Strange

I've been working steady on The Beast for three weeks and, while I was tired, I wasn't sore.

TODAY, now that I'm done, my leg muscles are sore.

Go figure. 

Feeling Alright

Something I hear over and over about getting old is to get off your but and get moving around.

Well, working on the car is definitely getting me moving around.

Because I am taking my time and staying organized, even bagging and labeling the fasteners between steps, I am doing a lot of schlepping back and forth from the car to the bench.

Getting my steps in!

Something that's surprised me is that I am not near so ravenously hungry as when I just sit about.

One full meal and a snack is enough.

I kinda hope that this shows on the scale. 

 

I'm Having A Week

Went to pick up a patty melt for Harvey.

Tripped on the damn curb of the restaurant and skinned my damn knee like a five year old!

Second time in three days I feel like a fool. 

Different Words Is A Clue

I don't think many politicians understand what "affordable" means.

It means that I have enough money to afford it.

It can mean that it costs less or that I have more money.

Too often, having more money has come with the cost climbing to meet the raise, or surpassing it.

Affordable doesn't mean that I want someone else to pay for it.

Affordable doesn't mean that I don't want the person selling it to not make a profit.

But I keep seeing a strong correlation between how tightly something is regulated and how expensive it is, along with a strong correlation between whether most people pay for it out of pocket or if an insurance company typically pays.  There is also a strong relationship between government supplying the money for a good and the prices spiraling out of control.

Combine any or all of these things and it's logarithmic and/or exponentially more expensive.

Sprinkle in some union influence for the maximum price increases for minimum increase in value.

Just as macroeconomics can be summed up as, "Supply and demand, that's it!":  Eliminating the middle man is one of the surest ways to make the price of something go down. 

Phone Tag

Spent the morning on the phone talking to, almost, every department of Florida DCF and Medicaid finding out why they declined to fill The Boy's prescription to his semaglutide.

Four bots and two live people finally got us to...

The primary care provider didn't have the most recent set of blood work because, for some reason, Quest Diagnostics only sent it to his psychiatrist.

I *THINK* I got it sorted out and everyone pointed at the information they need.

Hot buns crossed.

I now await a call from Medicare, 15 minutes late at time of posting, to get that activated. 

However

If someone is so mentally off center that they're a danger to others, they need to be kept from others.

Not guilty by reason of insanity should lead to a mental hospital.

The stay to be governed by how long it takes them to regain sanity and if they never do, then they stay forever.

An insanity plea shouldn't be a means to escape all the consequences of their actions.

Arguably, a successful insanity defense should yield a worse "punishment" than prison because release is predicated on showing they have, fully, recovered from their psychosis and are safe to be among the rest of us.  That predication makes the sentence open ended and indefinite.

I'm open to the argument that any mental illness that leads to a homicide should end in euthanasia.  I can also see how dangerous that idea is, so I'm not advocating for it.

We've a mental health problem in the US.  We dismantled a working system in the Reagan era, rightfully in too many cases, and did nothing to replace it.

Solid, compassionate, institutions caring for the mentally ill were closed with the callous and abusive.  Thanks Sixty Minutes!

It does need fixed, but who do you trust to do it? 

Ineffective

Study finds that cannabis ineffective in the treatment of PTSD.

I think these kind of studies are looking to see if they cure the disease or lead to a lessening of symptoms over time.

Booze is also ineffective in the treatment of PTSD, but that has not stopped veterans from self-medicating with it for... as long as I can remember being around veterans.

What booze and weed let you do is not give a fuck about it for a while.

Addressing a symptom while ignoring the cause. 

Self medication leads to lots of worse problems, so getting at the cause is a better plan. 

Unremarkable

Got my results, by mail, of my 24 hour heart monitor.

"Unremarkable."

Excellent news.

I remain suspiciously healthy for a man of my lifestyle.

Itchy Itchy

I just did a 24 hour heart monitor.

The tape holding the little sensor pads on was dreadfully itchy.

I sure hope they got a good reading, because I don't wanna do a repeat.

PS: It's precautionary, not because they think there's something amiss.

What Else Would You Call It?

Viagra is a recreational pharmaceutical.

Change my mind.

Oh Gods!

 

This is a capture of a warning from The Gasmask and Respirator Wiki article on the M25 mask.

I wore an M25 often and for hours at a time.

