Ready for Drug Holiday

My daily medicines number six but only four by prescription. Nose and tummy I'm on my own.  Flonase is largely innocuous, which is why it has become otc, and for me very effective.  I do not look cushingoid but you never know the subtleties of bone effects.  My sinuses are fine.  Having run out about a week ago, rhinitis has remained largely in remission, or at least acceptable to me without treatment.  I had intended to get another bottle, but they didn't have it on my last trip to Shop-Rite so I started my Drug Holiday here.

On my last resupply of Omeprazole, Walgreens had extended release capsules in lieu of the tablets I usually take.  Remarkable improvement in symptoms of chronic esophagitis.  Now a month into this, I wonder if healing is sufficient to suspend it.

Citalopram was intended to take my aggressive edge off and make me more focused, which it did.  Periodically I feel dragged out, not mentally sharp.  This sensation is returning.  Time to suspend this a while and hit the reset button.

Rosuvastatin may be more problematic.  It works well, having failed other statins.  My compliance has approached 100%.  I am also a bit achy though not in the classic locations of statin myalgia.  I have a cardiology appointment upcoming so I'll keep it going in anticipation of her wanting another lipid panel.  Once done, suspend the pills a week and see what happens to the muscles.

My antihypertensives stay.  I have no cough from the ACE inhibitor and no adverse effects that I can tell from the calcium channel blocker.  The BP effect has been inconsistent though clearly lower since the calcium channel blocker was added.  Those stay.

Filling my weekly pill container can be a little like the Roach Motel where the medicines check in but they don't check out.  Overt side effects are usually apparent, subtle ones less detectable until a comparison without the medicine becomes available.  Hypercholesterolemia and hypertension are generally permanent.  Things being taken for symptoms often are not.  Time to suspend what is expendable and reassess.

Making Milchig

Shavuot appears at an awkward time, Thursday night through Shabbos.  I've kept current with the nightly count of the Omer, nearing its completion.  Dairy meals are traditional, one that I have maintained.  This requires a surprising amount of preparation, starting with a moratorium on fleishig.  Final fleishig meal last night, all fleishig dishes in some stage of washing, with sink to be converted back to milchig by day's end.

I like cooking dairy.  Maybe I could have made it as a vegetarian, though not a vegan.  We'll start with a quiche pre-yontiff.  Then for the Holiday, a lasagna, blintzes, a challah, and a linzer torte.  Maybe get a bottle of white wine and replace my supply of beer.  Ordinarily I would go to shul, but we're on suspension for Covid-19.  My general disenchantment with public worship takes a little break on Shavuot.  I kinda like Akdamut, even if a little long, the interrupted Haftarah, and Ruth which is of just the right length and always done well.  Enduring Yizkor is the price for this, importance connects on an intellectual level but never executed well.  Personally I connect much better with individual Yahrtzeits.

But a few day's mastery at the stove and oven with antecedent preparation makes for a proper culmination of the Homer Omer.

Recovery Day

About the midpoint of Memorial Day Weekend.  It's not really a day off for anybody, since those who are essential workers in a Covid-19 environment still have work that is ongoing and those of us idle are still idle.  For me, though, it seems at least a physical recovery day.

After being shelved from the scheduled treadmill sessions I am back in action, and yesterday for the first time I was able to complete the program at the level at which I had left off.  That left me a little sore, particularly in the calves, though respiratory and cardiovascular benefits seem to not need that every three days respite. 

Memorial Day Weekend starts the summer mindset.  Our SDS Weatherman predicted it to be warmer than what I experienced retrieving the newspaper from our driveway but I still attired myself in classic summer garb. 

It's also a scheduled day for full attention to gardens.  Indoor plants seem on schedule.  Outdoor containers could use some minor attention.  Focus on backyard beds this afternoon if it warms up and dries out a little.  I've not weeded yet but will need to this week.

Summer may be as much a mindset as a calendar designation.  I'm on my way, and today for the first time this calendar year look the part.

The Homer Omer

We are into the final week of the interval between second seder and Shavuot.  Lag B'Omer has passed.  My beard has been self-trimmed.  The traditional haircut did not happen as barbers are on furlough due to coronavirus.  My count with the bracha remains up to date, helped by a timer that alerts me to when it is late enough to count the next day.

