Following the Drama, 424 % Increase

 About 4 pm yesterday, a couple missed their dog. Finally, they found it was in a storm drain in a pipe.  Tiger Lily is 14-yrs-old. Finally, at 11 pm the dog was freed from the 18-inch pipe. I was so stressed and shed a few tears. The news today covered the rescue and recovery. I was really afraid the dog might be so stressed physically that she would die. Another blogger was much closer to the action.

Another blogger had a comment that all the cough drops in Walmart in another city were sold out. There were no cough drops in the whole store. Well, I depend on Halls Mentholyptus to keep me well and get me well. I use them to keep sinuses clear when suffering from allergies. On Wednesday night, I told Tommy that we would not come home today until I found them and bought them. 

Publix was out of the kind I wanted but had plenty of everything else. Next, we went to CVS in the same parking lot. There, I bought two packages just to be sure I had plenty. The price has gone up and the number of drops has drastically dropped! 

Before--$0.98 Now--$3.19

Before--40 in bag Now--30 in bag

Before--2.5 cents each Now--10.6 cents each

Increase in price from Before to Now-- 424% !!!

Read that last again. It is astounding. 

Now, I wonder if the size/weight of the cough drop is less. 

Maybe the exorbitant price jump is because I bought the Halls at CVS. I have no idea. 

Maybe the problem is that I bought the bags of Halls Mentholyptus cough drops. Maybe another store would be not so expensive. 

The person who commented said she had to throw away her stash because the drops had become sticky. Sticky is not a real problem other than the fact the paper wrapper will not come off. Bummer when that happens. 

I got sick of the last five cough drops in a bag being ruined the next fall when I needed them. Sometimes it was 20 cough drops I had to toss. No, it is impossible to get the paper off. Once, I was desperate and put the sticky drop with residue of paper in my mouth and kept taking it out to pick bits of paper out of my mouth and off the drop! Early the next day, I did go out and buy more. 

Now, I take the whole unopened bag and stuff it into a quart Ball canning jar with a used canning lid and ring. The plastic lids are not air-tight or waterproof. Dropping in an oxygen absorber might work, too. No, that would dry them out too much. Two bags will fit into a quart jar. Now that there are fewer drops, three bags might fit.

Tommy worked so much today; I was worrying about wearing him out. He watered, carried in three cases of 24-pack water, repotted my yellow pansy into the bunny planter, peeled the last two carrots and the rest of the potatoes, moved all the dishes from left hand side of sink so I could wash color from my hair, put all dirty utensils on a pan for me over the dishwasher, emptied garbage twice into outdoor can, dragged the outdoor can to the road, and other stuff I cannot remember. It seemed he was up and busy all day. Some of these chores I had told him days ago I wanted him to do them, but he decided to do them all today. 

Planting the pansies was something I planned to do until I have been so ill. I do not need the air, pollen, the dust, anything to make me sick again. I told him why I needed him to do the gardening...lol. 

I sort of slept well last night and slept for almost 7 hours. I awoke in dire need of the inhaler and other meds and have overcome the desire for a nap all day. 

Wednesday was a day of deep blue skies and fluffy clouds. Thursday was very pleasant, around 80 and low humidity. I could handle many days like this. Trees are starting to shed a few leaves. Some are turning a paler shade of green, almost imperceptible. 

Thursday night, I baked two bscb, two carrots, and a puny bit of potatoes. The reason I baked only two bscb is because that is what was in the package I thawed. Tommy had zucchini with his meal. We have as leftovers--1 bscb, two tiny pieces of potato, squash, and zucchini. 

Does the Autumn air affect your breathing, asthma, or allergies? 

Have you had a hard time finding cough drops? Have you ever had cough drops get sticky? 

Ads Are a Bit Better

 Wednesday, I wanted more salad to have with tomatoes, so Tommy went into Publix. Everything on the list was reduced, bogo or on sale.  Cheerios were bogo, as was the Fresh Express American salad mix. The biggie for me was carrots--two pounds for $1.79. So, I had him get four pounds, two packages. We may get more carrots before the sale goes off. We love carrots. The last time I bought carrots they were $1.29/lb. So, we have four pounds, each less than $0.90 cents. 

There were not many meat or vegetable ads we want to use, but if you want really cheap Nilla Vanilla Wafers, they are cheap at The Pig. There are lots of sales on snack stuff. The salad and carrots at Publix are better sales than I have seen lately. Most prices are only few cents cheaper.

On Wednesday, Tommy went out to water flowers. All of a sudden, the water was a fine mist and covering the porch I could see and the door. I wondered what was happening. Maybe his hand slipped, and the hose is on the ground. Maybe he is on the ground. Well, I will look in a minute, I thought. Finally, I saw him trying to hurry through the deep St. Augustine grass. When he came in, he said the hose developed a split. 

