Open Letter to Doctors, Nurse & Dieticians

 So. I have had this whole CKD thing on my mind night and day lately. After I got my last lab results back, I spent several hours just sitting in the dark of my room, crying and frustrated, and mad. Praying helps. Thinking of all that I have to be grateful for helps. But I'm still just so irritated.

I'm irritated with myself, irritated with this damn sarcoidosis, irritated with the lack of public information about health issues, and just irritated with it all.

The sarcoidosis started this ball rolling but the blame for it picking up speed lies first with me. I let my weight balloon. I wasn't being careful about reading nutrition labels. I didn't take the time to realize that "eating healthy" in general doesn't mean "healthy for everyone". I didn't pay enough attention to my own health. I was so focused on my sarcoidosis in general that I didn't think enough about the specifics.

The biggest frustration is that I waited until now to educate myself about CKD. The next irritation is that in the US we don't have enough public information about nutrition and diet. We have a lot of noise about it but not enough useful information.

Nutrition labels are focused on the basis but they are not always on the up and up. The clearest information on a nutrition label is for anyone trying to lose weight. That even gets a little tricky when there is hidden or unclear labeling of ingredients.

Labels can disguise sugars and salts and other minerals by playing funky games with the names of those things. The average person trying to lower their sodium or sugar intake might not know to look for the different ways those things are named.

I found one article online that points out the different ways to "find sodium". Find sodium - because it might be hidden. Some ways sodium appears on labels?

• Monosodium glutamate, or MSG (often added to Chinese food)
• Sodium citrate
• Sodium sulfite
• Sodium caseinate
• Sodium benzoate
• Sodium hydroxide
• Disodium phosphate

At least, in this case of this list, "sodium" is part of the name. The other part of this though is when we are drawn to a particular product because of how it's described on the front label. This same article points out how the touted "low sodium", "unsalted", "sodium-free", "very low sodium", "light" and "reduced" sodium mean. For me with CKD, I'd need to really be careful about buying items labeled as "light" and "reduced" sodium. And I will be careful - now that I know.

Let's look at sugar.

As with the sodium identifiers above, there are some sugars that are fairly obvious. But then again, there are so many types of sugar that unless you are involved with food on a more-than-average level, you might miss a lot of them. Here are just some from this page where they note that 

"Ingredients are listed by weight on packaged foods, with the main ingredients listed first. The more of one item, the higher up on the list it appears. 

Food manufacturers often take advantage of this. To make their products appear healthier, some use smaller amounts of three or four types of sugar in a single product."

And some of the names of these sweeteners?   

1. Barley malt
2. Beet sugar
3. Brown sugar
4. Buttered sugar
5. Cane juice crystals
6. Cane sugar
7. Caster sugar
8. Coconut sugar
9. Corn sweetener
10. Crystalline fructose
11. Date sugar
12. Dextran, malt powder
13. Ethyl maltol
14. Fruit juice concentrate
15. Golden sugar
16. Invert sugar
17. Maltodextrin
18. Maltose
19. Muscovado sugar
20. Panela
21. Palm sugar
22. Organic raw sugar
23. Rapadura sugar
24. Evaporated cane juice
25. Confectioner’s (powdered) sugar

Of that list of 25 items, I'd say that 11 are harder to spot as being "sugar" or a sweetener - unless you pay close attention. And I think that brands count on us not paying attention.

Another thing I recently realized is that some things are not even evident on food labels. For example, phosphorus is something I have to watch in my diet. Wanna try identifying that on labels? I didn't even know it was a thing to watch for before now...

What frustrates me about this is that brands are allowed to manipulate the information on labels at all. If cigarettes come with warning labels - and only x amount of people smoke them - shouldn't food labels be held to a higher standard? I mean, everyone eats. From the moment of conception, we are in some way affected by nutrition.

Remember when we found out that "diet" sodas weren't as healthy as would be assumed by the use of the word "diet"? 

So I am frustrated as much by the food industry as and the guidelines they are allowed to play with as I am by myself.

I didn't just now start to pay attention to my health. If you've read my blog at all, you've known about all the times I was tweaking my diet to add what I thought of as healthy foods. For the past couple of years, I've been eating lots and lots of greens and healthy fats. I've barely eaten any fast food at all in over 4 years. The only real thing I knew that I was playing fast and loose with was red meat. Even then I would go for the lean stuff. And I damn near went into debt the past year by switching over to fish and seafood. I stopped using cow dairy (except for my coffee creamers) and went full soy. I started eating tofu. 

Had I better educated myself I would have known that all green stuff isn't good for CKD. I should NOT have been eating bunches and bunches of collard greens with "low sodium" seasonings. I'd have known to watch for some of the "good fats" like my beloved avocados. I'd have known that switching from chips and cookies to seeds and nuts wasn't the smartest thing. I'd have known not to add chia seeds to my diet.

I right now have (or have given away) a king's ransom of "healthy" foods I can no longer freely indulge in:

• A jug of chia seeds that I was adding to daily smoothies of spinach and fruits.
• 3 different bags of brown rice and 1 bag of wild rice
• whole-grain pasta noodles
• veggies noodles
• whole-grain bread mix to make in my bread machine
• canned and frozen mixed vegetables 
• bags and bags of pinto beans
• frozen spinach
• tomato paste and sauce and stewed tomatoes (2 of the cans were reduced sodium)
• pasta sauce
• refried beans
• whole-grain tortillas

And on and on.

I was proud of how I was eating. I gave up orange juice last year when I was warned about it and started buying pineapple juice - for my spinach and banana smoothies!

So, basically, I was probably being kinder to my kidneys when I was eating a lot of pasta and rice and yellow cake with cream cheese frosting...

The thing that has made me maddest is that, if there were more specific food and nutrition education, there would be fewer people dealing with CKD, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.

What I knew before now was to avoid pork, processed foods, orange juice, and anything with a lot of seasoning. What I didn't know was to avoid foods that are often seen as "healthy". Those foods are healthy for some or even most people but not for me. Not for anyone else with CKD.. 

Don't just tell people that too much salt and sugar is bad for them. Tell them where to find salt and sugar in common foods. And try to be clearer about the yays and nays of daily nutrition. Especially when they are dealing with CKD or weight issues or heart issues.

Anyway.

I will be seeing a new nephrologist soon. The first thing I am going to ask for is to see a dietician. I think I mentioned that before. I don't know. Can't remember because I'm too hungry and stressed out. I believe I mentioned that I'm down to popcorn, toast, and coffee with rice milk at this point. 

Peace

--Free

The Popcorn Diet

 Heads Up: I've got some draft posts (not yet published here) on the subject of my bad kidneys. Just telling you that so when I finally post everything you won't be confused. I'm posting this one now because it's an easy rant...

