Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: July 16~22, 2023

[SouthernBreeze]

Southern Breeze, check the expiration dates on your Auguston Farms items. I just received an order,yesterday. The expiration on the bottoms were not 25 years. Half said Nov 2033 Others 2036. Only 1 item said 2049. I was disappointed to say the least.

After reading your post, I went and checked what I've already received. Every can was manufactured either in May or March of this year. Some of what I ordered only has a 10 yr. shelf life, and some has a 25 yr. shelf life. I'm good. I will keep a check on items I order from now on, though, so thank you.

 

[briches]

Got a lot of cleaning and organizing done again yesterday - another big bag headed for the thrift store and a bit to the trash. Feels good.
Hubby and I made a two week meal plan to start trying. We will expand from there, but I like the idea. Hopefully will help with grocery shopping and health.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

DS called last night to tell us that our local Walmart is remodeling the store and taking out several shelves to make the aisles wider. I wonder if this will cause them to begin carrying less product. He also said they were going to be charging for their plastic bags from now on, too. Has this happened at anyone else's Walmart? We don't shop there, but I have to wonder what's going on with them.

 

[prudentwatcher]

Made a trip to WM yesterday for a few things, not prep related. School supplies are out. I always stock up on spiral notebooks and pens. Still have tons of crayons for the grandkids.

Got a hair product for me. Used to be $2.97. They put it in a different color bottle (same size) and now charge $4.97. I also noticed that the generic mac and cheese is now 58 cents a box, up from 50 cents, which was up from 33 cents before covid.

Didn't have a lot of time to look around, but I was depressed enough with the prices. Did find a couple of things on the clearance rack that were good until 4/24 that will be headed to the food pantry.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Gosh! Unless it's a mistake on their part, our heat index is forecast to reach 124, today! We're under a heat advisory, too. We got those severe storms last night around 8pm, but we're ok. No damage, but our power sure did flicker off and on.

Lots of garden produce this morning. After putting those pints of tomatoes in my freezer, I'm going to water bath can them from here on out. I can water bath can as few or as many jars as I need to at one time. That way, I'm not filling my much needed freezer space with bags of tomatoes. Until I bought my pressure canner, I always water bath canned my tomatoes, and I haven't had a jar ruin, yet. I always add lemon juice and salt. I don't know why I didn't think of water bath canning those, yesterday. Duh.

 

[kyrsyan]

With WW, it's a wag as to whether they will be carrying less product. It depends on which sections are being rearranged and how many overall shelves are being removed. But with the economy overall and the number of available items that have disappeared, yes WW would use something like removing shelving, widening aisles, changing shelving heights to disguise a change in stock levels. Sometimes they will grow one section while reducing another. You would be surprised how much they can hide just by spacing things a little wider.

And I've got good health news this week. Ever since they finally realized that the kidney issue was yeast, and treated it, the weird diet things are gone. I no longer need to eat beef, venison, or lamb on a daily basis. And I can eat egg yolks again. The realization about the meat was gradual. I forgot and then realized that I had forgotten for a week. So now I'll just work my way through the beef summer sausages at a bit slower pace. The egg was also an accidental discovery. I got a tiny bit in one of my morning omelets. I was expecting pain to pay for that. A week later there was no pain. So I tried leaving the yolk in. No pain. I can eat yolks again. Yeah!!!

Brain is definitely back online. The ability to see connections and analyze things is much, much better. And my work speed is picking back up. Although boss is complaining that she wants me to slow down. Geez.

Off to make lunch. Then admire my new maslin pan for a bit. Then do some patching and housework because it's raining outside. I'll probably have a few more massive cucumbers tomorrow. Seriously off when we have this much rain in July. And I am, hopefully, raiding Costco this weekend for cherries. I want to test making a few small batches of different sugar free cherry jams. And the first experiment will be whether I need to add any type of sweetener at all to get a good flavor. I already had a habit of reducing sweetener levels.

But, as much as I'm looking forward to jam, a good chunk of the reason to go out is to test drive the van and apply some diagnostics. That way I can move forward on getting things fixed.

