Arcry, great to see you! I'm so glad we were able to connect you and your account again.

@Acadian

Believe me I am too. XD Missed being able to post in here.

ARCRY !!!!!!! WOO HOO !!!!!!!!!!!!

HAY MALX!

Glad to see you're doing okay!

Doing much better just seeing you back online!!!! Welcome Home; you have been greatly missed!!!!!

Its good to be back really. I mean I've lurked without my accout on occassion, but I've missed being able to post and interact

We have missed you A LOT; and you know when I don't hear from you = I worry, lol. Really glad to hear from you so I know you are okay!

I've been good! Still out here with my brother. Got my own room set up a few years back so I wasn't just crashing on the couch in the library. 'S been a pretty uneventful time really. Work closed down out here n moved us all to wofk at home. Though I've been unable to work due yo tech issues fof 3-4 months now so. Meh.

But otherwise. Its been decent. Been infusing booze in my off yine from the Skyrim cookbook. The Waters of Life have a kick. Skooma is real good too. Trying to get the stuff together to make the Imperial wine. Though I'd REALLY like to get the kit together to make Mead.

Lol on the still;

Oh, I am so glad you and your Brother have stayed so close! That is really good; I wondered about how he was doing as well; (so you just answered that!)

I like mead, and I’ve tried my hand at making it a couple of times. I’ll just stick to buying it, lol.

I would. But the best mead I've ever had, Dansk Mjod's Viking Blod, is no longer allowed in our state. Chaucer's is pretty good but meh. And some of these meads sound reeally good

Lol.

I’ve had Chaucer’s. I figure it’s pretty basic. Late last year I discovered that there is a meadery about 2 hours from where I live, so my girlfriend and I went there on Valentine’s Day. Had a tasting, and bought a basic dry and a special spiced variety that we won’t open till Winter.

Being honest, the mead I really wanna make in this book is the Juniper Berry Mead:

2 tbsp of crushed Juniper Berries
2 tsp of dried Yarrow
1 tbsp of dried Hibiscus flowers.

I'd just need to get the Honey, a carboy jug, and a brewing airlock to really get it going. Plus. 3 months for fermenting.

Yeah 3 months for fermentation, and another six months for aging. That was the biggest problem for me; I went that long to discover that my product took a turn towards bad at some point and the end result was undrinkable. I’m not trying to discourage you, it was still an interesting process that I think everyone who likes mead should try.

I'm a huge fan of the Dansk meads myself, I can get the Viking Blød myself, when it is in stock. Due to my immune deficiency, I order the mead online and have it delivered to my house, so it can be chancy. I wouldn't try making it myself . . .

Another brand I really like is Superstition - they make it from honey made from prickly pear blossoms, so it's a bit different. Expensive, but totally worth it.

I should look into that, but I think my state had weird laws on having booze shipped to your house.

*edit*
Nope, just looked it up. I would have to have it delivered to a local liquor store.

Just like buying a gun then.

Lol exactly.

Just had two and a half cup of coffee with a spounge cake.

Hee, I'm trying to envision the incredible expanding crow as that sponge cake in your stomach absorbs all that coffee.

Add to that two more cups of coffee now and a big muffin



Edit: And a peach

A Sweetroll!

Oops! Forgot the proper name for that particular coffee accessory

Thinking the most recent posts might have been better in a different thread . . .

Anyways, an update: I'm scheduled for surgery on the 24th. It is an outpatient procedure, so I'll need a driver to take me the hour plus trip (each way) and sit around for 3 - 4 hours (up to 2 hours prep, 1/2 hour procedure, and likely another hour in recovery, depending on what they use for anesthesia). The current state of COVID-19 in my area complicates things: they are requiring a COVID-19 test prior to surgery, and I'm hoping the weekly nasal swab I'm doing for my work will be good enough (just dropped off the fourth week sample earlier this afternoon), but we will see . . . The left eye will be done first, then the right eye will be scheduled for 4 - 6 weeks afterwards. Since that takes me into the holiday season, I'm hoping that it won't interfere too much with work.

Also, FINALLY, the employer has devised a way for me to participate more fully in the virtual training for WFH online chat support I've been supposed to be doing since June. So I start training hopefully next week, then finally start working right after that. Sigh. I wish they had found the live captioning service sooner but the fact that they worked as hard as they did to come up with both ASL interpreters (which don't work for me - I'm not fluent in ASL ironically) AND live captioning for the sessions. It's gotta be a real challenge for them, especially since the employer has such high standards for the benefits they provide us peons (best health insurance, guys).

At this point I do not know how much this is going to impact my computer time. Since it's the worse eye first, I'm hoping that it won't slow me down too much, since I'm already pretty much one eyed at this point.

Rider, I know you have some complex things going on with your eyes. Is the upcoming procedure cataract surgery?

Good luck Rider!

Best of luck with your eyes, Rider!

