Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Irritated

Do you ever have a day when it seems everything irritates you? Today is one of those days for me. I started the morning by canceling delivery of the USA Today newspaper and my digital subscription to the NYT. I'm sick of media and politics. Did my action do anything to solve the problem? Not a thing, but it was the safest place for me to strike out and feel like I'd expressed my frustration.
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Yesterday Bob and I made our way to Walmart to try out the new recycling room. Bob's hands were in bad shape with his Raynaud's so he was wearing gloves. Without them he had very little feeling in his fingers. We drink the mini-cans of soft drinks. You can put a lot more of those in a trash bag than regular size cans. The handy-dandy crusher would take the mini cans but you had to hold your mouth just right and get them on the belt just so. Out of the question for Bob so I became the can pusher. It's a messy job and I don't like messy things. Bob says the deposit was five cents a can. If so, I ran 320 cans through the crusher. When done we were both very sure that was an experience we did not intend to repeat.
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I've been having a lot of lower back pain lately and apparently stood in a bad position while doing all the can pushing (I'm blaming that regardless) and slept very little last night because of sciatic type pain in my back.

In the wee hours of the morning I made the decision to tell my doctor to take a flying leap. If it had not been that I would wake Bob I would have been on the prowl hunting those anti-inflammatory medications regardless of the doctor telling me not to take them.

I went to the drug store and bought two gel packs to put in the freezer to alternate between cold and hot packs on my lower back. I've been online and refreshed myself on the exercises I need to do and will keep up my walking.

I've walked this path before and sometimes it doesn't end quickly but you have to do what you have to do to keep moving.
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The weather is perfect today to do some work on the patio and the patio storage closet. Bob has a steel toolbox from his railroading days that's extremely heavy. He hasn't looked in it for several years but has decided he'd like to go through it and pick out some items to keep then get rid of the heavy toolbox and get a lighter one for the few tools we currently need. I thought I might get that toolbox on a dolly and pull it out for him to examine but that may not happen today given how my back feels. Then we're stuck with a recycling nightmare to get rid of it and the contents he no longer wants.
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I suppose if this is all I can think of to complain about I'm in pretty good shape. The weather is beautiful, about 68 degrees at 2:00 p.m. Think I"ll take a walk. That always makes me feel better.

18 comments:

  1. When we don't get enough sleep and are in pain, it's easy not to like anything and everything we come in contact with. Hate when that happens!

    Question: How long has your state had a can recycling bill? We pay 10 tens for cans, and of course, get that back when we recycle them. So much better than seeing them all lover the landscape. I don't find it messy at all to recycle if you rinse out the cans and let them drain before packing them up, but then I've never recycled over 100 at a time. (I love those tiny cans, too.) Maybe you can find some kids in your complex that would love your cans to make some extra money.

    Take care of your back! I hope your tomorrow is better.

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    1. Tomorrow will surely be a better day. Probably we will just set aside plastic sacks of cans when we deliver our regular garbage to the crusher. Those who wish can then take the cans.

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  2. I agree. When my back is bothering me it is hard to appreciate anything. The tin can episode was one of those experiences where you don't know if it is worth it until you try. Now you know and ole Bob won't be saving those tin cans anymore, I bet.

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    1. Probably not a bad experience if you do only a few at a time but he had built up quite a stash. I have much more respect now for poor people who gather cans to make money.

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  3. Well, I'm irritable today too. I slept poorly last night - too much food and socializing and not enough physical activity . Socializing is hard work for me.
    So I Upset Tom this morning when I got angry and started yelling after I read my sister's response on Facebook to a comment I made about something she shared. Apparently we should believe Rush Limbaugh but not Hillary Clinton! God, I'm tired of Hillary bashers! Then I read that evangelicals are proclaiming Donald Trump as God's choice to save our nation.
    Maybe you are right to drop out and save your sanity.

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    1. I've never found evangelicals to be the brightest bulb in the room and this go round they seem to be more dim than usual. Common sense is in short supply these days. My doctor asked if Bob and I might want to consider moving back to Texas to be near our daughter. Absolutely not! As long as Greg Abbott and that bunch is in charge of Texas government I don't want anywhere near it.

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  4. A tip for recycling all those cans. I put on a pair of disposable rubber gloves to do the nasty deed; then just toss the gloves. Much neater. I know what you mean about the Ick factor in recycling all those cans!

    Hang in there Linda. Sorry to hear about your back. I don't know if this would help you, but when my back bothers me, I sleep on my side and put a pillow between my legs. It actually provides a bit more support for the back by altering the flexion of the hip.

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    1. I have read that tip about a pillow between the knees but had forgotten about it. I will try that tonight in addition to all my other remedies. If the pain goes away I'll never know which remedy is responsible.

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  5. Back pain is one of the nastier things we have to put up with. I hope you soon get some relief from it.

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    1. I don't have back pain often but every few years I seem to have a spell of it. Sometimes it hangs around quite a while. I'm not going to sit around and let it take me down. I'll keep moving.

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  6. We've always taken the cans to the recycle center - they just weigh the bags - no certain amount per can, just what the market will bear per pound.

    Sometimes, I just wake up cranky ...

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    1. I think we recycled cans by weight when we lived in Texas. I would like that better.

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  7. 100 degrees here at 2:00 and I was inside an air conditioned theater wearing a light sweater!! That came off as soon as I hit the exit door, let me tell you!!!

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    1. I remember how a blast of hot air would hit you in the face when you came out of air-conditioned buildings, and oh my, opening the door to a hot car would take your breath away.

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  8. We have a deposit on beverage bottles and cans but we just turn them in at a store or collection center, no crushing involved. I hardly ever buy beverages that require a deposit since I rarely drink beer or soda.

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    1. We may have such a center around here somewhere but I haven't seen one. If you're going to crush cans I recommend doing it often rather than stashing and then doing large numbers.

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  9. Until I gave up sodas, I use to donate mine to the Humane Society. They did the dirty work. Good luck with the back. Mine is starting to get better. Usually for me, time is the main cure, plus those specific exercises I keep forgetting to do.

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    1. Mine is improving now that I'm walking, doing back exercises, using my lumbar pillow, and on a anti-inflammatory medication regimen.

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