Tough Thursday; you have no idea how tough!!!!

Date:                                                   Thursday, January 6th, 2011
Word of the Day:                                 prevaricate(prihVAIR\uh\kayt); to depart from or evade the truth; to speak with equivocation

Weight:                                                206 pounds
Goal:                                                    lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                                    74 pounds
Waist Size:                                           41 inches
Specifically on Efrem's mind:              food, fun and feet

Rowing Duration:                                sixty-four (64) minutes, five (5) seconds

First the reasons should be obvious to you in that because my breathing is not quite what it should be, and because my feet are very swollen, I have purposely cut down my time on CC to avoid further mishap to myself.

Image via Wikipedia

Now, I want to explain to you that it takes me longer in getting out my posts because, well, my reasons are twofold.   First, while I am writing the post, I am now copying it and pasting it into other desktops several times throughout the creation of the post.  I am doing this in an effort to avoid having to start creating a post from the complete beginning, if while I am writing, my copy gets deleted.

As you may know, I have had some difficulty in losing some of my posts when they accidentally get deleted from my hitting some key, (I don't know what key it is that I've hit,) and I have to start writing over from scratch. I am now doing this, in an effort that should my copy get deleted and then saved simultaneously , I will have some copy to work with, and at least I will not have to start creating all over again from the beginning. Thus, it takes me longer to create the post, but at least that, now while I am writing, I have a kind of insurance from havin

The second reason why my posts are later in getting to you is that my feet are still severely swollen, and I am staying in bed longer to keep my feet elevated higher than my heart.  Keeping my feet up like this does reduce the swelling, for awhile, and I do have to do what I can to manage this painful condition, so consequently my posts are later in reaching you, but aren't my posts worth the wait?  Don't answer that Lily!

I did have to use my insurance copy of my post because my computer did its thing and wiped out the original post I was working on TWICE today, and even with a copy of some of the original post, it is still alot of work to recreate what was originally write, anyway, I didn't have to start from scratch, I guess that is something.

Yesterday, was rather quiet here in Gainesville, Florida, it was dark, and ominous looking outside for the entire day, it looked like it could rain anytime, alas the rain did not come until late afternoon, and then, finally, we got quite a thunderstorm that went way into the night.

I made some interesting discs yesterday, on the one disc, which goes for eight (8) hours are the movies: "Play Misty for Me," "Pacific Heights," "The Name of the Rose" and "This Boy's Life. " Do you remember those movies?  I had quite alot of fun rewatching Jessica Walter in "Play Misty for Me," she really was excellent in the role as an obsessed stalker in love with Clint Eastwoods's character, Jessica's role, "Evelyn draper" was/is very similar to the role that Glenn Close played in "Fatal Attraction," but Ms. Walter's acting reaches levels of comical proportions.

I'm sure that's it is the over-the-top performance that Jessica Walter gave which stopped her from getting an Oscar nomination for playing that role, however, if you have never seen the movie, do give it a peek, if only for the fact that it is Clint Eastwood's first attempt at the direction of a movie. he has since got a little better!!!!!

I have been getting quite an influx of email, lately, and I would like to thank all of you for staying in communication with me, but, so far, to my dismay, and bewilderment,  no one has signed up for my project to keep me motivated to write short stories, while at the same time, give money to charity.  I realize that it is just after the holidays and we are all a little low on cash, but is there ever a good time that you have an abundance of money to give?  Please remember that I am asking you to only give what you can, okay, there is the minimum dollar, but I really don't think a dollar is asking too much.  Many of you pay more than that for one coffee you get at your workplace, so come on, re-think it and then sign up to my project.

I would like to thank all of you who submit comments to my post, on my post, and not through email. Today, I happened to read all of the comments directed to my blog, and it pleases me to see some new comments.   I am glad that you read my post, but I really would like it if while you read it, you signed on to my post because it lets "blogger" know that my audience is a good size, and has in fact. grown since it's infancy.

You can keep your identity anonymous when you sign up as a follower of my blog, the blog will just publish comments you make, so you do not need to worry about your privacy, as when you sign up, you just say that you wish to stay anonymous, not even I will know that you signed on, so please consider doing this for me and would only take a moment or two (2) of your time.

The following is intended to two (2) people specifically in my life, but is not restricted to those people, in any case, did you know that in the first two (2) years of life, babies born to women who have contact with cats and farm animals appear to have significantly less eczema than those born to women who were not exposed to such animals during pregnancy. I know what some of you may be thinking, Great, I had to be born in the city.

Eczema, a skin condition charactereized by irritated, dry, and itchy skin, is thought to be the result of an overactive immune system, which I wish to simplify and call it what it is: allergies.  Researchers believe that early exposure to diverse microbes trains the immune system to be less prone to allergic overreactions to benign substances later, an idea known as the "hygiene hypothesis."

Gosh they really have a fancy way of saying and simplifying that: one small alliteration (hygiene hypothesis) is that the exposure to multiple germ(s) in infancy and childhood, reduces the risk of allergies, asthma, and now, eczema, as compared to previous generatons when people were not as clean as we, as they lived in unsanity conditions with rats and mice in their homes, at least most people today and now do not live with those conditions,  I shutter to think that there are people that have to live with these conditions.

As always, researchers are always coming up with theories to why we get something, such as eczema in this case, I know that had I, or my sibling sister been born on a farm, today, the reverse would be stipulated that city living is a reason for not getting eczema, hmmmm, aren't we all guilty of doing the opposite of what is good for us?, or is that just nature's little joke on all of us!

And although today it is revealed that living on farm is beneficial for the eczema reason, and asthma and other allergies, Zac, who was raised on a farm, will tell you that health benefits do win out in the end, and should win out, but farm living is not always "Old McDonald Had a Farm!" so do not feel too badly if you were, and are, being raised in the city.

