Thanks to the beautiful, smiling faces of the folks at the Huntsville office of the American Red Cross today - Nyesha, Janie, Doris and Juanita. I enjoyed watching "Open Range" during apheresis process.
A nod to Welch Allyn for the blood pressure cuff used today.
And I greatly appreciate the tumbler, window shade and umbrella that show I am a platelet donor.
Will get to be WordPress whenever it allows me to log back in and post blogs.
Silence is my friend but not absence of words. ;)
Give a nod, too, to Chavez for his sense of humour - true satire!
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Health, the lineal frontier
Two bits, full of bytes/bites:
- World's smallest computer?
- Success starts with breakfast:
At Mission Terrace, Ashleigh Brilliant asked me if I had a question and I was dumbfounded at the time. After I left, I realized the one question I wanted to ask him, "What do you eat for breakfast?"
His response, via email:
"For breakfast I usually have
- Hot cereal with milk and a banana
- Scrambled eggs and bread
- Prune juice and decaf coffee"
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Two notes from a friend in need
> Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011
> Dear Friends
> "Into each life some rain must fall" -- If I remember correctly, the second line of that old song was "But too much has fallen in mine." But until 5 days ago that was not really true in my case. My doctor had just recently given me, at the age of 77, a clean bill of health, and remarked on how "benign" my medical history had been. I could only agree that "yes, I have been very lucky."
> 6 days ago, my luck finally ran out.
>
> Although I still have no memory of the incident, so violently did it occur, while taking one of my usual early morning walks in Santa Barbara, I was struck by a car while crossing a street in a residential neighborhood not far from my home. Although the police have all the relevant information -- it was not a hit and run -- details about the driver, who was, I believe, young, the vehicle, and the. exact place and time of the accident, have not yet been made available to me. Nor, so far as I know, has anybody involved in it yet attempted to get in touch with me.
>
> Most of what I have to tell you so far will be distinctly downbeat -- so let me at least preface that by saying that, although badly banged up, it appears I have good chances of a full recovery within a few months.
>
> All the best
> Ashleigh Brilliant
>
>
> Please reply to: ashleigh@west.net
>
> Ashleigh Brilliant
> 117 W. Valerio St.,
> Santa Barbara CA 93101 USA
> (805) 682 0531
> www.ashleighbrilliant.com
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASHLEIGH BRILLIANT, 117 W. Valerio St. Santa Barbara CA 93101 USA. Phone (805) 682-0531 Orders:(800) 952-3879, Code #77. Creator of POT-SHOTS, syndicated author of I MAY NOT BE TOTALLY PERFECT, BUT PARTS OF ME ARE EXCELLENT. 10,000 copyrighted BRILLIANT THOUGHTS available as cards, books etc.World's highest-paid writer (per word). Most-quoted author (per Reader's Digest.) Free daily Pot-Shot cartoon: www.ashleighbrilliant.com CATALOGS:[h&m included]. Starter $2. Complete Printed version: $25 Electronic Text-Only (emailed $25, on CD $30). Electronic Illustrated Catalog/Database (CD only) $105 (includes shipping anywhere). Details: www.ashleighbrilliant.com/IllustratedCatalog.html
> Thur Feb 3 2011
> Dear Friends,
> Forgive me for imposing these thoughts on you, but if my accident of a week ago had killed me outright instead of just leaving me a mangled wreck, it would probably have been better for everybody -- but certainly for me.
>
> I am currently a patient in the Mission Terrace Convalescent Hospital, having been moved here 2 days ago after 5 days in Cottage Hospital (both in Santa Barbara).
>
> I LOOK terrible, and feel worse than I look. My face is a gory Halloween mask. My mobility is extremely limited. I have been constipated and suffering much insomnia for several days. My appetite is negligible. But those are the worst things, and I must admit that there are also many hopeful and encouraging signs.
>
> For one thing, I am urinating OK on my own, even though my Urologist had been threatening to put me back on a catheter, despite the fact that I feared and fought this, because of a previous experience with catheter-caused infection.
>
> For another thing, it cannot be denied that there are a lot of good kind people
> out there, who really want to help. You know who they are, and you yourself may actually be one of them.
> Of course, the most remarkable are those who devote themselves to people in situations like mine -- especially the workers who are willing to deal with the revolting details of physical functions which have gone out of control.
>
> Then there are the friends and visitors --and particularly my wife Dorothy, struggling at 79 to deal with her own problems of scoliosis and spasmodic dysphonia -- and our long-time helper Peggy Sue Lemkuil, whose own mother is currently in hospital with knee surgery.
>
> Then, although modern medicine doesn't have all the answers, it can alleviate
> pain and provide sleep in dramatic ways.