So.

I've been having a hell of a time trying to figure out what I can and cannot eat in order to stop any further damage to my damn kidneys. Sorry for the fussing but... this year has been sheer madness at less than 3 months in!

Anyway. Back to the kidney thing.

At my last infusion, my lab results showed creatinine levels that have once again jumped back into the stratosphere. They go up and down but lately, they mostly have only been going up. A wee little bit at a time. ("Wee", get it?)

Anyway, I am so deadly terrified of having to ever go on dialysis that I am working my hardest to watch everything that goes into my mouth at this point. The one crazy thing is, I never had to worry about my kidneys until this damn sarcoidosis. I never was seriously sick before this. One side of my family has kidney problems, the other side tends to get cancer. I never had either.  The other crazy thing is, my latest creatinine jump is probably from all the "healthy" eating I was doing in the weeks before the last infusion. I will get to that in a minute.

Again. Anyway.

So I am over here giving myself a headache trying to decipher nutrition labels and other information to see what kind of foods I can safely enjoy. I made lists of those that are okay, not-so-okay, and no-no-no. Then I would find contradictory information. Then I would have to move foods from one list to another.

When I ended up crying and feeling dumb because my brain kept getting all muddled up, I decided to find a food app specific for CKD (chronic kidney disease). Guess what? There are apps for almost every ailment known to modern man but just about none for what I need.

Next, I tried just organizing a bunch of lists, recipes, suggestions, etc using One Note. Fabulous thing, that One Note (but only "for Windows 10 version). I've got most of my life organized in my DIY notebook system and One Note. One Note is more for things like recipes and useful info I find online that I will need to refer back to often. And I already told you how my notebook system rules my daily life.

While One Note is great for clipping and storing all the information about kidney health, foods, etc., it still isn't great for my practical needs like grocery shopping and meal planning and won't be until I get myself familiar with all the info.

I did go back to using the Cronometer app I liked once when I was playing at losing weight. So far, it's the best app I've used just to keep an eye on what I call the Big Three: potassium, phosphorous, and sodium. It's so good in fact, that I want to find out if my insurance might cover the Pro version. With that one, I can share the information with my doctors. Very cool, right? For now, I am using some of the money I'm saving on groceries to pay monthly for the Gold version. It's ridiculously pricey (IMO) at almost 10 bucks (with tax) per month but it's so useful. There's no better way I know right now for tracking the Big Three.

Like with all apps, I have to log or scan everything I eat. Okay. Fine. That's a real pain in the butt. However, I am determined NOT TO BE ON DIALYSIS anytime soon. And by "soon" I mean before I die of almost anything else. 

Until I can meet with the nephrologist again (and, hopefully, a dietician who doesn't hate food), I am just being so, so careful. The easiest way for me to do this is to stick to the few things that should be safe to eat. This is what I have so far:

• Rice milk (not enriched because, somehow, enriched is worse for me? I can't remember why.)
• Coffee (I am sticking to a 10-ounce serving in the morning & softened with the rice milk.)
• Popcorn - made with kernels and the tiniest bit of oil. I season it with 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt. For some reason, sea salt is supposed to be better than regular table salt. I don't remember where I read that or why it is.
• Rice cakes. 
• Apples and red grapes. Love the grapes but only like apples when I want on. I'm trying to decide if I can just use them for some kind of decent dessert dish.
• Cabbage. I like cabbage when I like cabbage but find it a pain in the tail to deal with.
• Water, water, water, and more water.

The first day I was trying to use the Cronometer app, I had coffee with rice milk, popcorn, and a rice cake. The phosphorus and potassium levels seemed good but my sodium level was at 70% of the daily allowance. I set that daily allowance from reading on what I should have - 2300mg or less. And I was gassy all day. Ugh. Actually, I just realized that I did not use all my salt for the day. I still have some in the little container I keep the day's sea salt in.

and those carbs...

Last night (of my second day using the app), I fasted. I figure if I throw in fasting from 7pm to 11am, I am not missing much. It's not like I'm excited to eat anything I'm allowed.

Again, anyway...

So today is going to be all about trying not to think about the delicious food I can't have. Or rather, not thinking about those foods. 

To be honest, this will probably be the best thing ever for losing weight. I just can't deal with so much meal prep. I've gotten used to fixing enough of something to last for a few days. A big pot of pinto beans cooked with some ground beef to eat with rice or cornbread or tortillas. Sandwiches with avocado and tomato. Some on-sale shrimp or fish to smother in garlic and onions. A baked potato or sweet potato. A big spinach salad with some poppyseed dressing. And my favorite "healthy" meal of nothing but collard greens to eat with fresh tomato and onions.

I think I'm up to Crazy Thing #3 here: Everything I thought I was eating that was healthy is not so healthy for me. For the last several weeks - maybe even the last few months - I've been eating green stuff, fish, seafood, whole grains. I actually hadn't had but maybe one loaf of plain white bread in about 4 months because I was buying the pricier whole wheat and high-grain stuff with nuts and seeds in it. Because I thought that was healthy!

Yesterday, as I was popping corn in my beloved Christmas gift Ninja, I realized that popping corn may be all I will be using that appliance for. At least until I can get this new CKD diet down.

So yeah. Woe is me. 

And I do realize that I should stop ranting and whining and be thankful. Thankful that I am not (yet) living in a war zone. That I have access to healthcare. That I have a roof over my head and food at all in my fridge. And I am thankful. I just needed to rant a bit.

Peace

--Free

My Good (?) Deed

Well, I either did a good deed or created a monster...

As some of you know, I lost my best friend recently when she died. I've been feeling so down that I just haven't known what to do with myself. I was walking around in a bit of a haze.

Last week, before everything really started going downhill for my friend's health, I was worried but hopeful. I ran into one of my elderly neighbors in the lobby. She looked as lonely as I felt sad so I went over to say good morning. I asked how she was and she told me that she was just so bored since leaving her old home. She lived on a farm at one point but I don't know if that is what she meant. I know that she is widowed. She told me that her kids had the bright idea to buy her a computer. What she didn't understand was what they thought she could do with something like a computer.

I said that I'd be glad to help her learn the basics. I said there were some things to do that weren't hard to get the hang of - watch videos and maybe read the news... She thought that was stupid. (Iowa people are blunt but so nice about it that you don't mind.)

She mentioned Facebook. She heard everyone talking about it all the time. Ugh! I loathe Facebook but...

Anyway, later on, I went up to her place and helped her set up a Facebook account. We found her kids and some grandkids and got her friended and connected to a few people. The kids are tickled that she is online. And that laptop they got her is pretty smooth! I showed her some games in the Windows store. And then...

