Home Caregivers Not Given Vaccine?

In the state of Florida, there are currently 3.5 million home health aids and CNA per diem workers. Since we typically go from home to home providing much needed aid to the elderly and inferred, wouldn't that qualify us as "essenial workers?"

As of this morning, the company I work for has no plans to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to those of us who are working away from the facility. I believe this is wrong. We are on the front lines, too! Do You Agree or Disagree? Post your opinions below.

Write Every Day... They Say

     Umm. Right... So what do I write about? I really have no life to speak of. Quarantin's got me down. My brain is fried from the boob-tube. (aka television) They say, write every day to get better. I'm really trying. I want to be back in the publishing biz. Learn editing or copywriting. 

     The days I spent working for a magazine in Florida was the best days of my life. All I really did was update ads and photoshop images. Rarely did I ever have a chance to do anything creative and it showed. My stuff always looked childish and dorky.

     No one even bothers to read my stuff. I need to push through the mud and get my head above water. I just don't know how to do it. Guess I'd better start by writing something every day.

Perfect Weather: A Short Essay

Perfect Weather: A Short Essay

By: Michaelene N. DeYoung
Today’s writing prompt is to look out your window and describe the day.

Looking out my bedroom window this morning, it really looked like the perfect day, in Florida terms. I literally jumped out of bed and turned on the television to see the weather report. Finally! The air of what I’ve been waiting for all year. I immediately opened my window to let the fresh ocean breeze in.     

Oh the refreshing wind! Slightly brisk and so delightful. Immediately my spirits are lifted. The subtle scents of the ocean nearby fill me with joy and contentment. The inhale of green grass and trees ensures me that I can keep moving forward and growing as each blade and leaf does. 

    I truly love days like this. The skies are deep blue with white puffy clouds with light gray underneath gently meandering across the ocean on a path only they seem to know. I dream of the day that I could be out in nature instead of observing it through a quarantine window. I’ve been in this home since March and haven’t even driven my car since my patient’s family is out of town. 

Truth be told now. I’ve been marooned here in Florida for over twenty years. I came down here to be closer to my parents who retired here. I enjoyed visiting them every weekend until my sister decided she wanted them closer to her and moved my mom and dad and all their possessions to North Carolina. I had no job, no car and I lived in a hotel room with a man who was my platonic partner whom I ended up staying with for the rest of his life. 

I really long for spring, autumn and winter once again. Twenty plus years of summer is enough. That’s why perfect days like today, rare as they are are such a gift I cherish.

Vegan Creamed Spinach!

VEGAN CREAMED SPINACH

This delicious side dish is quick and easy to make. Your guests won’t even know it’s vegan!
In my opinion, I could have used double the spinach for all that sauce. So, I suggest you get 2 bags of spinach instead of one so you can add in as much as you want. The cream sauce is super flavorful so it can handle all that spinach easily. :-)

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbs. vegan margarine such as Earth Balance

1  onion roughly chopped

1 cup baby bella mushrooms sliced

1 tbs. jarred minced garlic or 3-4 cloves chopped

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 tbs. flour

1 tbs. fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp. lemon zest

1 cup coconut milk

1 - 2 tsp. nutritional yeast

1 - 9 oz. bag of fresh spinach

Additional salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Melt margarine in a large pot. 

Add onion and a pinch of garlic salt. Cook onions till they just start to carmelize. 

Add mushrooms and another small pinch of garlic salt. 

When mushroom start to sweat, add minced garlic and remainder of garlic salt.

Cook for 1 - 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and remove vegetables from pan carefully trying to leave as much juices in the pan. (I let them sit in a strainer over the pot for a few minutes)

Add flour to the juices and begin whisking. Let it bubble for abou 20 seconds then slowly add coconut milk. 

Add in spinach a little at a time till it is all wilted. 

Sprinkle with lemon juice, lemon zest and stir. 

Add mushrooms and onions back in. Stir to heat through. 

Add in nutritional yeast and stir. Taste for seasoning and serve!

Prayer for Those with Bed Bug Infestations

Dear Lord,
Please be with all of us that are dealing with this horrible insect infestation.
Help us to remember that you are mighty above all things and that you are the only solution to this problem.
Help us not to put our hope in man, in the exterminators or the pest control products, but in You alone.
Be with those that are treating our houses and be with those that are dealing with the situation on their own.
Be with the children sleeping in homes that are infested.
Protect us as we sleep and help us to rid our homes from this pest.
When we become discouraged and feel ready to give up, help us to remember Your Word in Psalms 91.
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely He will save you from the hunter's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
We thank you in advance for Your provision, for Your goodness, and for Your answer to prayer.
In Jesus Name, We Pray
Amen.
                                                                                                  Written by: Unknown Author

My Everyday Carry

Right now, my EDC weighs a whopping 8 pounds! It's strange because it's mostly just little stuff.  Here are pictures and descriptions of everything I carry every time I go out.  Now, please keep in mind that some of these items are very necessary due to the fact that my partner is diabetic and also, we live in Florida where it rains almost every day in the summer.

On my lanyard is a watch, a small compass, fingernail clippers, a whistle, a P38 can opener, an aurora firestarter and a waterproof container with aspirin and tylenol. Next to the lanyard is a tube of glucose tablets.

This container hold a collapsible steel cup, condiments, wipes, a couple of small energy bars. On the right side is a small umbrella.

Next section holds bandaids, q-tips, a nail file, antibiotic ointment, feminine products.  The snus container on the left have matches, paperclips, safety pins and a sewing needle.  The other snus container holds cotton lint for firestarting. Below that are a couple of bag handles for groceries and an emergency blanket. There's also a hotel shower cap below that (almost out of the picture) for gathering food or water.  On the bottom left is a couple of sharpies, a comb, bug repellent and cocoa butter.

The orange pouch holds my wallet, kleenex, a microfiber towel and my Gerber multi-tool. The bag on my left is a crochet project.  I always have a small knitting or crochet project with me to keep me occupied.

And here is the whole shabang layed out on my bed along with the American Eagle messenger bag I carry it all in.  (Oh right next to the umbrella is a pair of chop sticks in a holder I made to keep them clean and above that is the bus schedules, a small note pad and small pen.

So, all this is 8 pounds? I can't seem to figure out why. :-)
Oh I forgot to mention that I also carry a 27 oz. Kleen Kanteen full of water which has several feet of 550 paracord wrapped around it. (not shown)

Retirement

I've been wondering, what am I going to do about retirement?  I haven't worked in a long time.  I'm essentially retired now but, with no income.  What will I do when Dwain is gone and there's no more Social Security to depend on?  Well, I've been doing some planning and some thinking on this subject.

Essentially, I have no plan.

Right now, my thoughts are to take up my walking poles and backpack and walk the country.  It's funny, but I've all ready started collecting gear that I plan on taking with me.  I have 2 hobo stoves in the works, tarps and many of the items needed in a b.o.b. I lack a few things but I'll slowly get them little by little and when I'm ready to (or maybe not ready to) hit the road, I'll be prepared.

So far:
The makings for 2 hobo stoves and 2 cookpots.
Gerber Multi-tool
2 tarps
mosquito netting
first aid kit
several small tins for fire starting materials
a utensil set
a rain poncho
a set of walking poles

Still need:
a fixed knife
a fire starting flint or two
a hammock
a bedroll

I'm thinking I might also like a 3-wheeled bicycle or maybe a wagon.  Those would really help lighten the load and make traveling much easier.