This evening we watched the DVD version of Blindness, based on a novel by Nobel prize winner José Saramago. A tough way to spend a couple of hours, because the movie shows a very dark and vicious world. Excuse what may sound like a pun; humans are not always noble (sorry).
posted in health, politics | Comments Off on Seeing is believing | 274 words
Here we go. Another improved distribution of Linux to try (and buy, because the price is so affordable). I’m still a fan of Linux Mint, and this evening I burned an ISO of “Gloria” (version 7 Release candidate 1). Usually I’m patient enough to wait for beta and RC versions to pass, but there’s a confidence level with this distro that made the risk acceptable. The usual easy install, where only one of my partitions is erased and reformatted; the Vista stuff is untouched, and after about fifteen minutes and one reboot, bere we are with a newer, faster Linux ready to use. This time around, even my sound works without any tweaking or wondering what forum might hold a clue to a puzzle. Two thumbs up.
posted in computing, food, health | Comments Off on A new distro, a new gadget | 321 words
Just as we get the name for our newest pandemic on the lips of all and sundry, and then find that name changed, the pigs have decided to claim what is rightfully theirs. Somewhere in the wilds of Alberta (we aren’t being told where, in respect for the patients’ anonynity) a small herd of pigs are ill. They caught the H1N1 A (pronounced hi-nee-a, I think) from a human that had gone wandering somewhere south of El Paso. Almost ironic, since we were calling this the “swine flu” when there were no piggies with curly tails involved. On the other hand, maybe the pigs were referring to it as “human flu”. Now, both infected parties must adjust to the new reality.
posted in health | Comments Off on Now the swine need to worry | 290 words
One of my favourite literary characters has to be Chicken Little. Take an otherwise minor incident and through hyperbole and imaginative exaggeration, convince yourself and others of impending disaster. It’s a mechanism with a long and hallowed history. Think of the Bible and it’s prophet of doom and gloom. Or borrow from the Greeks, where Cassandra had important things to augure, if only the rest of the community would shut up and listen closely. We, as modern, well-informed individuals have the mainstream media. Think Fox, or CBC (unfair pairing, but I want to keep your attention).
posted in health | Comments Off on No need to hide inside | 297 words
Even a refrigerator that has suffered the onslaught of a family week holds temptations. My day began with a medical fast, and the time from midnight to midday was a test of intestinal fortitude. Many times I approached the door and many times I turned back, aware that if a medical authority requests an empty belly, there is a good reason. My morning ended without incident.
posted in health | Comments Off on My afternoon as a mouse in a maze | 324 words
Just like in retail, to get what you are after in our government run medical system, you have to show up early. Today, I went shopping for a “physical” at my local clinic. Caught a transit bus just after dawn, joined the queue around the railing overlooking the mall and when the doors to the clinic opened, I took my number and joined the assembled masses to wait for my turn to plead my case.
posted in health | Comments Off on Free is not the same as free | 278 words
Sometimes, it would be nice to have just a little more information. Take, for example, my visit to the hospital this morning. A simple control visit, which should have taken less than an hour in the worst of times. I arrived early, which is a good idea, and the usual nurse met me on the ward and asked me if I’d checked in to the admin window. Not yet, but I was on my way. Slight correction; they’d moved things around and I had to go to the information desk on the first floor, first (is this a new way of naming levels?).
posted in health | Comments Off on All around in a circle | 463 words
If you ever wonder whether you are proficient enough in another language, forget the simple tests. Ordering breakfast, or checking the alternate route to the subway don’t count in the real world. Instead, try discussing pharmaceutical interactions, or the alternatives to invasive surgery while referring to your own eyeball. Keeps you on task, believe me. It also proves just how much of a second language world is dependent on synonyms and analogies.
posted in health | Comments Off on My version of the witch’s brew | 453 words
Hardly a day goes by, without that some newspaper or magazine or talk show urges me to improve my nutritional habits. Out with the old and in with the new, in smaller quantities, preferably cooked in some non-fat manner (steam, microwaves). A siren song, meant to avoid a siren call from one of those yellow vans that seem to be parked outside the local donut dispensary. Well, after a long hard winter, and with Mi-Carême happening sometime soon (yesterday, today, tomorrow?), the other side has struck back.
posted in health, humour | Comments Off on Only for the nutritionally challenged | 313 words
We’ve been busy medically around here for the last couple of days and nights. Following the protocol outlined by the resident student and then amplified and ventilated by two surgeons, our team is dripping drops and smearing salves and popping pills into me. Currently, there are 77 separate interventions, at a frequency of every 25 to 3o minutes (which makes me remember a great tune by Chicago, 25 or 6 to 4, buts that just the ramblings brought on by the varieties of cortisone. I think.
posted in health | Comments Off on Keeping my team awake | 305 words
