- Overgrown path to my backyard.
.
Good Morning All.
Been one hell of a nasty week for me.
... Am hanging in there just to p*ss a few people off! hehehe
Received an email telling me I was overdrawn on Wednesday... I got terribly concerned about that one because I watch my dollars quite carefully. Going to my bank site only upset me further. No mistake, save for my own.
I'd neglected to change the full payment on a credit card last month.
How freakin' st0opid is that? (Still mad)...
Nothing to do about that, so went out and enjoyed the water- Still so hot and humid out that the only way to cool off is to seek out water at it's highest level.
Casey came out also- Forgetting her swimsuit. No problem, she just went out to the shed and grabbed one from the rummage sale. She is 22 now, and the suit she grabbed was her own, One from 7th grade.
It fit.
.
.
I would guess that the top might fit a bit... differently though!.
.
Jenne got back home after bringing Isaiah to visit with his dad.
She balances on her butt in the pool.
.
.
.
I tried to do this too,
only to find myself as major entertainment...
Know too that my back does NOT hurt at all in the pool! How cool is that?
.
What happened to the toes in the reflection?
.
.
.
Where have they gone? hehehe
.
I've been using the strips that tell the hardness of the water- what it needs or not. Everything had checked out, save for chlorine content. (I have well water so it would surprise me if it had showed any in it).
I decided to add the pool shock the next morning.
The skies darkened-
.
.
.
.
Time to put the cover on...
.
.
.
.
Thursday morning, going out with Punk, and it was already almost a sticky hot type of day. (Thank God for that pool)! hehehe
Time to check the water one more time before the shock...
I walked around the corner of the house, only to see this.
.
.
.
Talk about freakin' "shock" !!!!
.
Save for not thinking if my suit would fit, I thought I had thought of everything.
Everything else, that is...- EXCEPT....
.
.
for the damned deer!
.
Hindsight. 20/20.. Should have put the chlorine in right away- I don't think it would have been so attractive to them then.
Sad. Mad. Really Bad. ;-)
We will start over- Soon. Expecting a few storms this afternoon (if we're lucky). Even though I hate storms, we need the rains very badly. All the other threats of rain have missed us.
No pool?
Too bad. Back to the basics then.
.
.
Casey on her bike!.
(Needs tubes, but those held for a while anyway)...
.
And me walking with the camera.
I found this in the crack of the concrete by the garage. And it looks like and African Violet?
.
.
Maybe you know what it is?.
Because up here, African Violets are only houseplants....
.
Not too much other news. I fell yesterday morning because of my back. I didn't move for a while either. Punk came to the entrance and lay right down beside me. I'd seen her coming and thought "oh no" because I thought she would try to play or something...
She laid her head down next to mine and peeked at me over her eyebrows. I did get back to my cell phone and 'called' Jenne upstairs.
All is back to normal for now,
except for the reappearance of the beast himself.
.This too shall pass...
Have a grand weekend!
Love to all
XOXO
Me
Anna~Anna
"Flintville Annie"
© 2006-2015
Calling for Venicide...
Pregnancy. Toxoplasmosis. Raw Meat. Gardening Without Gloves. (And Cats.).
| Rating: | ★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
Now that I have your attention:
Pregnancy when you have a cat presents some challenges, but don't worry, none of them are even remotely insurmountable. You just need a little planning and know-how. Cats and babies have coexisted peacefully for thousands of years. This article deals with preparing for a new baby; the second part of this series discusses what to do once baby arrives.
The Facts About Pregnancy and Cat Litter
Because toxoplasmosis can cause birth defects in children, pregnant women sometimes assume that they must get rid of their cat. This is entirely unnecessary, as a few simple measures will thoroughly safeguard against catching the disease, especially from your cat. Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by a parasite that can infect your cat if she eats prey already harboring the parasite or comes into contact with contaminated soil. Toxoplasmosis is rare among indoor-only cats.
Note that cats who contract toxoplasmosis do not always show symptoms. To prevent getting infected with the disease, whenever you scoop or clean the litter box, wear disposable gloves and wash your hands immediately afterward. Even better, get a friend or adult member of the family to take over litter box maintenance while Mom is pregnant.
Eating raw or undercooked meat is the most common way that humans contract toxoplasmosis. If you eat meat, wash off all surfaces and utensils that touched raw meat, and don't prepare meat and raw foods like salads on the same cutting board. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw meat.
If you garden, wear gloves when working in the soil. The toxoplasmosis parasite lives in the dirt, so also wash your hands well after gardening.
Many people naturally acquire an immunity to toxoplasmosis, and will not pass it on to their unborn child. In fact, the chances are that you have already been exposed to toxoplasmosis by handling raw meat or gardening without gloves. According to the CDC, "More that 60 million men, women, and children in the U.S. carry the Toxoplasma parasite, but very few have symptoms because the immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness."
Your doctor can test to see if you are in this group. [That is, IF you have access to health care]
First, some common questions and myths. No, cats do not suck the air out of a baby; that is an old wives tale. Yes, it is theoretically possible for a cat to inadvertently suffocate a baby, although there are no reliable reports of that ever occurring, and it's easy enough to block kitty's access to the crib (more details below).
Let's look now at how we can get your cat to accept your new baby with open paws. From your cat's point of view, a baby who shows up with no advance warning is a loud, threatening, and attention-stealing invader. It doesn't have to be this way. Babies and cats can be buddies. The key to getting a cat to accept a major jolt to her routine is soften the blow and introduce the change gradually. In the case of a new baby, you want your cat to be as used to baby stuff as she can possibly be beforehand, so that when your baby comes home, kitty is not totally shocked by this very interesting human life form.