 

[moldy]

Didnt seem like much, but i took 2 kittens to be fixed, delivered paperwork to the lawyer, weeded the garden ( part of it), made cucumber salad and yogurt, and worked on business stuff today...Oh and hit the grocery store.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Storms came through again, yesterday. I managed to quickly get the laundry off the line, before the rain hit. Storms weren't even in our forecast, so I guess the humidity got so high it kicked them off. Heat advisory is still in effect.

Today is my appointment with my eye specialist to check my cataracts and macular degeneration. I'm quite nervous about it, because I know he's going to say I need surgery soon to have the cataracts removed.

We'll be stopping in at Sam's while in big town. I have a rather long list to get there. It will be a long while, before I have to go back.

Our tomatoes are coming in faster now, so canning is on my schedule for tomorrow. We also have baby green beans, finally! I didn't think they were going to produce anything, since they were planted so late.

 

[nomifyle]

Before I had my cataracts removed I had some kind of potential eye issue, but removing the cataracts solved that problem, I don't remember what it was. After the surgery I no longer need glasses except for reading. Since I was use to wearing glasses and felt naked without them I got some bifocal reading glasses, just for giggles sake I now have glasses in several different colors and can match them to my clothes. Although my distance vision isn't quite as sharp as it was right after my surgery. The surgery was no big deal.

I got overwhelmed with the amount of tomatoes that I needed to do something with and decided to cut the core out and quarter them and put them in zip locks in the freezer. I can always dehydrate some later. Now I have 5 one gallon bags of quartered tomatoes in the freezer.

Since I got my grocery pick up the other day I've got another list going. I wanted to add more dried lentils, black beans and chick peas to the stash. wm is out of dry chick peas, but I've got the other two on my growing list. I also found a good deal on lentils on amazon and on chick peas from vitacost. I got ten pounds of each from both of those places. wm seems to have a supply of dry black beans.

I've found a couple of recipes for bread using lentils and seeds on utube. Might be a decent substitution for ezekiel bread if I can find it and it gets too expensive. When I first started my diet I was eating one piece a day with avaccado on it. I love avaccado toast.

The one recipe I found has you bake the bread in glass jars and it lasts unopened for up to a year. The sound is in a foreign language but has sub titles.

 

[John Deere Girl]

Before I had my cataracts removed I had some kind of potential eye issue, but removing the cataracts solved that problem, I don't remember what it was. After the surgery I no longer need glasses except for reading. Since I was use to wearing glasses and felt naked without them I got some bifocal reading glasses, just for giggles sake I now have glasses in several different colors and can match them to my clothes. Although my distance vision isn't quite as sharp as it was right after my surgery. The surgery was no big deal.

I got overwhelmed with the amount of tomatoes that I needed to do something with and decided to cut the core out and quarter them and put them in zip locks in the freezer. I can always dehydrate some later. Now I have 5 one gallon bags of quartered tomatoes in the freezer.

Since I got my grocery pick up the other day I've got another list going. I wanted to add more dried lentils, black beans and chick peas to the stash. wm is out of dry chick peas, but I've got the other two on my growing list. I also found a good deal on lentils on amazon and on chick peas from vitacost. I got ten pounds of each from both of those places. wm seems to have a supply of dry black beans.

I've found a couple of recipes for bread using lentils and seeds on utube. Might be a decent substitution for ezekiel bread if I can find it and it gets too expensive. When I first started my diet I was eating one piece a day with avaccado on it. I love avaccado toast.

The one recipe I found has you bake the bread in glass jars and it lasts unopened for up to a year. The sound is in a foreign language but has sub titles.

I don't think I would trust the bread in jars. I know some people can breads and cake in canning jars, but I think it's really risky.

 

[summerthyme]

I don't think I would trust the bread in jars. I know some people can breads and cake in canning jars, but I think it's really risky.

I agree. I might make an exception for the Boston Brown Bread recipes, because the molasses component decreases the pH. But I'm not sure it gets acid enough to be safe.

