Thursday, September 15, 2016

& may the fittest candidate win

Trump went on the Dr. Oz show to wave his good health around.  Conservatives seem fixated on Hillary's health (is that an ingrown toenail I see?).  Let's face it Hil has some physical health issues but what about the Donald's mental and emotional health?  Which matters more pneumonia or psychological insecurities?  I just had a slight nap and so a blog was born.

127 comments:

  1. You gonna release YOUR tax returns Z-Man?

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  2. Dr. Oz; he was the first guy I thought of while I was reading about medieval medicine out under the shade tree.
    "Remove the fat from the largest wingbone of a goose, mix it
    with the fluid pressed while reciting 9 Holy Marys from a red honeyscuckle stem. Have the patient drink it all followed by a tea of beetle legs. The melancholy vapor should disappear by morning." A Dr. House, Oz ain't.

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  3. Let us remember Dr. Oz's famous colonoscopy. The first time his prep was bad as in lentil soup bad.

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  4. When a person like the Whiz of Oz is full of it, five or six preps might not be enough.

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  5. This election is scary. I still feel like I'm in a coma and this is all a bad dream.

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    Replies
    1. It would be hard to make up anything worse.

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  6. Z... I wish we were in a coma... but alas, this seems like our new reality.

    Makes one want to work for "legalize drugs" guy so we can at least get stoned and not worry about a jail cell the next four years... besides, who cares about that Aleppo thing?

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  7. Something to do when you get bored with bungie jumping .

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  8. When I talk to the union guy on the phone he always sounds nervous like he knows where the bodies are buried. Checking out my bulk mail/spam folder 'cause I'm bored. Typical: "Don't you remember me from the other night...?" must be amnesia.

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    Replies
    1. Phone calls; they either want money or are foreign scams. U of Idaho coed today, seeking donations. I said "so you majoring in phone sales?" Long pause...
      "Oh God, no!" That answer was worth $50. Last week,
      the Dem party, "you want Trump to win?" That time the question was worth $50. Gotta get me a cellphone one of these years only us ancient landline people in the phone book. Buried bodies- I'm waiting for Jimmy H. to show up on 'Dancing With The Stars'. Hey, what's up with all the weird bombs there in the metro area?

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    2. Gotham has never been that tourism-friendly imo. Sure people tour but if I were one I'd always be on edge.

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    3. CSI-NY: check out which store sold a dozen pressure
      cookers to the suspicious looking guy...

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    4. It is reported that the pressure cooker guy used
      Hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, a rather unstable
      but easy to make concoction. Heck, ya can't escape them even in isolated St. Cloud, MN anymore.

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    5. I've kinda superficially followed this story in a busy life. Are they ISIS wannabes? I work in a mall setting and am always a little uneasy. Thing with al-Qaeda is they always planned the big one but with IS it could be a daily thing big or small. By what quirky misinterpretation of Islam is the more violence the better? Did the Prophet counsel kill people in the most creative ways possible? Again I'm not a scholar.

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    6. I suspect these wannabees are disgruntled about one thing or another and find something in the ISIS dogma that gives them an excuse. Along the lines of
      "If you aren't for us-you are against us". Since
      colonial times, western society has been ' Shaytân-e Bozorg', the Great Satan. BTW, I caught an
      old scientist on Pat Robertson this morning pushing his book 'Death Is Not Fatal'. The author is an old NASA guy, a genuine expert on space engineering
      and claims to use the same analytical techniques regarding religious beliefs. If you read it, let me
      know about it. (Does the existence of a Great Satan
      posit a number of lesser Satans?

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    7. Guess I can peg you an atheist as you seem ok with nonexistence after death. The rest of us have problems, find it disturbing. Then again I raised the possibility maybe there is a God but no life after death. That raises another problem though as Charles Manson wouldn't go to hell or maybe God sees no point in hell which goes against what we've been taught. Problem is atheists have their position and religious folk theirs and they talk over each other. Dunno, deep thoughts after a glass of wine.

