good morning, Firepups!

Mornin’ Karen. When will we see the sun again?

Morning Folks…guess it’s still early. Into the 90s here,
they say.

Good morning! I’ve spent the last 11 days working way hard and on the days I wasn’t working, I rode my bike for an hour and hula hooped for another hour. My temp job is over as of two days ago and I’m taking today off exercising except for cleaning the place up, which really needs it by now. I don’t know about my chi but my stamina has improved. I’ve been carefully monitoring my BP since I got way heavy and it shot up a couple of years ago. It was 107/59 with a heart rate at rest of 48 on Wednesday. Though I still have problems with my blood sugar crashing during strenuous exercise, it’s much better than it was. I recommend everybody use their bodies because we were designed to be a lot more active than our technology requires us to be. Though I’m never going to be a fitness fanatic, there’s a whole lotta good to be had there.

Good Morning KarenM,

I have noticed marked effects on a elderly woman (relative) and decreased functioning, partially attributable to having only one kidney. This is the first I have read about your plans to donate an organ. You seem to be particularly attentive to health issues for yourself and well informed about your own needs, the best to you and yours as this proceeds.

Good morning, Elliott, RevBev, Margaret and nonquixote!

My daughter is a good enough match, too, but I fear he will need another kidney and I think they should save hers for then.

Beats me! We had some sun the past two days… and now it’s overcast!

Good morning everyone. I’m currently on route from Myrtle Beach back to CNY. God. Bless my droid.

My stamina is getting better, too, Margaret… my heart rate never got over 110 on Thursday, and deep breathing would bring it down between 104 and 107.

Margaret, I hope the work keeps coming for you. After the ten inches of snow last week, it’s already melted and washed the last of the road salt dust off. I don’t bring my bicycle out before that, but have gotten two 5 mile rides in this past week. Energy levels up and I feel like I’m coming out of hibernation.

Morning, solai! I hope you had a nice vacation!

Here’s a link to the rest of those photos.

Can I humbly suggest a topic for a future PUAC? Im buying Mr. Solai an ipod and want to load it for him. I want all the greatest songs from 70s to now. Id love to hear suggestions.

The important things about any fitness program is to start slow, be patient and monitor, monitor, monitor. No sense in killing yourself in the name of getting healthy.

That’s a great idea… maybe we could do that next week.

I just tried to copy my youtube bookmarks for you but it won;t let me.

I check my heart rate with the sensors periodically while I’m walking that treadmill. Not ready for the elliptical yet, but hopefully I will be soon.

I hope you get some more work, too, Margaret. I’ve actually had luck getting jobs by temping first.

Sounds like that was quite a gig….Good for you.

Good rainy morning! Has anyone seen this at Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2291834/ For the very small container grower. The home page is http://www.earthtainer.org/ I’m really hoping someone here has either tried this and can report on results or is interested enough to take a run at it and report back. Sounds better than digging up the yard and the guy who invented it has tomatoes growing earlier than would otherwise be possible. He grows everything in his containers.

I started off on a treadmill too and graduated to an elliptical. Now I ride a bike in third gear for an hour and try to get in between 25 and 26 miles in that time. I did 29 miles one day when I was really mad at somebody but I don’t recommend that. When I started out, walking for thirty minutes had me panting hard, now I don’t really feel the bike rides for more than ten minutes or so after they’re over.

I wouldn’t say quite a gig really, though I made enough to buy my scrips and pay my phone bill and car insurance. Almost twenty percent got used in gas to get there and back! He still owes me half a day too.

It’s a lot easier on the back for us older folks… than digging up a garden.

Hope the work continues for you. FWIW I swim about 1 1/2 miles a week for my condition and it really helps. If it weren’t for swimming I would prob. be a lot worse off than I am now.

Make sure he pays you for that half day!

O, sounds like a gig to me…Glad for the bills for awhile. Good luck.

Thanks but the work is over.

There are stationary bikes, too, but I haven’t tried them yet. And weight machines.

He will. I know where he lives, works and hangs out. :)

Good morning all. How’s things in everyone’s respective ‘hood today?

Morning, diosnomeama! It’s pretty cloudy here…

I fooled around on a weight machine trying to help out with my right rotator cuff but I only managed to make it way worse. :-/

Can’t use them yet. I’ve had a frozen shoulder which is finally getting some range of motion back.

How is the weather where you are?

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Not bad. Temps in the high 70s, low 80s, plus the wind is dying down.

The low temperature here was 72 degrees. The atmosphere just isn’t cooling off at night much anymore.