* Get kitty used to baby sounds and smells. Long before the big day, wear the baby lotions and powders that you will be using. Let kitty sniff you, and help her develop positive assocations with the new scents by praising her and giving her a treat.
* Get a recording of a baby crying - possibly from a neighbor or relative who has a baby. You can also tape babies crying in a pediatrician's waiting room. Play the tape for kitty, starting with low volume and short length, and working up to full volume and duration. Again use positive attention and treat rewards.
* If at all possible, invite a friend or family member with a baby to come over, with their baby, for a short visit, followed by a longer visit. Or two or three. During the visits, let kitty walk around, but it's best to have baby sitting on a lap.
* A baby seat or playpen might work well, also. Play with your cat as long as you don't bother or scare the baby.
* If you're building or preparing a nursery, give kitty a chance to become used to the new setup one step at a time. Let her get her curiosity throughly out of the way. Remember to keep up your daily interactive play sessions. Make kitty feel like she's a part of all this, not an outsider.
* Set up the crib long in advance of baby's homecoming. Make the crib uninviting (to a cat). Fill several soda cans with pennies and tape the openings of each can. Fill the crib with these soda cans. If this doesn't deter kitty, you can buy netting that fits over the crib.
* You can also block access to baby's room by installing an interior screen door - this is actually quite effective.
* Give kitty plenty of exposure to toys, mobiles, and other baby accoutrements. You want all these things to have lost their novelty for her weeks before baby comes home.
Avoid Too Many Changes
Keep your cat's routine the same as much as possible. This won't always be easy between the hubub of visitors and houseguests and preparing for a new baby, but the effort is well worth it. A predictable routine reduces cats' stress and prevents a host of problems. Ask others to help make sure that your cat gets fed, brushed, and played with in the usual manner.
Don't go overboard and give your cat extra, compensating attention prior to the baby's arrival because it will be impossible to keep that up once you have a baby at home to take care of. But do enlist family members to help kitty feel like a valued member of the family. Let all the adults and kids in your household know how they can help keep both kitty and baby safe, happy, and on peaceful terms.
From here: http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/a/humanpregnancy.htm
*****************
I am not posting this to tell anyone to take chances- Only for your information...
XOXO
Me
Why We [ALL] Need a Public Health-Care Plan -
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124580516633344953.html
Hi All;
There is no need to read the article - As I know many of you are apolitical, so a brief synopsis here is necessary.
The best to learn from this article:
"Critics say the public option is really a Trojan horse for a government takeover of all of health insurance.
NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. It's an option. No one has to choose it.
Individuals and families will merely be invited to compare costs and outcomes. Presumably they will choose the public plan only if it offers them and their families the best deal -- more and better health care for less."
*****************************
By ROBERT B. REICH, WSJ.com
Why has health-care reform stalled in Congress? Democrats, after all, control both Houses, and President Obama, whose popularity remains high, has made universal health care his No. 1 priority. What's more, an overwhelming majority of the public wants it. In the most recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 76% of respondents said it was important that Americans have a choice between a public and private health-insurance plan. In last week's New York Times/CBSNews poll, 85% said they wanted major health-care reforms.
So why the stall? Mainly because Congress can't decide how to pay for it. The hardest blow came last week when the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the trial-balloon bill emerging from the Senate Health Committee would cost a whopping $1 trillion over 10 years and would cover only a fraction of Americans currently without health care. According to the CBO, another tentative bill, this one coming out of the Senate Finance Committee, would cost even more -- $1.6 trillion.
That spells political trouble. Republicans who never batted an eye over George W. Bush's wild spending habits have become born-again fiscal hawks. Blue Dog Democrats are nervous about mounting deficits. Even the president admits that the flow of red ink in future budgets keeps him up at night.
No one wants to raise taxes or even be accused of thinking about the subject. But honest politicians have to admit that universal health care will require additional revenues. The likeliest sources are limits on certain tax deductions and a cap on tax-free employer-provided health care.
Would the public go along? The most intriguing finding in last week's New York Times/CBS poll was that most respondents said they would be willing to pay higher taxes to ensure everyone had health insurance.
But before we even get to this point, it's important to recognize that those terrifying CBO cost projections significantly overstate the costs. They did not include potential cost savings from the lynchpin of health-care cost containment: a so-called public option that would give people who don't get health care from their employer the choice of a public insurance plan. Why? For the simple reason that the Senate committees hadn't yet agreed on a public option. Yet without a public option, the other parties that comprise America's non-system of health care -- private insurers, doctors, hospitals, drug companies, and medical suppliers -- have little or no incentive to supply high-quality care at a lower cost than they do now.
Which is precisely why the public option has become such a lightening rod. The American Medical Association is dead-set against it, Big Pharma rejects it out of hand, and the biggest insurance companies won't consider it. No other issue in the current health-care debate is as fiercely opposed by the medical establishment and their lobbies now swarming over Capitol Hill. Of course, they don't want it. A public option would squeeze their profits and force them to undertake major reforms. That's the whole point.
Critics say the public option is really a Trojan horse for a government takeover of all of health insurance. But nothing could be further from the truth. It's an option. No one has to choose it. Individuals and families will merely be invited to compare costs and outcomes. Presumably they will choose the public plan only if it offers them and their families the best deal -- more and better health care for less.
Private insurers say a public option would have an unfair advantage in achieving this goal. Being the one public plan, it will have large economies of scale that will enable it to negotiate more favorable terms with pharmaceutical companies and other providers. But why, exactly, is this unfair? Isn't the whole point of cost containment to provide the public with health care on more favorable terms? If the public plan negotiates better terms -- thereby demonstrating that drug companies and other providers can meet them -- private plans could seek similar deals.
