This N That

I've been quiet lately if anyone's noticed. Besides work, I've just given myself permission to take the pressure off myself to not HAVE to do stuff. I ran at Miramar Lake for the first time in 3 weeks yesterday. It felt good, because I wanted to run, not because I HAD to run. On the way there, we drove by the fire at Penasquitos Canyon Reserve. There were lots of news vans there and firetrucks. We actually saw the fire and it was creeping up towards some houses at the top of the canyon. When we arrived at Miramar Lake, we noticed lots of people there watching the reservoir. Turns out the firefighting helicopters were getting their water from Miramar Lake. It was fascinating to watch. The helicopters hovered above the water while a big tube was inserted into the reservoir to suck up the water. When they have enough water, they take off. It was like watching a big mosquito land on water. Fortunately, the fire was contained in about an hour, and no houses and people were hurt.

The last few days I have been working hard to finish all my homework for my Make Your Photos Pop class. I fell behind during those two weeks when I was inundated with work and had to work extra hours to cover for a vacationing coworker. I finished all the homework for all 6 lessons, and I received my certificate of completion. As an example here, I learned to sharpen photos to get more details to come out. The photo is of Hanauma Bay on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. We were there last December.

Before:


After:
Here the reef looks much more defined. Anyways, here's a link to my online gallery from my class assignments, if you're interested in all the things I've learned and done in the class.

I've also just been laying low because three weeks ago I had a panic attack. It happened out of the blue. I had just finished exercising and I suddenly felt really dizzy/faint. My heart was racing, I had cold chills, and I felt very weak, nauseous, and my arms and legs felt tingly. I was very alarmed because I thought I was having a heart attack. I laid down and was better in 10 minutes, but had no idea what happened to me. For a few days after that I was anxious about my health, not knowing what was wrong, and when it would happen again. A few days later I was driving to work, when it occurred to me that it could happen while I was driving. As I drove I got more and more nervous, and finally I started to feel dizzy, my heart was racing, and I couldn't catch my breath. I turned around and went home. That afternoon Todd took me to urgent care and they did an EKG and it was normal. I had done some research on my symptoms and all my symptoms matched panic attacks. All the literature I read said this just happens out of the blue sometimes, when someone has been through a lot of emotional stress, like losing a loved one. It made sense to me, but I didn't know why the body would have a mind of its own like this. I felt anxious all the time because I didn't know when the next panic attack would come. A week after urgent care, I went to see my regular doctor and described my symptoms and what's been happening with me. He agreed that I had panic attacks, and was suffering from anxiety from them. I got some medication. I've been a lot better since then. I feel normal now, as opposed to two weeks ago. I have driven by myself and it went fine. I'm not anxious anymore.

So that's been the story. I'm off all caffeine now, for the time being. Caffeine can trigger panic attacks. During this time, I've had some fun too. We took my dad to a Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium for Father's Day. Todd, Sally, and I went to the Taste of Gaslamp and ate some good stuff. I'll be writing and showing some pics soon.