but I sure hope it isn’t mine.
Do we need to know about kidney function, ureters and bladders? Apparently we do, or we want others to, because the more one bumps into the inner workings of the body the more one is amazed that one is alive at all.
Not wanting to dwell on the ethics of medicine at the moment, as theory and practice and ideas get both clear and muddy when one is in the midst of a situation, and I am conflicted as I use our overrun government funded hospitals to take care of my aged mum, I will instead insert a picture of your kidneys: [at least I don’t think they’re mine, as mine are quite clearly functioning inside my body now … ah, that feels better. Where were we? Oh discussing whose kidneys these might be. Not those of my daughter’s friend, who was told, when she was about 12, that she had a third kidney, probably because she had absorbed her twin in utero, a nice thing to say to a sensitive preteen girl. Anyway, they aren’t hers either.]
And to keep this graphic system healthy, and to keep the you out of urology, just drink the right amount of the right fluids. Which depends, or fills your Depends, as it were. I can’t be more specific, you just have to get it right, that’s all. Simple, and don’t say I didn’t tell you.
And that’s all she wrote folks, as I really don’t like leaving mum alone in what is truly a wonderful publicly funded facility. The staff at the hospital are amazing – but they are on the run and stretched – so let me end this by saying that nurses are the most astonishingly wonderful people, and if you spot a nurse today, give them their daily dose of oxytocin!
I just happened to read this article just before coming here this morning. The condition was something I had never heard of, but the general theme was so very familiar. Doctors without a clue. The patient refusing to give up on it, until the answer was finally found. This time, a happy ending, though that is not universally the case.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/my-health-story/i-was-diagnosed-with-frozen-shoulder-if-youre-a-woman-you-could-be-too/?xid=aol_eh-news_3_20140203_&aolcat=HLT&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl14%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D440240
Well, this makes 4 mornings in a row of below 0 (F) temps, (and 9 out of the last 14) with two more in the forecast. We shouldn’t have been shocked by any of this in January, but this is February now and cold fatigue has taken it’s toll. I know complaining about the weather is about the most useless thing, but geez louize I’m so done with this. 👿
Whether to you go by the wags at the bar, or the weather service stats, concensus here is that this is the coldest winter in 20-25 years. Not in terms of a few extreme nights, but in the day after day after day…
0 F is about -18C
We are really due for a thaw – it is the season of Winterlude and the canal traditionally melts for this festival.
apologies for the ‘whose was’ – I did sleep at home last night but it was an early and fun morning and I didn’t get my final proofread.
The Olympics make an excellent hospital entertainment, btw., and soon we can pretend to care about hockey again – the Swiss goalie took 69 shots from the Canadian women and only let in 5! Now to read about the ‘frozen shoulder’, something I agree we should all get to complain about. I thought it was nice out because it was above -10 C. Horrible.
Looks like Josh in NYC is feeling it as well. I am also the only one in my circle who has not been sick. The reasons are always hard to pin down, but I chalk it up to some supplements that seem to be working. It’s not like my diet is any paragon of health or anything.
F@#$ this Weather
What supplements?
And aren’t they cute?
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sochi/dufour-lapointe-sisters-win-gold-and-silver-in-olympic-moguls-1.1677142
See what cold weather can produce? Cute ski bunnies.
I tend to be reluctant to pitch supplements because a lot of people see them as pure snake oil, and no one can prove anything either way. There is no convincing anyone if they have already made up their mind. I’m a believer. I know my body and am in tune with what goes on with varying intake of foods and supplements. Even if it’s all placebo effect, that’s good enough for me. That I haven’t been sick with so much as a sniffle this winter is an absolute fact.
“Green Pills” for one thing. And by that I mean wheatgrass or barleygrass in tablet form. Choking down green juice concoctions is not for me. These definitely goose the immune system. In fact, don’t overdo it. Just a little on a regular basis does wonders. For instance, Mrs. O has found through repeated and bitter experience that if she misses her green pills for just a day or two she’ll come down with a yeast infection almost overnight. It’s like clockwork.
Second thing that is relatively new for me this year is MSM. It’s basically a sulfur supplement, most typically seen as a component in many glucosamine/chondroitin “hip pills” that are big sellers with old folks for all their arthritic joints. I take those, but have keyed in on the MSM being maybe the most important part, so I’ve been taking extra of straight MSM. I’ve had a chronically sore right hip for years. The hips pills help some, but really took a quantum leap for the better when I started taking my hip pills with a glass of milk. Milk alone never did anything, and the hip pills alone were kind of iffy, but the combo seems to do wonders. My hip is better now than it’s been in a long time.
