Friday, November 27, 2015

This Year's Potatoes

My wife planted potatoes this year: an experiment, to see how well growing produce in the back yard works.

We've been eating the results since late summer/early fall. The individual potatoes aren't as large as what's sold in groceries: but they're at least as good.

We're going through the last of the potato harvest now, so my wife's experimental plot lasted nearly until December. I think that's pretty good for a first attempt.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Furnace Trouble

First, the good news.

We've deployed heaters in occupied rooms of the house, and my wife's called the repair tech.

Now, the not-so-good news.

Our furnace is on the fritz. Again.

It stopped working the night of December 29, during below-zero weather. That's hardly unusual: the weather, not our furnace failing.

The repair tech came, spotted the problem, made some calls: and arranged for the special fan motor to be driven up to our place. By the evening of December 30, we had central heat again.

The furnace is something like 20 years old. At the time, we thought having a high-efficiency furnace was a good idea. Just one problem: the thing uses a special fan motor — that's not at all easy to find these days. We're definitely going to keep that in mind when we replace the furnace: whenever that will be.

The repair tech was here yesterday, and fixed some sort of blockage issue in the furnace. Obviously, there's something else going on, too, since it got down to about 57 degrees at my desk last night: with a space heater less than 20 feet away.

Finally, more good news.

We're getting another opportunity to practice patience, while the latest furnace problem gets solved. I am, anyway.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Good News, Not-So-Good News, and a Monthly SNAFU

The good news is that, thanks to today's medical knowledge, I can keep my brain in good working order.

The not-so-good news is that I must jump through a few bureaucratic hoops every month to get a particular prescription filled. I understand why this is the case, but it's still a tad frustrating.(March 18, 2014)

I goofed last month, and didn't get the process started until I was down to — I think it was just under a week's supply left. That, and a longer-than-usual delay in the mail, resulted in my going without methylphenidate for nearly a week.

The NIH says that this drug "can be habit-forming," which I knew when it was first prescribed. I had the choice of struggling to maintain control of my brain, with only moderate success, or not. The choice was fairly obvious.

Not long after running out of that particular prescription last month, I experienced withdrawal. Happily, it only took a week or so to recover.

Finally, some good news. This month's prescription re-order process went a bit more smoothly: so I won't go through withdrawal again.

Some of the horror stories about 'cold turkey' probably aren't true: but on the whole it's an experience I prefer to not repeat.
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