How’s the humidity? That’s the one thing I hate about Texas weather.

over the years I’ve had to go under anesthesia for minor procedures, tests – and I’ll ease the tension by focusing on bringing down my respiratory and heart rate. And am always surprised I can do it. I can see where biofeedback could be helpful for anxiety and such.

I always do that, too, when I’m undergoing some invasive test. It does help.

Philly weather is pretty humid, too. We haven’t seen it get very muggy yet, though.

Besides nordic skiing, I have a used nordic trac ski machine which I use intermittently through the day if I have to sit at the computer for more than a couple hours. Ten minutes here and there between 40 minute sessions on the PC. Many people bought these machines and never used them. They regularly appear at the bargain stores around here for $20.

I am getting the canoe and the rowboat ready for an outing early next week. The rowboat is great exercise for getting my abs back in line with the belt on my trousers.

The ice has been off the inland lakes for about two weeks and I usually manage to catch a fish or two by trailing a line or two behind me while exercising.

Lots of migrating waterfowl, there have been several bald eagles and my resident red-tail hawks are back in the neighborhood.

High. But no rain here for weeks and weeks.

The flowers are breaking out over the Dogwood trees, despite the cloud cover.

Good morning all.

I should look for one of those… I used to like cross country skiing.

Same here with the lack of rain.

Good morning, eCAHN!

Many people bought these machines and never used them. They regularly appear at the bargain stores around here for $20.

That happens with a lot of exercise machinery. Consequently, I think manufacturers intentionally make them cheaply because they know that they won’t get complaints about it from the vast majority of the people who use them a couple of times and then get rid of them or just store them. By the time most of them break, the warranty is long expired.

Good morning, pups! I’ve been dealing with some as-yet unidentified back pain. Had x-ray and CT scan and they don’t show tumor or fracture, so now I am waiting until doc gets back next week to see what next steps he may have in mind. I was thinking I “did something” during one of my workouts at the gym, but I haven’t gone for more than a week and it’s no better. The only thing helping is Vicodin, and I’m using it sparingly and it’s certainly no long-term solution. And I hab a code in by node too. UGH.

Sorry for the downer — I will just take my miseries over here in the corner and lurk.

I wonder where demi is… she usually shows up by now.

Huh. I’ve never been anywhere remotely near the East Coast, so I wouldn’t know.

What up, dawg?

Oh, msmolly… you should just rant about that code in your node!

I’ve had one this week, too. I was home with it on Monday and Tuesday and I’m still feeling its effects.

Nonquixote, have you been watching the Decorah eagles?

Yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to start my garden, so I borrowed a tiller from a neighbor. Being the mechanically inept jackass that I am, I managed to burn the hell out of my hand.

Weather still sucks.

Harsh winter, very cool spring.

We’ve had some very beautiful sunny days, but those have all been windy.

Now we’re in for rainy 50s for the next several days.

I haven’t been able to start building up my stamina after this winter’s fall. (I noticed talk about getting into shape earlier in the thread.)

How about you, diosnomeama?

Yikes! I hope you feel better soon. Both the code and the back.

That round, rusty thing is the muffler and you should avoid touching it. ;)

I’ve been sucking on Cold-eez and taking a decongestant and Mucinex for the cough (the cough aggravates the back pain). I almost never get colds, so I’m not sure where this one came from. I was with my grandkids last weekend but none of them had a noticeable cold. Lots of germs floating with 8 grandkids, tho…

We’re expecting rain most of this week, too… but the temps will be in the 70s… what can you wear when it’s warm and rainy. good grief!

The weather’s much improved here, but we had some bad wind up til about a week ago.

I know I meant I hope you find another job at a different place. I wasn’t very clear. Sorry.

Probably, one of them was a carrier.

They are great because of the natural walking motion with a bit of adjustable resistance and a gentle normal arm swing if you don’t use the arm resistance attachment. I can see how they might be difficult to get the hang of, for someone not familiar with skiing technique.

Yeah, the blisters on my hand agree. :)

I used to downhill ski when I lived in NYState, but it’s been some time since I cross-country skiied. It was fun, though, and you really kept warm. I suspect it would really help me get my stamina back to where I think it should be.

No need for apology. :)

(((msmolly!)))

It’s time for basketball again for me. My dreams of being a slower, less talented Steve Nash are still alive and well.

Plus all day Friday was Grandparents’ Day at the elementary school where two granddaughters attend and my daughter teaches, so who knows what was floating around there?

It has been chilly and windy and rainy here, and the weather has allowed only about 3 bike rides. One consolation to the cold and the back pain is that I haven’t minded spending most of the past 3 days in my comfy chair with my laptop! Showers in the forecast for the coming week, too! I sure hope these April showers bring May flowers.

