Friday, December 07, 2012

Lights!


16 comments:

  1. It's Friday! And Howard Dean is First!

    Sorry to have been AWOL! I've been flat out wildly busy...but I have definitely been thinking of you all. In fact, I have just posted photos for the front page clear through Epiphany! ☆

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  2. Good Heavens, what's got into people? The final and official tabulation of returns shows Obama winning Fresno County:

    Fresno County Final Returns

    The tabulation of results as recently at 11/29 showed about the reverse, Romney ahead by 2%.

    --Alan

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    1. Wow!

      In a similar vein: Mum tells me that Ryan did not win his home state, county or town and that Romney did not win his home state, county or town.

      Things like that give me such glee!

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  3. Re Ally---little kids' blood chemistries get out of whack much more easily than adults', simply because they are so small. Their reserves are small, including water. They also recover much more readily than adults. Working in a children's hospital years and years ago I saw it regularly. Yes, doctors feel an obligation to rule out numerous possibilities, but probabilities are important too. Sometimes in medicine, just as in architecture, less is more. I applaud her parents' conservative approach. Given the insults that Ally's body has endured, should it be any wonder if she has a rare excursion? I know it can be difficult to put on weight--my father was too thin and worked hard at gaining weight for a while, to no avail.


    Speaking of weight, I was heavier than I wanted to be before my medical adventures ion 2009, and during/after that I packed on another twenty pounds. My good wife has commented on it, and recently I got a suggestion from Kaiser to join a commercial weight loss program they promote for those who are forty pounds or more overweight. I looked into the program and it looks like a very expensive commercial enterprise rather than a truly medical weight loss program, which might explain why it is not covered by insurance. But it gave me some motivation. January 7th I will commence my diet, with an objective of losing forty pounds in as many weeks. I think I have a fair chance. My plan seems workable.

    --Alan

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    1. Losing a pound a week seems ambitious. At least after the first week, when you are burning glycogen stores rather than fat. I usually set my goal at half that, Which has the advantage that the diet is more like the normal eating pattern you'll resume when you go off it. Rebound weight gain is thus less likely to be a problem.

      It might also be helpful not to think about the entire 40 pounds, which is a long-term goal, but to focus on the initial 10 pounds.

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    2. Sounds ambitious. But you know you best. If you think it's workable, it probably is. Best of luck!

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    3. Thanks, Alan. I hope you won't mind if I plan to share much of what you wrote with Ally's Mom...to encourage her.

      All the best with your plan for taking good care of yourself. Good for you! Keep us posted, please.

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  4. ion = in

    --Alan

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  5. Woke up to this Facebook note from daughter in Tokyo on business:

    Hello family -- when you wake up in the morning and see the 7.3 earthquake and tsunami warning reports -- we are fine!

    Grateful...Grateful...Grateful...


    How are family and friends. Alan?

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    1. Just fine. One must expect aftershocks.

      --Alan

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  6. Love the colors in the photo, listener.

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    1. Thanks, Susan! They're LED lights, too. :-)

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  7. Warm and cloudy, and a terrible week on the computer -- way more off than on. Miss ya'll though I can usually read you, just can't comment. . . .

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  8. Signing off early. Don't know why I'm so sleepy this soon. I got a reasonably good night's sleep last night and wasn't particularly sleepy during the day. But when you can hardly keep your eyes open, bed really makes good sense.

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  9. It's about time someone stood up for men in this country!
    =============
    Ohio State Senator Nina Turner (D) has proposed legislation requiring that men looking to buy erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra receive a psychological evaluation, a measure she said Wednesday she proposed out of appreciation.

    “The men in our lives, including members of the General Assembly, generously devote time tofundamental female reproductive issues — the least we can do is return the favor,” she quipped in a statement Thursday. “It is crucial that we take the appropriate steps to shelter vulnerable men from the potential side effects of these drugs.”

    The proposal is Turner’s latest response to state Republican tactics like the “Heartbeat Bill,” a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade that would have outlawed abortions as soon as a fetus’ heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, and a Republican committee’s vote last month to put Planned Parenthood at the bottom of the priority list for state funding.


    Earlier this year, Turner also introduced a bill requiring men be certified as impotent by a sexual partner and undergo sex therapy before getting a Viagra prescription.

    Her latest proposal requires that men planning to purchase Viagra and other PDE5 inhibitors, often used to treat impotence, get not only clearance from a medical physician, but a second opinion from an unaffiliated psychological doctor stating the patient suffers from “a true medical malady” before being allowed treatment.

    According to Viagra’s website, the type of side effects incurred can vary depending on the dosage:

    The most common side effects of VIAGRA are headache, flushing of the face, and upset stomach. Less common side effects that may occur are temporary changes in color vision (such as trouble telling the difference between blue and green objects or having a blue color tinge to them), eyes being more sensitive to light, or blurred vision.
    In rare instances, men taking PDE5 inhibitors (oral erectile dysfunction medicines, including VIAGRA) reported a sudden decrease or loss of vision in one or both eyes. It is not possible to determine whether these events are related directly to these medicines, to other factors such as high blood pressure or diabetes, or to a combination of these.
    Advertisements for PDE5 inhibitors also routinely advise that patients whose erections last more than four hours seek medical care.


    “When a man makes a crucial decision about his health and his body, he should be fully aware of the alternative options and the lifetime repercussions of that decision,” Turner said in her statement. “Men need this guidance so they can better understand and more effectivelyaddress their condition.”

    [h/t RH Reality Check]


    Raw Story (http://s.tt/1wfnB)

    --Alan

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  10. Yes, forty pounds in a year is rather ambitious, but a coworker took off eighty pounds in less than a year. If I take off twenty pounds in one year and continue to lose, that's fine. I know it will go faster at first and then slower. Having decided on a plan I shall see how things go, and make midcourse corrections as needed. That's the plan, ennyhoo.

    --Alan

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