I've been doing this for years.  There is a command d'oraita to perform the daily count to establish when the Shavuot festival occurs but there are plenty of mitzvot aseh that I don't do.  Supposedly the daily count adds to my spirituality.  Probably Rabbi jive.  It hasn't.

What it has done is provide me with a very tangible and easy daily task that has to be done at a time when more often than not I'd prefer to do something else.  Some flexibility exists to the exact moment of the daily count so I do not have to interrupt what I am doing, but this count nearly always represents my final daily task each day.  And I'm up to the challenge.

In the Kitchen

Kitchens are often a home's centerpiece.  Since we virtually never have guests, that may not be our centerpiece, which for me may be the carved out My Space.  Still I invested in remodeling the kitchen to make it functional and attractive.  Clutter appears too often but function remains for the most part.

Washing dishes, usually be hand, offers some relaxation.  The occasional elaborate dinner challenges my organizational skills.  Making something new offers creativity and improving on something I made previously that could have been better directs self-improvement. 

Shavuot with its dairy challenges arrives late next week but I need to practice sooner, like today.

Trying on Suits

Wanting to mainly minimize the estate sale burden to my descendants but also live a little better now, I entered into a modified KonMari project to minimize my possessions.  She starts with the most emotionally neutral, clothing.  While it is impractical for me to put everything made of cloth on a surface at once, I can put categories in a more manageable pile.  I started with sports jackets that include suits, some of which I've not work for a while.  My tuxedo jacket still fits.  A few previous staples have no prospect for expert tailoring.  I tried on the jackets, separating into subcategories:  serviceable but need to try on pants, maybe a little tight but can be worn open if pants are adequate, give away, keep and return to closet.  Fairly equal outcomes.  I have tuxedo shirts to try on.  Since I usually have some notice of when I will need to wear something of this type, pants from suits can be altered later.  Pants set aside with sport coats that don't fit probably are not worth altering since I have dress pants of neutral colors that fit.  Dress clothing really doesn't give me joy though at times the status it projects might.  I have some tuxedo shirts with this.  Try them on.  Good enough for one occasion, they stay, collar too tight they go.  I know well in advance when I will need one and can order one that fits.  It will last until I gain too much weight, which will probably be within the interval of the next wearing.

I set aside lab coats as sentimental, though they probably aren't.  Then ties.  Sometimes ties bring me joy, though I hardly ever wear one.  If I can get through clothing within three months, I can tackle books by year's end. 

Enrolling in Webinars

While it's always comforting to sit amongst the people, something that Coronavirus has negated, there are surrogates, some of which will likely endure ones personal gatherings have returned.  Online shul may as well be online Hebrew school.  For me, the people may be the only attraction.

What has gone well are organizations whose conferences would not have been reasonably accessible taking advantage of the situation and making their seminars publicly accessible.  And if you are looking at a talking head, a screen serves the purpose quite well, which is why live televised sports and news shows of varying types have acquired their followings.  But now I can sit in on events of learned people, which previously would not have been readily accessible to me, usually discussing an issue with one another.  I have registered for sessions with AJC, which have proven particularly enlightening, ADL, and later this week Brookings.  AEI has their sessions available, though the upcoming options seem to pitch their political hardball more than they capture ideas.  Some of the speakers end up in the Twittersphere without making on-screen pests of themselves so I added a few that way.  Since the speakers cannot get to the central location either, people a long air ride apart can appear on opposite sides of the screen.  They always take viewer questions, most very thoughtful as they go through a moderator rather than a speaker calling on a raised hand blindly. 

Amid the buffoonery that has become our rather toxic social media interactivity, we actually have erudite people with expertise and perspective making their thoughts accessible to people capable of benefiting from their wisdom.  No people prancing around hoping to get their picture with their arms in the air or disparaging quote into the public arena.  Just people who really want to partake of what the invited guests want to convey.  We are fortunate enough to have an abundance of generous experts and an abundance of listeners intent of making themselves wiser.

New Desk Lamp

My tried and true clip-on desk lamp just snapped at the clip.  It had served me well, getting a new halogen bulb not long ago.  I looked for a direct replacement but did not see one online, at least not in proximity for the amount I paid for that one at a back to school sale years ago.  I opted to go hitech instead.

