Next time I go in I will get tested. This year I bought some sun block clothing....SPF50, because I am out so much. I live near an outlet mall and got some of it on sale. If one is not picky about style and color, one can get it pretty cheap.

Last year, I got a few mild burns, inadvertently. Last year I did not have the SPF clothes...I am kind of caught in that skin cancer is such an issue, being very fair. I do burn rapidly. I had a thick denim shirt I wore. Usually I just wore capri pants...you know from being a gardener, shorts don't do too well in a garden. I have huge garden spiders and many bees too (both beneficial)...so, it is better to stay covered.

Rheumie says be careful of sun....eh, I dunno, ancient people were in the sun all the time. LOL, of course, maybe they didn't have autoimmune disease....they likely got their poison from bad eating choices...and death came quick! I am more inclined to protect my head, neck and arms, cuz sundamage looks bad. Oh vanity....

I eat a lot of dairy, now I wonder if that is the wrong Vit. D, in there. It probably is not D3.

Also, I can't swallow pills easily anymore, and have been grinding my multivit....eating in applesauce....ugh. I have to quaff down that huge fish oil capsule and almost choke on it...I always do it when hubby is home, in case I need a heimlich! If it weren't for the mercury, I would eat a can of tuna every day instead.

What about using the real oil instead of the pills for your omega? You crushing your pills reminds me of when I was a kid my mom would put my med crushed in icecream. I don't know much about the d. I had mine tested and it was good but I have osteoporosis so I take calcium with d 2 times daily.

I remember when I was a kid, cod liver oil was the thing!

well we ae getting hammered this time. 6 inches on the ground and another 20 possibly on the way. Spring is going to feel very good this year.

Dairy is not a good source of D....

100 IU of D2 in 8oz of milk.

One cannot get enough D to get to minimum of 40ng/ml by diet.
If you do not get sun, you need a supplement.

The D3 I take is about 1/2 the size of my pinky finger nail bed.
It is very small... hard to even hold!

Thanks, I will get my D level checked when I go in next...which I suppose should be soon.

Some of that article is outdated. Some is still good.

The information on Vit D is changing so rapidly... this is really a novel situation.

It can be hard for most people to know who to believe these days. Even doctors are clueless on the treatment protocol. They will test, but still give that poor D2 RX ...because D3 is OTC and not RX.

When the CME catches up in a year or two, hopefully this will be less confusing.

This is one link that is keeping up on the fast moving data coming in:

http://www.grassrootshealth.net/

There is not enough D in foods, unless you eat fish endlessly, to get it. Sun exposure has been recommended against for so long people use screening or clothing blocks.

People with autoimmune disease will not go into the sun unprotected. So learning about the supplement alternatives is critical for them.

Well, one can be truly D deficient and snow swamped at the same time?
 

No sun but for two days and then whump! More snow?
To break a 110 year old record is nothing to sneeze at? Or maybe you mite sneeze after digging out? IF you CAN dig out?
BobB - please take your time digging this time, it's nasty and you got more than we did? It's too much to do all at once!
Do what you can and leave the rest to the weather gods? They mite smile on us?
IF I thot I could truly get extra D by going to a tanning salon? I would now...IN A FLASH! I suppose it'd be like trying to get a 'moon' tan, tan by the moonlight-that is, nothing else implied here :D.
At least I'm counting blessings? Plumbing works, power works and heat works! Many others aren't so lucky, losing one or all of the above.
To all of you north of Dee Cee? MY wishes for warmth and comfort for the duration! :hug::hug::hug:'s to one and all!
Umm? Are we having FUN now? - j

We've got about 14 inches in Queens, NY--
 

--and it was that heavy, wet, slushy snow, likely because the temperature was right around 32 degrees Farenheit all through the storm (few more degrees most of this would've been rain).

Fortunately, the fact that the snow is not freezing to the slighly warmer road material underneath makes it easy to move, if one does it a bit at a time. Already dug out my car twice--when you street park, as I have to. the plows come by and throw more snow on your car on a regular basis.

Balto got socked with 20-24 more inches yesterday.
I posted 6 more pix of 'Snowzilla' #2 in my 'Blizzards' Album
And I'm 'sickky-poo' ! Woke up yesterday with chest congestion & cough.
I've got a cold, and body aches. Taking another snow/sick day, today.

Tanning salons can be very dangerous. Many drugs end up in the skin and the intense UV can activate sensitivities..

Tanning salons are dangerous for everyone! They severely damage the skin.

Watching all that snow coverage out East is giving me flashbacks to two years ago....the 100" snow year, and here is doesn't melt til Spring, which is about April 15. Never the less, Baltimore REALLY got nailed! Never seen the likes of this!