When I bake yeast bread, I use an instant read thermometer in the center... when it reaches 175° in the center, it's done. It requires 255°F to be maintained for anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes for safe low acid canning... you won't ever reach that.

Summerthyme

 

[nomifyle]

I don't think I would trust the bread in jars. I know some people can breads and cake in canning jars, but I think it's really risky.

Here is the video: You have to click on it to see the video on utube

6:51min

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGgm9jZTrM0&list=PLmUWMxwnlZ63qBA9IikiD959VRDpN3Tu7&index=1

 

[SouthernBreeze]

My doctor's visit left me stunned. Turns out, the small cataracts aren't the problem. The macular degeneration has gotten much worse in my right eye. That's what's causing all my vision problems. So, my doctor is sending me to a macular degeneration specialist. I have an appointment with her August 8. My doctor treats it, but wants me to see her with my problem, because it's her specialty.

I've been struggling with trying to read, even here on the forum, for a while now. I just knew I would have cataract surgery to fix my problem, but I now know it's not going to happen. So, my time here will be limited from now on. My doctor doesn't even want me driving anymore, unless it's an emergency.

I haven't been out to the gardens, yet. I guess I'm a bit discouraged right now. We're in for more severe storms today through tomorrow morning, and the grass and weeds are taking over everything. We're still getting lots of produce, though. Cary is afraid that I will get snake bit by going to the big garden, since the weeds are taking it over. I can't see the ground well enough, and with my eyesight being the way it is, to be able to see a snake if it's camouflaged, until it moves or rattles. I can only go when he can go with me.

When in Sam's, yesterday, the store was packed with product. It sure didn't look like any kind of shortage on anything was going on. We got everything on my list, although there was a huge price increase on most items I bought. The special eye vitamins I got there a year ago were $26 and some change. Yesterday, they were $40 and some change!!!! I go through 2 bottles a year.

 

[kyrsyan]

SB, sending hugs. Hopefully the specialist will be able to help.

 

[nomifyle]

Sherree Praying for you an CaryC.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Thanks, you gals for your prayers.

From what I understood from my doctor, yesterday, the specialist will treat with eye drops and eye injections. Plus, I will continue with the eye vitamins I buy from Sam's that I've been prescribed. This will only slow the progression, but not cure it. I have to wear sunglasses anytime I'm in UV or blue light, too. That makes the MD worse, according to my doctor. So, I'm sitting here typing with my sunglasses on, LOL. I already have a UV screen blocker on my screen, but it hasn't helped much with the glare. My eyes are already very sensitive to UV light, anyway. I'm thinking of going ahead and getting the transition lenses glasses if the specialist thinks it's for the best. Its a hassle taking the sunglasses on and off all day long.

The scariest thing in the world to me is losing my eyesight, so I hope and pray that it can be slowed down enough to where I can retain it until my death. Cary is absolutely beside himself over this. He knows that if I lose my eyesight, and after he's gone, I will be totally dependent on someone else for my well being. There is no one else, except oldest DH. He is already looking forward (NOT) to having to house and care for his MIL in the future.

I also wanted to add that my diagnosis is late stage dry macular degeneration, called geographic atrophy.

 

[kyrsyan]

Thanks, you gals for your prayers.

From what I understood from my doctor, yesterday, the specialist will treat with eye drops and eye injections. Plus, I will continue with the eye vitamins I buy from Sam's that I've been prescribed. This will only slow the progression, but not cure it. I have to wear sunglasses anytime I'm in UV or blue light, too. That makes the MD worse, according to my doctor. So, I'm sitting here typing with my sunglasses on, LOL. I already have a UV screen blocker on my screen, but it hasn't helped much with the glare. My eyes are already very sensitive to UV light, anyway. I'm thinking of going ahead and getting the transition lenses glasses if the specialist thinks it's for the best. Its a hassle taking the sunglasses on and off all day long.

