Infernally Damned Chill

Jack decided to close our bedroom window last night.  Even before I had fallen asleep, the room was so stuffy that I was having difficulty breathing -- the air was smothering.

And of course, overheating beneath the covers became an issue, as well.

I slept little and badly.  I was awake before my brother got up to start readying for work.  And soon after he finally left, I felt I had no choice but to get up, even though it was very little past 5:45 a.m.

I don't know what Jack thought.  She can be so ridiculously touchy at times.  Last evening, she took offence because my reason for not noticing that Mark had bought a new vacuum cleaner was that I stay out of the boys' area, so I was never there to see it.  Remember, Pote had an overnight guest the previous night, and the twain were flopped in the living room yesterday until the friend finally got up and left at some point around midday.  Pote remained on the couch until maybe 2:00 p.m.

So between keeping to myself upstairs, and taking a needed nap, there had been no cause for me to venture into the boys' computer/Xbox/living area.

Anyway, it's true -- I try to stay clear of their space when it's occupied by either of them.  After all, I don't seek out the boys -- rather, I need relief from them.

So she seemed to be a little perturbed over that for the evening.  And it kept me pretty quiet.  I never did bother trying to talk to her about the visit from the father of Pote's friend Sunday night.

After we had retired, her foot was up near my hip, so I reached down just to affectionately hold it in my hand.  However, I accidentally brushed it with my fingers in reaching for it, and she reflexively jerked away, making a noise of exasperation.

At that, I took offence, and stayed to myself for the remainder of the night -- which I think she noticed.

So when I got up so early, she may have read the wrong reason into it.

Whatever the case, after she got up around 9:30 a.m. to ready for work, she said not a word to me.  I probably only got a good-bye kiss from her because I was waiting downstairs to see her off.

Note the weather outside at that point -- I took these two photos just after she had driven off:

As I have been saying, I am right fed up with the unending chilly weather we continuously have to put up with -- the highest daytime temperature I heard mentioned today was 6° Celsius.  Nonetheless, I did have a shed workout -- I was out there before 8:00 a.m.  I think I was still "benefiting" from some elevated body heat due to the night I'd had.

I had hoped to get out this evening to do a little shopping, but the day has fled away -- it is already 9:17 p.m.  When I wrap things up here, I am just going to go downstairs and brush my teeth while watching some TV with my brother.

First, though, I want to tell of something I had been unaware of concerning the 9/11 rescue efforts back in 2001 following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.

Most of the rest of this post is from a veterinarian by the name of Dr. Karen Becker.  First, this video.

In the month following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, over 350 dogs and their handlers went to work in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Search and rescue dogs, police dogs, therapy and comfort dogs from all over the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Europe were brought in to help find survivors at Ground Zero and the Pentagon, and to recover remains.

They were also there to lift the sagging spirits of the exhausted, devastated workers at both sites.

Labs and golden retrievers, German shepherds, border collies, rotties, spaniels, mixed breeds, a lone Doberman and even a few dachshunds became a part of history as they worked tirelessly alongside human rescue crews plowing through the rubble and debris.

Working 12-Hour Days on 'The Pile'

Search and rescue (SAR) dogs must be certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in order to be called to service in a situation like the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

The dogs learn to develop specialized disaster response skills. For example, they are trained to detect odors emitted by a human body under stress. They also learn to distinguish between the scent of a living body and a cadaver.

Work shifts for SAR dogs and their handlers at Ground Zero were 12 hours, and sometimes up to 16 hours of non-stop searching. The dogs scorched their paws digging in the white-hot rubble and debris. They soldiered on through heavy clouds of noxious dust and smoke.

Most SAR dogs will search continuously for a scent until they are called off. They demonstrate a determination and motivation unmatched by man or machine.

Fortunately, despite how long and hard the SAR dogs worked with their noses buried in 'the pile,' subsequent studies of nearly 100 of them indicate they did not suffer from the breathing-related conditions many of the human rescue workers acquired.

But the dogs did not escape their Ground Zero efforts unscathed. Search and rescue work is physically and psychologically traumatic for dogs as well as humans.

Keeping the Dogs Healthy

One dog found two bodies of missing firefighters on his first day at Ground Zero.

According to his human partner, the dog became overwhelmed. He lay down and curled up on the spot. Soon after, he began to shed hair at an alarming rate. He refused to eat or interact with other dogs. He withdrew. His owner decided it was time to retire the 12 year-old German shepherd search and rescue veteran.

Another dog lost 12 pounds in 11 days.

SAR dogs trained to find the living can become increasingly stressed and depressed the longer they search with no result. Their handlers are aware of the importance of morale in these specially trained dogs.

