mystery | Piss and Moan

Life distracted

If you have been following along for any time, or have gone back and read some of the old stuff, you know that I have a family member who has a mystery illness that has yet to be figured out. Specialists have looked and they basically have shrugged and said, “Not my system. Check with someone else.” When they are pointing their figers at another bodily system, which leaves us with a bunch of docs point at each other, what does that leave us to do?

We start over, I guess.

Wednesday of last week was spend (at least most of it) in an ER some 50+ miles away. Part of that was to push a referral process along and part of it was the fact that the ER/hospital is not only approved by insurance but is connect to or works closely with the specialist with the insurance parent company/clinic.

Confusing, right?

Anyway, ER time equals overnight observation and a test that hadn’t been done yet but which we has pushed for with the first specialist. Thursday was mostly spend waiting for a test and then waiting for results. As it turns out, that test revealed nothing other than everything appears to be “normal.”

Yet the doctors that have seen the family memeber agree there is definitely something wrong.

I am at work today but needless to say, I am distracted. It’s been that way since this all started. Hard to focus. Hard to get stuff done.

Actually, it’s hard to do anything in life really. I am constantly reminded or thinking of something than whatever I am doing. I am find that I don’t really enjoy anything because I am always thinking about the other person. They don’t enjoy anything because they can’t physically do it or when they try they suffer the whole time they endure it.

Endure it.

Really, that’s what life has become. Everything is about enduring every activity, interaction, location, meal, or socialization.

Normal doesn’t feel possible any longer.

Health frustration

Posted on November 24, 2021 by backuphill

The body is a mystery. When it comes right down to it, the medical professionals still don’t know as much as they would like you to think they do. Because of this, when there really is a mystery they are pretty much spending your money and playing a guessing game when they have no idea what is really going on.

Many many blood tests. Many doctor’s visits. Multiple meds tried. Multiple xrays done. Specialists seen. MRIs being done. Still, no answers.

No one wants bad news when it comes to their health.

Headaches, extremities tingling, touch sensitivity, a never ending and persistent cough for seemingly no reason, extreme fatigue…the hope was that the MRI on the head would reveal something that would give the docs a clue as to what is going on. Results? Everything looks normal.

In one sense, that’s great news! But in another sense, that really sucks. Again, no one wants bad news but at least bad news would be something. Now what?

Going into Thanksgiving, we can’t help but be thankful for what and who we have in our lives. We really are blessed. Can’t deny that.

BUT, this has been going on for 2+ months now and there is no answer in sight. Frustrating to say the least. Maybe the MRI of the spine will show something, but likely not. There was really the thought that the head MRI would be the picture that was needed to discover a (some) cause. Not so much.

The frustration continues.

Feeling it

Posted on April 6, 2021 by backuphill

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Snap, crackle, and pop.

Grunt, groan, sigh.

OH, that hurts!

Wait, why does that hurt? I didn’t do anything! It didn’t hurt earlier in the day when I was shoveling gravel for 30 minutes and climbing in and out of a dump trailer at a 30 degree angle. Why does it hurt now?

All I did was slide into bed…

This getting old thing is not something to shake a stick at. I guess neither is the outta shape thing either. Combined, they make for the perfect pairing of mysterious hurts, aches, and ailments.

Last night I suddenly felt a twinge of pain in the left hip area when I slide into bed. Weird. I didn’t have that before. Needless to say, it woke me up a few times as I shifted positions.

It hasn’t bothered me much today but it was just one of those reminder pains that let’s me know I am getting old.

What reminds you that you are getting old?

Search what?

Posted on December 18, 2020 by backuphill

I am not sure if you take a look at the stats page for your blog. There is some interesting stuff on there. Which of your blogs was read, how many site visitors, likes, comments, where people are from when they look, and in some cases even what someone was searching for when they found your site. Look for “Search Terms” on your stats page. It might just be entertaining!

Yesterday, for some odd reason and obviously not known to me, someone found the blog by searching for “office piss.”

I’m not joking. I serious, though keeping a straight face may not be possible.

What are you searching for when you type that into the search bar?

Looking for directions to the office bathroom?
A comment about the quality of coffee in the staff break room?
Incomplete sentence?
It it some kind of slang or urban dictionary thing about gossip?
Code words for the watercooler?
Reminder about a staff meeting?

So, I tried it. I searched for it. I would recommend not actually seeing what you get in the search results. I looked. Unless you are looking for porn, that’s what you’ll get as top results…which then leads me to wonder, how did they get to my site?

One will never know how the algorithms work. It’s mysterious magic, or voodoo. Probably voodoo.

Take a look at your stats and see if you get a chuckle from yours. What are some of the weird “Search Terms” used to find you?

It’s lost on me

Posted on March 20, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Anastasiya Lobanovskaya on Pexels.com

Mysteries of life. Mysteries in life. Whatever, just mysteries.

In my years of life I have many things that cause me to pause and wonder. There are just some things I just don’t understand and I guess I probably never will. Why do people do the things they do?

Today’s mystery? Why do women color their hair a color that isn’t a hair color?

Maybe it’s because I’m “a dumb boy.” Maybe I really can blame it on my maleness. Or, could it be that women are just incomprehensible? There is no way to figure out women so why bother? Maybe it’s a combination of both. I don’t really know. But what I do know is that I am seeing more and more women color their hair in NOT natural hair colors and I wonder why.

Example: I saw a picture on Instagram of a former student who is now in her late 20s who is the mom to several children and she just dyed her hair a bright pink color. I am not talking highlights. I am talking flat out, all the way, bright pink – there is no hiding it pink. She says, “It makes her feel more like herself.” What does that mean??

I have never understood why people feel the need to dye their hair a color that isn’t natural. Is it for attention? It is to be unique? Is it to stand out in a crowd? I understand that some people would want to hide the gray or maybe want to have highlights or even just want to try a different natural color. But, to do something that is just so radical, well, it just doesn’t compute.

So, what makes a woman feel the need to make such a change?

Inquiring minds want to know.

That zit, I’ve had it!

Posted on August 15, 2018 by backuphill

Stock photo from some random Google search.

Of course, I wake up and there is a freaking beacon of red, flashing on my forehead this morning. Of course. Where the hell did that come from?

Zit. Pimple. Blemish. Skin eruption.

Is it me, or do guys/men have a distinct disadvantage when dealing with this kind of stuff? I mean, if something of this sort happens to a woman (ok, I am generalizing here), they have products to deal with it, AND at the very least something to cover it up. Guys, we don’t have those kinds of products…or at least a vast majority of men don’t. So, now what?

To add to this already relatively unattractive mug, I now have something to stare at as I present in front of a group or talk to clients. Great. Just great. As if I didn’t already have a reason to feel self-conscious.