Well, at final tally, we got 12"+ here in East Islip. I shoveled 3 times yesterday and then for another 40 minutes this morning...my arms are useless tonight, hurts to lift my coffee cup, my back aches, my knees, you name it, it hurts...I WANT SPRING!!!!:(

YEP! It's nasty...
 

Keep telling myself it 'could be worse'...kind of like the 'medical stuffs'?
Doesn't make me feel any better tho.

And, yes Mrs D? I know tanning salons have hazards? But that potential endorphine high is sorely tempting..... I know better, but still.....
That all have been able to 'dig out' is good, that Bob's gotten snuffley? I'll worry! It was the sniffles/pneu that GOT me! I don't wish it on anyone! EVER!
Cycleops? I simply cannot IMAGINE such snow? That's not snow...that's a snow attack? The earth is trying to tell us something or it's merely doing it's two thousand year 'cycle'. Who Knows? Or, cares? And nothing can be done so why worry about THAT ASPECT?
Us as HUMANS have that amazing capacity to adapt and survive. We are doing so? I think...
There will be more or less this year and maybe the next...How we approach it, with humor and silliness and hard work is what we are good at.
We all should be proud! And I hope, warm tho sore and dry! - j

Climate change is not all about getting warmer, lol.

I do hope you guys get a break....maybe an early spring?

Hi everyone. Finally recovered from this last week and too tired to fill in any details, but flights were cancelled, we were stuck in Tampa, finally decided to rent a car and drive non-stop from Tampa to Pittsburgh (20 hours). We arrived home at around 3:45 in the morning to this:

http://community.post-gazette.com/me...5/default.aspx

Had to dig out our car in the airport parking lot wearing mesh-top sneakers. I really hadn't thought that one through at the beginning of our journey.

And then I had a job interview yesterday, and sure was at my best, youbetcha!

My snowbound comfort food of choice: spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread.

I wonder if there will be a baby boomlet in 9 months??:o

Whewwwwwwww, not at my address, no baby machine here.:D

Joan liked your pics...looked like here to me?
 

Got a car rescued from repair today? Drove for the first time in over a week over sheets of ICE 8" thick..make it home and screamed. At least I made it intact? Tonite a backhoe/w a front bucket came thru? Was super nice and didn't plow new mounds into the driveways! Tis amazing!
DD? My DH has been shovelling three times a day for the last seven days! And we've got the mounds to prove it? Gotta learn how to take a pic and send it here! Not saying yours is worse than ours...not at all! Just that we are all soo tired or this!!!!
Cycleops... The newsoids ARE predicting a boom here in 9 months! Yeppers!
Snopocapolypse is now reffered to snowbegone here? Wonder why?
Bob? Hope you are doing OK, Don't want no pneumonias around here, Ya KNOW? Sending you a bunch of warm 'tribbles' of the 'hyperallergenic' sort to help you along the way!
Last but not least? KNOCK WOOD FAST? At least it's not ICE! Got that folks?
Hope all are at least warm, and somehow pain-free! What more can we ask for? - j :hug::hug::hug:'s

If its not one thing its another.
Our furnace is acting very peculiar - like..... no heat.
I have the thermostat set up to where it should be
constantly raging, and it doesn't respond.
Then about 10-20 mins later it'll suddenly go on..... for about 10-15 mins
then shuts off. Moving the thermostat back & forth from hi to lo doesn't
seem to have much effect. We've a call in to the repair center (annual contract)
and they're supposed to send someone, but they didn't say when.
We noticed this about 1 a.m. before going to bed last nite. The house wasn't
freezing when we woke, but it definitely was below normal temp. I guess it was cycling on & off enough during the nite, but it ain't acting normal.

Gotta dig my Astro Van out of the plowed-in snow tomorrow.
Fun & Games in the Chesapeake Bay Area !!

Well this is not my day either....

My not so bright kid missed her flight....hmm, 'Security took forrevvver...." To that I say, "Duh....get to the airport early, dumbo!" She is darn lucky they put her on a flight for tomorrow...and to think hubby and I were in the car already for the hour and half drive to the airport....lucky we had only driven for 15 minutes.

Then MY furnace quit...just as I was feeling sorry for Bob, I noticed it was cold in my house, too....hmmm. Now I am waiting for the furnace man....on a Saturday....it's like waiting for a chainsaw massacre to the checkbook. Ugh.

No mercy in life...none! I know I should be thankful I have a furnace at all....but, now and then I need to rant....it is now and then.