At Ground Zero, it was common for owners to stage mock finds so the dogs could feel successful.

One of the incentives for SAR dogs to find a live person is the hope he or she will play upon being found. Mock scenarios usually result in a few minutes of playtime for the dog who makes the 'find.'

In addition to keeping morale high, it was also important at Ground Zero to handle any physical problems the dogs developed as a result of long hours in extremely difficult terrain. Doggy 'MASH' units were set up at the site and staffed with veterinarians and other animal healthcare workers experienced not only in stitching cuts and setting bones, but also in canine massage and chiropractic.

Trained to Detect Human Trauma

In the days following the September 11 attacks, therapy and comfort dogs were also at work in New York and at the Pentagon.

The presence of therapy dogs at both sites, and especially Ground Zero, was invaluable. Rescue workers found comfort just petting the dogs. They took breaks from the horror to play fetch, or to talk with a dog. These brave men and women were often not able to open up to each other, but it was okay to reach out to the dogs.

According to one unidentified handler, "These dogs have been trained to pick up on trauma and go towards it. So they pursue people they perceive as being in a state of trauma ... We've been visiting a lot of firemen, police, and cleanup detail."

The 9/11 therapy dogs served as an unflagging morale booster for Ground Zero workers. Every soul who worked 'the pile' will agree the presence of the dogs was as important emotionally as it was for search and rescue.

From Terri Crisp, Director of the Emergency Animal Rescue Service in 2001:

"There were two things, the handler told us, that really yanked on his emotions—a small doll pulled from the debris and the gift he and Ranger [his dog] had received from a child. The gift was a small Ziploc bag with two dog biscuits and two Hershey kisses inside, along with a note printed by the child that said, 'Lassie would be so proud of you.' "

Many are Gone Now, but None are Forgotten

Ten years have passed since 9/11. A great many of the over 350 dogs that worked in dedicated partnership with humans at Ground Zero and the Pentagon are no longer alive.

But their spirit lives on … in photos, in stories, in memories … in the hearts and minds of a nation.

Source: Dog Heroes of September 11

Source: Dog Heroes of September 11th: A Tribute to America's Search and Rescue Dogs by Nona Kilgore Bauer

Wow!  I never gave much consideration to the contribution dogs may have made in that horrible aftermath. 

And I'll close with another video.

A Father's Visit

Shortly after 9:00 p.m. last evening, I hiked up to the Wheelhouse Pub liquor store and bought a flat of two dozen cans of Fear The Beer beer.  This entitled me to four scratch tickets -- two of which each yielded me an additional can of beer.

I felt compelled to toss a toonie into the tip jar after that.

Anyway, Mark dutifully retired just ahead of 10:00 p.m.  Right around that hour, I saw headlights pulling into the driveway and figured that Jack had come home.  But soon, there was a rather quiet knock.

It was the father of one of Pote's friends.

Pote had gone out earlier in the day when it was still light.  He rarely tells me anything, so I can only trust that he is at least in communication with his mother.

At any rate, this man -- I shall call him M. -- said that his son had gone out in the early afternoon, supposedly to go to Surrey Place (Central City).  I assumed that he would do so with one or more friends.

But it was now 10:00 p.m., and Surrey Place closes down at 6:00 p.m.

During our talk, M. said that the mother of one of his son's friends has expressed her concern or belief that the boys may sometimes be smoking marijuana.  And M. himself suspects that they are sometimes drinking, for he claimed that once he had to drive to the movie theatre at Guildford to chauffeur his son back home because the boy had managed to get drunk.  (M. did not say if who the boy had gone to the theatre with, so I don't know if Pote was part of the party.)

So I phoned Jack.  I did not have the opportunity to tell her the various things M. had been telling me -- I felt that should be a personal conversation; but she said that she would contact Pote.

She did, and then she phoned me back.  Pote told her that he and M.'s son were at McDonald's -- which rather surprised M., for he said he went there first before coming to visit here.  Jack also told me that the boys had earlier gone to see a movie -- she was already privy to that, but evidently M. was not.

Jack suggested that I pass along Pote's cell phone number to M., which I did -- M.'s wife is often calling to the house phone concerning her son, but we never answer that phone.  We just periodically check for messages.  Jack has told Pote that he needs to give this woman his cell phone number, but it would seem that he has resisted doing so.  Well, that distancing is now at an end -- the parents can call the brat directly.

Anyway, M. left me his own phone number, and set off -- maybe to McDonald's.

Jack had told me that she was with a friend ("Bee" or "Bea"), and probably would not be coming home tonight.

For the past week or so, Pote has been knocking on the house door anytime he has come home after the house door has been locked.  I imagined that he must have lost his key.  So last night, I decided I should probably sit up until he was home, rather than have the young ass pounding on the door and waking up Mark at some later point.

