A tranquil day.

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I knew I wouldn't be able to do much.  I took medicines, and anacin, then just drifted.  It was mostly cloudy.  While not warm, it was just cool, not cold.  A perfect day for what was intended.  I did call the V.A., to check on medications.  At first the woman kept trying to suggest I had made a mistake through their automated pharmacy.  Finally I told her to stop.  I told her I had personally spoken with a pharmacy tech, due to the complexity of my requests.  I had wanted a smaller dose of one pill, and something else, that made it unusual.  Which was a good choice anyway, as several of my medicines were no longer in date.  She was supposed to send the request to the doctors.  "Oh, right, let me check."  She suggested that Cathy, or Katherine was the one who took the call, and either slipped or fibbed about her having a habit of not passing on the information to doctors.  She said she would get on it.  Difficult to know.  Which means I am going to crash off medicine in a few days.

I may see if I can halve some of the doses, so it isn't cold turkey.  She said she could send the water pill, and another minor pill, but the rest had to go in to the various departments for approval and re-scripting.  It takes 10 days to 2 weeks for delivery, so...  If I am otherwise active, I can get by, sometimes, without noticing.  Otherwise, like now, I will probably crash and feel generally lousy for a while, at least until my body figures out how to dump some of the excess fluid.  Cutting what I drink doesn't really help.  Actually, back before medicine, I realized that consuming... large volumes... actually forced my body to expel fluids.  I did suggest I used to drink a lot, and that it probably helped keep me alive.  That was one of the ways.  There were other ways.

Oh... when I get back on my feet, I think I will begin exploring new areas of cooking.  Sauces.  Whether a gravy, flavoring, or cold as a condiment, these really add to a meal.  Further, many of them can be done ahead, using fats from cooking, and preserved with the right ingredients.  Keeping a small compliment, say three or four sauces and additions, of such on tap really does help.  I sometimes have difficulty eating.  Intense flavorings and such can help.  I'll need to learn to make various stocks.  That is the base for many things.  Though some things can be made with a mix of herbs, typical condiments, perhaps a little cooking, and some imagination.  While I enjoyed the pork I grilled the other day, a side of hot sweet and sour sauce on the side would have helped a great deal, as an example.

I have asked about various "odd" cuts at the butcher.  But they don't tend to do that.  Brains, even hog, were out.  My guess is the machine they use to split the hog is also used on cattle.  Anything that is used on cattle, if used on other animals, no matter the cleaning process, is considered out.  And brains are not something you can order.  They need to be fresh.  I think the only offal they might part with would be liver.  I need to talk to someone there, other than the woman at the front desk, though,  I suspect.  It may or may not help.  No, it isn't exotic food.  My grandfather and uncles ate these things as impoverished tenant farmers just a couple of generations ago.  Not fancy, and certainly not waste as many people view it today.  Humble, if anything.  A notion I prefer to emulate as well as I am able.  I may have to buy the hog and learn to butcher it myself.  Beef is way out, but pork I might be able to do.  Hey!  A reason to buy a cherry picker/engine lift!  Yeah, like my tools and equipment almost as much as I like my food.

I thought about pancakes, but I don't really have the right gear for that.  I see that some people make it right in cast iron or stainless skillets.  I would have to be taught that.  My own experimentation with that has always ended in total failure.  So... I decided to get a waffle maker.  To add a bit of variety to breakfast.  It'll do two at a time, if I suspect one will be quite enough... though sometimes... and you never know.  I've found recipes for it, home made.  I can probably sort of prepackage the dry for easy making, the wet has to be fresh.  I really am working on cooking again, or... will be again soon enough.  I need to eat more regularly, in smaller amounts.  The engine does seem to run better that way.

Well... on to something or other.  Later.