Latest Comments

Katrin Hieroglyphs.
23. Februar 2024
Yes, that would sort of fit that aspect - but you can also go from bits of woods to sticks if you ar...
Bruce Hieroglyphs.
23. Februar 2024
I think the closest English equivalent would be 'Down the rabbit hole'. It has one entrance (No, not...
Harma Spring is Coming.
20. Februar 2024
I'm definitely jealous! Mine disapeared except for one pathetic little flower. But the first daffodi...
Gudrun Rallies All Over Germany.
23. Januar 2024
Vielen Dank für den Beitrag. Ja, wir müssen darüber reden, gegen das Vergessen. Zum Glück haben mein...
Anne Decker Aargh.
17. Januar 2024
This is less likely to have an effect on your personal samples as you likely wrap the same way for a...
FEB.
01
0

Progress.

There's progress. Isn't that nice?

Said progress is going on in multiple areas. First of all, the personal/health thing is one part - I've been tracking all my food, which is annoying and a nuisance and sometimes feels really ridiculous (weighing out salad, thank you very much), but at least it's working. I've managed to more or less stick to the goal of not eating above a certain amount of calories, and it's showing on the numbers of the scale. That is nice, and motivating, and keeps me going even though it's hard at times. There's been a distinct and very lamentable lack of cake these past weeks, and reduced amounts of everything, especially the non-crucial stuff like chocolate. (Well, chocolate is crucial in some regard, but when push comes to shove, it's unfortunately empty calories, and there's not much space for these in my plan.) A few more weeks of this are looming ahead, which is sort of disheartening (soooo long to go!) but on the other hand, I managed to do this for months back in 2016 so I know I can do it. 

What I can definitely say is that it is easier now that I have the HRT to keep me sane, and sort-of-normal, and functioning on a basic level. I did try to do dieting stints in the past two or three years, but just didn't manage to get the necessary motivation and stick-to-it-iveness.While the basic fact remains that it is always possible to reduce calories and thus lose weight, there are definitely life and health circumstances that will make it harder, and depending on all kinds of factors, possibly also temporarily impossible. 

There's also progress on the shop stock overhaul; replenishing things, taking stock and finally getting new stuff into the shop did happen. There's a plan to rearrange some of the storage furniture here as well, which will take place after I've been to the Nähtreff at Rothenfels, because then the storage shelves will be more or less emptied out anyways (as a lot of the stock travels with me to be set up as a market stall). 

The website is mostly up and running, with a few remaining issues to be solved and some articles (that have been taken offline a while ago) to be re-written and placed back online, but none of that is crucial or really time-critical (at least not compared to other stuff), so for now, I'm good with how it works.

Next on the progress list is removing some of the old backups, and setting up a new (better) system; I've been using a backup programme that leaves me not so very confident in its reliability. (In case you're wondering: It's Acronis. The programme puts everything in a huge archive file, and when I try to access them on the RAID, there are sometimes hiccups that need to be resolved, probably due to the connection quality.) This means it's time to re-evaluate, and switch, and make space on the RAID to get the new version going. That's a slow progress as well, but things are happening here too.

Of course, there's the usual long list of stuff to be done - writing stuff, sorting stuff (in my next life, I will be more organised, and less messy, at least that is my cunning plan), organising travel for the next events. Preparing workshops at Rothenfels.

No progress yet on planning the next online workshops, something very high on the list... but overall, it feels like things are going okay. Which is a very, very nice feeling!


0
JAN.
18
2

Personal Stuff, part II - growing older.

I've hinted at it yesterday: Other health issues. During the last two or so years, I've had some troubles that all seemed more or less unrelated, and that were all sort of not so bad that they'd merit a visit at some doctor's, and too squishy to really pinpoint them. However, they were gradually getting worse.

It started when we were doing a bit of strength training during the second lockdown, as the pandemic was still causing things to be cancelled - which resulted, for me, not in a strength gain, but in joint problems instead. Those got better with less training, but there was still a rather persistent niggle, and it was very easy for me to overload or overstress them. (Also made my motivation for strength training take a very, very steep nosedive.)

There was also the weight gain, not really quick but still a good bit more noticeable than in the years before. My hair stopped growing, there was more hair loss, and the braid became shorter and shorter as well. I had dry eyes, and a dry mouth.

