Noon?

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By when I woke, sure, or closing on it.

I keep heating the water, to brew tea.  Then forgetting.  This is the third time I have heated water.  Hoping it will be the charmed time.

When did I go down?

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Not too awfully long after the last post.  I got my shoes and socks off?  Shoes off.  Was going to take my socks off.  Got one of my shirts off.  Was trying to figure out how to get more off.  Though it would be easier upstairs, if I didn't think I could sleep.  Got up there, got my trousers off.

Then, sat, to get my socks off.  A group, both a compression sock under, and a knee high thick wool hunting sock over.  Added compression, and some warmth.  What a struggle.  Got those off, finally, after serious work.  My legs are swollen, badly, though just in the lower areas, not up above the knee.

Got to it.

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Thank God.  Thank friends.  Thank God for friends.  He arrived, and got me out.  I hadn't been able to sleep last night, at all.  Since... the last time I woke up.  My legs were getting fat, water retention.  Hurting.  Other... things wrong?  It was rough, but I stayed up, once it got beyond a certain point, or I wouldn't have awaken to go.

Three things, to start.  Drivers license... I have a temp, but that is good enough.  The new new one will be here within the month.  Probably.  It is what it is, I won't balk at it.

Dinner.

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Finally.  It just took much longer to cook than I had thought.  Having sliced the rutabaga, and broken the cauliflower down, I thought an half hour would do.  No?  An hour then, surely?  Nope.  Two hours.  And, really, closing on three, to get it edibly soft.  And I like a bit of bite in my veggies, so this wasn't taking them to even soft.  Just softened.

I won't complain.  The meal was very good.  I finished off the roast.  There is juice and veggies remaining.  I'll put that back in the bowl, cover it, and doing something with it tomorrow.  I am quite pleased with it.  I might grab another chuck roast, stick it in, add more cauliflower, tomorrow?  Maybe.  I was quite happy with that, and I'm not strictly a pot roast sort of guy.  It was the searing, and then watching the cooking closely.  Plus the right veggies.

A new brew?

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Not really a brew.  A bit more beef froth, half of one of the cauliflower heads broken down to somewhat larger bites, and the rutabaga sliced as apples... and sampled.  Turnips are good, fresh.  Rutabaga are just a bit sweeter.  One is closer to a neutral potato taste, without that dusty flavor.  The other is closer to an apple, just not quite as sweet.  Even with a bit of that crunch I miss.

Set to go, on high, in the crockpot, with the liquid from the previous 'brew' cooking poured in as well.  I'm giving it two hours.  Then will test. If things seem reasonable, I'll add the meat and any other veggies back into the pool.  I am hoping that the cauliflower will make a solid potato replacement.  Cauliflower can be a bit solid, in my gut.  But I have been mostly eating it raw, or just slightly cooked.... blanched really.  I'd like to see what a longer cook time will do.  Mash and butter, have with beef, or pork, or else.

Cycles are off.

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Everything is off.  Not feeling good.  Sick kid syndrome.  Nausea, my old friend, is back.  Hunger isn't really there.  If I could get food in, or when I do, it will be appreciated.  Probably.  Then again, a third of the time I have eaten, recently, food has been not only not helpful, but not good for my situation.  That is just how it goes.

I am hoping this is more temporary.  But it may not be.  This may be how it is from now on.  Still, I have, through time, gotten more or less ill... for brief or longer periods of time.  I'd hate to have thirty or forty years of just this though.  But, it's not been that much better, the last forty years.  Ugh.

Chislic?

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Had to look that up.  Oh, yes, sounds very good.  I made a beef form of it, with the leftovers of my last steak.  My problem?  I chopped the dices too small.  So, they were a bit overdone.  Not horrible, but... just... not as good as it could have been.  Like?  Yes, yes I like.  Lamb, beef, pork... deep fried, or solidly seared, cubes, I'd say closer to half to full inch squares, or half by inch bits, I'll... be working on sizing, and how to fry it better.

I am burned out on steak, as whole cuts.  But could still eat it this way.  Lamb would be fine, too.  If that is pretty pricey.  Pork as well.  With beans?  In a soup?  With lettuce in keto tortillas?  Lots of ways you could do that.  A simple salad, with these added as the crunchy salty bits.  Oh, yes, I think so.  Sort of... excited.

Ugh.

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Things needed done.  And were.  Took everything I had to get them done though.