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    8. RE: "..possibility maybe there is a God but no life after death". There are any number of possibilities of course..Heaven, Valhalla, Hindu reincarnation, maybe even nothing. The problem with the agnostic view is that of not knowing the unknowable and so that group is caught between the atheist and the religious, sort of like a centrist between the Dems
      and GOP. However, it is a good study; even if there
      is no straight answer you learn a lot of good stuff.
      Death is not fatal is a catchy title, though. I suspect it is how each term is defined and we end up with subjective reasoning again. For example
      alternative titles might be Death Is Avoidable, Decapitation Is Not Fatal, etc. If 'soul' is defined as everlasting, the assumption of an afterlife is plausible, although what and where
      remain a mystery.

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    9. I'm thinking you'd walk the fields and stop by a stream. My first thought would be gosh I don't have to go to work. Is this gonna be one of those long threads?

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  9. I hardly ever watch Dr. Oz, but if you are one the show talking with the Oz about colonoscopies, let me know. I suspect that would be of Tim Conway-Harvey Korman quality.

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    Replies
    1. The only thing missing from the old Carol Burnett series was such a skit.

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  10. Law enforcement Dept: Guy out this way shot and killed his
    neighbor, his insurance man and a clerk in Arby's. After 3 months in jail, he is seeking release for 'cruel and unusual punishment. Why do we taxpayers pay for such stuff?

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  11. Kind of a grotesque topic, cremation. My wife's Swiss relatives say that the rate in Switzerland is high (85%)
    because cemetery land is so rare that graves are dug up and reused after 25 years. Other densely population European countries are similar. Almost all Japanese choose cremation, as part of the former Shintu religion, and religion is a factor as well; Muslims, Orthodox and Catholic places rarely have cremation. So the practice varies widely by country, and in the US by state . The western states are much higher, while the deep south prefers traditional burial. We note that it is almost a
    red state/blue state phenomenon and ponder that getting buried next to a swamp or bayou is likely not real permanent. With the Malthusian population growth, the scattering of the ashes of the many beloved may someday be
    considered air pollution. (watch out, you may be getting some Funeral Director chatter coming in :))

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    Replies
    1. Mathematically it makes the most practical sense. I mean over time how many people can you bury without converting parks?

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    2. Central Park has 840 some acres. Pretty quiet except for the occasional bomb, mugging, rape and
      runaway horse carriage. Do they get deer there?

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    3. I'm guessing no but it wouldn't surprise me.

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  12. Speaking of NYC the lack of progress in the slain Queens jogger case is really beginning to disturb. Early on I thought they'd pick up some vagrant then when that didn't pan out I thought give it some time and they'd get somebody else. At this point in time I think it's the work of a professional serial killer, someone who thought it out and knows how to elude police. Could be the case in Mass. is connected. Problem being if everybody with an inkling reported their feelings to the cops most inklings would be wrong.

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    Replies
    1. The Case of the Unknown DNA. I see they arrested the
      woman cop that shot the guy in Tulsa. He was walking away and she 'feared for her life'. Someone needs to invent a Glock-22 40cal that can be set on stun.

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  13. Get the popcorn guys... tomorrow is the big election shindig. no matter who you're for, or against, how can we resist? It's like a fire at your next door neighbors barn. totally tragic, but you want to see it happening. It's like we're a bunch of moths being drawn to the light bulb that's gonna kill us.

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    Replies
    1. Me, I'm skipping it. Already seen enough. Although, Dave, I suspect Hillary is too smart to fear Trump and Trump is too dumb to fear her.

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    2. It's something that belongs in a parallel universe, not here.

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  14. The ratings will be yuuge...

    I saw one comment that called this biggest election in the world since Hitler became president in Germany... an interesting comment given the person was a Trump supporter.

    Me? i don't think either candidate will usher in the apocalypse...

    I'm on the road so i am confined to audio tonight.