And then... more joint pains, and muscle pains. Tender knees, tender hips, tender fingers. I got the impression that in spite of bouldering regularly, I lost strength instead of gaining it (or even just maintaining), and when trying to do a bit more, it quickly resulted in... more pain, due to overstressing something. Plus I got more and more depressed, and things just looked ever bleaker. This all got worse over time, and I was really at a loss as to what was going on.

Until I finally, in a stroke of sheer and pure luck, I listened to a podcast about menopause.

The symptoms list? Oh, how familiar it sounded. All of it. Well, almost all of it - I'd never had the infamous hot flushes, which might have been a hint towards what was happening. The way it was, though, I never had considered menopause as a possible reason (and it's usually not expected to start in the early fourties with such an impact).

Long story short, having ticked off most of that symptoms list, I found myself a doctor specialising in hormonal treatments, got an appointment, left some blood there, and a few days later I got the results: Early menopause, with really low levels in both estrogen and progesterone. (Well. You can insert a bad joke about being early for a change here, if you like - I've missed enough deadlines in my life, or cut it very close, that I really don't mind.)

Based on that bloodwork, I'm now getting hormone replacement therapy, and things are so, so much better. There's still some issues, but we're also not yet finished with the stage of figuring out what the proper levels for me are. The most important thing, though, is that I'm feeling like myself again, and am functional once more. Now I just have to remember to take one of the magic capsules in the morning and in the evening to keep things peachy. (There's actually a reminder app running on my phone now, just for that. Works wonders.)

The betterment, by the way, was almost instant. There was a real, significant difference just a few days after starting therapy, on all levels. I'm still not where I used to be, but gradually, things are getting better again, and I feel like I'm making progress once more instead of just stalling or things getting worse.

So... what I learned, when reading up on the stuff: Menopause has a large impact on a woman's body, as there are estrogen and progesterone receptors about everywhere. EVERYWHERE. (Like in your brain.) Not getting enough of the stuff has an impact on overall health and well-being, including bone health and density, muscle strength (there's the explanation for my loss of bouldering strength) and cardiovascular health. There's a reason why women after a certain age have the same risk as men to get a stroke or a heart attack, and that's lower estrogen levels. Same reason for the brittle bones at a higher age.

Also - depressive mood swings, or full-out depression can be a result of too low levels of hormones. When dropping a pencil suddenly means that you feel like the day is ruined, because obviously you cannot do ANYTHING right... well. Not a very good situation.

Now mind you - every body is different, and there's some people that breeze through menopause and don't feel anything, but just in case you'll land in the other camp... if you're over 35, consider reading up a bit on menopause and peri-menopause (that's before the proper start of things stopping, so to say) just so you know what possible symptoms are. Maybe get your hormone levels checked on a day when you're feeling really good, at a known point within your cycle, so you have a baseline you can work from.

And once stuff starts happening... do consider a replacement therapy. These days, bioidentical hormones are available, which are what your own body would produce, and the side effects of those are very low. That includes the risk of cancer, which can be linked to non-bioidentical hormones that were used in some of the studies that caused a big scare about HRT some years ago. And in the sense of full disclosure: I was feeling so bad before the therapy started that I'd have gladly accepted a 10% increase of the risk for cancer, in exchange for feeling better again.

Now you're all up to date, and this blog will return to its usual shenanigans. Unless you have questions - then let me know, and I'll try to answer them!

0
JAN.
17
0

Personal Stuff, part I - weight loss.

This blog has seen one or the other post about personal stuff over the years... and it's time for another one. Actually, for two, but as they are relatively unrelated topics, I'll make two posts out of it.

Back in 2016, I went on a weight-loss journey that took most of the year, and I've been normal weight ever since I hit that goal weight in September. It did not stay at the goal weight very long - I went slightly above it pretty soon, as in one or two kilos, but that was okay with me. It was still a reasonable weight for me, and I did keep to this okay range for a year or two. Or, actually, even almost three.

However... since then I have gradually, slowly, sneakily gotten back into the habit of eating just a tiny little bit more than I need. Which means, Thank You Captain Obvious, that I've gradually, slowly, sneakily put on a bit more weight again than I'd like to have. Reasons for that (not the putting on, but the eating a tad more) are unclear, but they might include other health issues, a bit of emotional eating or boredom eating, old bad habits coming through again, a genetic predisposal to an appetite that is a bit too large, having the occasional bout of not sleeping enough, and there might be more, but I think that's already quite enough to have on the list, so I'll just stop here.

