know the oddities of this driveway in winter. Weather person said it would be up to one foot. That's gonna need plowing. Are we done with March yet? April or even May doesn't mean it will be better. El Nino year is wetter for this region than La nina. But..... (almost unhappy about it...almost) we haven't lost power. Want to try out the battery station. Just lost our plow guy....which is worse. Can't believe they're going out on a ride tomorrow. Need to go to bed and sleep. {last nite was in bed/ lights off by 11:30pm. ......... Didn't get to sleep until 3am ....kept getting overheated and such. Changed what I was wearing and took 1/2 Unisom. Then went to sleep. Had my Unisom for tonite so ..... MtRider ....

YAY!!! We're FREE! After last nite's slog up our mountain...er, I mean, driveway ended with me coughing and breathing with pain, I needed to move on this issue. Put out a 'help' call to the church folks. Does anyone know a snow removal person up here who has time to finish our driveway? Yep, got to referrals. Texted both. One texted right back and was "just down the road a piece". Well, probably 10 miles but he finished there and came right over. He was hauling a skid steer on a trailer. Wow, he operated that thing like it was part of his own body. With the raised bucket, he could dump the snow over and behind the growing snow mountains from snow just being pushed to the edges. And when the tracks...not wheels...started to slide on the slant, he moved everything at once to straighten and pull up out of the dip. Even uses the scoop in front to shove the cabin part backwards. So we're completely cleared now. And we both kinda stood on the porch and watched the sun turn what's left into water running down the lane. We've still got huge piles of snow all over. But we can get the car out -- to the village. Post Office had a package to pick up. Market supplied a few things we ran out of...fresh things. We could have holed up for a long time but ....I missed another appt today; had to push it back a week. Just happened on the busy week. DH was feeling his heart by the time he climbed up our narrow trail after dealing with the ducks/goose earlier this morning. That's what canceled my appt. He knows when he has to "lay low" for a few days. Canceled with his client these next two days as well. Old man on the mountain needs to be careful. He's ok but .... 'Nuff of this walking down and UP this driveway! Yay, skid steer! Never saw one in action with snow before. MtRider ....not riding but I am certainly on the mountain.

Very strange day. DH did the ducks/goose this morning. Still no word from S about plowing. I'm getting hyper cuz we needed to leave for neurology appt and still can't even get out of the driveway. Road grader or plow sprayed a huge amount of snow at that end of our driveway. With truck in 4-wheel, I don't think we'd make it up hill in that deep stuff. I ended up doing a barely functioning zoom type appt with neurologist. She and I took turns blinking out of the zoom room. Just doesn't work well here. Basically I said I'm done with more tests. Nothing to go on. I've been testing for a year. I'll wait another 30 yrs and see what we can find. She did laugh at that. And said I'm coming back in 6 months again. So...that appt actually happened. While that was going on, someone came into our driveway in an odd, old vehicle and plowed us out, down in the barnyard and that mess at the road. Got our truck "cleared for take off". Then tried to come up the driveway but his rig couldn't handle it. Whoever...just drove off. ??? We have two theories. He'd driven by before but we don't know him. But he might have just noted the truck down there and decided to make sure we could get out. Or S contacted him to get us out???? OR the Senior Coalition is active in this county. One guy had called us and said he couldn't deliver cuz we're so clogged with snow. We said we understand and don't know where our snowplow guy is. He might have contacted this person with the old rig to come get us out. But God knows..... So we packed up the ice fishing sled with things we needed to attend this class tonite. Took the same trail we've used to get to the ducks. Slid purse and bag and a change of shoes in sled down the hill and over to the truck. I wore snowpants and high boots to get thru the deep snow. Went down a couple times...deep snow is so annoying!! I went to the truck and got it ready. DH put the ducks/goose inside - they'd had a chance to see the sun. They have built in snowshoes so they can walk on top of the snow. We were able to get to a class about 'lead' things and certify again. 4 hours but quite interesting. Different than a previous one so long ago. So now we're official again. But we had to change from boots, etc. to shoes for the class, and then back again at 11pm when we got home. THEN pull sled UP HILL. I gulped in so much frigid air, I was doubling over. I couldn't get breath. Painful to breathe. DH took over the sled when we got to the HILL. He was only in a sweatshirt (today was nicely warm) and he was freezing at this dark hour. I had a flashlight but still have zero balance if I can't see the hill I'm climbing. I went to my knees or an abrupt SIT several times. Rough to walk in the boot prints we'd been making on that hill. Tripping if I didn't follow the boot prints tho. And I couldn't keep up to DH. Had to sit and gulp O2. Ack...it was a horrible hill climb. However it was a beautiful moon lit night! Enough to see...but not the variations of depth in snow. DH got up before me but ...I did make it. Then up our 15 stairs. Both of us. I was in pain for breathing for about 20 min. I don't want to do that again. I'd take it slower but it was COLD! But we're both very pleased to get this event checked off the To Do list!!! I'm gonna put a bounty out on S, our missing snowplow guy. Probably the only one who knows the driveway well enough to get this mess at the top outta here! I have one more medical appt tomorrow but it's in afternoon and DH will go for groceries - fresh stuff and whatever. Then we'll be getting home in the later afternoon. Maybe come home to all the driveway done??? But warmer so we will NOT race up that steep hill at 8,500' elevation. Not training for the Olympics! My breathing diaphragm and bronchial still hurt but not nearly as bad now. I'll have to keep an eye on that tho. Weak spot. What A Day....Past 5 days have been challenging. Need a break. Even us tough old mountain folks have a limit. Hmph! I think OLD is the key word. MtRider ...got thru another day.