Secret Diary. Do Not Read

Discussion in 'Personal Diaries' started by Beth Gallagher, May 26, 2021.

  1. Tony Page

    Tony Page Veteran Member
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    Muscle cramping and spasms are both involuntary muscle contractions. I experienced both, for me cramping is more frequent. If I've been doing a lot of physical activity and sweating chances are I will have muscle cramping later. I try to avoid them by taking some mineral pills ( potassium, magnesium) and drinking a lot of water. When I get an attack I find one of the best remedies is a teaspoon of mustard.
    Most of my attacks happen after I go to bed and my muscles are relaxed, the first use of the muscles ( getting out of bed) start the cramping, because of this I keep jar of potassium pills and packets of mustard on my nightstand with a bottle of water.
    I purchase some mustard packets from Amazon and I keep a supply on my nightstand for me they work, usually within minutes.
    Most of my cramps are in my Toes, Calfs and Thighs. Occasionally in my hands, or side muscles.
    This is just one example of what can cause my cramping, there are other things that can trigger them, I tried to avoid them.

    upload_2024-8-10_6-54-5.png
     
    #1681
  2. Hedi Mitchell

    Hedi Mitchell Supreme Member
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    never heard of the brown mustard seed therapy. I get cramps so bad that the area hurt for several days.
    I have started taking 120 mg of magnesium- I guess it helps some. Meds promote some of the cramping.
    Ever since I had the eosinophilic fasciitis, has been a problem.
     
    #1682
  3. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    A quick web search says that muscle cramps can sometimes be caused by neurological issues rather than by a lack of minerals. One theory is that strong flavors (mustard, pickle juice, hot peppers) triggers nerves in the mouth, throat and stomach. This neuronal stimulation might in turn overwhelm the misbehaving nerves that are causing muscle cramps.
     
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  4. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Mustard or pickle juice works for my "normal" cramps, like the foot/leg cramps that strike in the middle of the night. Unfortunately none of the home remedies (nor pharmaceuticals) have any effect on the radiation-induced cramps that I get in my upper torso.

    I have had several blood tests to check my potassium, magnesium and other levels; everything is always in the normal range so the doctors just shrug.
     
    #1684
  5. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    My son and family just drove off and I am sitting with my feet up. This week has been really exhausting and I hate to say it but I'm glad to have my routine back to 'normal.' It is a lot of work having people in the house and I'm really not up to it anymore. As my mother used to say, "love to see 'em come and love to see 'em go." I totally understand her sentiment at my age.

    I have a load of towels in the wash and next will be stripping beds to wash all the sheets and blankets. I guess we will have sandwiches or something easy for dinner.

    This week we will be moving our "spring cleaning" to the upstairs, so we will be cleaning blinds and windows tomorrow. I will be glad to finally be done with that.

    I am glad to have all the raised bed planters out of my way. My son brought a flat-bed trailer to move them all to his place. I also gave him an extra bag of raised-bed soil and the fertilizer that I had left. He is excited to plant some fall garden stuff and I'm excited to have all that stuff gone.

    My husband was all set to watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics this afternoon but he's probably already asleep on the sofa. We all stayed up too late last night and he is pretty frazzled after helping load all those heavy garden planters onto the trailer. So it's time to kick back!
     
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  6. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I was gonna watch, but first they interviewed Jimmy Fallon, then the brought out "Snoop Dog," so I'm watching Rifleman reruns.
     
    #1686
  7. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Yeah, I just had to turn off Fallon. I was wanting to see Tom Cruise do his stunt but I don't know when it will happen so I'll just wait till it's on Youtube.
     
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  8. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I didn't know he was supposed to do something. I saw shots of him being "just a regular guy" with folks in the stands, taking pics & stuff with a big smile on his face.
     
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  9. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    So I have a new vehicle. We decided to "go look" and you see how that turned out. :oops: We bought the small Cadillac SUV (XT4 Sport). It was built in Kansas City, KS.

    I am selling my 2012 Lincoln MKX to my son; it has been an excellent vehicle and is in pristine condition with 23,000 actual miles on it.

    New one looks like this...

    upload_2024-8-13_19-24-18.png
    I will be stealthy. :cool:
     
    #1689
  10. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    We had a busy day today. Got up early to get things watered before the lawn crew arrived. Spent a couple of hours sitting in the new vehicle with the user manual; OMG, how complicated can they make stuff?? We could not figure out how to TURN OFF the radio. o_Oo_O I finally googled and found literally hundreds of "HOW DO YOU TURN THIS OFF????" posts so that made me feel somewhat better to not be the only goober. Turns out you actually can't turn it off; you can "mute" it. What kind of genius came up with that nonsense? o_O

    I figured out the "head up display" and turned that off. I don't need more stuff to look at while I'm driving, and it's not like the speedometer is difficult to find. I mastered the important controls... "climate." I just need to know how to turn on the air and heat, and how to roll down the window, thanks.

