Migraine
See below
Mental Health
See below
Physical Health
So, since in general my migraines and my mental health are both stabilized, I'm going to combine those sections back into a general 'health' section. As such, since it's no longer just 'physical' I'll just title it 'Health' in future Updates.
For migraines, I had a migraine while on vacation. It sucked as it was on the three day portion with both A and E, basically ruining a third of my time with both of them. But they were accommodating and we still got to hang out. It wasn't bad enough that I would have called into work for it. I also had a migraine this past Thursday and that was a bad one. Light, Sound, Pain, and Brain Fog were all at the lower end of severe. I would most certainly have called in as I couldn't concentrate and almost all of my thoughts started and ended with 'ow'.
If you're keeping track, that's two migraines that would have prevented me from working since April 10th. That's still damned good and way better than I have been in practically a decade. At the very least, better than just pre-COVID times.
My next neurologist appointment is with Dr. C on July 7th. I plan to whole heartedly thank him and tell him that I'll continue to see Dr. W (my original neurologist) for follow up care. That I'll keep his information and see him if the need arises, but otherwise he's carried me through the worst of my migraines and I won't need to continue to see him unless he believes I should have follow ups. Speaking of Dr. W, I have a follow up appointment with him in November. Unless something changes, that should be just fine.
One thing I noticed that may be a new 'normal' for my migraines is that on these both recent migraines, I was very tired the night before, and slept very late the day of the migraine. While on vacation I slept in until almost 10 AM. I later came back that afternoon/evening and went to sleep around 5 or 6 o'clock and slept the night through. Wednesday night I went to bed a little early for me, 10 PM, and almost slept through my appointment with my therapist at 9 AM.
Speaking of my therapist, for mental health I'll continue to see him every other week unless something changes. Changes might be work schedule, might be changes in insurance, or anything else that says I should see him more or less often. I'll also see my mental health nurse practitioner as often as she sees fit. I see her this coming Tuesday as she wanted to see me before I started work. I believe I should fall into a 'normal' pattern of follow ups now as the drugs are working and I'm no longer desiring any changes due to side effects. Maybe every three, six, or twelve months. Probably six.
Other health issues include my sleep study and my cardiologist visit, both coming next week. I've honestly dreaded the sleep study. This visit next week is just the initial consultation, but I haven't seen anybody that gets a sleep study done and doesn't get a recommendation for a CPAP. I know when my weight is up, I snore. I snore bad. But my weight is currently down and doesn't look like its going to go back up any time soon. A, whom I shared a room with while in Austin, said I didn't snore like I used to. He actually said I 'purred' most of the night. That's oddly.... satisfying.
I thought about it longer though, and the only reason I'm seeing a sleep doctor is a referral from my neurologist. He wanted me to see a sleep specialist because of my nearly constant headaches. So, if the sleep doc does recommend a CPAP, I can get one and try it. But if it doesn't do anything for the headaches, I can then ditch it. I'll be clear about that with the doc during my consult.
I'm seeing the cardiologist because when I saw my general practitioner last I complained about some light headedness. I still have the occasional dizzy spells, so I'll see the cardiologist and see what he wants to do. We know I have COPD now but the dizziness doesn't accompany physical labor or difficulty breathing. I'm also on a lot of new drugs, so it might just be a side effect from one of those. But better safe than sorry. And with my lifestyle and history, it's almost assured that I'll need a cardiologist at some point. So why not get one earlier rather than later?
Otherwise my health has been hunky dory.
Finances
My long term disability ended on June 15th. That was how long it had been extended to before. They sent me a text in early June telling me that and asking if I needed an extension. They told me to respond with 'Yes' or 'No' and that they would contact me for any other required paperwork. For the first time I responded with 'No' and I got... nothing. They never responded to me. I should get my last payment at the end of this month and it will be a 'half' check for me.
That's when I'll next to my financials. Paying my bills for the next couple weeks. And it should all add up just fine through July 15th. On July 15th, when I would next do my finances, I wont' have enough money to pay all those bills. They don't exactly come DUE on the 15th, but I'll still run out of money between July 15th and the end of July. If I was hired RIGHT NOW for a new job I probably still wouldn't get paid before then. So I'm going to need to get money out of my 401k. I'm going to wait until I get paid next though as I should have a better handle on how the job search is going. I'll hopefully see that I'll be working here in town soon enough and I'll only need to take out a couple grand to get by until my first check clears. If I'm still in the dark on when I'll get working again though, I might need to take out like ten grand just to be on the safe side.
Family/Friends
The vacation with A & E was great. Relaxing and fun. I got to show off Tatiana and they were both impressed by her. The only real problem with the vacation overall was that I passed my migraine test and was then able to return to work. I hadn't thought of it until then, but I was almost immediately anxious. I wanted to be home where I could start looking for work. I ended up cutting my vacation short because I couldn't shake that feeling. Both A and E understood though and they were even happy to see me getting happy about going back to work. They knew it was a big deal for me.
My brother B is looking for a new car for his wife M. That's what the Car Shopping post is about. I've given B the list of cars I think will work but haven't heard back from him since. I don't think M has had time off since then, so it's unlikely they've looked. B has today and tomorrow off, so they might look this weekend. I'll have updates when there are any.
My other brother R is up north with our neighbor on their first trip to his cabin. They've set up a battery generator and solar panels to power electronics in the cabin. They have a mini fridge and a mini water heater so they finally can have cold soda without buying ice, and hot showers. They also set up a 43 inch 4K tv along with a blue ray player. Up until now they've been watching videos on a 17" laptop or worse, R's phone. R got back yesterday.
Entertainment
I finished watching Tulsa King. Knowing that its from the same creator as Yellowstone, Landman, Sicario, and other great television and movie properties made me kind of disappointed in Tulsa King. It's not BAD per say, but it's not nearly as good as any of the other Taylor Sheridan products.