I had originally thought to be in bed by around midnight.

At 12:45 a.m., I phoned Jack's number again to see if she knew whether the punk was spending the night elsewhere, but Jack did not answer.  So I just went to bed.

It was very windy outside -- so much so that the noise was too disturbing for ease of sleep.  Then around 1:00 a.m., I heard some voices, so I hopped up and peered through the bedroom blinds.  I could see what appeared to be at least three males heading across the lawn towards the door.

So I began to pull on my pants, listening for noise downstairs as I did.

To my relief, I did not need to go downstairs.  Pote or whoever it was had let himself in (there was a remote chance that it was older boy Tho, for he had disappeared late in the evening -- whether to retire early, or to go out, I did not know).

At this point, I was so very wound up from the aggravation of everything -- along with the extremely noisy wind -- that sleep proved most elusive.  Jack finally returned my call around 1:40 a.m., and I was no nearer falling asleep.  She said that she would call Pote downstairs and stress that he needed to be quiet for the sake of Mark.  I guess she did so, and then she phoned me back to say that all should now be okay.  I think she said that one of the visiting boys was about to go home.

I don't know when I finally slept, but it was a short sleep.  This part of the country had to set clocks ahead by an hour during the night of Saturday/Sunday (Pacific Time Zone), so dawn now arrives an hour later than it had been.  When I got up, it did not look like dawn had been here for very long, but it was after 8:00 a.m.  The rest of the house was still.

Pote was asleep on the couch in the living room, and his guest was bedded down on the floor.

I made a coffee, and came back upstairs to work at a post edit of my website Siam-Longings.

Between the shortage of sleep, the wretched blowing of wind outside, and my state of hunger, there was no chance that I would be going outside for a morning shed workout.  I was soon feeling distinctly chilly, to boot -- even less motivation to venture outside.

So after finishing my coffee and the post edit I worked upon, I went back downstairs and made a peanut butter sandwich for a breakfast.  Upon eating that, I went back to bed.  It may have been as early as around 9:30 a.m.

I retired fully clothed because of how uncomfortably chilly I felt, and managed to remain in bed for perhaps three hours.  Clearly, some of that was additional sleep.

When I came downstairs, Tho was busy at the computer in the boys' area.  The TV in the living room was on, but Pote was still asleep, whereas his guest was gone.  I turned off the TV, put on the stereo, and made a second mug of coffee.  Then I came upstairs and worked on editing a post of my website Lawless Spirit.

And that brings me to the present -- it is now 2:51 p.m.  There will be no shed workout.  Instead, I will perform the four sets of bent-over alternating dumbbell knee curls that I have recently started doing every two or three days or so; and afterwards, I'll do my quadriceps tendon stretching session.  I suspect that Jack does not work this evening, so I want to be free for her company.  She needs to hear of M.'s comments.

Before I close shop and undertake the 42½-pound dumbbell curls, though, a post or two ago, I discussed mercury amalgam (deceptively named silver amalgam) fillings.  Since that post, I have come across a five-part video interview Dr. Joseph Mercola had with Dr. David Simone, a specialist on the subject of the dangers this mercury poses for dental patients who have these amalgams embedded into their teeth.

If you have even the remotest concern about any of this, then you should at least watch some of the first video to see if you might find value in spending time watching the full interview.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

You can obtain a full .pdf transcript of the interview here.

Just please note:

• Dental amalgam emits mercury vapor after it is implanted in your mouth. This mercury is bioaccumulative and endangers your health in many ways.

• Mercury impairs its own elimination mechanism by inhibiting the manufacturing of glutathione--an amino acid that acts as your body's main heavy metal detox agent.

• Vulnerable populations – such as children, especially unborn ones, hypersensitive individuals, and people with kidney impairments – are known to be particularly susceptible to the toxic effects of dental mercury.

• Safe alternatives to amalgam include resin composite, glass ionomers, and atraumatic restorative treatment (ART).

I like the fact that this Dr. Simone -- who does amalgam replacements himself -- personally does not feel particularly good about any of the current replacements, but the silver amalgam is unquestionably the worst filler by far.

And yes, I watched all five videos.

A Rainy Friday

Jack fooled me last evening -- she came home at some point after 7:00 p.m.  I had thought she was working.  It was prudent that I had published a post early for once.

I could have gone to bed soon after 11:00 p.m., but she seemed content to doze away on the couch, leaving me to sit there watching TV.  I finally had to disturb her and basically encourage her to go to bed -- it was getting darned close to 2:00 a.m. at that point.  I anticipated a rough day was going to follow.

