~Brian~

well considering that I've warned the same diaper since I woke up this morning, Change it, thank God for my megamax, because most diapers wouldn't even last this long. I also have my cover over the top so it makes it a little bit better 'cause it lasts longer.

I just wanted to quickly post an update to those that have been monitoring. I reported yesterday that I was having severe problems with acid, And that was because I did not have my omeprazole. I took some last night when I was able to get it, and so far I am slowly returning to normal and it is a lot better for me. there's one thing I hate about having acid reflux, it is the fact that sometimes it can come up on you like being hit by a mat truck, and if you don't take care of it right, and you don't take care of it when you need to or be preventative, it can hit you like 100 tons of bricks.

Sometimes it gets really hard: yesterday I ended up going to work and doing a regular shift, but it was very hard to talk on the phone, or do anything the night before, because acid was so prevalent that it was almost up to the top of my airway, and it burned like crazy! Thanks to my medicine being here, I'm now able to relax and I'm not in so much agony, but it always reminds me that I need both my acid medicine and my allergy pills because of it, not only because of that but because of asthma as well, To make sure you have enough medicine, sometimes it sucks when you don't!

so here I am and I'm and I'm actually feeling a lot better, because I have the medicine I need and it's back in my system and it's building up to the level it should be to be able to keep it at a reasonable level. one of the things I learned is that I can't go for five or six days without taking it because then it really bothers me. When I don't have it for two weeks it's like a red alert, And I'm glad I was able to get that medicine quickly.

Sometimes when I thought of how bad I was I was thinking about @DailyDi, and how he deals with situations like this?  sometimes having acid reflux can be like being constantly on fire, because your acid is way up, and it can be almost debilitating! I can tell you from experience that I'd never ever want to experience that again, but I know eventually it will happen again, so I always try to be one step ahead so I know what medicine I need. next week I will go and I will get enough backup supply of  omeprazole ,  so I don't have to worry anymore!  sometimes I run out of that medicine at the most inopportune times and it's almost like trying to deal with incontinence without having any diapers! that would be like dealing dealing with having a fire break out in no water! no good!

sometimes having conditions like acid reflux can really stink! especially when it can put somebody in a situation where it's almost as bad as having a bad cold!

glad I'm feeling better today!

Brian

I want to take a moment to wish everyone happy Easter!

Easter time to me used to mean that it was the beginning of spring, or the beginning of when the weather would get better! I always enjoyed Easter because then that gave me a time to enjoy it with my family, or my friends, and be able to have a good day and enjoy conversations and memories, and be able to have a few laps with those you don't see that often Period now that I'm older, the number of people that used to be around is dwindling, And I always have good memories of Easter, especially when my aunt who had Down syndrome would always be looking forward to holidays, and want to hide eggs or do things that were specific to Easter. i've even attended several sunrise services, and enjoyed time with my uncles my aunts or my cousins on those days.

So I'd like to wish everyone a happy Easter, And I hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday, and can enjoy it with those that are close to them and their family members. may everyone be happy healthy and may they have an awesome day and look forward to warmer weather when we can enjoy more time outside. I'm looking forward to warmer weather because this cold is driving me crazy!

Brian

well here I am on a Saturday night! after at least two weeks of waiting, between dealing with the doctor's office, insurance companies, and then having to deal with my local pharmacy and their delivery schedule, I finally was able to get a hold of omeprazole, which is what I use to deal with severe acid reflux!

I came home at exactly 4 o'clock, And once I was able to find out from my brother what happened, I immediately came in and took my vitamin D tablets as well as 40 milligrams of omeprazole in two tablets. Prior to this, I have been dealing with severe and almost debilitating acid reflux! One of the things that really stinks about this condition is that there are times when if you take your medicine everything is everything is fine, but you need to take it every day, because if you miss it more than a couple of days, you, and you go a week or more out without taking it, you end up getting really bad acid in your esophagus, And that can be hell On Earth! thank God for my brother Michael, because without him I would not have the medicine until Monday afternoon at the earliest, But good 'ole Mike, He went to get the prescriptions I needed. Thank God for him Because if I didn't have it today, I would spend the entire weekend in agony, along with the rest of today, and I've been in agony for almost 2 weeks, simply because of paperwork and not being able to get the medicine.

