Yesterday I took some time in the morning to get a flu shot and, for the first time, a pneumonia shot. My arm has swelled up and I can’t make a fist. It is more than 24 hours and I still feel like crap. Each year the flu shot makes me feel like I have the flu, even though I am assured by many who know that it is not possible. My arm is very painful.

I am suffering today from allergies. Last night I kept waking up sneezing and dripping. The Zyrtec did nothing to help me. My nose, throat and eyes are burning.

Since I was tossing and turning last night, my arthritic hip and knee caused b great pain and woke me up even when my nose wasn’t running.

Last night, sometime around 3AM, someone hit a pole down the street and the power went out. The noise machine stopped and as a result, I could not get back to sleep after I woke up. The police and the utility company made a racket. The power came back around 5AM, but by then it was too late to get any sleep.

I feel like death warmed over.

I am sitting here, thinking of things that I’d like to do, but I can’t even get the car out of the driveway.

I am also worried about the chickens. Yesterday afternoon, a raccoon, got into the shed. It was a young one and did no damage, but it upset the chickens. I have to hang around and try to convince it to stay away from them. Last night I set a have-a-heart trap with cheese, but caught an opossum. Opossums won’t bother the chickens, although they will go for eggs and chicks, if there are any.

It is unusual for a raccoon to be up and around in the daytime, so I am worried that it might be rabid. It is very young and might be newly kicked out by his mother, and very hungry. The recycling was knocked over last night, so I think it was him.