This is the situation in Lake County, where the Valley Fire is only 35% contained and has consumed 104 square miles since Saturday afternoon.
Lake County is the second poorest county in California. It’s the cheapest place to live within a couple hours of San Francisco and a large percentage of the people live off government subsidies of one kind or another. When we vacation on Clear Lake, the largest lake in California, in June, we were sobered that everywhere we turned businesses were closed, going out of business or for sale. Houses are for sale everywhere and it has a general feeling of depression.
And that was in Lakeport, the most prosperous area besides Clearlake proper (ten miles north of Middletown on the eastern side of the lake). The community itself has been devastated and run down for a long time.
It’s also the home of The Geysers–which is a thermal-electric generating station that straddles the Lake County and Sonoma County border and provides almost all the electricity for northern California north of San Francisco. At least three towers have burned, cutting electrical transmission by 25%. We don’t know, yet, what that will mean for folks like Bob Buckles up near the Oregon border.
13,000 people have been evacuated, with no time line of when they will be able to return. Countless animals were simply turned loose–it’s a ranching area. The occupancy rate for Napa and Sonoma Counties currently stands at 97.5%–which means there’s nothing to rent here, no place for people to relocate.
Thank God rain is expected tomorrow, 1/2 inch, maybe. Please pray for that. It climbs back into the 90s on Friday through the weekend.
Sonoma County is all fine, but we’re concerned about what’s going on the other side of those 2000 foot mountains.
Well I am totally bummed. After several weeks of ignoring it and several of denying it, I think I’ve got an issue with my feet related to diabetes (which was caused by a pancreas injury in an automobile accident). I googled diabetic neuropathy and found that the symptoms are exactly what I’m experiencing. My right heel hurts when I’m walking on it, burns when I’m not, tingles, and has periodic stabbing pains. I really didn’t want it to come to this and I’m not looking forward to it getting worse and spending the rest of my life with it. It’s consuming my thoughts right now so I guess I need a few weeks to get used to it and get over the stress of it. Thanks for your prayers.
I have those issues as well, Linda, though not the burning. I feel like I’m continually walking on a thick piece of felt permanently stuck to the balls of my feet. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just annoying. The doc I saw did some odd electrical tests that didn’t really show much, but he advised me to control the blood sugars as much as possible and to get all the exercise in now; he thought I had 10 years of active life before the feet would become too difficult to manage. That’s partly why we’ve been traveling so much.
The thing people don’t tell you about diabetes, or the threat of it in my case, is how emotional it is. It’s not just a physical disease, but has all sorts of components. I’m not at emotional equilibrium on it–still fighting and holding it off–but it’s really hard. Blessings.
And I’ve developed a slight “tremor” in my neck/head area in recent months that I’ll need to mention to the doctor. At first I chalked it up to the arthritis that was diagnosed in my neck a couple years ago, but it sounds like it’s what they call Essential Tremor (can hit either hands, voice, head, legs) — not entirely uncommon, can come on at any age, even childhood, thought to be probably genetic. I really don’t want to have to take drugs to control it should it get worse but will go that route if needed. It’s very annoying. And I think I’m overly focused on it right now, too, which makes it worse. (It can get worse also in times of stress and tiredness or fatigue, and I do notice it more in the evenings — and working on computers all day may not be helping, either.)
Falling apart. ??
(Co-worker — Christian Science background — has been dealing with diabetes for the past 2 years, it’s daunting to see what all she’s had to go through — and the out-of-pocket costs for meds is so high, it’s gobbling up much of her paycheck. But she almost lost part of a foot, she’d waited until things got really bad before going to a doctor, so it could have been worse.)
Well, here’s to just muddling through and carrying on, amen?
Diabetes is not kind. I feel for both of you. I worry about Mr. P. He has a horrid sweet tooth. I am funny. When I was a child my grandfather had a quad by pass. He was to give up salt. I hardly eat salt. My dad developed diabetes. I hardly eat sweets. I am fearful. I think a GREAT doctor is essential and I hope you both have one you trust.
