54° this morning and just 78° tomorrow. WTF is wrong with this place? We should be doing triple digits! Tom thinks the reason we’ve been overrun with skunks at night is due to the mild summer we’ve been having.

Just got in a few minutes ago from my half-hour walk. I walked between 5:30 and 6:00 so there would be enough light to see well, the skunks would be in bed, and there wouldn’t yet be much traffic. Went with a hoodie over a T-shirt and started off chilly. By the time I reached the RVs, I was warm.

Exchanged hellos with Jim once I got back to the house and he was coming around the circle. He looks pretty damn fit and healthy for a guy that’s getting close to 90.

Tom and I were talking about how things change as we age. He was saying that while things are always changing at least somewhat, he too, felt like things were changing so fast in his early 50s, but then they stabled out in his late 50s. At 50 he felt just as strong as when he was 20 but now he isn’t as strong.

His wife has always been fitter and now she can tease him about being both fitter and stronger. I am definitely naturally muscular and I definitely build additional muscle easily. Been this way since my early twenties.

Right now I’m worried that I’m going to suffer skin issues almost every day for the rest of my life. He feels confident that I won’t, so let’s hope he isn’t being naively optimistic. I’d rather skin issues than anxiety, but can I just have a break from everything for a while?

I was better down there but then I started getting burning and itching again, so maybe there is a connection with potatoes. Tom said he thinks if I have them once a week I’d be okay. It’s having them every other day that’s too much. That much I can agree with.

He looked down there and said it just looked red but didn’t see any bumps.

I guess the first of the democratic debates was last night. Didn’t watch it because I’m just not into watching that sort of thing but the only thing I don’t like about Democrats is that they’re so pro-illegals. They put everyone else first and foremost before their own. I hate to say it but I think that since it doesn’t affect me directly, I’d rather women lose their rights by closet case Republicans and for gays to lose rights than for us to be allowed to be overrun with illegals that could harm us in many ways. But that doesn’t make me a Republican any more than I was ever a Dem. I’m independent. I say equal rights for everyone that’s FROM here and no catering to illegals. If you’re caught here illegally you should be deported. Yet while it seems that most people have a serious problem with two people in love marrying each other if they’ve got the same parts between their legs, they also expect everyone to welcome illegals with open arms and a big bright smile on their faces as well. Oh, yes, we’re expected to happily feed, house, and provide medical care to thousands and thousands of illegals and refugees at our tax dollars’ expense, no questions asked.

The planes were quiet last night. They seem to be a back-and-forth thing.

Cock must have slipped out quietly and the buds stayed in place enough to protect me from it because this week its habit is to come in around 9:30 in the morning and stay for about 12 hours. Sometimes I wonder if his coming around so much lately is a spite thing. Like their way of saying to the neighborhood, “See, he’s still coming around and there’s nothing you can do to get rid of him. You can stop him from sleeping here but you can’t stop him from visiting.”

Some people really don’t have respect or consideration for others and they seem to get worse with time. If Larry lived in the same town as when my parents were in a park, and if he had a vehicle this insanely loud, they would never want him visiting with that shit. Ever.

I’ve lost a few pounds because I’ve been eating lower-calorie foods but my body has its threshold and won’t let off any more weight. That’s okay. I feel wonderful as opposed to the crap I used to eat, and even better when I don’t have sugary treats. I was such a TV dinner whore for so long that if someone had told me I would teach myself to cook, even if it’s just simple things anybody could make, I’m sure I would have laughed. I just had no interest in it. I’ll still indulge a little on weekends.

The one thing I’m definitely still doing wrong is overdoing the cholesterol. I really shouldn’t be eating meat since I’m not on statins. It’s just that without meat, I really lose a lot of variety that way.

For a fleeting moment, I considered going back to my full dose of medication 6 weeks before labs, figuring Dr. A would only want to resend me to the lab in just a couple of months. But then I remind myself of two things. One is that the dosage experiment I’m doing won’t tell me anything unless I do it at least 6 months, and two, Dr. A’s not my mother. All I have to do is say no to anything she requests. I’ll still give her a heads-up on the portal before labs in September so she doesn’t have her nurse calling me about why my TSH is a bit high.

Most importantly, I’ve been feeling so much better overall! So why change that? Why rock the boat and do anything that could risk changing that? Especially since I’m not endangering my life.

I watched a video tutorial on sculpting roses and decided to pull out my sculpting clay and tools and finally put them to use. Sculpting roses is fairly easy. I baked the two rosebuds I sculpted earlier and I’m going to paint them in a little while.