Oh boy.

Then I showed her Farmville. Who knew that Farmville was in the Windows Store? I didn't. I've been sad ever since my old Farmville 2 farm went stagnant a couple of years ago...

I told my neighbor about the game and she was curious. How do you "farm" with a computer? What do you farm? What is the point? Doesn't it seem kind of silly?

Her eyes lit up after I downloaded the game and got it set up for her. At first, she still thought it was a little silly but... kind of fun. I quickly leveled her up to where she had some crops and trees and a few other basics. 

Oh boy. She was loving the idea of a virtual, colorful, noisy farm.

What does she love most? That she doesn't have to mess with the keyboard. She can use the mouse to do everything. She doesn't like the keyboard at all! The keyboard is what terrifies her most about a computer because she doesn't like typing. She does love using that mouse though.

Two hours in, she was playing Farmville on her own. I left her to it and said I'd come back up to help her set up her email account contacts if she wanted. I don't even think she heard me.

This morning, I finally pulled myself together enough to be around people without breaking into tears. I thought about my neighbor and went to see how she and her computer are getting along.

Well, she isn't interested in email or any more social media stuff. She likes looking at her kids' pictures on Facebook but her main groove is her farm. In less than a week, she is leveled up to having more crops and trees. She is trying to earn enough keys to get some of the nicer animals...

Guys, it was so cute. When I got there, she was working that farm like it was for a retirement pension. She was harvesting crops and racking up points like crazy. She could barely talk to me for taking care of her make-believe farm!

I love it. She is really good at playing the game. She doesn't quite get the whole "neighbor" farmer thing - liking or adding people - so I had to show her how to do that. She can trade goods and items with other players but doesn't use the chat feature. Mostly, I think she enjoys the sounds, colors, and interaction of the game. She had the sound up so loud that I could hear mooing and bleating from outside in the hallway. Her monitor is a nice 17-inch one with awesome graphics. I'm so jealous! She has it set up on a nice table that rolls over her lap while she sits in her favorite chair.

When I was up there, she had her snack of berries and melon pieces on a side table and her phone sitting in reach. I'm pretty sure I won't see her sitting in the lobby looking sad and lonely anymore.

I sat there watching her work her farm for a while. She was totally engaged. She even knows better than to spend money buying extras. She said that what she likes is that she can have so much fun without it costing her anything. (Yeah, older Iowans tend to be very cheap frugal also!)

Right now, I'm not going to bother her with setting up any more social media accounts. As far as the email, all she needs it for is to sign into her Facebook and farm. I don't think she cares if she gets any mail or not.

I left her to it. 

I'm thinking now that, where games can be timewasters for some people, they might be useful for the elderly. I'm pretty sure that it's good for my neighbor to keep her brain active. Farmville is a game but it ain't for sissies. There is a reason I rarely play it. It's almost as complicated to keep up with as running a household! For my neighbor though, it gives her something to do and she doesn't have to wait for someone to come and join in. 

Maybe we ought to teach more of our parents and grandparents to use games on computers? If they can't get out by themselves - like my neighbor - and their kids are busy with work and their own kids and such, something like Farmville is a great time-filler.

I feel better knowing that my neighbor has found something she enjoys that doesn't depend on waiting for other people to show up. I'm pretty sure that she's going to be showing some of the other folks how to play Farmville. 

Peace

--Free

**USEFUL** Organizing for the Unorganized

Because of a medical issue, I have great difficulty in organizing and keeping track of important information. I live alone and no longer have the same close-by support system to help me take care of paying bills and keeping track of medications. Now I also have to deal with keeping on top of different doctors, bills, and other life-is-messy stuff. 

I had to come up with a fairly simple system to keep the most important stuff organized. My best friend and I devised a little system a few years or so ago. Recently, she was suddenly very ill and in hospital for days and I'm sure that her family appreciated her having most of her important day-to-day stuff in some kind of order. Sadly, my friend passed away. In my grief, I'm taking time to post about how we set up our little "order out of chaos" system.

What I Use:

• Spiral notebooks. The cheaper, the better. I use one spiral for "general stuff" (I will explain that and another just for bills and regular payments that I call my Bill Pay sheet). You should arrange a system that works best for you.
• Pens and/or pencils (in at least 3 different colors. I use blue, black, and red. A permanent marker with a fine tip is also useful.
• Highlighters in at least 2 colors. You may want to add more.
• Sticky notes. They don't have to be the pricy name brand type but should not fall off easily. (I will tell you later how I have started making my own.)
• Colored tabs or something to "flag" pages and sections. I have cheap tabs that I can write on and reposition.
• A stapler and/or good paper clips.

What I do for my general information:

• If I talk to anyone about anything important - for example, medical insurance or my apartment lease, etc. - I try to immediately record the information in the spiral. At a minimum, I note the date and time and who I was speaking with, and why. If I don't have my spiral, I jot notes on any piece of paper that I can copy, clip or staple into my spiral later.
• I make a tab/flag for each situation. If I make a note about my apartment lease, I make a tab for "Apartment" or "Lease" and try to leave a few blank pages behind it in case I need to add more information later. This helps me find things at a glance when I need to.
• When I fill up a spiral, I start another. I try to keep all the old spirals bound together by type - General, Bills, Medical, etc. I always mark the year on the front.
• I will staple or clip the small relevant loose notes and receipts into the appropriate space in the spiral. If something is too bulky, I will put it into a baggie labeled so I know which spiral and section it belongs to. Cheap envelopes are also good for holding receipts and other flyway papers.

What I do for monthly/regular bill payments (Bill Pay sheet):

• I typed up a sheet listing my set monthly bills to be paid. You want to have at least a year's worth (12). I was able to print mine out but you can handwrite them or have copies made at the library or a store.
• For each month, I show a running tally similar to a basic checkbook with-
• the starting dollar amount or balance that I have to work with
• on each bill line, I show the amount that is due and the amount that I am paying. I subtract what I have minus what I paid, and show the balance left. I move the balance to the next line and repeat.
• I leave space on one side of the columns to make whatever notes I want. I usually note whether I am paying any extra on a bill or if it is an auto-pay, etc.
• I leave space at the bottom or I use the back to make any notes throughout the rest of the month about what I am doing with the remaining balance of my budget - food purchases, unexpected charges, etc.

Of course, I make small changes to my system as I need and you have to practice to see what works for you. I recently changed my "Bill Pay" sheet to add things like the account numbers I need to sign in to pay and the due dates so I don't have to hunt for the information every time.