From Walmart for about $20 I ordered a replacement.  It has LED lighting so I do not have to change bulbs but I don't know what the life span is.  It arrived well ahead of schedule.  I think I liked the light with the old one better.  This one has a USB cord instead of the usual wall plug in but I probably have an adapter somewhere or maybe should go high tech again and get an extension strip with USB ports like I did for my cruise a couple of years ago.  For now it's plugged into the computer.  Apparently has three levels of brightness, though none strikingly different from the other two.  Not obvious how to turn it off.  Had to hold the switch.  I didn't see any instructions in the box but when I hold the switch down it shuts off.  Should be ok once I get used to it.

Engaging in Cyberspace

When email first became available to me about 25 years ago, the possibilities spurred my imagination of finding old friends and keeping in touch more easily.  I still utilize it but the novelty has long since evaporated.  For the most part much of it tries to sell me something and goes unread.  Facebook now sends me Memory posts of 10 years ago.  It's been that long.  I reconnected with a fair number of people.  Friends never became close friends.  The regular posters worth engaging might number a dozen, not a lot different than email.  Twitter allows brief interaction with intellectual superstars and people with spheres of influence.  But most of it is toxic and not really interactive.

Coronavirus has introduced us to Zoom, the virtual meeting.  I've been to online meetings at work in the past.  They never had the spontaneity of an on-site meeting.  Zoom sessions haven't captured that either.  What they have done is provide access to any number of topics discussed by experts who can then field mostly anonymous questions selected by a moderator who already knows what the question is.  It enables me to attend sessions that would not otherwise be offered to me, which is an important start.  Conversation it isn't, but those chat rooms of the 1990's or Medscape or Sermo's rapid posting of comments had their limitations as well.  For all the technological advancement, there's still nothing like actually being there.

Coffee Adaptations

Coffee, beer, and wine each capture my imagination amid their multiple variations, spirits and soda far less so.  My innate frugality takes a temporary respite to try a new beer or blend of coffee which never amounts to more than I keep in my pocket.  If I had to retain only one liquid pleasure, though, it would be coffee which I can obtain in many varieties within my budget and sample multiple brew methods.

Coronavirus has put a small stumbling block before the blind adherents to the pleasures of brewed coffee.  The shops are open but the purpose of the shop for me is usually the leisure pleasure of sitting there while the mug of coffee supplements my wandering mind.  The coffee itself rarely displaces the experience of being at the table with the exception maybe of WaWa which has multiple varieties and a more economical price, intended to be consumed mostly in the car in transit to someplace else.  Just for coffee, home does as well as anyplace else.

I enjoy k-cups, though more expensive than container or self-ground coffee.  The immediate variety that can change from one cup to the next in sequence offsets the price increment.  Coronavirus has put a few dampers.  Coffee has gotten more expensive in all its forms.  My favorite k-cups came from larger packs, usually 42 at the Christmas Tree Shop or 18 at TJ Maxx where varieties available and the challenge of selecting among many options made a stop there worth the effort.  Supermarkets have mostly 12 packs with the lower prices going to commercial canned coffee inserted into k-pods.  I usually buy two at a time but it doesn't last long.  Over the years I acquired a number of k-cup adapters which I find myself using more for the canned coffee, though it's an incentive to use one of my French presses more often.

When OLLI was in session, I would make myself a multicup French press supply to be sipped from a thermal mug over the course of the day.  I could still do that but it's hardly worth the cleanup of a large French press and the mug for plebeian coffee best described as hot, wet, and caffeinated.

So most days it's a three cup ration, two k-cups of specialty coffee and one cup of commercial coffee via adapter, French press, or Melitta cone.  I'm not yet deprived.

Seasonal Clothing Exchange

We have a Netflix subscription, utilized by my wife but worth some curiosity on my part.  I accessed it for the first time, selecting a show of Marie Kondo helping some empty nesters remove world class levels of clutter far in excess of the impressive amount that we have accumulated.  Her method starts with purging clothing, something that I do rarely, mostly at year's end to donate to Goodwill things that have no hope of ever fitting again.