I gave him Alien Tape I bought and the directions to read. He took the Alien tape and went out to mend the hose and water flowers using a milk jug. He read the directions that said it might take 24 hours to make a good seal. Well, on TV the guy seals a hole in his boat and appears to use it immediately. Oh my! Maybe the ad is deceptive? At any rate, we will try to save the hose. I don't think either of us can replace the nozzle, the place where the split occurred. We do have another identical hose in the backyard. So, good for now, either way. 

Today, our only chore was to return two things--panties I bought 3 sizes too small, and a back brush. I did buy the correct size panties this time! Well, we did have another chore while out, but forgot it completely. So, it can be done when we are out tomorrow. 

Tommy stayed in the kitchen for a long time last night. Finally, he came in with a nasty gallon bag with rotting bacon, rotting I tell you. He found rotting salad. So, that went to garbage. I forgot what else he found, leftovers that were hidden. I just cannot bend so far for so long to find things. Besides, he shoves and shuffles things around. But, that is okay. 

Later, when I went into the kitchen and got something from the refrigerator, I was shocked. He had totally organized the refrigerator! I was so surprised. Good man! 

When we went out this morning, I commented that it smelled like something died outdoors. Looking around the porch, I could find nothing with my nose that might be the source of the stench. As he left to water, he said he supposed all the rotten food was now smelling. To high heaven, I would say. He took the garbage to the road before he watered, self-defense, I suppose since the flowers are near the garbage can. 

Last night, I could not go to sleep, so I sorted junk from Tommy's drawers in the bathroom. I have tossed things with expiration dates from 2002 to 2015. He won't miss a thing. I also piddled in the bedroom, sorting things of mine. I slept from about 6 am to 9:30 am and took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. So, sleepy right now. 

I am in the mood for chicken, rice, soup, and broccoli casserole. I think I will add thinly sliced carrot coins and thinly sliced celery, maybe some pimiento. Tommy said it sounded good when I told him the first four ingredients. I thought of the rest as a delicious and healthy afterthought. 

Tonight, we are having leftovers--roast, salad, with green beans for me, and tomato. I think Tommy is making a salad with greens mix, tomato, red, yellow and orange bell peppers, zucchini and squash slices. 

Well, That Went Sideways!

Yesterday, I arranged to have the garbage men come to the garbage in the backyard and carry it out for me and bring the can back. The arrangements went smoothly and everyone was nice.

This morning I looked out the door about 7:30 and the garbage was still in place, strapped to the porch railing. However, the can with recycling was empty! Oh, NO! I had tried so hard to do the right thing and now all the recycling was going to the dump! I actually was depressed, well, disheartened.

So, I called the office in the city and explained how things had gone wrong. He assured me the garbage men would get the trash. He had talked to recycling guys and they were going to get the recycling for me, too!

Whew, I felt foolish. Not only that, relief washed over me, knowing the recycling had not gone to the wrong place. Still, I wondered. I doubted.

Barry Manilow is on TV (8:30 am) singing 'Copacabana." The kids and I turned this song up on the radio in the car and sang along.

As I hung up the phone, I heard something outside. I got to the door and saw the empty trash can and saw the guy disappearing around the corner of the house. Feeling foolish, I called the guy in the city and told him it had all happened like he said it would. This was 8:15.

There have been mornings that I have tried to take just one light bag of trash to the road at 6:30 in the morning and the garbage can had been emptied, either mine or the neighbor's. So, today was an anomaly in terms of time.

When I awoke at 6:15 and went to the bathroom, I looked out the door window. I saw a possum tail disappearing under the house. The hole he went into once upon a time had a cute little window. One day, the window was blown out like it had been shoved out. I put the wooden window back together and tried to repair it. Repeatedly, something shoved the window out until I gave up and the window was just bits of wood and mangled screen.

So, I am up and did not get enough sleep.

At least my efforts righted without much effort and a lot of worrying on my part.

One of Tommy's neighbors saw him struggling to get the garbage can to the road while using his canes or the walker and now the guy takes his can to the road. Of course, the can now sits right in front of his house. He can drop things in without going down stairs or ramp.

Once again, yesterday I kept my blood sugar under control. Well, I did not check it but I did not have the fading away feeling and did not sleep at all during the day. I ate chocolate cake with milk and followed it with a chaser of chicken breast.

I just returned from the fourth Thursday night free dinner. We had pulled pork on a bun, container of bbq sauce at each place, green beans, mashed potatoes, potato chips, unsweetened tea, and apple pie. I did not eat the bun or chips. It was delicious. The pulled pork was in large chunks, making it taste better.

A trip to the pharmacy will quiet my cell texts.

Did you get lots of things done today? Doe your garbage service help seniors with disabilities?