Donna, the neurologist said that type of tremor is what he thinks BG has. They treat it with beta blockers. He also said a little bit of alcohol would also help. Like if you notice it to be really bad, a glass of wine to sip would help. I don’t know how you feel about alcohol, but thought I would tell you.
Linda – The anti-depressant Cymbalta is FDA-approved to treat diabetic neuropathy.
Praying.
*******
My head occasionally shakes/trembles out of the blue.
*******
My prayer request: One of the common problems with Moebius Syndrome is a combination of watery eyes & very dry eyes. It may sound like those two don’t go together, but they do. There are different kinds of tears, & the ones that cause the watery eyes (mostly my right eye, which is the side most affected by the Moebius) are not moisturizing, so they lead to my eyes feeling dry as the day wears on, becoming uncomfortably dry in the evening. (So my eyes are very watery in the morning & very dry in the evening.)
I do have drops that I use periodically, mostly in the evening, but I can’t read for several minutes after putting them in, & their effect does not last long. My eyes have been getting drier over the last few months, so that in the evenings, they dry out quickly after using the eye drops. (I use Systane drops, which are better than the Visine type.)
As I try to catch up on my reading in the evening, this is getting frustrating. I am thinking of trying the gel eye drops, but I suspect they would also make it difficult to read, for a longer time than the drops do.
Please pray for my eyes, that they would not get any drier, & that the current dryness will reverse. Thank you.
Karen, Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve not investigated drugs (nor discussed with my doctor) but I hesitate to start down that path, especially with new drugs (and especially those with sixty-gazillion “possible” side effects, up to and including death).
Eye story: I kept wondering why things seemed blurry covering Trump’s appearance on the Iowa tonight … Realized finally that I’d put my reading glasses on when I swapped out my sunglasses.
Wandering Views 
This is the situation in Lake County, where the Valley Fire is only 35% contained and has consumed 104 square miles since Saturday afternoon.
Lake County is the second poorest county in California. It’s the cheapest place to live within a couple hours of San Francisco and a large percentage of the people live off government subsidies of one kind or another. When we vacation on Clear Lake, the largest lake in California, in June, we were sobered that everywhere we turned businesses were closed, going out of business or for sale. Houses are for sale everywhere and it has a general feeling of depression.
And that was in Lakeport, the most prosperous area besides Clearlake proper (ten miles north of Middletown on the eastern side of the lake). The community itself has been devastated and run down for a long time.
It’s also the home of The Geysers–which is a thermal-electric generating station that straddles the Lake County and Sonoma County border and provides almost all the electricity for northern California north of San Francisco. At least three towers have burned, cutting electrical transmission by 25%. We don’t know, yet, what that will mean for folks like Bob Buckles up near the Oregon border.
13,000 people have been evacuated, with no time line of when they will be able to return. Countless animals were simply turned loose–it’s a ranching area. The occupancy rate for Napa and Sonoma Counties currently stands at 97.5%–which means there’s nothing to rent here, no place for people to relocate.
Thank God rain is expected tomorrow, 1/2 inch, maybe. Please pray for that. It climbs back into the 90s on Friday through the weekend.
Sonoma County is all fine, but we’re concerned about what’s going on the other side of those 2000 foot mountains.
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Well I am totally bummed. After several weeks of ignoring it and several of denying it, I think I’ve got an issue with my feet related to diabetes (which was caused by a pancreas injury in an automobile accident). I googled diabetic neuropathy and found that the symptoms are exactly what I’m experiencing. My right heel hurts when I’m walking on it, burns when I’m not, tingles, and has periodic stabbing pains. I really didn’t want it to come to this and I’m not looking forward to it getting worse and spending the rest of my life with it. It’s consuming my thoughts right now so I guess I need a few weeks to get used to it and get over the stress of it. Thanks for your prayers.
LikeLiked by 4 people
I have those issues as well, Linda, though not the burning. I feel like I’m continually walking on a thick piece of felt permanently stuck to the balls of my feet. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just annoying. The doc I saw did some odd electrical tests that didn’t really show much, but he advised me to control the blood sugars as much as possible and to get all the exercise in now; he thought I had 10 years of active life before the feet would become too difficult to manage. That’s partly why we’ve been traveling so much.
