Thursday, October 26, 2023

Tricky weather and smart meters

 Yesterday was a day of weather swings, down to thirties overnight, house cold enough in the morning to switch on the fireplace heater for an hour and dress in sweater and jacket. 

Then it got warmer, and I didn't keep up, even making chicken soup in the morning and having some for lunch! resulting in an afternoon of not being well, and so weak I literally couldn't move at all for a while, before realizing I was probably overheated and dehydrated. 

I made it to lying down after a few minutes. Can't mess with that. So, once I could move again and felt a bit more capable, I changed to lighter clothes, drank water and started to feel much better.  This has happened a couple of times over the years, usually stress or, as probably now, dehydration.  Not too smart on my part. I did little other than rest after that, not even knitting, nor stitching. 

Before all that, the water meter man had called, replaced the old meter, new statewide mandate, with a smart meter that reads remotely. 



That went smoothly, so something around here's smart! The humans are having a job keeping up.

Gary  stopped in later, wanting me to help him plant bulbs, but we put it off to today,  figuring that might work better, and another warm day, for which I'll dress lighter, is forecast. Helping him means I suggest places and why, point, and he digs. Easy gardening for me.

He also wanted to know about the meter man, and I could tell he hasn't been checking the mail, to find all the postcards explaining how to get it done, through a company the water utility hired. 

 Later today the misfits box arrives. Meters, misfits, pause for resting, it's all go around here..more or less. A bit of a contrast with  the globe trotting accounts I'm following in blog land!

Happy day everyone, knit on! In whatever form that takes for you.








34 comments:

  1. Yesterday we were at my favorite bookstore which is in Apalachicola. I adore the woman who runs the place. She sells books and yarns and needles for knitting and crocheting. You would go crazy over her yarns. I do. Anyway, we were glad to see each other and she showed me something that she's been so excited about lately which is- Japanese mending! She has several books on it and I was excited to see them. I told her that I've been doing it too and that my mending looks so much like the pictures in her books. I showed them to Glen because I do not think he gives my mending proper credit. I said, "See! This is what I'm doing!" I think he was a little surprised that anyone else would do this. On purpose! We agreed, the book lady and I, that we do not want to buy new clothes but make the things we have last forever. Or until we do not need them. We like the clothes we have. It was so fun to find a kindred mending spirit. (She's a beautiful knitter too.)

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    1. I think I love her! I know I love the things I mended decoratively even more than before. Funny that Glen didn't realize you were in a great tradition, not just Mary doing Mary!

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  2. And also- I am so glad you figured out what you needed to do when you had that "spell". Isn't it funny how we completely forget sometimes, the things we need to do to take care of ourselves?

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    1. It comes in this case from dressing to suit the morning and not grasping that if the weather changes, I should too! Duh!

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  3. Meter people must be on a seasonal roll! We had the most gorgeous day on Tuesday -- sunny and 75. But it's supposed to be in the 20s soon. I can't keep up!

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    1. Summer returned this week, welcome but confusing.

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  4. No globe trotting here! It's good to know why you felt that way. It's scary when something like that happens. Happy gardening with Gary.

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    1. It is scary, particularly the weakness, literally couldn't even have picked up my phone. But when I applied the remedies for overheating and dehydration and started to feel better, I finally figured it out.

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  5. It's so easy to get dehydrated. It used to happen to my mom now and then. She'd start to feel bad and think, "Have I been drinking any water?" Nine times out of ten that solved the problem!

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    1. The thing is that I don't feel thirsty. So it's a conscious decision to drink water. I have to resume having a glassful on the coffee table again, as a reminder.

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  6. I today finally made myself drink a whole glassful of water with my morning meds. I used to drink cooling coffee with them. It was better to make sure they went all the way down, but coffee is a dehydrating drink.

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    1. I haven't worried about dehydration much, because I take two meds that each require a full glass of water at different early morning times, then mid morning fruit, late afternoon med with another full glass. Tea here and there. But I may need to be more vigilant.

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  7. I have a huge water bottle that I fill each morning and it must be finished by supper time. Dehydration is insidious and creeps up on you.
    Smart meters, we have one that is an electric meter. Better than having an employee drive out to our distant farm to try and read it in the winter!
    Glad you are doing better.

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    1. The utility company are also going to switch out our gas and electric meters in the next couple of weeks, too. No appointment necessary, because they're outside. I'll be so smart when they've finished. I expect that's the end of estimated winter bills, too.

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  8. I definitely do not drink enough water. I’ll have to go back to having a water bottle by my chair all the time and maybe I’ll remember.
    Glad your rested and are now feeling better

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    1. I was out waking today, doing much better. My episode yesterday might have been a public service announcement!

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  9. It has warmed up quite a bit here, but it's too dull for me, personally, to call it Indian Summer. Our town doesn't use water meters, at least not in older homes. There are many newer homes, and I don't know about them.

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    1. How do they assess water usage, if not with a meter? Is it averaged by house size?

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  10. I don’t think I ever saw my mother drink water. Tea on the other hand…I drink a lot of water, not tea. I always have a glass of water nearby. Stay hydrated, Boud. It is important,

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  11. I have been faint from dehydration myself. Not fun.

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    1. It's puzzling and scary until you figure out what's happening.

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  12. A bit scary for you but good you realised why it happened. Layers are your friend in the inbetween seasons.

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    1. The trouble was I was too weak to get my top layer off for a while. Couldn't get my arms out of the sleeves.

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  13. Do take care of yourself! At least you know your body, can read its symptoms, and know what to do. That's an excellent skill.

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  14. Glad you chugalugged some water and felt better!

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    1. Simple remedy in the end. I'm going to try not to get to that point from now on.

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  15. Please remember to drink! We all love you and want you feeling well.

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  16. your meter in in the house? back when I was doing the river guide thing we had to to take advanced wilderness first aid training every three years. the instructor's opinion was that the basis for every ailment or disease was dehydration. claimed he could tell how much water you were 'down' by looking at your tongue.

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    1. I wouldn't be surprised about the dehydration claim.
      The water meter is in the house right next to the whole house shutoff. The others are outside, gas and electric.

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  17. Have to watch out for dehydration! I am more or less coming to the realization that when I get what I call a 'bone itch' in my feet it means my fluid intake is low. Very scientific diagnosis but it seems to go together.

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