However, twice a year I exchange clothing to match seasonal weather.  Wrong season gets stored in a large duffle back and a vacuum collapsible plastic bag.  The exchange took place this week.  I have more shorts than I am likely to wear, more t-shirts than I am likely to wear and maybe a few more knit collared shirts than I really need, particularly the nicer ones that I used to wear to work on Fridays.  On the return side, I essentially wore no sweaters this winter.  Most long sleeve foldable shirts with or without collar got worn at least once.  I have no reason to inventory long pants or long sleeve shirts which just stay in the closet, though some might find their way to Goodwill.  I don't think I wore any woolen pants more than once or twice.  Suits are for High Holy Days and funerals.  Probably ought to try them on.  Sports coats I wear to shul.  Ties I almost never wear anymore, even to shul but they do not take up much room.

Do any of these really bring me joy?  Can't say that they do though some evoke memories of where I remember wearing them.  But as summer approaches, it's t-shirts and shorts in abundance.  I think I will get rid of shorts that are too tight, though.

Tackling the New Testament

When I go to the state fair there is usually an exhibit by the anti-abortion lobby or a church that has that as its primary initiative.  I do not engage them in conversation but listen to the spiel politely and on occasion take one of the pocket New Testaments that they give out.  I have a handful around the house.  While under restricted activity, I read much of the Prophets on Sefaria.  My attempt at the Quran got me about as far as the chapter about the cow, which isn't very far into it. 

Time to read the freebie from the state fair, pocket size but very thin paper and small print.  It starts with the Gospel of Matthew which took me about a week to read its 28 chapters.  Well written, easy to read from the Gideons translation.  Largely written in the manner of history or biography, not a lot of theology.  Many of the often cited passages and parables originate there.  It was not really The Jews who had it in for Jesus but their Machers.  We have Macher swoops today.

Next in order is the Gospel of Mark.  My pace would require four days.  So far it reads as more goyish than Matthew, many of the same historical citations repackaged but I've only read about a third of it so far.  The other two Gospels and Acts are fairly lengthy, the rest fairly short epistles or commentary.  Will try to stay on pace.

Letdown

Mothers Day came and went.  It's a special day for me because I get to pamper my children's mother a bit, having outlived my own.  I get a card, a bottle of wine, and make an effort at supper elegance.  All this happened.  Maybe a little too much wine.

Today, getting out the starting gate has taken more attention than usual.  I'm not tired, not really devoid of motivation either, but past the climax.  I tried to fix my refrigerator to find that a key part does not fit, adding a return and replacement hassle.  It's a treadmill day, as was yesterday.  I set a time to do it, a duration, and a speed and just did it.  Usually when I've been consistent with this and push my limits, I eventually capture more energy so today may be an investment in that end.  I'd like to go fishing and try tying the palomar knot that I just taught myself.  However, I lolled around on the couch when I could have been doing this.  I still can.  Have not yet exchanged the seasonal clothing.  Can do that when I return from fishing.

Interestingly, I feel generally well, just let down a bit.  My fingers hurt less, my lumbar area is better and the thoracic back strain has run its course quickly.  My legs ache in the mornings but not in a disabling way.  Most other Review of Systems has been pretty good, or at least age appropriate.  It's just that motivation seems more forced than spontaneous.  Try out the palomar knot, perhaps.

No Yeast

There's a yeast shortage.  Last shabbos we made motzi on our last two mini-challot.  I've tried to make mini-challot once before, not a great result, probably overbaked.  Thought I might try again.  When I went to Shop-Rite, the yeast section was empty of all brands.  Checked Target the next day.  They didn't have flour or yeast.  So it's another package of mini-challot, good for three shabbatot, which I obtained easily at Shop-Rite.  But still no yeast.

With everyone home during Coronavirus activity restrictions and business activity on the skids, a consumer demand remains for things that can be done at home.  People have taken up new activities, most notably gardening and baking.  I had planned my own expanded garden in the pre-Corona months and had no problem getting seeds, potting soil, or pregrown stems.  The garden centers are all open, though some with restricted hours.  Supermarkets are open, maybe a little less active with shoppers, but carts get filled by people who would like to minimize their trips there.  Bread has a limited shelf life so people have started making their own, which is not that hard to do, especially with a stand mixer and dough hook.  It can be a lot of fun, and to some extent engaging for kids cooped up at home to participate.  Bread making machines have sold out.  People have moved to the backup of soda bread, which I've never made, but baking powder and some form of acid to cause a reaction remains readily available.

Eventually the manufacturers of packaged yeast will restore supplies, but for now it's commercial bread.