Have a ball at the Testicle Festival

This just goes to show you that there is something for everyone. I think that now, I've heard everything.

Link

NaNoWriMo Counter

The word count begins 11/01/08 and ends 11/30/08.

We Interrupt this Day for a Special Announcement

Neck is 100% BETTER!

Last night I went and bought some OTC reading glasses the strength I needed for the computer. I had planned to get my prescription and just get some with my bifocal but I decided that if they didn't work, I'd be out $100 at least. So, I went to Wal-mart and bought reading glasses that I could exchange if they didn't work. I used them an in 2 hours I could tell that it was helping the lingering pain in my neck. Today I took them to work and it worked like a charm. I still have mild discomfort but for the most part, I feel better than I have felt in a year!

Praise the Lord, Thank you, Jesus, and AMEN!

Now, I just hope I don't ever need that shot again. This was NOT fun.

The Federal Reserve Bank?

I was unaware of this information. It is NOT taught in our schools. Anyone ever hear this?

http://libertyforlife.com/banking/federal_reserve_bank.html

Updating Things

I've been adding a couple of things. Went and found some of my favorite oldies and put them on. And I added a link to the Breast Cancer site where you can click and help underprivileged women get free mammograms. I added a video of Sarah. I now have sound and want to record her singing. Hey, I may add one of me when I don't look like a slob!

Count Down Begin

Four days until NaNoWriMo begins. I am feeling sunk before I begin. But I am feeling better!

Tomorrow I am taking care of me. I have people creating diversions so I can have a day alone. Fingers crossed!

Cervical Cancer Vaccine: 'dangers Mean More Research Is Needed'

Link

See, I'm not the only idiot out there.

Sunday Smiles

Neck is ALL better. Still a slight twinge if I move a certain way or if stay in an awkward position too long, but I'm a quick study.

I am uploading a video made last night. I got a new web cam with sound so I was trying it out with Sarah. Not very good but she's just so darn cute. Also, took some new pic of me with it to see how it works. Here's one of me in my caftan with my hair all up... usually is. It has gotten below my waist! Have to do a photo of that sometime. LOL! What a nest.


I am also getting ready to go to church. We are going to David's church tonight to watch them do a drama. I'd rather go to mine but they asked us to come so we could watch Sarah and see them in the program. His mother-in-law is riding with us unless she changes her mind.

Tomorrow is work again and I hope it is a better day than Friday. I was miserable Friday with pain and didn't get much accomplished. I do have Tuesday off and that will be nice. It is my birthday, #52! Whew! Did I already blog this?

Saturday's Business

I've been cleaning. A little at a time because my neck is still painful. I really thought I'd have to go to the hospital around midnight last night. The pain was just terrible. I finally took a muscle relaxant around 1 a.m. and went to sleep. I slept until 10:45 today.

I must say it is a bit better. Still can't really do any lifting and pulling much but I've been cleaning the house and have to stop to recover a bit. Nothing really heavy but sweeping and moping are decidedly less fun than usual.

I am going to go out to buy groceries and maybe get a bite to eat. I also think I may take half the muscle relaxant early this evening so I can rest better.

I've been working on characters for my NaNoWriMo beginning on the 1st. Remember, 30 days, 50,000 words? I did it last year and the year before. This year, I don't know if I'll win again. I have several hitches. My pain often means I can't think well enough to write. BUt from the 13-15 I will be out of town for a ladies conference in Illinois and then there is thanksgiving.

So, several bumps in the road to the NaNoWriMo finish line. Still, I want to try. I posted my banner here last week with my title and you all said it was nice and you'd want to read it. That was encouraging but actually, no real story to go with it. . . yet, just a couple of nebulous characters trying to take shape.

I'm off for now but if I feel well enough later, I'll stop back in. I am sorry for not getting to everyone's blog lately. I hope to catch up soon.

Ouch! Again

Yes, my neck hurts! Really hurts. Of course, four stainless steel needles inserted into the facet joints of you spine could hurt. . . a little. . . or a lot.

Yep, a lot. I've been miserable all day. Tonight, I just ache all across my shoulders and up my neck. The usual pain is there, not as great but this new pain is really terrible. And no meds for it.

I should have stayed home from work. Moving my head up and down is not fun either. So, I'm typing with my eyes closed so I won't do that. It isn't helping.

I'm also sitting her starved for a cheeseburger but I, in my agonized wisdom, decided to let Jerry keep the car for work tonight and I have no way to go, even if I had any money! Well, I have money but my debit card is lost so I can't get it out in the middle of the night.

So, off I go. I have to lie down. I'm just miserable.