My wife called me at work - (yes, I walked the 9/10's mile again today)
furnace man arrived .... and left.
Burnt out oscillator component (??) on water circulator.
(fuel oil, with circulating, hot water radiators -
built 1902 - new furnace & boiler 2004)
Replaced part, now working, its fixed..... Hooray for small miracles.
Cost? ...$0.00 ... covered in our policy

Furnace guy has been here TWO hours, and labor is double on weekends...I don't think he is anywhere near done....something about a flame sensor! This furnace is 3 years old!!:mad:

I am going to get a darn fireplace insert, or pellet stove! If we could have waited til Monday, it would be half the cost.

Well....here is my idea....I have been inspired by watching the Olympics and I think I should take up ski jumping....it will help me avoid the infirmity of old age. First I must get over my fear of heights, but it may be doable.:o No broken bones from ski jumping, unlike speed skating (skate blades now under the bed), xc skiing, (gave my 'suicide' racing skis to my daughter after I broke my arm), powerkites and kite skiing gear, (went to sons, one kite is still in the basement, my finger has been sewn back on.)

Nope, ski jumping is ALL or NUTHIN'....fall and kiss your behind goodbye. It beats paying a premium you can't afford for long term care insurance.....not to mention health insurance!

After I get the bill for this furnace repair, I may just jump off the platform! The hell with the ride down on skis.

I have had enough excitement and cold feet for the day.

I HATE winter. It has NO redeeming qualites, neither does aging....(I think it is down to about 55 in here now). Grrrr.....Brrrr.....

Olympics=men in lyrca.

At any other time, they would be committed....not as in dedicated.

That was lycra....I can't spell anymore. Men in tights. At least it isn't speedos.

And the furnace was under $200....now it is cranked up to 70, and I went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, for that illusion of warmth, cranked the car heater up to a million degrees....and had hot sauce with my chips....I am warm now...oh, and the strawberry margarita was not half bad either.

Life makes me forget my neuropathy.

men in lycra at the olympics
men on lyrica on this board

I Got the LYCRA part... Understand..NO HEAT EEEECK!
 

Is that appropriate for or to your mood about now?
All I gotta say is Thanks to: The snow pushers here have been working endlessly! They are good folks, and around my street actually tried not to block up driveways more than they were? Can see snippets of pavement now! Forecast tho is hedgey for Monday/Tuesday.... 2-4";4-6"; and lastly 3-10" Sigh? Can't change the weather, happy for lesser impacts rite about now tho...
Contracts for heating/AC services are 'precious'= higher on the repair food chain, so to speak. Otherwise? Get me tucked into a 'moon blanket' and leave me to thaw in the spring?
What else can we do? Besides be 'cool' about all this stuff? It's gonna happen whether we want it to or not!
Good things and warmth to all! - j

PS Bob? Check your thermo-sensors in the burner..That's been a chronic problem heatwise for my new system for the last ten years! [Sensors replaced at least 6 times since installation]. Pipe cleaners taking off the 'excess' crud from the ceramics can help? But often not enough...Be forewarned about this? My system is Gas... Yours mite not be, but the circuits might be similar in terms of failure... And, NO I DO NOT HAVE GAS myself! OK? Hugs to all!

Repairman done fixed it. something with hot water circulator... oscillating sensor.... whatever!
Not Gas, Home Oil Heat (read Diesel Fuel !!)
That's more $$ per gallon than Gasoline.
We have a 250 gallon tank $450-$600 per tank
(depending on gallon price) and at least 3 tanks a season
Cyclelops - glad your heat is back, too.

We have propane and a 500 gal tank....last fill, $700, but that lasts 2-3 months. We cook with gas, heat our water and our dryer runs on gas....so actually it is fairly cheap. We are in the country tho, and if our electric goes off....we are screwed. Our well pump of course, needs electricity to provide water...and the stove is electric ignition, as is the furnace. A generator would be a good idea. If we ever got stranded out here, the only way to get to us in a snow storm would be by snowmobile. We do have a wood burning fireplace, but of course, that requires wood, which we seldom have in large quantity.

You have to buy wood in your own county due to that ash borer...they don't want you transporting wood from the more forested areas. Besides, our fireplace isn't efficient...pretty to look at but doesn't really heat the house. We would need an insert. I just wish the folks who built this place had looked more at passive solar....we have ONE south facing window! My last house had 16 south facing windows! I am in the state of light deprivation, even in summer....that is why I spend so much time outdoors in summer.

Echoes...I like the men on lyrica.....lol....good line for a t-shirt.

I am soo glad all are safe and warm! For the interim....
 