Tho came to disturb us around 8:30 a.m. this morning.  He wanted some money from Jack, and compel her to get up and drive his sorry ass to school.  Pote was eating breakfast and watching cartoons on TV.  He probably left for school within an hour, though, and walked.

Jack had returned to bed after taking Tho to school, whereas I worked at amending a post at my Siam-Longings site, and then had a shed workout.  By about 11:00 a.m., I was ready to return to bed to be with Jack.

I think she finally found her gumption to get up at about 1:30 p.m. -- she broke me out of a dream.

In little more than an hour, she was on her way to work, and I was left to myself.

Well, sort of -- soon enough, Tho was home from school.  But it is just about 9:00 p.m. right now, and there has yet been no sign of Pote.  I just hope that when he comes home, he is alone, and has not brought anyone to spend the night as he often enough does.

Okay, other things!

I am on some sort of mailing list regarding protests against limitations to public access and use of the Internet in Canada. Still, I was surprised to get the following message from Geoff Regan, Member of Parliament for Halifax West:

The Conservative government is getting ready to pass a Copyright Act that has one of the most restrictive digital lock provisions in the world. This bill will make it illegal to copy a DVD so you can watch it on your tablet - even if you are not infringing on copyright.

Liberals have listened to consumers, educators, artists, creators, innovators, and ordinary Canadians and acted transparently to propose amendments that strike equilibrium.

In just 72 hours, Bill C-11 will be reviewed clause-by-clause in a Special Committee before being passed. This is our last chance to amend this bill and defend users’ rights. But we need your help to make them law. Now is the time to stand up for fair and balanced legislation. That's where you come in.

We have seen in recent months that, united, we can force the Conservative government to listen to you.

Please click here to sign right now - and tell the Conservative Government that it should not be illegal to circumvent a digital lock for a purpose that does not infringe on copyright.

Then please forward this email to friends and share the petition on Facebook and Twitter as widely as possible before the committee meets.

Tell the Committee: user rights trump digital locks

http://lpc.ca/digitallocks

Thank you. 

Certainly enough weblinkage happening in that message, what?

I gladly enough added my name to the collection they were amassing, and also posted on Facebook and Tweeted the message.  On Facebook, I introduced the message as follows:

I have never voted Liberal, to my memory; so I am not forwarding this because of any sort of partisanship for their political party. However, if they can launch an effort to get this miserable Bill C-11 amended to narrow what restrictions it can apply on the public -- for there is evidently no hope of quashing the damned thing -- then I have gladly added my name to the petition they are sponsoring.

The public deserves to keep a neutral Internet, and one that is both open and affordable.

For Pete's sake, we don't live in a Communist World, nor a dictatorship -- so get your damned hands off our Internet!

The Conservatives are infuriating so very many people -- I wish they could just be recalled and thrown out of power.

Now, another thing.

On Wednesday, I was forwarded a link to the video that's titled KONY 2012, I believe. I forwarded it yesterday as follows:

By now, you must have heard about this campaign to bring Joseph Kony to the attention of the World in the hope that it will lead to a concerted multi-national drive that results in his arrest and trial.

A typical news account: Web star born: Kony video gets millions of views

Will the campaign work?

Here's the video: KONY 2012

I had intended to post about it yesterday, but I plain forgot.

The third thing I would like to post about relates to certain dogs that are proven to be able to sniff out cancer -- they are even being used to smell the breath of people to cue health specialists about which of these people might have lung cancer.

Two YouTube videos highlight these special dogs -- the two videos are two parts of one report, so watch them both. In total, they are only about 12 minutes.

Part I

Part II

Gizmodo has an article about it from last August titled Dogs Can Smell Cancer on Your Breath.

And the European Respiratory Journal  published a study about it last August, too; however, it requires a membership to access it.  All you can read is a short abstract: Canine scent detection in the diagnosis of lung cancer: revisiting a puzzling phenomenon.

It's definitely fascinating!

But it still doesn't make me stop hating that damned Pit Bull neighbours in back of us put outside periodically throughout the day.  The wretched beast howls, yikes, and barks in the most irritating repetitive sequence that there have been times when I was roaring here in the house with unbridled rage because of the aggravation it brings.  Something will need to be done once the warm weather has come, and we're trying to enjoy our backyard.  

If this useless bugger can affect me as it does while I am shut up within the house, imagine how it will be when the house doors are open, or we're trying to enjoy the sundeck, or spend some time lounging on the backyard lawn?  It will be impossible.  There will be likely no choice but to roar our offence over the fence at the mutt for the neighbours to pick up on, I think.

God, some people don't deserve to live around other people!  Insensitive clots.   