I’ve taken green pills for years, but the combo this year with the MSM is what I credit for keeping me from getting sick at all now for quite a long time.
Like Ripley used to say “Believe it, or not!”
sometimes the weather is so bad that no one will fault you for complaining about it EO. even a childhood friend who now lives in Minneapolis, a total winter sports enthusiast, and never one to complain about winter in his whole life, called me last week because he was practically having a break down. i had to talk him off the roof so to speak – snow rake in hand.
nice to see ya m44 – sorry that i had already shut down the computer last night when you stopped by.
i take half a multi daily, drink a lot of green tea, and keep the house humid enough in the winter. i don’t get sick very often. but Superbowl Sunday i was around a lot of sick people and around little kids in general, and i was taken out by a flu bug. still i didn’t suffer as badly as my wife.
Jessie is good again today. here’s a teaser and a link. hope his use of that filthy word “progressive” doesn’t ruin the message for you…
“Government is never perfect. But its occasional flaws and corruption are no reason to do away with it. The power of government must be held in balance, but so must the power of private wickedness.
If you bother to look into the history of certain types of laws, especially those designed to protect the public, and the often long progressive efforts of many dedicated souls to achieve them, from civil rights to basic food safety to voting rights to consumer protections against financial fraud, you can see what they have accomplished, and how their effectiveness must be upheld and occasionally renewed, since the corrupting power of easy money respects few if any boundaries.
Goodness may occasionally falter, but evil never sleeps.
And so it seems that every other generation forgets the lessons learned by their grandparents, and casts off their protections in fits of foolishness fuelled by the sweet words and slogans of the princes of easy money, and their puppets, who will say and do anything for money.
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, and this is surely the story of the last thirty years, especially in the area of financial regulation and political standards of oaths and stewardship.”
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/
Tea Party light. (Canadian style) unreal. the new commie Pope has a lot of work to do.
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, and that goes double for algebra and calculus!
Ack – I can’t watch any streaming video in the hospital.
We have our fair share of political lunatics, no doubt. The country is too big, and North America would function better if it were more east, middle and west, and goods flowed north south, rather than Canada and the US dividing it across the middle, and having such disparate people governed from the middle. Or Quebec, usually. Most of our Prime Ministers are from Quebec or Ontario – it is rare for a westerner. Although he was raised in Toronto, I believe. Corrupted by power and success so quickly it was astonishing – abandoning principles along the way faster than most. I think he even got divorced but we’re not meant to talk about it. Hard to fool your spouse.
i have remembered most of my math somehow. i think with a quick refresher course i’d be ready to tackle the last few courses – i got past calculus.
i’m biased of course, but i believe that the Midwest (USA) is the most moderate politically. i suppose that is why no one from Wisconsin has ever been elected prez!
i did a little reading on that pile of vomit O’Leary. all i can say is that karma is gonna really suck. Xty – the guy had to be already corrupt and that is why his success came so quickly. money has no magic power that “breaks” people bad.
just to be fair to my neighbors to the south… 🙂 no Chicago does not represent the political flavor of the Midwest too well. in fact, most of the counties in Illinois would gladly move Chicago to another state! much of the corruption in Illinois politics can be traced back to it’s largest city in population and influence.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/illinois-governors-in-pri_n_2581182.html
I have read about Illinois a surprising amount. It is fascinating and horrifying that a culture of corruption could be so entrenched and accepted. And the hair styles!
Good morning on this stupefyingly cold -20F (-28.9C) day. Neighbor was just here to borrow my torpedo heater to thaw out his mother’s frozen pipes. Supposed to be even colder tomorrow.
Being a former Illinois resident, I recall corrupted politicians as far back as my memory of such things go. Here’s a couple more from 1956 and 1970.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-24/news/ct-per-flash-paul-powell-0224-20130224_1_shoe-box-clothes-closet-hotel-room
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-01-01/sports/8701010079_1_mr-hodge-state-auditor-orville-hodge
Barry Ritholtz goes back to the well today for a repeat of his core theme. It cuts neither right nor left, and I never tire of reading it, or posting it. Neither does Barry, apparently. It’s one of the most important investing lessons I’ve learned. Of course, I had to learn it the hard way. I also love the first comment that BR threw in there!
