The other day I found out my mom suffers from arthritis. So I sent her the names of the supplements that should help in slowing down its progress and ease the pain – glucosamin, chondroitin, MSM, vitamin C and fish oil. The reason I know about these supplements is of course because of Georgia’s arthritis. Then I remembered that I completely forgot about Apple Cider Vinegar, which I shall refer to as ACV so that I don’t have to type all that every single time. Yes, I am that lazy, why do you ask. Anyways, I had known that ACV helps arthritis in people and I planned on researching it for Georgia, but I never did. Since I wanted to send mom the correct dosage and usage instructions, I jumped on it right away to get the information.
I gathered all I needed and sent the information off to mom, which, if anybody else is interested, can be found in Earth Clinic ACV page. I was looking around Earth Clinic to get more information for Georgia other than the correct dosage of ACV since, on top of arthritis, she has allergies and is prone to yeast infection and of course has anxiety issues. And you know what caught my eye?
People take ACV to lose weight! Say what? Really? Seriously? Holy crap! Really? Seriously? Really? What baffles me is that there are so many people who obviously are not selling ACV are claiming it works. Out of those who either said Yea they lost weight or Nay they didn’t, about 80% said Yea and 20% Nay. Are these people joking? Are they delusional? One person actually wrote that he lost 12lb, from 193lb to 181lb, in 15 days by taking apple cider vinegar! Excuse me? Come again? Just by taking ACV? Unfuckingbelievable! Are you sure? Are you slightly loopy?
I’m very skeptical doesn’t even cover it. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for ACV. There are just too many health benefits well documented to push it aside as some humbug. I know a lot of people are not keen on remedies from “alternative medicine,” which by the way, seems like a misnomer to me because in fact, these remedies have been in existence way waaaaaay before what we now call “conventional medicine” at present. So basically what we call “alternative medicine” really is conventional and vice versa. And I know many opponents of these remedies give an example of somebody’s experience in which a certain remedy has not worked. But people should keep in mind that what works for many doesn’t mean it will work for EVERYBODY and what doesn’t work for many doesn’t mean it will not work for ANYBODY. But I digress. I seem to digress a lot these days, but it’s my blog and I can digress if I want to, kk?
So… where was I? I think I was at skeptical but all for ACV status above. Yeah, and as I read more about ACV, it sounded more like a cure-all miracle substance that could be taken orally or topically on skin. At least according to the ACV enthusiasts, that is. A lot of side effects and warnings were posted as well, but after reading through a dozen or so pages, it seems they were mostly the results of incorrect usage or just plain stupidity. For example, some airhead said she wouldn’t recommend it because her kitten cried in pain and walked around howling when she scrubbed (SCRUBBED!!!) undiluted ACV to a sore with a toothbrush, the practice, by the way, she continued for a whole fucking week! Yes, there are people THAT stupid! But 80% of people who lost weight by taking ACV is too hard to ignore. Either ACV really does help you lose weight, or ACV makes you delusional and loopy.
So after looking at pros and cons, as a community service to you all at the risk of becoming delusional and loopy, because I’m just so wonderful like that, I decided to be the guinea pig and try it out for myself. I’m going to go get some ACV and start taking it. I’m very skeptical, but you know that if anything sounds too good to be true, I’d probably jump on it and try it. No, you don’t? Should I remind you of that gadget I once bought that you wear around your waist and the gadget itself does all the work for you and you get fabulous abs in no time without you moving a muscle yourself? I will record my weight and report back on my weight change if there is any, but there is a great chance of me gaining weight than losing because that has been the steady trend the last four years or so.
Cross your fingers for the day I announce I have lost weight, no matter due to real weight loss or due to delusional and/or slightly loopy tendencies because I’d be happier either way as long as I think I look fabulous.
He and I were not that close. I didn’t particularly like him but I didn’t particularly dislike him either. But both of us being consultants reporting to the same manager, he as a mainframe admin and I as a Unix admin, our desks were usually close together, two desks over at the most. I’ve been working here for eleven years and I spent several hours a day everyday within twenty feet of each other for eleven years whether we enjoyed each other’s company or not.