I pay all my bills at the first of the month even if they are due mid-month. Even if you don't actually pay the bill at that time, you can tally it so you have an idea of your budget.

Last year, I started just stapling my Bill Pay sheet to a page in the spiral because that leaves me more room to jot the many notes I take all the rest of the month. 

It's not pretty but it works. 

You can see that I put a lot of wear and tear on my notebooks! That's because I have to refer back to them so often.

Another thing that I started about 2 years ago is keeping a spiral that is just for information from and for my doctors. I only see my specialist about every 3 months. By the time I get to appointments and he or she is asking, I will have forgotten any specific issues I had in the previous months. One of my doctors is great about printing out info for me to take home - future appointments, changes to make to my diet and exercise, etc. My other doctors tend to forget to do that so I have started taking detailed notes during or immediately afterward. Or my family will mention what they are observing about my health that I need to make a note of.

Keeping track of
important calls...

Even more recently since I changed to a better Medicare plan, I started keeping a whole other notebook for that. I keep track of benefits I'm using or paid OTC stuff I can order, etc.

The bottom line is when you have any kind of issue with your health or memory, etc. you have to be your own advocate and caretaker. I am fortunate to have the best family ever but I live alone. I can't afford to misremember something important like a bill, medication, or something else that impacts my life so seriously.

Maybe you don't even have a specific age- or health-related situation. Maybe you are just disorganized in general. Maybe you have a family member that you are helping. You could set this system up and use it to help them stay on track. At any rate, I hope it's truly useful. It's literally been a life-saver for me.

My mind is very scattered this week & I wanted to come back and add anything I may have missed...

You can make your own Sticky Notes (cheaper than the name Post *ts...) by getting some of this cheap glue. I use scratch paper of cheap newsprint that I cut into different size squares. If you apply the glue to the paper and wait 60 seconds before attaching it to another piece (and another, etc), you can easily re-attach those papers to your notebook. DIY stickies.

I use either pencils or erasable ink for writing in my notebooks. Don't use erasable ink though on anything important such as official documents - or if the paperwork will be exposed to high heat. My Rocketbook ink pens are made to wash away with water or disappear with high heat. I really prefer mechanical pencils for my notes because the lead lasts longer and is cheaper to replace.

I like to keep business-length envelopes around. You can staple them into your notebook to hold a batch of receipts (medical, bills, etc). That way you won't have bits of small papers flapping around in your notebooks.

Have one spot in your home where you can store the accumulation of notebooks. I store mine under a writing desk near my emergency contact stuff. I arrange them by month/year or just year. If we have a fire or other emergency, time allowing, I will grab the most recent stuff.

Make sure that someone in your family or circle of friends knows you have the notebooks. If something happens and they need to help you take care of business, they will at least have somewhere to start.

Setting this up is a lot less complicated than it sounds. Just make a system that works best for you. The main thing is to have some kind of order in the chaos of your life when it comes to important stuff like medical or finances. 

Peace

--Free

**CROSS POST** A Sense of Wonder

Warning: this is one of my posts from my blog about faith. Non-believers may want to exit now. 

This is one of those Does Anyone Else? posts. So... Does anyone else sometimes just sit and wonder what Heaven is like?

This is a frequent pastime of mine. Reading certain passages of the Bible can set off one of these musings, or thinking about a loved one who has died. Thinking about my own mortality is another fuse that lights my wonderings.

My best friend is currently not just "not doing well" but at the "may not make it" stage of her being ill. One morning last week, when I got the news from the family of her recent trip to the emergency room, I was sad for the rest of the day. I couldn't do anything but think of my own potential loss. I've already lost my only biological sister and now I was losing the person I call my "sister of the heart". 

I will miss her so much when she is gone. I will have no one like her to call and tell things that I could only tell her or my later sister. I will not get the phone calls and messages and support of this amazing woman who has been my friend for almost 30 years. I will be so much sadder and lonelier in this world for the loss of her.

Yeah. I spent almost an entire day in the I-zone of misery.

Then, because my Bible reading plan has me in parts of the books of Corinthians, I remembered the verses we inserted into my mother's obituary:

For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed, in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked. For indeed, we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NASB)

Yes. That part, as the kids now say.

Once I re-read the passage, I stopped the tears. I began to think of how happy my sister-friend is going to be when she steps out of the pain of her earthly tent and into the joy and peace of her heavenly existence.  And then, I went on to muse about her being there in Heaven.

Will she meet my mother and sister again? Will they recognize each other? And will it matter to them in Heaven who they once were on this earth?

I like to try to imagine an existence without the sins and temptations of mortal life. What must it be like to have no social, mental, emotional, or physical ailments to deal with?

If this is what we mortals can imagine, 
just think what God has prepared.

The other side of thinking about Heaven and what it will be like, always makes me appreciate salvation. I think that the greatest joy of Heaven will be being with the Father, meeting Jesus face to face. And the worst of Hell is being forever not in the presence of our Lord.

So, I can never lose this wonder I have about Heaven. I know that my human mind cannot come close to imagining what it is going to be like but it's a comfort to me when I think of my sister leaving here for there.

Peace

--Free

Surface Knowledge & Going Deeper

 Reading a Reddit post about the Rosetta Stone today reminded me to never stop learning. The Stone is one of those things that we hear about all the time without a lot of us really knowing what it is or why it's important. Surface knowledge.

We live in the age of the internet, being "connected" and having access to so much information that we don't absorb details. Surface knowledge.

How many of us are fortunate enough to have a good education? How many of us who have access take full advantage of a good (or even decent) education? 

I honestly believe that many of us didn't realize the importance (and good fortune) of having that access. I don't think that I did. For me, getting just through school was the thing. I was a nervous and shy student. My family, being military, moved around a lot. I never spent more than a year or two at any one school. I'd start at a school and have to get through the anxiety of being the "new kid". By the time I stopped feeling so lost and out of place, it was on to a new school. I believe my older sister felt the same. My brothers, who are more confident and outgoing, all did really well. They are all very "book smart". They really enjoyed their school years and have fond memories about every set of teachers and students they interacted with.

Now that I am much older, I still have the social anxiety and awkwardness of my youth. But now I have the internet. I have access to information of all sorts literally at the fingertips on my keyboard. Not learning about stuff in this society means I am mostly dumb on purpose. Ain't that a shame?

Before I got sick, I was too busy working and enjoying being healthy to take full advantage of all this free knowledge. Now, I have more time but my brain works at half-power. Still, I just cannot get enough of learning. I'm not great at retaining what I learn, but I still get to explore.

When I saw the post about the Rosetta Stone, I did some Googling and - wow.