Plus a solid thunk to the head for good luck [It's gotta be walnut or mahogany, ya know?]
What I wish for all is a sweet, gentle and kind thaw! At least so this 'round' goes away before the next one?
Nothing like trying to walk on 6-8 inches of compacted snow that's ice and pretending it's NORMAL? Not. Much less driving. Anyone here remember 'Buckaroo Banzai'? Hey, let's drive into the mountain, and 'see' where we come out? I must be getting snow punchy now. Last nite a construction front-end blade and back-end clam digger went down my street. The kind of machines that mow down forests? And it broke up that ice and moved it-HUGE CHUNKS like it was a piece of cake. But, it was at 10pm.
MANY Thanks to the snow pushers! [That's what they call them] They are my heroes, along with the power, water, gas, trash and newspaper folks who seem to make it when no sane person would otherwise go out!

Good things and WARM THINGS to all for the duration! - j :hug::hug::hug:'s

They've been working around here, too.
All weekend... and when I got to work this a.m., were hauling it out in a convoy of trucks.
Surprise! I got a parking spot immediately after the front end loader cleared it, just across the street from work.:D:)

It cost me another $25 to dig my van out yesterday, but better them to do it than me. I've had to pay to clear that van of snow 3 times, so far. :eek:
Fortunately, there's an enterprising guy who lives about 4 doors from me, who's always looking to earn a buck, and has a good shovel for this ice
.
I've put 2 orange cones in the cleared spot, hoping for it to be reserved for when I get home tonite- we'll see. :confused:
Its a courtesy thing, but some don't respect it.:mad:
If not, I'll leave a bill on the windshield of the 'perp' for about
$65.00 - for snow removal. HA !! :cool:

Another snow due tonite and tomorrow, but they say it will be mild,
(:eek::rolleyes::confused::cool:)
anywhere from 1 to 4 inches by tomorrow nite (If they are to be believed).

Well, thos pics were from the local newspaper's web site. But we're still digging stuff out here.


It still pretty much looks like this:

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/m.../2010_snow.jpg


and this:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/m...10_snow_02.jpg

The city is doing a fair job of removal.
I can actually see asphalt on my home street and the main streets are pretty clear, except for the 'icebergs' on the corners, piled up at every cross street. They've been trucking it out...to where? I don't care!
Garbage is gonna be collected for the 1st time in 2 weeks, today.(if you can find a place to put it out, that is accessible to the collectors...... on top of the 'icebergs'?)

We are getting quite a bit of snow today. Yesterday my legs and feet were HORRIBLE!!.. That Low was right over our state! (I had to take an Ultram last night and use my Lidoderms!) Today the pain is less!

While I think snow is pretty, my legs just can't handle it. :rolleyes:

I have to divert my attention today... going to transplant my first wave of seedlings! ;)

Holy Cow, what are you putting in?? Are you able to put seedlings outside?? Do you have those tunnels to cover them with?? Do you have a green house....I wish I did.

Gosh, I can't put a thing out until April 15th and those are cold hardy seeds, peas, spinach etc....plants here don't go out until May 15th and sometimes we still need to cover them....lucky you....I envy you. Our ground is like concrete and covered with a foot of snow still....long, long way til spring here.

I did put up my website though! And I bought my soap stuff. Soap has to age tho and I have to get it done by the end of March to sell in June.....and my kitchen is going to be torn up soon! I am not feeling well, at all...I emailed the docs two weeks ago, and got the usual...give the IVIG time, blah, blah....I guess I will feel this rotten, this is my natural state now. Oh well....gotta make the best of it.

Happy planting!

Not much snow here today, so far - just a dusting, thank goodness!.
The center is farther north, think - from PA, NJ, NY & Mass
Forecast is for more snow, though - maybe this Weds, & next Weds & Thurs.
But there will be rain in the middle, on Sun/Mon
We're leaving for a 5 day vacation to a PA ski area on the 27th
I hope there will be enough on the slopes (and not washed away)
for those in our party who do ski.
(I don't....anymore)
But the rain is welcome in the city,
to wash some of the snow away but then .....
....there will be a 'flood watch'

"If its not one thing... its another !"
(Rosanne Roseannadanna- classic SNL)

I am starting seeds indoors under my grow lights. They need to be bumped into larger cells. These will go out in a cold frame when spring starts. I am doing perennials first, when it gets warmer I will start my gazanias and some things for my son's home and the garden across the street I volunteer to take care of on the city property.

Ah, I see....good for you! How exciting to watch them grow!

Last week, my boss, an optometrist said there is no scientific proof that weather effects our bodies....he know not what he speak of, does he!:p