The filter in question is the M10A1.  The, older, M10 filter sometimes contained asbestos.

Pick your brand of lung cancer!

I don't have any lung cancer at the moment, but the list of potential carcinogens (real ones not just shit that causes cancer in California) I was exposed to in tanks is getting longer and longer.

I'd been all worried about exposure to turbo-shaft oil and the gas mask was what I really should have been paying attention to!

Killed By Death

The men in my family don't have a consistent problem that leads to their demise.

Grampa on Mom's side was a diabetic who didn't bother changing what he ate all that much and a one-two blow of dementia and heart problems associated with that neglect got him.  At 76 years old.

Great Grampa on Dad's side had his brain just quit.  85 years old.

Grampa on Dad's side got done in by undetected prostate cancer that had metastasized into his bones and further.  77 years old.

Dad is trucking along at 84 years old and nobody has told me about any health scares he's had.  We don't talk.

Nobody really did the diet and exercise bit, but all of them remained active.  Mom's dad probably should have watched what he ate though.

My dad's sister tells me that high cholesterol is a thing in the family and nothing really gets it under control and the women in the family have been making it to their 90's regular like.

About THAT Age

Because The Lovely Harvey is entering the post-menopause frisky stage and I have been afflicted with a common problem, I inquired as to the availability of little blue pills.

This triggered a, "let's make sure your heart is healthy enough to be frisky," set of tests.

EKG, then a 24 hour heart monitor, then a trip down to Bay Pines for an echo-cardiogram.

DUDE!

Makes one feel like the Grim Reaper is just the other side of the door.

Also in the visit was a cholesterol discussion.

One of the best ways to get my ratios right is to cut out fried foods.

Um...

Until I decided to follow this advice, I had no idea how much stuff was fried.

Holy snot!

I've been eating all wrong. 

Genes

The Boy's psychiatrist ordered a round of genetic testing for him.

She did a bad job of explaining why, but we have the results in and...

It was a allele compatibility test with certain drugs and it actually explains a lot of observed things.

What it showed is that some drugs don't work like they're supposed to work with certain genetic markers.  Some as bad as having the opposite effect as expected.

This is particularly true of sedatives and The Boy.

The good news is that it also identifies drugs that should work correctly with his genetic markers.

It's kind of neat we're learning enough about this stuff to be able to tailor a cocktail just for one person. 

Hopefully Nothing

My odd throat / thorax thrumming, while probably gastro related, is similar enough in my description to trigger further testing.

EKG and take-home heart monitor next week!

Also the VA has their own brand of gun-lock they're giving away if you even HINT you own a gun.  They gave me two and I will add them to the pile. 

Suggested By Marv

We've begun making a list of the pharmaceuticals ads and going to ask our doctors if each and every one is "right for me."

Should be fun.

Upside Downside

On the down side, I might be getting to the age that I need little blue pills.

On the up side, I might need little blue pills at my age!

Chest Pain And Panic Attacks

Since I put The Precious into a tree, my sternum can be put into a position where it will give a good sharp pain.

For a while now, I get bouts of heartburn.

The lizard portion of my brain does not wait for the monkey portion of the processor to report, "it's just heartburn and we bumped the sternum," before hitting the panic button and pumping my system full of adrenaline.

This is a panic attack.

Then I get to ride it out until the chemical dump is burned off.

Yay?

Happily, this is a known issue for me and I have a bottle of, prescribed, meds that change it from a multi-hour ride to about 40 minutes.

Without Packing

While there was doubts about my mental faculty, I abstained from carrying.

It took some getting used to.

Conceal carry is a lifestyle change and I'd made that change.

But...  I sure didn't want impaired judgement causing me to do something stupid.

Now I know I need to keep my nutrition going.

That's A Weight Off

Had my neuro follow-up today!

I do not have dementia.

Why didn't I mention this sooner?  I must have forgot... ;)

Harvey had noticed I was being irritable and forgetful.

I looked up symptoms for dementia and made an appointment at the VA.

They are not fast.

Got electroded.

Played some kindergarten memory games.

Answered some questions.

Came out clear.

Based on my blood work, I was just not getting enough B12 in my diet and the change to the One-TWO-A-Day gummies improved everything.

This has been stressing the shit out of me, because I didn't notice anything amiss; but Harvey sure did.