A European research team reports in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology that a mother's contact with farm animals and cats during pregnancy has a strong protective effect against atopic dermatitis, a serious skin condition also known as eczema, in the baby's first two years of life.

In eczema, an overactive immune system leads to chronic itchy scaly skin rashes that come and go. Nearly a third of children who develop it before age two go on to develop hay fever or asthma.
Researchers don't know why some children develop eczema and others don't, although an interplay between genetics, the environment and the immune system is suspected.

Because mothers can pass on some short-term immunity to their babies, Dr. Caroline Roduit of the University of Zurich and colleagues in Switzerland and Germany wanted to know if moms whose immune systems were regularly challenged by microbes might have children with a lowered risk of eczema.

Previous research has already shown that children of farm families have reduced risk of asthma and allergies, with credit given to the rich microbial life, both pathogens and harmless bugs, that animals contribute to the kids' environments.

Roduit's team analyzed mothers' environmental exposures during pregnancy and the development of atopic dermatitis in their children up to age two (2.)  The study included 1,063 children born to 508 farm families and 555 non-farm families in 5 European countries. 

Women answered questions about their exposure to animals, smoking habits and history of allergies. Mothers' blood was tested and samples of the babies' cord blood were taken at birth and analyzed.  In all, 17.8 percent of the study children developed a doctor-diagnosed case of eczema by age 2, but differences between the two groups were apparent: just 14.4 percent of the farm children got the condition whereas 20 percent of non-farm children did.

The researchers found that while the all the children of farm moms had lower risk of eczema, the greater the variety of animals (horses, pigs, cows, sheep, rabbits, poultry) their mom contacted, the lower the kids' risk.  Maybe we should be raised in a surrounding similar to that of a zoo wherein we would get the most animal exposure!

"For each additional farm animal species the mother had contact with, we observed a (risk) reduction of 20 percent," they wrote.  They also found a similar significant association between mothers' contact with cats and the skin rash disorder in the children.

At birth, the children who would prove least likely to develop eczema by age two had the highest amounts of several immune system-related proteins in their cord blood, the authors note.  The proteins are involved in the body's ability to recognize pathogens.

Although the findings support previous research suggesting that microbe-rich environments such as farms have a protective effect against allergies, the results do not mean pregnant women should seek out new exposures to cats or farm animals.


"We did not study the infectious diseases among our study population," Dr. Roduit told Reuters Health in an e-mail. "So it is difficult with our results about allergies to change these recommendations about infections that could be dangerous for pregnant women," she said.  Yes, I should think that salient factor is most important and should be addressed, so please pay high regard to it!

One more thing that I want to mention before concluding today's post is to honour or salute, Maria Montessori who opened her first school today in 1907.  Maria Montessori was an educator and the first woman to receive a medical degree in Italy.  While working in a clinic for mentally disabled children, she developed a method of teaching that involves immersing children in an environment filled with "learning games" that naturally motivate learning and allow them to develop at their own pace.  This idea seems so obvious that one has to question why it wasn't explored before, anyway, better late than never.  Anyway, Maria Montessori opened her first children's school in 19087 and spent the next forty (40) years travelling and promoting her method.  Maria Montessori was nominated for the Nobel Prize three times, but the prize always eluded her, I don't think it should have, but once again, that's me!

In the future, some of my posts may not be finalized with with bolding,  putting italics, and underlining certain words and phrases, because it takes way too much time to do this task.  As it is, today,   I spent over two point five hours trying to complete this task, and you can imagine how frustrating that is, so I'm just not going to do it anymore if/when my computer acts up, but you will receive the post, just on some days, it won't have all the trimmings.  I'm sure you understand and know that  you will not mind too much!


Hope you are all having a wonderful day.


Topics coming soon:

Art

Politics

Cartoons

Whining on Wednesday ENCORE

Date:                                            Wednesday, January 5th, 2011
Word of the Day:                         exculpate(EKskuhl\payt; ek\SKUHL\payt); to clear from alleged fault or guilt; to prove to be guiltless; to relieve of blame; to acquit

Weight:                                        206 pounds
Goal:                                             lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                            74 pounds
Waist Size:                                   41 inches
Rowing Duration:                        45 minutes, six (6) seconds

I couldn't do a long rowing session this morning, and it is jiust as well, my feet should not be on the ground for long whilst they are still so swollen.  In addition, I could not spurt during the rowing as my breathing is not great these days, and I just could not, nor should I push myself, when I do, I run into breathing difficulty, and start to hyperventilate.                   

Image via Wikipedia

I managed to get through yesterday without too much incident; as I just mentioned, my breathing is still somewhat strained , but I am coping with that and trying to keep my breathing as quiet as I possibly can so that Zac does not find out; if that happens, I'm cooked, and we will have to go home, and you all know that I do not want to go home early, as it is, we only have nine (9) days left here to enjoy, it goes by so quickly, doesn't it?

I called my brother Biff's house yesterday to talk to the children and to arrange a time that Zac and I will be able to get together with Raphael to help him prepare for a "Geography Bee."   Raphael's school is launching, a "Geography Bee" which is similar to that of a "spelling bee," the children just have to know geographic facts between Florida and Washington D.C, in lieu of spelling words.

My brother's brood is having a bake sale this upcoming Saturday that Zac and I will attend, I forget the cause that the proceeds of the bake sale will got to, but it is always a good cause at these kind of things, so Zac and I don't mind contributing towards this event, in addition, Zac and I enjoy baked goods.  After the bake sale, or prior to it, there should be some time to get Raphael started on his preparation for the "Geography Bee," it would be so wonderful if we could help Raphael win the darn thing, but I reckon that there are probably about five thousand other people out there that want their children to win!  Oh well, its a good thing that Raphael is even just participating in this "Bee", he wins on that score alone!

I did have a piece of cake at the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) yesterday, and after my breakfast, just like I said I would, I ate cake to celebrate the birthday of my friend Marta, who was actually quite surprised that I knew of her birthday, ah Marta, it is the age of technology, don't you know?