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  15. Who is the patron saint of computers? I have crashed two
    printers, replaced a modem, called server HQ four times lost internet connection five times and jammed a torn paper in my oldest printer which is at the shop as I type...and that is just in the last week. Is there a tech saint, a
    a saint of screwy wired things or St. Intel..and can I find them on the 'cloud'?

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  16. Apparently St. Isidore. Don't know why.

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    Replies
    1. Even though he was from 6th century Visigothic Spain and Wi-Fi wouldn't be around for another 1500 years,
      St. Isidore wrote the first encyclopedia, some 20 volumes. So, he is considered one of the wiser saints. BTW, his older brother and younger sister were sainted as well; must have been a good century for getting canonized. We have to note the relation
      between canonized and the Canon printer too.

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  17. I watched the first half of the debate then it got repetitious. I thought Trump was fairly civil least the parts I watched.

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  18. Watched an ed TV thing on the brain. Theory I never heard of: some dreams are 'experimental', experiences in real life that you passed up for one reason or another, like dating the HS cheerleader, or trying out for the Mets. Might
    explain the great time I had dreaming last night, out on the town with Sandra Bullock. She seemed to like me.
    Go figure.

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  19. I've had those type dreams, missed romantic opportunities and such which is why me and millions of others prefer sleeping. It'd be great if our dreams were the real thing a la Serling.

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  20. Commuter train crashes into Hoboken terminal: When I was a little kid, I would wait for the passenger trains to come into the local depot. Sometimes the engineer would let me help oil the side rods/drive gear on the 4-6-2 steam locomotive. Back then, there were three people in the engine; engineer, fireman and brakeman. The controls were
    analog: throttle, Johnson reversing bar, numerous steam dials, whistle/bell cord and the train communication consisted of the rear conductor signaling the engineer, who responded with two whistle blasts before leaving. Such is
    progress, we now have one person driving the train, who sits at a computer consol. Not only has technology digitized the process and eliminated many humans, it seems
    to have made the process more dangerous and inevitably, the
    overworked tired driver always gets the blame. Ever cautious about 'systems control', I suspect that (automating & digitizing critical operation) is more often than not the root cause. Consider as well, the tragic tank car crash at Lac Megantic in Canada: the sole engineer stopped upgrade outside town where one locomotive was failing. He set manual braking and walked into town; the disabled locomotive caught fire, the air pressure plummeted, the airbrakes failed and it rolled into town.
    Investigators identified at least 14 different causes, yet
    they continue to use only one person in charge of 5 locomotives and 6000 tons of freight (or 400 passengers).
    In the board room it is called cost savings. I would bet the airlines would go with a single pilot as well, were it
    not for regulations. Let's call it the Greed (Or Wells Fargo) Effect.

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  21. BB... why we continue to save what, a hundred grand a year per train by not having a second person in the front is beyond me. We require it on an airplane that can have hundreds fewer passengers.

    Yep... it's called efficiency.

    All determined by some internal review board focused on the bottom line.

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  22. In other news according to reports Hef is ready for the nursing home.

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    Replies
    1. Let's hope the nurses can run fast.

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    2. He's 90, his wife's 30. He watches old movies all day then retires at 7PM before "Wheel of Fortune." Geriatric depression?

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    3. At that advanced age, the heart pumps most of its
      energy keeping the eyelids open. Glad to see a fellow pipe smoker defy the odds.

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  23. Back when Hef was half his age, he asked then Playmate Barbi Benton for a date. She said she didn't know...she had never dated anyone over 24. The then 42 year old Hefner
    replied, "Neither have I." If you can save up a down payment, his mansion should be up for sale shortly and your
    dating life could improve.

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  24. Reading Genesis on my tablet yesterday and it got tedious with the lineage thing. Average lifespan seemed to be 900 years plus and many men at 120 had sons and daughters. Two people I asked said years then were not the years of today. Also certain things nag at you like why did God like Abel's sacrifices and gifts but not Cain's?