Let's Talk Choppers

My girl Jack came home last night with the promised beer...but she had really come home just to change. She was going back downtown, I guess, and would be remaining away. She said that if it developed that she did not have to work this evening, then she would be home early – otherwise, she'd see me tonight.

I drank two of the beers, and was in bed by 12:10 a.m.

And pretty much awake from about 4:45 a.m.

I seemed to have slept well enough to that point, although I observed that I had been sweating for whatever reason – the interior of my bedding was damp, and coolly so. In other words, I had not been sweating due to being overheated. Something else must have been at the basis for it.

The mysteries of me.

Anyway, I got up around 6:30 a.m., ahead of Jack's sons – both of whom left for school on time, thankfully. I'll be seeing enough of the brats with the advent of Spring Break, damn it.

I've got to win free of this constant exposure to them, ere I descend beyond any hope of redemption.

It did not initially seem that I would be in any state for a shed workout – not without some more sleep first; however, by mid-morning, it was apparent that the workout was indeed doable. I delayed it until nearly 10:30 a.m., though, finding some other things to do first.

I have so had it with this uncomfortably cool, dank weather! The past three nights have hovered around freezing, which is very uncommon for this point of the year in these parts. It's all just becoming too oppressive. I absolutely hate having to do my pull-ups and other exercises in a sweatshirt overtop whatever other top I'm wearing. It's too restrictive, and psychologically makes me think that I am heavier.

The weather forecasters had been promising that today could reach as high as 14° Celsius, but by 4:00 p.m. it was only around 7° Celsius – I'd been screwed yet again. That's how it seems, at any rate. I'm beginning to take the weather personally. Tomorrow is supposed to feature rain, as I expect is to be the case over the weekend. Monday? Rain, with possible snow mixed in – real warm, huh?

Here's a different question: How many teeth in your mouth have silver amalgam fillings? Five of my lower rear teeth do; I would need to use a mirror to see my upper bridge, so I cannot say right now, but I expect similarly.

When I was a kid, I think the dentist my brother and I were taken to just went about filling everything in our mouths. I truly do – his idea of preventive dentistry. Fill 'em before they need it, just to be safe.

Sure, it's possible we may just have had poor teeth. However, for myself, the last time I went to a dentist as a kid was when I was maybe 12 at most – possibly even just 11. I never went back to a dentist until I was 25. The reason I went then was not due to problems I was having. Rather, it was because I happened to be on welfare at the time, and dentistry was free – so I decided to take advantage, for I sure would not have been able to afford anything on my own in those years.

I think I just needed to visit the guy twice that year (1975). He did some work, but nothing major.

Today – over 36 years later – I know I have developed one cavity since then, so maybe there could be more. But my teeth don't ache, and are not particularly temperature sensitive.

But I have not been to a dentist since 1975 when I was 25.

Thus, my suspicion that my childhood dentist willynilly went ahead and filled everything he could get away with.

I bring up all of this because of the content of those fillings that I do have. I have known since the 1970s that silver amalgam fillings contain considerable mercury, but there has never been much I could do about it. Free dental coverage back then did not include any other types of fillings. And to have what I've got now replaced with a safer alternative is beyond my means.

Yet...this video:

There is a transcript of what surely must be some shorter version of the video, but it is a very useful reference – if the link for it is still valid, you can obtain it here.

Anyway, what you'll learn from the video is that roughly half – and maybe even a little more – of those amalgam fillings is deadly mercury. Anytime we chew something, or drink something hot, harmful mercury vapour is released into our mouths – and continues to be released for up to 1½ hours thereafter.

You likely have some understanding that mercury is a neurotoxin, affecting the nervous system. It readily crosses the blood-brain barrier, cellular membranes, and the central nervous system.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that there is NO safe level of mercury. It constantly accumulates within the body. If a person lived long enough, it stands to reason that he or she would ultimately experience the symptoms of this build-up. No doubt, may people do, but it is not being identified as the reason for whatever symptoms are being evidenced.

Check out what the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) recommends be done to safely have silver amalgam fillings removed for replacement with something else: Safe Removal of Amalgam Fillings.

It is not something to be undertaken lightly. And I have read that someone contemplating the process first optimize their health as much as possible beforehand.

IAOMT provides a database of recommended dentists in North America and some other countries: Patients - Find a Dentist or Physician.

As well, covering all of North America (including Mexico), you could check with Consumers for Dental Choice's Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry.

Another directory for just the States is International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine.

And I think The Holistic Dental Association has a collection of dentists within the U.S. and Canada, but searching for one is more cumbersome, from what I see.

Enough! I must get at my quadriceps tendon stretching session, then have a bath and see to some supper. 

Thanks for visiting!

No Loss

My absence these past days is unimportant -- I certainly had nothing meritorious to report.

