One Year; Sinus / Depression; "Terrorism"; Rings; Outside; Mow 'de Grass; Pardon at last

A year ago, I was more or less at the point of having a major meltdown. Now, I feel more stable.

Something that I've noticed about antidepressants and antianxiety drugs is that they indeed do may you more stable. BUT they also take away some of the pleasure you used to feel. Pleasure as an emotion. You're still struck by the same triggers, but you view them as much more of an abstraction.

So much as happened. Possibly the most noticeable is that I'm able to work inside and out without having allergy/sinus problems. This may tell me that there were far more problems at the prior house that I was aware of.

What do I miss? You might think it would be mother. I don't really miss her as she was the last year. Because I know how uncomfortable she was. And there were so many times that I was not sure who I was dealing with. And I didn't know what to do about it. And I came to realize there had been problems for a long time that I was not aware of.

I have to be deeply truthful and say that on an emotional level, I miss Grae more than anything else. There was such a bond between us that I think of him almost every day.

"Studies reveal surprising truth about migraines." (Update 03/07: Article no longer available)

"...there is growing evidence that almost all so-called sinus headaches are really migraines."

"Symptoms may include nasal stuffiness, blurry vision, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, abnormal sensations of heat or cold, anxiety, depression, irritability and inability to concentrate."

"Although hard to mistake in their classic form, migraines can be misclassified as sinus or tension headaches. In one study by Dr. Eric Eross of Scottsdale, Ariz., 90 of 100 people with self-diagnosed sinus headaches were found to have migraines."

I've been convinced for years that there was some connection between sinus attacks, depression and anxiety.

(Update 03/07: Try "Sinus Headache" May Be Migraine (Text only of original article) and Allergies, Asthma, and Migraine: More Than a Casual Relationship? (Text only of original article) )

Last time I made this comment: "One can not help but wonder if the UK constabulary is correct in it's recent intelligence of the most recent terrorist plot."

Well, there may be more truth to that than I'd even thought of.

In my web scouring, someone said to watch and see what happens in the next few weeks. It may be that the charges against a number of individuals will be quietly dropped.

Browsing through the news, I noticed a headline that said, "Bush vows to protect American people." BUT the real question is: "Who is to protect us from George Bush."

Before I forget. There's something odd about this latest threat. From what I can figure out, it involved creating an explosion by combining ordinary household liquids using an electronic device to generate a spark.

What's odd is: With all the attention paid to homeland security, why did none of the experts think of this before now!?

By the way there is an easily-found article on the web about creating a device using a liquid. See Instructions.

As I expected, the jeweler only gave me a couple of hundred dollars for the three rings. I guess I could have visited a dozen places and compared prices. But the diamond market is possibly the most regulated market in the world, so I doubt if I would have come out any better.

Sunday, I moved all the pieces of old bricks from the front of the steel shed to the back. Little by little, I'll try to sneak them into the trash. As I've mentioned before, the removal folks are very fussy about anything that resembles construction debris.

As I was moving the brick, I noticed a slight movement inside the hole of one of the bricks. Out hopped a tiny, tiny brown toad. As with the ones I'd encountered before, he didn't seem scared, just curious. I'm not sure where he went.

Years and years ago, my father had constructed a wooden barricade along the north side of the carport. I never exactly understood why. And he got very angry if you asked about such things.

He was always doing strange things like that. There are still several doors in the house that have vents he added. I remember at one time, he had devised this elaborate system of fans to spread heat to the den and living room in winter from the single wall mounted heater in the hall.

(In the chronology of heating devices, this was a notch up from floor furnaces. But the problem in either case, as well as the chimney, was how to disperse the heat. Which eventually lead to forced air heating and cooling. Radiators in homes was very much of a rarity in the south.)

The barricade was basically a frame of 2x4 studs with plywood sheets on either side. Some months ago, I'd stripped the plywood from one side, then cut them up with the reciprocating saw. But it was a pain. I didn't have any way to hold the sheets as I cut. Eventually though, I was able to cut into pieces that would fit into the trash.

Yesterday, I detached the remaining plywood sheets and set them aside. Next I ripped out the framework and cut the timbers into blocks that would go into the garbage containers.

I took a single garbage container and a single cement construction block and dragged them to the front near the street. I then placed the block in the container. Next I wrestled the two plywood sheets, probably 4 feet by 8 feet, to the front and placed one upright on either side of the garbage container. This made it very obvious they were up for grabs. And indeed this morning, they had been ferried away in the night.

As you'll recall, I did something similar last week. Everything went but the vacuum cleaner. I'd used a garbage container and a construction block. As some point, I must have taken the construction block out of the garbage container, because yesterday I noticed that someone had also taken it.

Today I went by Lowe's and bought a 4 x 8-foot piece of piece of lattice work for the carport. I attached it to the carport steel columns with small plastic tie-downs. But I can see that's not going to work. There's not enough rigidity, so I'll have to figure out another plan. I need to see what else Lowe's has to offer.

Mow the grass in the front yard, I did this afternoon. And it seemed to take forever. And crap did it feel hot.

I did figure out a way to mow so that the power chord is always on one side. Don't know why I'd never thought of this before.

When I finished and got around to glancing at the web, it said the local temp was 101. Well, no wonder, I fell hot. That meant, I'm sure the heat index, was 110 or so.

From "The (London) Times" - dated August 16, 2006 Pardon at last for shell-shocked soldier shot for war cowardice - Family campaign ends in victory for victim shot at dawn in the First World War (Text only of original article.)

["A SOLDIER who was shot at dawn for cowardice during the First World War is to be granted a pardon 90 years after he was condemned to death.

Private Harry Farr will be the first British soldier to have his name cleared after being found guilty of “misbehaving before the enemy in such a manner as to show cowardice”.

Hours after the family of Private Farr were told that their 14-year battle to clear his name had been victorious, it was announced that the Government would seek parliamentary approval to pardon all 306 soldiers executed during the First World War. Des Browne, Secretary of State for Defence, said: “Although this is an historical matter, I am conscious of how the families of these men feel today. They have had to endure a stigma for decades.

“I believe a group pardon, approved by Parliament, is the best way to deal with this. After 90 years, the evidence just doesn’t exist to assess all the cases individually."]

(Update 03/07: Also read Focus: Shot for being Irish? (Text only of original article.)

PAX!