Good News, Bad News

The good new is that it's Stage 1.  The bad news is that it's cancer. The really interesting thing is that it should have been discovered last year when I had health insurance but it wasn't.  It had to found by accident while using government run healthcare courtesy of the VA.  I knew something was up when the doctor came out to greet me himself.

Depending on whether the only gynecological oncologist in town will treat me at the VA determines whether or not I have to go to San Francisco.  The minimum amount of time that I will be hospitalized is 2 -3 days for a laparoscopic surgery or a week for full abdominal surgery.  I haven't a clue as to what to do with Mom.  I haven't told her because there is no point in getting her upset over something she can't do anything about, but I really can't leaver her alone for days worrying about me and if I'm coming back. If I have to put mom in respite care, I still have to worry about the dogs.

I'm more resigned than scared, it just follows the pattern of my life.  I find circumstances I'm happy with and something unexpected smacks me upside the head.  As Baz Luhrmann so helpfully pointed out, worrying is about as useful as trying to solve algebra problems by chewing bubblegum.  The things you worry about never happen and then you get blindsided by something that never crossed your mind.

The survival rate for uterine cancer is 84.4 percent.  Unless you're black, in which case it's 61.8 percent.  You have no idea how much I'm hoping I get my health from my mom.

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Insanity And Heartlessness

I'd say that Malkin is out of her mind, but that assumes she has one and you know what they say about assuming.  She does have an extremely fertile imagination and an inability to face reality which is reminiscent of most people who are off their rockers. The never right wing of the GOP would like to blame the loss of NY-23 on Dede Scozzafava when it was themselves who engineered the defeat of their party in a district that hadn't voted for a Democratic representative in 138 years.  They sabotaged the original candidate and totally forgot about the people who actually live in the district while engaging in their hate filled campaign to purge the party.  Bloodletting isn't a viable option in medicine and it doesn't look like it's that good for politics either.

Ever since Reagan broke PATCO the average joe in this country has been headed down the path to financial ruin.  Jobs have disappeared at a phenomenal rate, only to reappear in another country done by workers who are paid as little as possible.  Levis are no longer manufactured in America along with many other products that kept the American worker employed and able to purchase those same products.  Meanwhile in the lala land that exists in corporate boardrooms, much joy was to be found in their ever expanding bottom line.  Until so many Americans were out of work that products couldn't be sold and more layoffs ensued.  Homes were lost, families uprooted and gypsies were created.  Can serfdom be far behind?  40 acres and a mule sounds pretty good in comparison to what some people have now, which is nothing.

Balancing the budget on the backs of the people who can least afford it.  Then they die.  And not one Republican complained about that death panel.

Had my first appointment at the VA hospital yesterday and was more than pleasantly surprised.  I got my seasonal flu shot, had my blood work done and the longest visit I have ever had with a doctor.  I feel like I was listened to, viable suggestions were made and it didn't cost me a thing.  Except for the time I spent in the military.  My prescriptions are being mailed to me and outreach programs to increase my quality of life are available.  If I was homeless there would be even more help to get me back on my feet.  And they have an emergency room.

Speaking of emergency rooms, I had to take mom in on Sunday.  It looked like she had broken her wrist but after taking her blood pressure she was moved directly into a room.  Her EKG shows that her heartbeat is irregularly irregular and that isn't a good thing.  When she sleeps she isn't getting enough oxygen and her heartbeat goes haywire.  Her COPD is getting worse and that is accelerating her dementia.  I feel sorry for her but now it's all about the waiting.  Not a peep from either brother, am I obligated to let them know when she passes?

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This 'N That

As long as the Republican party continues with it's current teabagging ways, as long as the GOP continues to eliminate or prevent programs that increase the educational and social opportunities of minorities, there will be few minorities who will run for or win political office by identifying themselves as Republicans.

How can you not know that you're fat?  When your clothing consist of flowered prints and the size is followed by at least one X, you're fat.  If you're walking and stop to look at an item and parts of your body are still moving, you're fat.  If you sit in a chair and any part of you spills over the sides, you're fat.  The people around you shouldn't determine whether you are overweight or not, common sense and a mirror should be all you need.

Have you seen the McDonald's map?  The furthest away you will ever be in the contiguous 48 states is 107 miles.  No wonder we're plumping up at an ever increasing rate.

Stephen, Stephen, Stephen.  "Since Aunt Jemima stuck her tongue right in Mrs. Butterworth's flapjack", priceless, absolutely priceless.  Watching you try not to crack up brought back fond memories of Tim Conway and Harvey Korman.

