What would you do if you could travel through time? Would you go back and kill Hitler? Would you go into the future to bring back a cure for Parkinson’s? Me? I’d bring people to witness hikes I went on several years ago. And I … Continue reading Green and North Table Mountains (March 2012)
Ladies and gentlemen, harlots and scoundrels (just wanna make sure I’m covering ALL my readers), welcome to another edition of ThrowBack Thursday (TBT). This one is special. That’s because today is not just TBT, it’s also Leap Day. I will observe this day the same … Continue reading Red Rocks and Bear Creek Canyon (March 2012)
During my last few years of living in Colorado and my first few years of living in North Carolina, I made regular (roughly annual) treks to western Colorado. These trips usually centered on the town of Fruita, and the mountain biking opportunities surrounding it. In … Continue reading Western Colorado (April 2012)
I am, as most of you know, taking multiple medications AND multiple dietary supplements in my fight against Parkinson’s Disease (PD). This of course means that I am handling a variety of pill bottles, featuring a variety of anti-tamper / safety seals. But I’ve discovered an industry secret: These seals are not actually designed to protect you. They are designed to make you drop the pill bottle at the exact moment the seal pops off, so that they spill all over the place, causing you to lose half of them so that you have to buy more. But not all of them are like that. Some bottles don’t spill because a cotton ball has been stuffed in on top of the pills. This cotton ball cannot be removed by anyone with PD tremors or really anyone with full-grown fingers. I believe the drug / supplement companies are trying to get children interested in pills at an early age. Think about it: a cap that is supposedly child-proof (what kid isn’t going to see that as a challenge?) followed by a cotton ball that requires child-size fingers to remove.
For the longest time, I handled the “safety seals” by stabbing them with either a steak knife or a car key – whichever was handy. As for the cotton balls, I would always fumble around trying to pin a substantial amount of the cotton between one finger and the inner wall of the bottle, then keep it pinned as I tried to slide it up to where I could get a second finger involved. With some bottles, this could take months.
It wasn’t until surprisingly recently that it occurred to me I should employ some kind of tool to remove the cotton ball. My first thought was needle-nose pliers. But I know where those have been. So…no. Don’t ask, just know it’s no. So, I thought to myself, “What’s a smaller (and hopefully more sanitary) version of needle-nose pliers?” The answer: tweezers! I retrieved the one pair of tweezers that I own, and set to work on a newly opened bottle of pramipexole. To my great delight, they removed the cotton ball with ease. On top of that, they turned out to be the ideal seal-stabber. Since I could be just about anywhere when the need to open a new medication or supplement bottle arises, I added tweezers to my packing list. And thus we have the latest PD Travel Tip.
PD Travel Tip: Pack tweezers.
Aloha, from a state where no one says Aloha! Welcome to another ThrowBack Thursday edition of Voyages with Parkinson’s. Today, we travel back to May 2012 for a hike right at the edge of the Denver, Colorado metropolis, and a separate hike between Denver and … Continue reading Apex Park and Devils Head (May 2012)
Some day, I may learn to schedule trips in advance and actually stick with my travel plans. Some day.
Maybe.
I was planning to head out to the North Carolina coast some time in March, but now, for a number of reasons (that number being 2) I have decided to push that trip back to least next year. This opens up a spot on my travel schedule to go somewhere else this spring (could be in March, maybe April, possibly even May). I’m thinking I’ll either fly to Nevada or take a road trip to Georgia. Right now, I’m leaning toward Nevada. Literally: as I type this, I am leaning to my left, which is towards the west.
If I do go to Nevada, I’ll likely spend three, MAYbe four days in Vegas, then drive to various attractions around the state (which would likely be a LOT of driving, ‘cuz it’s such a large state). This would include (hopefully) caves, ghost towns, historic/scenic railroads, and a state park or two. Eventually, I would make my way to Reno and fly home from there. But as usual, this is all theoretical until I actually step aboard an airplane. And now that I think about it…Tennessee is a good possibility, too. Maybe even Louisiana…
OMG! It’s that time again. Where do the Fridays through Wednesdays go? And why do they move so fast? We may never know. What I do know is that on Thursdays I am able to transport you, gentle readers, to other points in space and time. On this particular Thursday (that’s … Continue reading Hagerman Tunnel and Platte River Road (2012)
Welcome! It’s OK, come on in! It’s Thursday in here. And that means it is once again time to vicariously roam all over the northern Colorado front range. And I do mean All Over! Today we will be making stops, albeit brief ones, at FIVE locations. We begin with Legion Park, … Continue reading Colorado Mega Podge
(Continued from here.) Day 7: Let’s all get drunk and go to Cher’s house! WOOOOO! Whoa. Sorry. I don’t know where the Hell that came from. Let’s get on with the trip report, shall we? I spent the last few days of my Mississippi State Vacation gradually crossing from … Continue reading Mississippi 2024 Trip Report (final few days)
Day 5: The plan for Vicksburg was to spend as long as it takes to see everything at the Vicksburg National Military Park, as much as two full days. If it didn’t take a full two days, then I would use my remaining time to visit … Continue reading Mississippi 2024 Trip Report (Days 5 and 6)
Voyages with Parkinson's 