Technology really has come a long way and reshaped the way we all do everything and today technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways.   In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class.   Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment.  Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions.  Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.

Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it.  Neo-Luddism, Anarcho-primitivism, and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition.   Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations.

Dictionaries and scholars have offered a variety of definitions.  The Merriam-Webster dictionary offers a definition of the term: "the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area" and "a capability given by the practical application of knowledge".  Ursula Franklin, in her 1989 "Real World of Technology" lecture, gave another definition of the concept; it is "practice, the way we do things around here".  The term is often used to imply a specific field of technology, or to refer to high technology or just consumer electronics, rather than technology as a whole.  Bernard Stiegler, in Technics and Time, 1, defines technology in two ways: as "the pursuit of life by means other than life", and as "organized inorganic matter."

Technology can be viewed as an activity that forms or changes culture.  Additionally, technology is the application of math, science, and the arts for the benefit of life as it is known.  A modern example is the rise of communication technology, which has lessened barriers to human interaction and, as a result, has helped spawn new subcultures; the rise of cyberculture has, at its basis, the development of the Internet and the computer.  Not all technology enhances culture in a creative way; technology can also help facilitate political oppression and war via tools such as guns.  As a cultural activity, technology predates both science and engineering, each of which formalize some aspects of technological endeavor.

The distinction between science, engineering and technology is not always clear.  Science is the reasoned investigation or study of phenomena, aimed at discovering enduring principles among elements of the phenomenal world by employing formal techniques such as the scientific method.  Technologies are not usually exclusively products of science, because they have to satisfy requirements such as utility, usability and safety.

Of course I could not talk about technology and and omit one of the greatest inventions of all, the forefather of technology and inventions, which was, (as you all now from watching the movie "Shirley Valentine,") the wheel.

The invention of the wheel revolutionized activities as disparate as transportation, war, and the production of pottery (for which it may have been first used.)   It didn't take long to discover that wheeled wagons could be used to carry heavy loads and fast (rotary) potters' wheels enabled early mass production of pottery.  But it was the use of the wheel as a transformer of energy (through water wheels, windmills, and even treadmills) that revolutionized the application of nonhuman power sources.
ed by the wider availability of consumer goods.

Starting in the United Kingdom in the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution was a period of great technological discovery, particularly in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, mining, metallurgy and transport, driven by the discovery of steam power.   Technology later took another step with the harnessing of electricity to create such innovations as the electric motor, light bulb and countless others.

Scientific advancement and the discovery of new concepts later allowed for powered flight, and advancements in medicine, chemistry, physics and engineering.   The rise in technology has led to the construction of skyscrapers and large cities whose inhabitants rely on automobiles or other powered transit for transportation.   Communication was also improved with the invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio and television, and, I know all of us have enjoyed the plethora of strides that they have made in technological television,  to say the very least, I love the large television screens that are now available to us for viewing, it is like watching a movie screen, and I love movies, you may have picked up on that,  or have I been too subtle?

The second half of the 20th century brought a host of new innovations.   In physics, the discovery of nuclear fission has led to both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.   Computers were also invented and later miniaturized utilizing transistors and integrated circuits.  These advancements subsequently led to the creation of the Internet.   Humans have also been able to explore space with satellites (later used for telecommunication) and in manned missions going all the way to the moon.   In medicine, this era brought innovations such as open-heart surgery and later stem cell therapy along with new medications and treatments.   Complex manufacturing and construction techniques and organizations are needed to construct and maintain these new technologies, and entire industries have arisen to support and develop succeeding generations of increasingly more complex tools.  

Modern technology increasingly relies on training and education, their designers, builders, maintainers, and users often require sophisticated general and specific training.   Moreover, these technologies have become so complex that entire fields have been created to support them, including engineering, medicine, and computer science, and other fields have been made more complex, such as construction, transportation and architecture.

Generally, technicism is a reliance or confidence in technology as a benefactor of society.  Taken to extreme, technicism is the belief that humanity will ultimately be able to control the entirety of existence using technology.  In other words, and as you know,  I love using other words, it is my craft, hehe, human beings will someday be able to master all problems and possibly even control the future using technology.  Some, such as Stephen V. Monsma, connect these ideas to the abdication of religion as a higher moral authority, optimistic assumptions are made by proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and singularitarianism, which view technological development as generally having beneficial effects for the society and the human condition.

In these ideologies, technological development is morally good. Some critics see these ideologies as examples of scientism and techno-utopianism and fear the notion of human enhancement and technological singularity which they support. Some have described Karl Marx as a techno-optimist.ns, although not a priori flawed reservations, about technology.  Heidegger presents such a view in "The Question Concerning Technology": "Thus we shall never experience our relationship to the essence of technology so long as we merely conceive and push forward the technological, put up with it, or evade it. Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to technology, whether we passionately affirm or deny it."

I do believe that I have given you quite a lot to mull over today, albeit late, but better late than never, and I am also going to give it some more thought, in the interim, however,  have a great day, and as Jed Clampett on "The Beverley Hillbillies" used to say, "you all come back now, you hear!"

Topics coming soon:

Art
Politics
Cartoons

Tipsy Tuesday

Date:                                       Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

Word of the Day:                   descry(dih\SKRY); to catch sight of especially something distant or obscure; to discern

Weight:                                    206 pounds

Goal:                                        lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                       74 pounds
Waist Size:                               41 inches
Feet Size:                                  Elephant
Rowing Duration:                     65 minutes, eight (8) seconds

Did you notice?  Never mind.

Well people, for the second day in a row, my computer did it again.   I lost my post after I had almost completed it, as you can imagine, I am rather upset.  There is some command on my keyboard that when/if I hit it, it wipes out my screen, and then gives me a blank page.  Let me begin at the beginning with the sequence of events.