Thanks, Ellie!

Good thoughts to all the pups with bumps, bruises, blisters, backs, codes.

I think a lot of that is weather related, though I could be biased bc I’ve never spent so much time indoors until this past winter.

Is acupuncture available to you? It often helps with pain… as well as being healing.

No Molly, and sorry to hear that you are not feeling well. There is plenty of wildlife right out my window and I am on dial-up.

There were six big tom turkeys strutting the tail feathers in the yard about an hour ago. Camera batteries were in the charger.

My solar powered electric fence has detoured the deer and kept them from nibbling my raspberry canes, though.

Me, I’m just glad to be able to bring my feet up level with my butt to put my socks on again. I’ve never been especially bendable and the automobile accident made it worse and the weight made it impossible. You know what woke me up more than the BP and other health issues? It was being so winded after trying to put my socks on.

One last blogwhore, as I think comments close today.

I’ve had such a good time on my bee diary. And thanks to everyone who has already visited.

Thanks. I haven’t been around much. I’ll check it out. :)

Damn, that’s a bitch and a half. Makes my tendinitis sound like a walk in the park.

I’m sure it is, but I’m not sure Medicare covers it. I will wait to talk to the doc next week. It feels a little like a pinched nerve (I had one last summer in a different spot) but the doc says stenosis is less common up between the shoulder blades, which is where the pain is.

eCAHN, I haven’t been back to the bee diary since I first read it. Looks like I should go check it out again.

50 degrees and damp is the worst! *creak*

How’s the knee(s)?

Yeah, the Ustream wouldn’t work on dial-up. It slows my DSL considerably. I never thought I would be much interested in watching baby eagles, but they are fascinating.

I got talked into writing another diary last night.

I bothered to get Bernanke’s book of essays on his “seminal” work on the Great Depression. I’ve read one of them; maybe 10 or more essays altogether.

The work is really really terrible & I can explain exactly why, both in technical terms & in terms that will make sense to humans.

I dropped the project last summer bc it was so depressing, but as it’s going to be rainy for several days, I’m thinking I should pick it back up & finish the project. Folks ought to know exactly how bad the guy is.

Read and recommended when you first put it up. Thanks. Someone on craigslist had a just below commercial size stainless extractor, bee-keeper suits, equipment and the whole nine yards up for sale. I need to study a bit more on those but will eventually have some on my own property and I already have too many, “hobbies.” ;)

Yes.

Toward the end I even got asked by Bartoo’s daughter Aja for advice on a project for her science fair. What a hoot.

I also learned a lot from the comments.

Knee is fine for being in the house. But it’s past time that I should get out to strengthen it & regain stamina, which is why I’m so pissed at the weather.

Bees are not a gigantic commitment but they do require care, and you can’t just drop checking on them if you lose interest. So if you already have enough on your plate, bees are not for you.

Hope everybody has a great day. :)

Maybe a referral from your doctor would do the trick?

You, too, Margaret!

My first husband and I had some bee hives for awhile. The local bee inspector came and checked in on them. His nickname was Buzz.

I look forward to reading your post on Bernanke! What a waste of a mind.

Disco Inferno long version by The Trammps. Ten minutes of one hell of a work out if you like to dance! Otherwise known as Burn Baby Burn..hahahaha

Mr.Haley Barbor

Haiti and the international aid scam (Weisbrot)

Corruption takes many forms, and if the United States seems like it has less of it than many developing countries, this is partly because we have legalised so much of it. Election campaign contributions are only the most costly and debilitating form: a legalised bribery that, for example, gives the pharmaceutical and insurance companies a veto over healthcare policy and generally hollows out our limited form of democracy.

This legalisation of corruption reached a new milestone last December when one Lewis Lucke, a long-time US Agency for International Development (USAID) official turned influence-peddler, sued a consortium of firms operating in Haiti for $492,000, for breach of contract. As Lucke would have it (sorry!), he was promised $30,000 a month, plus incentives, to use his influence to secure contracts for these nice fellas. He got them $20m worth of contracts, but they cut him off after two months. The defendants in the case are Ashbritt, a US contractor with a questionable track record, and the GB Group, one of the largest Haitian conglomerates. Together, they formed the Haiti Recovery Group, which they incorporated in the Cayman Islands, to bid on reconstruction contracts.

