Hey! I may have discovered a diet program I can sorta stick to.
For the past few days I've been having a slimfast shake for breakfast with a piece of toast, another for lunch, then a light snack/almost a meal for afternoon break (like, a lunchmeat sandwich with pile of lettuce on it, or small salad.) For supper I have a normal meal.
I figure I've cut about 1/4 to 1/3 of my normal calories. Not that this is showing any progress or anything in the short amount of time I've been doing this. But I figure if I keep it up, and maybe add in a bit of daily exercise, it should eventually start to have an effect.
28 December 2008
27 December 2008
Holiday Sloth
So, after putting a bright face on things, grinning through a double-impaction, Thomas and Mary headed south to Seattle after 3 nights.
Their visit was wonderful. I really enjoy the conversations, the work in the kitchen, etc. But, of course, there are tensions. And this year there was also a lot of pain. On their first day I had to bore them with a visit to the dentist where I had the port aftmost molar excavated, and three out of four roots were roto-rootered. The fourth was too infected to finish the work. After which I was loaded up with pain meds, an anti-biotic pill big enough to choke a horse (three times daily), and went off with the house-guests on a romp through the city of Vancouver.
I should mention they were driving a largish SUV, compliments of the distaff parents. Vancouver is not particularly SUV friendly, with no highways near the downtown core and most arterials being somewhat enlarged residential streets. We did some shopping, we did some sight-seeing, we picked up Alex from school and took him to a street-writer's (read, graffiti) shop.
Anyway, after a couple more days of fun, they headed off for more holiday visiting. I curled up in a ball waiting for the next dental appointment. And when we went in for that visit, re-open the tooth, re-rooter the three, but the fourth was still too infected to get clear. New anti-biotic, stepping into the big times.
And when we got home, Alex started to spike a fever. A big fever. I lazed about the house trying to deal with him and my jaw. Elizabeth fussed over both of us, but since none of us was particularly energetic (me staring at computer screen, he flat on his back asleep) it was mostly lazing about reading fluffy novels or watching movies for her, too.
Which was okay for 5 days, but with Alex still spiking higher than 103°, I was getting mighty nervous. Yes, it was almost certainly influenza. Yes, we were treating him symptomatically, which is all that a physician was going to do too. BUT, there are also other possible reasons for running such a high temp for so long, and I wanted the tests run to rule those out.
So we called the regional nurse line and, after the long list of questions (which we had already worked through, having a nurse in the family) yes, it was important to get this looked at, so we should bring him in to urgent care. But, since it was well after noon and none of the urgent care would be open to new walk-ins at this time, bring him in the next morning if he still had a temp.
The next day being Xmas eve, which we'd all completely forgotten, none of the local urgent care were open. But even more importantly, and something I haven't mentioned yet, was the Arctic Outflow event we were experiencing.
Every so often, once or twice a year, the regional climate conspires to have a cold blast for the coast. What happens is a deep cooling of the land just east of coastal mountains of Alaska and northern BC, developing into a cold high pressure system, which tends to push the north Pacific low pressure systems southward, and they roll ashore over Portland Oregon rather than BC's Central Coast, well north of Vancouver. Because the lows are south of Vancouver, and the high is north of Vancouver, frigid arctic air is sucked down through valleys and fjords.
These conditions usually last 3-5 days before falling apart, but often result in pretty spectacular snowfall as the very moist ocean air get's blanketed by the (for Vancouver) bitter cold from the north. Well, it set up around December 12th, and it never quite fell apart. And it certainly snowed.
The first batch of snow, about 10cm (4"), pretty much melted away. It was pretty, we were all amused. The second batch of snow set in just as Thomas and Mary were leaving, and it had been cold for a few days so it started sticking. Then, in one week, we had 4 snowstorms - one right after the other. We had more than 25cm (10") on the ground, in a city of more than a million people and a total of 20 city-owned snow plows.
And as the sun came up on Xmas eve, our fifth snowstorm within 7 days was moving ashore. Alex had a fever of 102.4°. And of course not a single health clinic or urgent care was open. So we headed for the hospital ER.
