Getting on the soapbox

Okay, the new listserv is paying off. Sure, I get a lot more mail than usual, but that's what filters are for.

I've gotten access to a list of restaurants that have gluten-free options. And it's nice to hear from people that are dealing with the same food issues I am. Plus, they share when they learn something from a company.

Here's what Ragu said in regards to an inquiry about gltuen-free products:

We can certainly understand your concerns. Gluten is found in wheat,
rye, barley, and oats. In our sauces, the source of Modified Food Starch
is corn.

If your Modified Food Starch comes from something other than wheat PUT IT IN THE INGREDIENT INFO!!! One of the cardinal rules of celiac ingredients is to AVOID modified food starch.

Summer mornings

Boyfriend was kind enough to tell me there are just over two weeks left until the longest day of the year (two weeks, one day). Hey, if you're a on a sunrise to sunset work schedule, you'd be hoping for shorter days too.

How I get up in the mornings these days:

Finally decide the 10 minute cat naps aren't working, crawl out of bed.

Open the back patio door. Water plants and the cats follow me outside too. Yes, I'm watering in my pajamas, but they're totally "G" rated, so I don't care.

Leave door open a crack (even though it's cooler inside than out already).

Start coffee, and turn on morning news. Two airheads talking about the latest local news.

Pick out something to wear and get it by the bathroom.

Pour cup of coffee, start shower. Put down bath mat, put bath towel by the shower stall.

Take shower, shampoo rinse, repeat. Follow with conditioner.

Get out of shower. Blot dry skin.

Apply lots of "Calming cream" from Eucerin to my now burning arms and legs.

Get dressed while slurping down coffee. Forget to put on the face lotion (again).

Airheads are still on TV. Turn it off.

Start toasting gluten-free bread for sandwich for lunch.

Put on socks or relevant foot coverings.

Make sure cell phone is in purse, pack up laptop.

Start making sandwich. That always gets the kitties back inside as they get scraps of food from sandwich to munch on.

Pack up sandwich, grab a Minute Maid "Lite" fruit drink (I have three to choose from right now).

Leave treats or wet food for the cats.

Grab laptop bag, purse, fill up commuter cup with lots of coffee, turn off coffee pot.

Put shoes on.

Walk out door.

Activate IED mode for drive to work.

Park two blocks away when finally make it to work. It's the only place that has shade in the afternoon. Make sure ID card is present to activate card readers.

Swipe card and wait five minutes for elevator. Start chugging coffee in the process.

Finally get up to 6th floor. Already have to pee - great.

Summer mornings

Boyfriend was kind enough to tell me there are just over two weeks left until the longest day of the year (two weeks, one day). Hey, if you're a on a sunrise to sunset work schedule, you'd be hoping for shorter days too.

How I get up in the mornings these days:

Finally decide the 10 minute cat naps aren't working, crawl out of bed.

Open the back patio door. Water plants and the cats follow me outside too. Yes, I'm watering in my pajamas, but they're totally "G" rated, so I don't care.

Leave door open a crack (even though it's cooler inside than out already).

Start coffee, and turn on morning news. Two airheads talking about the latest local news.

Pick out something to wear and get it by the bathroom.

Pour cup of coffee, start shower. Put down bath mat, put bath towel by the shower stall.

Take shower, shampoo rinse, repeat. Follow with conditioner.

Get out of shower. Blot dry skin.

Apply lots of "Calming cream" from Eucerin to my now burning arms and legs.

Get dressed while slurping down coffee. Forget to put on the face lotion (again).

Airheads are still on TV. Turn it off.

Start toasting gluten-free bread for sandwich for lunch.

Put on socks or relevant foot coverings.

Make sure cell phone is in purse, pack up laptop.

Start making sandwich. That always gets the kitties back inside as they get scraps of food from sandwich to munch on.

Pack up sandwich, grab a Minute Maid "Lite" fruit drink (I have three to choose from right now).

Leave treats or wet food for the cats.

Grab laptop bag, purse, fill up commuter cup with lots of coffee, turn off coffee pot.

Put shoes on.

Walk out door.

Activate IED mode for drive to work.

Park two blocks away when finally make it to work. It's the only place that has shade in the afternoon. Make sure ID card is present to activate card readers.

Swipe card and wait five minutes for elevator. Start chugging coffee in the process.

Finally get up to 6th floor. Already have to pee - great.

I.E.D.

I'm getting a good laugh of this new psychartic disorder called "Intermittent Explosive Disorder".

I called it "sick of people doing stupid things". I've also called it the polish temper.

I'm not going to suddenly claim a new disorder - I have enough going on thank you. I also haven't heard what they use to treat this IED, but I won't go back on anti-depressants again. I'll explain more later....

ever wonder?

As a follow-up to the microburst that downed all those power poles.

Tucson Electric Power company is replacing the wooden snapped poles with "stronger" metal poles.

Is TEP going to wait to replace the old wood poles with metal poles until they're knocked down? Wouldn't it make more sense to replace them as project upgrades? Since they're on a "replace when broken" they need to pay overtime, hazard pay, and extra equipment rental. It seems to me it'd be cheaper to just replace them in the winter months or something....

But as boyfriend says "We'll have no common sense here missy."

heat dome

We used to say that at least Tucson wasn't as bad as Phoenix.

That's getting harder and harder to say. We now have microbursts instead of rain with these thunderstorms that are coming from the east.

So to get a few things cleared up:

It's not monsoon season (yet). Monsoons typically come from the south; these are from the east. Also, while there's more moisture in the air, the dewpoint is not at 54 degrees (yet). And three straight days of at least a dewpoint of 54 degrees will be the official start of monsoon season.

Microbursts are more a reflection of the hot dry air in the Arizona deserts. With there being more moisture in the air today, hopefully we won't have another microburst for a while.

If you're wondering how bad a microburst can get, check out the latest attempt to pick up from the last microburst. I guess I got off lucky with a short loss of power that day.

not another one

Yup, Sunday night while I was doing the weeks worth of ironing I started to get a bad headache. I didn't do anything about it at the time, silently hoping it'd go away.

Monday morning, I got up (very groggily) at my normal time. Two cups of coffee, and I realized that I could turn up the MCS. So I tried that. Not feeling immediate results, but I'm not worried.

But I have to call in sick because I can no longer hold my head up without feeling like I was going to puke.

So I laid on the couch in a somewhat comfortable position. Pain medicine isn't touching it. At least it also kills my appetite so I'm not sitting on the couch getting fat or anything.

Finally around 6:00 PM it started to subside (about 24 hours). It is seeming to take longer to get it under control, the pain is still going away eventually. So I just have to deal with it I guess.

I'd love to find an upper cervical doctor (on my insurance plan). Guess I should look again. The frustrating thing about upper cervical chiropractic treatments is that you walk out of the office and they tell you "okay, try not to move your head too much".

yeah right......