I then had to deal with this weirdness where I called the doctor and asked him for the prescription, which is normal because I have to ask him for a refill when I'm out. apparently my prescription had been field so long ago that the prescription had expired, and I had to call the doctor to be able to get it refiled. normally it's just a call to the pharmacy from the doctor, asking for a particular drug to be refilled. but it wasn't that easy.....

The insurance company apparently had to get involved in authorize or Omeprazole for me again. normally I take a 40 milligram tablet, which is 1 tablet every day. However, I also have taken 20 milligram tablets per day, And the confusion was that the original prescription that had expired was a 40 milligram tablet once a day, and the doctor wrote the script for 2 20 milligram tablets a day.

While that would not be a problem normally, apparently my aetna health insurance where I have my part D pharmacy plan had also gotten a request for authorization for omeprazole. The problem is is that they approved both the 20 milligram prescription and the 40 milligram prescription, And apparently my pharmacy was trying to fill the wrong one, So that took a little bit of extra time to be able to fix, Once I got that taken care of and was able to talk to the pharmacy, I ended up setting up a delivery date. I asked them to send it to me the Wednesday after I had checked, because I needed to find out about my vitamin D tablets.

so that ended up becoming almost three extra days of waiting, because my pharmacy has recently changed its hours, and the policy is that if for example they deliver on Mondays wednesdays and Fridays in my area. that's fine, But in order for me to get a delivery on Monday of that week, i'd have to ask for them to put me on the delivery schedule for Monday, and I'd have to call Sunday night, I would have to call Tuesday night for a Wednesday delivery and Thursday night for a Friday delivery, and what was happening was they kept on saying that I never called them in enough time, so I was spending more time worrying about when to get it delivered, rather than to get actual medicine.

The thing that irritated me was I was calling them at like 8 o'clock in the morning my time, which is like first thing in the morning, especially since the pharmacy opens between 8 and 9 AM. Normally this would be OK, but they keep telling me for three days that calling at 8 in the morning is not early enough, and that the deliveries had already gone out, so regardless of how early I call in the morning, I couldn't get it delivered that day. I basically asked them to make sure that they put me on a daily reschedule for the most advantageous time, and then finally my brother said I will go get it for you. good old Mike He went and got it for me, and thank God for him!

While I understand that most people have things they have to do, and there are a lot of people that need medicine, I can never understand why for example a pharmacy would have it set up so that they open at 9 o'clock in the morning or 8:30, And by the time I call at 8 o'clock in the morning, the deliveries have already left and there's no way to add anything to the delivery without making a full request a day before. The thing that irritated me was they knew I needed my pills, and it was just being pushed off pushed off and pushed off. It got so bad that for three days I have been in agony and I've run ceremoniously had to be drinking water almost all the time, just to keep the acid down. I wish that these people would understand how un preparing that can be when you are in agony and you can't get them to deliver any sooner.

Now that I have all the medicines I need, Now I am waiting for the drug to take full effect so that it can kill that proton pumps in my stomach so that I can function. it will feel so much better once I can take those pills and I take a loratadine and everything goes back to normal. not sure what is gonna happen for Easter, and I really don't care, I will be here anyway, so it won't bother me, and because my parents probably will be doing something with their friends, that's their decision, and my dad will probably be taken care of his wife, like he always does, because he's a loving husband and he does what he can do. it is my hope that my dad and my step mom can enjoy their summer this year, and they don't have to worry so much about other things. hopefully this summer will be better for us, because I can tell you from experience the last three years summers have been nothing but ridiculous, and it just makes me feel like I wanna be able to go somewhere do something and get away from here, but it drives me crazy sometimes!

Such as the week I've had! I wish the heck I would've had my Omeprazole a lot earlier than this, because now I still have to wait for all my proton pumps to calm down! I want to be able to eat a sandwich, and I usually use mustard on a sandwich, but I've been feeling like I've been acid at the strength of Golden's Golden Mustard, and that is really really strong! acid that would probably take rust off of a bumper!

all my aching esophagus Ohh my achen heart! I hope this damn heartburn goes away quickly!

