Music as Stress Relief

This is one of those days where everyone has bad news to share. It's every angle from my brother having Covid-19, my dog having an infection and dental surgery, and everything in between. My back hurts, that's where I carry stress. On the plus side, it's been less hot, so my vision is less blurry; I got to read like 3 or 4 pages in a book last night! 

Today is just rough. 

I was scrolling through Facebook, and amid the further stress-inducing posts, there was this: 

Via Raven Black Poetry

It's one of those "AHA!" moments like "AHA! Dumbass, why aren't you listening to music?????"

It's certainly better than the inane ramblings of the gamer YouTubers my kids leave playing on the television. I went straight to Amazon Music in search of one of my playlists, Mind Travels the Amazon Version (because my computer hates Pandora), and went straight to shuffle. It was either that or my Apocalypse Playlist for this Isolation Period on YouTube. God Bless the healing powers of R.E.M.'s "It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)". That's it's followed up by Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" is just icing on the cake. 

So for the rest of the night, until I opt to wander to my bed and my "please let me sleep" meds, it's music time. 

The ADA and the Anti-Mask Brigade

A comment on a local news Facebook posts said that "people should just claim to have a disability to get out of wearing a mask at Walmart." I can not express how angry I am, and it's only 7 a.m... 

I responded with, that's not how the ADA works and they can accommodate you with curbside. I also shared my appreciation, if people would not do anything to screw with what the disabled community has worked so hard for. 

The post had 45 comments. I was the only one to mention the ADA. Thus my desire to share, because the key factor here is that the accommodations they make for you cannot impure on the health or safety of anyone else period. 

"Q. Does the ADA allow public accommodations to take safety factors into consideration in providing services to individuals with disabilities?

A. The ADA expressly provides that a public accommodation may exclude an individual if that individual poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others that cannot be mitigated by appropriate modifications in the public accommodation's policies or procedures or by the provision of auxiliary aids. A public accommodation will be permitted to establish objective safety criteria for the operation of its business; however, any safety standard must be based on objective requirements rather than stereotypes or generalizations about the ability of persons with disabilities to participate in an activity."

https://adata.org/guide/americans-disabilities-act-questions-and-answers#:~:text=The%20ADA%20expressly%20provides%20that,the%20provision%20of%20auxiliary%20aids.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Print Resources

Check Out:

Protesters Abusing Disability Laws to Circumvent Mask Use

No Mask, No Service? ADA Considerations for Business Owners Requiring Face Masks in Retail Stores

The ADA and Face Mask Policies

Beans on Toast

The A/C in my car is not working. The cost to fix it is $473. That's a bill for next week, along with $200+ for my poor old dog's dental work. It's going to be a rough month. I'm actively trying not to think too hard on it because I know my husband is. It does no good for us both to be actively anxious over it.

I joked that the kids better learn to like beans and toast, as that is about to become the "July Special".

Honestly, the idea of these kids becoming so incredibly less picky, that they would eat a can of baked beans overturned on a piece of toast, is a pipe dream. I've seen their reaction to beans and can live without the poop references. 

This will require some shopping changes. Since Covid-19, my husband has pretty much taken over the grocery shopping. I've had a couple of rounds with steroids and that just leaves your immune system eager to latch onto any disease it can find. Now, the problem is were rural. Our shopping choices are nowhere near as extensive as they were before we moved. 

My husband has a tendency to just go to Walmart, whereas I would be hitting an Aldi/Dollar Tree combo. The thing is, my husband has a Little Debbie/Hostess dependency. As much as I say, "you can get the Aldi version for cheaper!" He still returns from Walmart with Zebra Cakes and Twinkies. Our snack shopping exists on opposite sides of the spectrum.

In all, I expect a tight month. I hope for the best because worrying will get me nowhere. Now I just need to convince the four-year-old that water is just as good as milk... Wish me luck. 

Attempting Audiobooks

Since the Optic Neuritis is still making any attempt to read an exhausting game of fill in the blank, I have decided to give audiobooks another try. I generally don't use audiobooks. It's not that I have anything against audiobooks, (like some people who seem to for some weird book-snobbish reasons), it's that I distract easily.  

I'm very much the "oooohhhhh shiny!" person. Combine this with 4 babbling kids and a husband who randomly tosses questions from across the house. I'm simultaneously overjoyed and exasperated that, just the act of putting on headphones, can summon the 15-year-old from the depths of his bedroom. He peppers me with questions ranging from "my phone is doing a thing...." to "How petty is it that God wouldn't let someone into heaven for not believing in him; seems egocentric...."

The audio-book I selected,  Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett – Good Omens Audiobook. So far, it's wonderful, (and yes, I know I'm late to the game). It's also around 12 hours long. I'd neglected to consider the length of the book in my enthusiasm of finding out the book was available through Libby.

So, I shall continue my audiobook journey, with the hope that I'll be able to return to my print books soon. My shelves are filled with TBR books and I'm anxious to get back to them.  

Crafting Covid

I sold at a craft fair this weekend.  I paid for it in February; it was rescheduled several times.  We had been assured that masks were a requirement and all the spaces would be spread out. It was dead, but I made my money back. However, I was happy not to have been close to anyone.

I keep thinking, "why did I go?" It wasn't necessary. I could have gotten the money back or just considered it a donation, like with another craft fair that was supposed to happen in April. The answer: I needed to get out of the house. This is strange to me. I am a homebody, but even homebodies have their limits.

  

I sold a few mask ear savers.  Some people were thinking about their kids/grand-kids needing to wear masks all day at school. As registration for fall looms within the next week, I still feel uncertain about what to do for the kids.  

The past few months have been long. With the uptick in Covid-19 cases, the upcoming months seem insured to be just as long. It's just a matter of day to day at this point. In the meantime, I'm going to keep making the mask savers and see about donating them to various places.

Optic Neuritis

Optic Neuritis sucks. I have to say it; it just sucks. Okay, so what is it?

"Optic neuritis (ON) is a condition in which the nerve to the eye (the optic nerve) becomes inflamed or irritated. Inflammation refers to a process in which white blood cells and chemical messengers go to an area of the body to stimulate healing or to attack viruses or foreign material. Optic neuritis is a condition that can happen because of a disease or without any specific known cause." -Cleveland Clinic l

My Multiple Sclerosis is yelling "ATTACK!" Then attacking things it should not be attacking. My eyes are paying the price. Normally, the Optic Neuritis sticks to my right eye, which allows for my left eye to compensate. This time my left eye is being attacked, and I'm suddenly aware of all the damage that has been done to my right eye.

Image Courtesy: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Optic_neuritis

Right now, as I type, letters are disappearing. If I go back to read the definition of Optic Neuritis I see: "Opti ne ti (ON) is a conditi in whi the ner...." As I move my eyes more letters appear but, this is draining; especially when your whole world seems to revolve around reading. Let's not even get into the heartbreak of your child's face being blurry.

Image Courtesy: Optic Neuritis: A Brief Review

Summer means that the heat can and will exacerbate MS symptoms. Combined with stress, (b/c well, pandemic), it's not surprising to me that I am having a flare-up. My only hope is that, now that I've finished my 5 days of an IV steroid and I'm in the throes of oral prednisone hanger, my vision will come back to normal really bad self. If it does so within less than 1-3 months; that would be spectacular.