I finished the 24 hour urine test... for heavy metals.  As well, at the last, there was enough extra to do the standard ui.  But... I had to get up, through the night, and go downstairs to pee... they want most of it through that time.  And, since I pee a lot at night (sometimes), that's... when I had to do it.

Have to laugh.

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Ever watched a woman suggest she is single, and happy, as she hits a certain age?  Oh, she can say whatever she wants.  But, even as a guy, that's not a happy place to be.  I will say I am where I am because Most women I have met have been subpar.  Don't try to spin that, suggesting I am not all that.  That... doesn't matter, from my perspective.  Further, I have met far more women who would gladly take me than women I would even consider taking... in the available market.

No, she isn't happy.  She may have come to and understanding.  Perhaps she realizes she is too much of a problem, compared to what she offers.  She has to realize when she is no longer fertile, she just doesn't have the draw.  Biologically, her body changes.  It isn't as... alluring, to men.  Sure.  But happy about it?  Not on your life.  I'm not happy about it, if I might have found some comfort in it.

Very rough.

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Up to... two, three?  Awake at 14:00, in pain.  Kidneys hurt.  Why?  I can't say.  I think, yesterday, I pushed.  Just getting that meal through ended up being too much work, in my condition.  Not sure what the problem is?  Oh, perhaps I forgot medicine.  Though... the medicine is half the problem?  Just a different portion of the problem?  Bleh.

I plan on putting some of the roast, veggies, and juices in, and heating those in a bit.  A quarter or third or half of what remains?  At least of the meat.  Not sure about the veggies.  Maybe all of the veggies remaining?  Then peeling and slicing the rutabaga, adding more celery slices, and... something else?  As well, possibly, turning the juices into a proper gravy?  Maybe.

On a scale of one to ten?

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I'd give that roast, the meat, a six.  Maybe a seven.  With a caveat.  Pot roasts can't be a ten.  Maybe a nine?  Maybe.  So... middling or a bit better?  The meat had texture.  It wasn't falling apart.  The flavor wad good enough.  I was satisfied with the effort.

The veggies?  Really surprised me.  The turnips, I thought, might well turn to absolute mush, being sliced into apple like wedges.  No, they held together well, but too weren't crispy.  Just... done.  The potatoes, being new potatoes, were done, and a bit too soft.  But... that is how new potatoes go.  I would count them as creamy, rather than mushy.  The mushrooms, carrots, and celery, were... good.  Solid without being crisp.  Soft without being mushy.  And they all took to butter well.

Pulling it.

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The meat, anyway.  I did strain out the bigger initial pieces of veggies.  Put it all back, adding the new veggies, then gave it a half hour more.  But the meat seems plenty done.  I had thought, perhaps, some of the fresh vegetables would be done, but no.  Not close.  Another half hour, then I'll check.  THEN I'll go to fifteen minute intervals.

As things seem more done, very close, I'll juggle what is possible.  Pulling anything that seems to be getting too done.  The potatoes, I would guess, will take the longest.  Of course.  Though, I am surprised the turnips and mushrooms are taking as long as they are, and aren't much closer to being done.

Sure takes a while.

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It smells like roast in here.  Of course.  At about two and a half hours in, I checked it.  I mean, it could be called done.  By how I usually do things, this would be called done.  Overdone, really.  And, yet, that isn't how pot roast is down.  My way, to date, has been to take a chuck and turn it into something between a prime rib and a ribeye steak.  It has a lot more bite to it, my way.

Do I even like pot roast?  I'll... find out.  Though I will go to the less done side of things?  Will see.  Hoping to have the pulled beef sort of texture, without it having no structure whatever.  I'm not sure if that is possible.  I really do want to have pulled beef, for tacos, taco salads, and such.  Burger is... just... off, lately.  I think they have started filling it with the bone slurry they pull from the carcass.  Or is it just that they store burger, or the meat they grind it into, too long, sometimes?  I just can't be sure.  Just that burger isn't very good lately.  It seems... off... too squishy.

A rough plan.

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The roast has been seared.  The mirepoix has been fried and put in, along with beef broth.  Set to high.  A timer has been set for three and a half hours.  Most likely, it will take four to five hours, maybe six, for the meat?  Will find out.  Depends on who you listen to, who to believe, the size of the meat (really, the volume of ingredients), altitude, and... just random reasons for sometimes no reason?  I think so.