There was a brinks-type armored truck stuck in the non-ambulance entry to the parking lot, which of course was not plowed. A bobcat and two guys with shovels were valiantly trying to unstick the truck. We went to the hospital employee parking lot and walked over to the ER.
Yep, almost certainly influenza, take him home and treat him symptomatically. Sitting in the waiting room was actually rather amusing; the humanity on parade there was entertaining. An older Sikh gentleman was brought in by his son, who was about our age. A cantankerous older gent came in, loudly complaining about the service, the people around him. The quiet Sikh sat waiting until he was brought in the back, looking unperturbed while the other old guy tramped around with his cane literally shouting to make it known he was not pleased having to wait. He was sent home after 5 minutes in the back, while the Sikh gentleman - who had apparently broken his wrist and arm the day before in a fall on the ice - was sent off for orthopedic surgery.
The nasty old guy gave me a wink as he headed out and confided "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."
Then we went home and made a turkey breast on the grill (did I mention we have a gas grill on the deck?) and herbed potatoes and stuffing and steamed veggies for a nice dinner - the only real work I've done in a week. The antibiotics seem to have worked, my teeth no longer pain me, so now I'm looking at mountains of dirty laundry, dirty dishes, and a house in desperate need of a bull-dozer.
Outside the next snowstorm has warmed up to a slow drizzly rain which is finally melting our snow. Vancouver has experienced the whitest Xmas ever recorded, going back to the early 1800s, but it looks like the arctic outflow has collapsed and we'll go back to normal winter weather - chilly but not frigid.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year.
Their visit was wonderful. I really enjoy the conversations, the work in the kitchen, etc. But, of course, there are tensions. And this year there was also a lot of pain. On their first day I had to bore them with a visit to the dentist where I had the port aftmost molar excavated, and three out of four roots were roto-rootered. The fourth was too infected to finish the work. After which I was loaded up with pain meds, an anti-biotic pill big enough to choke a horse (three times daily), and went off with the house-guests on a romp through the city of Vancouver.
I should mention they were driving a largish SUV, compliments of the distaff parents. Vancouver is not particularly SUV friendly, with no highways near the downtown core and most arterials being somewhat enlarged residential streets. We did some shopping, we did some sight-seeing, we picked up Alex from school and took him to a street-writer's (read, graffiti) shop.
Anyway, after a couple more days of fun, they headed off for more holiday visiting. I curled up in a ball waiting for the next dental appointment. And when we went in for that visit, re-open the tooth, re-rooter the three, but the fourth was still too infected to get clear. New anti-biotic, stepping into the big times.
And when we got home, Alex started to spike a fever. A big fever. I lazed about the house trying to deal with him and my jaw. Elizabeth fussed over both of us, but since none of us was particularly energetic (me staring at computer screen, he flat on his back asleep) it was mostly lazing about reading fluffy novels or watching movies for her, too.
Which was okay for 5 days, but with Alex still spiking higher than 103°, I was getting mighty nervous. Yes, it was almost certainly influenza. Yes, we were treating him symptomatically, which is all that a physician was going to do too. BUT, there are also other possible reasons for running such a high temp for so long, and I wanted the tests run to rule those out.
So we called the regional nurse line and, after the long list of questions (which we had already worked through, having a nurse in the family) yes, it was important to get this looked at, so we should bring him in to urgent care. But, since it was well after noon and none of the urgent care would be open to new walk-ins at this time, bring him in the next morning if he still had a temp.
The next day being Xmas eve, which we'd all completely forgotten, none of the local urgent care were open. But even more importantly, and something I haven't mentioned yet, was the Arctic Outflow event we were experiencing.
Every so often, once or twice a year, the regional climate conspires to have a cold blast for the coast. What happens is a deep cooling of the land just east of coastal mountains of Alaska and northern BC, developing into a cold high pressure system, which tends to push the north Pacific low pressure systems southward, and they roll ashore over Portland Oregon rather than BC's Central Coast, well north of Vancouver. Because the lows are south of Vancouver, and the high is north of Vancouver, frigid arctic air is sucked down through valleys and fjords.
These conditions usually last 3-5 days before falling apart, but often result in pretty spectacular snowfall as the very moist ocean air get's blanketed by the (for Vancouver) bitter cold from the north. Well, it set up around December 12th, and it never quite fell apart. And it certainly snowed.