The scariest thing in the world to me is losing my eyesight, so I hope and pray that it can be slowed down enough to where I can retain it until my death. Cary is absolutely beside himself over this. He knows that if I lose my eyesight, and after he's gone, I will be totally dependent on someone else for my well being. There is no one else, except oldest DH. He is already looking forward (NOT) to having to house and care for his MIL in the future.

I also wanted to add that my diagnosis is late stage dry macular degeneration, called geographic atrophy.

I don't know if you wear regular glasses, but if you do there's a tint available now that does wonders. I haven't had luck with the supposed blue light settings on my phone or computer monitors but the tint on the computer glasses helps a lot. It helps enough that I'm considering getting a pair of my regular strength lenses with the tint. Because some days, it really takes my eyes a few minutes to adapt back to full spectrum when I take off the computer glasses.

If you don't wear regular glasses, there used to be films you could buy to apply to your monitors.

I'm extremely and oddly sensitive to some color ranges. Up to and including wearing sunglasses during cloudy weather when the overcast hits those color ranges. And I cannot wear sunglasses in any color except amber. The grey/black tints will actually trigger a headache. And recently I was given a pair of the old clunky, over the glasses pair of sunglasses and realized that I like them a lot because they also filter the side light. You might consider finding some wrap around lenses to help filter out as much UV light as possible.

 

[John Deere Girl]

Thanks, you gals for your prayers.

From what I understood from my doctor, yesterday, the specialist will treat with eye drops and eye injections. Plus, I will continue with the eye vitamins I buy from Sam's that I've been prescribed. This will only slow the progression, but not cure it. I have to wear sunglasses anytime I'm in UV or blue light, too. That makes the MD worse, according to my doctor. So, I'm sitting here typing with my sunglasses on, LOL. I already have a UV screen blocker on my screen, but it hasn't helped much with the glare. My eyes are already very sensitive to UV light, anyway. I'm thinking of going ahead and getting the transition lenses glasses if the specialist thinks it's for the best. Its a hassle taking the sunglasses on and off all day long.

The scariest thing in the world to me is losing my eyesight, so I hope and pray that it can be slowed down enough to where I can retain it until my death. Cary is absolutely beside himself over this. He knows that if I lose my eyesight, and after he's gone, I will be totally dependent on someone else for my well being. There is no one else, except oldest DH. He is already looking forward (NOT) to having to house and care for his MIL in the future.

I also wanted to add that my diagnosis is late stage dry macular degeneration, called geographic atrophy.

I'm praying for you! God is bigger than this!

 

[philkar]

Oh SB what so sorry to hear this. Praying that God will comfort both you and Cary.

 

[hd5574]

SB
Be sure to ask your new eye doctor about the tints in sun glasses also...I wear hard contacts and because they let more light into my eyes...I can only wear gray to black sun glasses.... green will drive me screaming into the void..and brown and amber hurt....let her guide you...
Led lights in the house also hurt my eyes if I have my lens in...I can not stay in the room with led lights... be sure to check with her about lighting inside your house...
I know exactly what you are feeling....I was terrified last January when I had shingles...I thought it was a sty and then another sty and it developed into large blisters... first in right eye....then moved to right side of my face ...I spent several hours in shear panic thinking I would go blind in that eye...before I calmed down and gave it all to Jesus...I was sent to a wonderful Christian eye doctor who...who totally saved my eye sight....I have no doubt that Jesus was there every step of the way...I had no loss of vision ...if you had seen my eye you would be blown away...give it all to him and have total faith....

We are praying for you..I will put you on my cousin's church prayer list in AZ.... miracles do happen..

 

[nomifyle]

Working on laundry, I've been remiss in keeping it up. I've made a big dent in it today so I should have it caught up tomorrow.

So glad to have that big amount of tomatoes taken care of, now what to do with them and the other whole ones I have in the freezer.

 

[philkar]

Can’t believe it is finally Friday. Hot and dusty here. Garden seems to be gasping but managed to butcher today. We never grew those huge broilers before. Lost none to feet issues. Average dressed weight 11 pounds! 8 weeks old. Managed to butcher 6 an hour with 3 of us working. Proud that we made it to the end. Always a long to do list but hopefully we will be rested by tomorrow!