>
> So, since we must still be here on earth a while longer, let me share with you the most positive reaction I've had to this experience so far: The automobile accident, which includes, as in my present case, pedestrians being struck by cars, has always been to me one of the most significant aspects of American social history, and particularly associated with Southern California, which is where the Mass Automobile Culture first emerged anywhere in the world, in the decade of the 1920's. Forty decades later, when in my own twenties, and newly arrived as a graduate student from England, I chose to make the Automobile the subject of my own Berkeley PhD in American History. The result eventually became my book, THE GREAT CAR CRAZE: HOW SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COLLIDED WITH THE AUTOMOBILE IN THE 1920's. And it had a whole chapter devoted to what I called "The New Terror." Not long ago I had a chance to write a review of a new history of the automobile in California, (in the Journal Of The California Historical Society) in which I took advantage of the opportunity to quote just one sentence from my own work: "This reviewer's one appearance in the text hereby happily acknowledged--is my observation, concerning the streets of Los Angeles in the 1920s, that
> 'Never before in human history, except in time of war, had so many people been exposed in the course of their daily lives to the risk of violent death.' "
>
> All the best
> Ashleigh Brilliant
>
> P.S. You can buy my book "The Great Car Craze" -- and thereby (dare I suggest it?) express some solidarity with me in this ordeal -- on my website at www.ashleighbrilliant.com
> The price is $25, Including U.S. Shipping, or $30 which includes shipping anywhere else.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Do You Know Who's Watching Your Back?
Another review.
The oldest woman in the world and I have something in common.
But I don't know what she'd think about this.
At the end of 2010, I decided to stop taking medicine that's supposed to control my blood pressure and cholesterol.
For the past few years, I have felt my self-esteem decrease and watched my weight increase as I fell into the trap of using chemical compounds to overcome my genetic tendency to live only into the 60s or 70s.
After I stopped taking the medicine, an imaginary cloud lifted and blew away, my thoughts cleared and I've lost 15 pounds of body weight.
I'm no Luddite but I'm also a skeptic when it comes to the miracles promised by new technology.
I am happy being a naturally-aging man past the midpoint of his life.
Sure, I use a computer and eat food that's supposed to be good for me but I also drink fermented beverages and occasionally eat fried, processed foods.
One of the many luxuries of a childless adulthood is feeling no guilty responsibility for my health and having no desire to see my great, great-grandchildren at birth.
So, I speak only for myself in this blog entry.
Happiness, for me, is popping no more pills day and night, having oatmeal and tea for breakfast, and then letting the rest of the day be what it may, including a random walk every now and then.
I am a new man, thanks to the freedom from nonaddictive drug dependency.
No more ARBs, statins or beta blockers for me.
No need to use my discretionary funds to subsidise the elixir industry.
This confession feels good. I've never attended an LPDA (Legal Prescription Drugs Anonymous) meeting but this feels like I just did.
"Hi, my name is Rick and I'm a recovering LPD user."
"Welcome, Rick!" shouts the chorus.
I nod and smile. A group of strangers just accepted me for who I am.
Doesn't get much more simpler and honest than that.
"Hey, guys, the pub's open. Drinks are on me!"
The oldest woman in the world and I have something in common.
But I don't know what she'd think about this.
At the end of 2010, I decided to stop taking medicine that's supposed to control my blood pressure and cholesterol.
For the past few years, I have felt my self-esteem decrease and watched my weight increase as I fell into the trap of using chemical compounds to overcome my genetic tendency to live only into the 60s or 70s.
After I stopped taking the medicine, an imaginary cloud lifted and blew away, my thoughts cleared and I've lost 15 pounds of body weight.
I'm no Luddite but I'm also a skeptic when it comes to the miracles promised by new technology.
I am happy being a naturally-aging man past the midpoint of his life.
Sure, I use a computer and eat food that's supposed to be good for me but I also drink fermented beverages and occasionally eat fried, processed foods.
One of the many luxuries of a childless adulthood is feeling no guilty responsibility for my health and having no desire to see my great, great-grandchildren at birth.
So, I speak only for myself in this blog entry.
Happiness, for me, is popping no more pills day and night, having oatmeal and tea for breakfast, and then letting the rest of the day be what it may, including a random walk every now and then.
I am a new man, thanks to the freedom from nonaddictive drug dependency.
No more ARBs, statins or beta blockers for me.
No need to use my discretionary funds to subsidise the elixir industry.
This confession feels good. I've never attended an LPDA (Legal Prescription Drugs Anonymous) meeting but this feels like I just did.
"Hi, my name is Rick and I'm a recovering LPD user."
"Welcome, Rick!" shouts the chorus.
I nod and smile. A group of strangers just accepted me for who I am.