For all of you out there with a healthy body, mind, and brain, I urge you to take advantage. If you even have 1 hour - even just half an hour - of time that you can set aside for it, go deeper. Please. 

Today, I spent about 40 minutes looking up information about the Rosetta Stone. While I was at it, I wandered down a few rabbit holes and picked up some information about language and culture in general. I will talk more about cultural literacy in just a moment and you will see why I think it's so important.

You can start by picking a book that you've always heard about but never got around to reading. You don't even have to read the book if you don't have time. You can look up notes about it or find a cheat sheet for it. I can't tell you how many lists there are of "Books Everyone Should Read...". Good Reads has a "General Knowledge Books" list.

Years and years ago, I read Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (by  E.D. Hirsch Jr.). That was the first time I started thinking about how I had shorted my own education post-school. Even though I'd had challenges during my school years, there was nothing really stopping me from going further and deeper afterward. I was just too busy working and being young and cute.

Coming up on that Reddit post and then writing this blog post has encouraged me to get another copy of Hirsch's book. I highly recommend it to anyone who agrees with me about life-long learning. Just because we are no longer in school - or see ourselves as "brainy", there is no reason at all not to continue learning. Maybe we wouldn't be in such an awful mess as a nation right now if we... Never mind. That's a whole other blog post!

I guess the main thing I want to get across is that we let things keep us from learning and growing. Shame is a big obstacle. I was always horrible with math but once I had to use math skills in a job that I loved, I got so much better. (Sadly, those skills were the first to go when I got sarcoidosis). What I have learned since my brain decided to be funky is that there should be no shame in going back to the basics to learn anything. My sister bought me a math book for children when I was first laid up in bed. I had nothing else to do so...  These days, when I am curious about something, I will start with the basics - looking for books written "for beginners" or for children. No shame, people. 

These days, with so much information available to so many, there is no excuse not to at least attempt to learn and grow. Barring health and developmental problems, we are only as dumb as we choose to be.

By the way, here is the Amazon author page for Hirsch. I plan to take a look and see what else he's written.

Peace

--Free

**QUICKIE POST** A New Way to Enjoy Yogurt?

What's your favorite thing to eat with yogurt? What's your favorite type of yogurt? I love Greek yogurt but usually get it sweetened. I'm pretty sure the plain is better for me. But the plain is so... plain. Anyway.

So I'm trying to eat everything up in my fridge before buying groceries. Just about everything is gone. I'm down to a couple f eggs and some cheese. Last night, I had a snack attack and... nothing snack-like but some yogurt, a single apple, and a couple of bananas.

The yogurt is that super-thick Greek Chobani brand. The bananas were about to be too ripe in another day.

I chopped the bananas up over a bowl of yogurt and topped it all with a couple lines of honey.

Let me tell you what... That was the best fruit & yogurt combo I've ever had. It was like eating a healthy version of mock Nilla Wafer banana pudding pie - you know, sans the wafers. Plain Greek yogurt is normally way too tangy-like for me. The bananas just kind of... 'oomphed' it up.

Guess what my new favorite snack is? Not even just as a snack. I mean, I could eat this all day every day. I think that the trick is for the bananas to be at the right ripeness. The ones I had were not going brown, but they were on the softer-sweeter side of ripe. I probably did not need the little bit of honey I used.

The other thing I noticed is that even half a banana would have been really filling. I was over-stuffed because I added two of them - only because they were going to go too ripe soon.

Maybe this is not new to anyone but me. I just never thought of adding bananas to yogurt. I normally eat blueberries, strawberries, or pineapple chunks - you know the juicier fruits. No more. From now on, it's bananas all the way.

Now, I don't know how this will work but I am thinking of trying this combo with the bananas mashed into the yogurt. 

Anyway, that's my new thing. Greek yogurt and bananas. Cheap, healthy, filling, and fiber-full.

By the way, after I finished ranting about this, I found that it's already a thing. 

It's even a "diet thing". Still, I take credit for describing it as a Nilla Wafer cheat!

Peace

--Free

Forgetting What Makes You Sad

Even though I struggle with depression, I pride myself on staying above the worst of it. Most of the time, that is. But I think that winter is starting to get to me because it's been a rough start to 2022.

Maybe what makes this latest struggle so troubling is that I don't have one of my main champions with me this time. And maybe that is what's causing this struggle?

My best friend is having a hard time with her memory and motor function. She can't even properly explain to me what her doctors have told her. I think it is dementia or a cousin to that horrible disease. I just hope that it helps her to forget to be sad.

These days, my buddy forgets to call me. It's hard for me to get in touch with her because she thinks all her callers are telemarketers. I get most of my news about her via one of her family members but I know that she would hate that. She would be really bothered to know that we are discussing her and her health issues. So I try to restrain myself. 

When you have a best friend, you develop what I call "friend reflexes". You hear some interesting news, you call your best friend. You get a weird feeling that something might be wrong with them, you call to check on them. You feel down, you call because you know they will understand. You feel especially happy, you call to share the joy.

My best friend and I were always laughing about something. We might start a phone call feeling grumpy, sad, or mad but we usually ended up laughing like silly 10-year-olds.  I swear that half the time when talking, we'd forget that we are supposed to be adults or "seniors". Once, we got to giggling about something and I ended up dropping my phone on the floor as I hightailed it to the bathroom before I wet myself. And my friend was laughing so hard when I got back to the phone that I thought she might hurt herself.

I've talked a lot about how my friend was there - as a friend, nurse, therapist - when I was going through the worst of my really bad marriage and separation. When I think back on the time she took me in and nursed me for 5 months (while I was unknowingly really sick and on the edge of losing my mind), I think of verses out of  Matthew 25

'..For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ (Matt 25:35-36 NASB)

Years before, when my mother died, my friend was there for me and my sister. Later in my life, when my oldest brother died, my friend was there for us. When my sister died, she was there for me and even sent a book to help us talk to my 3-year old nephew about death. 

Now that I don't get to talk to her multiple times a week, I miss her so much. When we do talk, she might not even remember that we did. One day before she got started ignoring all phone calls, she called me three or four times in the space of an hour. She didn't remember each call so she would call back "just to talk to my sissy".

She was the one person alive who knew the "before sick" me. She could understand what I hate so much about my sarcoidosis and why. She knows what I was like before so she understands. Or understood. I never felt like I was fighting my illness alone because I had my sister and when I didn't have her anymore, I had my friend.

Since I don't get to talk to her unless someone else is around to tell her that it's not a telemarketer, I text her. I don't know if she reads them or if someone else just sees them. I text to tell her I love her. I'll text her a joke I've heard. I will text to just tell her how much I miss her.