Pain in the Neck

It would appear that the treatment has worked very well. Oddly enough, I don't, at the moment, have pain anywhere except in my shoulder. I've slept most of the day and was fine until I got up and started doing some things. So, I've sat back down to dash off this note and then, I think will find something to do that doesn't require using the shoulder and neck.

What he did?

He stuck four needles in the left side of my neck and injected two medicines in it. One a pain medicine and the other a steroid. They gave me a medicine in my iv to relax me too. That helped. My bp went up to 170 over something I didn't catch and that's when they got me the shot. I had taken my bp medicine so obviously I was stressed.

Let me say this is not something you do for recreational purposes. It hurts but the med in the iv helped a lot. But it was quick. I was out by 10 a.m.. Came home and went to bed and slept until 2 p.m. Probably needed the sleep most of all. I just hope I sleep tonight. I am going to take one of my happy pills to see if that will help me. But I bet I am up at the crack of dawn. I am NOT a morning person so it won't be nice.

Not sure yet if I will be able to go to work. The neck is a bit stiff and sore and only the morning will tell. I am going now to take a nap... boy did I get old.

Vermillion Rules!: Monday Giveaway-Earth Expressions

Well, mayby a free pendant. I found a website that has a giveaway going on for necklace pendants. They are so pretty! You ought to visit just to browse, even if you don't enter to win. But enter anyway just to see if you do. LOL!
Link

No Free Lunches?

Well, mayby a free pendant. I found a website that has a giveaway going on for necklace pendants. They are so pretty! You ought to visit just to browse, even if you don't enter to win. But enter anyway just to see if you do. LOL!

Here's the link

http://vermillionrules.blogspot.com/2008/10/monday-giveaway-earth-expressions_20.html

What Makes a Day Good?

When you have the answer, let me know. Most of the week, I felt pretty good but by yesterday, I was running down and today, I'm just plain tired and I have been in my chair all day. It's the thought processes that are the most noticeable. I can't think very well. I have this huge cotton ball in my head and nothing helps.

Lots of neck pain too but probably the computer causing that. I have to get some computer glasses. I am calling my eye doctor to pick up the prescription this week. I am going to a one hour place and get glasses for computer use only. I think that will help a bit as I am just straining. I try and enlarge the fonts but it is just annoying because most pages aren't designed for large fonts.

Anyway, I'm going to church tonight. Didn't go this morning. I'm fresh out of ideas at the moment for a good post and as I hate doing these dreadful whine posts, I'm off.

I hope everyone is doing all right and you have had a great weekend. Tomorrow is Monday and I really hate Mondays.

Cause of Death

I don't think I have told you all this and I should have mentioned it sooner. My friend got the autopsy results back on her son this past week. They think he had pneumonia. Yes. Fluid in the lungs. No indication that he'd been sick or anything. No other problems found other than an enlarged heart.

I know it doesn't make it easier but I am glad that it was something they had no way of knowing.I think in the end, it will make them deal with it better. She told me her husband still was feeling as if it was his fault because of the heart. I guess that is inevitable.

Just thought I'd let you know.

A Tentative Start

Everyone is getting banners for their novels on NaNo and I am envious. Not because I can't get one, but because I haven't a clue what I am going to write about. Well, I just found a picture I liked on my computer and decided to play with it just to figure out how to make myself a banner. In doing so, I may have come up with an idea for my novel. Amazing even me.

Writer's Block?

Sad but oh, so true.


more animals

Bad Eyesight

Arthur is 90 years old. He's played golf every day since his retirement 25 years ago.

One day he arrives home looking downcast.

"That's it," he tells his wife. "I'm giving up golf. My eyesight has gotten so bad that once I've hit the ball, I can't see where it went."

His wife sympathizes and makes him a cup of tea. As they sit down, she says, "Why don't you take my brother with you and give it one more try."

"That's no good," sighs Arthur. "Your brother's a hundred
and three. He can't help."

"He may be a hundred and three," says the wife, "but his eyesight is perfect."

So the next day, Arthur heads off to the golf course with
his brother-in-law. He tees up, takes an almighty swing, and squints down the fairway.

He turns to the brother-in-law. "Did you see the ball?"

"Of course I did!" replies the brother-in-law. "I have
perfect eyesight."

"Where did it go?" asks Arthur.

"I don't remember."

The Gift of Women

This was a thought for the day that one of my co-workers forwarded to us. Most of us are women in my office, except for the director and two inspectors but I know they will appreciate this, too.

'Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply it. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.'

So - if you give her crap, you will receive more shit than any one human being can handle.....

I almost fell off my chair laughing. Please know that I don't use that word in the last sentence but I fully agree with the sentiment.