But, say the critics, the public plan starts off with an unfair advantage because it's likely to have lower administrative costs.
That may be true -- Medicare's administrative costs per enrollee are a small fraction of typical private insurance costs -- but here again, why exactly is this unfair? Isn't one of the goals of health-care cost containment to lower administrative costs?
If the public option pushes private plans to trim their bureaucracies and become more efficient, that's fine.
Critics complain that a public plan has an inherent advantage over private plans because the public won't have to show profits. But plenty of private plans are already not-for-profit. And if nonprofit plans can offer high-quality health care more cheaply than for-profit plans, why should for-profit plans be coddled? The public plan would merely force profit-making private plans to take whatever steps were necessary to become more competitive.
Once again, that's a plus.
Critics charge that the public plan will be subsidized by the government. Here they have their facts wrong. Under every plan that's being discussed on Capitol Hill, subsidies go to individuals and families who need them in order to afford health care, not to a public plan. Individuals and families use the subsidies to shop for the best care they can find. They're free to choose the public plan, but that's only one option. They could take their subsidy and buy a private plan just as easily. Legislation should also make crystal clear that the public plan, for its part, may not dip into general revenues to cover its costs. It must pay for itself. And any government entity that oversees the health-insurance pool or acts as referee in setting ground rules for all plans must not favor the public plan.
Finally, critics say that because of its breadth and national reach, the public plan will be able to collect and analyze patient information on a large scale to discover the best ways to improve care. The public plan might even allow clinicians who form accountable-care organizations to keep a portion of the savings they generate. Those opposed to a public option ask how private plans can ever compete with all this. The answer is they can and should. It's the only way we have a prayer of taming health-care costs. But here's some good news for the private plans. The information gleaned by the public plan about best practices will be made available to the private plans as they try to achieve the same or better outputs.
As a practical matter, the choice people make between private plans and a public one is likely to function as a check on both. Such competition will encourage private plans to do better -- offering more value at less cost. At the same time, it will encourage the public plan to be as flexible as possible. In this way, private and public plans will offer one another benchmarks of what's possible and desirable.
Mr. Obama says he wants a public plan. But the strength of the opposition to it, along with his own commitment to making the emerging bill "bipartisan," is leading toward some oddball compromises. One would substitute nonprofit health insurance cooperatives for a public plan. But such cooperatives would lack the scale and authority to negotiate lower rates with drug companies and other providers, collect wide data on outcomes, or effect major change in the system.
Another emerging compromise is to hold off on a public option altogether unless or until private insurers fail to meet some targets for expanding coverage and lowering health-care costs years from now. But without a public option from the start, private insurers won't have the incentives or system-wide model they need to reach these targets. And in politics, years from now usually means never.
To get health care moving again in Congress, the president will have to be clear about how to deal with its costs and whether and how a public plan is to be included as an option.
The two are intimately related.
Enough talk. He should come out swinging for the public option.
*****************************
Dear Mr. President;
Please come out swinging.
46 MILLION do not have access to any insurances.
How many have simply chose "to quit going to the doctor" as I read on another blog? (Truly, there is nothing 'simple' about that).
That makes 46 million reasons to be on board with Mr. President.
XOXO
Me
Save your comments, they will be open in the blog(s) that follow...
Hi All;
There is no need to read the article - As I know many of you are apolitical, so a brief synopsis here is necessary.
The best to learn from this article:
"Critics say the public option is really a Trojan horse for a government takeover of all of health insurance.
NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. It's an option. No one has to choose it.
Individuals and families will merely be invited to compare costs and outcomes. Presumably they will choose the public plan only if it offers them and their families the best deal -- more and better health care for less."
*****************************
By ROBERT B. REICH, WSJ.com
Why has health-care reform stalled in Congress? Democrats, after all, control both Houses, and President Obama, whose popularity remains high, has made universal health care his No. 1 priority. What's more, an overwhelming majority of the public wants it. In the most recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 76% of respondents said it was important that Americans have a choice between a public and private health-insurance plan. In last week's New York Times/CBSNews poll, 85% said they wanted major health-care reforms.
So why the stall? Mainly because Congress can't decide how to pay for it. The hardest blow came last week when the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the trial-balloon bill emerging from the Senate Health Committee would cost a whopping $1 trillion over 10 years and would cover only a fraction of Americans currently without health care. According to the CBO, another tentative bill, this one coming out of the Senate Finance Committee, would cost even more -- $1.6 trillion.
That spells political trouble. Republicans who never batted an eye over George W. Bush's wild spending habits have become born-again fiscal hawks. Blue Dog Democrats are nervous about mounting deficits. Even the president admits that the flow of red ink in future budgets keeps him up at night.
No one wants to raise taxes or even be accused of thinking about the subject. But honest politicians have to admit that universal health care will require additional revenues. The likeliest sources are limits on certain tax deductions and a cap on tax-free employer-provided health care.
Would the public go along? The most intriguing finding in last week's New York Times/CBS poll was that most respondents said they would be willing to pay higher taxes to ensure everyone had health insurance.
But before we even get to this point, it's important to recognize that those terrifying CBO cost projections significantly overstate the costs. They did not include potential cost savings from the lynchpin of health-care cost containment: a so-called public option that would give people who don't get health care from their employer the choice of a public insurance plan. Why? For the simple reason that the Senate committees hadn't yet agreed on a public option. Yet without a public option, the other parties that comprise America's non-system of health care -- private insurers, doctors, hospitals, drug companies, and medical suppliers -- have little or no incentive to supply high-quality care at a lower cost than they do now.