Brian

today, I am very happy! The reason I am happy is because I have found out that after at least one year of not having my batteries on my backup chair charging because I was afraid that they were totally dead, that it appears that after bringing my charger home from work Saturday, and letting it sit all day, and all day Sunday, I am pleased to report that it appears that my batteries are fully charged while they are sitting on the charger.

I was afraid these batteries would be totally dead, and because they're dead, that I would have to find a way to replace at least one set of batteries. because of the way we do battery changes or part changes, all we would have to do is order the part that we need, take apart off of my backup chair and put it on the primary chair, And then when the part comes in we put the new part on the new chair and change the old part to the backup chair again, which means that I can still have decent batteries to be able to function in the event that I need to either change chairs or change tires.

A couple weeks ago, I found out that my wheels could be malfunctioning. the problem would be that for some reason my wheel would either shut off, or it would beep five or six times and then would just keep doing it. it would also happen when you least expected it, and then when you're trying to use the chair sometimes it would just cut out, if you're using power assist, and you're pushing on the rim, and it goes out, then it doesn't feel right on one side and it feels like 10 tons of weight on one side. They think there might be a problem with the power switches that are all around my power switch which is a rubber circle, And I can press anywhere and contact is made and the batteries are turned on or off. for some reason I thought that there might be a problem there, and with the batteries malfunctioning and doing this, the best thing to do is to send the wheels away to be serviced which is what the next step will be.

Meanwhile the technicians took a look at my chair, and they decided that there needed to be some parts replaced. these parts will be ordered, and I will also get a brand new set of emotion batteries, the M15s- once they come in, what we will do is I will take the wheels off my current chair, Send those to Pennsylvania for service, and then take the batteries off of my purple chair nicknamed the Purple Professor, and put the wheels from the purple professor in position on my current chair which I call the Blue Bolt. once that is complete, I will be able to use the Blue Bolt until the tires return and I can put my primary tires back on my primary chair. It is my hope that what will happen is that the parts that they order will be in before they take the wheels, because once they do that then I will hopefully have brand new batteries in either chair, which will be a lot easier, And that way if they find some sort of a glitch or a malfunction in the wheels, or the switches, they will be able to tell if there's something wrong with the switches the contacts or something else. the people that work at national seating and mobility in Burlington VT are very good at what they do, and they will make sure that I am taking care of.

As I say, I'm glad that I have the ability to have at least one chair on backup fully charged. We'll have to see what happens when I test it to see if the batteries still function whether they hold a charge. when I sit in the purple professor, my back will be different, but I'll have to determine whether those batteries are flat or whether they're fully operational, and it's better to have my wheel service if they find a problem, rather than have the malfunctioning!

Heaving a HUUUUGE Sigh of RELIEF Today:

For the last few weeks, I have been dealing with Emotion Wheel problems, because they have been malfunctioning, and most times, it would ERROR "7" or ERROR "8" and BEEP constantly, and so I had to contact the Technicians, and let them know that I had the error 2 weeks ago, and they told me that I would be seen on the 27th, and they would check to see if they could find reasons for the problem - I think it has to do with contacts in the hubs, or the battery condition........which brings me to the reason I was trying to solve the mystery of the "missing charger".

As many of you know, I have CP, and use a KI Mobility Catalyst 5 Manual Wheelchair, with M-15 Emotion Wheels.  When I got approved for my 2021 Wheelchair, I got the accessories that they come with:  Control Pendant, M-15 Wheels, Li-Ion Batteries, and EMotion Charger:  I ALWAYS keep the older unit for backup, and both chairs now can share parts, minus the headrest and the backrest.

This means that, in the case of failure or breakdown, I can CHANGE the M-15s to the 2014 chair, and roll out within 10 minutes, assuming the 2014 chair is charged and ready.

Several months ago, I was doing Events at work, and my M-15s last a FULL 8 HOURS per charge, and I would find that I needed to charge behind my desk or during and event, so I brought the 2021 Charger to the office.  I put that on the back of my SAFE, and it stayed there for a while, and I placed it somewhere in here, KNOWING that it was wise to do so.

Well, 2 weeks ago, I thought I had LOST the charger, and asked to see about how you replace a lost device.  For at LEAST 2 months, I was really bumming out, because I thought I had lost or misplaced it, as we do have workers going through things, and I had placed the charger at work somewhere, but for the LIFE of me, could NOT find it......

