Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

Recoculous

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

So, I’m just gathering a random smattering of facts about the whole Swine Flu thingy. And quite a variety it is. I’m trying to actually sift through and figure out which shit is true and not true. The virus is the H1/N1 virus.

Initially it seems that some of what I’m hearing is that the Swine Flu is similar to the Avian Flu in that it responds to the same vaccination that was given to those when the Avian Flu was all the rage.

Second, a number of media sources are saying to wear masks, however it’s also being said that masks don’t help whatsoever and that the best protection is to wash your hands often, take showers, stay in well ventilated areas, eat healthy, and avoid sick people. (does that sound familiar to anyone else? isn’t that basically what you should always do in order to avoid getting sick?)

Third, on average per year there are 36,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations out of the average 25 to 50 million infections from the normal flu virus.

I think this helps gain a little perspective about what’s going on with the current potential pandemic.

Also in 1957, an Asian flu pandemic (similar to the Swine Flu) infected some 45 million Americans and killed 70,000. Eleven years later, lasting from 1968 to 1969, the Hong Kong flu pandemic afflicted 50 million Americans and caused 33,000 deaths.

I think the fact that this was caught early on is awesome, but in reality, deaths happen when the flu is involved. So the precautions should always be a factor, especially during flu season.

It seems like this is the next big thing. We went from being fearful of terrorists for 7 years, to being fearful of money, and now they’re trying to ignore the economy and make us fearful for our lives.

Don’t the newspeople just realize that if they had interesting stories, we’d watch for that. That they don’t have to keep us in a constant state of fear to have us tune in.

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A fun weekend, full of blah!

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

Ok, so things went pretty well this weekend. I’m trying to update this thing more frequently even when things are going good, so that it can actually consist of stuff that’s interesting and not just me bitching during the infrequent pissy times that I have.

Anyway, on to the important stuff. I had an awesome time yesterday hanging out with Vic and Reuben and Vic’s mom, although it was unfortunate that Vic’s mom was making some comments and doing some stuff to make him uncomfortable. It’s her way of dealing with Vic coming out, but nonetheless, there are better ways to do it that wouldn’t end up in your son’s progress being set back.

On the crappier side, I realized when going out to take some trash out that Keagan’s bike got stolen. Which sucks balls. It was a little big for him, but nonetheless worked and would’ve provided a little cash, if sold, to buy a bike which fit better. I’m annoyed because this is the 2nd or 3rd incident we’ve had recently. And we think it’s the skeezy folks that our neighbors bring by. In addition to being loud and annoying and obnoxious, their choice of friends is especially crappy, and tend to be the type of folks that I’d avoid if I saw them on the street. The other 2 incidents were my bike pump being stolen from my bike and Keagan’s mph meter being stolen…mind you, not the wire and the indicator that measures the mph, but just the meter display at the top ( can we say idiots?)

Today was a lil better, it was very relaxed which was nice. A lot to talk about. I walked Keagan to work, came back and proceeded to fix a drawer that’s been broken for a while. After that I brought in my bike, one of the few still remaining in the outside area, and cleaned it all nice and purdy. Surprisingly this is the first spring/summer time when my bike has survived without getting a random flat tire (without having had me ride it at all, figure that one out).

Then I got a call from Keagan asking me to meet him, so we tried 2 or 3 sushi places, all closed. Finally we settled on P.F. Chang’s and had a nice little lunch, after being forgotten about, remembered, having Hot and Sour soup that smelled EXACTLY like the animal area at the State Fair, random but surprisingly accurate. Had good food delivered sans silverware, awesomeness. Then he headed home to meet up with his Big, and I rode my bike to the bike shop to check out their pumps. Nothing struck my fancy so I rode home, but the bike still appears to be in good condition.

I ended up chilling at home, cleaning a little. Then wanted to start re-entering all my old entries that were lost on my old online journal account. Double-click on the icon for my usb drive “Please insert drive” (crap, but it’s inserted!). Take it out, re-insert it “USB device not recognized” (awesomeness). After proceeding through a series of maneuvers, I finally come to terms with the fact that my USB drive has taken a crap. And, lovely as it where, I haven’t backed it up since I first got it and copied everything over from my first drive. Fortunately I still have that, but everything is 3 months old and not updated since. Now I get to try and figure out if I can get my old data back or what.

