Spatter

The Good Part Of Not Such Good News

The new year brought with it a change in my insurance provider, and consequently...my general practitioner.  I wanted to have us get a look at each other sooner than later, so I made an appointment to do just that.  It went OK.  I didn't have any strong feelings towards her one way or the other.  She was nice, but had a flatness about her.  I made a point of not making too much of it...after all...it was our first meeting.

As expected, she ordered that a blood work-up be done. The  results have come back, and for the first time ever, my LDL levels are outside the acceptable range.  They're not horrible, but they're higher than they should be. 

The good news is that rather than immediately prescribing a cholesterol drug, the good doctor instructed me to start taking 2000mg of omega-3 every day.  I'm liking her already. It's not that I wouldn't take a prescription drug if I absolutely had to, but I'm trying to put the day I have to take any prescription off for as long as possible.  You see, I believe that one drug leads to another. Yes, I certainly prefer addressing things naturally and I was relieved that she evidently thought the same way.

For those who might doubt the wisdom of this course of action, The American Heart Association  website confirms that omega-3 is good for cholesterol levels and recommends taking two to four grams of it per day.

I don't think I can eat that much tuna and salmon, so I've gone ahead and gotten a supplement to take.  Maybe now that I'm taking it, I'll remember to take my calcium at the same time! 

Wordless Wednesday

"Juxtaposition"
From the Street Scenes gallery @ bydamanti

Becoming History

I put my merchandise on the counter to check out.  I routinely swiped my credit card and signed my name on the electronic pad. 

Done. Fast and easy, though I don't understand why the card swipes aren't standardized to all have the card go the same way. 

This thought aside, I then started thinking about the "old days" when the cashier pulled out a booklet of wafer-thin paper filled with columns and columns and columns of numbers...minuscule numbers...of stolen/lost cards and closed accounts.  Remember?  You had to stand there as the cashier went through page after page straining her eyes to see if the card you were using was among them.  These books were such a pain in the arse that many times the cashier didn't bother and hoped for the best. 

Wanting to share this memory, I queried the cashier before me: "do you remember...?"  The look I got back told me she didn't even before she said so.  She was truly baffled when I tried to describe them...she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. She was far too young to remember.  I left the store feeling...well...old.

It reminded me of another time when I felt like my life was becoming history. I was at work and one of my staff came up to me and asked what a  hippie was.

After I got over the shock that she didn't know this and too, that she thought me old enough to assist her, I began to explain.  I said "a hippie was sort of a 60s version of a beatnik". 

Oops...I was using the unknown to describe the unknown.  I ended up giving her a brief history of American culture in the 50s and 60s.  What?  She didn't know who the Beatles were either?!

 

The times of my life have become the stuff of history. It's so very strange to think of it. 

Coincidences

I like coincidences. They make me wonder about destiny, and whether free will is an illusion or just a matter of perspective. They let me speculate on the idea of some master plan that, from time to time, we're allowed to see out of the corner of our eye.

Chuck Sigars

 

My Little Quirks

I got an unexpected email the other day from Bonnie.  Bonnie's been a presence in the blogosphere...at least the part I see...ever since I started blogging. She apparently has boundless energy since she reads and writes voraciously and maintains several blogs to boot. The two I visit most are Books Around The States - where she and others identify/catalog books by their story's setting, and then, provide a synopsis of them;  and the other Weekend Wordsmith - where she provides a weekly prompt idea for writers. 

While Bonnie and I haven't had a lot of dialog between us, I've come to sense that she is someone who's a bit of a kindred spirit. So when her invitation to participate in a meme said: "...I hope you'll do it for me. I'd like to know you better", I didn't hesitate in accepting.

It's called "Quirky To The Power Of Six" where you list six quirky things about yourself.  Hmmmm.  I don't consider myself to be very quirky, but after a bit of thought, I came up with these:

1. I have a bit of an obsession with the care and handling of books and can get absolutely (but quietly) neurotic when lending them to others...especially paperbacks whose covers are easily bent or torn.  I cherish my books and treat them like fine pieces of crystal.  I try to convince myself that a worn book is a good thing...a sign of having been loved and something that gives it character...but so far, I can't quite get over the hump.  This is an especially curious quirk since I can't read a non-fiction work without highlighting it.  It's a carry-over from college days. But of course, the marking is mine, and it is very tidy!

2. I sometimes stare into the mirror...specifically, into my eyes...to see who's in there. 

3. I have an irrational terror of lighthouse ladders.  I can't bring myself to climb them...even when they're only five feet long, and even though I know that there's a beautiful vista awaiting me.  I always ascend the spiral stairs with the intention of conquering, but once there, I freeze.  One time as I stood at the base of a ladder paralyzed, I had to step aside to let dozens of youngsters pass by and up. I watched with envy...and was so perplexed at why they could do it and I couldn't that I came to tears. The one and only time I made it to the observation deck was at the Prince Edward Island lighthouse.  Two hunky firefighters who happened to be visiting there at the same time saw me hesitating and offered to have me get between them.   It was so wonderful to finally have the coastal wind in my face and to be able to enjoy the view. 

4. I tend to get fixated on 'what', 'where', 'when' and 'who' and their  interface with  'why' and 'how'. I can't not ponder the world around me.

