Category: Information

Monday’s Theme Music

Welcome back to the show that we like to call Monday. It’s April 26, 2021, for those keeping score at home, and this is Online Mike. The sun’s peek-a-boo presence began at 6:14 AM and will continue throughout this drizshine day until about 8:04 in the P. Same as yesterday. With temperatures dropping, we ended up with snow on the low local mountains last night.

Not complaining. Rain and snow are needed to stop the drought’s relentless advance. Yesterday’s changeable sunrain caused us to go rainbow hunting. Like multitudes, we find solace and hope from a rainbow’s presence. Took a while but a faint arch was finally detected. As it gained presence, a second showed. Yes, a double. Both steadily grew in brightness and hue for several minutes, rewarding us for our patient search.

Rainbows moved me toward music. Chris Rhea’s 1989 song, “Looking for A Rainbow” fit the bill.

Me and my cousin
Me and my brother
My little sister too
Come looking for a rainbow
Yea we’re looking for a rainbow

Well we come down to the valley
We ain’t far away no more
You can’t leave us dying this time
‘Cos we’re all around your door

h/t to Genius.com

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, and get the vax.

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After the Doctor’s

We are gathered for a little hum-bragging. I’ll try to keep it to a minimum.

I had my annual doctor visit last week. After visiting with a doctor (or, physician, if you must), your mood can swing anywhere. Depends on what he or she said, right? And your general attitude.

I was going in with mild trepidation. I’ve been treated for hypertension, aka high blood pressure, and an enlarged prostate gland (BHP). Meds, diet, and exercise, are handling both. I’m peeing petty normally, not having an seepage (funny how that’s something to cheer about — hey, I’m not peeing myself — but sadly, it happens to folks), and my blood pressure is usually around 131/71 (with a heart beat of 72) when I check it in the AM.

It’s not really those things that cause my mild trepidation. I always approach things with an outward calm aspect that belies mild trepidation going on underneath. It does give me a little white coat aura with my blood pressure, typically raising it by ten.

This was the first time meeting my doctor, who is actually a nurse practitioner. I’d lost the last one, Amber, to her decision to move elsewhere. She began the telemedicine video call with a compliment about my smile. “You have a nice smile in your patient records photo. I thought, he looks like a nice guy. You have the same smile. It’s a really nice smile.”

Well, she won me over. Can I buy you a drink?

She introduced herself. ICU nurse for ten years before making the change last year. She’s been doing this one year.

We talked in specifics about my treatments. Nothing new to report. She gave a general appraisal, based on my blood work. “Everything looks great on your blood work. No diabetes, no A1C warnings, no indication of liver or kidney failure, nothing showing inflammation or heart problems. You’re like a unicorn, because it’s rare that someone who is almost sixty-five has so little wrong with you.”

I felt pretty good about all of that (except the part about almost sixty-five — ah, aging and pride). Since I had nothing showing up and no complaints, we’d make it the same time next year. Meanwhile, if something did come up (knock on wood), I’d contact her as needed.

Okay. Onward.

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Today finds us at Sunday once again. I was just looking at the calendar, confirming that it’s April 25, and was surprised to realize there’s another Friday in the month. Just not paying attention.

The sun made it to Ashland at 6:15 AM and will make its departure at 8:03 PM. We’re getting close to almost fourteen hours of sunshine, which I do like. Like my cats, I am a sunshine fan. Don’t know how much sunshine we’ll see. The weather is continuing a drizzly, damp, chilly pattern. It’s 42 F right now, and we’re not expecting much higher. As I read on the net, the weather slowed down like a driver doing 75 in a 55 when he sees a cop behind him.

“Wedding Bell Blues” by the Fifth Dimension (1969) is looping through my mind. The great Laura Nyro wrote and originally recorded it. Her songs were hits by several others, like “Stoned Soul Picnic”, “And When I Die”, and “Eli’s Comin'”. She died way too young, 49, done in by ovarian cancer.

And while I like all those songs, I’m in the mood for something upbeat this morning. I challenged the mind for something. After a period of crickets singing and playing, the Foo Fighters crept in with “I’ll Stick Around” from 1995.

Upbeat? Up-tempo, I guess.

By the way, the three-day green-smoothie fast ended for me yesterday, day eight. Energy level just felt too low. Tired while walking, and didn’t achieve twelve miles for the day. Been a while for that. So I’m back on solids, and just finished a bowl of gluten-free oatmeal with peanut butter, cranberries, and pumpkin seed/flax granola.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, and get the vax, including the second dose, if you’re going the Moderna/Pfizer route. Cheers

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Technology, Again

Our county library has changed its system.

Again.

I was happy with the old system. They didn’t ask me. Running the library was outsourced to a private, for-profit firm several years ago. They asked me. I voted against it. I was outvoted. As a result of that move, the library hours were immediately cut, and people were let go.

