1/16/2019

 Today marks the third anniversary of my mother's death.  She passed away on January 16, 2019, in a hospital.  She just turned 91.

This year will make 11 years since my father passed away.  Naturally, I miss both of my parents, but as I mentioned in an earlier blog, I am glad they are both gone.

The world spent all of 2020 and 2021 in a pandemic.  We will probably spend all of 2022 and 2023 with the coronavirus.  Had either of my parents stayed alive I would be worried about them catching it.  If they had to be in a nursing facility, I wouldn't have seen them on top of being worried about the hundreds of people in that circle.  Had they stayed with me I would have had to take extra care of myself to avoid getting it and being sick myself or transmitting it to them.  Mom lived in Florida for a while.  In addition to how their republican governor handles the pandemic, I would have had to travel to the "sunshine state"  almost every month.

With the exception of the initial shock, I never trip off death.  As a Christian and a believer of God, I firmly believe everything is his will.  They both lived to be over 80,  plus I had a father for 46 years and a mother for over 50.  And I am humble enough to be grateful.

MASKS

 Authorities are now saying that we should be wearing the K95 or the N95 mask.  According to the reports, the cloth mask and the surgical mask are no good in dealing with the omicron variant.  I sense shenanigans.

According to the new guidelines, the K95 and the N95 filter out the virus better and they fit properly over your face and nose.   I have seen some flimsy cloth masks but the ones I have fit snugly over my nose and mouth and have no openings on the side.  Interestingly, the surgical masks, which they are saying is not as good as the K95 or N95, is supposedly better than the cloth.  Every surgical mask I have seen is open at the side.  So how is this safe, and how is this better than a cloth.

Even more interesting, it is hard to find the K95 or N95.  And according to what I have read, you can wash them twice.  So what are we supposed to do?

BP ISSUES

On the day I got my negative Covid result after having the Coronavirus, I found out I have hypertension.  During my past doctor appointments, my blood pressure had been running high, lik3 138/85.  On my last visit, it was like 150-85.  On 11/29 I went to my allergist to get my new covid test and while I was there they checked my blood pressure and it was 150/100 on the left arm and something similar on the right arm.  I hadn't experienced any headaches or dizziness so he wasn't overly concerned, however, he had me get in touch with my primary physician.  I saw him over a video visit and he prescribed me a low dose of Amlodipine.

That's not exactly the main reason for this post.

Last year at this time I didn't have a primary doctor and one of my resolutions (I forgot to list in the last post) was to get a primary physician..  I used to have one across the street from my apartment and they were a part of Montefiore's medical group, but I was dissatisfied with them a few years ago and never went back. During the pandemic, I got connected with NY Presbyterian virtual clinic and through that, got connected with a regular doctor. In fact, I had seen my new doctor just two months before the blood pressure incident.  He is great.  He is pleasant and doesn't seem like I am a bother.  The last two doctors I had with Montefiore were awful.  The first was a bossy female and the second was a cranky old guy. You have to be able to communicate with your doctor in order to get good results. My new guy asks questions and listens to my concerns.  He prescribed a medication, but a low dose and he had me monitor the pressure.

This brings me to the second point of this post.   While monitoring my blood pressure, I noticed it did go down while taking the Amlodipine.  The left arm was a little higher than the right one, but for the most part the higher arm was still under 140/80, for the most part.  I ate boiled plantain one evening and the blood pressure dropped even further to about 128/70.  A couple of days after NOT eating plantain and the pressure was close to 140/80.  Every time I ate the plantain the pressure dropped, so I have a feeling my diet definitely wasn't right and I wasn't eating enough potassium.  I improved my diet since mid-December by eating plantains and leafy vegetables  And no, I don't overdo it on the plantain.  I eat a whole one, maybe two depending on my meal.  I don't want to overdo it on sweet stuff.

OLD RESOLUTIONS AND NEW

 It's time to put out new New Years Resolutions and reflect on the old ones/.

Last year I had six resolutions and I can honestly say I didn't do great, but I didn't do badly:

1.  Eat better:  I didn't do horrible with this one.  Covid kept me from going out a lot and I have been sauteeing spinach, asparagus, and Brussel sprouts more.  I could have done better, but I did do, so I accomplished this one.

2.  Prepare to retire:  I have been working on this also.  I went to a seminar and I have been checking on my numbers to see if I am in fact ready to retire and even though you are never really ready to retire...I am ready to go in three years.  I accomplished this one.

3.  Lose weight:  FAIL.  Next.

4.  Visit four cities and one new place:  I went to Portland Maine, DC, Indianapolis, Philly, and Boston.  I went to Buffalo for the first time and even though I have been to Niagara Falls, Indianapolis and Boston before, briefly, I had not specifically visited any of them until 2021.  Accomplishment.

5.  Purge the apartment of some of this stuff.  There is stuff to go, but I did purge a significant amount.  Accomplishment

6.  Blog more:  I accomplished this...barely.

Overall, I give myself a C+ or B- for this year.  I set realistic goals and I accomplished them.  

This year, I am setting these resolutions to accomplish:

1.  Visit five cities, with one being new.

2.  Eat better.  I found out I have high blood pressure.  I am on a low dose prescription, but I also found that plantains have helped keep the pressure down, so I will do that plus up the veggies.  I am trying to keep in rotation spinach, Brussel sprouts, asparagus, plantains, broccoli, string beans and carrots.  At least one each meal.

3.  Exercise more

4.  Write more.

5. Set a retirement date and create post-retirement goals.

6.  Finally learn to drive.

7.  Renew license and passport

NEW TITLE

 Ok, hopefully for the last time I have changed the name of this particular blog. I have renamed this....

GarrulousJae.blogspot.com

Or just copy the address