Random Acts of Posting

Back and contractors

2004-11-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was so entirely strange. Everything that could go wrong, did, in the most unpredictable ways. Suffice it to say Between yesterday and the fallout today, I was unable to post. Going to keep this short.

Why is it that on the TV Show Renovate My Family they can demolish, build, finish and decorate a new house for a family in only 7 days, when if you hire a contractor it takes 9 months? Does anyone think someone is padding their time a bit???

~out~

Popular Culture

2004-11-17T07:08:00.000-08:00

TELL ME IT ISN'T TRUE!

The Simple Life III ?? Was this really necessary? Is Fox that desperate? How can any intelligent person continue to want to watch the antics of those two spoiled, obnoxious, vapid and clueless twits?

Other Unnecessary Popular Culture Annoyances:

Ashton Kutcher
Eminem
My Big Fat Obnoxious Anything shows
Any, ANY, Christmas Adverts before the day after Thanksgiving
Ryan Seacrest
American Idol - PLEASE! No more!
Class Envy that causes any "nobody with money" to be a celebrity
eBay advertisements (like they need to advertise)
John Edwards (the talk to the dead one, not the VP Candidate)

I will admit, I am a baby boomer, so perhaps I don't understand. But, WHY do Rap stars have to use those ridiculous names for themselves? L.L.Cool J.? Dr. Dre? Snoop Dog? C'mon guys, are you so ashamed of it that you won't put your real name on it? Or is it fear that your momma will figure out what you are doing and will slap back your ears for doing it? Hello?

~out~

Neuropathy - Where has the feeling gone?

2004-11-16T16:06:00.000-08:00

As I stated in my profile, I was diagnosed a Type II Diabetic. After a change of medication on the way, my Blood Glucose levels have been riding in the normal range since. However, one of the side effects of Diabetes is a condition called Peripheral Neuropathy. High Blood Glucose levels have an effect on the capillaries and other blood vessels in the extremities. The result of this is a degeneration of the Myelin Sheaths of the nerves (these act as an insulation, like the plastic on wire.) Once these are disrupted, there is a signal loss from the nerves. Numbness, tingling, false sensations of burning or freezing and weakness or loss of motor control are the result. (Another condition that is the result of the disruption of the Myelin sheath is Multiple Sclerosis, when all of the sheaths in the body are affected.)

In my case I have lost most of the feeling in my feet (In fact, this is the symptom that sent me to the doctor.) After a simple blood test my BG levels came back in the 500's (normal is between 60 and 120). The disappointing thing is that the symptoms are supposed to get better after gaining control of Glucose levels, but not for me so far, it is worse. I am now up to numbness, foot drop, intermittant numbness in my hands, and excrutiating burning in my feet. (Imagine dropping a pot of boiling oil on your feet...)

For goodness sake, if you have diabetes in your family, are overweight or have any other proclivity toward it, GET CHECKED - at least every year! The more time that goes by with it undiscovered, the more damage it does to your nerves, internal organs, etc. If you want to learn more about Diabetes - visit the Joslin Diabetes Center

Want to help beat Diabetes? Please consider a donation to the American Diabetes Association or (to protect the little ones that cannot help themselves) the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Also, if you have been opposed to stem cell research because someone told you it was bad, then do some research for yourself. Find out what it is about, what the benefits could be - then and only then - make an informed decision, not a knee-jerk reaction to it based upon the opinion of someone else. The cures for Diabetes, some Cancer, Parkinson's, M.S., M.D. and other incurables are to be found within.

~out~

Daylight Savings Time

2004-11-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

Recently Daylight Savings Time has passed off for another year, leading to two sets of mixed emotions.

The first having to do with the inevitable progression to winter and the death of everything outdoors (OK, not everything, but the plants all look dead.) Each year I dread the approach of winter, and each year, winter becomes more and more of a disruption to my life. As I age, my health becomes progressively worse over winters, making me cringe from the cold, wind and s... s... snow (there I said it! Just had to enter profanity, didn't I?) Also as I age, winter becomes more and more a metaphor for my own mortality (when I was 20 I was going to live forever, right?)

The second having to do with one of the most ridiculous situations to still be in existence in the 21st Century. If you are not from Indiana, then you may not be aware of the fact that the State of Indiana does not observe Daylight Savings Time. Most people from the real world have a hard time adjusting to this when they visit or move here. During the winter, Indiana is on Eastern Standard Time (Same as New York, Atlanta and Washington D.C. ) But in the spring, when everyone else gets to set their clocks ahead one hour, Indiana: everyone - 1... 2... 3... DOES NOTHING! We are on Eastern Standard Time all year long. Which means that during the summer we are on the same time as Chicago, St. Louis and Dallas. Why, you may ask, did this come about? Because Indiana is not part of the real world. It is part of an alternate reality wherein there is no room for logic, reasoning or enlightenment. The main reason given for the failure of the State Legislature to pass a Daylight Savings Time bill for the past 60 years? The farmers are opposed to it, it would throw the cows off on their milking schedule. (As if a bovine has any idea what TIME it is, they only know sunrise and sunset.) Ahh, what can you expect from a state that at the end of the 19th century tried to set the value of pi by state law - and proceeded to set it to an incorrect number! http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/indiana_pi_bill.htm

Our newly-elected Republicrat governor, Mitch Daniels (yes, Former White House Budget Director Mitch Daniels, didn't he do a bang-up job in that position?) has promised to make it a priority of his administration to push Daylight Savings Time through the legislature. (I'm all for that, but the rest of the dreck that he wants still makes him an unattractive choice.)

This state's motto should be:
"To the 21st Century and beyond, while mired in the 19th day to day."

I apologize in advance to you, gentle reader, for I have little patience with the Republicrats or the Democricans (Interchangeable ends of an obsolete two-party system.)

~out~