head 'em up & move 'em out

according to googleapedia, the average american moves 11 times in their lifetime. here's how i measure up...

virginia
grandmother's
dewey the plex
lakehouse 1
lakehouse 2
grandmother's redux
in the woods
dorms - frosh/soph/jr
grandmother's III
th'apartment
this house

do you count each dorm? and, what about summercamp - where i literally moved to for 1/6th of the year from age 8 to 19? those are all a form of moving, ain't they?

grandmother's house makes a re-recurring appearance on that list, and you're probably wondering why. or maybe you're not. doesn't really matter bc i can't tell you anyway bc i don't really know. alls i can come up with is - it was a perfect storm... that struck three times. the first and third were a convenient location for a young family on a tight budget with a parent in the nearby college. i don't think we were there more than about a year either time. 

the middle time was both the longest and least sensible. the location was wildly inconvenient for everyone but me, and i was in jr high - not something to build your location around. everyone else drove literally dozens of miles per day south or east. 

the thing that really made it a bad idea, though, was we were not a small young family. we were 4 kids and 2 adults plus the actual resident (grandmother), making 7 people in a three bedroom house. the solution was to make the boys live in the attic. it was a semi-finished attic with a powder room -- seems reasonable enough to ask three brothers to live up there. right? yes, you'd reasonably think that, but it fact it was not a stellar choice. not because of any characteristic of the house itself, but more because, of the three available adults, not a one could actually be bothered to pay significant attention to us kids. 

anyhoo - if you count the three dorms, that makes 13. if you count summercamp, which was arguably more of a home than some of the others, that's another dozen. 

how many times have you moved?

left

a sudden & unexpected stroke

and the brittle thread of life was broke

now a cent'ry and a half gone by

and we are left to wonder why

poor robt. died at mere nineteen

his whole long life, left unseen

additional soccer thoughts

so, on sunday, mon, tues, wed -- i have messed about with a soccer ball whilst wearing soccer turfs for half an hour.

sun - a bit of touches and whatnot, then the game

mon - ran three miles then touches

tues - touches then statbike plus some weights

wed - ran three miles then the touches

it's not like four days is going to make up for anything. just trying to jumpstart a habit. 

i am in terrible shape. the endurance is okay but the strength is pathetic. also, and maybe relatedly, i can't put the ball where i want it. i can literally barely hit the broadside of the mower shed at the park. 

it's a disgrace. 

alls i can do is try to be better, tho. so i am trying. 

soccer thoughts

soccer season starts today and it's the first time i have played since fall 2019. i am excited about it but also leery. i haven't actually touched a soccer ball in over a year... probably should have done so. i am concerned i will let my team down but then again, it's just rec soccer. still, i should have kicked a ball around. but it's too late now. i enjoy soccer but i don't like embarrassing myself. maybe it will work out ok. 

(not a) showcase staircase

the other day at the doctor's office, i took the stairs, and this is what i saw.

i swear each step has a different non-skid tile applied! it's like all the showcase staircases get first dibs and ol' back hallway gets the scraps. 

"jones! staircase C need a non-skidder on #6 - stat!"

"sir, is staircase C a showcase staircase?"

"jones! it is not!"

"i'm on it, sir!"

"good man, jones!"

so jones grabs a non-skid tile from the miscellaneous box, schleps up to staircase C, and glues it to #6. 

i know this is happening because, as you can see, some of the non-skids are scuffed but none are significantly scarred. this is a cared for staircase. it's in good repair. it's just not lovely. 

this is really the epitome of the back staircase: a functional structure which, if you know the basics of stair-stepping, isn't going to trip you up. it's humble. it's not at a beauty pageant. it's just doin' a job, breakin' at noon for a baloney sammich, and clockin' out at the end of the day to head home to the fam... junior's got math homework again. 

the nasacort diaries: day one

i take zyrtec-d a lot, ergo i take a lot of zyrtec-d. it makes the difference between my head feeling like a head, and it feeling like a water balloon. the amount of liquid that my sinuses can create is impressive. they are the hagfish of sinuses. 

why? who knows. on my medical record it says "vasomotor rhinitis" which is as opposed to "allergic rhinitis". vasomotor refers to vascular operations and rhinitis refers to the ol' schnoz so vasomotor  rhinitis has to do with the blood vessels in the nose.

the term vasomotor rhinitis is a bit outdated. more common nowadays is "nonalleric rhinitis". there are various types (see https://www.aafp.org/afp/2018/0801/p171.html) and "Nonallergic rhinitis cannot be cured..." (https://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/conditions-dictionary/nonallergic-rhinitis-vasomotor).

hence the zyrtec-d. 

thing about my precious zyrtec-d tho... whatever it does to dry out my head, it just goes on and does to my mouth, eyes, and skin. desiccation FTW! 

self mummification is a fun hobby, but i find myself looking for a change. so i asked my doc (whose enthusiasm for my health is rivalled only by my own) for suggestions. she suggested nasacort. topical application versus swallowing something and hoping it can find my nose - plus it's a steroid, an inflammation reducer, rather than a drying agent. 

so i got me three for $34 at sam's. PRICEY. this is not a cazh experiment. probably should have gone with one from publix for starters. anywhey, i used some when i took my evening dose of dulera.

well. it was not magic. if anything, it made things worse. i have by now also taken a zyrtec-d. hmph. tomorrow i will try one spray per noseside rather than two, see if that's better. the doc did say to give it a month, don't make a snap judgment. 

so i won't. 

but i want to.

but i'll resist.