(no subject)

[the_rck]

I was going to go grocery shopping with Scott yesterday, but Cordelia was trying very hard to finish one of her library books that couldn't be renewed and didn't want to be left home alone. We suggested taking the book and sitting in the coffee shop in the store to read, but she didn't like that option either. Since I was mainly planning to go in order to keep Scott company and in order to pick out some mustard (Scott doesn't like or use mustard, so if I want it, I have to go pick it out), staying home for Cordelia seemed reasonable.

Of course, she's going to be left at home alone on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. At least, she says she doesn't want to come to tomorrow's appointment because it will be boring, and I don't want to take her to my Wednesday appointments because I'm not quite ready to explain to her what they're for. She's old enough to stay for a few hours alone; she just doesn't really like to. Of course, if I suggest that we might go out for lunch after tomorrow's appointment, that might change her mind.

I think I can't tolerate very much Zevia, unfortunately. Apparently, I have problems with the secondary sweetener in it, erythritol. If I drink Zevia regularly, I start to have, er, intestinal issues. I suspect that once or twice a week wouldn't be a big deal, but more than that seems to be. It's a pity. I was enjoying being able to occasionally have something other than water or seltzer water.

Because Cordelia was trying to finish that library book, we didn't go to the library until just before it closed. She finished the book right as I was putting on my shoes so that we could go. She's got three or four books due next week that can't be renewed. Unfortunately, two of them are sequels to a book she just got this week (the waitlist for that was several people long), so she's very unlikely to get to them.

Scott took down a few portals near the library and had me put my wimpy level 1 resonators on them and then hack them, just so I'd know what to do. My main take away from that was that it's almost impossible to see anything on the screen of my phone when the sun's shining. I actually had to turn so that my shadow fell on my phone in order to see anything at all, and even then, I couldn't see much. I have a suspicion that that, as well as my difficulties with walking very far, will be a big limiting factor on me playing Ingress.

The guy behind the counter at Bubble Island recognized us and pulled out three large cups immediately. He was a little thrown when I asked for a specialty drink, but really, that particular specialty drink is simply green tea with a flavor not on the main menu, so I don't know why he'd be so surprised.

I'm trying to decide whether to chance taking the bus to my appointment tomorrow. It would be further than I've walked since I injured myself-- No, there were those two grocery shopping expeditions. Those involved a fair amount of walking. But both of those left me hurting. I just don't know. If I overdo tomorrow, I won't be able to rest on Wednesday to recover, but, if I don't start challenging myself, I'm never going to reach the point of walking to the bus stop again. It's only three blocks and then standing to wait for five to fifteen minutes, and the bus is free for me because of my disability, so it's a heck of a lot cheaper than a cab.

I'm thinking to start unsubscribing from the vast number of political mailing lists I've ended up on. I just get so damned many messages from them every day. Half of them ask for money which I'm not going to give. The other half are petitions and requests to call my representatives. I can't handle phone calls, and I'm only willing to sign some petitions (I'm also am not sure how much good online petitions do). The thing is that most mailing lists send me all four types of messages. I haven't found a list yet that has a filter that would just get me the stuff I'm willing to deal with.

There seem to be a number of petitions that are geographically specific and for which I'm not convinced I have a right to a voice-- fracking in various states not my own comes up a lot. I also get a lot of things asking me to protest GMOs when I have nothing agains GMOs, generally. I'm very much against certain standard practices of big agribusiness, but that's far from the same thing even if certain PACs assume it is.

Time to shower and eat lunch. After that, I get to call Aetna. They've been refusing to pay my medical bills because they think they're not primary. Scott and I may have to prove we're married again or some such nonsense. Also, Medicare has sent me another form to ask questions about my insurance. I filled one of those out in April or May, and I went over the same information on the phone a couple of weeks ago. I shouldn't have to give them the same information a third time, not so soon.

Comments

[lemon_badgeress]

It sounds like you have your screen brightness turned very low on your phone. This is reasonable -- I have my ipod maaaaaaaybe 1/8th power for use inside. If you're outside you'll probably need to increase that to about half or maybe more. That's the worst for eating battery, so I've learned to do it when I can't see the damn thing, and only do it when I must.

