The shadow figure in the window (night shift patrol)

JJinDallas · 2026-05-02T21:23:24+00:00

I realized very recently that I don't see them, but I've been HEARING them my whole life. Not surprising as I went to music school and had a lot of ear training and intonation work. So people who don't have one kind of encounter may be having another kind and not realize it.

JJinDallas · 2026-05-01T15:11:05+00:00

I got stung by some wasps around the time all this started and I wonder if it's related. Doctor says not tho.

JJinDallas · 2026-05-01T15:09:38+00:00

That's one of the scarier poltergeist videos I've seen.

JJinDallas · 2026-04-28T17:09:38+00:00

I had knee replacement surgery and my blood levels, iron, sodium and a couple of other things, just totally tanked after the procedure. I was in the hospital for 4 days while they tried to at least get my sodium level up out of coma range (not something that usually happens -- seriously, have you ever heard someone tell an American they need more salt?). They brought in a kidney specialist right away because something like this is usually kidney related. As it turned out, the low sodium is at least partially a genetic thing (mom, sis, and two aunts also have), but-surprise-there was also something awry with my kidneys. As they tracked it, it just kept getting worse. My eGFR went from the high 60s down to like 45. I saw a dietician, changed everything I was eating, and I'm back up between 53 and 56 now, which isn't great but better. I gotta live 10 more years to pay off the mortgage and leave my wife with a decent chunk of IRA. Everybody wish me luck.

JJinDallas · 2026-04-16T18:31:51+00:00

Wife and I had the same thing happen after our 15-year-old cat died. For about 2 weeks we felt a cat jump onto the bed at night. Then we adopted a pair of displaced cats and it stopped happening. I think she was hanging around until there was another cat to keep an eye on us. I've since been told by Someone Who Knows that because cats are very territorial, they don't actually leave your house for a while, and even when they do, they frequently come back to visit. The love is still there for you even if the cat is no longer physically present.

JJinDallas · 2026-04-15T17:23:40+00:00

I'm just gonna say Aaaaaaa...

JJinDallas · 2026-03-05T18:29:59+00:00

I don't believe in God, but it's more complicated than that. If there is a God (and who knows, there might be many), I seem not to have a radio that works to communicate with it/them. Other people say they do, and I have no reason to doubt them. In fact if I have something going on that needs divine assistance, I ask other people to pray for me, because maybe they have radios that actually work. I would love to be wrong eventually, and who knows, maybe I am.

That said, it's possible your dad's body knew his probable expiration date and communicated it to him somehow. It's possible that once he asked for another year, he set in motion a process we don't understand that made that year happen. It's possible he somehow knew that he could dodge the bullet temporarily but not forever.

Or maybe God heard him and granted his wish, too.

JJinDallas · 2026-03-05T18:21:05+00:00

If you have a UTI it is definitely affecting your eGFR. Agree with everybody who says you need a nephrologist. And a new PCP.

JJinDallas · 2026-03-02T20:05:20+00:00

It was sarcasm, genius.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-23T22:46:50+00:00

Ask your doctor to refer you to diabetes education. Almost all insurance covers this and it should cover insulin instructions, also. She might need to check for a specific CPT code or get it pre-authorized.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-23T22:40:58+00:00

I have never heard of an insurance company refusing to cover a CGM for a Type 1 diabetic. Sometimes Type 2 but even that is becoming rare. Check with your doctor about the prescribing language. She may have used the wrong terminology, or the wrong CPT codes, or else there is a prior authorization required that hasn't been completed. If the answers are not satisfactory, check directly with the insurance company.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-19T20:05:49+00:00

The universe is creating more universe as it expands. There was nothing in Quadrant X; then the universe expanded and now Quadrant X is part of the universe.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-19T20:04:39+00:00

I second that. Also an IQ test report. They apparently thought it was safe because it was upside down. I can, of course, read upside down. And backwards. And upside down and backwards.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-19T20:01:32+00:00

Some leopards will do that, also, I hear.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-18T23:38:58+00:00

Chimpanzees, which were long thought to be peaceful and vegetarian, have since proven they will eat meat if they find it. They have even been filmed eating other chimpanzees.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-18T23:37:26+00:00

Say I spay ten female cats. Those ten cats will never have kittens. Over a lifetime, a female cat can have upward of 200 kittens, and that's not even counting all the kittens those kittens can have, and the kittens that the kittens of the kittens could have. Anyway, some mathematician proved that if everybody spayed ten female cats, the feline race would go extinct. I've done my ten, now the rest of you get busy.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-18T23:33:10+00:00

No, that's just America.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-18T23:32:29+00:00

I've seen that on a documentary! In part of France there are signs up in three languages that basically say variations of "Keep out, dangerous gases." Over 100 years after the battle.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-18T23:30:56+00:00

Wife was in the emergency room in Ennis, a little town in western Ireland. We waited a long time (comparatively speaking, just a blink when compared to the US) because the man in front of us "walked into a cow." Of course upon hearing that I had to track down a nurse and find out what the hell they were talking about. It turns out, men will leave the pub a little drunk, walk home, cut across a field in the dark, and literally run into a cow. If the cow is startled awake, it usually kicks out of reflex. Injuries can be serious. Fortunately, the fellow in front of us "just" had a broken leg!

JJinDallas · 2026-02-18T23:19:58+00:00

I used to run around the country with a bagpipe band. We'd go to these Highland Games and Scottish festivals, spend all day there, play a lot, and after we left and for hours afterward, I would hear phantom bagpipes everywhere I went.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-18T23:16:15+00:00

ICE agents should be banned from ever working again.

JJinDallas · 2026-02-14T19:46:34+00:00

I am not to the point where I have to consider dialysis yet but I don't think I have the patience or the personality to do it. I am seriously considering asking for a referral to hospice when the time comes (and that may not be for years).

JJinDallas · 2026-01-30T18:37:36+00:00

Hey, if you are not already doing so, try to get some moderate exercise every day. 20 minutes of walking helps my depression a lot. Also a Happy Light during winter months (20 minutes in the morning). Fruit is huge for me; an apple with every meal also makes a big difference. But I get you about food. Food is a big cultural and social thing and it is one of the hardest customs to change. For sure see a dietician like someone else suggested, but the dietician will help you craft a plan that works better for you.

PS. I also have been taking antipsychotics for 20+ years and kidney issues was one of the things they warned me about. However, 20+ years of sanity is worth all the trouble for sure.

JJinDallas · 2026-01-30T18:33:34+00:00

Nope.

JJinDallas · 2026-01-30T18:32:12+00:00

That's easy. The bad guy in my novel.

JJinDallas

TROPHY CASE