The Pony Cannot Change His Spots

As I mentioned yesterday, The Pony developed a significant rash overnight, after his 8 hours of delivering mail in the rain on Friday. My little warrior went to work, determined to complete his duties.

Okay. I lied yesterday about not subjecting you to pictures. They're coming! BE WARNED! First, you might enjoy this view of The Pony's lunch Friday, so as not to have a rash picture show up in the thumbnail... There will be 4 rashy pictures coming after that, in case you decide to abandon ship.

That's shrimp on a pizza! I would never try such a combination. The Pony likes shrimp. He's eaten shrimp all his life, mostly the fried variety. Never any problems. Anyhoo... the thing with food allergies is, if they don't kill you right away by closing up your throat, a skin rash associated with them usually fades away in six hours. So even though The Pony considered this as something different that day, that might have caused a rash, the timing was not convincing. 

Okay, here comes the photo evidence.

Friday, after a couple hours of work, here's what The Pony's arm looked like:

Not something I'd like to deal with during a full day of work. But The Pony gave it a try, and completed his route. By then, all the convenient care/urgent care facilities were closed. It was not such an emergency to demand an ER visit. The Pony talked to a friend, who suggested an over-the-counter drug like Benadryl, but a non-drowsy variety. So that's what The Pony got.

Sunday morning, The Pony sent a picture during a cold shower. NO! Not like that! Just an arm photo, heh, heh!

Still looked about the same, maybe a little less red. That's the inner arm, where the worst of the problem occurred. 

I think this might be the top part of the arm:

Not quite as bad, but maybe more bumps would erupt from the red area. You never know.

So... The Pony went to the convenient care Sunday morning. Had to wait a couple hours, seeing as how his life was not hanging in the balance, and other people might have had more pressing issues. The NP (I assume) said it could be anything, including a reaction from the wet synthetic clothing rubbing on The Pony's active arm for 8 hours.

The Pony left with a prescription for prednisone, and a steroidal cream, and a note for work in case it wasn't better Monday morning. He put the cream on as soon as he picked it up, and then took a pill with lunch.

About an hour and a half later, this is how his arm looked:

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I believe it looks a tiny bit "better," in that some of the redness is fading. Hope it clears up pretty soon, because The Pony says it is painful when something touches it.

Poor Pitiful Pony Picks Up A Problem

Sweet Gummi Mary! As if it wasn't hardship enough for The Pony to spend 8 hours delivering mail Friday in a pouring rain at 63 degrees... he awoke with a problem on Saturday morning.

"I'm up. Mildly concerned now that I turned on the light to shower. Big rash on both arms and my thighs."

"Any new meds?"

"It's gotta be from working in the rain since it's only where clothes covered. A lot of inflamed itchy bumps full of clear stuff." 

[I'll spare you the photos!]

"Yeah. Some reaction to wet detergent or fabric softener left in your clothes. Hot water will make it worse, I bet."

"Or just from rubbing the wet fabric on my skin, since it's the inner parts of each arm, not the ones that would've had the wet weight keeping it tight on them. Just was shocking to go to scratch and see this much!"

"Was it your leather-like jacket?"

"Yes, on top, postal windbreaker under. Two layers helps keep things feeling drier."

"Hopefully it will clear up in a couple of days."

By 9:30, the picture showed a little more redness, and perhaps a few more spots. Still just on the inner arm, though.

"I had shrimp pizza for lunch yesterday, but that would've been faster, and not just my arms if I was allergic."

"I'm thinking just from the wet and something in your clothes. You probably got hot with two jackets in the rain."

"Makes sense. Torso doesn't move as much against wet fabric."

"Maybe go to urgent care after work if it gets worse?"

"I think they close at 2:00 on Saturday. It's spreading-ish, but just on arms so like just coming in as I'm moving."

"Yeah, getting hot will do it like in a shower."

