Sissy stuff to keep warm with during the "VORTEX"?

[Betty]

Monday, not an exceptionally hot day, but a humid day with poor air quality, my niece, 30 something non-smoker was rushed to the hospital with breathing problems. She has had no breathing problems in almost 20 years. All my relatives live pretty far away these days, but thanks to the internet & phones, I can still hear about them. 

[samantha1]

i hope she is ok

[Betty]

She used to have asthma problems in her high-school days, but had no breathing problems as an adult until last week.

90% humidity. So I won't be opening windows to refresh the air even though it's only 75F out there tonight. Been 24 hours since I let any outside air in. Using the AC & air filters. Usually over time the inside air gets to stale & full of normal indoor pollutants so eventually gets as hard to breathe as the outside air. But today I tried to keep cooking, use of detergents, & other things that generate indoor pollutants/fumes to a minimum, so am still breathing fair. Stuck my head outside the door briefly, & definitely could not breathe that air. Hopefully the humidity will drop a little before mid-morning when it's cool so I can refresh the air a little. They say it might get up to 90F today.

There goes my electric bill again!

[samantha1]

hi betty,you pay allot for electric per month.

[Betty]

Actually most people are surprised how incredibly low my electric & heat bills are. I keep things pretty efficient, & it's a small place with only a few small windows, & one door. Still though, the bills are way too high for me on a very tight budget.

[samantha1]

my monthly  direct debit is £40.00 for electric

[Betty]

Started off cool enough this morning. Was able to breathe good enough with the windows open. Even managed to make it downstairs & sit on the shady back door step sipping my coffee watching the morning birds.

But now it's 92F (33C). Sealed up inside with the AC & air filters on high. Even so, except for the main living area, the rest of the place is to hot to be comfortable, or breathe well in.

[Angela M...]

Hi Betty, glad you could get outside for a short time anyway. I like being in my house most of the time although sometimes I need to get outside once in awhile even to just weed the garden or water the flowers. This heat and very little rain has not been kind to my garden this summer, the roses and Hydrangeas both seem to like the heat and sunshine but I need to water them often.
Had to go to the hospital today for minor surgery on my back but at least it was air conditioned there. Driving down it was 89 F. in the early morning so I parked as close as possible to the building so I did not have to walk far in the heat. I was there about 4 hours but it seemed to be much hotter when I went outside again. The temp had crept up to 92 F. by 12:30 PM. A/C was on at home so I turned it down to 73 F and lay on the bed for a nap as my back is always very sore when they are done working on it. I drive myself there and back, about 30 miles each way so they don't give me any freezing or anisthetic.

[Betty]

30 miles? You had to go to Toronto? You couldn't get anybody to drive you there in case you couldn't drive home? A 30 mile bumpy ride has to be rough on your back right after surgery.

They could have done some window shopping, sightseeing, taste some interesting food, go to a museum, or the Science center during the operation.

Although Canada has some nice countryside, & wilderness, Toronto, Quebec City, & Montreal are cities I highly recommend everybody should visit if given a chance. They're even more fun than most USA cities to a tourist or visitor. After you've seen all the sights, did some unique shopping at reasonable prices, there's always lots of cool stuff to do.

Unless you fall for those tourist traps designed to attract tourists or rich people with lots of money to spend, they're economical destinations too. Prices are comparable to here, with most regular clothing shops actually cheaper. If you don't mind a nice but smallish hotel room with no TV, even rooms at a decent hotel are cheap. You wouldn't go to places like that to hang out in your room & watch TV anyway.

[Angela M...]

Hey Betty, it isn't an invasive surgery of sorts it is like micro surgery done under x-ray with probes and the first time I had it done I had somebody drive me but it was so good I could have driven home myself. I had been in massive pain for years until my doctor suggested I see a pain specialist. He checked all my x-rays and said he could kill the nerves around my damaged back joints and so far it is amazing. This will be the 6 th. time in 7 years and it works every time but does not last as long after each session. There may be a time when it will not work again but so far I am happy. I just need to remember not to over work myself and lift or carry too much as the damaged joints can get worse. Too much heavy work and overtime in 42 years did me no favours. I do some yoga and Ballet moves as my exercise routine each day to keep flexible. It takes about an hour in O.R. and then recovery is about 1/2 hour and I do it without freezing so I can tell him if he is on the nerve or not but it is worth all that pain for no pain afterwards.
 Yes the country side up here is amazing in some places and we have been going North to Georgian Bay and down along Lake Huron on weekends the past few months and we are planning to do it in the Fall as the leaves and waterfalls are amazing then. In the Hamilton/Niagara region there are many many waterfalls to visit and most are easy to get to from our trail system. I don't go to Toronto very often but did visit the Ripleys Aquarium awhile ago. Not too big and packed with stupid people dragging empty strollers with them blocking access to the tanks and the kids running around from place to place when they would see just as much from a buggy. What irked me the most was stupid people dragging luggage with them. If they were on a stopover waiting for a connecting train they could leave it in a locker or maybe they are too cheap to pay a Dollar or two. Sure beats hauling all your stuff around when you are trying to see the sights. Toronto is too big for us to walk around now and the crime rate is climbing each week. With all the sports and other attractions it can cost you $30 dollars to park for the day and then $30 each to get into the Aquarium or Sports Hall of Fame etc. I would rather drive in the country and stop at a cute Coffee shop or Diner or even an old style Five & Dime shop in the small towns although most of them are being replaced by Dollar stores now. I do remember going into one old shop in a small town and finding a small stock of plastic baby panties in Extra Large size from the 60's but they would not fit me then so I left them for some young kid to discover like I did all those years ago. I have been trying to plan a trip to see Frank Lloyd Wrights house ( Falling Water) near Buffalo for a few years now as I hear it is a favourite of Brad Pitt and I am a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright's Architecture since I was a student. I always thought that would be my calling but something else came up.