This week, I am here Friday and Saturday:  I wanted to clean the room behind me of things we don't need, and while moving a couple boxes, I saw a black hanging BAG - CHARGER was IN that, and hiding:  I made a TRIUMPHANT Call to the techs, and told them I FOUND it - WOW!!!!

I have never felt so relieved in my LIFE!!  Those changers are $400 USD, and they are NOT cheap, and the REASON I have that one down here, is due to the problems of having batteries get low or malfunction!! Thank GOD that he has been with me, as this last couple months have been hard, but I DO have the charger, and I put that thing on the SAFE, where it should always be, and I don't know WHY I moved it, but I GOT it Now!

Thank You Lord!

Brian

Update on my wheelchair situation:

Yesterday I ended up making a phone call to National Seating and Mobility.  I also asked NSM for assistance in obtaining another charger to go with my primary wheelchair unit.  apparently I've lost one charger and I'm not sure why, I had it at work and apparently either disappeared or I can't find it. they said that based on the fact that I haven't asked for replacement parts for over a year, because I have had the chair for two years, that they don't think that there would be a problem with me asking for a replacement charger. they told me that the reason that they think there wouldn't be a problem, is because they understand that people need Chargers, and I have two chairs and about 6 batteries. I have a couple of backups, plus four batteries two of which are in my primary chair and two of which are in my backup chair, and I think I may have an extra 1 sitting around, but it was confusing the last time because I had to have a battery replaced within three months of getting the new chair because they believed the battery was defective.

The technician believes that it may be time to change the primary batteries in my pubs. These are supposed to be lithium ion batteries and they are supposed to last five years, because of the fact that their lithium ion versus nickel metal hydride. the lithium ion batteries are good batteries, because usually what I've been told by the technician is that the batteries outlast the chairs life cycle, and you only have to if at all possibly replace it once in its lifetime. if that is the case, then I'm pretty darn lucky, because the batteries have been pretty solid for me and I haven't had too many issues.

I will have the technician check the insides to make sure there are no bad connections or any loose connections or any malfunctioning going on in the hub itself. He will be able to tell if there's something loose or something that is happening, because he can look at the connections inside the hub to see if anything is amiss.

Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from the technician. he called to find out further information about what type of malfunctions that I was experiencing, so that he could write them into the notes so he could contact the manufacturer to find to find out information about what I am getting for error messages. I told him that I was getting a flashing 7 on the right battery, and a flashing 8 sometimes when there is a malfunction, but there is no way to determine what a flashing 8 is, and I believe there were five beeps when it was flashing and beeping this weekend.

Long story short they will have a look at it on the 27th. they will then be able to determine exactly what is going on, and I believe if they can get approval, they will be able to order me the charger that I requested. hopefully this will not be a problem, because these people work for a bigger company, and they have specialists that go through Medicare and Medicaid claims very carefully, and they don't usually error out because they usually have people that know what they're doing.  I have run into problems with Medicare before, because Medicare will not disclose any information to the beneficiary about what's going on, and every time you call them To find out information, I have to start the claim all over again as if it was a brand new claim, even when their individuals that are going through the processes, because they don't tell tell beneficiaries what's going on. they won't even give me a denial letter if that's what they decide, I usually have to find out through the state medicaid division, because they will alert me to that, So hopefully we won't have any issues with my request for a new charger, And if they determine that there's a battery issue, hopefully they can fix that and check the hubs for any loose connections or any malfunctions.

So as it stands now, the chair is working properly for the time being, even though I'm not sure why it would cause the problem, but my technician is working on the issue to find out why it could happen or what the flashing lights and beeps are supposed to indicate. looking at the manuals we both agree that a 7 flashing on the right indicates a right battery malfunction, or a 7 flashing on the left would be a battery malfunction for that battery, But luckily I only have one malfunctioning battery battery, but the eight flashings are something that could be considered a general fault so we don't know what that is, so a call to the manufacturer will have to be made And that is what will be dealt with by the technician.

