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Writer's pictureTheAverageJoe

July Reading Update (And We Bought A New Toy)

A stack of books on a desk

Hey y'all! Long time, no talk. July wasn't super exciting down here, just incredibly hot. Read some books, did some shooting, I have some cool MS news to share. All in all it was a good eventful summer month.


July Reading

My average lately has been 4 books per month. I made it this month, barely. I just wasn't really in a reading mood for some reason. I'm up to 21 out of my goal to read 25 books this year.


I've long said that Stephen King's non-horror stories are my favorite, and this was no exception. This is more a short story but even a short story for King is over a 100 pages so I'm counting it.


This story follows a wrongly convicted Andy Dufresne through his decades long stint at Shawshank and his eventual escape. it's not the most exciting story but it grabs a hold of you and your sucked in until the end. A great short read I'd recommend to anyone.


I only read this for the book club we have a work and, honestly this may be a 'hot take' but I did not like Fight Club. One the usual 1-5 stars, I gave it a 2. The depiction of the mental health conditions isn't accurate and it was a little hard to follow at times. Thankfully it was short.


I'm a Disney nut. I've seen these Twisted Tale almost every time I go to Target. Well, Prime Day came and they were all in sale. So, why not try one out?


Reflection follows an alternate story where Mulan must travel to the underworld to save Captain Li Shang. It's technically a YA book but it has great action, lots of suspense and a happy ending. Very good book.


After reading three books with a lot of action, suspense, and the occasional uncomfortable situation, I thought it was time to read something peaceful.


This classic book follows a young Siddhartha on his journey through adulthood to find peace. But he soon discovers a life of pleasure and riches and loses his way. Many years later he rejoins his quest and eventually finds what he's looking for.


I'm still working on Sword of Kaigen. For some reason I'm struggling to get into it. It's good, don't get me wrong. It's got Kung Fu, how can you not like it? I'm hoping to finish it this month. We'll see.


MS Update

What can I say, MS is MS, you roll with the punches and keep moving. I sound like bad things happen. They didn't, things are actually taking a positive turn.


I've been a little lazy lately and have stopped following my usual diet and haven't had a lot of exercise. That changed. We've been on the bike and treadmill for at least 30 minutes every day and we've started really paying attention to how we eat. Small changes but it's a start. Due to the lack of taking care of myself I've put on some weight and my Neural Sleeve didn't fit well. For the last couple months I couldn't even really wear it. It sucked.


I found out on a chance email to Cionic that they make extenders(!) for the Neural Sleeve so I can wear it still even if I'm bigger than I'd like to be. It was a great feeling being able to wear that thing again.


Ampyra

Oh Ampyra. How I missed you. I took Dalfampridine a couple of years ago back in Texas but my insurance was fighting and fighting not to cover it. So I stopped. Dalfampridine helps nerve signals jump the gaps caused by the damage from demyelination so I can still walk with less assistance.


I stopped taking it because without insurance I'd be paying about $15,000 every 90 days. No thanks. I recently asked about trying to get Insurance to cover it now and my Neurologist told me that it's now available in a generic. I don't use my insurance, I go the Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs, and you know what it costs me for a 90 day supply? $43. What. The. Hell. That prescription cost thing is getting out of hand.


Anyway. I've been taking it for about a week and a half and I'm starting to notice slight changes in my walking. I'm thrilled to be back on this medication.


Welcome To The Family, AR

On to the even more exciting news. We added a new gun to the collection. It's growing fast but we have so much fun at the range that we wanted to move into rifle shooting too. So we bought an AR15, a Smith and Wesson M&P15 Sport II to be precise.


My better half has fired this type of rifle before but I have not, and let me tell you, it is really fun and easy to shoot.


And before y'all get all upset about it, no it's not for personal defense, it's not automatic (normal people can't even buy those), it's JUST for range shooting.


***Side note, might be another hot take or a rant, but if you are using a rifle like this for home defense... no. This is not the tool to use for close quarters defense, especially for those that are not in law enforcement or the military with years of training. Just don't. It's unnecessary and can be very dangerous.


Oh, one more thing, "AR" does not mean Assault Rifle, that's a common mistake. It actually stands for ArmaLite Rifle, ArmaLite being the first company to produce this type of rifle. ArmaLite's patent's ran out and other brand began marketing their rifles as the "AR"-15.


The Disney Pin Collection

Y'all know I'm a Disney fanatic. Disney Pins are one of the only things that we both collect. Every trip nets us a good dozen or so new pins to add to the shadowboxes. Our new hunt? The Donald Duck 90th Anniversary set. We're almost done. Only 1 more to go!


An image of the 90th anniversary Donald Ducks Disney Pin set.

Until Next Time

July wasn't the busiest month but it feels like a lot happened. It was hot so most of it was trying to stay cool. August is starting off just as hot so who knows what will happen. I know one thing, we will be back to the range in a few days to have some more fun with the new AR.

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