Yup,  I do feel this way about politicians.

Randy Bish, Pittsburgh Tribune Review

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Odds And Ends

First butter was bad for you, then it was better than margarine with its transfats.  Eggs were bad for you, then they weren't.  Fish was good for you, now it has too much mercury.  Today's new health scare? Showers are bad for you.  Next thing you know swallowing saliva over a long period of time will cause cancer.  George Carlin always was ahead of his time.  Meanwhile, some guy in Texas is serving up Deep-Fried Butter.

Shai Shai and Shadow have me well trained.  Oh, they sit when I want them to, come when they are called but I'm under no illusions as to who is really in charge.  Those kisses they give me are because they want something. or they're my reward for doing something right.  They get fed before I have my tea, they go to the park or I have to put up with a lot of sneezing and shaking of the head, followed by a single authoritative bark if I don't get up from the computer.  The Geico eyeballs will blink long before they do.  I cook lamb and rice to add to their lamb and rice kibble because they expect demand people food of some sort and I won't feed them table scraps.  When fresh vegetables are chopped they hang around waiting for oopsies.  And they get them.  Shadow is happy with carrots but Shai prefers asparagus and broccoli.  Do I need to know the secrets of my dog's mind?  Not necessarily but I would like to think I'm not disappointing them.

Government may be one toxic asset, but it pays your salary and ensures you have health care Mr. Paul.  I agree that the economic recovery has not included the people, but one shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Government has its place, I wish we could all agree on what it is.

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We Never Promised You A Rose Garden

Bitch, bitch, bitch.  Geez, we can't make anybody happy and truthfully, it isn't our job.  We elected Obama President of the United States and I'm sorry that he isn't the world leader you wanted.  He isn't the world leader I wanted but I've learned to deal and so will you.  He's better than his predecessor but that is only because the bar was set so low.  Be grateful he isn't worse.

Can I have what Horowitz has been smoking?  Exactly how are the Iraqis better off now than eight years ago?  Their cities and infrastructure are in ruins, hospitals are without doctors, women have lost most of their rights, electricity and running water are scarce, their economy is in shambles, tens of thousands of men, women and children are dead and we're leaving them to hold the bag.  This is improvement?  I'd hate to see what bad looks like.

Speaking of bad places to live, I'm headed off to California for the day.  I need to go to the DMV to get another title to my car, I lost the one I had.  Being a prudent person I called to make sure they were open and found out that it will take them six to eight weeks to process the paperwork.  I need the title ASAP because I need to get a title loan, not the smartest financial move but this is an emergency.  I cracked a molar right off the filling and every time I move my tongue the sharp point that is left scrapes the side of my tongue.  To say nothing of the constant metallic taste in my mouth.  On the bright side I've lost a few pounds this week because nothing tastes good.  And it hurts to chew.

Grasshopper, we hardly knew ye, maybe the KY Jelly would have been a better choice.  Rest in peace Kwai Chang Caine,

Stoking The Wingnut Ire And Other Interests

Yippee!  Greasemonkey has finally been updated to work with FF 3.5b4 and a few other extensions I like to use have been updated as well.  I really missed Colorful List View for Google Reader, it makes it much easier on the eyes when you have a 166 feeds.  And now that Google Reader Subscriber Count is working again, I find that I have more readers than a few months ago.  Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.  I may not be one of the big boys in the blogging world but at least I don't feel like I'm yelling into a void.

Folk hero? Umm, no.  He's a cold blooded murderer.  I think I'm safe when a guy is lying on the ground bleeding from a bullet wound to the head.  I wouldn't find it necessary to get another gun a minute or two later and fire five more bullets into him.  But then, I don't scare easily.  And since it's Oklahoma if it had been a black guy who shot and deliberately killed a white thief, he would be in jail and no anonymous donor would have posted bail, as if bail would have been an option.

Box said that another person might have reacted differently, but he asked: "When do you turn off that adrenaline switch? When do you think you're safe? I think that's going to be the ultimate issue."

As much as I dislike the man this is ridiculous.  Obama has a date night on Broadway with the wife and the GOP goes nuts (rapidly becoming their default state) because the country is in economic freefall and Le Prez shouldn't be relaxing.  Meanwhile Bush spent 487 days at Camp David and 490 day in Crawford, several of them while the Gulf Coast was drowning during Katrina, and not a peep was heard.  Two and a half years on vacation in an eight year term is okay but a night on the town is a no no.  And let's not forget that Condi was buying shoes and enjoying a Broadway show while a major city was underwater and the GOP said...nothing.  IOKIYAR applies to more than sex crimes, wow what a concept.

