"Tony" Thought Journal 3.0

I can totally relate to your thoughts about moving also, @Tony Page . I lived out west for most of my life, except for a few years in Missouri. Besides my daughter, all of my family live in either Idaho or Washington, and I miss them all the time. We do iMessage and FaceTime, so that is great, but it is not the same as being able to actually give someone a for-real hug. I miss the mountains out west, too !

When Robin got out of the military, she settled here in Huntsville because there are so many excellent jobs for people who were in the military, and she works for contractors doing the helicopter simulator training. Because of that, she often works in other cities and other countries, and has been in the Netherlands for the last 4-5 years now, so we rarely see her anymore.

If you are used to living in the north, it is going to take adjustment to get used to living in one of the southern states.
Not having so much snow, ice, and cold all winter is wonderful, but all summer, there is a lot of humidity, which makes the heat worse. I try to do everything early in the mornings as much as I can during the hot months, and spend time in our little backyard pool to cool off.
The growing season is longer here, and you can grow more things that don’t grow in the north (like banana trees), but things that like the cold, like rhubarb, do not do as well here in the south.

Overall, Huntsville (Alabama, not Texas) is a good place to live.
It is a mid-size city, large enough to have everything , small enough to easily get around in. Because Redstone Arsenal is here, which has the headquarters for NASA, Missile Defense, and now Space Force, we have a lot of military and retired military, and probably some of the best doctors and hospitals anywhere , right here.
Even so, the cost of living is pretty cheap compared to other places, and even better than where I lived in north Idaho. Except for not being close to your family, I would recommend considering Huntsville as a place to move to, since you and your family all need doctors a lot and we have great ones here.
 
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My daughter my wife and I have been having discussions about moving off of Long Island. This last discussion we all agreed we should move after this school year ends. The cost to live here has gotten extremely high. Our property value was reaccessed after it was refurbished because of the fire, our taxes have gone up to over $13,000 a year. All of our utilities have steadily increased over the past 3 years with large increases. Our electric was just budgeted for an increase of $50 a month more, gas budget increased $30 per month. Water has increased also, this past year it's had high levels of chlorine, you could smell it. we've always filtered our drinking water, now we filtered it for cooking use also.

One of the states we're looking to move to is South Carolina. We have a niece and nephew living there, and right across the border in North Carolina my wife's brother lives and we have another nephew there.

The nephew that lives in South Carolina is a sports medicine doctor he might be able to help us find a doctor and medical facilities down there.

Our other 2 daughter's and 4 grandkids live in New York, that's about a 12-hour drive from South Carolina so that's a little problematic if we want to visit, and the only negative about moving out of state to South Carolina.

I want to do some research maybe there's a state closer that has good schools for my grandkids at a lower cost of living. it would be nice to get away from the cold Winters also. My wife and daughter would rather move to where we have some family they're probably right so South Carolina might be the only choice we have.

I've lived in New York for 82 years now, if it wasn't for the cost of living I wouldn't even think about moving. Besides my daughters I have a brother, and a cousin who's like my sister living within a half hour of us.

If I move I'll never see my family again, other than the daughter and grandkids moving with me.

Maybe it's my age but it scares me to think about moving our roots have been here and I'm comfortable.

South Carolina is pretty nice from what I hear. You don't have the high humidity in summer months like Florida, and in the winter months it is not as cold. My brother and his wife are considering moving to South Carolina. Their youngest daughter lives in North Carolina.

We would like to move too. It has been on our minds for a few years but we haven't pursued it. There is nothing keeping us here in this area anymore but we haven't figured out where we would want to move to yet. :unsure:
 
South Carolina is a good place, but beware the lowlands. It is hot as hell there in the summer! I always referred to Columbia as the closest to hell you could get on earth, as the summer temps are high with very high humidity. Greenville in the western mountains is wonderful and where the plantation owners in the antebellum South used to spend their summers. Charleston is hot and humid there as well, but absolutely beautiful in the spring. The Research Triangle of North Carolina have amazing medical facilities, and the Greenville South Carolina Healthcare System was pretty good when I lived down there. Of course, if you can afford to live near the beaches, the summers are more pleasant and life is pretty good. I find the mountains of Western North Carolina, Western South Carolina, and East Tennessee to be the most pleasant places to live in the country...but that is just my opinion.
 
South Carolina is a good place, but beware the lowlands. It is hot as hell there in the summer! I always referred to Columbia as the closest to hell you could get on earth, as the summer temps are high with very high humidity. Greenville in the western mountains is wonderful and where the plantation owners in the antebellum South used to spend their summers. Charleston is hot and humid there as well, but absolutely beautiful in the spring. The Research Triangle of North Carolina have amazing medical facilities, and the Greenville South Carolina Healthcare System was pretty good when I lived down there. Of course, if you can afford to live near the beaches, the summers are more pleasant and life is pretty good. I find the mountains of Western North Carolina, Western South Carolina, and East Tennessee to be the most pleasant places to live in the country...but that is just my opinion.
I'd like the mountains. Often thought of W Virginia.
 