Stimulating Commentary

I was going to respond to a comment on the previous blog by my friend Maeve. She always shares a good point of view and usually results in me rethinking about my point of view. I've clarified and maybe repeated myself but here are the results.

Maeve wrote:

If I remember correctly, the vaccine is encouraged for young women to protect them against 3 forms of the human papillomavirus virus or HPV that has been linked to cause cervical cancer. Now if this is causing problems then yes it needs to be stopped, but I don't see anywhere in their advertisements where it is "MANDATORY".

There are certain vaccines that need to be given. Chicken pox happens to be one if a person has gone through their life somehow without getting chicken pox. For an adult that disease can be deadly. There are many diseases that are there that if we can prevent a body from getting it then it means the person has a better quality of life.

Majority of vaccines though are not mandatory. Heck I got a Hepatitis B vaccine while a lifeguard to ensure that a preventive measure against any possibility as I was doing my work as a lifeguard to not risk getting it. This though was my choice and due to my job at the time it was felt to be a good precaution. It was not mandatory for my profession but I was told it might be a good idea. This though happens to be basically on the subject of vaccines and immunization a topic that you and I are going to differ on strongly.

My response to this is as follows:

I understand what you are saying. And I'm o.k. that we differ. I'm all about knowledge. This is about informing people of the risk, which I don't think has been done aggressively enough.

You are right about vaccines for highly contagious disease that are easily passed from person to person. We need to have those, and we do. And they ARE mandatory for children to go to school. In many states, you can't enroll a child until they have all their shots. That's mandatory vaccination. Even most day care facilities will no longer allow a child to attend until you provide a shot list. Sarah had to actually get shots before she could go to a day care. So, mandatory vaccines are here. But these are childhood diseases that are highly contagious and can cause serious epidemics.

As a side note, there are some who say there is a connection between child vaccinations and the increase in autism in this country. This disorder begins around 3-4 years of age. The increase in cases has been rapid, and began after the increase in vaccinations began in the late 50's and early 60's. So, the connections appears obvious and you can find articles and people who believe there is a direct correlation. This is unproven but still questionable. The latest reports are that they can't find a reason for the increase in autism. Hmmm.

However, HPV vaccine is for a virus that is spread by unsafe sexual practices. It is a sexually transmitted disease. It can be avoided the same way we avoid typhoid, ecoli, and staph -- cleanliness. If a woman wants to have unprotected sex with 35 people, she can expect to pick up the germs of more than 500 people. That is assuming each of her partners had 10 other partners. That is the number was released when the aids epidemic began and people were told to consider when having sex with someone. I always felt it excessive but they are the experts. So disease is highly probable. BUT -- HPV is a very avoidable disease and is only contagious from a specific source.

The cancer this virus causes is not contagious. Merck touts this cancer as as a result of the HPV that results from unsafe sexual practices. Some women, a vast number, will never, ever get this disease, no matter how many partners they have. In fact, the research I read said the body usually fights off HPV disease.

My research also indicated that the federal government is being pressured by Merck to make this vaccine mandatory. http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/457/31/ We have several vaccines that are already mandatory for children to go to school. They are for diseases that are easily passed from one person to the other.

Catching the virus is a gamble the participants take of their own free will. The cancer is the payoff some will get from the gamble. So, I oppose drug companies forcing citizens who make better choices to take a drug that will result in even worse disease that can't be cured with a vaccine. I oppose the taxpayer having to pay for the results of someone's promiscuity. I oppose drug companies manipulating legislation that takes the right to choose away. How is enforced vaccination different from an enforced ban on abortion? Or China's enforced abortion laws? It isn't.

I oppose abortion and I oppose legislation to force me to take a medicine that I don't want or that may make me sicker. The person who takes the risk had a choice. Why can't I?

If a woman wants the vaccine, go for it. But Merck should publish, loudly, the effects this vaccine can have. Not some fast talk shoved in over smiling faces and stuff I have to read while you are warning me. Publish loudly, that it is a choice. People cry about a woman's right to choose but from where I sit, it only applies to those who want other people to pay for their bad choices. I resent that. Publish, loudly, how this disease is spread and prevented. And don't use taxpayer dollars to pay for the shots for those who say they can't pay.

So, guess who the maker of Vioxx was? Yes, Merck. "FDA analysts estimated that Vioxx caused between 88,000 and 139,000 heart attacks, 30 to 40 percent of which were probably fatal, in the five years the drug was on the market." That little fiasco has cost them billions and they are still setting aside money to pay for the litigation.

