Diagnosed

At last I know why my backside looks like a working bullock.

Well there goes the blood pressure

Six hours watching mother in and out of hallucintations is really great fun.
A temperature of 38.9 and climbing.
Nausea.
Severe neck and shoulder pain.
It's a good thing she was lying on a pale green frilly pillowcase or I wouldn't have been able to tell her face from a white one except for the dark circles around her eyes and mouth.

This virus or whatever hit very suddenly at midday and galloped away all afternoon.
I called my sister who left her shift at the hospital.
While ma was lucid we made sure of what she wanted, to to to hospital if necessary or stay where she was. A very forceful 'I'm staying here' was all we needed to put on record.

Sister left, I stayed for the locum to arrive. She seemed a lot better with the pain control, panadol for the temp and maxalon for the sickness. She still drifted in and out of lucidity.
Our family is so inappropriate with laughter in any serious situation but laughing when she has a mouthfull of mohair rug thinking it was her tea is just our way. Besides which she offered to share it with me.

Locum arrived, temp was down to 37.6, lungs were clear, pain had subsided to manageble levels and she was drinking, input but no output since I'd been there. Tests are being done tomorrow and when I left she was being made comfortable for the night and I'm still up at 11.46 with my eyeballs hanging out.

I'll be back tomorrow to see what her own doctor has to say. If it is an infection from the chopped toe, thank you professional nitwit podiatrist, then I'll be saying a few words. So much for the sensible diet, no stress etc, etc. I came home, ate everything in the fridge and found a packet of Jaffa biscuits that went down a treat. I'm going to bed and I have a stomach full of acid through not being sensible, that'll learn me.

More anxiety and I so need more anxiety

Nothing like a walk to the corner shop on a Sunday morning for the papers and if it's warm, a coffee. So relaxing to sit at the outside table, drinking a cappuccino and watching the birds and maybe a cloud or two pass by.

But now research has found that if you combine a coffee or two with a fatty breakfast, it doubles the amount blood sugar levels rise after eating a fatty meal by itself. Bad for people at risk of diabetes.

The study also showed that eating a fatty meal can disrupt the body's ability to process sugar up to six hours later, meaning what we eat at breakfast determines how effectively our body processes lunch and beyond.

You see what I have to put up with. Not the egg and bacon, usually it's egg and mushroom, but the constant stream of information of what I should and should not eat, when I should eat and what tablets have to go with food and which don't. So my breakfast this morning was two slices of pumpkin seed toast with tomato, a fresh pear and black Earl Grey tea, two fish oil capsules, a diabetes tablet and a cholesterol tablet. It should be healthy but the letter from the pathology says I still have slightly abnormal readings from the tests, nothing to be worried about but grab $60 and see your doctor. Believe me if those readings haven't come down significantly then it's ditch the pills, ditch the doctor and take my chances.

Diet not going so well.

They say that people start to look like their pets at some stage but me and the cat are starting to think the same thoughts. I've noticed even the birds won't touch left-over Tofu.

Nature's school room.

The US Transportable Array is a fleet of 400 high-end seismographs dotted around North America and the measurements of the Japanese earthquake recorded by these instruments has given scientists something to re-think about mega quakes. The magnitude-9 megathrust has been the subject of intense analysis especially from the Japanese who have an incredibly dense network of GPS and seismic coverage.

A subduction earthquake where one tectonic plate pushes underneath another rips in one or two directions along a fault line but this quake came in bursts of energy rips shown in the chart below.

Hiroo Kanamori of CalTec analysed the rupture zone which he said was split into two areas. One was a rupture zone along the Pacific Ocean's Japan Trench which he believes was responsible for the Tsunami and another rupture along the fault line, deeper and closer to the coast, caused most of the shaking.

The estimates of how far the tectonic plates slid past one another is almost 60 metres and if correct, is a massive shift unprecedented in the recorded history of earthquakes. What is more surprising is that the slip happened on a fault in the ocean crust that is about 140 million years old and megathrusts quakes are more usual on young, hot, swiftly subducting plates.

Now scientists are realising that previous models of which type earthquakes would hit where are no longer set in lava (joke, laugh please). A magnitude 9 is just waiting to happen anywhere on a subduction zone.

Skinny is the new bitching

Don't weigh in on obese people, study says

April 22, 2011

Obese people are more likely to avoid the exercise they need to fight the battle if their loved ones tease and criticism them, a new study shows.