"The entire right forearm feels feverish and has a red tinged patch without the raised bits yet, so expecting that to come in. Having ibuprofen to hopefully make it a bit less inflamed, and deal with the itchy pain a bit."

Now it's 2:14 Saturday as I'm typing. Hope The Pony is doing okay. If I only had my helicopter to drop some cool compresses to him...

The Pony Is Not A Mudder

It's Friday, and we're getting 2 inches of rain from the spiraled-around tail-end of that hurricane, I guess. Our weather is actually backwards, with rain coming out of the southeast. Poor Pony was a bit sad during our morning chat at 6:00 a.m.

"It's going to be ALL DAY. Until about 8:00 tonight. I'm NOT looking forward to it."

"Well, I guess all you can say is that it's better than 110 degree weather."

"Just barely."

"PLEASE be careful. Take it slower. I don't want you to slip again."

"Believe me, if I slip, I hope it's an actual broken ankle this time, with 10 weeks off, rather then having to go to work on a sprain!"

"Don't say that!!! Just take your time. Be extra careful. You DO get paid overtime if it takes longer. It's not like you're working for free."

"Still. It will be miserable."

I did my best to point out even the tiniest bright side to the situation. While in my head, I was actually considering SKIPPING MY SCRATCHERS today! We'll see. The temperature is supposed to stay in the low 60s all day. The rain I can handle. I'll dry out eventually. It's not like I have any vanity. I don't mind looking like a drowned lovely-lady-mulleted rat when I go in the Gas Station Chicken Store. The wind is most troublesome. My balance is not good. Hopefully I won't be blown over. 

Right now, at NOON:03, the rain is pretty regular, and the winds intermittent. I might give it a go in a few hours...

My heart is with The Pony. If my helicopter wasn't up on blocks, I would fly over him all day with a safety line attached, to lift him up if a slip occurs!

The Pinwheel Situation

I tried making my own pinwheels a few days ago, in an attempt to recreate the ones I get at the Country Mart deli.

I used a big flour tortilla. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on it. Put four slices of wafered Honey Ham on it. Then two slices of provolone cheese. The ham and cheese only covered one half of the tortilla. I started on that side, rolling it up tightly. Then I cut that log into six sections, and set them on their ends in a container to refrigerate overnight.

The next evening, I eagerly took my pinwheels to the table, along with a ramekin of green olives. AND a mini bag of BBQ potato chips. That's what I like at the end, the peeled-off sections of plain tortilla and cream cheese, with the chips.

I proceeded to feast upon those pinwheels. Hmm... not quite the same. As I peeled off the outer layer of the tortilla to save for my chips, the cream cheese flaked away in places. Oh, well. I DO think my cream cheese was past the best-by date, and not the best.

The taste was not quite the same as my storebought pinwheels. These had an almost sour taste. Not the cream cheese, because I had licked the knife after spreading it, and it was fine. So it must have been the provolone cheese. The store version uses Colby Jack, that mottled yellow and white cheese.

Also, my tortilla seemed a little stiff. Not dried-out, but not moister than a normal tortilla, like the store version gets. Granted, the store version includes a bit of lettuce and tomato in the wrap, and mine did not.

Oh, and my mini bag of chips seemed kind of flat, and when I went to open the top, I saw that there was already an opening! Like it didn't get sealed, or had been squooshed and popped open during shipment.

Not a grand pinwheel banquet as I had anticipated. Back to the drawing board.

I bought some Colby Jack cheese. And new cream cheese. I prepared my pinwheels the same way, but I first put down a leaf of romaine lettuce on the cream cheese. Then the Colby Jack. Then the ham. No tomato, because I only had cherry tomatoes, and didn't think I could slice them thin enough. I rolled it tight again. Cut into six sections. Put them in FRIG II overnight.

Last night I tried my second pinwheel experiment. IT WAS DELICIOUS! Tasted exactly the same as the storebought pinwheels. The only difference was the tortilla being very slightly less moist, though it was much better than the first time. I think the lettuce worked its magic. The cheese was perfect. That was the taste I was looking for. Also, my bag of chips was fully sealed this time.