I accidentally hit a key that then wipes out my entire post, and a blank page is brought up on the screen, next, and automaticaaly, that blank page gets saved.   Clearly in the blogger program, (I guess) there is some kind of tool that whenever any kind of change is made, the post gets saved right away, and that is what happened to me for the second day in a row.  The next step in the sequence of events is that Efrem gets frustrated and has to start all over again!!!!  Trust me, that part is the worst!!!

It was not a long workout, but I did have a good one, I did not want to exercise too long as it is important for me to keep my feet elevated whenever possible and I can't keep my feet elevated whilst rowing on CC.

Image via Wikipedia

I would like to honour my friend Marta today who is celebrating her birthday, we should all celebrate Marta's birthday, she is one helluva woman.  Anyway, I know you and I wish Marta a day frought with love, presents, cake, glitter, sparkle, magic and maybe even a candle or two.  All the best, M.


Zac, Winter and I were scheduled to drive to Orlando, Florida yesterday as Zac's nephew, Buzz had arrived in the morning., to attend an engineering conference, obviously, Buzz is an engineer.  However, because my feet were severely swollen, I thought it unwise to make the drive there as it could only damage my feet even more and would, in most likelihood, cause them to swell up to even greater proportions!


Buzz, great guy that he is, offered to drive up here to Gainesville, so that he could still visit with us.  I thought this was a very generous offer of Buzz, I mean, his time, and money, are limited, Buzz is still a student, so I told Buzz that we would pay for the car rental, and we did.


Naturally, I fell asleep quite early into the visit and evening, and when I awoke, it was after midgnight and Buzz had left to go back to Orlando, as his conference was starting very early, today.  However, when I was conscious, I did have a nice visit with Buzz, we got caught up with events, played cribbage(well Zac and Buzz played a game; I watched,)  and chewed the cud and chop suey!

Here is something that I bet you haven't thought of, did you know that the concept of beauty sleep has long been discussed, but until now it lacked scientific support.  To determine whether sleep deprived people are actually less attractive, researchers photographed study particpants after a normal night's sleep-eight(8)-hours-and again after being kept awake for thirty-one (31) hours.  They then asked untrained observers to rate the attractiveness of the faces in the photographs.  Not surprisingly, people were perceived to be less attractive and less healthy when they were sleep deprived.  Doesn't that just seem like common sense to you?  I mean when you don't get sleep, the next day, you are most likely going to have bags underneath your eyes, unless of course, you're under ten (10) years of age.  I can't believe that it takes studies, and money, to determine these facts!

The idea of people needing "beauty sleep" has acquired some scientific backing, according to a Swedish study.  The concept of beauty sleep is well known.  But according to researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, it has lacked scientific support.


The authors wrote in their paper published in the British Medical Journal:  "Sleep deprived people are perceived as less attractive, less healthy and more tired compared with when they are well rested."  They say the results may be useful in a medical setting, helping doctors to pick up signs of ill-health in their patients.

Commenting on the study, Derk-Jan Dijk, Professor of Sleep and Physiology at the Surrey Sleep Research Centre, said the effects of sleep loss on beauty may be even more dramatic than the photographs show.  He said: "The photographs were taken during the daytime when the biological clock promotes wakefulness.   "Can you imagine how sleep loss makes you look at night or early in the morning when the circadian clock (body clock) promotes sleep?" A lie-in at the weekend does not counter ill-effects of lack of sleep during the week, the study suggests.


In tests on one hundred and fifty-nine (159) adults, US researchers found that a ten (10) hour "recovery" snooze was not sufficient to make up for a few nights of four hours of sleep.   Participants still scored poorly in measures of attention span and reaction times, the journal Sleep reported.   It means several nights of extra sleep may be needed for those who have been burning the candle at both ends.  Individuals in the laboratory study had two nights of ten (10) hours in bed.


The bottom line is that adequate recovery sleep duration is important for coping with the effects of chronic sleep restriction on the brain”  They were then restricted to sleeping between four (4) am and eight (8) am for five (5)  nights in a row.

After that they were allowed a recovery sleep of differing lengths.   Starting first thing in the morning on each day they completed a series of tests every two hours.   A small group of  seventeen (17) patients were allowed  ten (10)  hours' sleep every night so their functioning could be compared with those who were sleep-deprived.

A night of recovery sleep did help improve test scores and the more sleep people had the better they did.  But even in those who had  ten (10) hours of sleep, reaction times, lapses of attention and levels of fatigue did not return to normal.


Study leader Dr David Dinges, a sleep expert at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said that with severe sleep restriction, a long night's rest was not enough to catch up.   "Lifestyles that involve chronic sleep restriction during the work week and during days off work may result in continuing build-up of sleep pressure and in an increased likelihood of loss of alertness and increased errors," he said.

"The bottom line is that adequate recovery sleep duration is important for coping with the effects of chronic sleep restriction on the brain."

In previous research,  Dr Dinges has found that sleeping six (6) hours a night or fewer for two (2) weeks has the same negative effects as two nights of total sleep deprivation.   Dr Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, said the study counters the currently held view that there is "tremendous recovery" in just one night's sleep.


"What the research shows is that this is not entirely accurate, it depends on precisely how much sleep loss has accumulated.   "It implies that if you haven't slept enough during the week, then to recover properly you need at least two nights' sleep to recover."

Speaking of beauty sleep, of late, I have been sleeping in much later than I would like to, it kind of reminds me of my care-free days as a teenager! (are any days carefree when you're a teenager?, I think not!)

With regard to teenagers, yesterday, Zac, Winter and I went over to my brother Biff's house so that Dr. Zac could medically examine our niece and Goddaughter, Sally.  Sally was feeling unwell and had spent the day off of school due to illness and Dr. Zac did say that she had a swollen gland, but that is the extent of my knowledge as Zac tends to keep medical information private between Sally, her parents, and his self, which is as it should be.

