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I continue to learn a lot from the forum. Right now, I learned about the realities of heroic measures (CPR on elderly people, etc.). I didn’t know it can shatter the chest wall.

Thanks forum, for teaching me so much! And for many useful warnings!
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Hi Poodle! I agree. In addition, for those of us with abusive moms, please get off the rollercoaster. I don’t mean, totally stop helping them (that’s up to every individual).

Our moms, with their sudden nastiness, changes in mood and emotion, seek to control our emotions. They seek to decide when we’re angry, sad, worried.

They intentionally create a rollercoaster, to control our emotions.

Get off the rollercoaster.
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Another thought, I’m telling myself:

Poodle:
Don’t change your personality. You’re not normally a worrier. Now you worry a lot, depending on how the caregiving rollercoaster is going. But unfortunately, this rollercoaster will probably keep going up and down.

This means your emotions will keep going up and down.

I never intended to be a doctor, or enter the medical field. I never wanted to be part of the stress of dealing with medical emergencies. And yet, that’s what we’re all doing, us caregivers, dealing with the high stress of the ups and downs of emergencies. We’ve embarked on a “medical career” without realizing it.

So I’m telling myself: allow yourself to be happy. You’re doing a great job caring for your uncle.

Don’t let your emotions depend on this rollercoaster. Take control of your emotions. Get off the rollercoaster.

Poodle, I’m not saying you should become un-feeling and un-caring. I think you know what I mean.
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I think I’m addicted to the forum. The forum is very useful for me. At the same time, I feel I’m getting addicted.

I help my elderly uncle. I think part of my addiction is because caregiving can get lonely, and here on the forum I feel we all understand each other.

But I think I need to watch out, because I don’t want to get too addicted.

For now, I continue with my addiction.
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glad: Hope you start to feel better from the Pfizer booster. I got the Moderna Bivalent on 10/16 and had a sore arm for about 3 days.
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I got my third Covid booster, Pfizer, about three weeks ago. My arm is still a bit sore from it. Otherwise no reaction.
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Hi Golden! I agree with you, and I’m making big changes.

I was just trying to insert some humor in all this. In fact, I’m wrapped up in bed as I type. Nice cup of tea. My stress/worry thermometer told me to take another day off.
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venting - the thing about stress/worry to to make different decisions that will decrease stress and worry, also weight! It's all part of self care. Otherwise all you do is worry about your worries and stress about your stresses. I'm glad you took some time for you.

ff I had the seniors shot which is stronger than regular flu shots and more likely to cause side effects as it is a stronger stimulant to the immune system therefore more effective as a vaccine. This one hit me more than usual too yesterday but I feel fine today. I have to get my 3rd covid booster as well. I read yesterday that the 3rd one provides decent additional immunity but in the case of the 4th one the extra immunity is very short lived like a couple of weeks if I remember correctly. I expect to have some reaction to the 3rd booster but nothing bad. It's wise to plan a couple of down days after getting it.
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golden23, in the past 40 years of getting my annual flu shot, I never had a reaction until now. I felt out of sorts for a couple of days, which was odd. Must have been a really strong shot this season.

Now I need to schedule for my 3rd covid booster shot. Now those shots will cause me to be very tired for a day. Sig-other had his shot last weekend and he was down for the count for 24 hours, then fine after that.
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Hi all!

So, today I checked my stress/worry thermometer. And then I had the bad idea of weighing myself.

Moral of the story:
don’t weigh yourself at the same time as checking your stress/worry thermometer.
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Just like thermometers exist…I think we should have thermometers for stress/worry…

You’d check and see:

“Yup, 102.2 F (39 C) on the stress/worry thermometer. Just as I thought. I have to take the day off. Stay in bed. Wrapped up. My favorite movie. Cuddly things around me. Warm cup of tea.”
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I’m thinking about the word “worry”. As caregivers, we go through so much worry, stress.

I looked up the antonym of “worry”. It’s tranquility, calmness.

I wonder when was the last time I felt tranquility. It’s been a while.
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Got my senior flu shot today and came home and had 2 naps. Not sure if it was due to the shot or just all the fresh cold air. I arrived at the mall for a necessary chore and the fire department arrived at the same time. Everyone was standing around outside. Then the EMTs came but after waiting a bit I couldn't see anything happening so I left. Too cold to hang around.
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Why is it that mentioning trolls gets your posts deleted, but actually acting like a troll doesn't 🤔
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Moon: 99.9%
Full Moon
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gershun and ff - Hope the moth wars will soon be won and over with. I brush Rocky daily - don't know if that helps but it can't hurt.

Speaking of cleaning, most of which I will leave for a cleaner after the furniture is moved out, I am very much enjoying the process of organizing what is left in the cupboards. The closets are pretty well done - and no moths thankfully.

I was thinking about this and realized that it is like classification in biology/zoology. Group like things by certain criteria. It's fun! Who would gave guessed and the results are rewarding! I still have to tackle the junk drawer which will not be so much fun. 😕
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Also Frequentflyer, even if you don't see moths you may want to clean these things carefully cause these moths lay their eggs. Look for little white spots, sometimes in a row.
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We cleaned all the afghans we had laying on couches etc. Anywhere Henrick likes to sleep a lot. Even the scratching post. I handpicked a lot of the fur off of it and then vacuumed it really good. These moths are really attracted to fur, wool, feathers........all those types of materials. They enjoy dark places like a closet that you may store things in.

