Archive | August, 2024

A Very Motivated Mosquito

19 Aug

Mosquitos usually leave me alone, I joke that it’s because I don’t taste good but sometimes I wonder if there is something to that.

I tend to run cold, even when outside on a hot summer’s day and I tend to wear layers throughout the year. I don’t know how mosquitos pick their targets but surely when deciding between me, the person who has a lower body temp and has almost no exposed skin and a person in shorts and a tank top who is so hot they are sweating they find one human more appealing than the other. If only to avoid getting a headache from drinking something cooler than their preference and risking bending their stabby nose getting through layers of fabric.

Yesterday evening I realized I had been bitten, it has been so long since I’ve had a mosquito bite it took me a couple minutes to figure out why my arm was so itchy. Now many areas on my arms are itchy and I am cursing those little demons.

I’ve counted about ten bites, and because I scratched them in my sleep…and if I’m being honest also when awake, they have grown quite large, and more itchy. What’s with that?

I tried putting lotion on them after my shower, that didn’t help and I think the shower made them worse. Something I was not expecting. I have nothing to treat mosquito bites, why would I when they leave me alone? So I’m stuck trying to not scratch; screw dieting, this is the ultimate test of willpower.

When trying to puzzle out when I got attacked I figured it had to be when I was out with a friend on Saturday and was a little offended they went for me and not her. But then this evening when in the shower I found a fat, probably because it’s full of my blood, mosquito on the shower curtain. It should not come as a surprise the mosquito is no longer with us, it has moved on to the next plane of existence while I am still firmly sitting in the plane of itchiness.

I can’t even be surprised that one mosquito did so much damage, I remember there was a quote on a body shop t-shirt in the 90’s, now, I’m paraphrasing here and will get it wrong but it was along the lines of if you think you can’t change the world see what one mosquito in a closed tent can do…I mean, that isn’t near the quote, but you get the feeling right?

One, whether it’s a mosquito or a human or a cat or a whatever can create a lot of change in the world if they are motivated enough. That mosquito was definitely motivated…maybe I should take notes…

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Chicken vs Concussion

14 Aug

Two weekends ago I bought some chicken when grocery shopping. Not the frozen kind that lasts forever if you keep it frozen, the raw squishy kind that you need to either cook or freeze before it becomes unsafe.

I swear I meant to cook it within a day or so but see, I put it in the fridge and it immediately joined the list of things I forgot about because I could no longer see it. And because it wasn’t super visible immediately upon the fridge door opening I didn’t remember it was in there. I put it on top of the egg carton, I eat eggs regularly so thought that was a good spot, but what do you know I ended up eating more tofu the past little while and didn’t go for the eggs.

Oops?

My concussion strongly affects my memory and not in a good way. If I put something down and walk away to do another task within a minute I forget where I put the initial object, and when I go searching for it I can scan over the area where it is multiple times before I actually see it. I also just full on forget where something gets put, which has been a real treat to deal with considering I spent the bulk of the worst part of my concussion moving and trying to unpack. There are still so many things that I have no idea where I put them…

At one point I bought a new tv remote because I couldn’t remember seeing mine while unpacking, all boxes had been emptied or at least fully gone through, and I had no remote. I figured something has to get lost in a move and that must be it so I bought a replacement from Amazon and then of course proceeded to find my original remote after the one from Amazon arrived. Because of course. The amazing hiding spot I put it? On top of my dresser and then a piece of paper ended up on top of it and boom! Remote no longer exists in my brain. Why didn’t I, in all my searching, move the piece of paper to see what was under it? I have no idea.

So yeah, all this to explain why I immediately forgot about the chicken after putting it in the fridge and didn’t see it whenever I opened the fridge.

Yesterday I found the chicken and decided to cook it, sorta skipping over the fact that the best before date was 4 days prior. Those are just suggestions, right?

To add to this little scenario I still can’t taste or smell, so until I get sick from something I’ve eaten I don’t actually know that something I’ve eaten has gone off. Go long covid go 😛

In the end I overcooked the chicken out of a healthy dose of concern, I really didn’t want to be sick, and managed to have a perfectly acceptable dinner of veggies and chicken. Boring? Kinda. Can I tell? Nope.

I bought some ground beef this past weekend but that I actually remembered to put in the freezer so I’m safe there, now all I have to do is remember next week that I have it and want to cook it…

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