Let's just start with today, and ignore the previous four.

My mischievous Jack got endearingly randy last night.  I don't know the time, but it was likely around 2:30 a.m. or not too very long thereafter. I'll offer no details, however.  It just happened to be quite cute, and I thought I would mention the incident just as something for me to reflect upon, should ever I feel it needful.

By the way, I had my final communication with that joint injury specialist.  I had been saying that he just does not seem able to comprehend English, or else the guy figures he is too important to waste a few minutes reading any description or clarification I send.  

I believe that his previous response was just to express that he still did not understand my problem, and said it seemed I was trying to report that I was unable to draw my heel to the back of my leg (as opposed to being unable to completely extend my leg).

I congratulated him on his perception as follows:

Exactly right, R***.

I cannot force the heel any farther back without courting so much discomfort that images of the tendon tearing off the patella again become very vivid.

Eight or nine inches to go, but it seems a daunting distance now.

Perhaps it will yet come with perseverance, despite the 16 months that have nearly passed since the reattachment surgery. It's just that it is so discouraging.

That is why I wondered if there were possibly a few exercises that might be even more beneficial than simply applying sustained pressure to the lower leg to force a stretch of the tendon.

If not, then I suppose I am left with no recourse but to forge on with those stretches, despite the slow progress.

His final response?  I say "final," because I will no longer waste my time with the idiot:

I would work on loosening up you hip flexors and strengthening your hip extensors.

Would he, now?  In an effort to somehow get his quadriceps tendon to stretch enough to have a full bend to his knee, he would focus on his hip flexors?

What in Hell has that to do with my knee?!

The boob is clearly not reading what I keep trying to explain.

I'm done with him.  I've wasted enough time on the inattentive "Science Master."

I had an unusual experience this morning.  I got so caught up in a blog post edit, and then the chore of going through the E-mails that had accumulated since last night, that I got far too hungry for a shed workout.  I needed to eat.

However, we had no bread, and there weren't any of Jack's leftovers.  On a remote hope, I checked the freezer, and found a small old loaf of homemade bread.  I believe that it was the last one of several my mother had made.

So I managed to slice off a few pieces, and ate them frozen, dipped into natural crunchy peanut butter.

It was weird, being nourished by some bread that my mother made -- she died March 15, 2006.

Making a lot of headlines today is the story of a pair of 73-year old recluse twins who were found dead in their home.  They had once been Hollywood performers, and were good-lookers in their time.  Yet for whatever obscure reason, neither one of them ever became involved with a man, and it would seem they became spinsters.

Here is the story as reported in the Huffington Post: Patricia And Joan Miller, Twin Sisters, Found Dead Together In Tahoe Home.

I have tried, but I cannot locate any photo but the one all of the news reports have published.  Nor can I find any video record of them.  Reportedly, they had appeared on an old variety TV series back in the 1950s called The Hoffman Hayride.  I found an old 1949 clip of the show, but it doesn't have anything to do with the sisters:

And with that, I'll call it a night. It's just about 10:00 p.m. Jack had phoned me during the restaurant afternoon break to let me know that she had bought me beer, for I am right out. So I hope she's coming home, and doesn't get enticed out for the night!

The Depletion Continues

Well, Jack neither came home last night, nor phoned to let me know what her intention was.  I think I was in bed just after 1:00 a.m., after consuming a mere two cans of beer.

And I was up in the morning before Tho or Pote had gotten up for school.  Unfortunately, I wasn't endowed with the nervous energy that can oftentimes attend sleeplessness.  I knew I would need to return to bed before I could face a shed workout.  But I was already hungry, so I simply made myself a one-slice sandwich of natural chunky peanut butter.

I believe I was back in bed by around 9:00 a.m.

It was a dismal and chilly day, light rain falling throughout.

I already forget when it was that I tackled that shed workout, but at least I put it out of the way.

Jack unexpectedly showed up around 2:00 p.m., laden with quite a load of groceries.  I assumed that she was home to stay, but no -- she said she still had to work this evening.  She just wanted to have about 30 minutes to lie down.

Pote was home soon after, but he did not go upstairs to disturb her.  He and his brother will be off school until Thursday, thanks to a teachers' walk-out.

I don't think Jack quite got her 30 minutes in bed, but I hope it was sufficient to power her through the remainder of her day.  She said that she has all of tomorrow off work, and exclaimed that she'd be able to sleep for 24 hours!

Well, she can have her Saturday in bed -- just sit up with me tonight for at least one recorded TV show, please.

That unnamed joint specialist I have been writing of did send me a brief E-mail last night after my last post.  I would record our communication thus far, but I do not want yet to reveal anything about him that may serve to identify him.