The study, published this month in the journal Obesity, surveyed 111 obese adult men and women about weight discrimination and how it influenced their motivation to exercise.

"This idea that we can use a tough love approach, it just doesn't seem to work," Dr Lenny Vartanian, a researcher from the University of NSW and lead author of the study said.

"In fact it appears to backfire, making people less likely to exercise."

Dr Lenny Vartanian, who studies the psychology of body image and weight discrimination, said one reason for this could be the embarrassment felt by overweight people when others "stare, laugh or make negative comments".

"When we exercise this mostly takes place in public, like in a gym," he said.

"So if someone gets negative comments it makes people want to avoid being in those public situations."

Almost half of those surveyed reported experiencing some form of weight stigma at least once a week, whether it be hearing negative comments or missing out on a job because of their weight.

Respondents said the most hurtful comments came from spouses, family members and doctors.

Dr Vartanian said public policy should also focus on lessening discrimination against fat people.

"We have certain policies in place to guard against all those groups who have been historically marginalised, whether due to race or religion," he added.

"Fat stigma is really the last remaining acceptable form of discrimination."

Read more:

http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/dont-weigh-in-on-obese-people-study-says-20110421-1dqdx.html#ixzz1KFSCuUrV

Fat stigma exists because it is related to unhealthy behaviours - what's next? Don't pick on people who smoke? Don't criticise violent people? Fat stigma is not discrimination. Obesity is an epidemic which costs us millions of dollars... What about all of us who AREN'T fat because we make healthy choices... People just need to wake up to themselves and learn some restraint and it doesn't help having 'professionals' defend their poor behaviour...

OverExcuses - April 22, 2011, 9:40AM

And that comment by OverExcuses is why I'd like to punch smarmy thin people in the mouth.

I'm dealing with a doctor who wants me to have lapband surgery so he can wipe his hands of any problems I have. Apparently it'll fix everything. I do make healthy choices, don't smoke, don't drink. I don't go to a gym, there are no pensioner rates at the gym. Fine, walking is free if you don't fall over broken footpaths, get chewed by dogs or run down by creeps on skateboards. Or the arthritis is hurting in both feet because of the cold weather or the tin knees are still recovering from the last fall or you know you're going to fall heavily on the first skinny bitch that wanders in front of you just to hear her matchstick legs break. It's a wonder Abbott hasn't thought of a way to tax us on poundage, $2 off the pension for every bit of blubber that wobbles.

Damn, shouldn't have said that, he soaks up other people's ideas like bread soaks up gravy, not that I'm allowed to eat bread or gravy.

Earthquakes again

North Queensland copped a 5.4 magnitude earthquake that shook Townsville about 3.30 on Saturday afternoon. It was even felt as far away as Brisbane. Christchurch was also rocked by a magnitude 5.3 aftershock at about the same time. And not to be left out, Japan had a 5.8 that shook Tokyo. Like my new paragraph break?

Bossy bitches and other women who annoy me.

I deliberately left out men who annoy me. I see so few men that they don't blip on my radar anymore. But the bossy bitch that is dinging my bell at the moment is someone I can't do a thing about. My mother will put up with the annoyance to keep the peace. Now there are four beds in the room. Four spaces that belong to the residents, it's their home space. Photographs, television, radio and in mother's space enough craft crap to last for the next 20 years. I ought to know, I'm forever tidying and throwing out the odd bits. The day room and the activities room are for socializing, talking, playing bingo, eating and in mother's case, supervising the unloading of the day's craft crap for her to play with. This is where there is not a defined personal space. The only problem is that mother is so social that everybody tends to gravitate around her so every so often she'll stay in her room for a bit of piece and quiet. Miss bossy bitch will actually wheel her mother all the way from the day room to my mother's side in her personal space and leave her there, for company. Not much you can do about that when both are in wheelchairs. Last night bossy bitch asked (asked?) mum to turn off her Dvd viewer so she could show her all the photos she took at Williamstown. Mother said she would have liked to have taken a page out of my book and told her to fuck off (I do that?) but she made do with a firm no. This is the equivalent of walking into a neighbour's house, turning off their TV and plonking on the couch to show family photos. It's a personal space for FFS! When I rang, Bossy Bitch and son, Obnoxious bastard, were taking their charge out to lunch so mum told me to ring back. She didn't want them to hear about what her doctor had said or what was ordered from the pharmacy as BB is inclined to tell her what she should be taking, naturapath wise. Just what I need, mother taking something to turn her into a BB. Oh bless blogger save! All the lights and my puter just went out. Back now. The other women who annoy me I can't talk about, one of them is due to walk in any moment and I must go and sharpen my talons not that she's smart enough to realized she's being insulted. No wonder my blood pressure is 188 over stroke. And I'll be in an diabetic coma about 5 o'clock since I've just gone through a box of Cadbury's Roses, the addict's equivalent of $2 sherry in a brown paper bag.

