Thread 14 - TalkLair: “What The Hell Are We Supposed To Use, Man? Harsh Language?”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 13).

Summer should be well under way, but the chilly wind, grey clouds and pouring rain beg to differ. Looks like 2024 continues to be a washout - on the bright side, the Tories got washed out too! In the TalkLair, we remain hunkered down keeping cosy and warm. The hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

LOL!

That sounds so stressful all round. I'd be slipping an air tag in his coat pocket if I were your mum, kuc.

No coats in Malaysia @weaseleyes 🥵 but we have one Airtag in his wallet, one on his bunch of keys and another on his phone!

Hope your dad's injuries are healing up well, Kuc.

We tried airtags with my FiL but he always found and removed them.

Once he went into care he kept trying to escape so the home put down a black mat outside his door, which was supposed to put him off because apparently to some people with dementia it looks like a hole. He stepped over it and then found his way to a fire escape. Rinse and repeat. He'd been in the military and was also very practical and creative, so he gave the care home staff a fair bit of trouble.

My wife woke up with a black eye this morning, really bad. It's almost swollen shut, she doesn't remember bumping it yesterday, or during the night and there's no insect bite I can see. I looked up possible causes and high blood pressure is a possibility.

Of course, she tells me that she stopped taking her tablets weeks ago. She was really ill in January, they put her on Prozac, at first, when she'd been talking them for two days (BP tablets) she felt completely transformed.

Our daughter was really upset and can't look at her.

Eek, that sounds scary @SinnerBoy - a blood pressure check ASAP would sound like a good idea. Plus, you know, actually taking her meds.

In “I wish I’d tried this sooner” news, since getting an air fryer I’ve been meaning to try making pita bread in it. I made some in the actual oven yesterday as we had visitors, so this morning with a chunk of leftover dough from the fridge I made a single pita for breakfast in the air fryer (actually I made two as the first one was so good). The result was misshapen pillowy deliciousness in about 5 minutes including a bit of pre-heating. There’s more dough in the fridge so that’s breakfast sorted for another couple of days.

That's fantastically puffy pitta.

Sinner, home blood pressure cuffs are cheap - and very easy to use - if she might be more receptive to that than seeing a doc. They seem pretty accurate, too - StepPaBint recently had a stint of hospital-at-home with official NHS-issue kit, and it gave the same readings as the one from Boots. Only difference was the NHS one was quieter.

artant · Today 15:04

Eek, that sounds scary - a blood pressure check ASAP would sound like a good idea.

They took her BP and it's on the high side of fine. The doctor had no idea, but he's persuaded her to go on a weight loss programme. We have BP monitors, she had to monitor it a few years ago and I failed a medical in February, lost some weight and on tablets.

Anyway, we went to the Stationmaster's Garden to look for slow worms, a dry hole! But we got some blackberries nearby.

https://www.stationmasterscentre.org/community-garden

Some shitheads have vandalised it.

BP issues are scary. I have a monitor at home, and when we were changing my medication back in July I had a highly scary reading of 202/101 and couldn't get into the doctors for a couple of days. Needless to say he upped my medication and I'm still being monitored. BP is down to a more reasonable level but still a tad high.

Sorry to hear of your wife's health scare @SinnerBoy, I hope she's on the mend now?

@SinnerBoy - If there's a reason Mrs Sinner stopped the BP meds, then I hope she told the the GP. It may just be the wrong med for her, or the wrong dosage. Of course, if the reason is that she "felt better", then - er - that was probably because the meds were what she needed.

Today's boring task - fully dismantling our side gate. It got involuntarily dismantled by Storm Lilian yesterday morning. The actual gate post got ripped apart, whilst the gate itself looks sort of intact. We had a quick look at the damage yesterday and were trying to work out how to repair the situation - at a minimum, a new gate post would definitely be necessary.

Then this morning we thought: It's a shit old gate, looks awful, isn't really necessary and IMO is in the "wrong" place if we did want a gate. So, lightbulb moment, we'll just remove the whole thing, unbolt the broken post, saw everything up, and take it to the dump! Much easier than trying to repair

Sounds good!

Here, today is not one for doing outside jobs as it's absolutely siling it down. Anyway, my dear brother is visiting so I'll be doing a lot of cooking.

Kucinghitam · Yesterday 20:12

Sorry to hear of your wife's health scare I hope she's on the mend now?

Yes, the high BP was months ago, but even though she's stopped the tablets, her BP is acceptable, if a little on the high side. She's still got the shiner, I told her she could have it drained, but she wasn't keen.

Gonners

Of course, if the reason is that she "felt better", then - er - that was probably because the meds were what she needed.

Yes, she had high BP and a racing heart, the tablets brought them back to normal rapidly. I understand that she doesn't want to be on tablets, I don't, but I've accepted it.

Our relationship with our refugees has broken down. A couple of days ago, the mum walked into the kitchen in outdoor shoes (big cultural no-no) for most Eastern Europeans; my wife's sister had just mopped it and asked her not to. They had a blazing row and they both told my wife they don't feel safe here.... My wife spoke to them and the daughter literally wagged her finger in her face.

I was out at the time. I'm quite upset, really - at them. Also, the bath was blocked and I took the plunder to it, loads of tomato skins, cabbage, seeds and similar came out. I dismantled the trap and more oily, rotten food came out, but it's still not clear. I'm sure it's them, as they take their food upstairs and now, I assume that they rinse the plates in the bath...

That sounds very tricky, sinner. What do you think you'll do?

I think next week we'll ask them for a date and tell them to leave by the end of the month. When I've been away previously, they've had arguments and they seem to have tried to boss her about. She told me about a couple of things and put it down to PTSD, but she's had enough now.

The last lady and son were fine, they still speak and meet up.

That sounds horrible, SinnerBoy. I hope they go soon soon and also wonder if the return of peace might help your wife's blood pressure and heart rate.

@SinnerBoy a friend of mine who had a similar issue with blood pressure and didn't want to use medication lowered her blood pressure by using a breathing device. Hers is a small rubber thing that's pretty inexpensive and you can buy from Amazon, but there's also one called Resperate that works a little differently but on a similar principle I believe (haven't seen that one in action). Maybe she could look into one of those if she doesn't want medication?

Thanks, Brit. I've mentioned beetroot, a pharmacist told me about it and the doctor actually agreed.

Yes, the refugee situation is certainly awkward...

Heck, your refugee situation - it's definitely "no good turn goes unpunished" isn't it?

That sounds incredibly awkward, Sinner. What country are your refugees from?

Kucinghitam · Today 13:30

^Yes, the refugee situation is certainly awkward...
Heck, your refugee situation - it's definitely "no good turn goes unpunished" isn't it?^

It does seem a bit like that! We've agreed that they have till the end of September, but they'll need to house themselves. There is a shortage of willing hosts at the moment.

SqueakyDinosaur · Today 13:32

They're from Ukraine, my wife is a Russian speaker and she invited them.

Awks indeed , Sinner. In lighter news, inspired by @artant 's example, I had a go at making pittas. i think I only ever tried once before, donkey's years ago. Anyway, pretty pleased, and Would Make Again, but I think I'd be braver next time and use a little more wholemeal flour. Went well with Madhur Jaffrey's dry mung dal, which I commend to the group.