Lucke was well-positioned for the job, having formerly been in charge of the multibillion dollar reconstruction effort in Haiti for the US government. (He was also previously the USAID Iraq mission director; we know how that reconstruction turned out.) His lawsuit states that when he worked for USAID, “He met with Haitian officials, former United States Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush, the state department, World Bank, and other participants …” He was then hired by Ashbritt to, among other things, make “strategic introductions to key stakeholders, organisers and brokers of Haitian recovery efforts …” Bill Clinton and George W Bush established the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund to help Haiti “build back better”, and Clinton is co-chair of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), which has met about six times since the earthquake, and has been widely criticised for its lack of Haitian representation in decision-making.

And then there’s the World Bank, which has spent many years complaining about corruption in developing countries, often using it as a convenient excuse for its decades of failed policies. Lucke scored big with the bank, landing a $10m contract for his clients. (The ingrates!) The other $10m contract was with the Haitian government.

Heh.

My hives don’t get inspected. Don’t know why. Chris, my beekeeper sez his do. I’ve not checked into what the rules are.

Along the lines of names, the guy at the gate at the dump/recycling center is named Phil.

by the by,ashbrit was in NOLA after Katrina……pigs

Oh do it if you can. I, for one, would love to read it!

The Psychiatrist who spearheaded the removal of “Homosexuality” from the APA manual as a neurosis has died.

This removel took place in 1973. (Yesterday practically) What this meant was millions of people went from “neurotic” to “normal” just like that !

Amazing — isn’t it? Just goes to show you the true power of the medical profession. Like every other authority figure it’s politicsl.

I have been amazed at the low quality that passes for academic work these days.

My first eye opener was Krugman’s Nobel speech. I know that is oriented toward non-economists, but all he said was: 19thC U.S. economic development occurred along RR routes.

Really?! He got a Nobel for that?

sadlyyes… Pull up a chair is a time when we try to take a break from politics… we all need a break, once in awhile. It’s supposed to be a community-building effort.

to paraphrase one of Dorothy Sayers’ academics… precious little research and very litle critical thinking.

I’ve been looking for the book for the last 15 minutes. I thought it was in the pile of unshelved books behind me but it’s not. I’ve looked in a few other places, to no avail. I hope I didn’t trash it in disgust.

LOL indeed!

that takes me back

Maybe the hive inspector does not know that you have any hives?

The clouds have lifted, looks like two days of sunny weather in the mid 50′s. I have a couple appointments for possible work to leave for. I make an initial visit (free of charge) to, “interview,” the prospective client. I keep thinking that I should present resume’ forms to prospective clients asking them who the last three contractors they hired were, what the work done was and a few things like that. Experience has taught me whether or not client expectations and costs line up and whether or not I would want to perform work for them. With the economy I have to be a bit less choosey, though I am not afraid to politely say that I am not sure I can meet their project needs.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend and coming week. Thanks KarenM.

Found the Bernanke book. Drat. That means I really have to do the project.

Have a great day, nonquixote!

Well… some of us here are looking forward to reading your post.

LOL

good luck on the quest

I have no idea. I figure it’s up to Chris to know the rules.

Dunno, KarenM. I will bring it up next week.

Good morning, Karen. Good morning, everyone.

Oh, and here I thought he was a certified genius, last word on the Great Depression.

What kind of work, nonquixote?

Well, being the skeptic that I am (that would be a polite way to describe me; others might have less flattering terms), I thought I’d check it out. And it turns out Bernanke’s work turns out to be dross. I’m only slightly surprised.

I had to run a spyware scan, since my laptop was slowing down, and then I had to reboot it, too. While that was happening, I made some gypsy cold care tea for both Paul and me. We both have colds this week. I think he caught mine.

So, now I’m back up and running…

Many thanks to everyone who dropped in today… I hope you all have a better than expected Saturday, and weekend, too!

Sorry for the late dropin.
Easter stuff at church.

Someone one asking about demi earlier.

I recall that she went camping last Easter so may be there this weekend.

Stopped to see the eagles in decorah Thursday. Doing well. My best to all.

Given his utter cluelessness and his sycophancy generally, I guess I’m not. I sort of follow the maxim that if it’s OK with Obama, it’s not OK– speaking of mediocre conventionalists. If Obama ever chose a genuinely intelligent adviser, I’m sure that person would only last until someone in the cabal sniffed h/er out. Makes me wonder about Elizabeth Warren, and I’m sorry to say that.

Go for it eCAHN! Looking forward to it … perhaps exercising your dry wit will help ease the pain … :-)

BuZZ! LOL!

Yup. Now that you mention it, the other day demi said she was going camping this weekend. Hope she has a great time!

Thanks for checking on the eagles … that snowstorm was scarey for those of us new to watching!