To follow up on the most recent live stream I filmed on March 22nd: I believe I've discovered the cause of my sudden bout of fatigue and not feeling as motivated as usual. The crawl space under the house I bought is in bad shape -- it doesn't have a vapor barrier or insulation, and even worse, there's fungal mold on some of the joists and subfloor due to plumbing leaks the previous occupants didn't bother to fix.

I filmed several remodeling vlog Shorts on my channel throughout June of 2023 showing the extent of some of the damage and neglect I inherited by purchasing this fixer-upper house.

After I moved in, I upgraded the home's entire plumbing system myself. I replaced the water pipes under the crawl space with new PEX pipes and I dug up the well pipes in the backyard and replaced them with new, correct-sized PVC pipes. I also upgraded all the cast-iron waste/drain/vent pipes with ABS and replaced every plumbing fixture (new bathtub, shower valve, bathroom vanity and sink, toilet, kitchen faucet and sink, water heater, well tee, pressure gauge, and pressure tank).

That effectively ended the water leaks and backed-up plumbing problems in the house. However, the damage that had been done to the crawl space still existed, and it still does.

The other day I had a metallic taste in my mouth. My throat and glands felt sore, I had a mild headache, and I felt pain in my chest around my lungs. When I researched these symptoms online, I found that mold inhalation was the prime suspect. A musty smell in your house is another indicator, and even though I've painted all the walls, trim, and ceilings, and cleaned the floors and furniture really well, this house still has a musty odor to it I notice every time I enter it. I learned that the mold in your crawl space can find its way up into your home through areas like gaps in my hardwood flooring. While it may seem "out of sight, out of mind" underneath your house, it actually poses a threat to you and anyone else inside.

Along with a metal taste in your mouth and body aches, other symptoms of mold exposure include dizziness, fatigue, loss of memory, lack of motivation, and depression. When I was upgrading the electric system in the house in December and January, I would feel light-headed every single time I stood up from crouching down as if I had stood up too fast. I've also been concerned about why I've been having trouble remembering how many sets I've done while working out or recalling what I had for dinner the night before. I've never had physical or cognitive issues like this before.

I didn't have any of these symptoms during the summer or autumn seasons I was here, but that's likely because I was venting the house with fresh air by opening the windows. Also, the house still had the original windows it was built with at that time and there were major air gaps around all of them, so the home was still getting some ventilation even while they were all closed. I've since had all the windows replaced with new ones and they're airtight, so during the winter when the windows were shut, there was no ventilation for the mold entering the home and I was breathing it in.

I scheduled a professional inspection and assessment for my crawl space to I can have the mold killed and the area insulated. In the meantime, I replaced the MERV 5 (basic dust/lint protection level) air filter for my heat pump with a MERV 12 filter, which is rated for mold spores, bacteria and viruses. The filter is good for 3 months so it should help protect me until I can have the mold taken care of. I've also been opening my windows during the day while it's warm outside in order to circulate fresh air through the house.

I've been wondering what's wrong with me lately and thinking it might be caused by new supplements I started taking when the answer was below me the entire time. If there were pets, babies, or people with weaker immune systems living here, they could have been hospitalized or worse from exposure to this mold, but thankfully I'm the only one living here and I live and eat really healthy, but it's still had a major effect on me that requires immediate attention.

If your body tells you something's wrong, listen to it and work diligently to find the cause of it and the solution to fix it. We only get one life to live and one body to enjoy life with, so take care of it so it'll last you as many years as naturally possible!

We all have favorite animals. My main favorites are rodents and marsupials, as you probably guessed from my rat mascot, but I also have a favorite bird I wanted to tell you about in case you never heard of it or had a chance to experience its awesomeness and beauty.

When I was a kid, my favorite birds were hawks and falcons. I actually nicknamed myself Hawk for a while during grade school because of how cool I thought the birds were. I also read the Animorphs book series during this time and was infatuated by the idea of kids being able to turn into animals, especially the boy who had the ability to become a falcon and fly wherever he wanted.

Steve Miller's song "Fly Like an Eagle" was something I was a big fan of too for this very reason. I'd be swinging on the swing set for the entirety of every recess and hearing that song play in my head as I imagined myself taking flight, my imagination soaring the entire time.

I envied those birds of prey and their limitless freedom in my youth and considered them my favorites of the avian kingdom. That is, until I encountered an anhinga.

The anhinga is also known as the darter, the snakebird, and the water turkey. It has a long, snakelike neck and sharp javelin of a beak that it uses to catch fish with. This bird eats by dipping its head into water and spearing its beak through the bodies of fish, then it tosses them into the air and devours them whole and dips its beak back in the water to rinse the blood from it.

Due to anhingas not having oil glands to make their feathers waterproof like most aquatic birds, it has to dry itself off after swimming and fishing for food, so it'll stand on a branch or grass and raise its feathers into the air and hold them up like that, allowing the sun to warm its body and dry it off so it can fully regain its flight capability.

This video I found on YouTube demonstrates an anhinga drying its feathers and fishing for food. It's the first bird shown in the first half of the video.

In 2013 while I still lived in Ohio, I went to a park with a friend who was fly-fishing and there happened to be a pair of anhingas on the grass drying their feathers. I was instantly amazed at the sight and wondered why these big birds were just standing there with their wings up. I researched it, and on that day, discovered my new favorite bird.

Anhingas look really cool when they're in flight due to their colors, and they also have a neat courtship display they perform where they peck at each others beaks and wrap their long necks together affectionately. This leads to the male bird gathering the supplies to start a nest, and the female anhinga will finish building it to prepare for her eggs.

Here's a video I found of a courtship display.

When I moved down south, I was really happy to learn that anhingas are common sights to see if you go far enough down in my new home state. I plan on making a trip to a location they're known to frequent at some point so I can see them again and relive the joy and amazement I experienced 10 years ago.

I sent my DNA in years ago to find out my ethnic origins -- that's right, I spit in a plastic bottle and mailed it back to be studied. I had to pay for the lab service, but someone should have paid me for that spit!

Anyway, I wanted to share the results so you can learn where I get my physical features from.

According to my DNA result, my origins are comprised of five main backgrounds: Scotland, Wales, Southern Italy, Ireland, and England/Northwestern Europe. Statistically, I'm 29% Scottish, 22% Welsh, 18% Italian, 13% Irish, and 11% English.

To put it simply, I'm British and Italian -- or in other words, I'm a bit of a Euromutt!

This makes sense since my great-grandparents came to the United States from Scotland, Ireland, and Italy, and one of my grandparents moved here from Wales.

It also shows 2% for Norway, 2% for Greece and Albania, 2% for Northern Italy, and 1% for Levant (specifically around the Lebanon area).

So now you know where I get my big nose, big hands and big feet from -- as well as my other renowned features. I was born in the United States and have lived here all my life, but I originate from the United Kingdom with a touch of Italy. Oi! Mama mia, mate!