Now I know I can make my own pinwheels!!! Though I'll probably buy them if they're available. It seems like more of a treat that way!

Farmer H Is The New Centipede

A few weeks ago, when Farmer H was having so much trouble with his feet, and had me order some special insoles... he said he also needed new shoes. He has been wearing Skechers for a couple years. He wears one pair until they are almost falling apart. I tell him he should alternate shoes, and that might help his feet feel better. That's what I did while teaching. I'd change to another pair after lunch. I kept them in my cabinet for that very purpose. It felt like I had new feet!

Anyhoo... last time I ordered shoes for Farmer H (he can't find the style he likes around here in the discount shoe stores), I got two pair of the same kind. He has worn out his second pair. Just when I was thinking I'd order his shoes the next day, Farmer H came in from his SUS2 (Storage Unit Store 2) carrying two pairs of Skechers. One was white leather with a little blue symbol on the side, kind of like a court shoe. The other was white mesh, more like the black style Farmer H likes, with a running/walking kind of sole. 

"Where'd you get those shoes?"

"They was in some stuff I traded one of my buddies at the lockers."

"They look new."

"They belonged to an old man that died. He didn't wear them much. I don't know if he even wore this one pair at all."

So... I was waiting to see if Farmer H wore those shoes, or still wanted me to order his. He wore the running style a couple days. I don't think he's tried the leather court shoes yet. But he DID ask if I'd ordered his shoes. I told him I'd been waiting, and that I would do it that day.

I searched my email for the confirmation on the last pairs I bought, to get the model number. The company I used to order them from has gone out of business. So I searched Amazon. Found the exact shoe, but in a 10.5 extra-wide instead of the 8.5 extra-wide that Farmer H needs. I found a slightly different color combo in an 8.5, but it was regular width. AND they both shipped from the UK, which would take two weeks. Nope.

I tried the official Skechers website. The only shoe I could find with that model number were WOMEN'S, and they did not look the same. The only thing that came up in my searches was on eBay. The model was one number off. The shoe looked the same, but was in gray, not black. It DID come in 8.5 extra-wide. It was on an eBay Commerce Store website. Said the shoes were new, in the box. 

I figured I should just order one pair, to see if Farmer H likes them. Then I thought how it had taken me an hour and 45 minutes to find this pair, so I might as well get two. I went through all the order stuff, deciding to pay with PayPal. That part went fine, then it sent me back to the eBay store. Which wanted me to prove I wasn't a robot, and click on a picture of a gorilla playing a saxophone. But that wasn't a choice, so I hit NEXT as instructed, and saw a picture of a roaring lion standing by a piano. This time it said to click on all "likenesses" of that photo. So I clicked on four roaring lions. Then it told me to finish my transaction on PayPal.

However... I was back to the order page, where I was not given a chance to SUBMIT or whatever word they use to finish a transaction. I was just trapped on that page. This was getting frustrating! I could have hired a cobbler to construct Farmer H a pair of shoes in this time! I clicked on the PayPal choice again. It took me back to PayPal. Where there was a button to complete my transaction. Which I clicked.

Well. You might have guessed by now. But I got two emails confirming my purchase. I HAD ORDERED FOUR PAIRS OF SHOES!

I don't expect Farmer H to grow three more pairs of feet. I'm hoping he likes these shoes, because he will be wearing them for a couple years! 

If he doesn't like them, there are going to be new shoes in the box for sale at his SUS2.

A Heartbreaking Tale Of Staggering Unusuality

I hesitate to tell this sad tale, but it has been bothering me since yesterday. So now it will bother you, too. Unless you decide to skip it. You still have time. You know it takes me a while to get to the point...

