Dot`sThoughts

Well, here it is-Friday, January 23, 2009
A couple days ago it was -4 when I got up and it only warmed up to 3 + degrees above zero all day. Today it was nice out- no storm, temperature reached to 31 degrees- just 1 degree below the 32 freezing mark. Funny how warm 31 can feel after you have had a week of real cold out.
This past Tuesday I managed to workout a little at the hospital Wellness Clinic. I managed 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, another 15 minutes on the new Step and next was the treadmill. I only made it for 5 minutes at a low speed of 2 before the sciatica nerve started giving me pain and I had to quit. Wednesday I mostly sat again with the heating pad to help the pain. Thursday I again went back to try working out again. Did a little better this time. 15 minutes on recumbent bike, 15 minutes on the new step and managed 10 minutes with speed of 2.5 on the treadmill. The place has a limit of 15 minutes on any of the machines. It shouldn`t be long before I am back doing the 15 minutes at 3 speed on the treadmill.
Today I managed to remove the ice from my back porch and sweep off all the birdseed mess before re-filling the feeders. I still have some ice on my front porch steps. I usually pour hot water with Dawn dish washing detergent down the steps before going to bed when we are expecting sleet or freezing rain. But this last time I was in so much pain that after I did the more used side porch steps, I let the rest wait. Big mistake and now it will be harder to remove the thickened ice. One daughter bought me a set of those Winter Trax to add on the bottom of my shoes to make it safer when I am walking outside. They do help keep my feet from slipping. my kids are always doing something for me.
I always have a lot of birds around my back porch all winter. I keep the suet holder filled, the taller thistle holder and the round style feeders filled. Today my dog Sassy was in the laundry room laying by the back door. She started barking and started walking towards the kitchen and went back towards the back door still barking. So, I knew she wanted me to come see what she was barking at. There was two cats laying on the table on the porch. I do not know if they are both wild cats or if they belong to someone in the neighborhood. They often come meowing near one of my porches or my daughters next door, but if you go out, then they usually run away fast. One day last week the large light gray colored one was by my back porch. I went out. stood by the top step, held out my hand and talked low to it and it surprised me. It came up the steps and stood there allowing me to keep patting it for quite a few minutes. It would have stayed longer, but it was way too cold for me to stay outside very long. That was the day it was -37 below. Today both cats took off fast when I opened the back door. I do not want them hanging around the back porch with so many birds eating from the hanging feeders there.

Today, I was going to see if the heater would make the shop warm enough for me to work out there, but ended up just working around the house. I am thinking of bringing the heater into the house to warm it up to see if the liquid in it might be partly frozen from sitting all winter in the cold shop. I didn`t think it could freeze, but I guess anything is possible. When I shake it a little I do not hear a lot of movement from the liquid inside. It is an electric fuel oil heater. I also have another house problem. I must have a spot upstairs where the heat is escaping out to the eaves and this leak must be melting the icicles and causing them to back up and leak water down the inside wall. It is dripping down and coming out at the bathroom window . Right now I have a small plastic container sitting on the window sill to catch the drips. Had this problem once years ago, but not in the last 5 years since we put on the new house roof. I know if I open up that spot and pull back the insulation on that spot, then the house heat will melt off the icicles and the leak will stop. Many years ago we had an electric heating coil running along the eaves on the back of the house. I hope I do not have to have one added again to stop the ice from backing up. I thought I had this problem licked when we added the metal strip along the roof edge. It hasn`t built icicles in a few years until now. But this winter sure has been a wicked one. A couple other people told me they were also having problems this year.

Tuesday, I managed to get back working out a little before the sciatic nerve pain interrupted the work out. 15 minutes on the new step, 15 minutes on the recumbent bike , but only 5 minutes on the treadmill at a low speed of 2. Thursday I did a little better, after the recumbent bike and the new step, I walked a bit faster at a speed of 2.5 for 10 minutes on the treadmill before needing to stop. Hopefully it won`t be too much longer before I am back exercising the 1 1/2 hours that I was doing before and doing the treadmill at the faster speed. I know I need to go slow for now and not rush it. Doing the therapy exercises at home is improving the spine problem and causing less pressure on the sciatic nerve. Dr mentioned he could send me to a therapist for help if I wanted to go, but I told him I know most of those exercises by heart from the times I was bedridden over the years with this same problem. I am a bit smarter now than I was back then. I start the exercises as soon as I feel a disc slipping and usually get it back before things get too bad. Bones are getting more brittle according to the Dr and so they are allowing curvature of the spine now and this time the bones are putting pressure on the sciatic nerve causing the pain. Heat does wonders for the pain. The pain pills were worthless and I didn`t want the real strong pills. I wouldn`t be safe working with electrical tools or driving my car if I took them. Plus, I have always believed that every med you take for one problem can end up causing more problems somewhere else in your body.
Hard being patient and taking things slower as I am used to being active and accomplishing things. But taking things on a slower key will get me back where I want to be much faster with less chance of causing more problems. So, I will learn to be more careful and not overdo while I still accomplish things at a slower pace for now.