Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Goodness, What's This??



Quite a light show going on, along with sharp cracks followed by low, long rumbles.

And so far about .14" rain, although I expect that to rise sharply, judging by the not-so-gentle pitter-patting of rain on the roof.

BOOM! There's another....

As the temps drops, liquid will turn solid, with 2"~4" of snow expected. Unfortunately it won't be the dry, fluffy stuff that the snow blower can handle, but the heavy, wet stuff that breaks tree branches, downs power lines, collapses roofs, and causes other mischief.

CRACK! Lotsa flashes....

Reminds me of April in Illinois, but then Spring in the Rockies can be "Highly Variable" as the weather guys say.

Had some errands to do today after my Physical Therapy session, which may be showing some improvement. I've never had PT do more than waste my time, but the targeted exercises seem to be helping the muscle get stronger and the pain diminish, so we'll keep chugging along until the system grinds out a result.

After the PT, I walked across the lot to my Doctor's office to have my blood drawn for a "Lipid Panel" and a "Basic Metabolism Panel". ALL the staff in the medical office were wearing masks, and hand sanitizer was in good supply.

Got the results back in a few hours, and holy smokes! My "Lipid Panel" shows all the numbers smack in the middle of what they call the "Normal" range! For the first time in many years, my HDL and LDL are "Normal", which I'm sure will please my Primary Provider and my Cardiologist.

BOOM!...............another. Rain total is now .26", and a look outside shows that it's turning to snow.

After getting my blood drawn, I headed on over to the Target/CVS store to pick up some meds and get my shingles vaccine shot. It's a two-part kit, with a powder in one vial, and a "dilutent" in a second. The Pharmacist extracted the liquid, put it in the powder vial, shook it a bit, then drew the mixed contents out and gave me the shot. She warned me it might have some side-effects, and a couple of hours later I felt pretty nauseated, hot, and had to lay down for an hour or do. If this is the only side-effect I have, I'll call it a win, because I do NOT want to get shingles, thank you very much.

The store had a prominent sign stating they were NOT a CDC Testing Center, and other signs in the pharmacy area advising they were sold out of hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, aloe vera, wipes of all types, and several other things. Toilet paper was in good supply, as was the food section.

My wife tells me that it's now obvious we're a "Dog Place" here, as most stores are running out of dog food (!!), but plenty of cat food was on the shelves.

So that's it from here, and be safe out there!

16 comments:

  1. People are going insane with the Chinese Plague and feel as though their only hedge against illness is toilet paper.

    It's snowing in Northern Arizona at the moment. The forecast says up to a foot. So I'm going to take off early, after first light to try and beat the zombie hoard to the store in the hope of topping off the larder. Maybe the snow will keep them in?

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    1. We didn't get ANY snow here overnight, LL, and it didn't start until noonish. Now it's coming down like crazy, starting to stick, and visibility is down to about a block.

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  2. An offhand question, do you also do the PT at home? I do the core exercises at least twice a week, it helps.

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    1. Absolutely! I try and do the exercises daily, but sometimes life (or the grandson) gets in the way and I skip a day.

      I'm using an "Exercise Band", like a big rubber band, to give some resistance and work the muscle against.

      And it seems to be helping.

      Delete
  3. I am wondering what product is next for hoarding? First was TP and H2O, now it is milk and bread, now you are saying dog food, lovely, how am I gonna explain to my ankle biter she is going hungry.

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    1. EVERYBODY here has a dog, and most of them (like ours) are pampered members of the family.

      One of the things I have down in Der Boonker is several 5 gallon buckets of dog food, sealed with O2 absorbers in them.

      And she can always eat table scraps.....

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  4. Cliche for the country at large, but a fact of life in Colorado. Don't like the weather? Give it a day, it will change.

    I do a mile walk with the dog daily. Today won't be fun!

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    1. Yup. The weather here is much more variable than where I grew up in Illinois. And with the mountain passes and canyons forming "funnels" for the winds, things like rainfall and snowfall can get whipped around in the course of a mile, and be very different in parts of town.

      And looking at the weather radar shows you're getting about what we're getting (THIS time!), with the really heavy stuff being South by the Palmer Divide (Colorado Springs area for the non-locals reading this), and to the Northeast towards Fort Morgan.

      I think you probably had a decent walk if you got Banner out before noon.

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  5. Yep, we're getting now the fourth day in a row of rain... sigh

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    1. Must be pretty soggy by now! The radar down your way shows it's clearing now (2055UTC), so hopefully you guys will get to dry out.

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  6. I will attest to the efficacy of PT. Back in 2018 I destroyed my Medial Patellarfemoral Ligament that holds the kneecap to the thigh bone. The doctor put me through a couple of months of PT before there would be any thought of any surgery. The PT did miracles. The only limitation is that I will wear a knee brace if I think I am going to strain it. Under the latter conditions my kneecap might end up on the side of my leg if I don't take precautions.

    We got some of you weather down here in South Texas yesterday afternoon. It was a flashin' and a boomin'.

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    1. It's painful to do all the exercises, so I try and spread them out a bit through the day.

      But it seems to be helping, so I'll continue to muddle through.

      56* today, and most of our snow has gone down the drains.

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  7. What's this? Two of the best darned fighters the US ever made.

    Other than that, who would expect weather during the spring, weird, huh?

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    1. Yep, The Jug and The Fork-Tailed Devil.

      Really pretty today, but the back yard is a mud pit!

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  8. We had snow, then rain, then snow, then fog... just spring time in the PNW. But up the gorge it was beautiful mid afternoon with temps close to 70.
    Good to hear your PT is helping. I have been slacking in the walking and yoga department. No I don't have a good excuse.

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    1. I don't either for those times I just don't do it.

      My BP has been a tad low lately (95/67), so that's another thing knocking me down these days. Last summer my Primary Care Provider told me she was thinking of cutting back the "blood pressure" meds they put me on when I had the stents put in. Since I have my appointment with the Cardiologist on Wednesday, that's definitely something I'm going to talk to him about, along with "Am I healthy enough to withstand a hip replacement?"...

      Delete

Keep it civil, please....

Gloomy, Gritty, Grey Day

 At 1700 local it's as described in the headline; 30*F, 88% RH, completely overcast, snowing like crazy (small flakes, but lots of them)...