Anyway, it is late into the morning now and I want to go and get my breakfast.  Zac and I are going to dine at the International House of Pancakes (IHOP)  and after my breakfast, I'm going to have a piece of cake in honour of Marta's birthday.

I hope all of you have a great day!

Topics coming soon:

Art

Politics

Technology

Missing Monday and Misspells

Date:                                                         Monday, January 3rd, 2011

Word of the Day:                                     nostrum(NOS\truhm); a medicine of secret composition and unproven or dubious effectiveness; a quack medicine

Weight:                                                     206 pounds
Goal:                                                         lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                                        74 pounds
Waist Size:                                               41 inches
Rowing Duration:                                     96 minutes, thirteen (13) seconds

First, I want to apologize regarding yesterday's post, there is/was a spelling mistake of the word of the day, hogmanay. I had problems publishing yesterday's post, and even though I didn't bother with telling you then, I will tell you now that it took three (3) attempts at writing that post, well, on the third attempt, and, as it turns out, the only successful attempt, I misspelled hogmanay, I didn't insert an a for the second last letter of the word, je regret encore.

Cover of Shania Twain

I also wanted to suggest that regarding my attempts to get you to help me stay motivated with my writing, and to give money towards charity at the same time, I suggested a sum of five (5) dollars for each short story. I am now going to ameliorate that and you can give whatever sum you like for the short story, as long as you contribute a minimum of one (1) dollar, however, if you want a hard copy of the short story, instead of by email, then you should pay the postage.

In addition to paying the cost of postage, all of the same rules apply regarding not sharing my story by sending it to your friend (s) and that no refunds will be given for whatever reason.


I did not tell you yesterday that my writing short stories has nothing to do with this blog, I'm telling you now that I shall continue to write "posts" every day, as the two things, my blog, my short stories, are separate from each other.

My rowing went alot better today than from yesterday, it did take me two (2) attempts to finally get into it, but I did get into it and I had a very good workout, I was pleased.


How is the New Year going for you so far?  I'm sure that there is at least one (1) of you who has broken your resolution and that you are puffing on that cigarette, what can I say, but SHAME on you!

In spite of the two injections that I received this week from Zac, my lungs are still quite full of matter, and I remain wheezy! In addition, I no longer have any water pills so I am retaining quite alot of water throughout my entire body, but especially in my feet.


Throughout the day, I try to stay off of my feet, as much as I can, and then I also try to keep the feet elevated, it is just sometimes difficult to go on with the business of life under these conditions, but I know things will get better, they always do!

Currently, I can no longer wear any shoes, not only do they not fit, but just putting socks on is an exercise in extreme masochism.  My big concern, however, is what will I do when I get back to my home in Canada, wherein the grounds are going to be covered in snow, and I can't wear shoes, or boots? I know, I know, I just won't go outside, yeah right!

I also managed to get some more writing done yesterday (my short story,) formerly called "Olive and O'Niel Only," now tentatively titled "The Lottery." I like the former title and may use it, but if I do go back to it, I will need to change O'Niel to a more commonly spelled and accepted version of the given name.

I used the spelling version of O'Niel because I had a work colleague who spelled his given name that way and I wanted to honour him,  but subsequently, because of the spellchecker on my personal computer, and because of certain people strongly recommending me to use another accepted version, like, "O'Neal"I wrote it, but, the spellchecker and some people keep saying I need to correct it so I have done just that very thing.

There were a couple of celebrity marriages over the New Year holiday, Canada's own Shania Twain tied the knot again, and Valerie Bertinelli, of television's "One Day at a Time,", and "Jenny Craig" fame, also a personal favourite of mine, also got married for the second time around, good luck to both of them!

The study of Science in school was not my best subject, (although I did manage to do well in Biology and Chemistry, don't ask me how or why,) although,  I always passed I never really took much interest in it on a whole level, thus, the television series "Star Trek" also never ever caught my interest, even though I do like many science fiction movies.  I know, I'm complicated.

Anyway,whenever I heard of "vulcan," I thought that this pertained to the television series "Star Trek" not comprehending that "vulcan"  is actually the name of a plant, hypothetical or real.  To account for inconsistencies between Mercury's predicted and observed orbital path, French astronomer Urbain Jean Joseph Leverrier postulated that a tiny, hypothetical planet, which he named "Vulcan," was present within Mercury's orbit.

Le Verrier postulated that the excess precession could be explained by the presence of a small planet inside the orbit of Mercury, and he proposed the name "Vulcan" for this object.  In Roman mythology, "Vulcan" was the God of beneficial and hindering fire, including the fire of volcanoes, making it an apt name for a planet so close to the Sun.   Le Verrier's recent success in discovering the planet Neptune using the same techniques led veracity to his claim, and astronomers around the world attempted to prove the existence of this hypothetical planet.

Sightings of "Vulcan," were reported until 1878, and Leverrier died believing he had discovered another planet.  Eventually, however, the orbital anomalies were explained by Einstein's general theory of relativity, wouldn't you know it, just when I thought I had the names of all the planets memorized!

Between 1866 and 1878 no reliable observations of the hypothetical planet were made.  Then, during the total solar eclipse of 29 July 1878, two experienced astronomers, Professor James Craig Watson, director of the Ann Arbor Observatory in Michigan, and Lewis Swift, an amateur from Rochester, New York, both claimed to have seen a Vulcan-type planet close to the Sun.

Watson, observing from Separation, Wyoming, placed the planet about 2.5 degrees southwest of the Sun, and estimated its magnitude at 4.5.  Swift, who was observing the eclipse from a location near Denver, Colorado, saw what he took to be an intra-Mercurial planet abou three (3) degrees southwest of the Sun.   He estimated its brightness to be the same as that of Theta Cancri, a fifth-magnitude star which was also visible during totality, about six (6 )or seven (7) minutes from the "planet".  Theta Cancri and the planet were very nearly in line with the centre of the Sun.

