Mixed bag for the end of 2022

©2022 Michael Raven

Weaving in the loose ends just afore the new cycle as measured by people who are not me (who happens to place the apex closer to about two months ago)…

A couple of updates. Your mileage may vary (for most it will be no mileage whatsoever).

It’s approaching a month since I was approved to purchase medical cannabis (there is no legal recreational use in Minnesota). I’ve learned a lot about what I can expect and other details that may be self-evident to those folks more predisposed toward general cannabis use, but is somewhat new info to me, so please bear with it:

• It is not the cure-all that some individuals insist is the case. I sleep somewhat better, but not that much better that it warrants the price. I’ve already experienced cases where I’ve gotten a little more than the recommended start intake and found that, like drinking, it actually inhibited sound sleep for me. Nor does the benefit last all night for me — I appear to metabolize edibles within hours, even at higher doses, and there doesn’t appear to be added benefits to injesting concentrates (in pill form) in terms of sleep aids. I’m going to still be prone to waking up at the witching hour (~3am).
• Also, with respect to metabolizing, I have confirmed my personal theory that I process the euphoric elements of THC in far less time than hinted at by the local dispensaries. Not at first, but the small quantities I take now only have a momentary bit of euphoric feeling associated with my intake, and it quickly fades away. Longer-lasting methods are actually not as long-lasting as the short end of the window given by the dispensaries.
• While it helps with the arthritic pain in my small joints, and even the old motor vehicle accident aches and pains, it doesn’t seem to have a very strong impact on my frozen shoulder and neck. I’m fairly certain those two are tied to each other and, while I can get close to a “crack” that I think would help the pain sensation after taking cannabis, I can’t seem to loosen up the area enough to actually slip past the point that I am able to stretch it out.
• I find the CBD mixtures to have no real added benefit for me. THC-focused products work similarly or better than those containing CBD.
• While I think using flower might have some added benefit, I am reluctant to take that up because of the social stigmas associated with the smell. I can’t justify the cost of a vaporizer for flower yet, which seems to be the only way I could partake and limit smelling like I smoke weed. I took a few drags off of a preroll while the kiddos were gone and the smell didn’t leave the area for the remainder of the day. That said, it seemed to have a bigger impact on everything — from euphoria to pain relief — so I wonder if I might not get more benefit from the terpenes that might not be present in the extracts associated with edibles and vape.
• Vape extracts do not like Minnesota weather. Unless I keep my pen in my jeans pocket, the oils occasionally thicken too much in the cart to vape. I’ve found several solutions for a clogged cart, but it can be annoying to deal with when you just want to get on with things and not want to have to do troubleshooting.

In other words, the jury is still out on just how much benefit I can get without feeling like I’m just a legal stoner. It’s promising, but I remain only cautiously optimistic instead of sold on the treatment plan. If that shoulder and neck were more like putty, I might be convinced.

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Last night I bit the bullet and purchased a stand mixer for baking and cooking. It should arrive early next week. While not absolutely essential for the breadmaking I’ve been doing, it will help when I want to do things like make cinnamon swirl bread, baking cakes (rather than the handheld I use), creaming butter with herbs (for more savory grilled sandwiches), homemade whipped cream, grinding meat for homemade mince/sausage (with grinder attachment), and just general breadmaking. As I sit and think about it, I might want to invest in a second bowl with a cover to use exclusively for daily breads to keep in the fridge for dough. Yes, I still think I need to just experiment a bit more before I find a recipe that stands up to rewarming. I read in one of the books that just adding to the bowl when it is diminished has a sourdough-like impact on the flavor without the maintenance required with a sponge. Not as strong as a sourdough starter, but it carries the flavor profile to a degree, apparently. We’ll see if I decide to try that trick.

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While I enjoyed writing Half-penny yesterday, I feel the world is a bit lacking in something. I think I found what that something is, quite serendipitously in fact, while surfing for something entirely different, but it is hard to explain what I’m getting at without misleading the nature of the thought. So I won’t. In all reality, I always kind of knew what it “needed”, but now the universe has showed me quite plainly what is needed. If I decide to return to that tale, I will endeavor to add those missing elements to any subsequent fragments of that tale.

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I can’t say what is making me feel like I am entering a new phase in my thought. Its that niggling itch in the back of my head that seems to be saying there is a bit of real change about to enter the situation. Not plans, not half-measures, but a meaningful shift. I’ve given up on trying to glean the direction from which these things will hit. But I feel like something is afoot.

Or, maybe I shouldn’t drink so much coffee.

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New Years… What’s it with New Years that brings melancholy to the party to play killjoy for the night?