u/Little_Emu_

I made her years ago. My cursed caterpillar. 😂 I started making her wings but lost steam after one (I couldn’t find it for a picture.)

I forgot about the necklace I was wearing 😭😭😭 my poor SG.

There are so many layers to my story that I don’t even know where to begin so I guess I’ll just jump to the now.

I managed to get into the Mayo Clinic earlier this year to meet with a long covid expert. She was amazing. The first doctor I’ve had where I didn’t have to explain everything and tell them what treatments to give me. She ran all the tests I have been asking my doctors to run for years. And then some. She sent me to all the other specialists that I had been wanting to see. She said the meds I had convinced my doctors to prescribe were the ones she would have suggested.

The experience was all very validating. She gave me more layers of information, named some of the things I had been guessing at. The neurologist she sent me to adjusted one of the medications I was on and now I’m only getting migraines a few times a month instead of a few times a week.

I have covid induced hyperadrenergic POTS. I also have mast cell hyperactivity, which makes sense because I’ve had CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome) since childhood. I have PPPD - persistent postural/perceptual dizziness. Apparently I have been on the hypermobility spectrum my whole life, which does explain so many twists and sprains.

I was surprised to learn that I don’t have any allergies, despite the constant congestion. Turns out that can be a symptom of headache disorders.

Thing is, aside from the one med tweak from the neurologist, it was basically “keep doing what you’re doing” with a few things to do if what I’m doing stops working as much.

My therapist said it’s like I’ve been feeling around in the dark for years, trying to gain my footing, and now the lights are on. And I can see mountains of dirty laundry everywhere. The laundry is still there. But at least now I can see what needs to go in the darks pile and I can pull the red sock from the pile of white shirts.

My last visit to Mayo was early May, and life is pretty much the same. I’m grateful for the answers and validation. It was really nice to have at least one doctor who knew what she was talking about.

But… I still can’t drive for longer than a half hour before I start getting dizzy. I still gag uncontrollably or get random fevers if I over-do it. I still get PEM so deep that all I can do is stare at a screen for a few days.

One of the medications that I’ve been taking to help manage the mast cell hyperactivity has been a glp1. It’s $600 out of pocket each month if I’m at the full dose. My A1c has been low but when I reduce the dose, my inflammation comes roaring back. At least this time I tried to lower the dose, it’s just really swollen ankles instead of severe palpitations. So that feels like progress I suppose.

I’m trying so hard to stay positive. Most of the time I have accepted that this is my life now. I can use the handicapped placard in my car when I really need to. I’ve only been publicly shamed for not looking disabled enough to park there a handful of times, and only one lady has made a big deal about my service dog at the grocery store. It helps that she’s cute and little.

But right now, I’m just feeling a little defeated. My business is hanging on by a thread. My apartment is a mess, and I have to decide if I want to move this year so I can start saving money on rent now or give it one more year so I can downsize gradually.

I usually have an eloquent bow to put on the end of a post but I washed my hair today so that’s all the words I have. So here’s some pictures of my service dog so you can see how cute and little she is, too.

I’m a sucker for nostalgia.

Greyson had his first kitten visit to the vet and they gave him the simplest, most brilliant toy. It’s called a Cat Dancer. It’s a springy wire with little cardboard twists on it. He and my 7 year old cat are both enthralled by it to the point where he’s panting and has to be put on a “forced” timeout to catch his breath. This is Greyson after his first play session with it. Best toy ever!

He had the poofy zoomies for at least an hour. He was exhausted to the point of panting. He was just getting himself increasingly riled up. Was down right belligerent when I suggested he take a little break. He yelled in protest for a solid five minutes when I put him in his playpen. Yelling the whole time his eyes were drooping and he was falling asleep standing up…. But he wasn’t tired.

This little fella has lots of love and plenty to say. My dog Penny is already a fan. My 20 pound sweet cat Gadget… well he hasn’t come out from under the bed yet. I’m hoping he warms up quickly. After all, I got Greyson for him.

Update: Meet Greyson Gravy.

Penny and Gadget have been best friends since the moment she laid eyes on him. It took Gadget about a week to realize that she was right.

I got this used player II telecaster for a pretty good price. British racing green with a white pick guard. Normally, I’m too precious with my guitars to “risk” a mod, but after recently swapping the tuning machines on my Hello Kitty strat for some custom painted ones, I decided to test my luthier-ing with another simple mod. (This was way easier than the tuning machine swap was.) It has a few dings in the finish (self inflicted. I bonked the wall and the guitar was displeased), and am thinking about sanding it down and using an iridescent lacquer on the… relic parts.

How often do you condition your fretboard?

General recommendation is every six months or so, but I swear mine are all a bunch of thirsty turtles. Or it was an especially dry winter I guess?
I feel like I just did it a few months ago, but they all are so dry.

How about you?

Gear pic for guitar tax

First off, I really love this used Jem Jr I picked up off of Reverb. I plan on keeping it. But after I bought it, I saw some inconsistencies in the listing vs what I received.

I reached out to the seller and turned out they used AI to write the description. And can’t find the original specs for it.

He marked the original listing off about $500 and did end up sending me $160 back. I’m just wondering if I got burned.

All in, I paid just over $1000 including shipping. I haven’t been able to find the Jr in this specific color, and does have a mahogany body, rosewood neck, and upgraded case. Also it is hand autographed by Steve Vai.

My only complaint so far is that the tremolo is super loose but that should be an easy enough fix.

What do you think? Did I get scammed?

Update: I’ve been looking at it closer and comparing it to baseline specs. It has an upgraded Edge bridge (maybe that’s where the “Japanese” part got tossed in the mix?) and locking Gotoh tuning machines. The case is a $250 upgrade, too. So with understanding the cost of the upgrades I feel less like an idiot.