I woke up for a few minutes with a tickle in my throat which caused a coughing fit but I don’t think this had anything to do with sleep apnea. Then thunder woke me up after a little over 6.5 hours of sleep. Tom said the loud thunder actually started an hour before I was woken up.

I was tired but it could have been worse. I wonder if I would have felt worse without the mouthguard. I’m pondering whether, had I not woken up coughing and if the storm hadn’t disturbed my sleep, an extra hour or two of rest might have left me feeling refreshed.

My jaw was a little sore when I got up and I briefly considered skipping a night with the mouthguard but I don’t want to be tired again tomorrow if this thing is really helping me. I want to get on with the testing and find out for sure. It looks like there aren’t going to be any storms for the next week so I should get enough days of testing.

Shortly before midnight last night, I knew my sleep was doomed when I checked the hourly weather. Usually, they push storm times out to be later than first expected but they didn’t push the time out but increased the likelihood instead.

Again I wonder how bad this summer is going to be. A thought ran through my mind; if there is anything up there actually cursing my sleep, then if the mouthguard is helpful, it’s going to throw more storms at me and other things to fuck with my sleep.

Ray said hi to Tom the other day and he was the one to speak first. Maybe he’s sexist, although to be fair, Ray didn’t see me when he was hosing his place down. His back was toward me when I said hello.

A nurse will pay me to come to the house to take my vitals, go over medications, and make sure everything’s nice and safe. It’s a one-time thing. Not sure if it’s because I’m older or just part of my insurance plan.

Getting really sick of having to call other countries to get help in my own country. Had to call the insurance company to make sure I really was eligible for them to pay me $100 to come out to the house. After dealing with yet another hard-to-understand accent, I scheduled an appointment for the 26th. Of course, she too, will be a foreigner.

When I was a kid I hardly saw foreigners and now it seems like every other person isn’t from here. If they could just adopt our accent it wouldn’t be so bad although the more people we have coming over here, the more it still hogs our resources and takes jobs from the people from here.

Even though the GYN I saw is also not from here (at least I don’t think she is even though she barely had an accent) I liked her better than Dr. D and would like to switch to seeing her. Dr. T was much gentler, told me everything she was doing, and it didn’t hurt as much. She said I definitely have moderate to severe atrophy but didn’t feel anything else going on. She did, however, see a yellow discharge. As soon as she said that my mind immediately went to a bacterial infection since yeast is usually white and that’s what she said she thought it was. She took a swab and even a urine sample which I had no problem providing to see if the WBCs that I told her had been elevated in past samples were still up there or not.

When we got back I ate and tried to nap but couldn’t. I’m in a great mood, just tired. I’m glad this appointment is over and that I went after all if I really have an infection or something I need treatment for. As I told her, I haven’t felt any burning for a few weeks now. We never discussed an estrogen-based cream which I’m hesitant to use anyway. A fingertip full of Replens or something similar should do the trick as long as I’m consistent.

Tom got a text message when we got home saying that amoxicillin had been called into the pharmacy but then it was canceled. I guess they decided it would be best to wait for the results of the tests rather than jump the gun and assume anything.

Passed an accident on the way down, as usual. I still can’t believe how common accidents are here. Someone got rear-ended and the person was on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. The back corner of their car had a lot of damage.

That’s two appointments in a row I was tired for so hopefully I’ll be more awake when I see the ENT on the 23rd.

We still have to make the appointment for the eye specialist which I’m guessing will be male and foreign. Another thing I noticed early on is that most of the doctors are male here unlike in Cali and I wonder if that has anything to do with this not being a great place to live. At least the cost of living is lower and the weather is warmer. Not as warm as I’d like in the winter but it’s definitely an improvement over NorCal.

Dr. D isn’t sick and didn’t have an accident. She’s having a baby. She must be a high-risk pregnancy to take that much time off unless she just wants to spend the first few months of its life with it. Nothing against her but I hope to see Dr. T the next time I need to go. Dr. D just wasn’t as friendly or gentle. Loved the nails and sparkly eyeshadow Dr. T had on as well. I could tell that like me, she has a thing for bright colors and shiny things. The most important thing is finding out exactly what I have and treating it. More than likely, the Norovirus did end up infecting me after all. I wonder if the dream I had a few weeks ago about being swept out to sea had anything to do with today’s appointment.

Arizona reverting to the Draconian laws of 160 years ago doesn’t shock, sadden or anger me as these things would when they first started happening. Again, if you don’t want your rights taken away then don’t vote Republican! The people got what they voted for. Sure, there are some people that think like I do but I seem to be becoming more and more of a minority.

Damn, it’s windy out there! Can’t imagine why since the storm passed hours ago. Still don’t see any rain or storms predicted through the 20th but I know these things can creep up on us. I love listening to the wind and wind chimes. We got tornado warnings on our phones earlier in the day, too.

Not all news is bad. OJ croaked from cancer! Here’s where I hope the two-time murderer is being tortured in hell if such a place exists. I don’t know if it does but I know he was guilty as fuck. Just the way he ran was confession enough and I don’t doubt for a minute that like Michael Jackson, he didn’t get off because he was rich, famous, and innocent. He got off because he was black and the judge knew that if he convicted the bastard, the LA riots of 1992 would repeat themselves all over again. So he only got off to spare innocent people from being hurt.

Remembering that it’s CampNano month, I checked into the Nano site and it’s just so sad because I miss Aly so damn much. Her account is still there of course. All my projects from 2011 forward are there too, but I can’t see myself returning because it’s just not the same without her. On the 17th, she would have been 43.

In better news, throw asparagus tips in the oven for 5 minutes at 425° and it’s great! I sprayed it with oil first and I’m really coming to like this olive/avocado oil, too.