Then came the coronarivus…

They’ve been doing a pretty good job during the pandemic. Kinda hard to screw up. Put a book on hold. When it’s available, present self at door. Provide name and card number. Librarian checks book out and gives it to you. You return the book to a drop box when you’re done with it.

That all worked well but changes were required. Technology sprints ahead. We must catch up. ‘They said’ in their notice that it would be easier to search online content and find my books. I was having no problem with those things. They can’t be easier than that, can they?

‘They’ also told me that the first time I logged in, my PIN would be the last four digits of my telephone number. I logged in today and entered the last four digits of my telephone number. ‘That information is incorrect’, the system told me. Okay, reset password.

I went through that, receiving the link to do this in my email account. After I reset my PIN, I went to my account to see what telephone number was in my account.

It was a number that I didn’t know.

Naturally. Technology, right. GIGO. Garbage in, etc.

I changed the number. The system told me a librarian would review the information before updating my account.

Whatever.

I logged out.

A few hours passed. My wife wanted to know what books were on the hold list. She uses my account because she didn’t want to go through the bother of getting a new library card the last time that the system changed, a few years ago.

I logged in.

‘That information is incorrect’, the system told me.

WTF? No, it isn’t.

Well, the system disagreed. Everyone knows that the system wins in these instances.

I reset my password again via an email link. For extra points, I used the PIN that I’d previously created.

Yeah, it took.

I remained logged in afterward. But then again, I decided, log out, because if it doesn’t recognize me and I need to reset my PIN, well, three times is a charm, right?

Does technology know that?

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Defloofberation

Defloofberation (floofinition) – 1. An animal’s act of thinking about something and deciding carefully.

In use: “After opening the door for Boo (the mini panther with the white chest star), Michael endured several minutes of defloofberation as Boo sniffed the air, listened to the sounds (a bird was singing and someone was hammering some distance away), and watched for threats before finally going into the backyard.”

2. The act of discussing something about an animal, or thinking about it, and deciding carefully on a course of action.

In use: “Taking in orphaned animals, especially newborns and those whose eyes haven’t opened, requires defloofberation about what it entails as long hours of comforting the animal and hand-feeding may be involved, among other things, yet, the satisfaction from helping these animals often galvanize people to act and take them in.”

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Floofthartic

Floofthartic (floofinition) – Of, or relating to, the purification or purgation of the emotions (such as sadness and loneliness) primarily by animals.

In use: “After dealing with her finances and the stresses of being unemployed, and coping with the news of the pandemic, she found sipping a glass of wine with her dog (Chef Eddy) beside her on the sofa on her cat (Loki) on her lap a needed, floofthartic experience.

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Digitized Smells

I have my telemedicine video call today. It has an element incorporated that I knew nothing about: digitized smell.

Apparently, recent software improvements has been added to many video-conferencing systems. These improvements capture local air, digitize it, send it through the net to the other end, and then reproduces the smell. This is being done in conjunction with telemedicine calls because studies show that patients develop greater confidence and feel calmer when they experience ‘hospital smells’. That mélange of odors isn’t by accident. It’s actually a carefully contrived blend created by psychologists and marketing specialists over decades of study. It is the smell which makes people feel safer, more secure, and soothed.

Trippy, right? All this time, I thought the smells were an accidental by-product.

The second aspect of the technology is that it allows the healthcare practitioners to smell you. That aids them in their assessment about your state of health.

I can see that. Makes total sense. It’s also fake news. Yes, fiction. Made it all up. Yep, I lied.

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Day six of the three-day green smoothie fast. Hello, it’s Earth Day. Happy Earth Day! It’s also Thursday, April 22, 2021. Huzzah.

We achieved sunrise in Ashland, Oregon, at 6:19 AM. Sunset won’t come until almost fourteen hours later, at 8 PM. Huzzah. We reached 72 degrees F yesterday and expect more of the same, what with a clear blue sky, loads of sun beams, and a current temp of 52. Huzzah.

I am quite hungry this morning. That prompted me to sing a bit of “Cheeseburger in Paradise” by Jimmy Buffett in my head. We eat Beyond Burgers in our household, which are plant-based burgers. My wife is a vegetarian. We also put vegan cheese on them. The side is usually a garden salad, but oven-baked tater tots often make the plate. Although, myself wouldn’t say no to a nice steak nor some roasted chicken. Yeah, for breakfast.

The 1971 Three Dog Night song, “Out in the Country”, came to me last night, though, as I gazed at the declining sunshine being flashed off the clouds in shades of pink and gold above the darkening, forested mountains. We’re out in the country, in a small town kind of way, a nice combination in a multitude of ways. I thought it would be a good song for Earth Day, so I post it here. It’s pleasantly green now. But…sigh, the rain has faded, the land is drying, and the heat is climbing. Much of it will soon turn brown. More will blacken with fire.

Or maybe not! Maybe not this year. Fingers crossed. Stay positive (boy, I’m trying – hope you’re better at it than me), test negative, wear a mask, and get the vax. Cheers

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