The first batch of snow, about 10cm (4"), pretty much melted away. It was pretty, we were all amused. The second batch of snow set in just as Thomas and Mary were leaving, and it had been cold for a few days so it started sticking. Then, in one week, we had 4 snowstorms - one right after the other. We had more than 25cm (10") on the ground, in a city of more than a million people and a total of 20 city-owned snow plows.
And as the sun came up on Xmas eve, our fifth snowstorm within 7 days was moving ashore. Alex had a fever of 102.4°. And of course not a single health clinic or urgent care was open. So we headed for the hospital ER.
There was a brinks-type armored truck stuck in the non-ambulance entry to the parking lot, which of course was not plowed. A bobcat and two guys with shovels were valiantly trying to unstick the truck. We went to the hospital employee parking lot and walked over to the ER.
Yep, almost certainly influenza, take him home and treat him symptomatically. Sitting in the waiting room was actually rather amusing; the humanity on parade there was entertaining. An older Sikh gentleman was brought in by his son, who was about our age. A cantankerous older gent came in, loudly complaining about the service, the people around him. The quiet Sikh sat waiting until he was brought in the back, looking unperturbed while the other old guy tramped around with his cane literally shouting to make it known he was not pleased having to wait. He was sent home after 5 minutes in the back, while the Sikh gentleman - who had apparently broken his wrist and arm the day before in a fall on the ice - was sent off for orthopedic surgery.
The nasty old guy gave me a wink as he headed out and confided "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."
Then we went home and made a turkey breast on the grill (did I mention we have a gas grill on the deck?) and herbed potatoes and stuffing and steamed veggies for a nice dinner - the only real work I've done in a week. The antibiotics seem to have worked, my teeth no longer pain me, so now I'm looking at mountains of dirty laundry, dirty dishes, and a house in desperate need of a bull-dozer.
Outside the next snowstorm has warmed up to a slow drizzly rain which is finally melting our snow. Vancouver has experienced the whitest Xmas ever recorded, going back to the early 1800s, but it looks like the arctic outflow has collapsed and we'll go back to normal winter weather - chilly but not frigid.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year.
12 December 2008
Goodbye Forever: Family and what it really means
My sister is a member of Our Lady of the Cast-Iron Unmentionables. She's a cast-iron bitch. She's narrow-minded, dull, and mindlessly cruel. And she doesn't care that others see her this way; she secretly revels in it.
That's fine and dandy; she has that right and I will respect it. I don't ask her to change; at this point in our lives I don't know if I really care either.
When our father was diagnosed with cancer, I was there. I spent the next year and some driving 400 miles each way 3 of every four weekends every month, to clean his garage, mow the lawn, get up early to go with him to uncle Lloyd's for dry toast and coffee. Then she came home from her career to take over, and I wasn't welcome there any more. The one thing I asked, after we'd talked with the hospice nurses, was that I be called when the final days were happening.
She called the day after he died. She was making all the funeral arrangements, would we be able to attend?
I said nothing until after the funeral. Then I told her, once, that I was very angry how things had been handled, and that when mother's time came did not want anything like what had happened. Most likely she's completely forgotten; she wasn't the one pissed off and hurt, so she doesn't care.
She never has, if she wasn't the victim. But she remembers every slight in the past 50 years.
She doesn't quite get that we all remember hurts. The bigger the hurt, the more we remember it. And when we ask for small things it hurts a lot that she refuses. And the fact is we, her sibs, have all had enough of her shitting on all of us. It's why we very seldom visit her and Mom. It's not why none of us live nearby anymore, but there sure wasn't any reason for any of us to not move away.
And when Mom does die, we all expect my sister to be queen bitch again, and no one will have any say in anything about it.
And after the funeral, and paying it off, we will all go home and leave her alone for the rest of our lives.
That's fine and dandy; she has that right and I will respect it. I don't ask her to change; at this point in our lives I don't know if I really care either.