If you are homeless you shouldn't have computer access because you should be focused on getting a job according to a good proportion of the commenters at the WSJ.  Totally missing from these holier than thou people is the fact that most jobs are posted online and that if you submit an application for a job and don't have a home address or phone number that if you have an email address you can be reached for a job interview.  And that out of a 24 hour day only eight to ten hours are good for job hunting and the weekends are useless.  But they must suffer because they are homeless, they shouldn't be watching movies or enjoying music.  Personally, if I was an employer (not that there are many nowadays) I would look for enterprising people like these who are determined to stay connected and have figured out a way to do it without a permanent roof over their heads or a reliable source of electricity.

Since arriving in Reno I sneeze every day, at least twenty times and usually more.  When I first got here I had to take Benadryl constantly but the last week has been a little better.  I'm still sniffly and my eyes itch but my asthma is back under control and I can breathe through my nose most of the time.  Although I'm not the only one suffering I wish I knew what it was I'm allergic to.  Or it could be that my body is reacting to breathing air instead of San Jose smog.  Whatever it is I hope it goes away soon, I've blown thru several boxes of Kleenex  and I haven't had an uninterrupted nights sleep in a long time.  Supposedly the pollen count is on its way down.

The suffering, the trauma. It seems that the Chosen don't like it when they don't get everything they want and the world doesn't bow to their wishes.  Their idea of construction is we take what you had, you go live in a ghetto that we won't let you leave so we can bomb you at will.  When I was growing up I was told you could catch more bees with honey than you could with vinegar, nowadays it's all about killing the bees instead.  And as we are now finding out bees are important to survival, maybe the Palestinians are too.

Stupidity Influences More Than Politics

PZ Myers, who I almost always agree with even though he has no use for acupuncturists, has an interesting article promoting a book on the rise of stupidity in the United States and how experts are perceived to be elitists and out of touch with reality.  Heaven forbid that someone should be trained in their subject.

In California only acupuncturists are tested in herbology by the state, this  makes us the experts on herbs, not the minimum wage worker at GNC.  We are required to know about interactions with pharmaceuticals and to know which herbs can be taken safely and under which circumstances.  Which is why every time I see Gingko Biloba advertised as a memory enhancer I want to run into a brick wall head first.  In our Materia Medica it is known as a toxic substance that should not be taken for more than six weeks at a time.  It's main function is to work in conjunction with another herb that is seriously misused, Ma Huang aka ephedra, to clear fluid from the lungs and that is all.  They are not diet drugs and they will not make your memory any better.  Period.

Chinese medicine, when practiced correctly, excels at preventative medicine because it treats the individual as an individual not as a statistic on a chart.  We have a tendency to spend more time asking the patient questions and generally have a better feel for their everyday lives.  Yes there are quacks out there but some of us so-called quacks have a scientific background to go along with the woo woo stuff.  I wouldn't let most of my classmates treat me any more than I would some of the doctors I have had the misfortune to deal with.  Like the one who ignored mom's daily fecal incontinence and then turned me into adult protective services because mom was losing weight or the one who kept diagnosing me with diabetes because I'm an overweight black woman even though all my fasting blood tests came back between 84 and 93.  When he found out that I was only half black his comment was "oh that explains it."  I believe there's a word for that but I don't like to toss it around.

Back in 2003 when I was still a practicing acupuncturist I had a patient that came to me with a diagnosis of Peripheral Artery Disease.  She had been treated for sciatica for several years by someone else and it had gotten no better so I suggested that there might be another cause for her pain.  When she told me what her doctor had discovered I tried to explain to her that if she was having problems with the arteries in her legs that she also had problems with the arteries in her heart and that she should have a cardiac stress test to evaluate the damage.  She and her husband were so offended that they never came back.

At first I was hurt but I got over it because not everyone wants to face their own mortality. The fact that her husband had a dissecting aorta at the age of 43 and almost died before they got him to Stanford also made no impression upon them.  It didn't matter what arguments I used to try and convince them that this wasn't just a pain issue but a lifestyle that was more than likely to result in early death.  I talked about changing their diet, lowering their cholesterol and increasing the amount of daily exercise to lower their risk in the future.  It was all for naught.  Their reasoning was that the doctor hadn't mentioned it and since I was only an acupuncturist that I couldn't be right.  Even showing them pictures of how small the coronary arteries were and comparing them to the arteries in the legs didn't help.