In his message of last night, he proved once more that he cannot be bothered to read what I explain.  Basically, he said something to the effect that it sounded like I need to improve my "terminal knee extension," and then he went on to provide me with several weblinks relating to that achievement.

I must say, I was becoming irritated by the obtuseness of this guy, but at least I respected that this time he went to the effort of offering some aid -- even if he was entirely off track.

So for the third time, I stressed emphatically that extension is no problem -- rather, I was stuck with progress in bending my knee, unable to progress beyond getting my heel and closer than eight or nine inches to my buttock. 

This morning when I logged into my E-mail, I found a further response:

I don't feel I full understand the issue.

I am not sure what "sticking point in its complete bend" means. Is this when you fully flex the knee (bring heel to the seat)?

So yet again, I exercised my English and strove to make the identification of my issue wholly apparent.  The guy has a Master of Science (MS) degree.  I never completed Grade XII.  Why is it he that has such a struggle with our common language?   

Nothing further from him today.

By the way, after Jack left for work, I crashed again and had to return to bed for yet a second nap today.  I don't understand why my resources or reserves are so damned low.  By the time I edit a couple of posts in my automated blogs, I am spent and can do no more work.  Yet there is so much more I should be doing!

I needed to rest up to feel any further hope of productivity; but I also needed to rest before I could dare hope to have a short workout with my kettlebell, or do my quadriceps tendon stretching routine.

All are done at this point in the evening, though, including a bath.

It is almost 9:30 p.m., so I would like to bring this post to a close very soon.  First, however, I would like to report something interesting I read today concerning dietary fat.  I have already become familiar with the claim that people who forsake carbohydrates and focus on a diet of animal meat (and its fat) actually will lose weight.

Well, in a study published early last year that analyzed that data from 21 different studies involving an aggregate total of 347,747 people.  The analysis "showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD (coronary heart disease) or CVD (cardiovascular disease). More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat."

See that short report here.

Yet the media and mainstream medicine still stress to reduce fats from our diets, and eat more carbohydrates -- preferably mostly of the complex order.

There is a 1992 study that unfortunately cannot be accessed without a subscription membership to the Archives of Internal Medicine; but one of the participant researchers -- Dr. William P. Castelli --  said this concerning it:

In Framingham, Mass, the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serum cholesterol...we found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least, and were the most physically active.

This quote is much-circulated.  I got it from the blog Healthy Diets and Science.

But this weight-loss that is attendant with a meat diet is still being widely ignored.  Also being ignored is that the diet bears no relationship to heart disease, either.

Alright, it's 9:53 p.m.  I am now going to go and brush my teeth, crack open my first beer of the evening, and await Jack's "for sure" homecoming.

A Better Day

I stayed home last evening, and made do with the one can of beer I had on supply.  And true to her word, Jack came home with two dozen more for me, showing up around 10:20 p.m.  Mango Thai Restaurant is only open until 9:00 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, I believe.

It was good having her home to watch some TV with, and to retire to bed alongside.

I spent lots of time awake in bed, but I also slept.  It wasn't until Tho was ready to leave for school and had come to get some money from his mother that I decided to get up, leaving Jack in bed.

Young Pote had still been up when I joined Jack in bed last night.  His late nights this week had caught up with him, though, and he never hauled his bony ass out of bed until nearly 10:45 a.m. this morning.  At least, that is when he came to the bathroom to have his shower.  Jack realized what was going on, and had no intention of allowing him to usurp her need for a shower, so she emerged from the bedroom and called him out.

He had no choice but to acknowledge her preeminence.  After all, she had to ready and leave for work, whereas he should have already had his shower a few hours earlier.

Incidentally, at this point, I had already completed a full shed workout.  My own day was looking pretty darn good.

Once Jack had gone on her way to work, Pote left for school without a word to me.

Alone at last!

I even had a fine nap early in the afternoon, lying down from about 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

I never did get a follow-up from that character in Vancouver with the multi-component programme on sale that includes a post-surgical phase to knee injury.  He's the guy I have twice E-mailed to find out if this section includes actual exercises to restore flexibility to the quadriceps tendon and knee, or if it is just passive stretching that is discussed.

He made it very clear in his only response of yesterday (to my first E-mail) that he did not bother to read what I had taken pains to detail for him.

It would not have taken 10 minutes to read all of my E-mail.

So now that he has ignored my follow-up E-mail clarifying why I had contacted him, I have no intention of blindly spending $27 or whatever it was for his programme.  If his time is so valuable that he cannot spend 10 minutes reading an E-mail, then I am not going to waste $27 rewarding him.

And this is why I have neither mentioned his name nor his programme -- I will not advertise a thing for him.