Now, back in 2016 when I was hardcore dieting, I logged everything I ate and drank to keep track of my calorie input, and very obviously, that worked as a strategy for me. It's a bit of a numbers game to play - how much have I had today already? Was it enough protein? (From experience, I know that I need a certain amount to feel okay, and not perpetually hungry.) Do I really want to eat that bit of chocolate or had I rather be finished earlier with the dieting? How much do I actually need to feel okay, and how much do I actually need for maintenance? It's amazing, and can be a real eye-opener, to weigh out portions and see how much or how little the same amount of calories can be. 

After months of logging all the food, it did get a bit old though. I wanted very much to be able to eat without logging everything as a crutch, and in the start, that worked fairly well. Over time, though, it looks like I'm prone to having just a little bit more than necessary. That's not bad if it happens once in a while and gets evened out by eating less on some other day, and lucky the person who does that naturally, but unfortunately that's not me. I just eat a little more occasionally, and never too little to even it out.

I've tried several times to lose some weight again freestyle, without logging, but it seems like I'm still not good enough at estimating caloric values, and at eating less without having numbers to cling to. So the smart thing would probably have been to do a week or two of tracking now and then, just to make sure my internal calibration, so to say, gets re-adjusted.

Well. I didn't, because I wanted so, so much to be able to wing it... and now I've gotten precariously close to overweight again, and while my clothes all still fit, they fit tighter now. So I've gone back to doing what works for me: Logging everything, and trying to go for a significant deficit each day. (Because I am also, still, an impatient person.)

And, surprise surprise, it's not as bad as I feared. Yes, it is a little more work when cooking, and preparing food. Yes, it also means taking care of what gets eaten (There's the protein quota to be met, which of course has an impact on the kinds of food that are smart to eat, and those that are a less smart choice). However... weighing and logging everything before I eat it also means that it's not as easy to just have a piece of chocolate, or a cookie, or another coffee (with milk, otherwise it wouldn't really count)... and because I'm a lazy person, that already helps with having less of the "boredom food" than I'd usually have. Snack fruit in the afternoon. The bit of chocolate in the break. Taking another small serving, just because it tastes so good. (I blame you, good-quality-food that does not even need a lot of cooking skills to taste delicious.) Having a last spoonful of whatever before putting leftovers into the fridge. All those little things... adding up.

We'll see how it goes now, playing this numbers game this time around. I will be trying to figure out my current daily energy needs while I'm at it (there's a brilliant spreadsheet hanging out on reddit for this), hoping that fluctuating water levels will not muck up things too much. And then, for the future, I hope I'll be smart enough to do a week of logging for re-calibration sooner and not later, so there's less to lose should the numbers go creeping up again.

I know that weight and weight loss can be a sensitive topic for a lot of people, and it used to be for me as well - until I got all my dieting myths and preconceptions blasted by the book "Fettlogik überwinden", which in the meantime has also come out in English, as "Conquering Fat Logic". So...if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

0
OKT.
26
1

Business As Usual: Bookkeeping.

It's time, again, for me to sit down and do the bookkeeping stuff. It's not a thing that I particularly enjoy, but, alas, it has to be done. And that in regular intervals, as I have to hand in the VAT accounting every quarter. (That's actually a good thing, for me, as it means that at least every quarter, I automatically get an overview about how things are going.)

Usually the hacking in of numbers and checking them, and jotting down reference numbers on slips of paper and putting documents into the document folder of the accounting programme goes fairly smoothly, and I'm done relatively quickly. Sometimes though, some little-but-nasty error slips in, and then it's hunting down what happened and where and when and fixing it. I had one this time around, and it took me a while to get where it came from... but now everything lines up again, and looks fairly good, and I've sent off the numbers and paid my dues.

Which means that I can give you a celebratory picture of the little cat with a very silly face:

and then get back to all the rest of work waiting to be done today. 

Thankfully nothing that involves heavy lifting, because I did get the booster shot with the updated vaccine (including the Omicron variants) yesterday, and though I have no other side effects, the area where the jab went does hurt some if I lift the arm overhead, or stretch it out completely.  Side note: The German StiKo, the committee giving the guidelines on who should get vaccinated, still lists only a few groups and people over 60 years of age. Even though there's enough vaccine to get a lot more people immunised. So when I went to get my shot, I had to get an "advisory talk" with a doctor, who had to ask me why I wanted the booster... which you can get even when not on the StiKo list, but only after that advisory talk. Next thing she did was tell me that she personally thought it rather stupid that they'd still not made the list longer, or recommended it to everyone, since the incidence numbers are rising and people still get Long Covid, and there's enough of the vaccine for a lot more people... 