I'd like the mountains. Often thought of W Virginia.
Some of West Virginia is beautiful, but a lot of it is very steep mountains/hills with little arable land. The valleys are dark. The people there are very down-to-earth folks though but many are quite poor. The West Virginians would give you the shirt off their back if you need help. That was my impression anyway.
 
We're getting snow again this morning we've gotten about 2 in already.

With the blizzard my grandkids were off from school on Monday. Yesterday they had remote learning.

The school is open today. The plows left 4-5ft mountains on each side of the road. There are no sidewalks, my grandkids would have to wait for the bus on the street. the streets are narrower because of the plowed snow and their still slippery. not a good idea to wait for your school bus on the street where a skidding car could run you down. The bus stop is directly across the street from our house. My grandkids and my wife were waiting by the front door looking out for the bus. It's snowing hard, the shovel walks are now covered in snow. The bus come and does a stop n' go. Doesn't wait a second for kids to reach the bus. My wife and grandkids were half way to the bus when it took off. My grandkids have another day off.

I'm not going to drive in this weather so I canceled my appointment with MSK this morning. On a good day it's about a half hour trip but from what we've been reading in the neighborhood online sites the roads are horrible. I rescheduled for April.

It's supposed to get warmer I hope so and it melts all this new snow so we won't have to shovel again.

I can't wait till we are "Walking on Sunshine"
 
The other day my daughter purchased a later model car, she picks it up today. She traded in her car so she won't need a ride to the dealership.

I don't have long stretches of sleep at night I can't remember the last time I slept through the night. I usually sleep between 11/2 and 3 hours. I wake up because of pain or having to use the bathroom. I'll sit in the living room for a couple of hours then go back to bed. When I am sleeping it's not a solid sleep I feel like I'm half awake. This may be the reason I feel exhausted a lot.
 
There is this joke that popped in my head that I heard first time maybe 30 - 40 years ago. I took the time to write it the best I could. You may have heard it, I personally still think it's funny. I also think it's better to tell it in person verbally. Here goes.

A Shakespearean actor is down on his luck. At a younger age he was a well respected stage and Screen Actor. As he grew older parts became hard to find. He begged his agent to find him any part, thinking this might give him a new start.

Couple of weeks went by when he gets a call from his agent telling him he's got him a part in a new stage play, however he's only got one line to say. He is so happy with this news that he can't wait to go to rehearsal.

At rehearsal the director gives him a copy of the script, and tells him to practice his line, the play will premier in 3 weeks. It's a play about the Revolutionary War, he reads his one line "hark is that the cannons I hear."

He takes the script home and practices in front of a mirror "Hark is that the cannons I hear" a hundred different ways, with different volume levels, tones, postures, facial expressions, he's got to be notice.

The day of the play, he's tired he couldn't sleep the night before so he says I'll take a short nap as long as I get to the theater 6:30 I'll be fine. He sets his alarm and lays down.

The alarm never goes off he wakes up and he's got an hour to get a taxi and get to the theater he runs out the door grabs a taxi and off to the theater they go. Because he's late the stage hands are waiting for him at the stage door and rush him to the dressing room so he can get changed and makeup.They push him out onto the stage just in time for his scene There’s extremely loud explosions of the cannons "BOOM, BOOM, BOOM", this Shakespearean actor covers his ears and says "what the F... was that" the audience gets hysterical.
 
I find myself losing interest in most things, especially with the news. seems the only thing I look forward to these days is my gardening.

The TV shows I looked forward to watching, my interest is declining. I'm not even looking forward to the new baseball season, which use to gave me yearly excitement.

My thoughts seem to be drifting back to my days in Brooklyn reliving some of my adventures. Thinking I'm lucky to be alive. Feeling a need to document my stories, then I think nobody in my family would be interested in reading my memoirs. Thinking about some of my friends, where are they now, are they alive?

I was supposed to take some medical vascular test next week and had an appointment with my cardiologist. I canceled them, just not interested. I did keep my appointment to see the oncologist who prescribed my hormone therapy for the cancer. I'm having a lot of annoying physical problems maybe she can tell me if it's related to the radiation or hormone therapy.

I don't sleep well so I'm tired a lot. I feel like things that I have to do are starting to pile up.

Maybe I just need some rest.
 
I find myself losing interest in most things, especially with the news. seems the only thing I look forward to these days is my gardening.

The TV shows I looked forward to watching, my interest is declining. I'm not even looking forward to the new baseball season, which use to gave me yearly excitement.

My thoughts seem to be drifting back to my days in Brooklyn reliving some of my adventures. Thinking I'm lucky to be alive. Feeling a need to document my stories, then I think nobody in my family would be interested in reading my memoirs. Thinking about some of my friends, where are they now, are they alive?

I was supposed to take some medical vascular test next week and had an appointment with my cardiologist. I canceled them, just not interested. I did keep my appointment to see the oncologist who prescribed my hormone therapy for the cancer. I'm having a lot of annoying physical problems maybe she can tell me if it's related to the radiation or hormone therapy.