When our father was diagnosed with cancer, I was there. I spent the next year and some driving 400 miles each way 3 of every four weekends every month, to clean his garage, mow the lawn, get up early to go with him to uncle Lloyd's for dry toast and coffee. Then she came home from her career to take over, and I wasn't welcome there any more. The one thing I asked, after we'd talked with the hospice nurses, was that I be called when the final days were happening.
She called the day after he died. She was making all the funeral arrangements, would we be able to attend?
I said nothing until after the funeral. Then I told her, once, that I was very angry how things had been handled, and that when mother's time came did not want anything like what had happened. Most likely she's completely forgotten; she wasn't the one pissed off and hurt, so she doesn't care.
She never has, if she wasn't the victim. But she remembers every slight in the past 50 years.
She doesn't quite get that we all remember hurts. The bigger the hurt, the more we remember it. And when we ask for small things it hurts a lot that she refuses. And the fact is we, her sibs, have all had enough of her shitting on all of us. It's why we very seldom visit her and Mom. It's not why none of us live nearby anymore, but there sure wasn't any reason for any of us to not move away.
And when Mom does die, we all expect my sister to be queen bitch again, and no one will have any say in anything about it.
And after the funeral, and paying it off, we will all go home and leave her alone for the rest of our lives.
04 December 2008
Cleaning and cooking and laundry oh my!
So today I'm supposedly working on serious homebody stuff.
We're having guests this weekend, so I'm practicing dinner dishes. Today's effort: green curry vegetables. It's a thai/burmese style dish, with green curry paste spicing up a cococut lime sauce with eggplant, onions, and sweet potatoes. Fairly simple, actually, except the method for cooking it was a bit bassackward. I wish I'd figured that out earlier.
Anyway, it's one of those long-prep style items. And, as it's cooking, I'm picking up the living room, rolling away the rugs, etc. And every time I need to come back to stir the pot, every couple minutes, I wash my hands and dry them. And every time I find something which really doesn't belong in the living room or kitchen, I'm jogging up the stairs to the bedrooms. Which is rather great, because I've been noticing I need more exercise.
Which reminds me that this morning I was baking cookies. Good old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies from the Betty Crocker cookbook. Except without the nuts and using special dark 'chipits', as the chocolate chips seem to be called here in Canada. The plan was to also bake a batch of peanut butter cookies, but I ran behind schedule so now we'll see if I can do that after this dinner dish practice is done.
Not that I need to have any more sweets around the house, as I said before. Still, with the laundry room upstairs, the cleaning/cleaning going on downstairs, today at least I'm burning cals. Now I just need to do figure out how to get optimal heart rate running up and down at least every other day...
And now it's done. Tasty, but could have had a bit more curry. Over-cooked, again because the order of some steps were a bit off. I'll be able to fix that when I make it next time, I hope. I think this one passes muster, and will be on the table this weekend.
We're having guests this weekend, so I'm practicing dinner dishes. Today's effort: green curry vegetables. It's a thai/burmese style dish, with green curry paste spicing up a cococut lime sauce with eggplant, onions, and sweet potatoes. Fairly simple, actually, except the method for cooking it was a bit bassackward. I wish I'd figured that out earlier.
Anyway, it's one of those long-prep style items. And, as it's cooking, I'm picking up the living room, rolling away the rugs, etc. And every time I need to come back to stir the pot, every couple minutes, I wash my hands and dry them. And every time I find something which really doesn't belong in the living room or kitchen, I'm jogging up the stairs to the bedrooms. Which is rather great, because I've been noticing I need more exercise.
Which reminds me that this morning I was baking cookies. Good old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies from the Betty Crocker cookbook. Except without the nuts and using special dark 'chipits', as the chocolate chips seem to be called here in Canada. The plan was to also bake a batch of peanut butter cookies, but I ran behind schedule so now we'll see if I can do that after this dinner dish practice is done.
Not that I need to have any more sweets around the house, as I said before. Still, with the laundry room upstairs, the cleaning/cleaning going on downstairs, today at least I'm burning cals. Now I just need to do figure out how to get optimal heart rate running up and down at least every other day...
And now it's done. Tasty, but could have had a bit more curry. Over-cooked, again because the order of some steps were a bit off. I'll be able to fix that when I make it next time, I hope. I think this one passes muster, and will be on the table this weekend.
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