REFLECTIONS

I'm having another spine operation to correct a "lump" which developed on the incision site from my first operation.  The "lump" is a pseudomeningocele. From Wikipedia: "A pseudomeningocele is an abnormal collection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that communicates with the CSF space around the brain or spinal cord. In a pseudomeningocele, the fluid has no surrounding membrane but is contained in a cavity within the soft tissues." Anyway, while having my pre-op blood work they found that I have anemia.  It was a surprise to me because I have no symptoms. I thought the treatment would be easy. Take iron tablets 3 times a day.  But after spending a day on and off the toilet with painful black tar-like stools; I decided to stop taking the medication.  Maybe after my operation next week I might try 1 tablet a day. I found the chart above with some strange causes for anemia.  I can believe some of them but there are others that are just too muc

The sound in the background is my heat pump; working extra hard at 14 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius).

I love the video.  It goes great with the music and lyrics.  Try full screen. O.A.R. - Peace I don't wanna fight no more I only wanna get to shore Baby don't slam the door tonight We ran another off the tracks  That's time we can't get back We can save tomorrow if we try Oh oh oh oh until we make this right Oh oh oh oh I won't say good night  I just wanna make you laugh I just wanna see that smile Babe we're only here, oh for a little while I just wanna hold you till we fall asleep  I want love, I want us, I want you, I want me, I want peace Everybody needs a place, somewhere that's warm and safe For shelter from this crazy world we're in But tonight I let the rain inside, I took away your place to hide I'm sorry that I made you cry again

I get my water from a private well.  It needs a well pump and a well pressure tank to work. My well pressure tank finally died.  It must have been about 30 years old so I can't complain; except that it decided to die on some of the coldest snowy days in February.  July would have been much better. Luckily I know of a good contractor.  Eric came in the snow and spent the entire day replacing the tank. I had no idea how much going without water would be such an inconvenience. Using bottled water to drink is easy.  What's really bad is having to go without taking a shower.  You can wash your hands if you use the the water from a bottle.  You can take a "sponge bath".  It's just not the same. So I melted some snow in cooking pots to have more water to use for washing. That helped a little. What's the very worst part?  You can't flush the toilet! After one flush the tank is empty and won't flush again.  I used some melted snow and bottled

I want to make my blog easier to navigate and less cluttered; so I set up a simpler design. I used Georgia font in bold, italic because i t looks more personal, like real handwriting. I changed the font to Verdana because it's a little easier to read. Verdana,   Verdana bold,      Verdana bold & italic. Verdana small, Verdana even smaller Georgia,      Georgia bold,           Georgia bold & italic.       Georgia small,       Georgia even smaller There's not really much of a difference. Just for fun I might try other fonts and switch around a bit. I made the text black instead of the original dark grey. A plain background on the lower part of the blog will make the links for the websites and blogs stand out. These websites and blogs are updated with the newer posts on top. Besides posting, I like to share parts of the web that I enjoy visiting. I'm not sure why but I don't get many comments.  I'll try to respond to each comment and

From the Listverse site I read an article about mirrors.   10 Crazy Facts About Mirrors - Listverse Item 8 claimed that mirrors can cause hallucinations. From: Mind Hacks The strange-face-in-the-mirror illusion « Mind Hacks "At the end of a 10 min session of mirror gazing, the participant was asked to write what he or she saw in the mirror. The descriptions differed greatly across individuals and included: (a) huge deformations of one’s own face (reported by 66% of the fifty participants); (b) a parent’s face with traits changed (18%), of whom 8% were still alive and 10% were deceased; (c) an unknown person (28%); (d) an archetypal face, such as that of an old woman, a child, or a portrait of an ancestor (28%); (e) an animal face such as that of a cat, pig, or lion (18%); (f ) fantastical and monstrous beings (48%)." "More mysterious, however, were the participants’ emotional reactions to the changes: The participants reported t