I don't sleep well so I'm tired a lot. I feel like things that I have to do are starting to pile up.

Maybe I just need some rest.
Try watching old stuff on TV @Tony Page. One of the advantages of the internet is being able to find old television shows and movies.
 
Try watching old stuff on TV @Tony Page. One of the advantages of the internet is being able to find old television shows and movies.

That works for me. I am currently watching the series "Mad Men" for the 3rd or 4th time. It's not particularly old, but the series is set in the 1960s and it is amazingly on-point for that period. I find it oddly comforting and usually have it on when I go to bed at night.
 
I find myself losing interest in most things, especially with the news. seems the only thing I look forward to these days is my gardening.

The TV shows I looked forward to watching, my interest is declining. I'm not even looking forward to the new baseball season, which use to gave me yearly excitement.

My thoughts seem to be drifting back to my days in Brooklyn reliving some of my adventures. Thinking I'm lucky to be alive. Feeling a need to document my stories, then I think nobody in my family would be interested in reading my memoirs. Thinking about some of my friends, where are they now, are they alive?

I was supposed to take some medical vascular test next week and had an appointment with my cardiologist. I canceled them, just not interested. I did keep my appointment to see the oncologist who prescribed my hormone therapy for the cancer. I'm having a lot of annoying physical problems maybe she can tell me if it's related to the radiation or hormone therapy.

I don't sleep well so I'm tired a lot. I feel like things that I have to do are starting to pile up.

Maybe I just need some rest.

I think your feelings are pretty common, Tony. I totally get it about not caring about doctor appointments; I reschedule/postpone my 6-month PCP appointments regularly just because it irritates me to have to see her for "nothing." If I want my prescriptions renewed, I must show up so they can bill Medicare. :mad: I usually feel fine and don't care to hear that my BP is high and I need cholesterol medication that I'm not going to take, and I am pre-diabetic, blah, blah. Same stuff, different day. If I wasn't afraid of having a debilitating stroke I'd stop taking the stupid BP meds and to hell with it.

My interests are centered around cooking and eating, reading a good book, or being on the internet. I don't watch much TV at all anymore but it's usually on for background noise. Like you, I love gardening... at least in the spring. By June the heat and humidity will have my enthusiasm squashed and that party will pretty much be over. :ROFLMAO:
 
Today's my brother's birthday. I called him to wish him a happy birthday. First thing he says to me what's the matter you sound terrible? I told him I was just tired and the truth is I don't know why. The good thing is he said when the snow melts he will be over to help me do some stuff around here especially the gardening. I'm looking forward to that it's always good to see him.
 
The last time I went to CVS to pick up one of my prescriptions I also picked up a roll-on lidocaine. I forgot about it but found it in my drawer and tried it today it worked well my lower back pain was relieved a little.
I was looking for something to relieve the pain other than Advil which I take all the time. I have tried the lidocaine patch, it was hit or miss didn't always work well, or would come off, didn't stay on very well. Hopefully this will work out.
 
The last time I went to CVS to pick up one of my prescriptions I also picked up a roll-on lidocaine. I forgot about it but found it in my drawer and tried it today it worked well my lower back pain was relieved a little.
I was looking for something to relieve the pain other than Advil which I take all the time. I have tried the lidocaine patch, it was hit or miss didn't always work well, or would come off, didn't stay on very well. Hopefully this will work out.
I have found that the real Salonpas patch (large) with lidocaine works okay, and sometimes you have to tape the patches on if you are active. Walgreens has a 16% menthol roll-on that works okay and there is an Advil cream (does not contain Advil) that has menthol, camphor, capsaicin and methyl salicylate that seems to cover all bases and works pretty well. As @Yvonne Smith said in another thread, it only relieves the pain; it doesn't help heal anything. Sometimes that is enough though.
 
Morning when I got up from bed the pain in my upper left wing was stronger than ever and I was a little short of breath.

Usually after a half hour pain starts lessening and will go away after an hour.That didn't happen this morning. I decided to go to Urgent Care, they they took x-rays, did ekg, urine test.

They recommended I go to the hospital ER. I told them I'm going home which I did. Long story short my wife and daughter talk to urgent care and convince me to go to emergency.

That's where I am now waiting for the doctor.

hopefully they'll discharge me I don't want to be here.
 
Morning when I got up from bed the pain in my upper left wing was stronger than ever and I was a little short of breath.

Usually after a half hour pain starts lessening and will go away after an hour.That didn't happen this morning. I decided to go to Urgent Care, they they took x-rays, did ekg, urine test.

They recommended I go to the hospital ER. I told them I'm going home which I did. Long story short my wife and daughter talk to urgent care and convince me to go to emergency.

That's where I am now waiting for the doctor.

hopefully they'll discharge me I don't want to be here.
Good luck @Tony Page. If the Urgent Care recommended that you go to the ER, they must have found something that worried them. Hopefully it is nothing and you can get back to the comfort of your home.
 
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