That's the Way It Crumbles, Cookie-Wise

[Nancy Hart]

Nobody actually diagnosed it after tests and treatments. That is all that made sense and all that was left. It came out of nowhere.

The explanations they give on the internet of the cause seem a little strange. Did it start suddenly, like with an injury or surgery? Or just gradually? ( Or would you rather not discuss it. ) I just wish you could get yet another opinion.

 

[Mary Stetler]

The explanations they give on the internet of the cause seem a little strange. Did it start suddenly, like with an injury or surgery? Or just gradually? ( Or would you rather not discuss it. ) I just wish you could get yet another opinion.

Ca ne fait rein. It doesn't matter. I have had enough opinions. There are many therapies recommended. been there done that. It came out of nowhere.
Funny thing, a neighbor down the street has the same thing and I had never heard of it before (8 years ago.)

 

[Nancy Hart]

I just want you to get well, Mary.

 

[Mary Stetler]

I just want you to get well, Mary.

Thanks but I am practically perfect in every way, like Mary Poppins.

 

[Nancy Hart]

Overthinking got me into trouble today. I always leave the front screen door open when I'm expecting a package, because the delivery guys usually try to put packages inside the screened porch. I figure it saves them time, and most of them can't figure out how to open the door anyway. I should have known it would be different if you have to sign.

Apparently the FedEx guy marched past the doorbell near the screen door directly to the inside door. I assume he knocked, but I can't year it upstairs. Left a note on the inside door that they will try again tomorrow. I think I've only had to sign for a package once, years ago. Even when they say you have to sign, you don't. I've got signs on the front pointing to the doorbell now. And the screen door shall remain closed.

 

[Don Alaska]

The new desktop was ordered on November 25th. It had to be built to specs. Arrival date estimated "as soon as" Friday, Dec 12th. I figured it might be later due to Christmas.
Now they say it's coming Monday (8th)! And I have to be here to sign. Off to go shopping for a VGA to HDMI adapter for the monitor. If it goes like last time, it will take a week to get fully set up the way I like it. {sigh}

Good luck with it @Nancy Hart .

 

[Nancy Hart]

Our little area in Georgia made national news this week.

We flipped a Republican seat in the State House to Democratic in a special election Tuesday to fill a vacated seat. The margin was only 197 votes. Turnout was very low.

Our county votes heavily Democratic (60:40). After the 2020 census 3 chunks were moved into each of 3 adjoining heavily Republican (40:60) districts. I live in the chunk that flipped the seat. Although the remaining part of our county is neatly drawn, the Republican dominated legislature twisted themselves into pretzels redrawing the rest of the adjacent 3 districts. Instead of 3 Republicans and 1 Democrat representing the 4-district region, there are now 2 Republicans and 2 Democrats.

 

[Marie Mallory]

It's always something new. One day last month this is how it went down (from my perspective at the time):

Woke up in the morning and couldn't move, not even a finger or a toe. Too painful. I was alert enough to tell myself that I have to push through the pain and move, or else I'm in very big trouble. Started with a finger and very soon everything was completely back to normal. I wrote it off as just a bad dream, except it was in real time. The whole thing lasted maybe 20 seconds.

Out of curiosity, I looked it up recently and found Sleep Paralysis. Not a dream, but nothing to worry about. Twenty per cent of people will experience at least one episode in their lifetime. More common in children. Often comes with hallucinations, like monsters under the bed. I gather that explained the pain part.

Apparently when you are sleeping your brain tells your muscles to take a break and you can't move them. This is so you don't accidentally kill someone who is sleeping next to you while you are dreaming. Usually when you wake up, your brain does so simultaneously and starts the muscles moving again. In this case things get out of sync. When you come out of REM sleep your brain lags behind.

It fits, but I'm still skeptical. Anyone else ever have this happen?

The only reason I ever went to PT was that it made me do stretching exercises and such at least one or two days a week. One of my PT sessions actually did harm in that it caused a meniscus tear and she knew it had happened when it did, but told me I would have to get yet another doctor's order for her to work to fix it. They caused it but wouldn't fix it unless they could bill additionally for working to repair the damage they had done. I have found that good therapeutic massage does as much good for me as anything--chiropractic, PT, or anything else I have tried. Originally, my back was so hard that everyone complained it was like working on a board. We had livestock, a dog team, and property to maintain then. One massage therapist told me I had the back of a diesel mechanic. (Apparently when they are under a truck or other machinery, they muscle things out instead of crawling out to get the proper tool). Anyway, both my wife and I found that if we can find a good massage therapist and go regularly--every month or two--everything feels physically better. Good therapists are sometimes hard to find, however, and finding the best for your needs is even harder.

I'm still dealing with pain from doing the stupid squats , hard to bend over and walk without a cane or walker. Walking around trail I have my walking stick Jake made me from broken tree limb that works well.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Like my leg.

Mary just don't do any squat's or take advice unless you know it won't hurt you.

 

[Mary Stetler]

Our little area in Georgia made national news this week.

We flipped a Republican seat in the State House to Democratic in a special election Tuesday to fill a vacated seat. The margin was only 197 votes. Turnout was very low.

Our county votes heavily Democratic (60:40). After the 2020 census 3 chunks were moved into each of 3 adjoining heavily Republican (40:60) districts. I live in the chunk that flipped the seat. Although the remaining part of our county is neatly drawn, the Republican dominated legislature twisted themselves into pretzels redrawing the rest of the adjacent 3 districts. Instead of 3 Republicans and 1 Democrat representing the 4-district region, there are now 2 Republicans and 2 Democrats.

Should be fun.

 

[Mary Stetler]

I'm still dealing with pain from doing the stupid squats , hard to bend over and walk without a cane or walker. Walking around trail I have my walking stick Jake made me from broken tree limb that works well.

