Rusty's Ramblings

[Geo]

The mystery was what would make me clench and grind my teeth as I slept, when I'm retired and have no bosses or deadlines or financial stress, and my health is the best it's been in 10 years? Especially in the last 10 days?

FORNICATING [Sleezebag]!

You should consider an outhouse in Costa Rica for the remainder of the year!

[Rusty Edge]

The mystery was what would make me clench and grind my teeth as I slept, when I'm retired and have no bosses or deadlines or financial stress, and my health is the best it's been in 10 years? Especially in the last 10 days?

FORNICATING [Sleezebag]!

You should consider an outhouse in Costa Rica for the remainder of the year!

True. More likely I'll simply step back from cable news and internet. I did something similar at one point during the Clinton administration, and was much happier.

The mouth guard, the elimination of caffeine, and trying to pay less attention to [Sleezebag] are actually working. Teeth only hurt once since my Dentist visit.

[Rusty Edge]

I'm still managing to avoid the teeth pain. Of course now, between the stock market and the Coronavirus stuff, I have something to be stressed about that will impact me directly. We are reluctant to liquidate any stock at current value. Then again, it looks like our travels will be curtailed this year whether we want to or not. So our needs will be much less.

I dusted off my seeds and peat trays, and I'm trying to grow my own greens this year. So far I've started kale and turnips for tops. I have a tower planter with a watering system being shipped. I'll probably plant some carrots, beets, radishes and turnips ( different variety) for roots and some various lettuce in time.

Haven't gotten over my sinus infection, so I haven't given blood.

The ice is coming off and I'm beginning to take walks again.

[Buster's Uncle]

Spring is trying to sprung here.  Momma and I are going to assess the foliage in front of the playhouse and do some trimming before it's too late tomorrow afternoon.  I'll try to get before and after pics of the holly tree/bush...

[Geo]

Why would it be too late tomorrow afternoon? A cold spell comin' in?

[Buster's Uncle]

No, you just don't want to do ruthless pruning after the plant's gotten into the growth phase, and many of the trees have started budding, so close examination will inform my trimming...

[Rusty Edge]

Chickens. Not legal here in the suburbs, and not even practical because firearms discharge isn't legal either, and that results in a robust population of raccoons, foxes and coyotes- all of which like to eat chicken.

But I find myself wishing I had them again. I used to have a compost heap of table scraps, meal prep trimmings and pulled weeds. The chickens would eat what they liked and let the bugs or worms have the rest, then eat them, too. So they recycled the organic garbage into fresh eggs. Something I miss now that I'm homebound, or trying to be.

As it is I have a plastic composter that converts the low protein waste to soil, and then I can grow greens in it. It's much slower than chickens.

[Rusty Edge]

I'm still managing to avoid the teeth pain. Of course now, between the stock market and the Coronavirus stuff, I have something to be stressed about that will impact me directly. We are reluctant to liquidate any stock at current value. Then again, it looks like our travels will be curtailed this year whether we want to or not. So our needs will be much less.

I dusted off my seeds and peat trays, and I'm trying to grow my own greens this year. So far I've started kale and turnips for tops. I have a tower planter with a watering system being shipped. I'll probably plant some carrots, beets, radishes and turnips ( different variety) for roots and some various lettuce in time.

Haven't gotten over my sinus infection, so I haven't given blood.

The ice is coming off and I'm beginning to take walks again.

UPDATE:
Got over the sinus infection and donated blood. Still feeling good.

No more teeth pain.

Stopped taking walks, the paths were crowded with other people and their dogs, and there wasn't enough social distancing for the comfort level of me or my dog.

Planter arrived, but I don't have enough potting soil. I planted another tray of seeds, but maybe they were too old. There seems to be 0% germination. I'll give it the rest of the week, and try starting another tray. Meanwhile, the kale and turnips seem to be surviving.

Today I was washing windows. I'm sure I'll be revisiting them on a sunnier day when my errors are more obvious.

I'm assembling an emergency box from things buried about the home. I found a few N95 masks left over from a sanding project, and added a box of exam gloves. Cleaned up my CPAP machine. Still looking for my MiL's portable oxygen concentrator.  I know it's around somewhere.

Law professor Joyce White Vance has coined the term "Corvid 19 (pounds)" to describe quarantine associated weight gain. Can't say that I'm gaining, but I am stalled in terms of weight loss. Too much anxious eating.

I'm gradually/daily organizing and consolidating my home. In don't know what tomorrow's mini-project will be.

Attempting to gradually resume exercising after a long convalescence from a shoulder injury.

My niece is going crazy confined without access to pets. She hopes to fetch away our guest/her cat in a week.

[Rusty Edge]

Spoke too soon. Tooth pain again. I know it's stress. Doing some Tai Chi breathing to balance it.
The weather is dreary, maybe the paths won't be crowded today.

[Rusty Edge]

Then there's the matter of the genetic testing.