    The tailgate has that "hands free" feature where you stick your foot under the rear bumper and it opens. There is actually a small (4") Cadillac emblem that shines down onto the ground to indicate where to wag your foot. It's kind of like the "bat signal" for the tailgate challenged among us.

    After finding two Olive Garden gift cards while cleaning out the console in the Lincoln, we decided to drive the old car over to a car wash/detailing place then have dinner at OG. It took about an hour and a half for them to detail the old car and I must say, she is gleaming. Here she is, at 12 years old...

    upload_2024-8-14_16-23-17.jpeg


    We just got home and there are rain clouds building up and I hear thunder... so there goes that car wash $$. :mad: Stupid weather.

    Our dinner at Olive Garden was really nice; one of the better "OG Experiences" we have had. All the food was really fresh and tasty, and our waiter was a good natured young man who we enjoyed chatting with. I brought home enough leftover chicken marsala and bread sticks to feed us another time. And of course I had to have a carryout order of tiramisu. I'm never too full for tiramisu!!

    All in all, a very nice day. Now we are ready to kick back, relax, and grumble about the stupid rain messing up the shiny car. It's always something.
     
    #1690
  11. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    My Mazda also has a Mute button for the radio. If you don't wanna look at it, you change screens. I hate to admit this, but after 5 years I'm still so used to dash controls that when I want to kill the radio, sometimes I reflexively push the Start/Stop button in the dash and have to restart the car. o_O

    I really like my Heads Up Display. My car displays the Speed Limit as well as NAV directions and other optional stuff. It was one thing that sold me on the car. I hate driving my truck because it does not have the Heads Up Display and I'm used to it. ps: You may not be able to see it if you wear polarized sun glasses. I had to get non-polarized clip-ons for my glasses.
     
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  12. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    For some reason Cadillac/GM call it "Head Up Display" (not "heads") or HUD. It is fully customizable but I really have no use for seeing navigation displayed on the windshield. For one thing, the dashboard has a 33" curved LCD display so the NAV is as big as a laptop screen already. :D:D Pics from the web...

    upload_2024-8-14_18-48-49.png

    nav.png
     
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    Last edited: Aug 14, 2024
  13. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Mazda may call it "Head" [singular]. It's called Active Driving Display. My screen is small:

    [​IMG]

    The NAV map displays on it, but the Next Turn stuff is a tiny line that shows across the top. There are voice commands with it. Actually, I've never played with following the directions on the screen. And I think Mazda did away with the built-in NAV system and relies on smart phone interfaces, but I don't know what the HUD would look like.

    Here's the HUD:

    [​IMG]

    -Speed is 42MPH
    -Cruise set at 45
    -Speed Limit is 45
    The grid & arrow is from NAV directions being turned on. The Speed Limit icon can warn you when you're speeding (+5MPH, +10MPH.)

    Optionally, it can indicate when there's a car in the blind spot (in addition to the icons in the mirror), and indicate when you're following too close. When the HUD first came out in 2015 or so in the 3 row SUV, it displayed the tach (kinda useless in an automatic), and Mazda removed the tach from the HUD during a subsequent software update because it was deemed to be too distracting. :rolleyes: I would like to have the water temp added, because I never look at the dash since I have the HUD, so don't get that "picture of normal" we all know when we glance at the dash.

    I'm curious to hear how you like that Lincoln. I see a few around but don't know anyone who has one.
     
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  14. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Do you mean the new Cadillac? I have really enjoyed the Lincoln for the past 12 years; it has been an excellent vehicle. Interestingly, I paid as much for the Lincoln in 2012 as I paid for the Cadillac this week. :eek: The Lincoln is a much more solid build with a smoother, more powerful engine. This Cadillac is more of the "entry level" as far as Cadillacs go, but it's the size I wanted. I have owned 2 other Cadillacs in the past, a sedan (CTS) and the OG small SUV (SRX).

    I was planning to look at a Lexus RX but the dealers are far across town and I like having a dealer that is easy to get to for maintenance. (Cadillac dealer is about 6 miles from here.) Plus, I actually like the look of the Caddy better than the Lexus front end.

    I like the look of your dash. Mazda builds a solid vehicle. I have owned two Mazdas... a 626 in the late 80's and an Rx-7 2-seater rotary that I wish I had kept.
     
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  15. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I've only bought 3 new vehicles in my life. The Mazda is the first non-truck. That model/year has been having issues with cracked engine blocks. I thought it would last the rest of my life. Now I hold my breath.
     
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