Watson and Swift were excellent observers.  Watson had already discovered more than twenty asteroids, while Swift had several comets named after him.  Both described the colour of their hypothetical intra-Mercurial planet as "red". Watson reported that it had a definite disk, unlike stars, which appear in telescopes as mere points of light,  and that its phase indicated that it was approaching superior conjunction.

These are merely the more reliable observations of alleged intra-Mercurial planets.   For half a century or more, many other observers tried to find the hypothetical "Vulcan."  Many false alarms were triggered by round sunspots, that closely resembled planets in transit.  During solar eclipses, stars close to the Sun were mistaken for planets.  At one point, to reconcile different observations, at least two intra-Mercurial planets were postulated.

In 1877 Le Verrier died, still convinced of having discovered another planet.   With the loss of its principal proponent, the search for "Vulcan" abated.  After many years of searching, astronomers were seriously doubting the planet's existence.

The final act came in 1915, when Einstein's theory of relativity explained the perturbations of Mercury as a mere byproduct of the Sun's gravitational field. His equations predicted slightly different results than classical mechanics, and exactly in the right amount to explain Mercury's actual orbit.

The difference applies to the orbits of all planets, but the magnitude of the effect diminishes as one gets farther out from the Sun.  Also, Mercury's fairly eccentric orbit makes it much easier to detect the perihelion shift than is the case for the nearly circular orbits of Venus and Earth.

Observing a planet inside the orbit of Mercury would be extremely difficult, since the telescope must be pointed very close to the Sun, where the sky is never black.  Also, an error in pointing the telescope can result in damage for the optics, and injury to the observer.  The huge amount of light present even quite away from the Sun can produce false reflections inside the optics, thus fooling the observer into seeing things that do not exist.

The best strategy for observations would be to wait for the planet's transit of the Sun's disk.  A small, round dark spot might be seen moving,  as happens regularly with Mercury and Venus.

In 1915, when Einstein successfully explained the apparent anomaly in Mercury's orbit, most astronomers abandoned the search for "Vulcan."   A few, however, remained convinced that not all the alleged observations of "Vulcan" were bogus.  Among these was Henry C Courten, of Dowling College, New York.

Studying photographic plates of the 1970 eclipse of the Sun, he and his associates detected several objects which appeared to be in orbits close to the Sun (Miami Herald, 15 June 1970).  Even accounting for artifacts,  Courten felt that at least seven of the objects were real.  The appearance of some of these objects was confirmed by another observer in North Carolina, while a third observer in Virginia saw one of them.

Courten believed that an intra-Mercurial planetoid between 130 and 800 kilometres in diameter was orbiting the Sun at a distance of about 0.1 astronomical unit. Other images on his eclipse plates led him to postulate the existence of an asteroid belt between Mercury and the Sun.

None of these claims has ever been substantiated after more than thirty years of observation.  It has been surmised, however, that some of these objects, and other alleged intra-Mercurial planets, may exist, being nothing more than previously unknown comets or small asteroids.   Today, the search continues for these so-called "Vulcanoid" asteroids, which are thought to exist in the region where "Vulcan" was once sought.  None have been found yet and searches have ruled out any such asteroids larger than about 60 kilometres, too bad!!!

Ross Rocklynne wrote a short story, "At the Center of Gravity", about two individuals trapped inside a hollow "Vulcan."  The story was published in the June 1936 issue of Astounding magazine and republished in the 1963 anthology Exploring Other World. 

A resurge of interest in the theory occurred in the 1960s, and planets called "Vulcan" began appearing in the science fiction of the time.  In the Doctor Who serial entitled "The Power of the Daleks" the setting is the "Earth colony on Vulcan" in the early 21st century.

As aforementioned, Science was not my raison d'etre, but I thought the above was interesting and believe you will concur, at least I hope you do.

Have a good day, and all the best.

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Some sin on Sunday, not I, well, hardly ever!!!!!

Date:                                                     Sunday, January 2nd, 2011
Word of the Day:                                    hogmanay(hog\muh\NEY); a gift given on New Year's Eve

Weight:                                                    206 pounds

Goal:                                                       lose 100 pounds in one year duration

Pounds to lose:                                       74 pounds

Waist Size:                                              41 inches

Rowing Duration:                                   63 minutes, nine (9) seconds

All of you will note by my daily indicator, the rowing on CC this morning did not go well, and it wasn't for lack of ambition, or desire either, it is just my feet and legs have swollen to such large proportions and cause me so much pain, that I had no choice but to stop shortly after I completed just one (1) hour!

Image via Wikipedia

I don't know if I told you but on Friday night Zac had to give me another injection of depomedrol because my breathing had yet again deteriorated.  Well, Zac thought he gave me an injection that should have cleared up my lungs, but to both our dismay, my lungs were still quite wheezy yesterday so last night Zac gave me another needle of liquid prednisone, at least I don't feel pain when Zac gives me the needle, that is something positive.

On the negative side, Zac has suggested to me that we should consider going home, now.  We still have two (2) weeks left, and I really don`t want to return home any earlier than absolute necessary to: the cold, the sleet, the ice and the wind!   I HATE the season of Winter so much but then again, being sick isn`t much fun either, we`ll see!!!

The word of the day would have been excellent had it presented itself earlier, alas, we all have to work with the cards when they are dealt to us, so I shall still use hogmanay, someway, or other, even though, because of it's very definition, it would have been more timely to use it two (2) days ago.


The holidays are now over, and many of us will go into a slump or a mini-depression because of the  transition from being on an incredible high, and doing everything, from visiting everyone, dining out in nice restaurtants, visiting people that we have not seen in a long time and then going back to the boring, familiar grind of life,  but not I!