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    Replies
    1. If the wages of sin are death, does the rest of the animal kingdom have original sin? If not, why are they not eternal? Just a guess, but maybe God liked
      Abel's sacrifices because he was more Abel than Cain?

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    2. I'm thinking if the average lifespan of 900 years is to be taken literally the primary reason would have been populating and replenishing the earth these being the early years. So many ponderables in Genesis I doubt the average priest can explain it all.

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    3. Genesis is more interesting, IMO, to read about rather than read through. Probably an oral tradition
      in part, some parts borrowed from neighboring societies, some based on early historical memories.
      All finally stitched together by at least three different authors (Elohist, Yahwist & Priestly) at
      various times up until shortly after the return from
      Babylonian captivity. Since the ancient Hebrews were
      not subject to colonoscopies, of course they lived up to 900 years....

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  25. A friend told me Savage has been booted from the radio after saying Hillary has advanced Parkinson's. Dunno, would an advanced Parkinsonian even run for prez? Is she that ambitious?

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    Replies
    1. Late stage Parkinson's has obvious symptoms . Trump is a couple of years older than Hillary: they both look in
      good health for their ages. Heath aside, why would anyone want to run for president?

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  26. Dreams: Last night I noticed that I had a pleasant dream
    while on my left side. The right side dream was one of those frustrating ones where you get lost in the desert.
    This seems to conflict with current sleep position affect on dream studies "Sleeping laterally is the most common sleep position. Studies have found that right-side sleepers experienced more positive dreams and fewer nightmares than left-side sleepers." So, am pondering why position should
    have any effect at all...and why mine is reversed. While in the complaint mood, I also reached for the light up clock on
    the bedstand and sprained my thumb.

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  27. Seen any clowns in your travels lately?

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    Replies
    1. All over the place. Some of them are even playing
      Pokémon Go...others texting while clowning. Out here
      in the wild west, though, a clown could get shot, ya
      know?

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  28. The latest Trump skeleton-vid fails to shock. Crude words from the Trumpster? no! Like who did we think we're dealing with a Padre Pio? It's like trying to dig up dirt on Charlie Sheen, what's the point? It's a landfill (gulls circling overhead).

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    Replies
    1. ...the party of Lincoln?

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    2. Trump is beyond shock. The hero of the Evangelical right is sure a saint . Needs all the help his
      Russian hackers can deliver, ya know?

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  29. On the other hand the Hillary scandals/controversies (e-mails, whatever) are notable for their lack of sexual content. Kind of dry reading. The eyes get tired, drowsiness sets in like watching a golf game late Sunday afternoon.

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    Replies
    1. Grandmothers aren't generally in the risky sex business.

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    2. Some sell drugs and run prostitution rings if you read the paper. Some in the GOP are now calling for Trump to quit which makes no practical sense. You got into bed with him and got a disease. I say both should step down and put in Mitt Romney and Bernie Sanders again.

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    3. Been around since Wendell Willkie and can't remember such a weird election. (well, there was
      Estes Kefauver , but he went down in the primaries.

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  30. Trump actually made a valid point during last night's debate. Bill Clinton was no bargain when it came to treatment of women. Worse even.

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    Replies
    1. Clinton had that reputation even before becoming president. He was impeached by the House and exonerated by the Senate. Ken Starr, who rigorously
      pursued the sex scandal, was fired as President of
      Baylor University- "Starr's demotion from all but the law school professorship followed the law firm's scathing 13-page summary report that found Baylor, under Starr's leadership, did little to respond to accusations of sexual assault involving football players." ..completing the cherchez la femme phenom
      that plagues the famous. IMO, being a potty mouth is
      but a minor of Trump's problems.

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    2. Trump pretty much admitted he was a potty mouth but Anderson Cooper wanted to make more of it. I've heard many men talk like this, I've lived long enough. Guy at work today said how is Bill relevant? Well she's married to him, she defended him back in the day and she attacked his accusers. Just sayin'

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    3. The Good Wife? Hey, whatever happened to the cronut
      phenomenon?