In previous posts, I have spoken about how I wish I had access to raw milk.  In fact, I am convinced that if I lived where I could consume all of the raw milk products that I could ever desire, along with free range chickens' eggs, then I would not require or miss meat of any description.

It angers me that the government bureaucrats in the U.S. and Canada fall over themselves to placate every little upset that CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) milk producers voice in relation to raw milk production and sales.  I read today that in the States, the government admits that between 1999 and 2010, there have been an average of just 42 cases of illnesses each year that could be attributed to raw milk.

Now, granted, raw milk is not available everywhere, so not all of the population is able to consume it.  But a 2007 CDC (Centers for Disease Control) survey revealed that at least 3.04% of the U.S. population does consume raw milk and its products.  In terms of numbers, that was at least 9.4 million people.

Remember, only an  average of 42 people were taken ill annually from what was deemed likely to be their raw milk consumption out of millions of consumers.  I don't even know if it was proven that the raw milk was definitely at fault in every instance -- maybe it was only suspected in some cases.

And note, too, that these are not cases of death. 

Anyway, you can read about this report at the website of The Weston A. Price Foundation.   

If I dwell overmuch on how much Canadians and Americans are under the thumbs of their governments and big corporations, I approach rage.  So when a former co-worker forwarded me this article from the Ottawa Citizen, I had to forward it to some of my own mailing list, along with my personal commentary: Government’s right to do business trumps public servants’ need to know of job cuts in advance: HR boss.

The Conservatives are far too damned arrogant for my liking.  How the Hell they won a re-election majority is beyond my understanding.

But I've got to get off this topic fast, or my evening will be ruined.

Something else that is becoming of huge irritation to me when I am visiting websites is that voice that pipes up proclaiming, "Congratulations!  You've won!" 

One site that sometimes has the commercial embedded is my own E-mail account at Earthlink.  Having that damnable voice piping up throughout the day just because I have my Earthlink E-mail account open on those days in which this specific commercial has been put on rotation, just infuriates me.

If you are unfamiliar with this annoyance, a dialogue on Tumblr does a good job of illustrating it. 

Alright, I want to get clean away from things that bother me so much.

Here is something that is truly interesting.  In fact, how is this sort of thing possible?

First, check out these photos at the Snopes forum: Ranger in Africa.

And then pay a visit to the man's website: Kevin Richardson. Just be sure to go to the link for VIDEOS and look them over.

This guy's clear relationship with these wild animals is 'way beyond my understanding.  The hyenas in particular puzzle me, for I especially despise them.  It has not helped that I recently came across a YouTube video in which a pair of them have come upon a very pregnant wildebeest that of course cannot run away from them.  They proceed to rip at its rear end as it tries to turn away from them over and over again, but they are relentless.  They soon have her opened up, and then extract the wildebeest calf, probably ripping open the mother's vagina/belly in the process.  At that point, one hyena takes charge of the calf for its meal, while the other hyena keeps ripping at the quivering wildebeest that can barely stand any longer -- the hyena seems to even be dipping its snout into the wildebeest's opened rear, extracting material that is abhorrent to witness for the sheer cruelty that watching conjures.

I won't say more -- I said more than I really intended.  I'm certainly not going to post the video at this time.

Let's talk workouts instead, shall we?

I had a session of bent-over single-arm alternating dumbbell curls (four sets for each arm) just prior to starting this post.  No doubt, my bad knee will evidence the strain of the session overnight and tomorrow morning, when I will be sore and especially lame.  But I am still of a mind that the challenge to my knee is probably beneficial, perhaps forcing the knee and quadriceps tendon to work in such a severe fashion that maybe there are undesirable restricting adhesions from the surgery being torn loose.  

Hopefully, at least, this crouching workout will facilitate gaining more of a bend to my knee. 

I still have my quadriceps tendon stretching session ahead, so I need to get at it now, I think.  And then follow that with a bath.  By the way, I have begun to tail off that stretching session with a total of 100 leg-raises.

The final item I will post is receiving an E-mail notice from someone involved with the Surrey School Board announcing that teachers will be off work on a strike Monday through Wednesday of next week.  I can expect Jack's sons for company all the bloody days long, then.  

Related articles

• DeCoster: Raw Milk is Killing Millions of People; Must Be Banned (junkscience.com)
• Liberty Alert: Government Continues to Build Case Against Raw Milk (claimingliberty.com)
• Interview with Vernon Herschberger, Wisconsin raw milk farmer and food rights champion (thebovine.wordpress.com)
• Raw Milk Movement Takes Hits From Courts, Health Officials (npr.org)
• Raw milk more likely to cause illness: study (theglobeandmail.com)