In the meantime, I’ve been updating my journal with my old entries. Almost at 100…only 600 or so to go…whee!

I think that’s all I’ve got. Nope…We’re moving to one of the front apts. We are currently in a 670 sq ft apt that runs $800 a month. The new apt is roughly 900 and is $975 a month. My only worry is getting the….thicker pieces of furniture inside, namely the sofas, the bookcase, the fridge, and the desk. Whee fun!

Ok, now that’s it. Back to re-entering the old journal and watching old stuff off the DVR.

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Eye Burn!

Sunday, November 2nd, 2008

So, it’s my special day! Or, rather it was yesterday.

I went in for the procedure. Was remeasured and everything was still the same.

Got a fancy hairnet and chunks of gauze on each ear. And in to the operating room.

Antiseptic drops, numbing drops, and a few other just for good measure.

Eyelashes tape back. Top. Bottom.

Metallic, Easter Egg plucking looking thing, placed in to push my eyelids further apart.

Then the sucker.

“You may feel some pressure”

No, fucking, shit.

He pushed so hard, the back of my eye hurt. 3 seconds in and I Hear “Start Suction”. And my eyes black out. Not sure if that was cuz of the pressure on the optic nerve (I’m guessing yes), but yeah that hurt.

“You’ll hear a whirring”

I figured, that was them cutting the layer of my eye. It was. Trippiest feeling ever. Couldn’t feel pain, but could feel what is best described as the back edge of a xacto knife running quickly along the surface of your eye.

Creepy.

Then here it goes. “Things will go blurry”. And he flips the flap over and blurry. More blurry than anything I’ve ever seen.

Stare at the flashing red light. Ch Ch Ch Ch sound and the layers of bad eye are burned away. What’s that smell? Burning hair? Nope! That’s my eye!

Then they flip the flap back over and the doctor uses what looks like a little rubber spatula to push the flap around and smooth out all the wrinkles. Crazy fun! Trippy as heck since I couldn’t feel anything and it didn’t feel like it was happening to me.

And now both are done and I’m walking around, with my eyes starting to hurt a little bit, came home and slept for a few hours and that made it feel so much better. So now things are clear. Slight halo at night around lights, but that’s supposed to go away in a week or two.

So, whee! Can’t wait!

Any questions?

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So, this may be a touchy subject for some, but I felt I needed to discuss it.

Sunday, October 19th, 2008

I got annoyed because I discussed my stance about abortion tonight and felt the need to expound upon it.

I used to be strongly pro-life. Without any research I felt that a baby was a life at the moment of conception. Without any research I felt that there was no valid reason for an abortion. Without any research I felt that my religion didn’t allow any valid reason for that life to be lost.

My fellow believers had similar thoughts.

But they also tended to be pro war, pro death penalty, pro things that seemed to be in direct conflict with this need to save an innocent life.

Add to that the desire to vote for a pro life stance candidate, which includes McCain/Palin. Palin who would have it be illegal to get an abortion if you’re raped. Really? Who feels that it’s just fine to
shoot game from a helicopter. Apparently one type of cruelty is okay and a little less cruel than another.

I also find it interesting that most pro life people say that pro choice people are pro abortion. When in fact pro choice people may be just as against abortion as pro lifers. But even so, they aren’t for legislating morals, or telling a private individual what they can or cannot do with their body.

As a gay man, and having heard and experienced in recent years the impact of old laws. “Moral” laws which dictate what you are and aren’t allowed to do in your personal/sexual life. Such as laws that until recently didn’t allow certain sexual activities to go on, behind closed doors,
between consenting indivduals. “Moral” laws based on one set of morals that typically are based in one religion. So, if we legislated based on religious “morals”, how are we practicing freedom of religion? You tell me “I can’t do something because your religion says I can’t” is, or should be, an invalid stance in a country where freedom of religion is written into the constitution.

I find that in the end I believe that people should be able to do what they want with their bodies, as long as they aren’t hurting themselves or anyone else. That’s where the conflict arises, at what point life begins. I believe the current 2nd trimester is fair, since I don’t think anyone would expect a fetus 6 months developed to survive outside of the womb on it’s own for any amount of time. I dunno, and I don’t know what the reasons might be behind the need for an abortion, but who am I to say. And I think that’s the point, who should have that authority? The government? Where do we end up with that line of reasoning?

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