Fasting BG 2019

[walkerwally1]

84 this morning.  Still just under 100° with a 96° high yesterday but it is predicted we will be around 106-107° this weekend.  Thankfully we have no damage and the cooler works quite well.
Tamagno, that is quite an impressive list of things you can do with the Echo and I can really see how useful they can be, especially for someone that is limited on how they can get around.  Much more useful than I realized.

[Grammabear]

Forgot to mention, Grammabear, there's not really an issue syncing Echo devices. Can be a little tricky learning just how to use them, but it does work. As much as anything, I'm looking forward to being able to use it to contact EMS from anywhere in the house (no monthly fees and uses my land line). No buttons to push, just voice command.

Also can ask it for my current glucose and - nerds only here - use Dr. Who sounds and call me "Doctor."

John - How did you learn to use the Echo so well?  Was it 'trial-n-error' or did you actually read an owner's manual?  Sometimes the manual seems a bit intimidating to me.

[bigskygal]

103 this partly cloudy morning, 113 at bedtime last night.

Pretty impressive Tamagno. Still don't think I want one.

It only got up to 70° yesterday and only one thunderstorm passed through. It is warmer today so far it is 78° and very cloudy.

[Tamagno]

202 this morning.

I almost never read instructions or documentation (Read Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" to see why). Alexa has self-contained lists of her skills you can either read or just ask her what she can do. It's easy and if there's some skill you don't like, you can always delete it. Many are dull and useless, but even more are very useful.

Got my Echo Show yesterday and installed it where my alarm clock resided. I'd had another Echo device there, but the Show has a 10" screen and better speakers. Surprisingly, it still uses all the skills I was using (plus the ones I'd created) in residence, so all I really had to do was plug it in and connect to my wifi. I'll be playing with it more today. The Echo Connect I ordered arrives tomorrow (allows me to make calls via my VioP land line) so once that's up and running I'll be all set. Thankfully, I've been keeping all my contacts on my iOS devices, so they're already in place. Ditto with my "to do" list that'll also be part of everything (in case anyone's wondering, I use an app called Wunderlist which conveniently maintains back up in the cloud and is accessible via Alexa).

All told, while my mind and body aren't in such great shape, Echo fills in many of the gaps. My recipe app "Copy me that" works wonderfully mining internet recipes and Alexa cheerfully reads them to me as I cook and sometimes has accompanying video. Wish she could carry out the trash, mow the lawn and climb stairs...

Besides, it's all such fun...

[Grammabear]

131 this morning.

Thank you Tamagno for the explanation about Echo.  I wonder who invented these technologies for people to try out?

I've got a muscle in my lower back that is complaining loudly.  Been trying to walk it off and was somewhat successful yesterday, but today it is complaining again.  Don't want to see a doctor because there is nothing they seem to be able to fix.

[walkerwally1]

93 this morning.  It's going to be warming up with temps around 110° (43.3° C) predicted for the weekend.  More like what you would expect here in July. 
Tamagno, sounds like you are getting the best out of those devices.  One of these days I may have to play around with some.

[bigskygal]

104 this mostly clear morning, 111 at bedtime last night.

A big thunderstorm blew through last evening. It took out a transformer or something so I was out of power for a while. No more thunderstorms in forecast until Saturday.

[Tamagno]

181 this morning.

Grammabear, lidocaine patches might help your back if your doc will prescribe them.

Speaking of which, I lost my balance going up my basement stairs yesterday and landed flat on my back on the concrete floor. Cut up the back of my head, elbows and lower back, but x-rays and cat scan showed nothing too bad, thankfully. Still, for now, "She Who Must be Obeyed" has issued an edict that I must remain on one floor. Can't say I feel much like navigating stairs just now anyway.

Well, I've got several things wanting doing here anyway that I can manage without moving around much. Also, fortunately, the combination of lidocaine patches and Tylenol seems adequate for pain.

An advantage of excessive thinness is I haven't much mass, so when I do fall, relatively little damage is done...

[walkerwally1]

93 this morning.  The weather gurus claim that it is supposed to reach 104° today but I am skeptical.  We were at 94° yesterday and it was 70° at 6:00 AM but it san happen.  Supposed to get to around 108-110° this weekend.
Tamagno, holy cow !  Be careful, glad that nothing was broken but it doesn't matter how thin you are, bones can break.  I only weighed 140 Lbs when I broke my hip and it snapped easier than you would think.  At that weight I didn't have any padding at all and I gained some weight and have been around 155 for the last couple of years but I still think I would break something if I fell.  Take it easy buddie.

[Grammabear]

137 this morning.

Tamagno - Sorry you took a tumble, but glad you didn't have major damage.  Hopefully you will be satisfied with small chores on one level of your home.  The "She Who Must Be Obeyed" will be on your case if you don't listen. 

It is 82 deg with a high of 90 predicted - however - the humidity is already 81% which is definitely not comfortable.  It is a day to stay inside in the A/C.

[skb]

That sounds more than a tumble. I would say Obey the One and stay put.

Get well soon.

[bigskygal]

110 this morning, 99 at bedtime last night.

Oh my gosh, Tamagno!! That sounds awful, glad no serious damage resulted. Yes, I think you best obey The One on this for now.

It is 80°right now and I think that is going to be the high. Lots of clouds but no rain.

[Tamagno]

High this morning (combination of needing a new insertion set plus all manner of pain - it'll pass).

Took me a bit of work, but Alexa is now connected to my land line and I can make phone calls either by name (if they're in my contacts) or just by number. Plus, I can make Skype/FaceTime calls. It's all through the house, so I feel pretty safe about calling EMS anytime.

It's amazing to me I've got all this tech but can't work out a reliable way to know when the mail's arrived (too many trees/hills in the way for anything wireless and I'd have to dig a trench to get wiring across a town road)...

[Grammabear]

115 this morning.

Tamagno - I assume that you don't have a line of vision from your home to your mailbox?  Could you mount a small "game" camera (like game wardens use to watch wild critters) inside your mail box?  But then you would still have to travel the distance to retrieve said camera.  There has got to be a way to figure this out.  If you had a line of vision to the mail box, you could mount a mail flag on outside of box and look at the box with binoculars.  That is what we did when we moved to the country.  We have the typical red mail box flag, but on the other side we have a bright yellow flag that flips up when the mail box is opened by the mail carrier.

[walkerwally1]

109 this morning.  We didn't quite hit the predicted 104° yesterday but 101° we did get to was close enough.  It looks like we will be 100+ for the rest of the month which is expected.  August is usually hotter and we will probably see temps over 110°.
Off in a bit for an appointment with my primary to go over my test results. 
Tamagno, that would be a fun project to make some kind of notification setup for the mailbox.  Our mailbox is on the other side of the street so the mail delivery person just drives down one side of the road to leave the mail.  It is a straight shot for Wifi though.  OTOH our delivery is usually around the same time every day so not too hard to know when it is delivered.  I also see the mailbox in the security camera showing the front yard but you have to be looking at the monitor to notice it.  I'm going to have to look into that for a project though.
Grammabear, I have never seen a mailbox with that feature but it would certainly work here.