Which is precisely why the public option has become such a lightening rod. The American Medical Association is dead-set against it, Big Pharma rejects it out of hand, and the biggest insurance companies won't consider it. No other issue in the current health-care debate is as fiercely opposed by the medical establishment and their lobbies now swarming over Capitol Hill. Of course, they don't want it. A public option would squeeze their profits and force them to undertake major reforms. That's the whole point.
Critics say the public option is really a Trojan horse for a government takeover of all of health insurance. But nothing could be further from the truth. It's an option. No one has to choose it. Individuals and families will merely be invited to compare costs and outcomes. Presumably they will choose the public plan only if it offers them and their families the best deal -- more and better health care for less.
Private insurers say a public option would have an unfair advantage in achieving this goal. Being the one public plan, it will have large economies of scale that will enable it to negotiate more favorable terms with pharmaceutical companies and other providers. But why, exactly, is this unfair? Isn't the whole point of cost containment to provide the public with health care on more favorable terms? If the public plan negotiates better terms -- thereby demonstrating that drug companies and other providers can meet them -- private plans could seek similar deals.
But, say the critics, the public plan starts off with an unfair advantage because it's likely to have lower administrative costs.
That may be true -- Medicare's administrative costs per enrollee are a small fraction of typical private insurance costs -- but here again, why exactly is this unfair? Isn't one of the goals of health-care cost containment to lower administrative costs?
If the public option pushes private plans to trim their bureaucracies and become more efficient, that's fine.
Critics complain that a public plan has an inherent advantage over private plans because the public won't have to show profits. But plenty of private plans are already not-for-profit. And if nonprofit plans can offer high-quality health care more cheaply than for-profit plans, why should for-profit plans be coddled? The public plan would merely force profit-making private plans to take whatever steps were necessary to become more competitive.
Once again, that's a plus.
Critics charge that the public plan will be subsidized by the government. Here they have their facts wrong. Under every plan that's being discussed on Capitol Hill, subsidies go to individuals and families who need them in order to afford health care, not to a public plan. Individuals and families use the subsidies to shop for the best care they can find. They're free to choose the public plan, but that's only one option. They could take their subsidy and buy a private plan just as easily. Legislation should also make crystal clear that the public plan, for its part, may not dip into general revenues to cover its costs. It must pay for itself. And any government entity that oversees the health-insurance pool or acts as referee in setting ground rules for all plans must not favor the public plan.
Finally, critics say that because of its breadth and national reach, the public plan will be able to collect and analyze patient information on a large scale to discover the best ways to improve care. The public plan might even allow clinicians who form accountable-care organizations to keep a portion of the savings they generate. Those opposed to a public option ask how private plans can ever compete with all this. The answer is they can and should. It's the only way we have a prayer of taming health-care costs. But here's some good news for the private plans. The information gleaned by the public plan about best practices will be made available to the private plans as they try to achieve the same or better outputs.
As a practical matter, the choice people make between private plans and a public one is likely to function as a check on both. Such competition will encourage private plans to do better -- offering more value at less cost. At the same time, it will encourage the public plan to be as flexible as possible. In this way, private and public plans will offer one another benchmarks of what's possible and desirable.
Mr. Obama says he wants a public plan. But the strength of the opposition to it, along with his own commitment to making the emerging bill "bipartisan," is leading toward some oddball compromises. One would substitute nonprofit health insurance cooperatives for a public plan. But such cooperatives would lack the scale and authority to negotiate lower rates with drug companies and other providers, collect wide data on outcomes, or effect major change in the system.
Another emerging compromise is to hold off on a public option altogether unless or until private insurers fail to meet some targets for expanding coverage and lowering health-care costs years from now. But without a public option from the start, private insurers won't have the incentives or system-wide model they need to reach these targets. And in politics, years from now usually means never.
To get health care moving again in Congress, the president will have to be clear about how to deal with its costs and whether and how a public plan is to be included as an option.
The two are intimately related.
Enough talk. He should come out swinging for the public option.
*****************************
Dear Mr. President;
Please come out swinging.
46 MILLION do not have access to any insurances.
How many have simply chose "to quit going to the doctor" as I read on another blog? (Truly, there is nothing 'simple' about that).
That makes 46 million reasons to be on board with Mr. President.
XOXO
Me
Save your comments, they will be open in the blog(s) that follow...
Record Temps, Green Bay
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20090624/GPG0101/90624044/1207/GPG01/Record-temperatures-could-be-set-today-in-Green-Bay
We are SO not used to this...
XOXO
Me
************
Record temperatures could be set today in Green Bay
June 24, 2009
Green Bay saw temperatures reach a record high Tuesday and might see a repeat today.
The thermometer hit 95 degrees at 5 p.m. Tuesday, passing the record of 94 degrees set in 1934.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service at Austin Straubel International Airport in Ashwaubenon say today’s temperature is likely to top out somewhere between 91 and 96 degrees.
The record is 95 degrees is 1937.
The National Weather Service is advising residents in the central and northeastern parts of the state to take precautions to avoid heat stroke, including wearing loose fitting, light colored clothing and drinking plenty of fluids.
Forecasters said they expect a cold front to move into the region today and sag to the south. Thunderstorms are expected to come with that front and a few stronger storms may produce small hail, gusty winds and heavy rainfall.
Storms are expected to return to the region late Friday night through Saturday night.
A spokesman at Wisconsin Public Service Corp. said energy use to run air conditioners today isn’t expected to set any records.
--Tony Walter/Press-Gazette
POOL!
- .