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  31. So I've been running this through my head. How do you prep for the you-know? Saw the instructions once. So basically you have chicken broth, non-red gelatin and a boatload of Dulcolax all day? On the morning you go in is your stomach growling? You can have that box of cronuts when you go home.

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  32. The tinnitus - people who have never experienced it you can't quite put into words. Social settings like you can be sitting across from someone in a restaurant or diner and they'll be talking to you and you have this reverberating noise in your head. Things not to be cured in my lifetime.

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  33. You could consider it a fasting day in honor of St. Brice of Tours (intestines patron) or St. Bonaventure(bowels).
    In the unlikely event something malignant showed up, St.
    Peregrine comes into the picture. I must admit, Catholics
    cover the theological side of medical physiology.

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  34. To me science and religion don't mesh at all. Scientifically you are your brain. How many times have we seen your emotions are mapped out in this brain region, your thoughts over there etc. From the scientific pov there can be no life after death and yet we go to services every weekend. Religion insists there is an afterlife...anyway these are the thoughts you have after you pass 50. Others I meet in my travels don't seem to give their mortality a passing thought, even joke about it. I'm reminded of the great poem by Dylan Thomas. I'd be great fun on a date topicwise no? She'd be talking about Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift and I'd be pondering Sartre. Monastery?

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    Replies
    1. I've heard there are any number of single women who
      are into Sartre. More than say, Oswald Spengler. It
      is slowly dawning on me this political season about our standards of measurement: saw some Trump supporters saying his potty talk and lecherous behavior was long ago and irrelevant; but Bill C's behavior, even though further back is much more relevant, despite his not running. I admit as much
      of my own bias: it would take a heck of a Republican
      to lure me back to the Nixon-Reagan-Bush party. I seek a Lincoln or Ike, ya know?

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    2. Good thing Hef never ran for president ya know?

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  35. Which begs the question is there tinnitus after death?

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    Replies
    1. Depends; if Hindu, you might recycle as a flatworm or
      Bishop, both tinnitus free; if Muslim, all the virgins
      would distract your problems with tinnitus; if the body is dead and decayed, your soul would have no ears. Problem solved? Seriously, there probably is a
      solution to tinnitus out there somewhere if you can find it.

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    2. Valerian root (check), Lion's Mane (check), melatonin (check), giving up ibuprofen (check)...maybe it's mystical, metaphysical or perhaps the problem is in the colon.

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  36. The much vaunted Google Play Store. Sometimes I'll search a movie and all that comes up is Add to Wishlist and then "we'll notify you when movies in your wishlist become available." Like when when I'm 78?

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    Replies
    1. At that age, you will be watching the Three Stooges,
      Laurel & Hardy, Lawrence Welk and the Tesh kid.

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    2. Dick Cavett, Andy Griffith, the Thin Man, the Ghost and Mrs. Muir (the original movie, not the series).

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  37. Spent a bit of time on one of the tinnitus discussion blogs.
    Apparently there some popular programs with specific physicians, but no real breakthroughs. Have you tried to establish some sort of baseline based on when it is worse than other times; eg. early morning, after work, middle of the night, reaction to stress, etc?

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    Replies
    1. Yes. Early evening one of the worst times. Reaction to stress? I would say so. Baseline is there, don't know what to make of it (that'll be $50).

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    2. Early evening-I know several people whose circadian
      rhythm dips about that time, say 4-6 PM (including me). In fact, given that when one is running a temperature, it almost always rises a little at that time. A negative dip in your physiological daily graph, so to speak. Seems like place to start, IMO. Like short nap, white noise, starting the brandy a bit earlier, etc. Given that stress seems no a factor, you might try mild exercise at that time, like ambling through the woods or shooting baskets. Or, try the various pills at
      say 2-3 PM for peak efficacy. (no charge unless it works). The self hypnosis protocol seems doubtful:
      knew a secretary that tried to quit smoking with an
      expensive practitioner. Didn't work for her, but he
      did well.