The good news is that there aren't any genetic disease surprises waiting to pounce. What few are there I knew were in the family, and not so serious with modern medical science.

As for the nationalities, they are all European. That's actually a surprise. Based on what I knew of conversations with my grandparents and records I've since lost in multiple moves, I believed myself to be German/English/Scotch/Irish/French/Iroquois. I took a genetic test years ago, and it said there was a fraction of genes shared with people now living on the western coast of Latin America. I assumed that was the native American trace. However, this recent test, ( and it pinpoints cities and names provinces or counties ) says Southern Germany, Rhine Valley, London, Glasgow, Dublin, and Belfast, various counties in England, and southern and other Irish counties. Then there's a broadly northwestern European group, from the same countries plus the low countries and Scandinavia, and that sounds like Viking to me, but it might be Germanic. Then there's a broadly southern European that might be Roman or something. Anyway, no native American, or  Highlanders in particular. That Latin American connection in the earlier test is more likely from a 1.6% Spanish and Portugese faction of the Southern Euro. No signs of Mongol invasion.

Of course some of this is prefaced with "in the last 200 years". Well, if that's the case there's a significant faction of Pennsylvanian that's colonial, not represented in the data. So I guess it's a hedge term instead.

It also pointed out my Neanderthal heritage. Makes sense, in that they were discovered in the Rhine valley. Me and everyone on my father's side of the family have heavy brow ridges. Apparently the main expression is a gene for straight hair.

I looked at the data again and it's changed in the margins.  The Spanish/Portugese faction is gone. There's a generic Italian that can't be confined to a region, so I'm still presuming Roman. Likewise there's a generic Scandinavian that can't be traced to any particular country in the group, I'm presuming Viking. Edinburgh was added as a place of origin. So, if anything I'm whiter.

[Rusty Edge]

Been a while.

Lost the enthusiasm for organizing. Still looking, but haven't found that oxygen concentrator. I am developing some cleaning and sanitizing habits. Hopefully that will reduce future illness of all kinds.

Not exercising much. The shoulder pain has returned, and so has the tooth pain. Both were better, so I tried to resume normal life. Bad decision.

The guest cat was finally sent home, and is adapting well.

My daffodils are past their peak, but it's been a beautiful week.

I had a pretty slack week. Seems like all I did was read, cook, eat, watch tv and sleep most days.

[Rusty Edge]

So I got another e-mail from the blood center. I thought the first time was a mistake, but this time I looked into it.

Apparently my blood is in high demand for people with sickle cell anemia. Not because my German- Irish blood is similar, but because it's sort of hypo-allergenic.   I'm O+, but apparently I'm more specifically Ro.
https://en.wiRh_blood_group_systemkipedia.org/wiki/

Only 5% of Americans are blood donors, and only 4% of donors are Ro. So they'd like me schedule 3 donations in advance. Well, it's nice to be needed, but how do I know if I'll be healthy enough to donate 6 months from now? That's why I play it by ear. Oh well, guess I won't be traveling so much this year. Maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow. I've got a clear calendar.
EDIT- and I'm trying really, really hard not to get sick this year, so if ever there was a time, this is it.

[E_T]

When you donate, ask to see about now often you can donate and if one of those can be saved for yourself, in case of need.  They can rotate the ready pint for you and use the older for someone else...  but requires donating often to do so...

[Geo]

Edited.

[Rusty Edge]

Let's see. Got one of the veteran blood nurses. He said he understands why they are on my case about donating, but that scheduling three appointments in advance was too much pressure in his opinion. So we only scheduled the next donation.

I haven't rediscovered my interest in organizing, beyond seeing opportunities for improvement. I have been on a weed war against stray dandelions and an infestation of garlic mustard
https://emswcd.org/on-your-land/weeds/weeds-to-know/garlic-mustard/

It's in the woods behind my house.  I have to wear gloves and long sleeves whenever I'm around it, because I seem to be allergic to it. So, no, I'm not going to sautee it.

It looks like we are getting a neighbor in the other side of our duplex, which will lead to a roof replacement. It's currently cedar, and will be replaced with thick asphalt shingles which look like cedar. That means I need to get up on the roof as soon as it's dry and carefully remove the heat cables. Then I get to re-install them on the new roof. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll be weeding again in the morning as the roof dries.

I went to the garden store today to get flowers. Brought home some strawberries, too. To be fair, they are in bloom. I don't like to eat them, but my wife does. Since we seem to be past the full moon frost risk this month, I'm moving my seedlings outside. I've been working mostly with old seed remnants from previous years. Some of it is germinating and some isn't. I'm not sure what all of it is, but when it comes down to it, I'm growing almost all of it for salads and sautee, so it doesn't exactly matter, I'll still eat it. I'm also trying to get some Stokes purple sweet potatoes to sprout, and a Japanese white sweet potato, too.

Things are opening up in the state. The fishing trip may be on.