Other than that everything seems to be going well. Hopefully we will continue to have better weather as the months move on, and hopefully we will be able to determine how to fix these error Conditions with my wheelchair, so I will not have any issues. I will also have them do a once over to make sure everything is tight, including my l brackets, which must remain tight so that my wheels do not bend in any direction that they're not supposed to. Failure to keep the L brackets tight could result in my axle pins bending at a weird angle and that could throw the wheel out of alignment or it could make it very hard for the wheel to lock into theaxle.

Brian

This is really strange!

from time to time on and off I've had trouble with my emotion power! These are power assisted so they help me with mobility so I don't have to hurt my shoulder with the rotation of the wheels. what happens is the power assist will help me with either one and a half turns per push or 2 1/2 turns per push depending on whether I'm in low or high gear!

for the on and off for the last couple of weeks, I've been getting weird responses from my control panel indicating that we have a 7 condition, which indicates problem with the battery, with a flashing indicator as to which side whether it be left or right, so it's been a 7 right flashing, And then an 8 flashing right, which indicates a problem of unknown origin on the right side. today I called the technicians and inform them of this, And my brother was able to help me undo the battery connections on that side and then reattach the battery on the right side after checking the connect the connections to make sure they were tight.

The weird part was that for hours on end this morning, my chair was turning itself on and off, and I was unable to figure out why. even when I went to the control panel, the control pendant was not showing an error message, so I was unable to figure out why there was an issue, so I was unable to diagnose. then later on, I was able to pick up the control panel and saw a flashing 7 right, which tells me the right battery has some sort of a malfunction condition Period to fix this, my brother Michael pulled the battery out after unscrewing all the connector caps, pulled the battery out checked the connections and then put the battery back in and then connected it all back up. when we refired it, it seems to have stopped all of the beeping, so I'm all set there. thanks to my little brother for that one! he is amazing!

tomorrow I will call them to find out if there's a problem that would have caused that, And I'll also figure out what this flashing 8 right means, which indicates right hand battery condition problem. A7 condition indicates battery malfunction, and 8 indicates some other condition, but my indication in the manual does not actually tell me what a flashing 8 means, so that means it probably is something that is generalized.

I'll also have to determine what happened to my other charger for my chair, I own 2, so I have two Chargers, but I took one to work and it apparently disappeared, so I'll have to determine what happened. I hope that they were able to determine or are able to determine how that happens come because I certainly would not want a malfunction like this to happen again where I have to take the battery out while in transit to reset a problem. thank God from a younger brother cause he was able to unscrew it take it out and then help me to put it back in. putting the batteries out and taking them and putting them back in are very hard to do, but it is a pain in the neck sometimes.

Such is what happens on a Sunday!

anybody got an call Ginger Ale? I might need it! he he he ???

Brian

@Ginger

******sends you plenty of warm HUGS*********

Have an awesome day!

Brian

******Sends you a BIG HUG****** And hopes that you have a good day! I guess it's supposed to snow later tonight and to tomorrow, so we could get anywhere between 6 and 12 inches of snow. i'll have to keep an eye on the weather to find out what's going on! keep warm and keep, and enjoy yourself!

Brian

hope you are doing well: Hope you had a good holiday! I did too although I ended up spending at home because of events with the storm and everything going on. Hope to see you again soon!

Brian

******* uses the Magic of Pokemon: after seeing the magic words, a couple of very soft very sweet looking pikachu pokemon appear in your crib! your Big Brother tells the pikachu's to keep track of you and protect you come, and make sure that you end up getting a hug from them every day!***  that should give them the recharge they need to protect you from any bad guys!

I now have a flying pokemon which is a pikachu, So that's pretty cool And I got that through my online gifting function And I'm not sure how that happened, but I think I got it as a New Year's gift in 2023 Period since Violet and Scarlett are the newest pokemon games, there should be a lot of changes that happen as they update it. I now have a full pokemon guide so I can look up information about how to make pokemon be able to evolve into other forms. I love the book that the guy happy Joe made, so I not only got an Electronic copy of that particular book, but I got the paperback book as well, because I can read it and be able to use it as a reference. I may have to also write notes in it because I want to be able to do certain things and know where I'm supposed to go. luckily, I haven't had too many troubles, because of good friends that have been helping me throughout the adventure, and I love it. I fell in love with it the minute I started playing it so I'm enjoying it. So I leave you a virtual couple of Pokemon, and I leave you the powerful pikachu's to protect you and keep you safe!