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    3. Starting the brandy a bit earlier. Cheerio mate!

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  38. I think and Thoreau would agree the way modern work has evolved saps life of its meaning. You do the exact same thing day in and day out, retire for a few years and your inevitable fate is the cemetery. Maybe it worsens tinnitus dunno. This is why libertarianism to me is a castle in the air. You're not really in control of your own life.

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    Replies
    1. There have been numerous studies of a coenzyme called
      coQ10 and some directly regarding
      tinnitus. In particular, people with low natural levels of coQ10 have improved with a regimen of three
      daily doses. Have you ever had your coQ10 level tested? Work by itself is tolerable, even enjoyable, if you like it in terms of fellow workers, self-direction, results, appreciation, etc. Don't see much of that anymore with the manager types and MBAs focused on weekly profits. While coQ10 is a possibility, maybe you should start a business..something like touring worn out New Yorkers
      into the Catskills and learning survival skills?

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    2. Never heard of coQ10, never had it tested and no doctor ever mentioned it to me. Thoreau said most men live lives of quiet desperation and tied it in with the daily grind. Unless you're doing something philanthropic most places today focus on the weekly profits hence more pressure of mgrs. then dept. mgrs. then you. Trickle-down stress and nobody's having any fun anymore. Even if a company is supremely profitable it may be very hard to work there. On the other hand I've had jobs with companies that slowly went out of business but I remember the work environment with fondness.

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  39. Watching scenes from the 1977 movie "Equus" starring Richard Burton as a troubled psychiatrist. He makes the remark having returned so many patients to the normal state he took away some of their individuality in the process. An intriguing movie. Watching old Dick Cavett shows at night and it dawns on you how fast time flies when you realize all of the guests are now dead. Should start a blog - the 50-something blog.

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  40. From Wiki "In 1960, Cavett was living in a three-room, fifth-floor walk-up on West 89th Street in Manhattan for $51 a month." They still got some for that price? In 1960
    I was buried in college sophomore studies.

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  41. If houses cost today what they cost in my folks' day I could quite handily buy two.

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  42. Just thought I'd stop by to say hi. I don't have anything to contribute politically speaking.

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  43. Had a dream last night Caitlyn Jenner was working with us in the kitchen. The head chef comes up to me and goes "where's Jenner?"

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    Replies
    1. Scary dream. Perhaps head chef was offering a straight line set up: "Oh, Jenner is at the Jenn-Air , chief"

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  44. Bob Dylan receives Nobel Prize. Probably not in Physics.

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  45. Is songwriting/music literature? Michele Obama says she was shaken to the core over Trump's words about women. There may have been one or two times in my life I may have been close to core-shaking myself but it wasn't over Trump. So when did liberals come out against dirty talk?

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    Replies
    1. When it's a would be president? Gives a bit of credit, We haven't said we would put Trump in jail if
      he loses. IMO, Trump would benefit if he got rid of
      at least some of his Breitbart staff. The thing is,
      he has to play to his base. The problem is, even some
      evangie fundies can't stomach him: Liberty U students
      revolting against LU pres J. Fallwell, Jr. . Is it just me, or do Pastor's kids, like actor's kids, just sort of inherit the job?

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    2. IMO she was being a bit deliberately hyperbolic which doesn't take away from her point. "Shaken to the core" is a strong phrase like if your whole family got cancer or if you're on your way to your church wedding and a truck comes out of nowhere and mows down your fiancee. His words are cause for concern, they don't mean you need Zoloft to deal with them.

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    3. Guess we have to think from our female side...us guys tend to like women all over us, no?

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    4. That's very true and is often said but I never hear it said women need to see a male pov. BTW I'm not saying here the Trump pov is the male pov but the whole Mars and Venus thing goes both ways.

