Anti- antibiotics

Uck.  Went to the doc for a followup today.  I like her, but all she does is prescribe antibiotics.  Still have a cough and phlegm.  She said my lungs did not sound good, so sent me for a chest xray. And a new prescription for antibiotics, which don't seem to be working.  And maybe some steroids, I haven't picked up the scripts yet.    She said, "this is my last try.  You may need to go on IV antibiotics."  What?!??!  I've got to find some naturopathic/homeopathic/alternative medicine doc.  I did ask her to recommend an allergist.  I need to find out what I am allergic to, what is causing this respiratory distress that I had last winter, and seem to be developing this winter.  It's not unusal for folks to develop allergies when they move from one region to another.  And in Florida the blooming season is all year long; there's always something exuding pollen.  In the Northeast US,  the winters would freeze long enough to put every flora and fauna into domancy.  Not here.  Pffffttttt.

Went to lunch at Theo's.  Came home, took a bit of a nap, then went to the new Starving Artist gallery where my bros Tom and Jim have their paintings and glasswork.  It's a lovely gallery with work by local artists.

Saw a new therapist yesterday.  I seem to be a "lifer," someone who needs the therapeutic relationship with a counselor to get through.  I've just been struggling so much lately.  This new woman was slightly annoying, but she does EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing, and hypnotherapy.)  Somehow, in our first meeting, she asked me how she came across to me.  Then she said "I've never asked that of any client."  Are you kidding me??  She also had a very limp handshake.  And when she walked, she seemed to be in pain.  She wore shoes that were pointed and had a heel.  They were clearly uncomfortable to her.  She also assumed that everyone at the Thanksgiving dinner I was invited to would be gay; even tho that is not the case.  She said in an overly-chirpy excited way, Maybe your friends will invite someone you will connect with, or some such. Cause I had told  her I was lonely for intimacy (altho not necessarily sexual.) I found that terribly presumptuous.  She was clearly not comfortable in her own body, even though she claims to be an "expert" in PTSD.  I'll see her a few times and see where it goes;  at least Medicare pays for it/her.  She was not my first choice.  I think she even called me "sweetheart," when we first met.  That's kind of inappropriate, don't  u think?

Am reading "Life Interrupted," by Spauling Gray.  Are any of you familiar with his work?  The most famous is likely "Swimming to Cambodia," about the filming of the movie "The Killing Fields."  Brilliant.  I have always adored his work, felt very connected to his perceptions.  He killed himself in 2002, I think.  Jumped off the Staten Island ferry and drowned.  Had a history of depression, and survived a horrific automobile accident in Ireland which compromised his physical and mental abilities.  I've always thought that folks who commit suicide are deeply courageous.

Saturday, November 17

Went to The Present Moment for dinner last night and had the most delicious "raw" vegan lasagna.  The texture was not exactly great, but the flavor was so so good.  With arugula salad.  Raw isn't exactly raw raw, but they do not cook anything above 160 degrees.  Yummy food.  I heard a rumor that they weren't doing that well.  I will be so upset if they have to close.

This morning I took Bindi to the Wags & Whiskers dog wash/nail clipping at their facility.  It's a rescue organization that does amazing work with cats and dogs, and they recently moved into a building after years of relying on volunteers to house the animals until adoption.  I was so disappointed to find that the place was dirty and smelled strongly of shit.  I could barely stay inside.  There were no windows open, the air conditioning was not working, and I didn't want to sit on nor touch anything in the lobby.  I asked a volunteer if she could open some windows cause it was hot inside and smelled badly.  When I went outside the woman who does the nail clipping asked me to send an email to W & W about my experience.  She said she had been telling "them" that the smell was unacceptable but to no avail.  I did that.  I told them I wanted to volunteer but could not in a place that was gross.  I said it nicely, tho.  I did say that I would like to continue to foster kittens and puppies, once in a while.

Bindi was not dried well, so I put her in the car, put on her t-shirt, and left her there to dry and warm up while I attended the Flagler College staff/student/faculty arts and crafts sale.  Wow.  What talent.  I had such a good time, and bought a couple of inexpensive but so interesting things.  When I got back to the car, Bindi was shivering and still damp, so we began our drive home.  Stopped at 233 King Street gallery on the way back because they are only open on the weekends, and saw some more really great art and had a good talk with one of the co-owners.

As I write this, I'm figuring out how to upload photos from my phone to my PC via Google +.  I'm so proud of myself for plugging through this.

But, alas, this uploading of photos is not going well, so will post without.