****hugs*****

Brian

It was really nice being able to talk to you last night. I don't normally get a good chance to talk very long on the server, so having a discussion like we did last night was awesome. today I decided to do some errands and I ended up stopping at walgreens, and I ended up getting a bag of chocolate M&Ms, and a 20 ounce doctor pepper soda.

I wish you luck in your next endeavor! hugs take care and have a great holiday and make sure to come back and see us again soon don't be a stranger!

Brian

OK here it is 3 in the morning: I can't I can't sleep for the second morning in a row, after having a pretty good day. luckily, even though I was out of hydroxyzine, I went to my medicine box and was able to find that I had some extra in reserve. as of this time i've taken one, hopefully I will be able to sleep. probably take a couple hours before I get to sleep. I hate when that happens!

Hugs

Brian

*********Shhhhhhhhh!  be verwy verwy quiet:  i'm hunting Emily's! when I find her i'm going to give her a big gonna big kiss and I'm going to make sure she's so comfortable that she will be able to sleep like a winner!*******

HUGS Emily gently, and then covers her with her favorite blanket and giving her favorite stuffy then he puts Amy the orangutan next to it and they relax together!

Brian

*****Gives you a big ole HUG******* Hope you are enjoying your time on daily diapers! and I hope that you are able to enjoy wearing diapers and enjoy them to the level you want. that's what we are all here to do is to enjoy and have fun, and help people. if you need anything don't hesitate to follow me or private message me or respond to anything because I'm here for you if you need it exclamation we're all here to help one another that's part of being a family.

Brian

Sends you a BIG ****HUG***. Hope you are enjoying yourself here - Was fun talking to you the other night ?

Brian

for some reason, I am COLD, and feel like a block of ICE:  May need someone like you to help me keep warm and dry heheheheeh *smile*

Feel better this afternoon: i've been having trouble with acid reflux kicking up, so I try to make sure that I don't have any flare ups. because of this, I always try to keep a supply of it on hand. unfortunately, here it is mid month, and I happen to run out of My 40 milligram tablets, so I had to go to Walgreens to buy some more. I was lucky because I was able to get one for $14.00 and one for $9, and the one that was $14.00 had twenty-eight pills in it.

Of course, it was colder than heck outside, felt like it was about 50 or a little less, because the wind was kind of cold but it was calm. when I got home, I immediately took two of my ameprozol, which are 20 milligram tablets, and my prescription calls for me to take 2 per day. if I don't have these pills, then sometimes what happens is that everything is fine for about 2 weeks, then over nowhere something really causes trouble, and my acid returns. I also have asthma so sometimes what happens is my asthma will kick up and that will cause my breathing difficulty, and constant coughing: if that happens, then all I have Is a humongous fit and I end up having to cough until I puke, which is not a good thing.

So now I have my I have my omeprazole tablets: let's hope that whatever happens, I can get a refill on all medicines in December: I kind of hate to do it the way I did it because I can get the pills I have at 40 milligrams for about $1.10 or $1.25- when I have to pay almost $14.00 for one and $9 for another you can see that it would be kind of crazy, and not only that but I don't think any omeprazole that is non prescription strength is anything more than 20 milligrams. I can deal with what I have now because I have enough to be able to stop any problems any problems with acid, and also control my asthma so I'm not coughing my head off. Now I can deal with what I have, but I'll make sure next month that I don't run out of medicine like that, because I can't afford to!

sometimes I wonder what is worse having acid reflux or having asthma! both of them are pretty severe when I end up getting A situation where I can't see, which indicates I need to take my allergy pill, and then I can't breathe because I'm just coughing my head off which means I need to take my Omeprazole: this is why I always take one every day, and in this case I have to take two to make up for the 20 milligram difference in the tablets that are over the counter versus my prescription strength. Usually my prescriptions last me 90 days, so it doesn't bother me, but claritin and Prilosec are the two that I use, so it's basically Take one pill a day, and everything will be fine: I know I'm in trouble if I start coughing and I can't stop the refuge or the reflex call and hopefully everything will calm down now and I can relax for the remainder of the weekend and concentrate on the following weekend!

