Spider Bites

 

I have, what I believe are three spider bites, all very much near each other on my neck.  They are driving me crazy, as my shirt collar rubs against them, they are inflamed and warm to the touch.  I put Benadryl cream on them last night, but it has not helped much. 

Even though I could be mistaken, and the above may be mosquito bites.... I am fairly confident they are spider bites.  While mosquito bites are itchy and annoying, for me, they are typically smaller, less inflamed, and usually not "reddish" in color.  I tend to have this more (unfortunately) robust reaction to spider bites.

I hoofed out all my miles on the indoor track yesterday.  It was boring.... but being in supposedly better air quality was supposedly helpful and since I was running in the late afternoon.... being OUT OF THE SUN was very much helpful.  

With all the deadlines still to be accomplished, I again was amotivational (non-motivated) this morning to run.  Added to this, the damn air quality is still in the unhealthy level in my neck of the woods.... so I am going to have to hoof out a lot of damn miles again INDOORS this afternoon.  But.... I was SO very amotivational, that I did not use my time effectively and did not arrive at the U early so I could get more of the annoying work done.  I only arrived at the U at 8:15am.  If I would have been trying to maximize my effort, I would have instead gotten to the U by 6:00am when I normally would be hoofing outside.  But, unfortunately.... I was lazy.

My wife and I were discussing our hoped for retirement plans a bit yesterday while in the pool.  We both want the same sorts of things:

1.  We would like to live where Winter is not so much just a time of huge snow and ice.  We would love to live in a place where the Winter temperatures at worst perhaps only dip into the low 40s or so.  (~4 or 5 degrees C).

2.  We would like a two bedroom condominium with a balcony.  I would enjoy it being on a higher up floor (perhaps 10th floor or above), whereas my wife is fine any floor that is 2nd or above).  We envision the second bedroom having a Murphy Bed, and then a desk for our computer, and space for hobbies (me, musical instruments, my wife... other things).  

3.  We would want the condominium complex to have a pool and a fitness center.

4.  We would like to be in the city or town area so that we could walk to many things readily.

5.  It would be especially nice if the Catholic Church in the area was also within walking distance.

6.  Good quality health care. 

7.  It would be wonderful if there were at least SOME restaurants with ethnic cuisine in the town.... personal favorites would be Ethiopian, Indian, Turkish, Mediterranean, Japanese.  

In trying to peruse online ideas of possible areas that MAY have the above and are ALSO considered to be economically reasonable as well.... the city of Savannah, Georgia keeps coming up in searches.  We will try to dig deeper into that city as well as others as we continue to look about.  

Seeing the big pound tub of "Sir Walter Raleigh" on my desk in that video snippet the other day has sparked so many memories of about how fond I am of the traditional, non-aromatic Sir Walter Raleigh pipe tobacco.  To me, it represents all the aspects of perfection in a pipe tobacco.  It, too, was the type of pipe tobacco I first "borrowed" secretly a pinch of from my Dad's tub way back when I first tried a pipe as a kid.  While I was hoofing out the loops yesterday, I allowed my mind to drift deeply into the thoughts of the ephemeral tastes and flavors of Sir Walter Raleigh.  With my imagination, I could ALMOST  taste the rich flavors on my tongue and in my nasal passages as I ran. The many memories of that leaf are so vivid and beautiful. 

PipeTobacco