California is Burning

August 14, 2018 ~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

Man, our state is on fire! I thought I would share the latest report on the fire closest to us…

[BTW-I am reporting from my little office at home, sheltering in place, by order of my doctor. The Pine Tree is our local online newspaper]

The Donnell Fire

LOCATION: Stanislaus National Forest
DATE STARTED: August 1, 2018
ACRES: 27,769
PERCENT CONTAINED: 20%
STRUCTURES THREATENED: 220
STRUCTURES DESTROYED: 54
INJURIES/ACCIDENTS: 0
MINOR STRUCTURES DESTROYED: 81
TOTAL PERSONNEL: 739

Donnell Fire Update

Posted by: thepinetree on 08/14/2018 12:07 PM

Bear Valley, CA…We normally don’t publish the heat maps of the fires because they can be inaccurate and show heated air aloft etc. We thought this recent one of the Donnell Fire was illustrative though. It shows they are making good progress taking the heat out of the fire for much of the perimeter. On the south side of Spicer Reservoir you can see where the bulk of the fire’s energy is today. Luckily there is plenty of water in the area for helicopter drops and Spicer should offer a barrier to growth to the north. Let’s just hope firefighters can keep it from spotting or making turns around the lake.

As you can see from the graphic above, Hubby and I are not in the path of this fire (we are way south). The danger to us is the smoke – day in and day out, 24/7. Until sometime in September when they estimate they will have 100% containment.

We have had to run our A/C so much that I shudder to see the next bill. I am so happy we decided to have it installed when they built the house! We did not expect smoke, or the 100+ degree heat in the summers, so we are grateful that we did that, despite the poo-pooing we got from people – people who now wish they had A/C, no doubt!

We have firefighting personnel from surrounding states, and some from other countries, like Canada and, I heard this from someone in town, Australia!

With 3 fires in the Yosemite National Forest, and numerous others popping up, we see fire trucks all the time in town. It does not matter what day or time you grocery shop – you will see many Firemen in there.

I have to confess…

I consider this fact the only perk among all this tragic destruction. Does that make me an optimist? I don’t know. Maybe it’s the uniforms, along with that old saying, which seems to be true:

“No such thing as an ugly Fireman”

♥ TTFN! ♥

(Belated) Excuses & Apologies

June 14, 2018June 12, 2018 ~ JodiLea ~ 2 Comments

Last December I sent cards, to very few people from my Christmas list. No cheery and newsy Christmas letter was written.

Q: Why?
A: I was literally out of my mind.

I was on a new medication, to help another medication work better for one of my chronic conditions. Willis-Ekbom Disease. Ever heard of that one? It is a neurological ailment that is basically Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) on uppers. The new meds turned my brain to mush. Of course, it took me a couple of weeks to realize what was happening with the chaos of the holidays going on. By then, the damage had been done.

Trying to write a note in a card, or just address an envelope was a major effort. I would fall asleep, jerk awake, then finish my sentence with totally unrelated words, which I had to scribble out and try again. You can imagine how sloppy the cards and envelopes looked. Apologies if you got one. Apologies if you didn’t.

Even worse were the hallucinations. I’m grateful they were not scary ones – like LSD induced or written by Stephen King. They were more embarrassing than anything. Like I would reach for my glass of water, only to find it wasn’t there. Did I fall asleep for a couple of seconds, and dream it was there? The same thing would happen as I spoke or wrote to someone. A scenario would play in my head and seem real, until I opened my mouth to talk about it and realize it wasn’t real and the other person would have no clue what I was talking about. Which was only fair, because I already forgot what it was.

The disgusting thing was, the meds did not help my condition at all. So, I read the info that came with the prescription, about the drug, side effects, etc. One of the many “side effects” of the drug was brain damage.

Oh. That’s. Lovely…

The next day I called my doctor and told him I was brain damaged, and my RLS was worsening. He told me to stop taking the drug immediately, and be patient- the side-effects may take some time to go away.

THAT was an understatement.

Nearly a year has passed and I still will get those “non-LSD” moments. I’m trying to cover them up when they occur, but the occasional “out-there” comment will be spoken. Hubby looks at me strangely, waiting for an explanation that does not come. I can’t explain it because I don’t know what happened. Really.

My helpful hubby, suggested that the med in question simply enhanced the brain damage I inherited from my family. I reminded him that due to his family’s genetic brain damage, he married me.

Har-Har-Har.

♥ TTFN ♥

You Might Be Depressed If…

March 31, 2018 ~ JodiLea

Jeff Foxworthy got famous for this statement “You might be a redneck if…” His answers are more than funny – if you have hillbillies in your family tree, his answers ring true. Being the truth, they are hysterical.

Anyway, I’m not attempting to ‘get famous’ for my statement (see title), and it is hardly funny. The thing is, a person may not recognize depression settling in until it’s too late. Depression is evil, and it sneaks up on you.

In the interest of crushing depression out of existence, I will share the warning signs / behaviors that I have experienced.

The only fashion you care about are your pajamas.
Grooming is the first thing to go. You don’t have the energy (or desire) to shower. After 3 days, you know you should groom yourself. You feel guilty, but wait until tomorrow.
Make-up? Hair styles? HA! These need a mirror, and you avoid mirrors like a vampire.
Strange ideas pop into your head out of nowhere. And linger in your brain.
Your dreams are bizarre and disturbing, way more than they used to be. Unfortunately, they do not lend themselves to an interesting blog post.
Everywhere you look you see spider webs, dust bunnies, soap scum, and copious amounts of dog hair. As you see these things, you realize that there is also a rust colored film over each inch of the house. DUST.
You begin spring cleaning – even if it is not spring. You want to give up because the amount of work to be done is overwhelming. You do not give up because you can daydream about a better life while you listen to music and scrub.
When you do get dressed, you look like a hobo or a Ho. The last time you bought clothes was in 2003 and none of them fit anymore. Except pajamas.
You are reading this list and nodding your head.

♥ TTFN ♥