Isaiah on the ladder-
We ended up turning the hose on again anyway-
After that, his legs weren't long enough to climb in/out.
.
.
.
Good Morning All...
Hot enough for you? Nasty yesterday- and 83% humidity.
(But it was 100% humid in the pool, and no one minded)! hehehe
I had forgotten one very important thing as I covered all aspects of this pool thing.
And that was my swim suit...
I have been faithfully bringing it along to these various hotels that Casey and I had stayed in; (just in case). But truth be known, I haven't even unpacked it in years.
Nor have I had it on...
Jenne and Isaiah were already out playing by the time I'd finished my own playing on my blog yesterday.
.
.
Punk, having no pool of her own, was stuck on the inside.
.
.
How pitiful is that?!?.
.
And it was time for me to face my swimsuit...
I took the little plastic bag out from the closet in the bathroom, and removed the suit. (It looked much smaller than what I'd remembered)...
But then it dawned on me that no one, save for my loved ones, would even see me in it. And I quickly disrobed. (Yargh)!
Grabbing this mere suit I cautiously put one leg in... Then another.
Then came time to yank it up... - ...Much to my amazement, the darn thing fit perfectly!
There are no pictures. (You'll just have to take my word for it).
But there are plenty more pictures...
Jenne had to re~inflate the tube doughnut.
.
.
.
.
Casey arrived...
.
.
.
.
She got suited up quickly, and showed off her beach towel...
.
.
.
.
Punk was allowed to come out... - And it was discovered that if you have a pull toy in the pool this dog puts it to very good use!
.
.
.
.
Casey tried to drown Punk...
.
.
.
.
Punk tried to drown herself...
.
.
.
.
Oh this water is SO lovely!
But the sun was very harsh.
I even made the dog get out of the pool for a while to put her in the shade.
She was NOT a happy camper....
.
.
.
.
.
Isaiah needed a drink of water, so we turned the hose on...
.
.
.
And what fun to be had while the pool filled a bit more!
.
.
.
.
He played so long in that little pool...
.
.
.
.
And it was time for this little prunes nap... - .
- .
- .
.
.
.
hehehe
.
I hope you are all staying safe and cool somehow.
I have already turned the furnace on- NOT the heat, just the fan. If you have forced air heat, you can do the very same- With my house, it brings the cool air from the basement and other vents and redistributes it around the whole house. (Yes, I still have the window A/C on).
Love to all.
XOXO
Me
Tips for beating the heat... ########### Dress for the heat. Wear lightweight, light-colored clothing. ~~It is also a good idea to wear hats or to use an umbrella. ########### Drink water, even if you're not thirsty. ~~Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which dehydrate the body. ########### Eat small meals more frequently. ~~Avoid high-protein foods, which increase metabolic heat. ########### Slow down. ~~Avoid strenuous activity or do it during the coolest part of the day. ########### Stay indoors when possible. ~~If air conditioning is not available, stay on the lowest floor out of the sunshine. (Remember that electric fans do not cool, they simply circulate the air). ########### Be a good neighbor. ~~During heat waves, check on elderly residents and those who do not have air conditioning. ########### Learn Red Cross first aid and CPR so you know what to do in an emergency situation. — ~~American Red Cross
National HIV Testing Day 6/27/09
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2009/niaid-23.htm
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 Contact: Laura Sivitz 301-402-1663
Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health on National HIV Testing Day, June 27, 2009
The importance of National HIV Testing Day becomes clear when one recognizes that an estimated one-fifth of all Americans infected with HIV do not know they are infected.[1] Among Americans who have been tested for the virus, more than one-third of those who learned they are infected became aware of their status less than a year before being diagnosed with AIDS — long after the optimal time to begin antiretroviral therapy.[2]
Not knowing one�s HIV status endangers one�s health and the health of one�s sexual partners. By getting tested for the virus and learning one�s HIV status soon after infection, treatment can begin early, substantially delaying the development of HIV-related illness and prolonging life.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, urges everyone ages 13 to 64 to get tested for HIV as part of their routine health care, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends. People at high risk for HIV infection — such as injection drug users, gay and bisexual men, female partners of bisexual men, and people with multiple sexual partners — should get tested at least once a year.
Widespread, voluntary HIV testing and treatment for infected individuals could benefit both people with HIV and their communities. Studies have shown that most people who learn they are infected with HIV adjust their behavior to avoid transmitting the virus to others.[3] In addition, when HIV-infected people start antiretroviral therapy and take it consistently, the treatment reduces the amount of virus in their blood and other bodily fluids to very low levels. Not only does this protect their health, but it may also make them less infectious to others; a NIAID clinical trials network is in the process of testing this hypothesis.
This community-level benefit of HIV testing and treatment could assume greater importance in the future as scientists examine a compelling new model for HIV prevention. This mathematical model, developed by scientists at the World Health Organization, predicts that within 10 years of implementation, a program of universal, voluntary, annual HIV testing and immediate treatment for those who test positive could reduce new cases of HIV by as much as 95 percent.[4]The model further predicts that this strategy, called test and treat, could end the HIV pandemic within 50 years. However, the test and treat model contains many assumptions that need to be validated and raises issues that require broad public debate. NIAID has begun conducting research to validate some of these assumptions and address some of these issues.
Meanwhile, CDC has launched an important initiative, Act Against AIDS, designed to dramatically increase the number of Americans who get tested for HIV and who take action to protect their health and the health of their sexual partners. To learn more, go to http://www.cdc.gov/nineandahalfminutes/.