"Merck has reserved $970 million to pay for its Vioxx-related legal expenses through 2007, and have set aside $4.85bn for legal claims from US citizens. Patients who claim to have suffered as a result of taking Vioxx in countries outside the US are campaigning for this to be extended." Wikipedia article.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vioxx

Could Gardasil be their saviour? Could the high cost of this medicine be their way to pay for Vioxx? Do they often rush drugs out and tout them as 100% effective without revealing evidence to the contrary? If the Fed makes this vaccine mandatory, will taxpayers have to share the cost of any litigation? Why yes, you will.... Uncle Sam can be sued as a result of any deaths or other serious injury that results from a mandatory vaccine. Find and read what Vioxx has cost Merck and tell me they are purely interested in protecting innocent young girls. I don't buy it.

Sorry. My drug company soap box! You should read Michael Crichton novel "Next". The novel itself is not as good as most of his books but the information he shares in his Bibliography on how much control these companies have over our genetic codes is frightening. Their power with our government is the second most frightening. Third most frightening is how much stuff Critchton knows!

Thanks, Maeve for a stimulating comment! I always like it when someone does that!

American Association for Health Freedom - Update On Merck

Some time ago, I posted a blog about the vaccine, Gardasil, that is supposed to prevent cervical cancer. Obviously, I do not agree with enforced vaccines and particularly one that is unneeded. This is one more example of big drug companies getting help from the Federal Government to increase their profits by forcing citizens to take a medicine that is unproven and unnecessary.

The side effects from this drug are devastating and the public is not being given enough information. We are simply bombarded with smiling women ion essence saying "get the shot" and you can have safe sex. This is deceptive. Over 9,000 reports of severe side effects reported since 2006. Maybe that sounds like a minimum number to you. Is it YOUR daughter? YOUR wife? An excerpt has this to say about the side effects.

"As of July, the federal government's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System has received over 9,700 reports of problems since the vaccine's introduction in 2006. These include paralysis, seizures, and miscarriage. Twenty deaths have been reported although the government has not acknowledged a link yet."

You can read complete article here. Link

50,000 Word in 30 Days

It is that time of year again. I am gearing up for the NaNoWriMo. I am totally bummed. I have NO CLUE! Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to be going into this thing with no clue? I've done it once and it was terrible. 50,000 words folks and not a single idea. 2006 I did it that way and got behind from the beginning. Last year, in June I had a clue and I planned.

O.k. deep breath.

You know, the pain doesn't help. I can't focus a lot of the time so I know that is the problem. I sort of drift around. And I need to cut my time in other places to devote to the project.

50,000 words in 30 days! Every year it strikes terror in to the staunches heart and sends shivers of excitement up ever participating spine. It is daunting and overwhelming but the most fun you've ever had. Unless you'd rather be on a beach in Tahiti. You could carry a laptop.

Anyway, you shall be hearing more of this for the next two months. I know I have other writing projects going that are withering on the vine. Alice is my conscience in that area. Actually, I am working there but right now it has reached another knotty place and I'm checking the map.

Anyone willing to participate in the madness join me. Here is the link to sign up.

Link

Coward.

Dream or Nightmare

This morning I was dreaming I was in the most excruciating pain. My shoulder was as hard as a rock and I was writhing. My son was going to try and rub it to make it stop but when he touched it I screamed. Then, I woke up.

You guessed it. In the worst pain. My shoulder, from neck to rotor cuff is just so painful. It feels as if someone hit me with a hammer. For a little bit my back hurt but that has eased off.

Actually, the week has not been too painful except for a migraine I've had for four days. The meds for that have kept it manageable but not eliminated it. I had that as well but I suspect the shoulder is the culprit. Usually when one hurts the other is aggravated.

I have been very depressed this week. My friend's son died on Monday and it was just so terribly sad. I think my week reflected this. I was depressed a lot. I went to the viewing on Thursday and then the funeral on Friday. The wife was just a wreck as expected. I felt so very sorry for her. She cried and cried. She'd go stand beside the coffin and weep, then, she'd sit in a chair nearby for a few minutes and then get up again and lean over the coffin and weep. It was terrible.

Twenty-nine year-olds should not die in their sleep. I will be glad when they all know what happened. People feel there should have been a sign to tell them something was wrong. The coroner make the comment to his father that it could have been his heart. The father has a very serious heart condition and he is feeling guilty because his son may have inherited the condition and they didn't know. Then, my friend is worried that this could take a fatal toll on her husband. It is just such a terrible burden on top of his death. I think when the results is in, they will find some peace. I truly feel it was the fall he had a few weeks before. I think something was missed in the ER and it slowly killed him.

Well, my bills are calling me so I must go. I hope you all have a good weekend. If I get a chance and my pain levels off I will drop back in.