 

[summerthyme]

Working on laundry, I've been remiss in keeping it up. I've made a big dent in it today so I should have it caught up tomorrow.

So glad to have that big amount of tomatoes taken care of, now what to do with them and the other whole ones I have in the freezer.

Thaw them in the freezer bags (I assume?) Until ice crystals are gone. Snip a small corner of the bag and allow the water to drain. Presto, you have just cut your cooking time down by probably 80%. My "puree", made from the drained frozen tomatoes run through a Victorio strainer makes spaghetti sauce just adding the usual vegetables and seasonings. With just enough cooking time to suitably soften the vegetables. Ready to serve or can, which finishes the cooking process, but gives a product more remiscent of a fresh marinara than a long simmered sauce.

It's a huge time and energy saver! Plus, if you have the freezer room ( I don't think we do, this year), you can hold them until cooler weather, or until some slower maturing vegetable or herbs are ready.

You can also set up a large colander over a big sauce kettle, and dump the contents of the thawed bags. The "snipped corner" is much less messy, but slower. Since we do up to 8-10 bushels, we do it outdoors, under the Pavillion roof where we can hose off the cement when we're done.

Summerthyme

 

[anna43]

My potatoes are all dug and in the house. I was working on digging this evening when a neighbor saw me and came and did the digging! What a blessing. The potato harvest was decent. Not like it would have been if we'd had proper rain, but still another blessing. Still no rain in the next week's forecast and temps are going to be climbing each day into the 90's as the week progresses.

Tomorrow a crew from my church is coming to paint the house. Two of the men have been here a couple hours several days working on washing the siding, scraping paint and caulking here and there. Another huge blessing.

I went to town to pick up the shoes I ordered and dropped off donations to thrift store that supports men's homeless shelter. I had two boxes of stuff in the garage which I took totally forgetting I also had a bag of clothing in the guest room.

Our small local grocery store is a non-profit and struggling. I was in twice this week and the meat counter was nearly empty. A lot of empty spaces on shelves too. I'm guessing the shortages are not due supplies being unavailable but rather due to lack of funds to re-stock. Prices are very high although I've found on some thing's prices are within a few cents of Fareway. A 12-pack of Pepsi was 1¢ less than at Dollar General. The frozen pizza I like is the same price as Fareway. Since I do the majority of my food buying at Aldi, I seldom go to Fareway and haven't been in HyVee in over a year. Getting the HyVee ad online is a pain in the backside so I don't see the specials so no point in going there. Fareway ad arrives weekly in my e-mail. Aldi ad is also easy to access although i seldom bother.

Prayers for everyone especially those having health issues.

 

[Digger]

SB, praying for your eye sight.

We had more storms yesterday morning. Another 1 1/2 of rain. Usually we are dry as can be by now. I can't stay ahead of the grass and weeds.

Yesterday's storm had lots of thunder and lightning. Lightning hit a tree about 15 feet from the house. It also hit our house. We have some stuff to replace and there are a couple of scorch marks in the attic. But we are blessed that the house is ok. We can fix some stuff and replace others. We are still looking to see if we find anything not working. My phone charger by my bed didn't work when I plugged my phone in last night. But it was just the charger fried. We will be replacing my range hood, 2 TVs, a computer, and maybe my washer. A couple of ceiling fans, a light fixture in the attic, our base to the home phones, and several other odds and ends. We are having that tree taken down also. We had already been talking about removing it or trimming it way back. But now, it may die so removal seems best.

I hope to get the yard mowed today. I am going out to weed eat as soon as my coffee kicks in. I have a lot of housework to do too. We will see how long my energy holds out. Friends invited us to supper so I don't have to cook. I can work till I have to clean myself up enough to be presentable. All they needed me to bring is tomatoes from my garden.

Take care and have a blessed day.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I don't know if you wear regular glasses, but if you do there's a tint available now that does wonders. I haven't had luck with the supposed blue light settings on my phone or computer monitors but the tint on the computer glasses helps a lot. It helps enough that I'm considering getting a pair of my regular strength lenses with the tint. Because some days, it really takes my eyes a few minutes to adapt back to full spectrum when I take off the computer glasses.