I like it when I get back to what is normal, I think this stems from that all of my life, normal is not a word that that would define either myself or my life. Normal never has been, and in most likelihood, never will be, a word that springs to my mind, nor anyone else's mind that knows anything of me, and I am not complaining about it,  I'm just stating the fact, which is what I try and do with this blog, state the facts of my life.

New Year's Day wasn't terribly exciting for me,  I made the obligatory telephone calls to extend New Year Wishes, tried to do some writing, watched the launch of Oprah Winfrey's new network, "OWN," and continued in my quest to copy movies from the Cox Cable onto digital video devices (dvd's.)  I have been successful in making some interesting dvds, such as one dvd contains the movies "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Yentl," that is quite a double bill, and on another dvd, I have recorded the movies, "Meet Me In St. Louis," "In the Good Old Summertime" and "Chicago," don't ask me why I put the musical "Chicago" with two Judy Garland films,  I just did!

I am quite pleased with my writing of yesterday,  I started a short story, named "Olive and O'Niel Only" which I am hoping I will be able to incorporate into my novel, "Just Don't Tell My Mother."  As some of you know, I have been writing this novel for quite some time, and I know some of you are thinking, you have been writing it way too long, get on with it already!!!!!!!

Obviously, I write at a very slow pace, part of the problem stems from the fact that I tend to be a perfectionist, therefore, producing just one page can take me over a day to create,  I guess I'm just not a very disciplined, or good writer, but it is what I love to do, so there you have it.

Okay folks, I'm about to eat my words. I've made the resolution, (does it count if the resolution is made on the second of January?,) to write more, as I need to produce more solid material than that which I have been doing if I am ever going to get that book published, but I need your help, and with your help, I think I could be very successful at my writing, sorry, let me rephrase that, I know I can be successful at my writing, after all, my imagination and mind (possible redundancy) are quite fertile, you may have noticed that from your dealings with me,  and from this blog.

Okay, so how can you help?  We all respond to money, I am no exception and I am offering you an opportunity to not only help and keep me motivated to write, but you could also do some good for charity and ultimately, peoplekind.

I am proposing that on a bi-weekly basis, I will write a short story, that may or may not be relevant to my novel, and you can get to read that story, by email, or hardcopy, whatever your preference is if you send me five (5) dollars for it.   Subsequently, I will put that money into a separate bank account, from my own, and then on a chosen date, which I haven't made up my mind will be, I mean this idea is "fresh" the money will be donated to said charity.

I am excited to start this project immediately, and the first date that a short story will be available for you to read is Friday, January 14th, 2011, another short story will follow in two weeks after that, and so on.

I cannot guarantee that all of my stories will be fantastic, clearly they will not be, but they will be original and they will be written by me. I do want to collect as much money as I can, remember it is all for charity, and in order to do this, I need to keep you buying my stories, so I shall do my very best to keep them entertaining, and at the very least, they will be anything but normal, that I can assure you.


So, are you interested in helping out a friend? If so, please leave a comment here at this post, or send me an email.

I am stating here and now, refunds will not be given for any reason, if you don't like the short story, that's how it goes folks, to protest on not being pleased, you STOP purchasing stories, it's that simple. I am also asking that you do not send out any of my stories to your friends, on this, I must insist, not only for my protection and privacy, but why should somebody else get something for nothing, after all,we are only talking about five dollars!  What I have just proposed people is a social contract, please keep that in mind.

You may recall that once before I did try a variation of this theme, which was unsuccessful, but I believe in the old adage, if at first you don't succeed , try, try,again.

I have just made the decison that the charity I will donate the money to is one that relates to asthma and that the money will be donated at the end of this year, sounds good, don't you think?

I do believe that I have given you enough to think about, please think carefully about buying my stories,(surely you have five (5) dollars, now and then that could go towards charity and be instrumental in helping a man achieve his destiny,)  the money will be put to good use and all of us will only benefit by new developments and maybe even finding a cure towards asthma, wouldn't that be amazing?

Topics coming soon:

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Politics

Technology

Some Special Saturday

Date:                                          Saturday, January 1st, 2011
Word of the Day:                        plenipotentiary(plen\uh\puh\TEN\shee\air\ee); containing or conferring full power; invested with full power; as, "plenipotentiary license; "plenipotentiary ministers"

Weight:                                      206 pounds
Goal:                                          lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                          74 pounds
Waist Size:                                 41 inches
Rowing Duration:                       77 minutes, seven (7) seconds

Happy New Year, welcome 2011, bring it on!!!!!!!

Congratulations to the lucky Canadian who managed to win the fifty (50) million dollar prize awarded by LottoMax, your life is going to drastically change, WOW!, what a way to start the New Year!

Image via Wikipedia

I managed to sleep in on this very first day of the year, I sincerely hope that that is not going to be an indicator of how the year is going to go.   I really don't think that it will be a bad year, just becaused I purposely slept in!   I do expect today will be rather slow, much to my delight, as both Zac and I have nothing special planned to do today, nor does anyone else down here, for much as we know.

As a result of my sleeping in late this morning, my early telephone call to my sister Judy was obviously not so early, and when I called her at eight-fifteen ths morning, there was no answer. I can't imagine where Judy would be so early in the morning, but it could be that Judy has just forgpotten to plug-in her telephone, which she occasionaly will do, not to worry.

It is quite warm once again down here in Gainesville, Florida.   (It is quite easily in the eighty (80) degree temperature range today,) and in case you were wondering, Zac and I never get sick of not having to wear coats, boots, and sweaters in the month of January, we quite enjoy wearing shorts and short-sleeve shirts, we like to fit in you know, we don't want everyone to know that we are tourists from Canada!!!!!

Yesterday, I did manage to call some of my friends to wish them a prosperous and Happy New Year, and for the friends that I didn't call yesterday, I think I must have probably spoken to you very recently, I try to spread my long-distance calls out over a couple of days in an effort to reach everyone.