On this year�s National HIV Testing Day, let us remove any stigma and fear that surround HIV testing and recognize its lifesaving value. By doing so, we are taking a critical step in containing the terrible scourge of HIV, protecting our own health as well as the health of our communities. To find an HIV testing site near you, go to www.hivtest.org. For more information about HIV testing, go to http://www.aids.gov/testing/index.html.
Dr. Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Media inquiries can be directed to the NIAID Office of Communications at 301-402-1663, niaidnews@niaid.nih.gov.
NIAID conducts and supports research — at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide — to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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Photo from here, http://www.cdc.gov/nineandahalfminutes/
along with the following info:
The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States Is REAL—Get the Facts!
Before we can stop any epidemic, we first have to recognize the magnitude of the disease. HIV is still a threat across the United States. And even though there are treatments to help people with HIV live longer than ever before, AIDS is still a significant health issue. Surprised? Get the facts:
* Every 9½ minutes (on average), someone in the United States is infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
* In 2006, an estimated 56,300 people became infected with HIV.
* More than 1 million people in the United States are living with HIV.
* Of those 1 million people living with HIV, 1 out of 5 do not know they are infected. (People who have HIV but don't know it can unknowingly pass the virus to their partners.)
* Despite new therapies, people with HIV still develop AIDS.
* Over 1 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with AIDS.
* More than 14,000 people with AIDS still die each year in the United States.
Take control of your health. http://www.hivtest.org/ to find where to go.
You can also call 1-800-CDC-INFO (1800-232-4636) for assistance in locating a testing site.
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Now go back and read that 1st paragraph. Scary, isn't it?
Have you ever gotten tested? Why? Why not?
I did. Many years ago because a man I had been with was less than honorable. My results came back negative, but I got an earful on how to conduct myself; even if I "thought" I was in a monogamous relationship.
That one little chat makes me think twice to this day.
XOXO
Me
Migraines with Aura in Middle Age Associated with Late-Life Brain Lesions
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2009/nia-23.htm
Embargoed for Release Tuesday, June 23, 2009 4:00 p.m. EDT
Contact: Barbara Cire 301-496-1752
Migraines with Aura in Middle Age Associated with Late-Life Brain Lesions
Women who suffer from migraine headaches in middle age accompanied by neurological aura (visual disturbances, dizziness or numbness that can precede migraines) are more likely to have damage to brain tissue in the cerebellum later in life, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the Icelandic Heart Association in Reykjavik. Researchers noted that many people have these types of "silent" brain lesions, but their effect on physical and cognitive function in older people is not well studied.
The study appears in the June 24, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers found that women are more susceptible than men to localized brain tissue damage identified on magnetic resonance images (MRI) and that women who reported having migraines with aura were almost twice as likely to have such damage in the cerebellum as women who reported not having headaches.
Researchers noted that while the study shows an association in women between migraine and cerebellar tissue damage later in life, the functional significance of such brain changes remains an open question. The cerebellum is located in the lower back side of the brain and is involved in functions such as motor activity, balance and cognition.
"This long-term population-based study increases interest in determining whether migraine could be a risk factor for brain lesions with clinical consequences over time," said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D. "Further research should help us better understand what these changes may mean for individuals and for brain function with age."
Migraine headaches affect approximately 11 percent of adults and 5 percent of children worldwide and are more common in women than in men. Migraines are often accompanied by extreme sensitivity to light and sound, nausea and vomiting. Some individuals with migraine also experience neurological aura symptoms, including temporary visual disturbances that can appear as flashing lights, zig-zag lines or loss of vision.
This study examined migraine headaches in a community-dwelling cohort of older people. Between 1972 and 1986, when participants were middle-aged (average age 50.9), they were asked about type and frequency of headaches. MRI scans of the cortex and cerebellum brain regions were conducted on 4,600 study participants between 2002 and 2006, when participants� average age was 76.2.
Participants were divided into four groups: migraine headache with aura once or more per month, migraine headache without aura, nonmigraine headache and no headache. The researchers found that overall, 17 percent of the women were classified as having migraine headaches, including 10.3 percent with migraine with aura. Only 5.7 percent of men were classified as having migraine.
Overall, MRI scans revealed the presence of any brain lesion in 39.3 percent of the men and 24.6 percent of the women. Prevalence of cerebellar lesions in women with migraine with aura was 23.0 percent vs. 14.5 percent for women not reporting headaches. There was no statistically significant difference in prevalence of these lesions in men (19.3 vs. 21.3 percent).
"After adjusting for risk factors for cardiovascular disease, transient ischemic attack or stroke in middle age or late life, we found that women who suffered from migraines with aura in middle age had an almost twofold increased risk of brain lesions in the cerebellum later in life," said Lenore Launer, Ph.D., senior author and chief of the neuroepidemiology section of the Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry in the NIA�s Intramural Research Program. "We are currently investigating the clinical implications of these brain lesions in this group of individuals. We are also interested in whether this association represents a cause and effect relationship or whether some other factors are responsible for the apparent association. The findings from this study are consistent with those from a previous study conducted in younger people using a similar protocol."
Participants were part of the Reykjavik Study and the Age Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study (AGES-RS). Originally established to study heart disease in Iceland, the Reykjavik Study includes a random sample of men and women born between 1907 and 1935 and living in Reykjavik at the beginning of the study in 1967. In 2002, AGES-RS continued the Reykjavik Study to examine risk factors, genetic susceptibility and gene-environment interactions in relation to disease and disability in later life.
This study was funded by the National Institute on Aging, the Icelandic Heart Association and the Icelandic Parliament. Components of the study were also supported by the National Eye Institute, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and the Migraine Research Foundation.
