I've spent my day on the sofa, reading. I'm not sick, just lazy. I woke up today with the nominal intention of going for a hike, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Back out there in the heat with the ticks? And the poison ivy? The couch is so much more appealing.
It's been a long time since I had a lazy day at home. I'm not sure how long. I can't remember it, at any rate. Today felt nice. I had a cat on my lap at most times, and a book by an author I hadn't read before in my hands. My itchy, itchy hands.
What I thought was a bug bite progressed into something that looked a lot like poison ivy. And then other patches started showing up here and there. I actually put some topical anesthetic on the worst bits for some temporary relief today. I'm lucky that I don't generally have a bad reaction to either bug bites or poison ivy. So, while it is covering more and more of my skin, it isn't driving me insane, and it isn't big and blistery. Yet.
If it IS bugs, they are voracious.
I suspect that something of mine came into contact with poison ivy, and then later that thing came into contact with my arms. (And belly, so far.) Likely the dog, the horse, or some of my hiking gear. Since I'm not sure what exactly did it, the affected item is now just lurking there in my environment, waiting to be touched again. I'm pretty sure I didn't have direct contact with poison ivy - otherwise the rash would have been more intense and faster rising.
Anyway, that's been my day. Slouching about, reclining, reading, and itching.
While checking my list of blogs which I like to read, I find that I wish to perform a random act of kindness (RAOK). The thing is, it's a really expensive RAOK. $3500 worth. I've only performed RAOKs up to $500 before. And I'm not sure that this RAOK is really in the blogger's best interest. She is disabled and living in subsidized housing, but the place isn't meeting her needs. Mostly, it's the problem with smokers - she has a severe reaction to smoke. The place is supposed to be smoke free but that hasn't stopped anyone.
So, there is an RV near her on sale for $3500. She and her (also disabled) husband would like to buy it and live in there instead of the apartment, but they have no money to make the purchase. I could solve that problem. I wonder about the implications, though. She loves to garden, and she wouldn't have a garden anymore. She is constantly ill - how hard would life be while sick in an RV? If they had plumbing problems while she were in the grip of an episode, it would be a nightmare. I also don't know if living in an RV would fulfill residency requirements, which I'm pretty sure she needs to get the lifesaving medications she receives.
While it would get her away from a toxic environment, I think it would make her life harder in other ways. And it's a lot of money. And she doesn't know me from Adam. So I guess I'm just thinking.
Living in an RV isn't as easy as some think. Space is VERY limited. Gas is very expensive. It's hard to do urban boondocking (parking on the street), without being hassled by the residents or businesses you park near, or the police (many cities now forbid sleeping in your vehicle on the street). If there was good evidence that this plan would work well for them, you could be an angel. But I suspect the plan is not fully thought out, and won't work for them nearly as well as they hope.
ReplyDeleteAnother way you could be an angel would be to provide financial help with getting into another rental. Often people in a low income situation can't come up with the first/last/deposit/moving expenses even when they can find a better place to live. If you can help with those costs, it would likely make a much bigger difference for her in the long run.
Well, I haven't spoken up to her. Other people have posted, pointing out the problems. She's aware of them. She lived on the road for a few years before settling down again.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, I'm staying out of it.