We'll all be wishing and praying for the best outcome for both your surgeries, Haute.

Good luck with the surgery.

No, it is a procedure to remove excess conjunctival tissue surrounding the iris and preventing normal tear function/drainage.

Thanks to all for the well wishes. I now have to go get a CT scan prior to the surgery to see why my right eye socket has been puffing up and I have double vision - Dr suspects Graves disease.

Oh no, Haute! I will be wishing and praying that this is just some allergic reaction; and that the tests come back reflecting no T.E.D. Bless your heart; you have been through enough!

Oh, geez. I hope they can fix it up easily. Double vision is not fun, I've had it twice.


Again; best of luck to you, Rider!

Well, had my surgery this morning. So far feeling okay, wearing a patch a la Blackbeard. ARGH!

I tried to get into ESO to at least do my daily writs when I got home, but was feeling a bit peaky. Now a pot of tea, a pitcher of iced tea (left over from yesterday), some fruit early on and a pint of ice cream, I'm feeling much better. Not much pain, either, but we'll see what tomorrow brings!

The CT scan I had on Friday showed an enlarged tear gland on the right eye, which the ophtho feels goes along with the enlarged parotid gland (one of the salivary glands) on the same side that I reported to him. As a veterinarian, I have to agree with him. He recommended I see an ENT for a potential biopsy of the parotid gland. As I already have one that I've seen in the past, I will pursue that line of investigation once my eye is well on the way to healing. But my ophtho was more concerned about the fact that my pituitary gland is slightly enlarged, so I have to go for MORE blood tests. I probably will do that on Monday.

Patch comes off tomorrow, I have codeine with acetaminophen in case things get painful, and so far so good.

Twilight anesthesia is an interesting experience, especially when they're working on your eye. I pretty much slept through that during colonoscopy and bronchoscopy, but not during this! Fortunately they shone a very bright light in my eye, so honestly I didn't see much. But maybe the next time I'll ask for a bit more analgesia during the procedure . . .

So glad things went okay today and hope you mend quickly and well.

^
Ditto. Glad you got through it ok!

I'll add my heartfelt well-wishes! So glad you are feeling better as the day passes. I hope that tomorrow brings more improvement.

Now you are Haute Ecole Plissken! Excuse me, I should call you Snake. Hope you will be back to using both peepers soon!

Aye, best wishes for a speedy, full recovery!

Quoting Acadian here because he said it so perfectly; my sentiments exactly for your healing and recovery = and hope that all of those upcoming tests come back with good results. You poor dear; you have been through the mill with these health issues!

Had my morning coffee now I'm ready to go to bed cause for some reason 3-5 0 clock in the morning has become my new bed time.

Have a speedy recovery, h-e-r!

Like, you aren’t sleeping past 3-5am? What time are you going to sleep at night?

LOL you two! I finally had my coffee just now (got the release to drive myself now - so as soon as I got home I got in my car and drove to Panera's), so I can relate!

Got the patch off this morning, and while there's some bruising, the dr told me the eye is healing well so far. I'm happy to have no need for the codeine, because that stuff makes me loopy. I don't like the feeling of not being grounded in reality. I do have the okay to use ibuprofen if I need it, so I'd use that first, and use the codeine only at night if the pain is too severe.

Right now I'm feeling pain? What pain? Just a mild ache when I look off too far to one side or the other. The left side of my nose too is congested, but I put that down to swelling from the surgery, and am using Flonase to reduce the congestion. It does help!

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good so far. They told me to expect the swelling and inflammation to last about four weeks. Hopefully by then I'll have more information regarding my parotid/lacrimal gland enlargement, and my pituitary gland. I think at that point the corneal specialist will decide whether or not to pursue the same procedure on the right side, which is far, far better and more comfortable with less treatment. I may not even do that right away.

Anyway, thanks all for your well wishes. It is much appreciated!

haute, my dear friend... as usual, I am late to the "party." Power outage yesterday + setting my alarm wrong after restoration = sleeping an hour late....

Anyway- I am happy to read that things are improving. Tell your endocrine glands to settle their bad selves down! (40 years since college biology, so... they may be other than endocrine- but regardless).

Please take care of yourself; you are the only "you" we have, and we treasure your bright presence. Best wishes on a speedy and pain-free recovery.

I go to bed around 3 sometimes 5 in the morning and sleep till about noon to 1 in the afternoon. I think my meds are part of the issue as I take anti-depressants and they tend to give my brain a bit of surge that keeps me awake for a couple of hours.

Oh I see. Turns out I misread that other post, lol

My dad had cataract surgery a while back. Said when they popped that new lens in it was like night and day.

Glad to hear everything is going well.
Also coffee is fabulous.

My boss that I worked for the last 10 years for died today. Covid. Forget the politics. This stuff is serious and it can take away you or someone you love. Please do everything within your power to be safe!