The NIA leads the federal effort supporting and conducting research on aging and the medical, social and behavioral issues of older people. For more information on research and aging, go to www.nia.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.Citation:
Scher, Ann I., et al., Migraine Headache in Middle Age and Late-Life Brain Infarcts. Journal of the American Medical Association, June 24, 2009�Vol. 301, No. 24, 2563�2570.
Author Affiliations:
National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD (Lenore J. Launer); Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD (Ann I. Scher and Anna Ghambaryan); University of Iceland, Reykjavik, (Larus S. Gudmundsson); The Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, (Sigurdur Sigurdsson, Thor Aspelund, Vilmundur Gudnason, and Gudny Eiriksdottir); and Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands (Mark A. van Buchem).
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I knew there is an increased risk of stroke since my migraines are (generally) preceded with the aura...
Now I have to worry about being goofy too...
XOXO
Me
A Whole Lot of Words, and a Few Little Weeds!
- A few flowers for your Tuesday...
- "Poppies... Poppies... Poppies!".
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Good Morning All;
I know it is Tuesday, but ten thoughts? That seems either too limiting, or too much today. - (Not sure which yet)...
My migraine has passed for a few days already; and I almost feel human! As they say: "At first I was afraid I was going to die; then I was afraid that I wasn't."
Brain boil now... I can't seem to gather a coherent thought for some time. Perhaps the back that 'gets' me with my body and arms in this position, or whatever.
Know I am tired of it.
Casey and I seem to have the same affliction; only she writes right through it! And does a 'wunnaful' job I might add... Most of you already know that she "broke her record" of not visiting the ER. She has blogged about it.
Click for her blog.
I believe I am going to try to type right through it too. (Wish me luck)! hehehe
I am sad as I watch my yard, my garden and all fall to weeds and whatnot. There is some "whatnot" that has come up that I don't even know what it is- Maybe one or two of you can help?
.
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The poppy I know. - "Poppies... Poppies... Poppies!".
The weeds I know too
But what are the little purple flowers
that are growing where once my Danver carrots thrived?
.
Another little weed here....
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Baby Sam!.
He crawls, even walks with help, and is 11 months old.
Daddy Chuck sent these pictures via his camera phone.
Thank you Daddy~Chuck!
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As you may/may not know, Roberta has also lost custody of Sam-
Gabriel is in foster care His foster parents really wanting to adopt him, (but so darn much red tape).
I pray it will go through for them, mostly for Master Gabriel to have a whole family, and to never worry about if Mama loves him...
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Little Sam with Grandpa!
Growing like a weed, wouldn't you say?!
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And I have one more weed too!
Many people do not realize the value of the milkweed. (Aka Joe Pye). As these come up in Spring I always save a few plants for the Monarchs.
Jenne found one the other day, barely bigger than picture wire-
In just 2 days it has quadrupled its size, and is heading for its snack in this shot...
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Since I have been unable to even weed whack, the weeds by the pumphouse and old calf pen are growing slipshod all over.
They are now tall enough to hide a small dog.
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So maybe she is a large dog....
hehehe
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Silly dog "grazes" too...
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But gets miffed when she gets caught....
Lucky for me, she does not regurgitate the grass!
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Kelli and Tim have a new pup-
A kind of rescue dog, as she lived with hardly any fun, and very little food. (I believe that most of what she got, she found herself).
Sad, that.
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She is about 9 months old-
A chocolate lab, (and I think she may have a bit of 'pit' in her too).
Kelli said she reminds her much of my Miss Milly- In that she is still so full of sweetness even though her past might not have been so kind.
As a side, Mr. Miller is getting much more exercise too!
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Kelli brought him along when she came to help get my window A/C in
.
Thank you so much my sweet KelliBaby! It is quite livable in here!
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They (our infamous weather people), claim we could be in the 90's today...
Um. Wait....
/
"Could?"
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Yes, the thermometer is on the north side of the house-.
(Yes, I took that picture in the afternoon).
My lawns need mowing- I assure you that is NOT going to happen today. My shaggy grass will just have to wait a few more days. Too bad. hehehe
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Somebody oughta slap a pool there, don't you think?.
.
Oh -wait again...
Somebody did slap a pool there!.
.
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OK- So we had to get a liner for under it too.
The little instruction book claimed that the pool will kill the grass under it.
What? You didn't hear me say "too bad" already? hehehe
Before H2O, Jennifer inflated the top ring....
.
A minor leak in the ring....
(Will just have to start chewing gum)?!
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Meanwhile, Casey worked on the pump aspect...
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And Miss Punk watched from the 'safety' of the shade...
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(She hates any kind of plastic "scritching" noise)...
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Still, all hell broke loose when the hose was brought out...
Seems these young 'uns didn't care one whit that the temp of my well water is 42° year 'round.
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Nor did it matter that there were only a few inches of water at that point.
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She will be needing her own little kids pool-
(Even chewing gum won't help her paws~n~claws)!
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But until then, we will just take our chances..
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Dog with TWO tails???.
And NO head?!?!
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Jenne might have told me where the camera should go...
hehehe
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Punk didn't care where the camera was...
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About a total of 4 hours of water. The lady down in Appleton where we got the pool said it took them a day and a half to get it full. (All I can say is that Appleton water must have low low pressure)...
Another 4-6 hours, this baby would be completely filled. Not sure if we will do that or not-
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I am thinking this will be more than deep enough for a 4 year old.
I do not wish to take any chances.
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Kelli stopped by to see the progress too.
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...And Punk was p*ssed she couldn't go in yesterday.
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And Sputty?
Methinks Sputnik is terrified that someone might throw him in too! - hehehe.
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As he was taken to hiding under an old chair last night....
