I do a sweeter version with onions apples and squash plus cinnmon and ginger - the liquid can be apple juice and water for the vegan version . I prefer a little cream .

I do a straight version which is butternut onions salt pepper thyme and cream (or milk )

and a curry version curry powder , some sort of hot pepper, ginger squash and onions. and that one can also go with a little apple juice and water to cook in , and normally cream , but I think coconut milk would be fantastic.

I asked my doctor about the shingles vaccine, but most insurances won't pay for it until you're 60.

Even with pretty good insurance my parents' vaccinations cost me about $200 out of pocket last year. I don't want to think about what the uncovered tab would be.

Despite the fact that everyone wants me to get a flu vaccine ( diabetes , asthma ) ;no one pays for it. I do, of course. I'm not a fool.

NETFIX STREAMS YOGA????

Sadly, no. But! Yogajournal.com has a whole bunch of videos: [link] I use the Jason Crandell podcasts all the time.

I took two Benedryl before going to bed last night and slept like the dead. Woke rather late, and spent a while in bed trying to figure out if I could tell whether BART was on strike by the sound of the highway noise three hundred yards away. Turns out I couldn't.

I was going to take the dog for a walk in the hills, but my climbing partner wants to climb so I am waiting to hear from her on whether late morning is good. And then there will be Trader Joe's, and possibly beer with former coworkers. My life, so fascinating.

ION, here is something that will make you very happy: Thorin Puppetshield, a Muppet version of movie!Thorin.

Ooh, coconut milk and then add curry powder.

This. Yum.

This is my third or fourth email to the neuro (via his admin) since the last one I posted:

s there a timeline on this? All that happens between now and the nerve block on Thursday is that the pain gets worse, and then Thursday it will get much worse before it gets better. Is there a reason the only vaguely manageable contributor to my headaches (never mind the pain I'm experiencing from the shoulder itself--that is not inconsiderable) is being ignored? It seems counterproductive and counterintuitive and I'm curious about it.

I know I'll have extreme shoulder pain Thursday afternoon. I know this will make my headache even worse. I know I have no recommended rescue protocol.

Why?

She's reached out to him, and hopes they can get back to him before Thursday. REALLY?? The way these procedures work, they irritate the fuck out of the area, and the pain doc agrees that for all this is bad enough to need fixing, it will be worse Thursday for as long as a week. But according to his agreement with the neuro, he can't prescribe me anything but topical.

And I can't get in to see the neuro before the 31st, so this is how we talk.

Thorin Puppetshield,

This totally made my day. Thank you!!

ita, I really wish you lived in DC so you could be my Mom's patient/client. (She manages a neuro office at GWU right now, but plans to quit so she can work full time as a healthcare advocate for patients with chronic illness. She specializes in pain management, loves yelling at doctors, and hates stupid hospital bureaucracy.)

! ita ! It sounds like a good cluesticking is not even the beginning of what they need.

Right now, I will chip in $10 for your mom to freelance and yell at ita !'s neuro. No response? I would be fucking livid.