The thing people don’t tell you about diabetes, or the threat of it in my case, is how emotional it is. It’s not just a physical disease, but has all sorts of components. I’m not at emotional equilibrium on it–still fighting and holding it off–but it’s really hard. Blessings.
LikeLiked by 3 people
And I’ve developed a slight “tremor” in my neck/head area in recent months that I’ll need to mention to the doctor. At first I chalked it up to the arthritis that was diagnosed in my neck a couple years ago, but it sounds like it’s what they call Essential Tremor (can hit either hands, voice, head, legs) — not entirely uncommon, can come on at any age, even childhood, thought to be probably genetic. I really don’t want to have to take drugs to control it should it get worse but will go that route if needed. It’s very annoying. And I think I’m overly focused on it right now, too, which makes it worse. (It can get worse also in times of stress and tiredness or fatigue, and I do notice it more in the evenings — and working on computers all day may not be helping, either.)
Falling apart. ??
(Co-worker — Christian Science background — has been dealing with diabetes for the past 2 years, it’s daunting to see what all she’s had to go through — and the out-of-pocket costs for meds is so high, it’s gobbling up much of her paycheck. But she almost lost part of a foot, she’d waited until things got really bad before going to a doctor, so it could have been worse.)
Well, here’s to just muddling through and carrying on, amen?
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Thanks for sharing, Michelle; that was really helpful. And Donna, too.
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Praying for you, Linda, and Michelle and Donna.
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Diabetes is not kind. I feel for both of you. I worry about Mr. P. He has a horrid sweet tooth. I am funny. When I was a child my grandfather had a quad by pass. He was to give up salt. I hardly eat salt. My dad developed diabetes. I hardly eat sweets. I am fearful. I think a GREAT doctor is essential and I hope you both have one you trust.
Donna, the neurologist said that type of tremor is what he thinks BG has. They treat it with beta blockers. He also said a little bit of alcohol would also help. Like if you notice it to be really bad, a glass of wine to sip would help. I don’t know how you feel about alcohol, but thought I would tell you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Linda – The anti-depressant Cymbalta is FDA-approved to treat diabetic neuropathy.
Praying.
*******
My head occasionally shakes/trembles out of the blue.
*******
My prayer request: One of the common problems with Moebius Syndrome is a combination of watery eyes & very dry eyes. It may sound like those two don’t go together, but they do. There are different kinds of tears, & the ones that cause the watery eyes (mostly my right eye, which is the side most affected by the Moebius) are not moisturizing, so they lead to my eyes feeling dry as the day wears on, becoming uncomfortably dry in the evening. (So my eyes are very watery in the morning & very dry in the evening.)
I do have drops that I use periodically, mostly in the evening, but I can’t read for several minutes after putting them in, & their effect does not last long. My eyes have been getting drier over the last few months, so that in the evenings, they dry out quickly after using the eye drops. (I use Systane drops, which are better than the Visine type.)
As I try to catch up on my reading in the evening, this is getting frustrating. I am thinking of trying the gel eye drops, but I suspect they would also make it difficult to read, for a longer time than the drops do.
Please pray for my eyes, that they would not get any drier, & that the current dryness will reverse. Thank you.
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Praying, Karen.
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Karen, Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve not investigated drugs (nor discussed with my doctor) but I hesitate to start down that path, especially with new drugs (and especially those with sixty-gazillion “possible” side effects, up to and including death).
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Karen, I use the gel drops on occasion and I don’t find my vision much blurrier after than regular drops.
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Does the soothing effect last much longer than drops?
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I’m on restates for dry eyes — the reason I can’t use contacts anymore. 😦
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Are we all falling apart, or what?
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Restasis — bad spell check
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Eye story: I kept wondering why things seemed blurry covering Trump’s appearance on the Iowa tonight … Realized finally that I’d put my reading glasses on when I swapped out my sunglasses.
Sheesh.
Whatever.
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My eye doctor recommends the gel formula (otc) also, though
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