If you don't wear regular glasses, there used to be films you could buy to apply to your monitors.

I'm extremely and oddly sensitive to some color ranges. Up to and including wearing sunglasses during cloudy weather when the overcast hits those color ranges. And I cannot wear sunglasses in any color except amber. The grey/black tints will actually trigger a headache. And recently I was given a pair of the old clunky, over the glasses pair of sunglasses and realized that I like them a lot because they also filter the side light. You might consider finding some wrap around lenses to help filter out as much UV light as possible.

I do wear regular glasses. The shades that I've been wearing are those clip on kind that you wear over your own glasses. I'm going to talk to the new MD specialist about what she recommends and go from there. I know I'll have to be wearing sunglasses a lot, now, so she may recommend I go to the transition lenses. I'll just need a new prescription to get those.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I got up this morning thanking and praising God that I can still see. I haven't lost my eyesight, yet and might never. I was really bummed out, yesterday, but today, I just want to thank and praise Him. I still have a lot to be thankful for, and I know that His grace and mercy are always with me. Thanks, All for your prayers. Much appreciated.

It's still hard for me to read, especially smaller print. My left eye is still in perfect shape, so that is a blessing in itself. Vision is just a bit blurry and straight lines are sorta squiggly. Due to the small blind spot in my right eye, smaller print words disappear on the page. When sitting for a while trying to read, it gives me a super headache, so I'm not able to read as much.

We got storms again yesterday afternoon. More rain this morning. I think our big garden is lost, unless is dries out really soon, so we can take care of the grass and weeds. Our tomatoes are beginning to taste like water, so are the cucumbers. No flavor at all, so I'm not putting up any more tomatoes. Cary has nice size watermelons, but most of them are mildewing on the vines. We are very thankful for what we've got from our gardens this year. I keep having to remind myself that the weather is all in God's hands, and there is a purpose for everything.

God bless You All.

 

[Illini Warrior]

My sister called me and was saying that the vinegar companies were reducing it down to 4% instead of 5%. Have you all heard anything like that? I'll get more info from her about where she heard it later. She was corralling chickens.
Been cleaning up the canning stuff. I've got enough cucs to start some fermenting.
And I'll put some bread in the bread machine, too hot to turn on the oven.

this posting started a VINEGAR discussion - seems like a lot of interest and I know we have plenty of DIYers here >>>>

article today over at SurvivalBlog >>> How to Make and Use Vinegar. Rust Remover. . Salad dressings. Stir fry. Pickling.

After the SHTF when every survivor must learn home canning as well as make their own cleaning products and limited antiseptics, vinegar making is a skill every household will need to master. Today it’s a fun activity and a way to put our canning waste to good use but after the Crash, it will be one of the most important food-preservatives available to us. Thus, it’s one more necessary skill we should all have on our TEOTWAWKI resumes.

 

[CountryKate]

Thanks for the information on vinegar making. It made me realize that I didn't have any PH test strips in my preps. I just ordered them from Amazon.

 

[anna43]

Digger, when you file your insurance claim on items lost, include the tree. My insurance paid a flat $500 for a tree hit by lightning in front of the house. This was probably 20 years ago.

One year when the weeds got ahead of us, we mowed between the rows.

The "crew" arrived at 8:00 this morning and finished at noon. House and trim all painted, and everything cleaned up. I had to go and buy another gallon of paint to finish. I will make a note in my house journal about the amounts of paint for future use. There were six or seven men, and all knew what they were doing and got it done! I stayed out of their way!!

I noticed while at the hardware store waiting on the paint that they have a full supply of canning equipment, jars and lids. Presto canners were $149 and $169. I bought mine at auctions for $15 and $6 and one was like new and the other was new. The lid of the new one had a broken handle, but I knew I could easily order a replacement so bought it.