Eleven years is a long time. Some days we joked around – he especially liked to squeeze in the words “viagra” and “KY gel” somewhere. Some days we had nothing to say to each other than greetings. Some days we argued the mainframe or the Unix server was to blame for printing problem – I was usually right. Some days we talked about current events. Some days we showed each other the pictures of pets and talked about them. He didn’t know how many cats he had. Some days we had screaming matches, in one of which the sentences like “Fuck you” and “Go fuck yourself” flew at each other, and as a consequence, we ignored each other for months afterward. Some days he tried to convince me that I should incorporate myself as a nonprofit organization to deduct expense for my dogs. Some days he tried to sell me vitamins. Some days he tried to convince me I should get an expensive hobby and get a tax deduction. Some days he tried to convince me I should get cash for my clunker. Some days he tried to convince me that I should stop eating red meat and more veggies. Yeah, he usually tried to convince me, come to think of it. Not very successfully, I might add.
Several months ago, he tried to get rid of his pennies by leaving them out on top of a long file cabinet next to his desk. He thought some people would take them. To his dismay, people started leaving their own unwanted pennies there and the number of pennies quickly grew. With so many pennies, some people started creating “penny art,” making images of things or just some abstract patterns with those pennies. Of course some others enjoyed destroying the “art.” He couldn’t understand why nobody wanted to take those pennies even after I repeatedly asked him why didn’t HE?
When I came back to work this Monday after a week’s absence, I was told he had been in ICU for 10 days already. He had called in sick the entire week before the week I missed work, so I hadn’t seen him for two weeks. I was told that he had initially gone to the hospital for throwing up blood and it turned out he had been bleeding internally. It had something to do with his liver, and he had liver cancer removed a few years ago – it must have been around the time we were ignoring each other because I had no idea he had liver cancer until two days ago. The doctors at the hospital wanted to transfer him to another hospital for liver transplant but before they could do that, his condition worsened.
He was a friendly enough person. With all his eccentricities and idiosyncracies, after more than twenty years of working at the same place, a lot of people at work maintained a love-hate relationship with him and he had become like an endearing family member. Some people went to the hospital to visit. I had planned to visit him with two other coworkers today during lunch, even though he was not conscious, because we were told that he didn’t have much time left. His kidney was shutting down.
On top of his desk next to a bunch of scattered pennies, now sits a small leafy plant with a yellow ribbon with a card saying “In loving memory of Ben.” He died around eight o’clock this morning at the young age of sixty-five.
Rest in peace, Ben.
Today I happened upon this CNN article, which caught my eye obviously because of its title, “Digging out from $80,000 debt.” I have a lot of debt, and I’ve lost sleep over this. In fact, I was sick home all week last week, and on two days, I had to stay home without any PDO left, which means I would not get paid for those two days. Sadly, losing two-days’ worth of pay creates a problem for me. Heck, losing even one day’s pay creates a problem. So I had to warn a friend that I would need to borrow money in a few weeks. I admit I’m the one who got myself in this situation by buying the house that I shouldn’t have bought, but I just want to make something clear. I don’t spend money on things I really don’t need – clothes, shoes, cosmetics, manicures/pedicures, beauty shops, movies, etc. Most of my debt consists of payments to the vet for the last 2 years with more than a fair share of health troubles for my furry ones. But I digress.
So I started reading the article, remembering the phone number I memorized this morning from a radio commercial about debt counseling service or something or other, which talked about some government debt relief program for people with debt over $10,000. I did google this program in hopes to find something about it from a government source, but I quickly lost patience seeing 12 billion search results are the websites for debt counseling or debt consolidation services. Anyway, I digress. Again. Sorry.
As I was saying… I started reading the article, and yeah I finished reading it. That’s it. The end.
You know I was lying, right? That’s not it and wasn’t the end. Anyways, it was nothing special. The usual story – somebody got herself into this situation, and after transferring card balances from one credit card to another with really low introductory interest rate, she finally contacted a debt counseling service, and after a year, her debt is now $40,000. Half way there. As I said, nothing special. But I did get something out of it. NFCC – National Foundation for Credit Counseling, recommended by CNN personal finance editor. It’s a nonprofit organization with credit counseling service agencies as its members, who meet certain standards and provide no or very low fee services. I surfed the site for a long time, and I think I’m going to try contacting a counselor and see what she/he has to say. The first counseling session seems to be free.
