Firstly, I know that there will be many people talking, and writing, about the mile-wide tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, yesterday and that we’ll be inundated with horrific images of the destruction of property, body and spirit.  Whether you pray or send good vibes, whether you are religious or not, I hope you take a moment to reflect on the tragedy and how thankful you are for who you have in your lives and how many those folks have lost.  Homes and possessions are replaceable and are ultimately just “things” – people and pets are not.

Secondly, as you may have read last week, I had a Cardiac MRI and yesterday morning I had a follow-up with Dr. Awesome (seriously, she is THE BEST!  I love her!!), who was happy to report that my ticker is maintaining status quo.  The scarring that she and the radiologist found in my heart on the last MRI (apparently I have had three MRIs… I don’t remember the first one) is still present, so while it hasn’t gone away, it hasn’t increased in size either.  So that’s a great thing.  She reiterated that her working hypothesis is that when I had gotten pneumonia years ago, it caused carditis, which caused the scarring, which caused me to end up developing V-Tach.  Super fun and also a great reason to not mess around with pneumonia, which I didn’t, I just didn’t have a long enough course of antibiotics.  A few years ago, I got the pneumo-vax along with my flu vax and I get hyper vigilant about being around people who say they think they might have the flu.  Stay away and let me put on my environmental suit!!

She told me that she’ll see me in another year as long as no issues come up before then, and before my next visit, I’ll get to wear a Holter monitor for a 24 or 48 hour recording.  I repeat the MRI in two years.  Damn, I’m expensive!  She also said that my Afrin nasal spray I’ve been using for allergies does as much damage to my nasal cavities as cocaine and was taken aback when I countered, “DAMN!  You mean I could have just been doing cocaine this WHOLE TIME?!”  She laughed, I laughed, the nurse laughed (cause, I’m pretty funny) and then she told me “No”, but that I shouldn’t use the spray more than two weeks; if I need something longer than that, I need to get on the horn with my GP and get something different.  Also, she told me to take up swimming since my knees bug me when I run and confirmed my Raynaud’s Phenomenon (my beta blocker makes it worse).

So the knees.  Yeah, sharp stabbing pains under the kneecaps when I’m running, sometimes when I’m bicycling and hiking = Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome.  Eventually, untreated, it will probably lead to arthritis.  Since I have relatives on my Mom’s side of the family who have had their knees replaced, I imaging letting it go without treatment a long time would result in said knee replacement.  That doesn’t sound fun.  So, best treatment = Physical Therapy.  That has to wait just a little bit.

Yesterday, I also had a job interview as set up through an employment agency.  I was interviewed by the company owner and the three main central office staff at a big conference table.  That was the first time that happened.  They all seemed like really great people, I think they really liked me, but I want to make sure I’m a good fit and mull things over.  I also got a voicemail from another place I sent a resume to saying they wanted me to come in for an interview, hopefully tomorrow.  Not as many hours for that job as the first interview, but not as many people in the office (I like my space) and about 15 miles closer to home.

Conclusion – meet them first.  Send out more resumes.  Weigh options.  Don’t say “Yes” to anything right away – think things over.  See, I have a plan of action!!

Insect spray.  NaturPel insect spray makes me break out in a rash.  BOO!  I’m sure I would have had a much bigger area of rashiness had I not had the wherewithal to wipe myself down after hiking with a wet wipe.  And then shower right away when I got home.  I guess I need to go back to essential oils and water… I might have to spray myself every 5 minutes, but at least it smells nice.

On that note… I don’t know nuthin’.  Oh wait, I do – I have a phone interview this morning.  So there’s that.  NOW I don’t know nuthin’.  Except that I need more coffee… and to mow the grass today.  And wash laundry.

I guess that means I know sumthin’.