 

[kyrsyan]

Been an emotional whiplash day. It was time to take the van on the road. Today was the first day where I had the mental control and there was a good safety net in place in case things went sideways.

I got son to friend's house with no issues. That is normally great. Except that I deliberately drove the crud road section in the hopes of having the problem reappear.

Anyways, I leave friend's house and the panic attack hit. Yeah, I'm one of those who gets hit with them after the fact. My vision went wonky so I pulled over at a thrift I knew and just walked for a bit. Safe place. Deep breathing. Etc.

I feel okay so I get back in van and head to Costco. Walk into Costco and realize my chest is locked and I'm having problems breathing. Now mentally, I'm fine. Except I cannot bloody breathe.

Call a friend. Normally I do this so I can just listen to someone else talk and get outside of my own head. She has me find a corner and runs me through a really quick 5 senses meditation. We hit step two and I have tears running down my face.

I'm not actively crying or sobbing in any way. But there are tears running down my face.

By the end, I can breathe. The worst of the attack is past. I go spend some time in the produce fridge picking cherries and strawberries. That helps some more.

By the time I get back to the van, with the other glitches life tossed at me, I was done. I felt like I had run a marathon. But I still had one stop I needed to make. Actually two, because I needed gas.

So I call friend. Decision is made that I get gas and go back to his house. Then we'll all go from there, son in his car, and stop at the grocery on the way to my house.

I get to his house. He very deliberately delays me for an hour or so. Then we get on the road home.

Long story short, on the last leg of the trip the vibration returns just as I get to a road that I can safely turn off onto. It took some not normal driving to get it to come back again. I was able to do the transmission test I was told to do. (Drop it in neutral at speed.) I was actually able to test it twice.

It's not the transmission. I still get somewhat giddy with that thought. It's not the transmission.

Now I know what needs to be done. But tomorrow. Because going from severe panic attack to giddy releaf has my system very, very overloaded and tired. It's going to take all I have to rinse cherries and strawberries and get them in the fridge.

It's not the transmission. And I'm so glad I got rotisserie chicken for dinner.

 

[nomifyle]

Been an emotional whiplash day. It was time to take the van on the road. Today was the first day where I had the mental control and there was a good safety net in place in case things went sideways.

I got son to friend's house with no issues. That is normally great. Except that I deliberately drove the crud road section in the hopes of having the problem reappear.

Anyways, I leave friend's house and the panic attack hit. Yeah, I'm one of those who gets hit with them after the fact. My vision went wonky so I pulled over at a thrift I knew and just walked for a bit. Safe place. Deep breathing. Etc.

I feel okay so I get back in van and head to Costco. Walk into Costco and realize my chest is locked and I'm having problems breathing. Now mentally, I'm fine. Except I cannot bloody breathe.

Call a friend. Normally I do this so I can just listen to someone else talk and get outside of my own head. She has me find a corner and runs me through a really quick 5 senses meditation. We hit step two and I have tears running down my face.

I'm not actively crying or sobbing in any way. But there are tears running down my face.

By the end, I can breathe. The worst of the attack is past. I go spend some time in the produce fridge picking cherries and strawberries. That helps some more.

By the time I get back to the van, with the other glitches life tossed at me, I was done. I felt like I had run a marathon. But I still had one stop I needed to make. Actually two, because I needed gas.

So I call friend. Decision is made that I get gas and go back to his house. Then we'll all go from there, son in his car, and stop at the grocery on the way to my house.

I get to his house. He very deliberately delays me for an hour or so. Then we get on the road home.

Long story short, on the last leg of the trip the vibration returns just as I get to a road that I can safely turn off onto. It took some not normal driving to get it to come back again. I was able to do the transmission test I was told to do. (Drop it in neutral at speed.) I was actually able to test it twice.

It's not the transmission. I still get somewhat giddy with that thought. It's not the transmission.

Now I know what needs to be done. But tomorrow. Because going from severe panic attack to giddy releaf has my system very, very overloaded and tired. It's going to take all I have to rinse cherries and strawberries and get them in the fridge.

