For What It's Worth » health

Pancreatically-Disadvantaged

Rick — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:01:57 +0000

"I beg your pardon, but I am not a diabetic…
I am what you should refer to as
‘Pancreatically-Disadvantaged.’"

For what it’s worth…

BARF Therapy

Rick — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:01:38 +0000

Pay no attention to that man in the dark little room at the end of the house. He’s just doing what he finds necessary to keep his sanity. He is, to borrow a phrase from the late Douglas Adams, mostly harmless.

Really, the noises, the obscenities, the ranting and raving coming from the man-cave are not any cause for concern. I’m having what I call a BARF Storm. Instead of bottling up all of my anger and frustration inside, I let it spew out of me and after a few minutes, I’m fine. It’s kind of like primal scream therapy but not as intense.

BARF is an acronym meaning Bitterness, Anger, Resentment & Frustration. I used to have frequent BARF storms while commuting to and from the stress and frustration filled environment that was my last full-time job. Not all the BARF was work-related, some of it came from other sources. I’ve been calmer in recent months but, occasionally, there is still the need to let it all out. These days my most common source of frustration is technology, followed closely by traffic. Pressure builds up and has to be released. There are far worse ways to release it.

For what it’s worth…

Yoga for Asthma

Rick — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:16:19 +0000

Quote of the day: “Don’t believe what I tell you. Believe your experience of this yoga.” — Yogi Bhajan
Song of the day: Climb
Artist: Kristin Luna Ray
Album: Where Heaven Meets The Earth
Released: 2009

Control of the breath is considered to be the key to a good yoga practice so it seems reasonable that yoga might be beneficial to someone with asthma. While perusing Yogatic.com I found this video:

Of course, practicing yoga won’t cure asthma and it won’t eliminate the need for medications and inhalers but it may help one in living with asthma. A daily practice of the poses and breathing techniques described in the video will help to

Relax one’s breathing and open the chest and the lungs
Encourage short inhales and long exhales
feel more relaxed and more open

The sequence of poses in the video:

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)
Plank Pose
Makarasana (Crocodile Pose)
Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
Balasana (Child’s Pose)
Savasaana (Corpse Pose)

Link: Yoga for Asthma

For what it’s worth…

National Commando Day

Rick — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:05:05 +0000

The first ever National Commando Day is July 31, 2009. The idea behind the day is to support prostate cancer awareness.

National Commando Day is when people will practice being unbound by their underwear together. A new level of freedom and unity will emerge knowing that others have also decided to free themselves.

Prostate cancer is a disease that men don’t like to talk about but maybe they should. Personally, I don’t have a problem with my annual prostate exam. Sure, it’s a little uncomfortable but compared to surgery or chemo therapy, it’s a minor inconvenience.

Actually, I don’t need a special day to go commando. I enjoy the freedom and comfort of it everyday (except when the cold winter wind tests my frosticles) but prostate cancer awareness is a good reason. Can I get a button to wear?

See www.nationalcommandoday.org/

Adieu Moon Pie

Rick — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:11:00 +0000

Song: Moonlight Mile
Artist: The Rolling Stones
Album: Sticky Fingers
Released: 1971

Today’s Quote: “I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they’d never expect it.” ~ Jack Handey (Sounds like Bush’s foreign policy.)

It is with great regret that I am banishing Moon Pies from my life, quite possibly forever. In a moment of weakness I purchased a fat Moon Pie from the vending machine at work. Reading the nutrition label I discovered that this bundle of chocolate, cookie, and marshmallow cream contained 55 grams of carbohydrates. That’s my total carb allotment for a meal. I ate it anyway and I savored it because it was the last one that will ever touch my lips (unless they come out with a low-carb Moon Pie). As of today, Moon Pies join Zebra Cakes and all those other delectable Little Debbie snacks in junk food exile. I loved you all and we had some good times together but it’s time to say good-bye.

Nipples

Rick — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:40:00 +0000

I fully support a mother’s right to breast feed whenever and wherever her infant needs to be fed. I fully support women’s right to be topfree n public should they choose to do so. And I fully support their right to publish photos in print or on the Internet of themselves doing so.

On the other hand, I am against censorship although there are images that children should not be exposed to. But censoring nipples? Has anyone ever been harmed or traumatized by a nipple? If you’re sexually excited by the mere sight of a nipple, no matter what the context, then you have the problem, not the owner of the nipple nor the media where it’s displayed.

I don’t agree with Facebook’s nipple policy but they can make up whatever terms of service they want. Fight for your right to depict your nipples in the way that God intended but don’t ask that someone else’s right to depict their expression be taken away. When their rights are taken away, yours are endangered. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.

A Fifth of Pizza

Rick — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:07:00 +0000

Song: A Fifth Of Beethoven
Artist: Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
Album: Saturday Night Fever
Released: 1976
Note: I only used this song because of its somewhat tenuous relation to the post’s title. This was a disco hit and there is no way I can possibly endorse it as music you should listen to.