I know more than I ever wanted to about moth flies now. :O
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Gershun, just thought of something, I use light weight flannel baby blankets [one's used for newborns] in the cat beds and on chairs that they like to sleep in. I usually keep the used ones in the closet until I have enough to run through the washer [have about 20 of them]. I will need to check those out for moth flies.
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All good info.

Frequentflyer, I would definitely check your cat's bed. The majority of the flies we found were in two old cat beds we were storing in our closet. We were only seeing one or two a day until we removed them. Then they all started coming out. I figured if they liked cat beds and fur that I'd better keep an eye on the bed my cat uses now. Sure enough there they were. I think they'd started laying eggs or what ever it is the little buggers do. So off to the washer it went. In very hot water and a very hot dryer afterward. Apparently these things hate heat and cold.

Our place has never been cleaner. We did a deep cleaning and vacuuming of everything I could think of. My hubs thinks I'm paranoid but I don't want to live with bugs. I hate em. We're still waiting on moth traps from amazon and I'm gonna try to stay on top of keeping the cat fur at a minimum. Henrick is mad at me I think but it's either me or the bugs. I'm voting for me.
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Fregflyer,
I could be wrong (as I often am lately), but I think I read in one of Glad's links that the moths (or was it other flies/bugs?) can originate from out of the sink drains.

Penn State Extension:
"Management
Control varies with the origin of the moth fly infestation. The most economical and sanitary way is to remove the organic material in which they breed. This requires cleaning sinks, drain pipes, and traps with a stiff wire brush or by steam. Several new products are now available that contain either bacteria or enzymes which breakdown the gelatinous scum in drains. They are applied as either a pour around the drain lip or injected as foam. Most pest management companies provide this as a service. To determine which drain is infested, place a jar over the outlet or tape a plastic bag over the opening of the overflow outlet. Check the container at intervals for adult flies."
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Gershun, we've been having issues with those tiny moth flies for the past 12 months. Will see just one a day, hard to grab by hand. Have no idea where they are hiding out in the house. Glad you mentioned the cat beds, I will need to check them out.

gladimhere, thanks for the link. I have been lazy about dusting, and even vacuuming [becoming afraid of it like the cats do]. I will Swifter :)
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Ickier, G!

A good, thorough grooming of the cat may be in order. I googled "cats get clothes moths"

https://www.themothguy.com/index.php/2019/06/19/3-reasons-cats-attract-carpet-moths/or

Would you please change your name to Gershwin? My spell check wants to correct you to thatl😁😁😏😏
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Willie, I don't think so simply cause the kitchen is one of the places where we didn't see any. None by the cat dish either. Also I looked online at pics and the ones we have look like what is identified as clothes moths.

But I am going to be careful bringing home anything from the vet or the grocery store cause I wonder if that's where they came from.

Haven't seen one today so far but I did kill a spider. I guess all our cleaning is bringing out any bugs from their hidie holes.
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Just a thought Gershun - are you sure that these aren't pantry moths hiding out in your pet food (or people food)?
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Thx you guys!

Golden, no damage to clothing but they have not entered the bedroom at all that I can see. We keep our bedroom door closed though. I had a few workout clothes in the closet where we originally saw these a**holes but they were fine. The two old cat beds were infested. We threw those out naively thinking that would solve the problem. We've spent the week cleaning everything. Afghans on our couches, of course our cats newer bed that he actually uses, under cushions etc. They seem to have been on all those things. We don't see any and then we disturb something and voila, there they are.

Glad, thx for the website references. I've checked a few of those out myself.

Send, I've read articles that say cedar doesn't work but it's worth a try and I did read about lavender as well. In the meantime I wait for the traps to arrive from amazon and kill them as I see them I guess. They are slow and easy to catch. We do have to be careful about spraying and so on cause of our kitty like you said.

This sort of thing stresses me out big time.
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Gershun,
Cedarcide has a spray for the home and cedar granules, supposed to be non-toxic.
If there is carpet in the closet, you might need to take it up and replace with hard flooring. If you have vacuumed any up, be sure to empty fully and treat the vacuum inside.
Have you checked the other closets or any other places they may be hiding?
Take all the clothes to a dry cleaner to kill the eggs.
Put some special sceening cloth or mosquito netting across the door to the patio. Buy it online.

Much can be learned by reading some exterminator websites, or DIY pest control online.

With pets, we have to be very careful, and I know you know that.

Whatever you do, don't start naming them like I did with the squirrels. 😊
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I'm not sure what more you can do other than to clean everywhere they may be hatching. Over the years I've lost several woollen items to moth holes so now I try to keep anything like that in a garment bag with a lavender sachet, but I've never really deal with anything you could call an infestation. Cedar is another old time remedy that might be helpful, animal bedding is a cheap source that would be easy to renew periodically.
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Icky G!

https://extension.psu.edu/moth-flies-in-the-home

Is that them? I would call an exterminator.

Or these?
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/identify-nature/common-insect-pest-species-in-homes/clothes-moths-identification-guide.html

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/19/revenge-of-the-clothes-moths-as-numbers-boom-can-they-be-stopped

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IG090

https://pestcontrolcanada.com/pantry-pests-2/clothes-moths/

https://terminix.ca/pest-library/clothes-moths/

One more
https://terminix.ca/pest-library/flies/

Again
https://martinspestcontrol.com/blog/clothes-moths/
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glad - yes, a long time. I am actually enjoying doing the final work now. It's good to be rid of stuff I don't need.

gershun - the old way was using moth balls. Is there any damage to your clothing?
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