It's not the transmission. And I'm so glad I got rotisserie chicken for dinner.

sounds like you have some amazing friends, you are blessed and I'm praying for you.

 

[kyrsyan]

sounds like you have some amazing friends, you are blessed and I'm praying for you.

I do. And I'm so glad to have them.

I had to take a nap. Not even a long one. But the body definitely need to do a reset.

I got the strawberries rinsed and in the fridge. I'm about to do the same for the cherries.

And then it's time for bed. Tomorrow I have to do the lawn. And then start canning.

 

[herbgarden]

I am praying for all of you who have shared troubles and for those of you on this thread who have not shared problems. May God bless each and every one of you. And may it be abundantly.

 

[John Deere Girl]

Been an emotional whiplash day. It was time to take the van on the road. Today was the first day where I had the mental control and there was a good safety net in place in case things went sideways.

I got son to friend's house with no issues. That is normally great. Except that I deliberately drove the crud road section in the hopes of having the problem reappear.

Anyways, I leave friend's house and the panic attack hit. Yeah, I'm one of those who gets hit with them after the fact. My vision went wonky so I pulled over at a thrift I knew and just walked for a bit. Safe place. Deep breathing. Etc.

I feel okay so I get back in van and head to Costco. Walk into Costco and realize my chest is locked and I'm having problems breathing. Now mentally, I'm fine. Except I cannot bloody breathe.

Call a friend. Normally I do this so I can just listen to someone else talk and get outside of my own head. She has me find a corner and runs me through a really quick 5 senses meditation. We hit step two and I have tears running down my face.

I'm not actively crying or sobbing in any way. But there are tears running down my face.

By the end, I can breathe. The worst of the attack is past. I go spend some time in the produce fridge picking cherries and strawberries. That helps some more.

By the time I get back to the van, with the other glitches life tossed at me, I was done. I felt like I had run a marathon. But I still had one stop I needed to make. Actually two, because I needed gas.

So I call friend. Decision is made that I get gas and go back to his house. Then we'll all go from there, son in his car, and stop at the grocery on the way to my house.

I get to his house. He very deliberately delays me for an hour or so. Then we get on the road home.

Long story short, on the last leg of the trip the vibration returns just as I get to a road that I can safely turn off onto. It took some not normal driving to get it to come back again. I was able to do the transmission test I was told to do. (Drop it in neutral at speed.) I was actually able to test it twice.

It's not the transmission. I still get somewhat giddy with that thought. It's not the transmission.

Now I know what needs to be done. But tomorrow. Because going from severe panic attack to giddy releaf has my system very, very overloaded and tired. It's going to take all I have to rinse cherries and strawberries and get them in the fridge.

It's not the transmission. And I'm so glad I got rotisserie chicken for dinner.

I'm so sorry! I'm praying for you! Panic attacks are not fun, especially when one is out and about!

 

[kyrsyan]

I'm so sorry! I'm praying for you! Panic attacks are not fun, especially when one is out and about!

I can't remember the last time I had one that bad. I don't remember having one bad enough to affect my vision ever. And God, the sillies when the relief hit. I crashed hard last night.

After this whole vehicle mess is straightened out, I'm going to have to figure out how to disconnect that panic button. I understand why and how it got created. Now I have to figure out how to destroy it.

This week I'm going to check all the tires and figure out where the two oldest are. If I'm right, one is on the front now, and one is on the back. Either way, both will be replaced. But if it comes down to having to replace one at a time, I'll start with the one on the back.

Dad told me about a tire shop near where he used to live. Said it was full of old tire professionals who tend to work on truck or RV tires but also do regular vehicle tires. I'll probably give them a call and price things out. Including another alignment.

Wow. Waking up this morning was a bit surprising. More energy, less stress cloud. But brain is probably still going to be scrambled for a few days.

Strawberries and cherries got their vinegar rinse and repack last night. After the lawn this morning, I'll get those started. And I gave myself permission to just enjoy some of the cherries last night. I don't normally indulge that much but figured that at $2/lb I could. Yum. So much yum.