Brian

Good morning: this morning I just found out that one of the people who was one of my neighbors when I was growing up, passed away: I remember him very fondly, because he was always a guy who is a Joker, but he could be serious as well. when I was younger, I never had any sisters, just brothers. I remember my mom "adopting" this guy's daughters, then because then I would have two sisters, and I still think of them as sisters today.

Regardless of what happens, these two young ladies will always be very close to me And always have a place in my heart, along with their dad. he always had a good attitude, and he always seemed to be able to understand a lot of different things, and also gave good advice. i'll always remember him because of the fact that he was always ready to step in and help my stepdad or my mom, or his wife would be stepping in to help as well, and it was like a family or an extended family. today, the world is 1 person fewer, but his spirit lives on, and you will always be remembered as a loving father grandfather and other important things: May he always rest in eternal peace, and may he always remain as a shining example of a good friend who was always there to help others.

Brian

Today, I am enjoying a well deserved and infrequent day off! I guess the rains  from the remainder of tropical storm Nicole were supposed to be really bad, and the winds were supposed to be between 30 and 40 miles an hour from last night into this morning.

Using that as a reasoning behind it, and knowing that rain in the morning would be heavy, I was also advised that our outside sign that we used to be able to announce us being open is specially designed by my partners, and she advised me that the sign we use is not weatherproof, which means that continual running with it raining will ruin the sign. Therefore I decided to close today, and will reopen next Saturday.

Right now I am enjoying watching the Dukes of hazzard on DVD:it is a very infrequent weekend when I don't have to work on a Saturday, so I am going to enjoy every moment of it . I will get another few days off when Thanksgiving week rolls around on the 20th . This week coming up, I have a dentist appointment, and then I will work again on Saturday next week, then take a week off for Thanksgiving . I will not return to work again until the first Saturday in December , and then will probably close for the year on December 24th . We'll have to determine what our 2023 operational schedule is , but for right now I'm just happy that I'm able to take a day off and relax !

Hey @AbabeBill, get out the apple juice man: cause I'm gonna drink some- actually lemonade , but at least I'm enjoying myself .

Brian

*******Hugs********

Hope you are doing well!

Brian

DM profile reestablished

Good morning everyone!

Well, here it is Tuesday morning, and from all reports that I have received from the church, we have had another successful sale. Last Saturday we made 671, this Saturday 753! I would say that that is an awesome way to end two successive Saturdays! I am over the moon! There are many times when I wonder if we're doing well, and if I see numbers like this, I know we are. We all have our challenges that we have to face, and I have faced plenty of them in my time, and one of the most challenging things that I think I've ever had to face, was the pandemic: and the pandemic, we didn't know what the heck we're we're going to end up having to deal with, things changed really fast, and we were in lockdown for quite a while. In March of this year, I was finally able to go back to work for the first time since we closed in March of 2020!

Yes, we've had to make many changes to the way we operate and the way we deal with situations, but for the most part we have made at work! Part of the reason why I think it works the best is because everyone is on the same page, everybody understands what they're supposed to do, and everyone is communicating to each other, so that information does not get forgotten, or misconstrued and spun around. All through my tenure as director and as operations manager, I'm the kind of guy who always wants to know what the heck is going on, and I made that perfectly clear many times because in order for me to do my job well, I need to know what I am dealing with as we move forward.

So here it is Tuesday morning, and on Saturday this week, I will be open until 3 PM, because we will be conducting our last chicken pie supper of the season! Their chicken pie is incredible, and each year they get better at it, and this time they have a new system where they have a lot more that they can offer us because of the way they set it up. When we do something like this, it is a well oiled machine. I learned this way back when I started working for the store, and prior to that even. I have seen how these people work, and it is a testament to how a well oiled machine works and how we can all get together all enjoy each other's company all get along, and do a good service for the community at large. I am also very very proud to be a part of such an enterprise, where I can use my skills to make things happen, help customers, provide information, and provide support to the church as a whole.Just like D is a family, the church is a family, and each one of us has our own strengths and our own skills that we can bring to bear to be able to make everyone's experience the best it can be!

the one downside is, that when you get done at the end of a shift, if you're working on a Friday and a Saturday, it can be tiring sometimes especially if the weather is cold! I don't mind working two days a week, but it sometimes can be tiring if you are exhausted when you get home from work, and you don't have a chance to fully unwind before going to bed before going to work the next morning. Luckily however, I have set up a system by which I don't have to worry about much of anything, because everything is ready before I leave the house in the morning, or for example my surface will go into the bag first thing in the morning after everything else is done. Then all I have to do is get my jacket on pick my bag up off the floor and I'm off to the bus. I have refined this system to make it easier for myself, even to the point where I put my drinking containers in my bag the night before or I have one on the floor next to me which I can fill in 5 minutes in the morning.

