allergy season

It's allergy season for me. The eyes itch and the  nose  runs. Sneeze rate increases. So far it hasn't been bad enough that I have begun to ingest any OTC meds. But I am using eye drops (Zaditrol) which the Walgreen's guy said just came off the prescription list last year. It does a pretty good job of reducing eye itch.

For me the big thing it to not let the post-nasal drip develop into upper respiratory distress, bronchitis and the  rest.

A contributing factor is the infestation of box elder bugs we go through this  time of year. They really are benign as most bugs go. They are just pesty. Watching TV in the evening they gravitate to light sources which may mean they are flying about your head. They love our south facing windows and walls. This time  of year those surfaces radiate a lot of heat. The exterminator is scheduled in a couple weeks--they were a month out when I booked them--and when they were here a couple of years back their spraying  did a great job. In fact when the bugs get onto our tiles where they were sprayed two years ago they soon die. This suggests to me that the pesticide remains active (and us breathing it). But the outside mainly is  what contributes to the inside problems. They need to respray down to the foundations and on the windows. (There goes the  window washing job of a few weeks ago!). Ah, the joys of being a home owner. All of the foregoing is to point to the fact that when I kill them, or vacuum up their carcasses I end up short of breath and sneezy. They are clearly a contributor to the allergy blues.l

Everything else is trucking along just fine. The workouts proceed apace. I can now open some jars with difficult lids that I haven't been able to for a long time. My time in the aerobic part of my workout is steadily increasing as is the  exertion level on the bike and the amount of weight I am hoisting. Still not where I want it but improving each week. I miss salt and the foods that contain it, eg, cheese. But I can have some usually verboten foods if I plan my day wisely. For example I can keep sodium virtually out of a 500-600 calorie breakfast easily. That gives some room to carefully measure out an amount of cheese and crackers that won't put me over top which  is 2000 mg in a day. All in all not bad.

Hopefully the good news continues....