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So you see, not is all sad- Just my yard, my garden, & my weeds.
...And if I keep my eyes closed outside, then all will be well. (I think)?
Hope all is well in your little corner of the world!
Stay safe. Stay cool!
Love to all!
XOXO
Me
5 Familiar Numbers and the Logic Behind Them
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/26721
5 Familiar Numbers and the Logic Behind Them
by Casey Johnston - June 22, 2009 - 1:24 PM
Given how digital the world has become, we are hardly bothered by having to deal with one string of numbers after the next: credit card numbers, social security numbers, IP addresses and so on.
Do these numbers hold any meaning, or are they just random sequences in a database? Read on to find out.
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1. Credit Card Numbers
The string of digits that make up credit card numbers have a distinct, if subtle, structure.
The first digit signifies which system it belongs to: 3 is for travel and entertainment cards like American Express, 4 is Visa, 5 is Mastercard, and 6 is Discover.
The rest of the credit card number is used differently by each company — for Visa cards, digits 2 through 6 are a bank number, 7-12 or 7-15 are the account number, and either 13 or 16 is a check digit, a number that is the result of a series of simple but generally secret computations with the other digits that helps verify the full number isn’t fake. In an AmEx card, digits three and four indicate the type of card and currency, 5-11 are the account number, 12-14 are the card number within the account and 15 is a check digit (AmEx card numbers are 15 instead of 16 digits).
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2. Zip Codes
Zip codes were invented by Robert Aurand Moon and by 1963 were widely used by the United States Postal Service. The five-digit number is a code for an exact location, with each successive digit indicating a more specific place. The first digit indicates a group of states; for example, a 1 directs mail to Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania. The next two indicate a sectional center facility — a zip code beginning with 108 directs mail to the facility New Rochelle, NY. The last two digits represent a village or town near the facility or a location within a metropolitan area. Typically in a non-metropolitan area a city gets the first area code, and surrounding villages and towns receive zip codes in alphabetical order (for example, Glenmont, NY has 12077 and Gloversville, NY has 12078). And in case you were wondering, ZIP is an acronym that stands for Zone Improvement Plan.
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3. Telephone Numbers
Everyone’s a little more familiar with telephone numbers — there’s country code, necessary if dialing internationally (1 is the United States), and area codes, which indicate a broad geographic area. The next three digits indicate a smaller area, and the last four are a random permutation. The area code and first three digits of a phone number are referred to in the telephone business as NPA-NXX. These numbers convey a unit of purchase for telephone companies, as they will generally buy one NPA-NXX, or one combination. The ownership reveals why cell providers are often so tetchy about carrying a number from one to another, or vice versa: you would be stealing a phone number from one company and giving it to another.
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4. IP Addresses
IP addresses, at their most basic level, identify individual computers to the Internet. They are a series of four numbers punctuated by periods that look something like 255.143.68.1. Each of these numbers (such as 255 in the example) is referred to as an octet. Each octet can have a value between 0 and 255 (so if you see an IP address with any octet higher than 255, it’s fake). Together the octets of an IP address contain information about the type of network and, to an extent, the location of a computer. The first octet, called the class, tells you the size of a network a computer is in. A Class A network has a first octet between 0 and 127 and can have over 16 million IP addresses; a Class B network has a first octet between 128 and 191 and have about 65,000 addresses; a Class C network, used for most homes, has a first octet of 192-223 and can have 254 addresses. There are also Class D and E networks with first octets of 224-255 that are used for more specialized purposes. Most IP trackers use a location database to determine where an IP address is coming from, so there is not a direct scheme for the other octets.
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5. Social Security Numbers
Social Security numbers are nine-digit strings that most Americans are assigned at birth, and are generally used as an identifier as well as a qualifier for various kinds of insurance and income from the government. The first three numbers tell where the person first applied for the card; if the card was applied for at birth and the mailing address used was also the residential address, the numbers tell the rough location of birth (doesn’t apply to babies born during vacation in Panama, but in general this is true). The next two digits are called the group number, and allow SSNs of the same area number to be broken into smaller groups. They are assigned in the following order: odd numbers 01-09, evens 10-98, evens 02-08, odds 11-99. The last four digits, the serial numbers, are assigned consecutively 0001-9999.
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Methinks the author might have included the "catch" of our driver license numbers too.
XOXO
Me
Prayers and Pancreatectomy...
Perhaps a few of you have seen the 'reorganization' of my top page.
I have had a few new people find my site and come to ask questions about Casey's illness etc... This gal found me as she did an internet search! Wow!!
If you have a moment, please take the time to go here. CLICK
Beths daughter has just undergone the very same procedure that Casey did last Christmas.
She needs many prayers...
Your love, your thoughts, your prayers and your steadfast support meant everything to me during those long and awful days.
Won't you please be ever so kind to her as well? Please CLICK.
Here is the link: http://markbif.multiply.com/journal/item/3
Love to all. Hope everyone is having a 'wunnaful' weekend!
And Happy Fathers Day too!
XOXO
me
I have had a few new people find my site and come to ask questions about Casey's illness etc... This gal found me as she did an internet search! Wow!!
If you have a moment, please take the time to go here. CLICK
Beths daughter has just undergone the very same procedure that Casey did last Christmas.
She needs many prayers...
Your love, your thoughts, your prayers and your steadfast support meant everything to me during those long and awful days.
Won't you please be ever so kind to her as well? Please CLICK.
Here is the link: http://markbif.multiply.com/journal/item/3
Love to all. Hope everyone is having a 'wunnaful' weekend!
And Happy Fathers Day too!
XOXO
me
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