After leaving the Gas Station Chicken Store on Monday afternoon, I was sitting in T-Hoe at the 4-way intersection, waiting to cross over and go to 10Box. I know that the cars across from me, waiting to make their left turn, get the green arrow ahead of my line going straight across. There were five or six cars in that line, waiting for their green arrow. The cross traffic still had the green as we waited.

A blond lady got out of the second car in that left-turn lane, and walked up to the first car, a small SUV! What in the Not-Heaven? I've never seen anybody do this. She tapped on the window. I couldn't tell if the driver put the window down. Blondie was gesturing with both hands, pointing to the back of that SUV, then turning both hands palm up. Like she didn't know what to do.

I thought maybe that lady had run into the back of the SUV, and was wondering about where they could pull over to exchange insurance info. Or maybe she was trying to describe the damage, or no damage. The SUV driver made no move to get out. 

Blondie walked back to the rear of the SUV. She seemed to reach out for something, but I couldn't see. Then the light changed, and the SUV drove forward, and started the left turn. 

NOOOOO! Something flipped out from that SUV! I couldn't tell if it was off the bumper, or had been up on a tire, or in the wheel well. It looked like a little ground squirrel (or chipmunk as some might call it, but we don't here).

Blondie had to hustle back into her car, because it was holding up the line of traffic. All but the last one made it through the light. That little critter just lay there. Not moving. As I went across the intersection, I saw that it was NOT a ground squirrel. It was a little orangy-yellow kitten.

That broke my heart. I'm hoping it was instant. There was no movement at all. I don't know what else Blondie could have done. Or what the other driver could have done. It's a busy time for that intersection. Cars don't all make it through, and traffic gets backed up at the other two lights on the section of road I take home, that passes under the overpass.

I guess if Blondie could have reached it, she could have snatched that kitten off the SUV. But then she might have been stealing someone's pet. 

No answers. Just a sad situation. 

The Hassle Of Canceling

Farmer H and I have come to a monumental decision. We are about to cancel our landline! Which is through the phone company my dad worked for during the majority of his working life. It's the end of an era! Biting the hand that fed me through childhood, and put me through college. Lowering the value of the stock we still hold, left to me by my mom. Can you sense that I'm dragging my feet?

It seems like such a big deal, although my sister the ex-mayor's wife and the then-mayor canceled their landline many years ago, without a second thought. I've liked having our landline as a backup for when our cell phones didn't work well inside the house. They're better now. I have no problems if I sit at the kitchen table. Farmer H sometimes has to go out on the porch because his won't work in his recliner. But it seems to work fine in the basement!

Anyhoo... we've been having a static-y problem with that landline for over a year. Farmer H was too busy to be here and wait for a repairman. He has a gadget that confirmed the problem with the line was OUTSIDE the house. That means the phone company would be responsible for the repairs, and it wouldn't cost us anything.

I had noticed a month or two ago that we were not getting as many scam calls. In fact, we were not getting ANY calls on the landline. The machine said it had 22 messages. So I knew it wasn't full. I just kept putting that info in the back of my mind. Then a couple days ago, I picked up the phone. Static. Not even a dial tone now. I told Farmer H. He said to call for a repairman, that he'd stay home to deal with it. But I said, "Do we really need it?"

Let the record show that Farmer H has been on-board to drop that landline for several years. So he agreed. We DON'T really need it. We've been paying for nothing for a couple months. Before that, we were paying to get scam calls that we couldn't understand, or messages left by doctors and such that also left messages on our cell phones.

When I was looking up the number to call to cancel our landline service, I saw one link that said it could take 2-4 HOURS to cancel service! What in the NOT-HEAVEN? The thing is, with a cell phone from this company, you can call a different number, and follow an automated system, and cancel without even talking to a person. But for a landline, you get routed around to several people as they ask WHY you want to cancel, try to give you a better deal, and basically keep you waiting until you want to hang up before completing your task.

Believe me, I've been through this with our trash service before. And a TV service. It's no walk in the park. It might take me a few days to work up the gumption to make this call...