Ah well. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, and nobody understands politics.

0
SEP.
16
0

That's It With The Plan.

My plan was to finish some sewing project today - but it has been thwarted... well, I could technically do it, but I'm choosing to let my thumb marinate as recommended instead.

If you're now wondering what I mean... my left thumb currently looks like this: 

It looks much worse than it actually is. That is a moist cover to keep a small, slightly infected wound open and able to ooze out anything that will ooze out. I tried to get a (rather large) pill into a poor sick cat yesterday evening, and that was only partly successful as in part of the chewed-up capsule landed inside the cat (good), and part of the cat's teeth landed temporarily in my thumb (not so good). (The cat is not to blame, by the way, as he was not trying to bite me - he had only two wishes: To close his mouth again, preferably with the pill outside of it, and to get away from this horrible situation. My thumb just happened to be in the way of achieving wish number one.)

Because cat bites are notorious for getting infected, and I need my hands in good working order, I did the very sane and grown-up thing and went to the doc this morning. So now I'm getting antibiotics for a few days and the (tiny little) wound gets a spa treatment. It's not hurting much or really heating up, but there are signs of infection, and since the fascia in the fingers are plentisome and those are not agreeing at all with infections, better to act quickly and hit the bugs with antibiotics than get real issues later on.

Bonus, though: I got reminded of the fact that one of my basic vaccinations needs a refresher, and got the shot while at the doc's today.

So. Lessons to learn from this? If you need to pill a cat, consider wearing (thin leather) gloves right from the start. (Thick gloves will not work, you can't put pressure on the small spots at the jaw joint then.) 

Most importantly: Don't get bitten. If you do, it's a good idea to go to the doc straightaway, as soon as there are the first signs of any infection. Don't wait around, cat saliva is evil stuff.

(Bonus tip: Go check your vaccinations and see if they are all up to date. Second bonus tip: If you're getting antibiotics for any reason, get yourself something to build up a healthy gut biome again while you're in the pharmacy anyways. These meds kill bugs first and never ask, and that includes the ones that are supposed to live happily in your gut.)

The irony of the whole thing, by the way? The pill for the cat was antibiotics...

0
APR.
19
0

Prep Work. And Arm Treatment.

Easter has passed very pleasantly, with a lot of sunshine, and good weather is always welcome here. It's still rather cool outside when the wind is blowing, but spring is truly here now. The tulips are blooming in the garden, as are the primulas, and wild bees are happily visiting all the flowers and making nests in the bee hotels. Busy all around...

...and I am busy again as well. There's post to be brought to the office, and then there's the fair to prep for. I have already started going down the lists, which include important but easily forgotten things like "charge powerbanks" and "check printouts". To make things slightly more interesting, I managed to overdo things for one of my wrists over Easter, doing gardening work. Now I have a sore arm; I don't think it's a full tenosynovitis, but certainly a warning to give the arm a bit of rest.

Which is surprisingly difficult for the dominant arm and having to do manual tasks... but currently I'm managing alright. The arm is getting warm water massage treatment (which has done the job before with similar issues), and a bit of salve to tone down inflammation, and proper car loading is not scheduled until Thursday, so there's some more time for recovery.

In case you have tendon sheath trouble, this is the warm water treatment that I can fully recommend: place the body part in question into warm water. It should be nice and warm, so not quite boil-a-lobster. Take a soft brush (or a medium-soft one, and adjust pressure accordingly) and massage the area under water with the brush. Do this daily, at least once, but more often also does not hurt (I try to go for twice or three times). That's it - simple and easy, and when some years ago I had issues with a swollen (not really inflamed, but also not really okay) tendon sheath, this finally solved it where creams and salves had no effect whatsoever.

0
JUNI
23
1

I have never been so happy to have been stabbed with a needle.

To my very great delight and rather considerable relief, my right upper arm is currently looking like this:



A very friendly doctor stabbed a needle into the muscle this morning and then pressed some of the good juice in. She also did it so gently and carefully that I felt about... nothing. I've actually felt more when grasses rubbed my skin with their prickly ends - not to speak at all about a midge bite, or scratchy madder plants, which both have been able to draw blood.

So... I will gladly forego bouldering for the next two days due to this (no sports for two days, she said). The second shot will be in six weeks' time, which means it's just in time for the full protection to be in place for the Textile Forum.

Whew.
0

Kontakt