And I am sure that she is sad. Once, when she still called, she had a very lucid moment when she told me how much she hated the feeling of being lost to herself. She knew that she was losing her ability to remember things. I hope that she has forgotten now what is happening to her. I hope that all she has are peaceful thoughts or the peace of not knowing what is happening to her.

Yesterday, I was feeling really med sick. I couldn't sleep so I sat up all night, just thinking about wanting to call my friend. I miss her. I miss my big sister. I miss my mother and my brother. 

Today, I was trying to remember the recipe for a soup that my friend always made. It had cabbage and sausage and tomatoes. I cannot for the life of me remember all the ingredients, ratios, and tips for making it so delicious. I didn't even bother trying to cook. I just sat in the living room and cried.

So, yeah, this weather isn't helping. It's been off-and-on crazy cold. Cold like the North Pole.  And there is so much misery in the world, it's all starting to get to me. But I am going to try to remember everything that my friend would say to me to make me laugh or to make the world a little better.

For now, I am sitting here, unable to sleep and just missing people.

Peace

--Free

Update on the Ninja Foodi

 Well, I have been cooking away using that fabulous Foodi. I thought I would come back and update you on my experiences with it.

Since having the Foodi, I have fixed:

• Boiled eggs (all the time for egg salad and tuna salad)
• Roasted game hen (once but it turned out pretty well)
• Dehydrated sugared ginger
• Baked potatoes (russet & sweet)
• Potato chips (taking neighbor's word that they are awesome)
• Frozen fries (still my favorite, especially crinkle-cut fries)
• Take & Bake style pizza (yum!)
• Hot chocolate (delicious but a bit messy)
• 
  Toast (awesome but easier in a toaster)
• Reheated turkey, baked potatoes, etc.
• Fish (perch, salmon, and tilapia)

I have not yet fixed rice, beans, or desserts in this yet. 

The saddest thing ever was when I managed to do the most beautiful potato chips and then couldn't eat any because of my jacked-up teeth! My neighbor liked them so much that I've promised to make her more.

One thing I am learning is not to trust every recipe. A great thing about using most of the functions on the Foodi is that I can interrupt the cooking cycle to see what's going on with the food. I do that often when using the Air Crisp function. The recipe for the game hen had a suggestion of crisping breast side down for 10 minutes, flipping the hen, then crisping for another 15 minutes. The total time I actually needed to finish the bird was 15 minutes. It would have been burned to a, well, crisp, had I not checked. 

I know that some people think I was joking about not using my stove and oven anymore, but that's real. I even got one of those burner covers to turn my stovetop into a little more counter space.

The one and only thing I have cooked on the stove recently is scrambled eggs. That's it.

Once I get some of the word done on my poor teeth, I will try making a bigger variety of food in the Ninja. Right now, I'm on a diet of softer, kinder meals. Ha!

(By the way, I keep forgetting to take pics when I cook something in the Foodi. I'll start eating before I remember that I wanted to show the appliance at work.)

I have to admit that other than cutting down on cooking time, my top favorite benefit of the Foodi is the easy cleanup. Since I use mostly only the Ninja pot (or Crisping pan) for any messy foods, the only other dishes that need washing up are my plate, utensils, and maybe a dish used to season or prep the food. The next best thing is not having to use as much (if any) oil for a lot of foods. I feel like I have cut back on at least 99% of the oil for any foods I would normally pan fry. 

You can see why I am still in love with this thing. And, no, I have not had to buy any more accessories. Okay - I did get a dust cover for the Foodi but it was only 7 bucks.

So I have zero regrets about getting this appliance. Between the Foodi, the toaster oven, and a cheap little waffle machine, I have no need for anything else. And I only use the toaster oven when I already have something already cooking in the Foodi. 

My tiny kitchen is now complete.

Peace

--Free

Today I Learned

 That Reddit... Every time I stroll down the page, I find something that sends me off on a hunt for more information.

In a Today I Learned (TIL) post, there was this:

TIL Music is a 'Cultural Universal', which means it is a thing that is common to all known human cultures worldwide. These include: Personal Names, Sexual Jealousy, Proverbs, and Incest Prevention or Avoidance. 

The post linked to the Wikipedia page "Cultural Universal".  

And, as is often the case, I learned more from reading the comment section than I did from most other sources. For one thing, I never imagined that there are cultures where birthdays are not a thing.

Of course, everyone has a day of birth - a birth day. Just not everyone uses them as life markers the way we do in our society. This never occurred to me.

One commenter noted that "birthdays are not a thing in Yemen." Another commenter (North African) noted that they don't know their grandmother's birthday and "can’t even really guess anything other than the month and year. its not really important to us once the new year comes you are that new age, doesn’t matter if you were born december or january".

Shut. Up. 

People, this needs to be a universal thing. 

Probably the ONLY time
I will agree with Yoko

Just think of the negative issues this would eliminate in so many areas of life. Jobs, dating, education of all types - just to start.

So, I'm not going to dive deep into it here, but please do go running down all the rabbit holes you want. Right now, I am just busy thinking about the entire idea of not being defined by the number of years I have been alive.

I will leave you with the first article I saw while doing my own info-dig. This one caught my eye because it reinforces why I think birthdays have a life-stifling effect on us. This article is about a specific place - one apparently known as "the world's happiest place". The reason for that happiness?

The country believes that ‘’leading a happy life is much more important than how many years you’ve been alive on this planet.”

If there isn't a biblical reason for tracking our individual age (and I'm not talking about Jehovah's Witnesses here), I will start with the practice today. 

Peace

--Free

Homemade Cold-Steeped Coffee (with recipes)

As I promised in my Jot coffee review, I am here to share my take on homemade cold-steeped/cold-brew coffee and concentrate.

First of all, let's clear up something: you don't have to drink cold-brewed coffee cold. I rarely drink mine cold. I prefer to heat it up and add creamer to drink as I would my machine-brewed coffee.

So why bother with steeping coffee in cold water? Three reasons:

1.  For the flavor. Cold-steeping coffee produces a smoother, richer result. This is why I often use my stronger or harsher coffees for cold-steeping. (Some people claim that it doesn't cause them the acid reflux problems they get with regular brew.)
2. I can serve it cold or hot. My brother likes to drink his cold brew with sweetened whole milk. I usually drink my brew heated with creamer. I do plan to try my next brew Thai-style, with a little sweetened condensed milk added in. (Let's all say "Calories!")
3. Convenience. I can keep cold brew coffee in the fridge and use it as I want. I mentioned in my Jot review that coffee concentrate is great for sick or lazy days.

So.

