Driving Heaven, Driving Hell

I haven't met that many women, 

human or angelic, 

who actually like to drive. 

In my experience they seem to be much more pragmatic about the whole thing

 than we are. 

For most males, driving is an extension of their masculinity; 

they have little fantasy scenarios going all the time 

- races, chases, and dramatic combat with other drivers. 

Females, on the other hand, 

generally seem to view driving as something you do to get somewhere. 

I know, crazy. 

~ Tad Williams, The Dirty Streets of Heaven

Tuesday:

Errands! Who would think running errands would be so exciting.

There was no gas in the car. I haven't driving much in about 6 weeks. Oh, maybe I felt pretty good a day or two and drove to the grocery or to the bank or to coffee at a local spot. But I was not steady enough to make it those few blocks AND get gas. So I watched the needle on the gas gauge and tried to do the math in my head - how much farther can I go on what I have.


Most of the time DH has patiently been the chauffeur - a "Driving Miss Daisy"* scenario of sorts.  But I am sure it is getting old. He greeted this day and was glad to send me off...off to pick up eggs, drop off recycling, shop, go by the bank, buy gas, and drive to see the birds at the ponds on Witter.

Errands done I ran out of steam.

[There were 4 Great Egrets, 2 Snowy Egrets, 1 Great Blue Heron, 10 black bird species (that means I do not know). Oh, and the Cattle Egrets were nowhere but 9 turtles relaxing on a log.]

Another exercise and bed. Vertigo, vertigo, go away!

Wednesday:

Maybe I was too optimistic. The exercises went okay, but I was hoping for continued improvement.  I was to help at a children's class tomorrow morning, but cannot imagine it. Dizzy is as dizzy does. There were no hikes, no drives to the park or ponds. Because I was mostly sitting I ended up wrestling technology.

I did get an email from a friend who confirmed my identification of a cactus. It is always good to talk to RL. We worked together not too long ago. He is a great resource for plant identification and rescue (it's a long story, but some trees were choking. As I asked for his help I already knew he would save them...and he did).

Another exercise and bed. 

Friday: 

I found a different exercise. It is a modification of the others, but each position is held for two minutes. The doctor guarantees it works. Guess we will see. 

Saturday: 

Vertigo has vertigone. 

I'm more than a little afraid to say it's gone, but I think it's gone. I have never been so relieved - we get on a plane on Tuesday and was afraid that I would be a drag on our vacation. I'm still cautiously optimistic.  

UPDATE: Friday, June 30 was the last day of what we call "The Vertigo." It was BPPV (Crystals in my inner ear got out-of-wack). I was cured by Dr. Peter Johns (at least I think he's a doctor). Here is the video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZgUx9G0uEs.

I ended up having a great vacation - no falling down stairs or off cliffs - no return of vertigo. It has now been 4 months and I have had no return of vertigo.  Upon return  from my vacation, I kept an appointment with an audiologist and then ENT who tested me and shared that I have good hearing - just expected minor loss for someone my age. They had nothing to add about the vertigo. It was a waste of time, I guess. 

I continue to sell people on Dr. Johns' video.  I have found vertigo fairly common with some folks suffering for longer periods than mine.