After several years of patients like this I quit practicing.  People don't want to hear the truth, they want to hear news that makes them feel better about themselves.  It doesn't matter if it's a lie or it glosses over the truth, which is stupid if you stop to think about it.  And every time I see the Plavix commercial for Peripheral Artery Disease and how it affects the heart, I think about that patient and wonder if they are still alive.  Somehow I doubt it.

Oh yeah, if you are worried about your health eating out at some of these places can seriously undermine all your efforts.  Four and a half days worth of sodium in one meal.  Wow!

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Sunday Morning Diversions

Well, the WaPo is at it again, trying to create a crisis where none exists.  Yes the H1N1 flu virus has made people sick, the flu usually does that but it is not a pandemic and it is already dying down.  But did that stop the intrepid reporters from the Post?  No way Jose.  A two page article in the Sunday edition, still calling it swine flu and a whole section devoted to stoking the fire.  Approximately 36,000 people a year die from the flu and that number could be overstated but the news ignores that and hypes the death toll from this new version as a coming pandemic.  Since when are 19 deaths in a poor country a pandemic?  If they had paid this much attention to SARS when it first started it might not have spread as much as it did.  One thing the flu did accomplish, it knocked torture right off the front page.  How convenient.

The number of confirmed dead in Mexico stood at 19 on Saturday, unchanged from the day before, Córdova said at a news conference in Mexico City. Confirmed swine flu cases, including the deaths, rose from 397 to 473.

Why is it that people are willing to risk serious injury or death to lose weight but they aren't willing to cut calories and get exercise?  The only way to successfully lose weight and to keep it off are to change bad eating and exercise habits.  That's it, there is no other way.  No matter what diet you are on if you don't change your approach towards food on a permanent basis then you will put the weight back on.  It may take a few months or it may take a couple of years but most likely at the end of five years you will be back to your original weight, plus a few extra pounds. Park at the rear of the lot, take the stairs, cut back on the sodas and alcohol, eat more colors (otherwise known as vegetables) and not only will you lose weight you will feel better and your cholesterol will decrease.  Now that is a win, win.

I deeply resent it when people assume that because someone is liberal they want revenge on the Bush administration for authorizing torture and that those who are conservative approve or condone torture and believe that we should let bygones be bygones.  Neither of those assumptions is completely true and only serve to continue to polarize the country.  Do I believe that torture is wrong?  Yes.  Do I believe that those who authorized it should be punished?  Yes.  Does it matter that it was the Bush administration?  No.  I would feel the same way if it had happened under Carter, Clinton or the current fox guarding the henhouse, Obama.  Torture is wrong, it will always be wrong, nothing is going to change that and the perpetrators should be punished.  Not even a ticking clock is a valid excuse.  Better to die with my head held high than to live under a cloud of shame and hypocrisy.  Most Americans used to feel the same way before they were fed the pablum that passes as news.

Given a choice between putting convicted criminals to death or finding the criminals who committed murders and haven't been found, I opt to find the criminals running free.  Hopefully Colorado will decide that the money used to try and kill those already convicted will be better used to hunt down and prosecute those who think they have gotten away with murder.  Not all cases will be solved but there are many parents, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands and children who would like to know who killed their loved ones.

Dipshit.  I'm sorry I ever believed in you.

A little humor to lighten the morning.  These classifieds actually ran in newspapers - a smile for your day.

FREE YORKSHIRE TERRIER.
8-years old. Hateful little bastard. Bites!

FREE PUPPIES:
1/2 Cocker Spaniel, 1/2 sneaky neighbor's dog.

FREE PUPPIES..
Mother, AKC German Shepherd.
Father, Super Dog...able to leap tall fences in a single bound.

FOUND DIRTY WHITE DOG.
Looks like a rat. Been out a while. Better be a big reward.

COWS, CALVES: NEVER BRED.
Also 1 gay bull for sale.

NORDIC TRACK
$300 Hardly used, call Chubby.

GEORGIA PEACHES
California grown - 89 cents/lb.

JOINING NUDIST COLONY!
Must sell washer and dryer $300.

WEDDING DRESS FOR SALE.
Worn once by mistake. Call Stephanie.

And the best one?:

FOR SALE BY OWNER:
Complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica, 45 volumes Excellent condition.
$1,000 or best offer. No longer needed. Got married last month. Wife knows everything.