Doesn't get much more simpler and honest than that.
"Hey, guys, the pub's open. Drinks are on me!"
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Rating the wellness of the species
In our annual review of the appearance and disappearance of subcultures, we assess the "health" of them in relation to their effect on the general culture at local/village, city, state, national and international levels.
We take into account the scientific definition of an individual's health, which is in flux at this time.
We also consider recent releases of studies about the life of a person and how youthful attitude leads to habits in adulthood.
Subcultures are groups of people, after all.
Meanwhile, a secret group of farmers is preparing to load front end loaders and other equipment into semi-tractor trailer rigs to block off the entrances to Manhattan island to protest the lack of access to loans they blame on the banking/financing industry that Wall Street represents. Bridges, tunnels, subway/tube entrances, heliports and river traffic access will be cut off for as many number of days as the farmers feel will give Manhattans the same sense of pain that the average farmer has long suffered at the hands of predatory financiers.
Back in the lab, we have successfully demonstrated a large-scale accelerated light beam projector that will need to be reproduced in sufficient quantities to turn Earth into a giant disco ball by the early part of 2050. That way, we can join the supercivilisation that communicates across universes in light relay races in this part of the universe and in other universes by who can spread one's entity the farthest apart and still be recognised.
You see the similarity, of course.
Some people tell me it's time to clean up our act, that the melding of government and business is not the same as corruption in the act of one's public duties. If so, then who's in charge of ensuring transparency and neutrally measuring due diligence? Is having, because of job title, a special place to park one's vehicle or diplomatic immunity a sign of corruption or corruptible activities elsewhere in life?
If I stop listening to people teaching how us to write/narrate well, will my writing/storytelling skills decline?
Thanks to the folks at Wild Birds Unlimited, Chocolate Crocodile, Katherine at P.F. Chang's, Fuel City, Target, and the Apple store.
Say what you will about the wonders of technology (spellchecker is my friend), but I still like holding a large hardback dictionary and flipping pages to random entries.
Just like it doesn't bother me to subsidise AOL with my pittance of a monthly subscription of $11.99 - it's a way of being in charge of personally redistributing my wealth that makes me feel happy.
We take into account the scientific definition of an individual's health, which is in flux at this time.
We also consider recent releases of studies about the life of a person and how youthful attitude leads to habits in adulthood.
Subcultures are groups of people, after all.
Meanwhile, a secret group of farmers is preparing to load front end loaders and other equipment into semi-tractor trailer rigs to block off the entrances to Manhattan island to protest the lack of access to loans they blame on the banking/financing industry that Wall Street represents. Bridges, tunnels, subway/tube entrances, heliports and river traffic access will be cut off for as many number of days as the farmers feel will give Manhattans the same sense of pain that the average farmer has long suffered at the hands of predatory financiers.
Back in the lab, we have successfully demonstrated a large-scale accelerated light beam projector that will need to be reproduced in sufficient quantities to turn Earth into a giant disco ball by the early part of 2050. That way, we can join the supercivilisation that communicates across universes in light relay races in this part of the universe and in other universes by who can spread one's entity the farthest apart and still be recognised.
You see the similarity, of course.
Some people tell me it's time to clean up our act, that the melding of government and business is not the same as corruption in the act of one's public duties. If so, then who's in charge of ensuring transparency and neutrally measuring due diligence? Is having, because of job title, a special place to park one's vehicle or diplomatic immunity a sign of corruption or corruptible activities elsewhere in life?
If I stop listening to people teaching how us to write/narrate well, will my writing/storytelling skills decline?
Thanks to the folks at Wild Birds Unlimited, Chocolate Crocodile, Katherine at P.F. Chang's, Fuel City, Target, and the Apple store.
Say what you will about the wonders of technology (spellchecker is my friend), but I still like holding a large hardback dictionary and flipping pages to random entries.
Just like it doesn't bother me to subsidise AOL with my pittance of a monthly subscription of $11.99 - it's a way of being in charge of personally redistributing my wealth that makes me feel happy.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Good news for modern mandible exercisers
My wife and I do not have a regular, or rather, favourite produce market.
By way of convenience, we purchase most of our food products at either Publix or Walmart but we make sure we visit farmers' markets and make the occasional tour through Earth Fare or similar specialty stores for variety.
We were glad to hear that Walmart and the Housewife of the White House (a/k/a the First Lady; a/k/a the White Housewife (sorry, Mickie, I couldn't resist the juxtaposition)), Mrs. Barack Obama, announced the industry-leading effort to make healthy food choices more affordable.
On a separate note, the Conglomerate today announced that in order to increase profits and prevent retail businesses from having to put all their sales in one seasonal basket, Christmas season is being split in half.