I use various walking sticks for different things. I have ski poles for ice etc Even if I didn't need them, they can catch me if I lose my balance when on the mound etc.

 

[Marie Mallory]

I use various walking sticks for different things. I have ski poles for ice etc Even if I didn't need them, they can catch me if I lose my balance when on the mound etc.

Mary the deer here also like to use our trails, so they keep the ground lumpy, which of course makes it uneven and harder to walk on.

 

[Nancy Hart]

My newest strategy is to move this shoulder in every direction I can think of. When I find a spot where it hurts, I push it a little past that spot for enough reps it will be a little sore for the next day or two. Push it up to, but not past those spots for the next 2 days. On the 4th day there will usually be a small gain in range of motion. Sometimes just centimeters, but something is better than nothing. (This is an old injury. Not recommended for a new one.)

 

[Mary Stetler]

My newest strategy is to move this shoulder in every direction I can think of. When I find a spot where it hurts, I push it a little past that spot for enough reps it will be a little sore for the next day or two. Push it up to, but not past those spots for the next 2 days. On the 4th day there will usually be a small gain in range of motion. Sometimes just centimeters, but something is better than nothing. (This is an old injury. Not recommended for a new one.)

I fell over a cinder block while cutting wood years ago. Blew out my shoulder trying to catch myself with a straight arm (along with my hip). It came back but now in my old age I've lost strength in it. Torn rotater cuff? Who knows. But need to do exercises to hold it where it is. Even dancing like Trump helps.

 

[Nancy Hart]

The new desktop arrived Tuesday afternoon.

Windows 11 is not a whole lot different, just time-consuming tweaking it to act like Win 10, which I had already tweaked to act like Win 7. One all-nighter made the days run together this week.

The only problem was getting the external speakers to work. I had to set my mother's 36" TV up as a 2nd monitor side by side on the old pc, in order to listen to YouTube troubleshooting videos. Gave up and finally contacted Support. The girl was able to take control of the pc remotely and use a mouse as if she were sitting in the same room.

Final diagnosis: failed sound card (?) This doesn't quite make sense because the speakers work through the front headphone jack. I think it's just the connection between the rear ports and the motherboard, which involve some soldered parts. Anyway, they have already scheduled someone to come out to the house Thursday to replace the motherboard.

This pc has only 2 audio ports---green and gray. Most have either 3 or 6. On further checking, this may indicate an older motherboard. I suspected they might try to get rid of outdated parts during Christmas sales. Debated whether to wait until after the new year before ordering for this reason. Flipped a coin. Maybe I'll get 6 audio ports with the new one.

 

[Mary Stetler]

The new desktop arrived Tuesday afternoon.

Windows 11 is not a whole lot different, just time-consuming tweaking it to act like Win 10, which I had already tweaked to act like Win 7. One all-nighter made the days run together this week.

The only problem was getting the external speakers to work. I had to set my mother's 36" TV up as a 2nd monitor side by side on the old pc, in order to listen to YouTube troubleshooting videos. Gave up and finally contacted Support. The girl was able to take control of the pc remotely and use a mouse as if she were sitting in the same room.

Final diagnosis: failed sound card (?) This doesn't quite make sense because the speakers work through the front headphone jack. I think it's just the connection between the rear ports and the motherboard, which involve some soldered parts. Anyway, they have already scheduled someone to come out to the house Thursday to replace the motherboard.

This pc has only 2 audio ports---green and gray. Most have either 3 or 6. On further checking, this may indicate an older motherboard. I suspected they might try to get rid of outdated parts during Christmas sales. Debated whether to wait until after the new year before ordering for this reason. Flipped a coin. Maybe I'll get 6 audio ports with the new one.

For your six ears?

 

[Nancy Hart]

For your six ears?

Surround Sound and Microphone

 

[Mary Stetler]

Surround Sound and Microphone

One from column A , two from column B...

 

[Nancy Hart]

A very nice young man from Dell support came yesterday. He said, "First, let me try something." [Uh oh! ] A half dozen clicks with the mouse, and the speakers were working.

Both the support girl and I tried the same thing, or so we thought. When we did it, 2 little widgets showed up---Realtek and NVIDIA. When he did it, a 3rd widget showed up labelled "Speakers" (Well, duh!). A click on that solved the problem.

I asked if only 2 round audio ports means this is an older motherboard? "No. Just the opposite. New ones only have two now." Everything that is done on the round ports can be done now using USB-A and USB-C. He even opened the new motherboard package to show me. This desktop has 11 USB ports. The old pc had 7.

A.I. says: "3.5 mm audio ports tend to have a shorter mechanical lifespan and are more prone to physical failure than modern USB-C ports."

 

[Mary Stetler]

A very nice young man from Dell support came yesterday. He said, "First, let me try something." [Uh oh! ] A half dozen clicks with the mouse, and the speakers were working.

Both the support girl and I tried the same thing, or so we thought. When we did it, 2 little widgets showed up---Realtek and NVIDIA. When he did it, a 3rd widget showed up labelled "Speakers" (Well, duh!). A click on that solved the problem.

I asked if only 2 round audio ports means this is an older motherboard? "No. Just the opposite. New ones only have two now." Everything that is done on the round ports can be done now using USB-A and USB-C. He even opened the new motherboard package to show me. This desktop has 11 USB ports. The old pc had 7.

A.I. says: "3.5 mm audio ports tend to have a shorter mechanical lifespan and are more prone to physical failure than modern USB-C ports."

I've said it before and I will say it again.
I am waiting until, like in Star Trek, I can just say, "Computer, Do it!"
Dell makes house calls?