Your projects, what are you working on in your free time? Options

[Decrepit]

Project: Prepare and submit tax year 2025 Federal and State income tax returns
Status: done

TurboTax is even more of a pain to use than in previous years. Income entry is less intuitive. Brave Browser's AI-generated comment confirms it and, thankfully, told me how to navigate the new method. I didn't make things easy on myself by not being able to locate paper copies of last year's car registration fee and real estate tax payment. On a positive note, the standard deduction, which I always take, increased enough this year to give me my largest federal refund in quite some time. On the other hand, my state refund shrank by a modest amount.

Breaking news: TurboTax just let me know that my federal e-filed return has been accepted by the IRS.

[Acadian]

Nice to have that done, is it not?

I'm not expecting the last thing I need for mine until the end of Feb.

[Decrepit]

Nice to have that done, is it not?

I'm not expecting the last thing I need for mine until the end of Feb.

One of my yearly tax prep fears is that I'll submit my completed return, then days or weeks later receive an income statement that I totally forgot about. Thankfully, that hasn't happened...yet.

[Decrepit]

Project: Health & Fitness
Status: workout addition

A few weeks ago I got to wondering if it is possible for me to genuflect (kneel on one knee) and rise to a standing position without the aid of my arms/hands and without destroying my knees during the drop. To my happy surprise, I can. It ain't elegant. No one's going to hire me as an extra in a mass knighting scene. My knees indeed took a beating early on, but my drops are becoming more gentle with practice. Rises are occasionally scary and, oddly or not, have a different feel depending on which leg does the brunt of the lifting.

I don't practice genuflecting as part of my established workouts, but instead whenever I remember to do them during the day. Which, alas, means that I don't do them every day, my memory being what it is...or isn't.

[mALX]

Project: stay fit
Status: iffy

Late last year I revised my exercise-walk route, increasing its distance from 2.65 miles to 2.95 miles. Just when I was getting used to the new route, we were hit with a string of days that were too cold and/or wet and/or windy to walk outdoors. A too-short return to decent walking weather followed. Our winter storm then set in. It has kept me indoors almost the whole of two weeks. I was at last able to resume outdoor walks the day before yesterday. Alas, yesterday was again too cold, as is today. Good news: it will supposedly hit 60°F tomorrow!

I have not been idle during this cold spell, walking an hour indoors as often as not, to the detriment of my already ancient and decrepit carpet. It was tough going at first, being difficult to remain focused and enthusiastic within such a cramped space. Things went better once it dawned on me that I can play music through my living room audio system, which hasn't been turned on in a good eight to ten years, for the duration of my walks. It helps that one of my all-time favorite recordings is a set of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas performed on fortepiano by Ronald Brautigam. Each disc is crammed to the max with music, seventy to eighty minutes per disc, more than enough time to get in a complete walk.

I've also stuck to my now-normal weighted exercise schedule, which, for good or ill, was reduced to once every three days following last year's pneumonia/sepsis. One bright spot: instead of the three sets of 15 full pushups I used to do each session, I now do those same three sets plus six to eight sets of "knee pushups," utilizing two hand grip positions on my "pushup board" that are too difficult for me during full pushups.

On the minus side, I'm now roughly ten pounds heavier than I want to be. My best guess is that it has something to do with all the antibiotics I've been taking since my bout of pneumonia/sepsis. I doubt it's diet-related, since what and how much I eat hasn't changed since switching to carnivore in late 2022 to early 2023. Be that as it may, my hope is that my new pulmonologist, the old one having retired at the end of 2025, will okay me to go off antibiotics when I see her later this month.

Normally with any lung issues they will give you a course of steroids = which will cause you to gain tangible weight without any differences in diet. Since you were being treated for your lungs, this is probably the culprit.

Project: Health & Fitness
Status: workout addition

A few weeks ago I got to wondering if it is possible for me to genuflect (kneel on one knee) and rise to a standing position without the aid of my arms/hands and without destroying my knees during the drop. To my happy surprise, I can. It ain't elegant. No one's going to hire me as an extra in a mass knighting scene. My knees indeed took a beating early on, but my drops are becoming more gentle with practice. Rises are occasionally scary and, oddly or not, have a different feel depending on which leg does the brunt of the lifting.

I don't practice genuflecting as part of my established workouts, but instead whenever I remember to do them during the day. Which, alas, means that I don't do them every day, my memory being what it is...or isn't.

Whether you can genuflect and rise up without holding onto anything or not, it is important that you DO have something sturdy nearby you can grasp onto if suddenly needed just in case. That way you can exercise the muscles still, but safely.

Just last week I lost a close neighbor from a fall where he hit his head, (not even that hard a hit, but a small vein in his brain started a slow leak and he was dead in a week from the fall).

His wife fell last year (also not a big fall) and broke her hip. She had barely healed from it when her husband fell. Bones and veins lose strength over time, and you have to keep that in mind that even a small fall at later ages can have serious consequences. (I do not know the ages of my neighbors that I am discussing, but I would guess in their 70's or possibly early to mid 80's = which I am sure is older than you, but they were in seemingly robust health until last year).

Your doctor can do tests to measure your bone density and not sure how they can test veins for strength of the vein walls, but it is something to keep up with if you are at an age where you may be at more risk.






This post has been edited by mALX: Feb 17 2026, 06:38 PM

[Decrepit]

Normally with any lung issues, they will give you a course of steroids, which will cause you to gain tangible weight without any differences in diet. Since you were being treated for your lungs, this is probably the culprit.


