As you probably know if you’re a long-time reader, my husband has a lot of stomach troubles. He was unable to work for several months last year until he had his gall bladder removed. That helped get him in good enough shape to get back to work, but he still has problems. He has pretty bad acid reflux, among other things.
I tried to tell him he needed to change his diet, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He is the world’s pickiest eater, and most of the things he does like are packed with fat, cholesterol and salt. As much as he hates to take any more medicine than necessary, I think he would have rather gone on Phentermine than to change his diet.
But for the past few weeks, he has been complaining with frequent headaches and fatigue. The guys he works with told him it was probably high blood pressure, and sure enough, it has been up just about every time he has gone to the doctor lately. I told him that he needed to try to get it lowered on his own before they decided he needed medication for it, because everyone I know who takes blood pressure meds wishes they didn’t have to because of the side effects.
He begrudgingly agreed to let me fix him healthy meals for a week to see how he felt. I was leery that it would take longer than that to see a difference, but it didn’t. He has felt much better, and he agreed to continue eating healthy.
Now comes the hard part: I managed to find enough healthy stuff that he liked to keep him fed for one week, but I’m out of ideas. He will get burned out on the same old thing (just like he has been with all the stuff he has been eating over and over all his life). But I’m going to give it my best shot. Maybe now that I’m making a little headway, I can talk him into trying some new things, and retrying things he claims he doesn’t like.
I just found out something amusing from my stats. I’ve been getting a modest amount of search traffic from people who are looking for solutions to household problems. More specifically, frozen toilet water and heat pump issues. I’ve had and blogged about both of those problems, but anyone who has come here looking for help with them has surely kept on looking.
I do hate to disappoint anyone who is looking for help, so here is the small amount of advice I can offer about the aforementioned subjects:
- If the water to your toilet is frozen, you may need to insulate your pipes better. That was what my problem ended up being. In the meantime, flush your toilet until there is no water left in the tank. This will make the toilet try to run and pull the water on through as it thaws, and help prevent your pipes from busting.
- If the water in your toilet bowl or tank is frozen, you must have issues with the heat to your bathroom, or a serious draft.
- If the fan in the indoor unit of your heat pump quits running, and you can’t find a new replacement for it, try junkyards and recycling companies. Our neighbor found us a used one at the recycling place where he works, and so far it is working well.
I wish I could be more help, but I’m not exactly Mrs. Fixit.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve become somewhat of an expert at keeping warm when the main heat source is out of commission. So I thought I would share some of that knowledge here. You never know when someone might need it.
We have one of those oil-filled electric heaters (similar to this one), and borrowed another one from a friend. They are a godsend for keeping small spaces, such as bedrooms, warm. They’re also inexpensive and safe. Every one I’ve seen has a thermostat on it, so you can leave them on all the time and they only run when needed.
In a pinch, you can always turn on your oven and open the door just enough to let the heat out into the house. Boiling a big pot of water will help as well.
I hate kerosene heaters, but we’ve had to use one for the past week or so. If you use them, always keep safety in mind. Don’t leave them unattended, and if possible get a carbon monoxide detector and use it. It’s also wise to keep a window cracked, or at least open the door every now and then. Place a pot of water on top of it to keep the air from getting too dry. If you have a ceiling fan, reverse it and run it on low to keep all the heat from staying at the ceiling and the heater will do a good job of keeping things comfortable.
If you’re without heat for a long time like we were, run the kerosene heater as late as possible before going to bed, and try to get the house about 10 or 15 degrees warmer than you usually keep it. Run electric heaters in the bedrooms with doors closed when you do go to bed. Then the next morning maybe the rest of the house won’t be freezing when you get up.
Even if your heat is working fine, you should always have some sort of backup, especially if you live somewhere that the weather gets really cold (like the mountains). You never know when something could happen to it.