Ideology Is Killing Your Investment Returns
good morning all. decided to check in early and complain, but Dude beat me to it.
my wife is from Chicago, born there and raised. so i have had the opportunity to talk politics at length with her dad. i have come to realize that partisanship comes with the territory, some territories worse than others. thanks to Chicago politics, there is a special sort of hatred for Democrats in Illinois. same goes i suppose for those living on the coasts, where government has jumped the banks. that is what i was getting at up above. but i am surprised that two Tea Party faves from Wisconsin were not brought up – Governor Scott Walker and Congressman Paul Ryan – to counter! not hearing so much about these guys anymore, hey? that’s because people are waking up to what happened – the so called grass roots movement that got these pigs elected was more corporate backed, and less populist than anything before in this nation’s history. well, beware the power of public relations, of human ignorance, and of evil. you may wonder why i am so pissed about it. well the answer is that i feel like a fool too, even though i only bought into the bullshit at the beginning.
that should be enough to get EO to come back in from of the cold. see you guys later! 🙂
edit: Hi EO. thought i smelled bacon. 🙂
I’ve been waiting for you to tell us the tale of how Paul Ryan’s family made their fortune. Pulling themselves up by their Randian/Austrian bootstraps? I bet not…
Let us send positive thoughts to our blogging doyenne as she watches Canada women skate against Finland live at this moment, tied 0-0, 2nd period. Then root against her Wed when they meet USA.
Actually, I don’t know how to root or how to watch hockey. Wasn’t a big deal in the cornfields of my youth.
it’s all out there if anyone bothers to look. but for me, i live in his town. he has stood in my front yard – during a parade. i have done work at his childhood home. i am privy to stuff through the grapevine, and it ain’t pretty. believe it or not, i went to high school with Scott Walker also. he was two grades behind me.
the more i find out, the angrier i get. for my entire adult life, i have watched in horror as the government of this country both perniciously and in your face has been hijacked by corporate interests. the last decade, the launch of a new century has been particularly hard to take.
and of course you all know why i was so upset at the old hang-out.
Can’t come that close, but Paul Ryan is my son’s wife’s mother’s mother’s cousin’s second husband’s son. I think I have that right. That fits this theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation
If you hook up with me DP, you can quickly get to Mike Ditka, B.B. King, and Donnie Osmond to name a few.
sure glad my dad’s parent left Germany in 1921. at least i’m not the direct descendant of any Nazis. the mofo’s did plenty of damage to my family nonetheless. then to watch the very same step by step happen here – ever since Reagan.
i am totally clued in on that six degrees idea Dude. i used to post that at the old place. that is also why networks like the internet are so powerful. you can reach a huge audience very quickly – for good or bad. that is why blogs are so often infiltrated. it is part of that PR thing. greed and power have no morality, and sheep travel in herds. one dog can control a pretty large gang.
Yes, Wotan’s Day morning may tell the tale in Olympic women’s hockey. But it won’t be decisive. The peculiarities of the bracket system will likely require a rematch for the gold medal later in the games. (IF the Canadians even make it that far!) (OK, I’m just talking smack now. :))
I heard about these Mexican vigilantes on the drive home from work early Sunday morning. WPR broadcasts BBC News overnight. I must say that I admire their courage, if in fact they are true vigilantes and not a front for a rival cartel as claimed by the Knights Templar. I want to believe the vigilante story so I can live the experience vicariously through them. Vicariously is as close as I’ll ever get for as much as I wish for some vigilante action here against the corporate takeover of America, we all know that ain’t happenin’.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-26103464
i understand your cynicism. it sucks to be sold out by both parties, then a new fake party. notice no one is talking loudly yet about 2016 candidates. the persons rumored likely on both sides right now would get the no vote – as in no one will show up. the so called Tea Party is also thankfully finished. so i suppose we can get our hopes up for the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ because that’s about the only person i’d vote for anymore. 🙂
speaking of getting your hopes up, check this out! i’ll take the under, and no rain. i’ll wager the tab for grub and beer at your favorite watering hole. 🙂 🙂 🙂
I wouldn’t vote for Jesus, just to pop that bubble. His attitude towards women left a great deal to be desired.