Whether you can genuflect and rise up without holding onto anything or not, it is important that you DO have something sturdy nearby you can grasp onto if suddenly needed just in case. That way you can exercise the muscles still, but safely.

Just last week I lost a close neighbor from a fall where he hit his head, (not even that hard a hit, but a small vein in his brain started a slow leak and he was dead in a week from the fall).

His wife fell last year (also not a big fall) and broke her hip. She had barely healed from it when her husband fell. Bones and veins lose strength over time, and you have to keep that in mind that even a small fall at later ages can have serious consequences. (I do not know the ages of my neighbors that I am discussing, but I would guess in their 70's or possibly early to mid 80's = which I am sure is older than you, but they were in seemingly robust health until last year).

Your doctor can do tests to measure your bone density and not sure how they can test veins for strength of the vein walls, but it is something to keep up with if you are at an age where you may be at more risk.

1) lungs and steroids:
Yes, the Dulera I take daily has a steroidal component. That said, I've been on Dulera for well over ten years and kept my weight in check after going carnivore until being put on vaporized steroid treatments following last year's hospital stay.

2) bone density testing:
The year before last, I got a letter from Medicare telling me of the necessity for people my age to have bone density tested. I'd been thinking of doing so ever since going carnivore and beginning a "strenuous" workout regimen. During my next PCP appointment, I showed him the letter and said I wanted the test. He tried to set it up but was told by Medicare that they wouldn't cover it. So much for that. Ironically, about two months later I received another letter from Medicare saying I should be tested. Go figure.

Project: Exercise-Walk timing
Status: A-OK

I timed today's walk. I wasn't expecting perfection, what with cold, wet, and windy weather keeping me indoors too many days. To my happy surprise, the 2.95-mile walk clocked in at exactly 3 mph, my target speed!

[mALX]

1) lungs and steroids:
Yes, the Dulera I take daily has a steroidal component. That said, I've been on Dulera for well over ten years and kept my weight in check after going carnivore until being put on vaporized steroid treatments following last year's hospital stay.

2) bone density testing:
The year before last, I got a letter from Medicare telling me of the necessity for people my age to have bone density tested. I'd been thinking of doing so ever since going carnivore and beginning a "strenuous" workout regimen. During my next PCP appointment, I showed him the letter and said I wanted the test. He tried to set it up but was told by Medicare that they wouldn't cover it. So much for that. Ironically, about two months later I received another letter from Medicare saying I should be tested. Go figure.

Project: Exercise-Walk timing
Status: A-OK

I timed today's walk. I wasn't expecting perfection, what with cold, wet, and windy weather keeping me indoors too many days. To my happy surprise, the 2.95-mile walk clocked in at exactly 3 mph, my target speed!

That is funny about the Medicare, lol. Typical government functioning? Lol. I am pretty sure the vaporized steroid treatments could be helping you with gaining weight. Still, you looked really great in your pics, so the weight isn't hurting your physique at all, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[Decrepit]

Project: Health and Fitness
Status: <sighs>

This wasn't one of my better days, exercise-wise. Nor was it amongst my worst. It started on a positive note, with all sets of pushups going quite well. Easier than usual, truth be told. But the rest of my various exercises were more of a struggle than I'm used to. One I actually ended early. This afternoon's walk wasn't great either, but in my defense, this was my first walk in a new pair of walking shoes. They definitely need breaking in!

Project: Get ready to vote
Status: as ready as I'm going to be

We've primaries and a few final elections, plus one initiative, coming up early next month. This morning I looked up and printed out a sample ballot for my area, looked up info on all candidates, and then marked my choices on the sample. I'll carry it with me to the poles.

[Burnt Sierra]

Project: Health and Fitness
Status: <sighs>

This wasn't one of my better days, exercise-wise. Nor was it amongst my worst. It started on a positive note, with all sets of pushups going quite well. Easier than usual, truth be told. But the rest of my various exercises were more of a struggle than I'm used to. One I actually ended early. This afternoon's walk wasn't great either, but in my defense, this was my first walk in a new pair of walking shoes. They definitely need breaking in!

Apologies, Decrepit, I'm going to shamelessly borrow your formatting here

Project: Health (specifically the foot problems I've been suffering from the past couple of months)
Status: <sighs> (Borrowing that too, as I can't think of a better one!)

So, the swollen feet, that basically is stopping me from sitting from long periods of time came back with a vengeance. Which is why no updates to the story, barely touching ESO for a while, no replies to stories... etc... So, I've been having multiple trips to doctors and the hospital to determine what's causing this. The good news, they've ruled plenty out. Not diabetic, not even pre-diabetic, which is great. Not gout. Also great. Blood works have come back normal, with the exception of raised ALT levels in the liver (getting a scan on the 2nd March to get to the bottom of that, but the doctor didn't seem overly concerned as everything else came back comfortably in the acceptable range) and raised blood pressure. I've been taking 3 daily blood pressure readings at home, and it is higher than it should be, but it's also considerably lower than when it was taken in the doctors. (Not entirely surprised, I knew I was about to have my blood taken straight after the test, and I'm terrified of needles. A tattoo is never going to be in my future.)

Their current thinking (subject to change I suspect) is that I've damaged - somehow, no-one really had any good suggestions how - the tendons and metatarsals in my left foot in particular, and that my feet have abnormally high arches! So being referred to paediatrics to get their opinion. From research, I suspect I'll be recommended to buy arch supports to fit in my shoes, but you never know, they may surprise me.

So, yeah. Sigh. Perfect description.