[the_rck]

Thanks for the suggestion! It would never have occurred to me. I haven't touched the brightness setting, so I hadn't thought about it at all.

How are you doing?

[lemon_badgeress]

I grow ever more insular and silent, and am at this point avoidant to my cross stitch and sleep. Tumblr is my friend!

[the_rck]

Well, thank you for answering. I know how hard silence can be to break. It gets kind of heavy and takes on a life of its own.

I think my problem with Tumblr is that I'm not really very interested in pictures, pretty or otherwise. One or two pictures I can deal with and think about. Anything more than that and my eyes glaze over. That generally leads to me realizing, ten to fifteen minutes later, that I've been scrolling and scrolling and haven't registered a single thing that's gone by. Somebody told me once how to block all images on Tumblr, but I either didn't write it down or I saved it somewhere obscure where I can't find it now.

And, really, is there a point to Tumblr if one blocks all the pictures?

[lemon_badgeress]

There can be, but I tend to find the text posts on tumblr far too aggressive and divisive, so.

[ken-3k.livejournal.com]

The one time I tried Zevia cola, it gave me a terrible stomach ache. This was years ago, but I have been disinclined to try the drink again. I merrily toss stevia into my hot tea and iced tea all the time, so that isn't the problem ingredient for me.

[the_rck]

According to the bit of googling I did the other day, erythritol, the other sweetener in Zevia (and also in some commercially produced stevia based sweeteners, so you need to check), is a sugar alcohol, and all of those are known for causing stomach aches, bloating, gas, and diarrhea in some portion of the population. I couldn't find anything via googling that hinted at stevia producing similar problems.

For me, it seems to be something that builds up over a period of time before there's a problem, so I think I'm safe with small quantities of erythritol. Which is a good thing because my FIL has developed diabetes, so all family desserts are now GF (for my MIL and SIL) and sugarfree. They're all using stevia derived sweeteners on the assumption that I can have them (I can't have aspartame or sucralose), and I'd really rather not add more complications by making them look for pure stevia. Of course, from what I gather, stevia is not precisely a low glycemic food anyway, so it may be that my FIL shouldn't have it, either.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

A lot of the sugar alcohols cause intestinal distress in larger quantities but can be tolerated by most people in small quantities. I've been avoiding them, though, on the theory that they are not a natural food, even though they are considered to be more natural than the totally artificial sweeteners.

I had a recipe that called for erythritol as an ingredient, so I searched until I found a bag of granulated erythritol, and then I used it to make the recipe. Erythritol has a "cooling mouth-feel," the way mint does. Everyone in my family who tried the recipe with the erythritol in it thought the "cooling mouth-feel" was nasty and didn't want to eat any more. So I've been avoiding it since then. Though I do still have most of a bag of it in my pantry. I'm not sure what I'll do with that. I should just throw it out, since nobody at my house is going to use it.

[the_rck]

Scott says he's not convinced that the problem is the erythritol and that I didn't just happen to get sick. I do have a diagnosis of IBS, but this was pretty completely unlike how that normally manifests (and it doesn't happen very often at all). When I have IBS trouble, it usually passes after about an hour and then is gone for weeks or even months. This lasted pretty much all day with a bit of trouble the next day, too.

When something like this happens, I'm more inclined to look and see if there are any changes in my diet or environment rather than to assume I'm sick.

But I have agreed to test it next week.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, not being able to walk very far definitely does not sound very compatible with playing Ingress. :-S

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Oh, and much sympathy about the health insurance!!! Ohhh, health insurance!!!!! :-(

[the_rck]

It wouldn't be so frustrating if it didn't keep coming up, each time with me needing to talk to someone different. Everybody's been reasonable and has addressed things promptly and without arguing with me. The only people I haven't had to talk to are the Blue Care folks, and, well, by the time the bills get to them, there's usually less than $20 left to pay, so they just do.