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    5. Z Man... as to Dylan, is poetry literature? If so, then Dylan is good. I'd ask where we draw the line on songwriters. Carole King? Paul McCartney? Springsteen? Where's an objective line?

      BB... your question re pastors is valid. But why should the pastorate being any different from another "line of work?" A PK literally lives alongside his pastor dad everyday. It's natural to him. Like any other kid going into his, or her dad's field.

      I think...

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    6. Dave, your point about children taking up their Dad's work is well taken. My two daughters are chemist and microbiologist (my college major/minors), and a HS acquaintance whose father
      was a Lutheran pastor turned out to be a Lutheran Bishop. A child of Swiss relatives followed his mother as a lawyer and married into a family in which mother, father and daughter were all Biochemistry professors. So the 'acorn falls'.
      But in some ways it is almost like inbreeding: all
      fields need new blood and conversely, we probably know of children who for whatever reasons chose fields pretty alien to that of their parents.

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  46. With the latest developments Trump should've chosen Cosby as his running mate.

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    Replies
    1. Could Trump have a block buster series in mind?

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    2. It's enough to make an evangelical fidgety. What amazes me is didn't they know this stuff would come out, that the Clintons play hardball?

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    3. They don't need to play hardball, he is striking out on his own. Today, Kellyanne Conway, his main
      spokesperson, presented a defense witness about the
      woman who claimed she was groped on a plane flight.
      He was a Brit, a fellow passenger, who was a " child sex trafficker who claims he remembers the white pantsuit a stranger wore on a flight 25 years ago. Soap opera stuff. But in pondering the blind
      loyalty of the Trumpheads, I started thinking about the Manson Clan.

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    4. That older woman we saw on "Inside Edition" why'd she come out 30 years later? If there was any there there the Enquirer would've nailed it years ago. The media don't like Trump and are going easy on Madame.

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    5. I see where local law enforcement has to protect reporters assigned to the Trump Rallies. He seems to possess some sort of mind control over his loyal minions..the old Hitler/Manson glitter? But, you may have something, the old 'jump on the grope'
      phenom. Dennis Hastert survived that well into old
      age. Hillary has 40 years of media and law and congressional probing...Trump is fresh meat.

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    6. Put it this way, if he weren't running for president the unwanted groping wouldn't be horrific enough to warrant news stories and conga lines of female accusers coming out of the woodwork.

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  47. When you start your Over Fifty Blog, I left my debit card at
    the breakfast place again. I suppose I will lose my way home one of these days.

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    Replies
    1. Friend and I met a guy's nice big black Newfoundland dog the other day in a park. Later in the day I couldn't recall the breed nor could he. The very earliest stages of Alzheimer's or just an aging memory? Figure we still have some time.

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    2. Doubt I would forget a Newfie. A big one named Seaman accompanied Lewis & Clark to the Pacific and back and I'm a bit L&C buff. Aging memory: if asked suddenly, I sometimes forget my ss# or phone, but still can quickly recall Suppiluliumas the Hittite King or potassium dinitrobenzofuroxan, the outerspace initiator, as well as Miss Larson from first grade. Watching Jeopardy, I regularly fail in
      the current movie/current music genre. Alzheimer's:
      had a neighbor guy, lived with his kids, who had a bad case. He spent one day going through any open
      house in the area and stealing all the TV remotes.
      The daughter went around with a boxfull returning them. It is sad, worse than just aging.

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  48. I see that Steven Hawking is doing Jaguar commercials now.
    Theoretical Physics must not pay well.

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    1. Parallel universes - maybe instead of my angst and workaday grindery I'm getting a poolside Asian massage right now.

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    2. I wonder if the goal of every chef is to end up like
      Anthony Bourdain?

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    3. Maybe alot of chefs watch those shows and have a false idea of the glamour involved and go in with romantic expectations. Long hours gruntwork and peeling garlic is more the reality.