5. I don't like to write with a pencil that's not absolutely sharp.

6. I'm an incessant planner. That's not to say I won't do something on the spur of the moment or change course mid-stream, but I like having a plan laid out...something to start with...about anything and everything.

Well, there they are.

As is my practice, I'm deviating from the meme's instructions by not tagging anyone specifically, but I invite anyone reading this to participate either by a post on a blog or a comment here.  For the bloggers, here's what you're supposed to do:

• link to the person who tagged you
• post the rules on your blog
• share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
• tag at least three people at the end of the post and link to their blogs
• let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

 

Mule v Goat

These days when Democratic donkeys and Republican elephants are busily competing, I got to thinking about another traditional event between mascots:  the U.S. Military Academy at West Point mules vs the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis goats in the annual Army-Navy football game. 

The first Army-Navy game was played in 1890.  Historically played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but of late bumped to the first Saturday in December, this game used to be a big-deal media event.  It still gets aired on television, but there's hardly the hoopla and hype about it like there used to be.  Frankly, it's sort of gone the way of...well...of our remembrance Pearl Harbor. 

I don't think it's about their rankings...neither team has been top ten except perhaps when Jolly Roger Staubach was at the helm of Navy back in the 60s. No, that didn't seem to matter. Perhaps it's because there are fewer vets...fewer people who care?  I'm just wondering.

Friday Fact - Kudzu

At the mention kudzu you're likely to think of and visualize a vine that turns trees into free form topiaries. It's out of control and seems to be overtaking the south a la Ulysses Grant. Did you ever wonder about its nature and how it got to be so prevalent? 

Before I get to that, I thought you might like to know that Kudzu's actually got a lot of good to it.  For starters, the non-woody parts of it are edible, and in Japan, eaten. Its young leaves...high in vitamins A and C.. are used for salad or cooked as a leaf vegetable; the flowers are battered and fried and also used to make a sweet jelly (known better in the southern United States and is described as tasting like either a cross between apple jelly and peach jelly or bubblegum). And finally, its starchy roots are prepared and eaten like any root vegetable.

On top of that, Kudzu is used for medicine too...at least in Japan and by  herbalists here. Its roots are  ground into a fine powder and used for varieties of Wagashi and herbal medicines to help with such things as reducing both hangovers and alcohol cravings; treating migraine and cluster headaches; and helping to prevent cancer. Kudzu contains oodles of isoflavones. 

But here it's not known for these things. Here, it's notorious for having characteristics that resemble the plant in the movie "Little Shop Of Horrors". 

It was first introduced into the U.S. in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition where it was promoted as a forage crop and an ornamental plant.  Then, beginning in the Dust Bowl years, FDR's newly created Soil Conservation Service actually encouraged farms in the southeast to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion and the Civilian Conservation Corps widely planted it for many years. 

Somewhere along the way, it was realized that it was growing out of control.  It seems that the southeastern US has near-perfect conditions for kudzu to grow — hot, humid summers, frequent rainfall, and temperate winters with few hard freezes (kudzu cannot tolerate low freezing temperatures that bring the frost line down through its entire root system), and it has no natural predators. By 1953, the once promoted plant was deemed a "pest weed" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Now, it's a part of the landscape in most of the southeast.

Efforts to control it are ongoing and varied. For instance, Chattanooga, Tennessee has undertaken a trial program using goats and llama to graze on the plant. Currently the goats are grazing along the Missionary Ridge area in the east of the city.

And that's a Friday Fact!

Let's Hear It For Corporate Ethics

The law requires that employers hold jobs open for employees called to active reserve status, but nothing more. And usually, nothing more is done.  Reservists generally take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up.

But, as Janeywan at Life In Westcliffe recently posted, Sears Roebuck is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits... including medical insurance and bonus programs...for called up reservist employees.  They're doing this for up to two years.

With all of the corporate greed stories out there, it's nice to hear about something good happening.  I usually shop at Sears some during the course of the year: tools and appliances mostly, but now I'm going to try to support them more. I hope you do too.

Post Note
Costco is another corporation that treats its employees well. 

Wordless Wednesday

 

"Out On A Limb"
From The B&W gallery @ bydamanti

Sour Grapes

I didn't think much of it...I just found a bag of seedless grapes and tossed it in the cart without checking the price.  Even if the bag cost a few dollars, I figured that there were enough grapes in the bag to justify getting it...unlike high-priced berries in their itsy-bitsy containers filled with fruit already about to rot.

Later, I pulled a cluster from the bunch and added them to my lunch plate savoring the idea of plopping the first one in my mouth.  The first thing I noticed was that they were very small, not plump like the grapes I saw at Fisherman's Wharf (pictured above).  The next thing I noticed was that they were very sour.  So much so, that I decided to return them. 

I did that today and couldn't believe my eyes.  I had gotten a credit for $8.30.  I checked the original sales receipt, and sure enough, that's what I had paid.  Jeez! They were $3.99 a pound and I had bought a bag that was just over two pounds in weight. 

Is it the drought, the price of oil, or both that jacked their price up?  I dunno.  What I do know is that from now on I'll be checking the price of all produce.