Majorly pissed with people

Wonderful day for a trip yesterday. Williamstown was sunny with blue skies, just ideal for being wheeled along the strip and doing a bit of spending. A shame that one pushy bitch person spoiled it for everyone else. She took over completely and instead of all the wheelchairs going to the information centre and on from there, she told the bus driver to go round and round to show her mother the houses she used to live in. Not only that, she stopped the bus and got out to photograph the houses while the wheel chair bound were left inside. Did her mother enjoy that little side trip? I'm not sure since she turned around once and asked my mother, "Where are we?" So instead of sitting along the shore, watching the ships and eating fish and chips, they were stuck in a hotel for the pensioner's meal. There wasn't enough time to get to the beach, thank you bossy bitch. The bus was a disgrace and the driver was a woman. Nothing wrong with being a female bus driver but a burly wharfie with a licence might have done better getting enormous wheelchairs up and down the ramp and buckling them in properly. My mother wheelchair is enormous and heavy without her in it so I know what I'm talking about. The bus itself rattled and shook so much, one resident had to go back by car because of sickness. Shame it wasn't bossy bitch. Mother is still in shock at being so close to craft shops and not spending a dollar or sixty. My other pissed off moment came this morning. A letter from the Alfred hospital asking for a donation for their Intensive Care Unit. Apart from mumbling, ask Ron Walker and Bernie for a donation, as I opened the letter, I thought I might be able to spare $20. Until the letter was put aside and I opened the photographs. Yes, dumb me thought they would be of the ICU and equipment. I was not prepared to see several photographs of a boy hooked up to life support, a boy who could have been mine. Same leg in bandages, chest, throat tube and swollen face, machines in action, same colour hair and so young. The story said it all, about how he lost most of his blood on the road, but how he walked away from ICU. Mine didn't, most of his blood was lost on the OR floor. Next week we would have been celebrating his 40th birthday. Forty years, what does a child look like at 40? So a slight meltdown and the Alfred does not get a donation, I already gave.

Dare I risk another Kaboom

If you thought one volcanic eruption was bad, try for three and at night. On June 10, 1886, New Zealand saw Mount Wahanga erupt which was then followed by Mount Tarawera and the mountain's twin cone Ruawahia.

This event destroyed the North Island's biggest tourist attraction. Tourists came from all over the world, by ship, to look at the beautiful travertine terraces which were formed by geothermally heated water cascading down the hill slope leaving the pink and white silica deposits. These terraces enclosed pools of water with the White Terraces being the larger of the two formations. The Pink Terraces were where the visitors would go to bathe.

The White Terrace

After the eruption, a crater over 100 metres deep was all that was left of the Terraces. This crater gradually filled with water to form a new Lake Rotomahana, 30 metres higher and larger than the old lake but on February 3, 2011, scientists found what was left of one of the Terraces.

Only part of the Pink Terraces were left seen in sonar images scanned by underwater vehicles as a pinky, sediment-covered staircase rising one to two metres from the lake-bed and running for a length of about 70 metres.

The Pink Terrace

The original sets of terraces were at different locations on Lake Rotomahana - pink on the western bank and white on the northern end. Scientists will now try for seismic mapping of the lake floor, penetrating the deep sediments to see if any more of the terraces still exist.

The village of Wairoa was also buried but was excavated and the area is now ringed in poplar trees that have grown from fence posts buried in the eruption.

The White Terrace

While there was little notice of the eruptions to come, earthquakes only a few hours before the event there was another sign. Tourists were ferried across the lake visit the Terraces. On one journey the guide, Sophia Hinerangi, saw a mysterious phantom war canoe appear out of the mist.

The high priest of the Tuhourangi tribe interpreted this as a warning. He feared the terraces were being exploited as a tourist attraction without due regard to the ancestral values.