I love my job! It allows me to help the community, and make things better for my community as well. Obviously, I cannot make everyone happy, and every time you serve as a customer, it doesn't exactly turn out to be all roses, but I can tell you that there is a good feeling involved when you can help someone who needs help, and they accept your help, and then they come back to you at some point and thank you for what you do. Sometimes, I thank you is not necessary, because I can tell by the way the person acts or the way the person interacts that they are very very grateful for the services we provide. It's always a good time to think about what it is that you do and how you do it. Sometimes when you do things, you wonder if you're doing the right things, sometimes if you make the decision you think is right, you wonder if that is the decision that you should have made. Most times, the decision I make seems right to me, and my instincts usually are right on the nose. Serving my community has always been one thing that I would love to be able to continue to do, and I will do it for as long as I can. My family has always been service oriented, meaning that they serve their community in many capacities: the American Legion, the VFW, the Elks, silver towers camp, and other types of charities run by the organizations, are very very important, and there are others that will help other people when they need it. It has always been a good feeling for me to be able to help those that are in need, because people will know that we are there, and the best feeling is you know when you've done your best, are you know when you've made a difference.

It has always been my dream to make sure that I help as many people as I can or serve my community to the best I can in any capacity. I feel as if, while I am disabled, it is my duty and my responsibility to try to do something that helps people in some way shape or form. I've always been a computer geek, so I try to help people with computer questions and support as much as possible, and I always try to help the community as a whole, and both my jobs as a consultant, and as the director of the thrift store, and the associate Webmaster of the church's websites, helped me to get that done! It always feels good to be able to come home at the end of the day and say: did I provide a service to the community, was that service adequate, were people happy?And if I can actually answer yes to any of those or all of those questions , I know I've had a good day .

the only thing that stinks is sometimes my body decides that it hurts, so I have to force my body to do something that it might not want to do. It always feels good when I don't hurt, because that makes it easier for me to function to help people. However, sometimes you can't help that and you just have to roll with it. I'm just very very lucky that I don't have severe pain, and that I can continue to do what I have been doing since 2009 - they always say that you should always be thankful for any day that you are still able to get up in the morning and do whatever it is that you do, and I am incredibly thankful for that, and God willing I will be able to continue to do that for as long as I can!

so I guess The thing is: I am thankful for every time that I am able to do what I can do every day, and I'm thankful for the ability to show my skill and my ability to handle situations, and be able to determine how to handle situations: each of my experiences teaches me how to handle situations in the future, and each situation always allows me to determine whether I had done the same thing in the past, or if I could have improved on something. We all are here for a particular purpose, or a reason: I believe my reason for being here is to try to help people in the community as much as I can! Be it online, be it on the phone, be it in person, helping people is what I do and I think I can do that a lot better now that I have the tools, which I already have had, but since they added more tools to my toolbox, I'm able to handle situations and be able to get the word out about certain things going on!

I'm also thankful for my friends here on DD! All of you have specific traits beliefs and skills, and there are good many of you who have helped me become a better person because of what you have been able to impart either by talking to me directly, or by posting responses, or messages. Without my family here, I would not have been able to come to the realization in 2019 of what I really needed to do, nor would I have been able to accept what and who I am as quickly, because now I understand what it is that I am, why I feel the way I do, and why I like what I like! If it wasn't for people like you on DD, I would not be able to get to that particular realization, and come to acceptance of who I am and what I am, without feeling like I am doing something wrong: because I'm not doing it wrong or doing anything wrong!

Thankful for many things!

Brian

Sends you plenty of ***HUGS****  Miss Ya!!!

Brian