Hump day

It’s going to be a week of very cold overnights (below -10) with milder days where the snow and ice might melt slightly.  It’s still mostly overcast which just makes things gloomy as opposed to encouraging.  Ah, well, January is effectively at the end, and as they keep saying “February is a short month” (like that day makes a big difference) and in a couple of days the rodent will predict whether we have 6 more weeks of winter or a month and a half until spring.  There is NO NEED to email me that it’s the same thing.  I know.  Everyone knows.  It’s just one of the jokes we make to get through the cold.  Jerry is happy that his support worker is back today, although he sulked that she dared to show up carrying an extra bag and has been looking after me.  He got a new buzz collar, as the button on the old one no longer works — he tore open the package, sniffed at the collar and went to work shredding the box.  He’s wearing it now, while sitting on the remote on Don’s lap.  Don is just cuddling him while watching recordings 🙄 of last night’s sports (that he watched last night!).  There’s new sports tonight, so he’s busy and I’ll try to get some sleep in readiness for tomorrow.

Yesterday was a busy day.  I was up around 6am so that I could have breakfast before going to the haematologist, but sadly, the milk had gone off, so no tea, and therefore no breakfast.  (Shh!  Nobody tell my medical team!!)  Then I did my bloodwork, which happily shows that my hemoglobin has gone up enough that there’s a note saying “the change is significantly large and should be followed up by lab work unless expected.”  🙌  It’s still low, but apparently out of the problematic range.  I noticed that my energy is improving, and today I was able to stand longer and walk more before I ran out of air and started gasping.  I asked for a wheelchair in the hospital as I remembered that the location was a very long walk, but I did go to the grocery and walked around the whole store, and got back to the car, somewhat out of breath, but still able to speak clearly, walk comfortably and carry a bag of groceries.  Last week, that combination would have been beyond impossible.  I’ve got chemo early tomorrow morning, so it’s another early night tonight.  My plan is again to be up early enough for breakfast and to remember this time to take my steroids!  I was surprised to find that my grocery had challah; it usually only appears around major Jewish celebrations so I must have forgotten something, and a couple of Lenten breads (especially the Polish donuts) were available.

I’ve run into 2 different types of advocates, one of which is hugely annoying.  There I was at the supermarket, minding my own business, reaching for my preferred milk, when a woman with a huge, unmuzzled pit bull decided to tell me that dairy was bad for me, and I should only drink plant based milk, and that would “cure my asthma” (I was starting to struggle to breathe, as I was at the end of my shopping)  I just gave her a glare and walked away.  I didn’t feel like engaging.  How is it her business what I eat or drink?  Does she have any idea of my dietary/nutritional needs?  Of course not.  She’s one of the group of “advocates” who I would advocate receiving corporal punishment every time they open their bigoted, biased, uninformed, interfering mouths.  (I have more adjectives but they would be overkill.)  Those are the ones who send me to drink soda by the litre; eat deep fried chicken sandwiched between deep fried chicken, bacon and cheese; and open-mouth eat peanuts next to people with allergies before taking hands full of shrimp shells and hugging someone with a shellfish allergy.  Yes, they annoy me to that extent.  They are usually fairly recent “converts” who are adopting a new lifestyle, and like reformed smokers, see their former vice as the source of all evil that must be stamped out.  They also try to disgust others, by comparing, for example, milk with urine (a really old argument that’s been trotted out by “health focussed eaters” since the 18th century at least) or referring to meat as a carcass/dead body, anyone who eats meat as a murderer and so on.  All in an effort to make people turn away and join their cause.  They also trot out pseudoscience and quote “specialists” (whose credentials, at best, are suspect) who want you to believe their nonsense and buy their products.  They are highly annoying and I’d like to have a public horsewhipping of them.  

The other type of advocate are the ones who want to raise awareness and let you know that some product that you’re using can negatively affect certain vulnerable groups, and please be careful if you’re using it around them.  That’s perfectly fine, and I’m more inclined to listen to them.  The best example of this type is what I’ve been exposed to regarding coeliac disease.  I was surprised to learn that there’s gluten in so many products where you really wouldn’t expect it, so someone with a serious allergy needs to be hyper vigilant to avoid a reaction.  One of my friends, as an adult, learned that she had a gluten allergy, and when we went out to eat, she would choose our restaurant to eliminate cross contamination, and we’d enjoy some good times together.  I also have a few friends who are lifelong vegans, and they do not begin every meal by shaming anyone ordering meat… as compared to some others who were — beyond annoying — and with whom I never went to a second meal.  If you’d like to win converts to your cause, I recommend speaking softly and not trying to shame or embarrass others.  Except where you’re trying to persuade people not to get legitimate medical treatment and you want them to follow your homeopathic rubbish or to use only essential oils or crystals or whatever.  Then you’re a genuine target and deserve any and all abuse rained on your head.  Sorry not sorry.

😌 All that irritation because of one woman with a poorly managed large dog (not a service animal) who decided to shoot off her mouth at me in the supermarket.  Meanwhile, I had to pause temporarily as I was converted into a dog bed for a little black overlord who came for snuggles and stayed for a nap (complete with tiny puppy snores)  I’ve just got back my lap blanket, fresh and warm from the dryer, so it attracted the local wildlife 😆  He’s now off on Don’s lap to interrupt his TV watching.  Good night!