Wish me luck. I tend to get very nervous about things like this and forget the questions that need to be asked or just get tongue-tied, even though I have nothing to lose. It’s the times like this that I want a husband who could and would take care of this kind of stuff. And I would need some good sleep vibes too from now on since I was also reminded of the fact that my mortgage rate is going to adjust in just about four months… Oh Fuck! Crap! Shit! Moose dick! *bangs head on the wall*
With schools back in session in full swing this week, the volume of traffic is also back to its usual horrendous level from a slight lull last couple of months. And with this traffic, the type of drivers who frustrate the living hell out of me are out and about in full swing as well. I’m talking about this one type of drivers who drive me absolutely batty with their inconsiderateness or obliviousness or callousness or spitefulness or simply just viciousness by blocking the flow of traffic – Those who drive in the leftmost lane leaving a mile of empty space in front and with a stretch of cars trailing behind them in utter frustration. When I’ve been driving 10mph slower than the speed limit on the leftmost lane for a few minutes because traffic is moving slow then look up to see all the way over there a mile ahead there is absolutely empty space spread across the highway, the access to which is blocked by a car in each lane driving leisurely at the exact same speed? Oh the things I want to do to those who create the slow-moving wall of cars on the highway!
I don’t know if you heard about the Montana No Speed Limit Safety Paradox:
The desired safety effect from posting speed limits was achieved by removing them.
This paradox came from the results of the study done by Montana DOT, which revealed some very interesting facts such as:
- The fatality rate in highway accidents decreased during the time there was no speed limit.
- More people used seat belts.
- Posted speed limits had either zero or negative effect on traffic safety.
Well, not so paradoxical to me. I think it’s because of those drivers I mentioned above. We all know fast moving vehicles on the left and slow moving vehicles on the right. With a speed limit, people drive as slow as they like on the leftmost lane, and think it’s their right, no matter how other people want to go past them. And I can just hear them say, hey, I’m driving already at a legal speed, you go around if YOU want, but I’m not fucking budging from my RIGHTFUL place. I have the right to drive in this lane! But withOUT a speed limit, these selfish people have to get out of the way since they don’t have the right to drive spitefully in the left lane. So with these these people out of the way and not blocking the flow of the traffic, less people try stupid reckless things with mounting frustration, tailgating, maneuvering to get in and out of lanes literally pushing cars off the lanes, trying to drive as fast as possible to close that gap and squeeze in, towards that promised wide open space a mile ahead of that moving wall. And then if and when they finally clear that wall, they take off dangerously fast to make up the lost time and to shake that frustration off and behind with that spiteful fuck. No wonder the fatality rate decreases and people drive at more leisurely paces that suit them under no speed limit.
I don’t care how fast you are driving. If you’re driving in the leftmost lane at the same exact speed or slower than the other lane(s), you not only create traffic behind you, but also increase fatality rate. People need to change lanes. People need to get on the highway or get off the highway. People need to merge. So a half of mile behind you, people have to drive 40mph on a highway because you are so fucking callous. Get the fuck out of the left lane if you are blocking the traffic flow for fuck’s sake.
A couple of weeks ago on my way to work, I stopped behind a black SUV at a red light on the southbound RT112. The SUV had a sticker that reminded me that 9/11 was not far away. The sticker’s background had a drawing of Manhattan skyline including the Twin Towers and its foreground had a firefighter’s helmet with the number 343 on it. The upper left-hand side was written “In Memory of” and on the lower right-hand side, I read “Dad.” With tears in my eyes, I wished there was a way to let the driver of the SUV know that his Dad would not be forgotten. How can I? I can still see, smell and breathe in that smoke vividly in my mind. But of course there was no way for me to share this with the driver of that SUV. And soon he went on his way, and I mine.
That it is highly unlikely that the driver of that black SUV would read this is an understatement. But in the event that any one of the friends and family of those three-hundred forty-three who gave their lives that day happens to read this, I want to assure you. They will not be forgotten.
Serious Stuff. Seriously
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