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Stardate: 20190905.1316 | |
Location: Barnes and Noble patio | |
Input Device: Gemini PDA | |
Audio: Water fountains and muzak | |
Visual: Patio furniture, American flag, trees | |
Energy: still 95% | |
Mental: still 95% | |
Emotional: Warm, still rested | |
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Just finished going to the pictures. The show was at | |
10:35AM. I think that is the earliest I have ever been to | |
the pictures. I'm having another trente iced coffee from | |
Starbucks here at B&N. My friend, Ryan, jokes about how much | |
coffee I drink...well, it is true. I do drink a lot of | |
coffee. It doesn't really seems to phase me much though. | |
Actually, I probably need it just to get going, but I don't | |
really even think about using it that way. It is just a | |
daily beverage I consume. | |
It is a bit warm out here, but I'm pretty comfortable. I got | |
my iced coffee, I'm in the shade, and I have my neck fan. | |
Yeah, I picked up a neck fan from Amazon. It is this geeky | |
gadget doohickey that has 2 mini fans connected together in a | |
"U" shape that hangs around your neck. It kinda looks like | |
headphones. I got the black and red pair. They are | |
rechargeable via micro USB and the battery seems to last a | |
long time. I haven't done any capacity tests yet and I keep | |
charging them before the batteries are exhausted. | |
Oh, and it also has 3 speeds. I should run tests for all 3 | |
speeds, just cuz. | |
Even though they are a bit geeky, I don't care. They have | |
made the past week or so that I have been using them quite | |
bearable. I can even walk around with them on at a brisk | |
pace without any problems. It would probably be a challenge | |
to run in them though, but I don't really do that unless I am | |
being chased or something. | |
At home, they are good too, even in the hot garage. The | |
house warms up quite a bit and we are just using fans. Most | |
months the house stays pretty cool, but this time of the year | |
has been pretty hot, even in the evening. I have | |
pseudo-engineered this fan/window air circulation setup where | |
I strategically try to cool down the house in the most | |
effective way...it seems to work, at least that is what I | |
tell myself. If I want hard data, I might have to bring out | |
the thermal imaging camera and conduct some tests. That | |
would be too much work though and I have some guitar to be | |
playin'. | |
The reason I got the got the neck fan is because I have some | |
serious personal HVAC issues. My body is not able to cool | |
itself like it used to and I am prone to heat exhaustion and | |
heat stroke. Oh, and also because my wife says I smell like a | |
wet dog when use a cooling towel so I got a bit | |
self-conscious and looked for alternatives. | |
A couple years ago, I was driving my son home from soccer | |
practice. He rode shotgun and I drove. His practice was in | |
the evening and it was still hot in the evening. I had the | |
windows down since I was not feeling so well. As we were | |
driving, my vision started to blur and I started fading out | |
whenever we got to a stop light. When the light changed and | |
we started moving again, I would start to fade back and gain | |
consciousness. Since there were other cars on the road, I | |
kept my distance...driving like 20 where the speed limit was | |
40mph... | |
My son inquired why I was driving so slow. I just told him I | |
was not feeling so well and that we would be home soon...that | |
I just needed to keep the air and the music going... | |
...and said a prayer to God to have Him get us home safely. | |
I did not know what was going on with me and I should have | |
stopped right then and there and had him call me an | |
ambulance. But no, I'm good. | |
So we continued homeward and I kept going in and out of | |
consciousness. I felt like a drunk driver. When we got to | |
our street, I missed it and had to go around for a lap. When | |
we got to the driveway and parked, I thanked God and started | |
getting out of the car... | |
I opened the car door and stepped out. Next thing I knew, I | |
was lying on the pavement between the car door and the | |
driver's seat. I was like, WTF, how'd I get here? | |
My son asked if he should get Mom. I said, "No, I'm OK." I | |
got up and noticed a scrape on my knee since I was wearing | |
shorts. I started walking around the car and collapsed again | |
in front of the garage door. Again, when I came too, I'm | |
like WTF?! He says again, "Do you want me to get Mom?" I | |
relented and told him to go get her. | |
They helped me get to the couch by the window in the house | |
that was still quite warm at 9 in the evening. I took off my | |
shirt and they got me some water and tested my blood | |
sugar...which was actually fine. I just told them that I | |
need to rest by the window. | |
When I had rested for a bit, I made my way downstairs to the | |
bedroom, which is cooler than the family room (street level.) | |
I took a shower and then went to bed. | |
Later that evening, I awoke, took out my phone, and started | |
researching my symptoms. It turns out that I had just | |
experienced a heat stroke. Well, that was my laymen's | |
diagnosis. It made sense with how the day went...I worked | |
from home in the hot house, drank a lot of hot coffee, went | |
to my kid's school for back to school night in a hot | |
auditorium without a/c, walked a bunch of laps around the | |
soccer field while they practiced, and did not drink hardly | |
any water (which had been my usual deal since before this | |
incident since coffee is mostly water, right?) The | |
conditions were perfect for this incident to manifest. I | |
should have gone to the hospital, but of course I didn't. | |
After I got my head on a little straight, I started thinking | |
about this and could not believe how irresponsible and | |
hard-headed I was. I put my son, myself, and other people in | |
harms way by being stubborn and not taking care of myself. I | |
ignored all of the messages that God was sending me. I | |
definitely lost a lot of parenting points that day, heck, | |
they should even take away my parenting badge and knock me | |
down a few levels. I jest, but this was a serious incident | |
and my wife and my daughter might not have a father/husband, | |
son/brother anymore due to my recklessness. | |
OK, so to sum it up, heat exhaustion and heat strokes are | |
serious business, mmmkay? Don't be a dummy...stay hydrated, | |
get a neck fan, and take care of yourself before it's too | |
late! | |
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