Still, in it went, thawed, seared, with broth, and aromatics.  With the edible vegetables ready to go in, in a bit.  And an onion to be halved and added.  I'll probably add the veggies at the first alarm.  After pulling the meat, to set aside, then straining the juices.  Then adding it all back into the pool, save of course the aromatics for broth flavor.  Might nibble some of that, if it isn't total mush?  Will see.  Chef's treats.  Oh, I'll add a pack of mushrooms, too.  Oh yes I will, though probably closer to when it seems near done.  Mushrooms don't take long.

Well, will see.

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A bit of investigating.  But... I already know how to cook these things.

I pulled the veggies, peeled the turnips, portioned the carrots, loosely cut a few of the celery ends and a few stalks from the last of that pack.  I could slice the carrots.  They are baby, though, so not really worried.  Besides, I'll be checking the veggies, per.  So pulling them when they are roughly ready.

Have you ever been on a roller coaster?

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A really bumpy fast one?  Perhaps right after you have eaten too much, and of the wrong stuff?  Even if you don't get sick, you... really want to throw up, if nothing else in the hope that your stomach and body will settle for it?  Well, that's been what life has been like for the last few weeks.  Months?  A... while now.

I can still work.  Sometimes.  Eat, too.  Some things.  Sleeping more, lately.  Not sure that helps?  Though I think it does.  I sleep through the worst of it, rather than trying to push through.  A nap this morning, feeling slightly better.  Could have slept more, but Sassy started gagging, to wake me up.  Bleh.

Up and at it already?

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I don't think I was down until 23:00, at least.  Midnight?  Sometime in there, perhaps even a bit after.  Just running up to six, Sassy was fed, and the temp was checked.  It is 42 out there, so thirty down from the high(est I saw it, today, anyway).  I think the furnace is off?  Or is is set to 66?  This front room is 66, upstairs was 60... or 60 something?

No, the furnace was on, but at 66.  The windows were also open.  Not how I want it.  I don't mind the windows open, if the furnace is off.  Now it is off.  Now to see if I can handle the cool.

Not a horrible day.

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I had to rest.  Work just wasn't possible.  A long nap, from early to mid afternoon.  Three to four hours down.  And, I'll probably go back on to bed again, shortly.

Warmer.  It was up to, at least, 74 outdoors today.  The last I checked, an hour or two ago, it was down to 60.  All good.

In really rough shape.

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Eating, last night, after getting out, was difficult.  I made food, couldn't eat well or much.  Even so, blood sugar is high again today.  Stupid things.  Down by thirty after midnight or so, awake at eight.  But it's a rough wake.  I feel horrible.  Not sure why.  What I did yesterday wasn't that much.  It didn't get higher than the low 70s.  I have been doing more work, with laundry, breaking down boxes, sorting and moving heavily laden boxes, and else.

So... why did yesterday absolutely crush me, and before I was finished?  Too many things, in too many places, plus walking, and some of the stress of dealing with people?  Or such?  I just can't say.  Today feels like the day after a marathon, or day when we played two basketball games in a row, or something.

Absolutely bushed.

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To town.  First to the bank.  Had to get cash.  While there, I canceled the old card and had them order a new one.  Then to the phone store.  But they couldn't let me pay, without id?  Seriously?  I'll... have to figure that out some other way.  After that, to the hospital for blood tests.  They also want me to do a urinalysis.  I couldn't do the regular one there, so they sent it home as homework.  As well, I have to do a twenty four hour one.  I really don't think they will be open Saturday, and have no way to call and check.  So that one will be Monday, or... yes... I could start it Sunday, finish Monday, and take it in.  The other one I can do for tomorrow.  But... do it fresh, right before going in.

Then to grocery stores.  I went to two, because one of them simply didn't have low carb, or really high fiber, tortillas.  Oh, and I went to a health food store.  For better spices.  Sorry, McCormick (sp?), you just aren't good, definitely not for the price.  The only thing I couldn't find, anywhere, was the hotter cayenne.  I prefer 100k on the scale, but would settle for 90k.  No, that.,. to me... isn't hot.  It's just a mild... middling flavor.  Regular red pepper flakes, then that, then the carolina reaper, makes for a balanced heat.  It makes it flavorful, not single toned.  Absolutely love how I do it.  For me, it isn't really hot.  It's... just... nicely warm.  I think there is hotter, if you can trust it to not be fake.  I haven't tried it, yet.