A, E, and I all watched Dogma on the big screen and that was just a blast. It wasn't perfect as I had a migraine while watching it so the loud parts were bad, but otherwise it was pure enjoyment. I still think this is one of Kevin Smith's best projects. Certainly one of his most unique ones.
When I got back from vacation and finished Tulsa King (btw, I found out they are going to have a spin off of Tulsa King starting Samuel L Jackson in New Orleans. NOLA King?) I wanted to stay on the Taylor Sheridan bandwagon and picked up Lioness. OH MY GOD LIONESS IS SO GOOD! It had me hooked in the first few minutes. Its only eight episodes long and only two seasons long and I SO wished for another season of like 20 episodes. SO GOOD! They say it's been renewed for a third season but it hasn't been officially announced, so who knows how long until it comes out.
After that I couldn't go back to anything NON Taylor Sheridan, so I picked up Landman as both A & E recommended it. It's good, but I'd put it closer to Tulsa King rather than Yellowstone or Lioness. Certainly worth watching a second season which should come out late this year or next year (it's in production now).
I JUST finished that and started the next Taylor Sheridan project, Kingstown. I knew Kingstown was about a (fictional) prison town in Michigan. As I cued it up and watched the first few minutes so that it would end up in my 'continue to watch' list on Paramount Plus, the narration stated that Kingstown is a company town in Michigan and the company is Incarceration. Kingstown has seven prisons within a 10 mile radius.
!!!!
Holy fuck! My home town has six and a half prisons all clustered together! Kingstown may well be based on my home town!
I'd dive right into it, but while going through email today I saw a deal from Fandango Now. They had the full six Karate Kid movie collection for $50. That's The Karate Kid, The Karate Kid Part II, The Karate Kid Part III, The Next Karate Kid, The Karate Kid (2010), and Karate Kid: Legends. The last one is in theaters right now but I'll get it as soon as it comes out for digital (which should be in August).
I haven't watched the Karate Kid movies in a long time and never all in a row, so that's my next project. Oh, and I've NEVER seen The Next Karate Kid even though it was right up my alley.
Music wise, I've been on a strange ride lately. In addition to new music that I normally get, I'm also getting music that I've had in the past but let slide away for one reason or another. The last two are Ace of Base and just today Paula Abdul. I mean... come on, why didn't I have Cold Heated and Vibeology in my playlists!?
New Tech
I bought a Secretlab TITAN Evo 2022 Series chair in Royal Blue back in 2022. Almost exactly three years ago now. It's been surprisingly great. Comfortable and holding up well. Yes, it has a little wiggle to it, but that's it. No squeaks and it holds its position up and down and leaning back perfectly. The only problem with the chair is that it BARELY fits under my desk. In the position I sit in it, all the way up, it doesn't fit under the desk. The arm rests are too tall even though they are all the way down. So I have to lower the seat a few inches before sliding it home. But if I lower it too much, the arm rests hit on some metal areas on my desk legs. I have about a three inch space that I have to fit the arm rests into. AND I have to have the legs exactly right as otherwise they're too wide.
In short, if I don't have it right I tend to get upset and push it in harder before pulling it out and fixing the problem. Not too surprisingly, I eventually ripped one of the arm rests. They're just foam with a leather like cover (NOT real leather) but they are connected magnetically so that they're easy to replace. I'd considered replacing them before as they're black and I'd love to have blue ones to match my blue chair, but they don't offer them in blue. What they have is felt like black, silver, and pink. Nice if I wanted that change in texture, but I like the leather feel. They also have black ones that have a different faux leather texture but area also made of a cooling memory foam. Those ones go for $90.
My first though was to just skip the 'upgrade' as I've never thought to myself 'Man, if only my arm rests were form fitting to my elbows or cooling me down!'. But it turns out that they don't offer the standard arms at all. And even the velvet textured arm rests are $90. So, I have the new cooling gel arm rests. They're... fine. A waste at $90, but worth it compared to having a torn arm rest.
Writing
I'm still having a hell of a time writing. That includes role playing at DX. I just can't 'get it up' creatively. As I almost always put in this section though, I'll try again. I'm very close to being done with Gamer Gurl part 2.
Michigan Football
Nothing new here, either in Michigan Football specifically or College Football in general.
Computer Issues
I think I might be becoming a computer fuddy duddy. I'm normally 'up to date' on my computer. Apps are updated regularly (or allowed to update themselves), drivers are updated, windows is allowed to update as soon as it wants (but not beta access).
But recently an update for my VPN, Mullvad, borked itself. I had to un-install it, find an older version and then install that. Now I get to see it nag me about a 'new' version. The only thing they list in the 'new version' is bug fixes and stability issues. Mine is perfectly stable and works great. No bugs. So why update? I mean, being a security program, it SHOULD be updated just to retain it's secure nature. But... damn it, I don't want to have to deal with a faulty VPN that blocks me from everything on the internet again.
And then I watched a video on Nvidia's latest drivers and saw that they screwed those up too. They disabled the memory BAR thing which decreases your performance by like 10%. Now, I don't play games right now and even if I did, I doubt I'd notice a big difference as I'm basicaly on the top of that performance hill... but still. Add in Apple Music still being wonky and my new desktop issue (below), and I'm starting to wonder if computers are just getting worse. Is it that, or am I remembering the past with rose colored memories?
The new desktop issue isn't really a big issue. My wallpapers still flip back and forth randomly. But a couple weeks back I got a new set of 50 or so wallpapers. I was internally cringing, waiting for the error to crop up again, but it didn't ever pop up. But when I click on the 'Desktop' button on my taskbar it now doesn't show the wallpaper on the desktop. it just shows a gray square. Weird.
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