Saturday posts

Saturday Posts . . .

We’ve had an eventful year so far.

We discovered that an invasive vine had infiltrated our shrubbery outside of our home, and was trying to turn our home from a nice clean “European Continental” look into an “English Manor” look. At one point the vines managed to climb all the way up to the eves of the house. After consulting a few different contractors, who each had different approaches to dealing with the problem, we ended up spending nearly $2,000 USD to eliminate the vines completely. In doing so, we also had to sacrifice our bushes.

I’ve also been binge watching several shows that deal with individual survival in the wild. One in particular was “ALONE” – and while I respected all of the contestants who appeared in the show, what caught my attention was how the show contrasted the caloric intake of the contestants with the amount of calories they were expending just to try to survive. Since I’m not in a situation where I can reduce my caloric intake any further, I decided that I need to increase my daily caloric burn if I want to loose weight. That was when I saw a documentary where I observed a medical Doctor who had a “walking treadmill” in his office, which he used while writing reports in between seeing patients. I talked to my wife about that idea, and she told me that her library had one “walking treadmill” in the public area of the facility, and she’d used it a few times and thought it was a good idea. So we ordered one. It arrived yesterday.

Unfortunately, my wife was experiencing back pain when it arrived, so it fell to me to unpack the treadmill and get it set up. That process alone was a major exercise workout, but I got through it. I suffered a couple of minor injuries while doing so, to my left elbow and left hip. Using this treadmill will be something that progresses on a gradient. I’m still convinced that it is a good idea.

Saturday Posts . . .

How convenient that the President of the USA has tested positive for Covid-19, just at the time when national support for the vaccine has reached an all-time low. In the immortal words of fictional detectives throughout history – follow the money.

I’d almost be willing to bet that either President Biden, or someone close to him, has a huge investment in at least one of the companies that produce the Covid-19 vaccine. I’ll leave it to you to check the facts.

Saturday Posts . . .

Also, I have some updates.

First, the experiment of my reconnecting with my family has failed. My parents do not want to deal with anything that has happened in the past. My father repeatedly told me that “you just have to let go of it” while my mother was quite different. She denies everything, including events that I was personally there to witness or took part in. For my own personal integrity I was forced to return to the total disconnect I had previously been enforcing.

Second, I have recently been watching a show called “Dr. G: Medical Examiner” which has me a bit riled up. The first problem I have with the show is that it seems that some states have laws which require an autopsy on nearly every death that happens within their jurisdiction – something Dr. G seems to revel in because she loves to “solve puzzles”. My problem with this is – what gives her the right to solve a puzzle about me if I do not care to have it solved? Another problem is that she seems to view ALL medical problems as preventable, and is particularly judgemental about any and all suicides. Has she never heard of “death with dignity”? If someone already knows that they are dying, do they not have a right to choose to end their own suffering early? Dr. G does not seem to believe this is an option. Since she currently works out of the Orlando, Florida, USA, medical examiner’s office, that is one jurisdiction I will not be visiting anytime soon.

Finally, I have recently gotten approval through the VA’s community care program to begin receiving chiropractic care at a local wellness center. I’m really impressed with the size and scope of the facility, but I’m not so impressed with the results I’m getting. To me, the first red flag was their focus on longevity – like they just can’t believe anyone wouldn’t want to live to be 115 years old. Sorry, but that was never a major consideration of mine. I’ll take every day I can get – but only if it comes with a good quality of life. So far, I’m not really seeing any improvement, and after getting acupuncture yesterday morning I had a very stiff neck and headache that lasted well into the evening.