JMCKUSICK
JMCKUSICK's JournalGood morning my DU family,
Have you ever had one of those mornings where the day just surprises you with its early ferocity?
I just came in from calling Cuddles in from his night's travels, and the wall of humidity just surprised me with its intensity and honestly, made me want to crawl back in bed and hide lol.
As the high heat gets ready to kick in tomorrow, especially for us coffee drinkers, it doesn't take much to get dehydrated.
Certain medications also can contribute to heat related health issues, for example, antihistamines can block your neuro transmitters from making you sweat. Anti depressants and anti psychotic medications can make it more difficult for your sweat glands to work, beta blockers can reduce blood flow to the skin, and of course, diuretics can dehydrate you by depleting fluids and electrolytes.
With the average age of our dear readers reaching up into senior territory, please also remember we don't compensate as well as we used to and take care to slow down and stay out of the days worst heat.
Please give us a day filled with opportunities to care for ourselves and each other with extra awareness this weekend and coming week, and if we know someone in need, to offer that which we can to help ease their burdens in this difficult weather.
Have a comfortable day DU, filled with expressed love for each other.
Love, John
Good morning my DU family,
Happy weekend everyone. As we approach independence day, I've been thinking about our own physical, emotional and spiritual independence as in freedom.
One of the main ingredients to that freedom is a strong and steady voice that communicates honestly, consistently, and caringly, for it is our voice first and foremost that will defend our values and beliefs.
As sure as we can be in our values, through experience and practice, our voice needs that practice too.
It can be relatively easy to stand for a particular value or belief, reaching understanding and acceptance in that view might be more difficult.
Please give us a day filled with opportunities to find our voice and to use it to come together and connect on core, intimate values.
Have a soul satisfying day DU,
Love, John
Good morning my DU family,
Brothers and sisters, blood related or not have been having sibling rivalries since dirt was clean.
I write this because as I sit here, Cuddles and Shadow looked so adorable as Cuddles was washing Shadow kindly and thoroughly.
Shadow, laying there with a blissful stoned look just seemed to be in absolute heaven until an internal switch went off and all of a sudden, she seemed offended and started trying to bite Cuddles as he contentedly kept washing her.
I don't want to blame Shadow, but it always seems she goes along and then something triggers her to rise up against "The Cat" lol, kinda like we rise up occasionally against "The Man."
I consider them adopted brother and sister, and like most, they inevitably take play that looks fun and innocent, and it'll turn into a spat.
It's such a joy playing the proud parent of these kitties, just like most are proud of their kids, and it always seems that one or the other will take that last step too far and force a small scolding for ruining the moment lol.
It reminds me that most close relationships include that room for the inevitable power struggles that come with that youthful territory. At least with cats or dogs, it's usually incredibly cute or funny.
Please give us a day filled with opportunities to grow closer in our relationships, leaving room for play and boundaries, learning from the very best teachers, our pets.
Have a wonderfully educational day DU, lol
Love, John 
Why can't we counter program the fourth as
An alternative to the 250th MAGA Rally event.
That would really get under his skin!
Let's see,
THE MAGA STATES FAIR
MAGA CELEBRATES AMERICAS 250TH MAGA RALLY
It's such a shame because this could have been a beautiful patriotic event celebrating the very best of America.
Its my fiftieth anniversary as a resident of the USA, and what a buzzkill it will be.
Good morning my DU family,
You know, I should change the name of my post to Howdy From Cuddles and Me lol because 8 or 9 days out of ten, I write this post immediately after he comes and gives me my special time right after he comes in.
As we get ready for the worst heat wave of the year here in Central Illinois, this is a great time to make sure you're set up for it.
We have our ceiling fans dusted, the windows covered on the west side of the trailer, and yes, the hose is hooked up to the spout so we can water down the roof and side in the late afternoon to take the oven effect away lol.
For others, especially the oxygen dependent or cold sufferers, check the tank to make sure you have plenty.
One of the little mind tricks I use on myself to help keep my electric bill down in the summer isn't best my thermostat to 78 degrees, and at about two or three pm, go sit out in the heat for ten minutes. By the time I get back inside it feels perfectly cool. It keeps my electric bill under $200 a month even in the worst months.
Another suggestion I have is to check your ice maker in your freezer, get all that old blocky ice out and have fresh new cubes for those needed cool refreshments. Another good tip is to buy one of those big TAL insulated jugs, I have a 64 ounce one that will keep my drink ice cold even on the worst day.
Go get your shopping done today or tomorrow morning, and please please please slow down, hydrate, and please pay attention to your bodies messages.
If you don't have ac, right now would be a great time to see if you can spend a couple of days with your old friend/sibling/ex-wife lol, but please treat this weather event with the same seriousness that you would a tornado warning. Be prepared, be safe, and remember, most things can wait a few days.
As for our future friends and neighbors, please put out a water bowl near your house for creatures that don't have a indoor home, please remember that doggy paws can but from hot pavement, and that if you're going for a longer walk, bring water for them too.
I have always joked that people from Minnesota and Arizona have so much in common, for example, both spend about six months a year indoors to avoid bad weather.
Please check in on your friends and relatives more often, and let them know we're here for them no questions asked.
Please give us a day filled with opportunities to be good stewards of our own spaces as well as those around us. Let us take care of each other and our furry friends as a first priority this next week.