The priest, Tuhoto Ariki, survived, dug from his buried house four days after the eruption. Sophia's house which did not collapse, sheltered many survivors.

The Pink Terrace

The domed mountains split apart and the fissure extended down the mountain, through the Terraces, from Rotomahana to Waimangu 10 kilometres away. The roar of the eruption was heard as far away as Christchurch and Auckland.

Mount Tarawera today.

Tarawera still stands on part of the series of fault lines, with 10 craters along the line of the rift that split the mountain.

Get a move on Blogger!

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Old blogger is so easy.

It is blogger's fault. Something to do with old blog edit that's disappearing the paragraphs. They're fixing it and it had better be soon. Otherwise I'll be posting in very short sentences.

It's all downhill

I am a total hypocrite for signing a petition to do something positive about poker machines and then spending a couple of hours this afternoon in my small local, having a spin and a beer. This was due to the stresses of this morning after the hideous night I had. Stupid panic attacks in the dark upsetting the stomach, the mind and various other bodily parts. I had some gastrolyte to make sure I could stand long enough to get to the doc's and that took care of the 12 hour fast for blood tests. I had the flu vac in the opposite arm to the tetanus shot, not going down that road again. Had a weigh-in, oh lookey, lost weight. I'm not dumb enough to tell him his scales are crap and I'm 2kgs up on his. Pointed out all the pill prescriptions I need re-filling. He makes me promise to see the diabetes management woman even though she gets a hundred bucks or so UP FRONT, some of which I get back from medicare. I also promise to see the podiatrist to check if my feet are okay with diabetes. I show him how well my toe nail is growing back, nothing wrong with circulation there. He writes out blood test sheet anyway since I have to do it for DM in a fortnight. Then I stupidly say I haven't had blood pressure taken this year, only because I've been avoiding him. Oh crap, 188 over stroke. Well it's his fault for not taking it last December because he was too busy thinking about his holiday. I tell him it's family stress, he gives me more pills and says to do something relaxing for the rest of the day. Ha! It's shopping day and paying bills day and trying to work out 10 cans of cat food for $8. Don't ask, I ended up with 30 and had to count those 3 times. I remember to keep money in case Coles has better specials. Hike up to the second bus of the day which happens to go past my local. Sitting there happily with bells and whistles going off and mobile rings. Yes, it's fallen down to the bottom of the Tardis bag and off by the time I answer. Wouldn't you just know it, the Nursing Home. Ma dropped a hot cup of tea on herself and they have to inform me, the doctor's been informed in case the skin blisters and she's fine. Bugger, joyful afternoon is stuffed. I know she's fine but feel the need to go and re-assure her and the bus is right outside and my metcard doesn't expire til 5. I ring the BOH to bring in the important groceries, ice-cream top of the list. He feels the need to see mum and will pick me up. Cash in the coins and have two left over so I put them in the machine nearest the door where I could see the car pull up. $2 won me $83. It'll never happen again, not in a million years. So I wander in to the room and tell mother she really knows how to be a pest in my life. Person with mother in oppposite bed looks disprovingly but she's one of these, goo-gah lovey dear mummy daughters. If I did that with mine, she'd think she was dying. The only worry is blistering on her very fragile skin but the doctor will come immediately if that happens. She gets another visit tomorrow but only because Coles has bargains. So thanks Doc, it was a very relaxing afternoon, I must do it again but next time drink more beer so I'll be unable to answer the phone.

Still the same except different.

Way back in 2007, I did one of those personality tests on the internet and printed out a copy. I found that copy in my odds and ends file and decided to go back and see if I had changed at all. The site to go is here Apparently I am still a considerate visionary. They give you a chart of 13 personality traits after 6 pages of tests, nothing too strenuous for the brain cells. So in 2007: Confidence was 54 Openess was zero Extroversion was 14 Empathy was 90 Trust in others was 72 Agency was 4 Masculinity was zero Femininity was 94 Spontaneity was 60 Attention to style was 92 Authoritarianism was 8 Earthy/Imaginative was 28 Aesthetic/Functional was 56 In 2011: Confidence was 82 Openness was 4 Extroversion was 10 Empathy was 94 Trust in others was 96 Agency was 22 Masculinity was 6 Femininity was 100 Spontaneity was 42 Attention to style was 94 Authoritarianism was 2 Earthy/Imaginative was 4 Aesthetic/Functional was 92 How about that, I'm still a heart warming well dressed anarchist.