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    4. Well maybe chief chef at some swank place in Australia, or more typically starting your own place. Z-Man's Steal & Cronuts perhaps?

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    5. I'm at the stage in my life where I'm not into overwork. Add to that the high stress levels many chefs feel so it's easier to be a tolltaker imo.

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  49. Was googling anxiety and testing yesterday. One site was really good and had useful categories like existential or philosophical anxiety. I could never really relate to low-anxiety people, folks who never ponder personal mortality or even seem to look forward to colonoscopies. You're thinking about the twists and turns and air insufflation and they're talking about it in the casual. They either don't care about death and procedures or they're fronting;)

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    Replies
    1. Let's rationalize the procedure: colonoscopies are very routine. If air insufflation is a worry, the procedure using carbon dixoxide (non flammable, readily absorbs in tissure) water and even helium are available. I'm thinking Helium could be a bad choice
      because it is such a non-dense gas. The same phyisics
      which makes the vocal cords high pitched and squeaky
      could also result in farts, the sound of which might
      set the team to guffawing and missing a polyp or two.
      Colonoscopies, as you note, are probably over recommended. We have more colonoscopists in town than
      chemists. Almost as many as meth dealers. So one old time GI doc has set up a colonoscopy surgery over between Bob's Hobby and the Mormon Stakehouse, kind of
      across from the animal shelter. Good location?

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    2. It took me about a year and overgoogling to mentally acclimate myself to the procedure. I mean think about what's involved. Add to that the big day of prep which varies from locale and bringing up the subject at work out of necessity. Anyway easy for an armchair gp to talk about it.

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    3. IMO, you pretty well have the colonoscopy procedure down. A little kinesiology, and you can be ready for
      Med School .

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    4. My doctor is forceful about it. My brother's doctor pushes it (tinnitus insomnia anxiety what's that?). Why not just pass a law, say two cops show up at your door.

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    5. It's a war against the polyps but I still think easy persuasion is better than forceful presentation.

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    6. You and a lot of people. Some data suggests around 30+ people over 50 avoid colonoscopies. That is considerably higher than people that don't vaccinate their kids. My advise: don't dress up like
      a clown for Halloween this year.

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    7. Medical procedure anxiety: pretty common, yet not really addressed by the physician community. I know
      several people who need Lorazapam before squeezing
      into an MRI unit; one daughter who pops one before
      getting on an airplane. Even me. I was sent to a specialist for a bottom back tooth root canal. The
      specialist put a huge tv camera over my face and said it would take at least two hours. I popped up and announced "I'm outta here!" He called my dentist
      and the receptionist called me and after some phone
      discussion they agreed I needed a couple of Ativan
      pills. Those things are great for anxiety, but can
      be addictive. In some cases, a physician may prescribe one or two 0.5mg tablets, the anesthesiologist adjusting the infusion rate accordingly. Like any other worrisome thing, once
      you do it and survive, you feel like a hero.

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    8. IMO many people avoid it for this reason: most would go through with it but in many cases they want you to go through a few every few years. I know what you're gonna say but it seems like asking alot esp. with an aging body. It's funny how we can talk endlessly about this. You're firmly on the pro-side.

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    9. Re patient anxiety it somewhat rankles me medical pros seem to treat it as irrational. Many would go through with it but give people a chance to mentally adjust to the idea. Even Saty admits it's unsettling, disturbing. Be honest with people. Don't just treat it like an oil change at the gas station.

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    10. Around 20% of people have patient anxiety, at least the type known as White Coat Syndrome...where the blood pressure and heart rate increases. My wife has that, although it doesn't stop her from doctoring. My problem is the dang computer check-in
      kiosk. I stood at it for 10 minutes the first time
      trying to figure out how to start the check in. Dr.
      wondered why my BP was sky high. Just saying.

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    11. My doctor always has the waiting room big screen tv tuned to CNN which is bad for your bp and who feels like reading Golf Digest? I've had blood taken many times but for some reason it always annoys me.

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