Have a safe, well planned day DU,
Love, John 
Good morning my DU family,
Feeling connected is one of those dopamine releasing events that we all desperately need more of in life.
Connecting is all the harder when you're trying to cope with PTSD, and long term depression seemingly fighting my every effort.
One of the subtle but great benefits of DU is the therapeutic effect of engaging with real people every day in a way that keeps me tethered to others in real, intimate, and safe ways.
As I've mentioned several times before, DU has impacted my life in ways that have truly changed it, as well as equipping me with tools to keep me from the worst of my former descents into isolation and depression.
Please know that these good morning messages allow me to choose to start my day with the best of me, hoping it connects with your day in a positive way the same way that Cuddles just makes my every day when he comes in after a night out, never failing to personally come and give me a purr bath before going to sleep for the day.
Please give us a day filled with opportunities to connect with others by offering our best to each other and receiving their best as if it were an embrace.
Have a beautifully interconnected day DU,
Love, John
Good morning my DU family,
I gave up on watching news channels immediately after the 2024 election when I realized that in many ways, we as Dems had been as equally misled by MSNBC as Fox news viewers.
People with limited access to the outside world, be they shut ins, rural farmers whose neighbors are half a mile away, including myself, have used the voices that drone on endlessly on these channels to replace the real need for human companionship.
It is with the above reasons and more that my sanity has at least in some respects been restored by breaking that bad habit and it is for that reason that I value DU so much more today than ever before.
So when I confess that most mornings, I open DU with a small prayer that the main headline will be something along the lines of "The National Nightmare Is Over."
Until then if course, I'll continue to be grateful for the conversations that happen here, the information that is so freely shared, along with whatever dose of news I care to ingest.
Your humanity and engagement is is such a welcome place to be informed, engaged, and yes, sometimes corrected out of some prior naivete or ignorance, always in good spirit.
So as we start what we can only hope to be the final week of this nightmare, let me thank you and offer the hope that you gain as much from me as I do from you.
Please give us a day filled with opportunities to know our value to our community, to.embrace the value of others in it, and to gratefully offer our hands in friendship to one another.
Have a day filled with Unity DU.
Love, John 
Well now, Shadow has entered the Lions Den
One of the crazy quirks that Petunia, Cuddles and Shadow have is that they insist on taking turns sleeping wherever the other one slept last.
The only exception to that rule has been Petunias bed. Noone has ever spent a minute in there except for her. NO ONE!
Until now.
https://imgur.com/a/l6EvnXE
Shadow has decided that Petunias favorite place to sleep is now hers.
Now Petunia is not one to get her dander up, especially against these youngsters lol, but this might be a red line in the sand moment. I have a feeling she will not be pleased and night have to show the interloper who's really the boss around here.
Sorry, it's not seven AM yet and I'm floored by Shadow's audacity. She's laying in there just as content as can be.
Should I be Petunia's protector here or should I let the girls settle this themselves?
*That's been her bed for at least twelve years, and no other animal has ever set foot in it.
Poor Toony
Petunia just came to her bed and she looked absolutely crestfallen that it was full. She looked at me with the most pathetic "what do I do now?" face that looked so sad that I had to shoo Shadow out of her bed.
Good morning my DU family,
I had a wonderful time in St Louis yesterday, ate too much, enjoyed seeing my sister, and dripped BBQ sauce all over my cat themed tee shirt...I think it was Petunia punishing me for not saving any for her lol.
I've learned so much about sacrifice dealing with my back issues over the years, learning, usually the hard way, that there's an inherent price I must pay for any activity that involves longer drives or being up on my feet for extended periods.
I write about sacrifice today because one of the issues I am facing is having to manage my new freedoms that my disability case prevented due to my financial limitations along with availability of transportation.
The main struggle of course had been finding my physical boundaries through trial and error, finding that error usually results in days of bed rest for overdoing it, like yesterday. I left in the morning and finished around ten PM, and boy am I paying for it already.
Please give us a day filled with opportunities to manage our living situations as our bodies require accommodations that weren't necessary only a few years ago, to honestly evaluate our ever changing limitations and accept our current state of being and the sacrifices that that requires.
Have a wonderfully restful day DU,
Love, John 
lol,
Good morning my DU family,
Happy weekend everyone, here's hoping you have plans that will make it memorable for you and your family.
I'm reminiscing about some of the great things I've experienced on Saturdays in particular over these years.
From Breakfast at Wimbledon as far back as I can remember to great hockey games, baseball games, and of course the best night of the week for a wonderful date.
I have always loved my Saturdays because they have always represented the one true free day a week where I could freely do what I wanted, whereas every other day had a primary agenda such as work or school or preparing for such.
As I plan to head to St Louis for the day, I'm so looking forward to a new special occasion that will be exclusive to Saturdays;
Beef Ribs at Salt and Smoke BBQ today
I love beef ribs as much as I love lobster, and thank goodness they're cheaper lol. I will have my first taste of them since I had them with my friend Rory when I visited him back last October. I will enjoy them with his memory as a companion.
Please give us a day filled with opportunities to remember and celebrate each other, and to create new special moments with each other.
Have an adventurous day DU,
Love, John.
Profile Information
Name: JohnGender: Do not display
Hometown: Heidelberg
Home country: Germany
Current location: Vandalia, Il
Member since: Wed Feb 24, 2021, 01:57 AM
Number of posts: 6,871