Today’s Quote: “The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all your time.” ~ Willem de Kooning

This evening we had a Tombstone Original Supreme pizza. As it baked, I took a look at the nutritional information because I’m watching what I eat these days, especially the carbs. One serving was 31 grams of carbohydrates which I thought was a bit high for a slice of frozen pizza Then I looked at the serving size and read that their slice was 1/5 of the pizza.

Who slices a pizza into fifths? My mind isn’t up to the challenge of figuring out the geometry to slice a pizza into five equal slices. I’m doing good to successively cut it in half to get a normal distribution of eight quasi-equal slices.

For those who care, I did the math and determined that their 1/5 pizza serving is equal to 1.6 normal servings (1/8 pizza) and that a normal serving would be about 19.3 grams of carbohydrates. Incidentally, my slices were nowhere near evenly sized and because I really like supreme pizza, I had more carbs than I should have. I made no attempt to figure out how many.

A father asked his 10-year old son if he knew about the birds and the bees.

‘I don’t want to know,’ the child said, bursting into tears. ‘Promise me you won’t tell me.’

Confused, the father asked what was wrong.

The boy sobbed, ‘When I was six, I got the ‘There’s no Easter Bunny’ speech. At seven, I got the ‘There’s no Tooth Fairy’ speech. When I was eight, you hit me with the ‘There’s no Santa’ speech. If you’re going to tell me that grown-ups don’t really get laid, I’ll have nothing left to live for.’

Visit to the doctor

Rick — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:32:00 +0000

Song: Doctor Robert
Artist: The Beatles
Album: Revolver
Released: 1966

Today’s Quote: “There are two ways of constructing a software design; one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult.” ~ C. A. R. Hoare

I had a very pleasant visit to the doctor today. My new doctor is very nice, cheerful, and enthusiastic. (She must be fairly new.) I like her a lot more than the last doctor they assigned to me. Even the med tech who took my vitals and asked a battery of questions was quite pleasant. Maybe Friday afternoon had something to do with it. Anyway, it was a good visit. My blood pressure was quite good this afternoon which was surprising since it’s usually high when I go to the doctor. Maybe relaxing a bit between work and the visit helped.

My weight was 197 on their scale. If I knock off about 5 pounds for shirt, jeans, stuff in my pockets, and socks, that brings it pretty close to what my scale has been telling me. At home I don’t bother weighing my clothing. For the most part, my clothes aren’t fat.

What else? The doctor looked at the nipple (mole) on my back and said it was benign. It doesn’t really bother me. It looks strange when I happen to see it in the mirror. Otherwise, I’m barely aware that I have it. Maybe I’ll get it removed.

Next week I’ll complete the diabetes awareness classes. This weekend I guess I’d better look at the goals I set during the first class and figure out how well I did. Actually, I think I did pretty well on the diet goals but really floundered on the exercise goal. I’m still blaming Mr. Brewster for the trauma that made me non-athletic.

190

Rick — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:05:00 +0000

Song: Sweet City Woman
Artist: The Stampeders
Album: Against the Grain
Released: 1971

Today’s Quote: “When I became a nudist, my slightly-elevated blood pressure dropped.” ~ Robert Denker, profile in N 27.4

I stepped on my bathroom scale today and was pleasantly surprised. According to my scale, I now weigh 190 naked pounds. That’s down from around 200 or more naked pounds a couple of months ago. The best part is that I’m not actually trying to lose weight although losing weight has been a goal of mine. This weight-loss is basically a side effect of watching my carbohydrate intake for blood glucose control. I’ve become more conscious of what and how much I eat. I’m still working on getting off my ass and getting more exercise. Getting off one’s ass is the hardest part of any endeavor. You have to get off your ass before you can take the first step.

Wrong meds

Rick — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:39:00 +0000

Song: Take The Long Way Home
Artist: Supertramp
Album: Breakfast In America
Released: 1979

Today’s Quote: “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” ~ Albert Einstein

I guess my physical exam went OK. It was shorter than expected since they gave me most of it back in December when I went in for my pissing problem. My blood pressure was a little high (at least I thought so). The tech had trouble getting my temperature. The third try on the second thermometer finally got a reading. She thought 96.8° was low but that’s actually my normal temperature. The doctor checked my ears and throat, and checked my reflexes. And I did not get my ass fingered today. The doctor noted my blood pressure medication and asked if I’d had a heart attack. No. He then informed me that since I hadn’t had a heart attack, I was on the wrong medication, apparently for several years. He said it was commonly prescribed a few years ago. He also said that some of its side effects were tiredness and depression. I wonder if that explains anything. He put me on a new med and wants me to come back in a month.

I spent the evening messing around with CSS and created a crude template around a 780×24 px gif that I wanted to use as a background. It took some tweaking but I got it to look the way I wanted. I don’t understand what I did but it works. One of these days, I’m going to have to learn more about that.