And yes, that was horrible, and I had to leave to go to the athletic therapist and it was still no score – but hope triumphs and we won 3-0. But the scores are getting closer which is great for women’s hockey.
I did grow up watching some hockey, and then when our kids played it suddenly got much more interesting. But the kids don’t play, there was a strike, our captain lied and then went to the states … but I do like the Olympic girls and girls playing hockey, just to be patronizing, are cute. They don’t try to injure their opponents and they try to execute plays, not act like lone wolves.
But the US is scary – and very hungry for that title!
American politics is a disaster – neither party dares name anyone, no one is actually in any way qualified to be president, the corporations run the politicians and the banks run the corporations. I think the only answer for staying sane is to try to work on the local front as much as possible, trying to make local government work.
Here’s a rant – check out this paragraph from our city councillor’s pretty little email magazine thing she sends around. I have replaced her use of the word I with an eye-rolling emoticon. Note it is the first word of the paragraph:
What’s New in Kitchissippi
🙄 hope you have been having a great winter so far. Last weekend was busy- Winterlude kicked off and 🙄 was at Confederation Park for the opening with thousands of Ottawans. Then [ 🙄 was] out early at City Hall helping serve a free pancake breakfast. [Notice how they took the ‘I’ out of that sentence. I put it back for her.] Then 🙄 was back to Kitchissippi where 🙄 dropped by the Hintonburg street hockey tournament and the Westboro Beach winter carnival. As well 🙄 went to Right Bike where the topic was “For the love of Kids & Bikes & Snow” Many thanks to local Hintonburg cycling enthusiast, Katheleen Wilker for the wonderful presentation. On Sunday 🙄 was being pulled around on a sleigh in Laroche Park by a couple of very strong Clydesdales, thanks to the Laroche Park Sports and Recreation committee. There are always plenty of different and fun activities going on in Kitchissippi, my heartfelt thanks to those who organize such well attended community events!
I loathe her, really actually, loathe.
here it is, my favorite after a long wait finally rebuilt and reopened a week ago after burning to the ground in 2007.
My son and I spent a pleasant afternoon there in March 2006 while chatting with a couple from Cedar Rapids, Ia who thought it was so neat that they made a special trip back to revisit after stumbling upon the place earlier.
http://monroe.explore-wisconsin.us/restaurants/Restaurant_Detail.asp?property=6083253226
http://www.monroefiredept.com/Incidents.cfm?IncidentID=59
How do I know it was Mar 2006? Because that’s when I had the old barn torn down. This picture is from the 2nd day. The preceding day, we had both played hooky to watch it come down. Then we tore out as much aluminum wire from the lightening rod system as we could and took it to the junk yard, netting $90 and many rounds of good time. He drove us home after much discussion of who was best able.
so is there an “I” generation too, or are they a subset of the “me’s”, and you live in Kitchissippi?
Dude – are you taking the over, with thunder?
Kitchissippi is the name of the ward we live in. The city is divided into wards and each ward has a stupid, probably corrupt, councillor, and then above that is the corrupt mayor.
Nice barn razing.
Yah, that’s what we “Englishers” do, unlike our Amish barn raising friends.
A wise old woman hired my boss and me (his only laborer/helper) to tear down an old barn on her farm. It wasn’t a big barn, more sort of an out-building, and it looked like it might fall in by itself at any moment. So he quickly agreed to the offered cash price and we both thought, “wow”, this sure will be a quick X hundred bucks.
We cautiously entered the barn with some nail bars, big hammers and such,… “should we save these boards, they don’t look rotted,… blah blah..”
Long story short- that “barely standing” barn had apparently been made out of native Maclura Pomifera(hardest wood in NA) …that had also petrified, and whatever other wood hardening phenomenon could possibly have happened.
We couldn’t get a nail out, we couldn’t get a board loose, nothing. It was twilight zone. We chained a tractor to the corner poles… the tires spun, nothing.
After enough futile sledge hammering and pry-bar bending to confirm that we were up against some ‘other-worldly’ freak of nature, we burned it to the ground and hauled off the metal.
Sure could have used that excavator.. maybe.
interesting DN. i have seen that tree before, and even took some of the fruit home to find out what it was. around here they call it Osage Orange.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera
apparently “sippi” means river in many native American languages Xty. here we go…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchissippi_Ward
edit: and say Hi to Katherine Hobbes 🙂