Now, if you want, you can buy one of the many, many devices for making cold-steeped coffee and concentrate. I saw so many on Amazon that it was ridiculous. I saw all kinds of jars and filters. There are plug-in machines that will "rapid steep" your brew and containers of various colors, sizes, and shapes that come with built-in filters. It can be overwhelming. And I was once really tempted to try one of the plug-in items because you look around and start to think that you just must have special equipment for making a good brew or concentrate. Not true.

Basically, other than the coffee and water, you need a container that you can tightly cover or seal to keep in the refrigerator. That's it.

For the longest, I was pouring the steeped brew through coffee filters. That was a big waste of the filters I use for my coffee machine. Making a one-time purchase of a filter that will fit into your mason jar is probably the smartest buy. I already had some bags for tea that I'd not used up. They work great for my cold brew until I get a mesh filter to go inside the mason jar. That's if I can find something for under 10 bucks but... good luck with that.

Right after I sealed the jar &
grabbed my phone,
I snapped this pic

More like after about 27 hours

I should get actual
"Not Jot" labels! 
(Just kidding, Jot lawyers!)

There are recipes everywhere online and off for making cold brew - concentrated or not. Here are a couple of recipes I found to start you off:

• From myrecipes.com this is an easy cold brew. 
• thekitchn.com has a Starbucks' style cold brew recipe.

And here is my recipe for a concentrate (that I pieced together from one online combined with some trial and error on my own:

1. About 3 cups of cold water (I use bottled spring water) and roughly 1 3/4 cup of coffee that is coarsely ground. You can also buy coarse ground coffee, by the way. (I also have used regular ground coffee when I had nothing else. Just adjust the measurements, scale back on the steep time, and be prepared to do a LOT of filtering.)
2. Stir or shake this mixture (I use a mason jar)& shake it) so that all the coffee is fully wet and mixed in.
3. Cover/seal the container as tightly as possible (this is why I like using a mason jar). You can use plastic wrap and a rubber band if you don't have a good lid.
4. Put this in the fridge and let it steep at the very least for 12 hours - unless you used a finer ground coffee. I like to steep it for 24 hours. The longer the steep, the stronger the brew.

Honestly, when I only steep for about 12 10 14 hours, I consider the result to be almost regular brew. I might add a little water to it before heating to drink as hot and zero extra when adding the result to milk. A steep of 24 hours or more is, for me, the absolute best for a "concentrate".

I've seen suggestions in forums for leaving the brew out of the fridge for a few hours before finishing the steep in the fridge. I have not tried that yet.

Some coffee drinkers don't like the longer steeping times because they say that it makes for a bitter brew. I say that it sort of depends on the coffee. I have done a shorter steep with espresso coffees and a longer steep for something like 8 O'Clock coffee. If a brew does come out too bitter for me, I will use it in Thai-style coffee or some other milk- or cream-based drink. It could probably be amazing with something like coconut milk...

By the way, another thing that I like about cold-steeping coffee is that I can use up a coffee that I find too strong or acidic when brewed normally. I don't know if I mentioned here the Medaglia D'Oro Italian Roast Espresso Style Ground Coffee I tried several months ago. It's not horrible coffee but it's just not my favorite espresso blend. It does make a tasty cold-steep & dairy brew..

Right now, I tend to go back and forth between machine-brewed hot coffee and cold-steeped brew. There are times when I get burned out on coffee in general and just do one cup regular-brewed in the morning so that I don't go into withdrawal. And coffee withdrawal is a real thing, people. It's like PMS that is not gender-based.

At any rate, if you plan to try making a cold-brewed batch of coffee or a concentrate, I will suggest a few things to start:

• Practice with small amounts of coffee. This way you can learn how fine or coarse you like, want, or need the grounds to be. You don't want to waste a lot of coffee on your practice.
• Don't spend money on a lot of unnecessary equipment. Get good filters and a decent container for the start.
• Don't listen too much to other people telling you what you need. There are comments in some forums insisting that you must use a certain grind or type of coffee, or that you absolutely have to stick to definite coffee-to-water-to-time ratios. Just practice and find what works best for your desired result.
• Enjoy the process. Because this isn't a quick way to make coffee, if you find it to be too much of a hassle, don't bother. If you only like using a cold brew or concentrate occasionally, then just buy a good and affordable ready-to-use brew. I listed a bunch of brands with prices in the Jot review.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I have to tell y'all that I did go ahead and use my Amazon Shopper Panel credit.  I got this while it went on sale the other day after I started writing this post, last week. Y'all know how I do.

The video for the product showed someone making the world's weakest brew of coffee. Ugh. I will be steeping the heck out of mine and hope for much stronger results, but I this price was almost cheaper than buying more filters:

The app I talk about here is this one

I have, to date, made over $50 in credit from receipts and surveys. I spent most of mine on the Ninja, but the last gift card pretty much paid for the Bodum. It was either that or more of the tea filters so I took a chance on the brewer. Of course, y'all know that I will be back to tell you about the Bodum.

**REVIEW** Jot Dark Concentrated Coffee

 So I was finally able to try Jot coffee concentrate. 

I have mixed feelings about the product.

Pros:

• The taste is not bad. 
• It's convenient. I can program my coffeemaker so I get that first cup in the morning when I want it. However, if I have to run out for appointments or errands, it was nice to have Jot. I could put the dose of Jot in my travel mug and hit it with the hot water when I got where I was going.
• It makes a good cold brew coffee. I liked it chilled for a while with milk or vanilla soy.

Cons:

• For the price, I expected the taste to be amazing - not just good or decent or "okay" but awesome. Alas, it really is just "not bad".
• At $24 per 6.8 ounces, it costs over $1.71 per cup. And that is only if you stick to the weak (for me) tablespoon per cup. By "cup", they must seriously mean 8 ounces of water. No one I know of drinks just 8 ounces of coffee for pleasure.
• It has to be refrigerated. 
• Because of the seller's suggestion of "Once opened, we recommend consuming within 2-3 weeks for maximum quality and freshness. We also recommend storing both unopened and opened bottles in the fridge to help preserve freshness" this means I can't just hold onto it for use only on special occasions outside those parameters.
• It doesn't produce a strong enough hot brew unless I increase the dose of concentrate. There goes the original price-per-cup. 
• It's no better, in my opinion than homemade concentrate.
• There are other, cheaper brands that some customers review as being as good or better than Jot.

