Complaining early ... it's HOT! (and stuff about me)

In my last blog post, I mentioned that I would probably be complaining in August about how hot it was, since I was so happy to get the warmth of spring. Well, we seem to have largely skipped right over that "warmth" ang gone directly into the heat of summer - we've had August weather quite a few times in MAY! We have had unseasonably warm weather this spring - which led to "quick - please get my a/c unit in the window!" (thank you very much to Brenda's family).

News about ME (who else?)

---

Over the last few years, I have developed asthma, and over the last six months or more, it's apparently been aggravated by a number of allergens - most recently, mildew/mold (same thing - one is just a nicer sounding name) and I cough a lot. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to avoid molds - I think the carpet in the office area where I work has mildew - when you walk into the main office, you can smell the mustiness, especially when it's been damp or rainy outside. And, due to a leak SOMEWHERE in my car, water gets into my trunk and sometimes into the floor of the back seat, and so the car carpets are mildewy as well. Since that amounts to about 9.5 to 10 hours of my day, you can imagine that I've been having a lot of trouble - mostly with coughing. At first I wasn't absolutely sure it was the office carpet that was the big offender, but when I had 3 great days and 2 bad ones in one week (the 3 days I was off were good, the 2 I worked - not so much), as well as the weekends always being a little better, I have become convinced that the midlew in the carpet at work is a huge problem for me.

I have an air purifier in my own small office area, and have been wearing a specially designed silk mask to help filter out the bad stuff. That seems to have helped, even if I have to constantly explain to people why I am wearing it, and that, NO, I AM NOT CONTAGIOUS (sheesh - if I was that sick or knew I was contagious, I wouldn't come to work - do they think I'm stupid?) The doctor has put me on a new inhaler medicine which also seems to be helping. I was on this medicine, by the way, when I had the 3 great days and two bad ones, so I'm holding to the work mildew thing as the trigger.

I've also started eating raw honey from local bees every day (They sell some from Ray Tousey in Clermont at the Kaaterskill Farm health food store in Greenport on Healy Blvd), in hopes of lessening the impact of local pollens on my allergies. It's got a lot of glowing anecdotal reviews, but most doctors will not suggest it due to the lack of clinical evidence. I've been trying to eat better (more veggies, more healthful fats, better quality foods) and am taking a number of supplements which I'm also hoping will help - from DrBenKim.com at his online store. This is all NOT CHEAP and I am very thankful to be able to afford to do it.

But I know one of the things I need to do is MOVE more. I freely admit that I HATE to exercise. After I drive home from work, the very last thing I want to do is exercise, especially when it's 85 degrees F outside! And I don't seem to have the ability to get up early to do it when it's cooler out, either. I will have to figure something out.

And I'll let you know what I figure out - next time!

TTFN!

T