Those born on odd days - 1, 3, 5, etc. - will celebrate Christmas on its regularly scheduled day in December (or January in the Orthodox system).
Those born on even days - 2, 4, 6, etc. - will celebrate Christmas on 25th June, or its equivalent in your local calendrical system.
Those taking exception to this new system will have to petition the Conglomerate for permission to switch from one day to the other.
Families or coworkers caught casually celebrating the holiday together, or more specifically, accepting gifts on the day for which you and/or they are not permitted to celebrate, will be barred from giving or accepting gifts for a period of years determined by the level of expense associated with your and/or their celebration.
In a related note, birth centers are now scheduling specific times and dates to accommodate pregnant women who choose to go through the natural birth process. Births may be arranged so that all family members are born on odd or even days. They may also be arranged to occur within the range of newly-organised signs of the zodiac.
Kodiak bears with Kodak cameras will not be accommodated, however much they want to participate in this joyous new celebration of All Things Commercial.
The Conglomerate is taking the bears' request under consideration and seeking advisement about other species being allowed to shop for Christmas now that they have a level of self-awareness nearly the same as ours.
The Conglomerate continues the ban on advertisements directed toward nonhuman species, giving the other species the opportunity to educate themselves about common fallacies, tautologies and illogical suppositions buried in many adverts.
Veterinarians for Equal Access to Life (VEAL) applauded the Conglomerate's stand on this important issue of species equality, despite hoping that the Conglomerate would issue a Universal Rights of Species proclamation.
Thousands of comedians died today but no apocalyptic group took notice and sounded the alarm that the end is near. Satirists and satyrs are rolling over in their eternal sleep to keep from getting cloud or brimstone sores, as the case may be.
It was fun to watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune over the past few weeks to observe the time-delayed buildup and release of tension associated with the midterm Congressional elections.
Sociology of the Future is also sociology of the nearterm past. My Futurists University will issue you a bachelor's degree if you can give us all the correct answers (or at least 56% of them (+/- 5%), if you pay us enough), without knowing the questions, of course, or the courses' syllabi.
By way of convenience, we purchase most of our food products at either Publix or Walmart but we make sure we visit farmers' markets and make the occasional tour through Earth Fare or similar specialty stores for variety.
We were glad to hear that Walmart and the Housewife of the White House (a/k/a the First Lady; a/k/a the White Housewife (sorry, Mickie, I couldn't resist the juxtaposition)), Mrs. Barack Obama, announced the industry-leading effort to make healthy food choices more affordable.
On a separate note, the Conglomerate today announced that in order to increase profits and prevent retail businesses from having to put all their sales in one seasonal basket, Christmas season is being split in half.
Those born on odd days - 1, 3, 5, etc. - will celebrate Christmas on its regularly scheduled day in December (or January in the Orthodox system).
Those born on even days - 2, 4, 6, etc. - will celebrate Christmas on 25th June, or its equivalent in your local calendrical system.
Those taking exception to this new system will have to petition the Conglomerate for permission to switch from one day to the other.
Families or coworkers caught casually celebrating the holiday together, or more specifically, accepting gifts on the day for which you and/or they are not permitted to celebrate, will be barred from giving or accepting gifts for a period of years determined by the level of expense associated with your and/or their celebration.
In a related note, birth centers are now scheduling specific times and dates to accommodate pregnant women who choose to go through the natural birth process. Births may be arranged so that all family members are born on odd or even days. They may also be arranged to occur within the range of newly-organised signs of the zodiac.
Kodiak bears with Kodak cameras will not be accommodated, however much they want to participate in this joyous new celebration of All Things Commercial.
The Conglomerate is taking the bears' request under consideration and seeking advisement about other species being allowed to shop for Christmas now that they have a level of self-awareness nearly the same as ours.
The Conglomerate continues the ban on advertisements directed toward nonhuman species, giving the other species the opportunity to educate themselves about common fallacies, tautologies and illogical suppositions buried in many adverts.
Veterinarians for Equal Access to Life (VEAL) applauded the Conglomerate's stand on this important issue of species equality, despite hoping that the Conglomerate would issue a Universal Rights of Species proclamation.
Thousands of comedians died today but no apocalyptic group took notice and sounded the alarm that the end is near. Satirists and satyrs are rolling over in their eternal sleep to keep from getting cloud or brimstone sores, as the case may be.
It was fun to watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune over the past few weeks to observe the time-delayed buildup and release of tension associated with the midterm Congressional elections.
Sociology of the Future is also sociology of the nearterm past. My Futurists University will issue you a bachelor's degree if you can give us all the correct answers (or at least 56% of them (+/- 5%), if you pay us enough), without knowing the questions, of course, or the courses' syllabi.
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