Does this Make Me a Doper???

As I stated a few months ago, my Blood Pressure's been up.

I've tried to manage it through exercise alone [which has worked in the past] but have made no headway; only taking it down to 150/80 in December before it rose back to 160/80 at a screening we had at Assumption a couple of weeks ago.

I made an appointment to see the Doc again this morning [without having to be told to by D'Wife to do so (!!!)].

At the office, my BP was down from 160/80 to 150/75; not bad since Mariel woke up throwing up and I got pulled over for speeding in Cherry Hill on the way over [talked my way out of it by saying I was taking her to the Pediatrian’s :-)]

Doc is putting me on this to get me to <140/80: “Amlodipine is called a calcium channel blocker. It works by relaxing blood vessels so blood can flow more easily … It may help to increase your ability to exercise …”

Uh-oh, I’d better check with the Olympic committee on this one [or Lance Armstrong]

"PRECAUTIONS: ... Limit alcoholic beverages"

Um ... Define "limit"

Cabin Fever

When coming home from Michaels on an errand to pick up some crafty goods for D’Kid a couple of Sundays ago, my car, Max, had - what felt like - an epileptic fit as we backed out of our parking space. My first thought was to put it in Park, then Reverse again to rule out a transmission issue; which it passed. Then once we returned home, I check the oil to make sure it hadn’t leaked/burned out and that I was on the verge of seizing then engine. Again, good results there.

It felt fine to drive even though there was some shuddering & puttering, which at first was startling then merely annoying.

Then the engine light came on.

That Saturday, I took it to our mechanic who ran the diagnostics; something to do with an ignition coil and possibly an injector issue.

I asked if would be okay to drive until Friday [when we BOTH get paid] … his mouth said ‘yes, but not too much’ but his eyes said ‘I wouldn’t’ … especially with 40 miles round trip ever day

So, told my manager that I’d be telecommuting in the rest of the week, if that was okay; which she was fine with.

It just got even better

That Tuesday Bank of America processed a loan payment that we didn’t authorize, which put our account $1300 below zero [see attached]. I had HOPED to get the refund from them by that Friday so I could take the car in, but it STILL hadn’t showed up when we both got paid; essentially putting us back to a single pay week.

Which meant we STILL couldn’t afford to have it fixed.

Which meant I STILL couldn’t get in to work.

So, I wait and work online in the meantime [while calling Bank of America everyday to bug them]

The ONE upside is that I can take a later lunch and go for my run outside, instead of getting up at 5:30AM and jogging around in the dark.