By the way, the sellers recommend that:

"Jot should be consumed within 90-days of when the coffee was brewed (each bottle is stamped with a "best by" date on the shoulder). Once opened, we recommend consuming within 2-3 weeks for maximum quality and freshness. We also recommend storing both unopened and opened bottles in the fridge to help preserve freshness." (my emphasis)

 So, would I actually buy a bottle? Nope. It's just not for me however, n my opinion, you might want to use Jot if:

• You value (and can afford) convenience over budget.
• You like a mild-to-medium brew of coffee, or
• Really like a decent (and convenient) cold brew coffee drink.
• You want the better-known brand of concentrate.
• You don't have the time or patience for making a homemade cold brew or concentrate.
• You only want the occasional cold-brew or concentrate - not often enough to go broke buying ready-made - and don't want the bother of making it.

As for me and my house, I find Jot to be a bit pretentious and budget-foolish. But maybe that's just me and my broke behind.

I do like using coffee concentrate but I have made mine in the past. I use my homemade stuff when I know that I am going to be down sick for a while and don't want to bother with trekking back and forth to the kitchen for coffee.

As mentioned, Jot is not the only player out there. I have heard both positive and negative reviews for Jot and its competitors. There are many that come in on Amazon alone with reviews at 4-star and up. By product description, price per ounce, and price per cup : 

• "Javy Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate, Iced Coffee, Arabica Coffee Beverages, 30X Liquid Coffee Concentrate "
• (6oz $19.49 or $3.24 per oz) As for the price per cup, this is from the seller's product details: "BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK: Want the same great cafe taste right at home without the expensive price tag? Each bottle contains up to 30 servings of coffee concentrate which is 3x more servings than our competitors. With Javy Coffee, you're only spending around 60 cents/cup meaning you get to enjoy premium specialty coffee every day without breaking the bank!"
• "OneBy Coffee Make Cold Brew, Hot or Iced Coffee in Seconds  17 Cups per Bottle with 24x Liquid Coffee Concentrate"
• (8.5oz $19.97 or $2.35 per oz  or $1.17 per cup)
• "JAVA HOUSE Cold Brew Coffee, Colombian 4:1 Liquid Concentrate"
• (32 Ounce $21.99 or $0.69 per oz)
• "Q: how many servings in a 32 oz bottle? A: There are approximately 20 servings in one 32 oz bottle. In other words, you can make approximately 20 8 ounce cups of cold brew coffee with one 32 ounce bottle of 4:1 concentrate." By Amazon Customer on January 7, 2020
• "Wandering Bear Extra Strong Organic Cold Brew Coffee On Tap, Straight Black,  - Smooth, Unsweetened, Shelf-Stable, and Ready to Drink"
• (96 fl oz $33.94 or $0.35 per oz) 
• There is some dispute among customers about the 16 cups. But at 16 cups, that would be $2.12 per cup.
• One customer in Q&A claimed they only got 6 coffees from one box.  " No way you get 16 cups." By Olivia Hammond on November 15, 2021
• This stuff is great, and keeps me out of the Starbucks drive thru, but no way does it contain 16 cups. I got six coffees out of one box." (That would come to $5.66 per cup)
• "Cappio Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate"
• 16oz ($9.30 or $0.58 per oz)
• Indicates o use 1 part Cappio to 2 parts water or milk "depending on tastes". Since there is no definite measurement given, I will assume that 2 tablespoons - or 1 ounce- to be used per cup (as with Jot) and that would be the same as the bottles per ounce price of $0.58 per cup then.
• "Top Roast Colombian Coffee | Ultimate 64:1 Coffee Concentrate | Makes 100 Cups | Includes Pre-Measured Pump | 15.2 Fl Oz | Just add 1 pump to water or milk"
• Shown as being to "Add 1 pump TO 8-10oz. hot or cold water"
• ($34.95 or $2.30 per oz & $0.35 per cup) 

I didn't bother with links. You can literally copy/paste the description in and bring up the items. But you see that there are options.

Everything as to price really depends on how strong (or not) you prefer your coffee. Also, I notice that there is a lot of wiggling from sellers on shelf-life, You have to read their information carefully. They will say that the shelf life is a million years but that once opened, the product must be consumed in 5 seconds. You know what I mean. Pay close attention.

Again, I prefer to make my own brew. Stay tuned because I will be doing a post very soon on just how I make my homemade version.

Peace

--Free

If You Need a Good Printer

 I won't call this a review because I'm not going to go into details but... I love this printer:

Brother HL-L2300D Monochrome
 Laser Printer with Duplex Printing

I bought the first one almost exactly 6 years ago in January of 2016. That poor thing was carted all over the place - from Alaska to Iowa, back to Alaska, and back to Iowa. I probably could have treated it better because I had a habit of just stuffing it in a packing box with bath towels and crumpled newspapers for shipping it everywhere. It survived cold weather, extremely hot and humid weather, and being thumped on like a drum by my little nephew. I once dropped it (onto carpet) when I was moving it to a different corner of a room. I even spilled coffee on the top once. And it just kept going.

Sometime last spring, it shut off (I usually kept it powered on) and wouldn't turn back on. I was panicked because I was trying to print some important documents to mail off. I searched for possible problems and solutions online and found something from a man who'd had the same thing happen to his machine. 

Don't ask me how the guy came up with the solution but it was specifically for this model of printer. His fix? Unplug the power cord and pull out the paper tray then plug the cord back in - and this is important - while you are holding down the Power button.

The dang thing powered up like new. 

This solution worked until a couple of weeks ago. Once again, I was having to print out a bunch of really important documents - a lot of them - and found that nothing worked to power the printer on.

~Sigh~

I went online and found the exact same printer model. Yay! But the price had gone up quite a bit. Boo! I happen to have a credit card with a flexible payment plan for purchases over a certain dollar amount. I got the printer (and a protection plan) and re-vamped my budget for groceries and any extras for the next few months.

The new printer arrived and the set-up was easy. The old one donated the USB for connecting to my computer and the toner tray - just in case. I will be putting it into the special garbage bin we have for electronics.

I hope the new printer is as reliable as the old one. That thing was a workhorse. Also, the toner cartridges can be found on the cheap and they last forever. 

If you need a good, basic printer that can take a beating, this is the one. It's fairly lightweight and does not eat up a lot of desk space. Of course, it's monochrome so only black print is the only option. I don't mind that because I don't need color.

Here's a shot of it on my desk across the room:

I use the USB to connect to my laptop that doesn't have a CD-ROM drive. However, the printer does come with a set-up disk if you go that route. It also comes with one toner cartridge. Nice.

Keep in mind that you can probably find the same model in a refurbished state for a cheaper price. But for 6 years of service under rough treatment, I don't think that $120 is too much to pay. 

This time, I will treat the printer better. I think that the whole Power-off issue was due to damage to the end of the power cord that connects to the back of the printer. I didn't always do a great job of packing the printer for shipping.

 Peace

--Free