Big Brass Blog

Sunday Morning Musings

What's the point of going then?  If you eliminate all the extras to save money on a cruise it will be pretty boring after a day or two and on my two cruises the classes were free and the gym wasn't.  The best part was that I lost weight even though I ate like a pig (one night all I had was 6 orders of escargot and a salad) and drank like a fish (by the third night the sommelier would be at my table as soon as I sat down) I never took the elevators and spent quite a few hours walking around the ship. The whole idea of a cruise is to relax and indulge yourself, not look longingly at what everyone else is enjoying.

If you're counting pennies, skip the casino, spa, specialty restaurants that charge extra, the gift shop, art auction, fitness classes, lattes in the cafe and cocktails at the bar.

It only makes sense that more strokes occur in areas of high fast food density.  Supermarkets with fresh fruit and vegetables are becoming harder to find in urban areas but fast food can be just a block away.  Thank you city planners.  When your only options are the joint on the corner or traveling several miles by bus to find a grocery store, most people will opt for closer to home.  An entree salad is not going to be the first choice for most young men since it costs as much as most value meals and will do little to assuage their hunger.  That being said, do people really eat fast food 17 times a month?  I don't do 17 times a year, the food is tasteless, packed with sodium, fat and sugar, and the french fries don't taste like they used to.

And Oklahoma City is of course not alone in its insatiable appetite for fatty burgers, salty fries and sugary soft drinks. Nationwide, on average, fast-food patrons have upped their monthly visits from 14 in 1999 to 17 last year.

And I am not giving one dime of my money to a corporation that denies worker compensation benefits to an employee by claiming that good Samaritan acts are not within the scope of employee responsibilities.  You would think that after having one of their outlets shot to pieces and 21 people killed they would be a little more compassionate towards an employee who was trying to prevent harm to a customer or a repeat of said incident.

Littering is a $1000 fine if you get caught in the state of California.  Too bad space doesn't have the same rules.  We have littered on the moon but the belt around the globe is becoming more hazardous as more satellites become just so much junk.  It should be a rule that for every satellite you send up, two defunct satellites must be destroyed safely.

The new debris adds to the growing amount of junk accumulating in orbit. Thus far the annoying objects have not had a major impact on human or robotic missions into space, but there are grave concerns for the future. At some cluttered altitudes, collisions are producing debris faster than gravity can eliminate it. If the trend is not reversed, one can imagine a time when it could be too risky or too expensive to fly spacecraft through the debris fields.

Uncle Pat is off his rocker again.  It's amazing to me that one can indulge in a racist rant and not suffer consequences in this day and age.  Poor schooling, few role models, trigger happy policing and no opportunities ensure that certain groups will have a difficult time getting ahead and blaming them for society's ills is foolish and shortsighted.  As one commenter pointed out Pat fixates on individual crimes while missing the crimes that impact thousands of people.

Should have come back at him with white crime: bankers and CEOs who commit fraud, cause millions of job losses which leaves hundreds of thousands with no health insurance; then some of the laid-off have a cancer diagnosed a year later than it would have been and they die when they would have survived had it been found sooner. Those deaths are a direct result of fraud committed by wealthy white people. Or you lose your job and have to put off brake work your car needs, then you have an accident and someone dies. These deaths all result from crimes committed by wealthy white people. Or your 401k vanishes, and you can't eat as well as you need to and you just die at 80 instead of the 82 you could have lived to had you been able to afford the diet you needed. The problem is, Buchanan and his ilk have a mind-set that "sees" crime in a particular way, they "see" murder as cause by a particular set of actions and NOT by other actions. This allows them to be blind to their own racism; they can't understand that the mind-set they have adopted allows them to "see" the responsibility one group of people have for the results of their actions but not see the responsibility a different group has for the outcomes of their actions. This is what it means to be racist. And I speak as a white man.

So the Governator is willing to accept stimulus money that other states don't want.  Good, let him take Louisiana's portion, California can use it.  One of the unpublished stories is that Arnie cut the In Home Support Services salary to $9.50 an hour from $12.35, a loss to me of over $165 every month.  I now don't earn enough to pay the rent, much less feed us for a month and there isn't a cheaper place to live in San Jose.  Then you add the effect of the sales tax and life has become that much more expensive.  I doubt the increase in state income tax will affect me since I'm obviously below the poverty level.  Way to go Arnie!  I wonder how much rent is in Las Vegas since it is one of America's emptiest cities.  Hmm, I actually found places within the budget. Wow, just about any place outside of California is much, much cheaper than here. Now if I just had the money to move.

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Still Alive

Bored as crap, the weather still sucks but as long as I stay indoors I'm okay. It's that running around stuff that does me in.

Of course this also means that I'm not out earning money. Which for me boils down to "your money or your life."