I think I remembered all of you over these past couple of days, nevertheless, if somehow I forgot you, and I'm embarrassed just thinking that I could have forgotten you, please accept my sincere apology and know that I do wish you the very best that life and God can give.

And with regard to telephone calls, I have to try and remember today to call Alexander who is the eldest son of a very dear, dear friend of mine, Melinda, whom I've written about.  I had a little bit of trouble remembering Melinda's name this morning, and I spent over forty-five (45) minutes conducting research to get this little bit of information, let me explain.

For those of you new to my blog, and for those of you whose mind may not be as sharp as it once was, like mine is,  I was told that blogs are supposed to be anonymous, therefore, when talking/writing about people, it is best to change their names to protect their privacy and to avoid any kind of trouble.  Consequently, I have changed the names of the people I write about, the problem is, I sometimes, frequently, forget the new name of the person I talk about, unless of course, I write about them on a daily basis.   I don't think I write about anyone, other than myself on a daily basis, do I? Anyway, I did manage to get the necessary informatiopjn, I guess that is what is most important.

Hmmm., based on my rowing duration on CC this first day of the year, one would think that seven (7) seems to be my number.  Seven never has been my lucky number before, nor have I used it in picking numbers for lotteries, perhaps that's been my oversight, and today, I'm going to give the number seven (7) a chance in things that require my choosing a numeric digit, we'll see if seven (7) is indeed my lucky number.

Sorry, but I'm going back to the subject of the first day of the year, here we go again, as stated in previous posts, I haven't per say made any new resolutions, rather, I shall try and maintain those things that were important for me to do in 2010 and the two biggest of those things were and are:  try to watch what I eat by choosing better foods and continue to exercise on a daily basis!

I think I forgot to tell you that a representative from Dell did come visit me the other day and replaced my keyboard, and whilst I do not have to use the virtual keyboard anymore, I am not fully pleased with the new one as the keys seem to stick, one of them fell off the very first time that I used it  which disturbs me greatly and leads me to believe that my new keyboard  may not be all that "new."

I am giving a little news now that is intended especially for my niece Christina, who suffers terribly from "migraine headaches."  The headaches totally disable Christina and she is unable to do very little, spending most of her time in her bedroom, which she keeps dark (the darkness seems to help.)  I do not suffer from migraines, but I have had one and can state that the one I did have really troubled me, so I think I can partially relate to Christina, but certainly not on the scale that she gets headaches.

Naturally, Christina has had a plethora of tests done, seen all the specialists, tried out all the new stuff, but nothing, so far, has had any great success with my niece and Christina has had to resign herself with the knowledge that this is something that she just has to live with, which is especially diffficult to do when you are trying to raise a tren-year old son, thank goodness that Christina, and Brian (the ten-year old son) live at the home with my sister Yvonne who can help out.

Anyway, today in the news, and this is being said to clear up misconceptions of the past, that though several studies have found that weather conditions like temperature, sunshines, and atmospheric pressure can trigger migraines, a new study finds that there is no strong evidence that this is true. 

Headache diaries from 238 migraine sufferers showed no significant correlation betweern weather conditions and migraine syptoms.  Furthermore, researchers found numerous discrepancies between participants' perceptions of the weather on a given day and actual weather conditions, suggesting that people may be more ecall "bad-weather" on days that they havfe migraines or less likely to do so on migraine-free days, except that a day does not go by wherein Christina does not get a migraine headache.

 Many people who suffer migraines believe that certain weather changes set off their symptoms, but a new study finds no strong evidence that this is true.   is most probably overestimated," researcher Dr. Christian Wober, of the Medical University of Vienna, said. "People search for causal explanations for their migraine attacks, but recall is often biased."

The findings, reported in the medical journal Cephalalgia, add to a conflicting body of research into the idea that weather factors, including changes in temperature, sunshine and atmospheric pressure, are true migraine triggers.  Kennedy published last year in the journal Neurology, for instance, found a correlation between weather changes and emergency room visits for migraine and other headaches at one Boston hospital.  For every increase in temperature of about nine degrees Fahrenheit, the odds of visits for migraine and non-migraine headaches rose by 7.5 percent.


Similarly, the risk of non-migraine headaches increased during the two to three days following a drop in atmospheric pressure.   Low pressure generally means cloudy skies and storms, while high pressure means clear skies.  However, a number of other studies -- including the current one -- have failed to find a clear connection between weather and migraine.

For this latest study, Austrian researchers had 238 adult migraine sufferers keep "headache diaries" for three months.  Each day, the study participants recorded whether they'd had a headache, and if so, the details of their symptoms.  They also rated their exposure to a range of factors potentially related to migraine; that included seven questions on the weather.   The researchers used data from a Vienna meteorological institute to objectively measure the relationship between participants' reported symptoms and daily weather changes during the three-month study.

At first glance, study participants appeared to have a somewhat higher risk of migraine attacks on days with lower average wind speed.  There was also a connection between day-to-day changes in sunshine duration and migraine risk.  Statistically speaking, however,  those links could easily have been due to chance.  In addition, the researchers found, there were many discrepancies between participants' perceptions of the weather on a given day and what the meteorological data actually showed.

The findings, along with those of some past studies, indicate that weather factors are of "very limited" importance in triggering migraines, Wober told Reuters Health in an e-mail.   People may, for instance, be more likely to recall "bad weather" on days they have a migraine, or less likely to do so on migraine-free days, he explained.

One cannot definitely conclude that weather has no impact on migraine at all," Wober said, acknowledging the mixed results of past studies.  Dr. Kenneth J. Mukamal, the lead researcher on the 2009 study that linked weather variables to emergency room visits for migraine, said his study and the current one differed significantly in their methodology, I bet!

It is time now for me to get on with the business of living and you need to also get on with your day, all the best to you, I hope you all have a great beginning to the beginning of this New Year.

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