General Topics Quiet forum. How are you all?

[AJ]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to see how everyone is doing. I'm doing ok. Hanging in there anyway.

My psychiatrist has been away since July. The office doesn't know when or if she'll be back. Apparently she has a very sick son. I selfishly wish she was back. The office is trying to set me up with another psychiatrist but who knows when that will happen. Meanwhile all the med adjustments my doc was doing are on hold. I hate not knowing if she'll be back and I hate the idea of starting with someone new. Sigh.

I was in Europe for 17 days in Sept. It was a fantastic trip. I went on a bus tour. It's so much easier when someone else arranges everything. We went to Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.

The only hard part, besides getting up so early and going till late evening, was seeing Auschwitz. There are no words that can carry the weight of Auschwitz.

Because we had such long days it was hard to take my meds as prescribed. We ran so late in the evening and got up so early. I did have to do a little tweaking, but seemed to manage ok.

The rest of Sept has been busy with weddings and company (family) coming to stay. After that it's house renos. I'm getting tired just thinking about it. I'm in desperate need of some down time, especially being sick with some bug. Oh well. Maybe after they all leave.

I hope you are all doing well.

[Determined]

Sounds awesome AJ! I'm hanging in there as well. Not looking forward to another long, cold winter here but hope to engage in a little winter activity.

Auschwitz would have been a difficult tour. I watched the series on Netflix and it just left me in a mind numbing state of disbelief. I couldn't believe that what I was watching was real and yet I had to see it through to the end.

Stay well and good luck with the house renos.

[AJ]

I'm glad you're hanging in there Determined. This time of year especially, knowing winter is approaching doesn't help my mood any. We're supposed to get snow here in a few days. Even though it's going to melt, it's still snow!

What kind of winter activity do you do? I used to ski when I was younger. Now with RA I have to be content to go for walks along the trails. Actually the trails can be very pretty in the winter.

Well the sun is up and I should take my dog for a walk.

Take care Determined.

[paul m]

Hello AJ. Glad that you enjoyed your trip. I had a busy month too and got run down mentally. I finally just took a couple days off from life(more or less I just vegged around) and it helped a lot.

I hope that you can make it through your busy spell.

My shrink is finally back from sick leave, but now I have to wait for an appointment, but fortunately I don't need any med changes or at least not in my mind LOL. Someone else may have a different opinion. Take Care. paul m

[AJ]

Hi Paul. I'm glad that you took a couple of days off from life. Sometimes I think it would be good to be a turtle. I would get there when I get there, and I could retreat into my shell when needed.

[Determined]

I would still like to get out on the lakes for some ice fishing but it might be a bit too strenuous. Then again, that's what a healthy son is for, or a power auger.

[AJ]

I went ice fishing with some friends on a bitterly cold day on a Saskatchewan lake. I froze my ass off and ended up in the truck with the engine running. LOL

[Determined]

LOL! Sounds about right AJ.

[paul m]

Hello AJ. There is no problem fishing from a truck, the problem is finding someone with a chain saw who doesn't mind cutting a long narrow channel for you to troll in LOL. Of course if you get 4 ft of ice, finding a chainsaw to cut through that much ice is a problem. Take Care. paul m P.S. I liked your Turtle example

Hello Determined. I still like to fish, but I had to give up my ice hut when it got to bothersome to drag in and out .The only time that I ice fish these days is in late Feb early march when the sun is shining, no wind and I can just sit in my lawn chair and drink hot chocolate. I mainly just fish for perch and I have a little 4inch auger that's easier to lug about than my old power auger. Of course we don't get 4 ft of ice down here either LOL. Take Care. paul m