dream of my death

30 October 2013 - Day 0

I had a nightmare that wasn't,on the face of it, soo horrible. I dreamed I was in a room with a number of men and someone told me "you'll need to learn German". I  said "fine". Then Kathie said "wake up, you made a strange sound". I said "oh, thanks, I'm fine." Then it occurred to me that I was not fine and that I would have died of a heart attack if she had not woke me up." Later, I told her to wake me up every time she heard me make a strange noise. I did not tell her the content and meaning of the dream!

I resolved to make today the first day of my new life and to save both of us. I "heard" a voice in my head say  I would live for another twelve years.  I had better exercise  and life better to make this prophecy come true...

test of blogging

Tests of blogging from the new address...

Sunday test

Test to see which blogs can receive and post email.

Poll results

Clearly, this is a stratified survey!

http://www.newsmax.com/Surveys/Results/id/93

Day 12 of Congressional shutdown of US Government

This is the 12^th day of the House Republican shutdown of “our” government. This is the 9^th day I get to work for free. (Maybe not for free, the government might actually pay be once the Congress does their job!)

I put quotes around our as I frequently don’t think it is really mine. I think the House Republicans are owned by the very rich and they are the very people who don’t give a shit about us peasants! Thus, we get screwed and they get richer!

The House is very well paid and it would be nice if the silly shits would simply do their jobs!

Fwd: Experimental Drug Holds Promise for New Type 1s and Other Top Stories

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Experimental Drug Holds Promise for New Type 1s and Other Top Stories
Date:	Thu, 10 Oct 2013 13:43:57 -0400
From:	Diabetes Health E-Newsletter <webmaster@diabeteshealth.com>
To:	mikebell@netins.net

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Today's Top Diabetes Stories...

news

Experimental Drug Holds Promise for New Type 1s

One of the most intriguing areas of type 1 diabetes research focuses on newly diagnosed patients. Given that the disease occurs after an autoimmune response damages the body's insulin-producing beta cells, scientists have looked to new type 1s as fertile ground for experimentation.

After all, their beta cells have only been attacked recently, and their pancreases might still function to a limited extent.

Thus, new drugs are aiming to keep the pancreas and its beta cells working longer and better for those in the early stages of type 1. One of those new drugs, specifically designed for the purpose, has just had a positive report. According to scientists, teplizumab allowed some patients to preserve their current insulin levels for some two years.

But the news wasn't all good. About half of the people receiving the drug stopped producing insulin altogether-a response that was similar to patients in a control group. Read more...

1 comment - Oct 8, 2013 -

news

Type 2 Beta Cells Decline Faster Than Previously Thought

People with type 2 diabetes and those heading toward that diagnosis may face a quicker decline in their beta cell function than previously understood, according to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. That means the progress and challenges for such patients may progress more quickly than doctors expects and need more aggressive treatment.

The study took place over five years and looked at patients with type 2 diabetes and impaired fasting glucose/impaired glucose tolerance. A control group of patients with normal glucose tolerance was also studied. Over the five years of the studies, these patients were frequently tested to see how their body reacted to glucose. (The normal response, of course, is for a person's body to increase insulin production.)

Over those five years, the folks with impaired fasting glucose/impaired glucose tolerance did increase insulin production in response to glucose. The subjects with type 2 diabetes did not. But each of those groups still saw a drop in how well their beta (insulin-producing) cells worked over that time period.

Researchers used a yardstick called a "homeostasis model assessment of beta cell function" to figure out how quickly people in the study would lose the insulin-producing ability of those cells. The model predicted that the patients with impaired glucose response would see a 31 percent drop over five years, while those with type 2 diabetes would see a 70 percent drop. Read more...

0 comments - Oct 9, 2013 -

blog

Life With Type 2 The Desire for Control Has to Make Sense

For several years now I've been following the controversy surrounding a lawsuit by California parents to force public school districts to allow people who aren't nurses or doctors to be able to give insulin shots to diabetic children. (The California Supreme Court recently ruled that non-nurses can now give such injections. You can find background information here and here.)

The official stance of the state's nurses unions and associations was that injections by non-experts could invite possibly fatal complications. Administering insulin requires more than just superficial knowledge of how to give a shot-there's also the question of knowing what's the proper dosage.

The other biggest objection was simple: Injections by unlicensed people would be an incursion on the hard-won rights and privileges nurses have gained over the years. What is the point of spending years learning how to be a nurse or licensed healthcare worker if comparatively ignorant and untrained people can be allowed to execute a possibly live-saving procedure?

In an ideal world, those objections would have been enough to persuade the California Supreme Court not to OK having non-medically licensed personnel give insulin shots. Read more...

0 comments - Oct 10, 2013 -

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Day 7

This is day 7 of the House's shutdown of the government and the 7th day
of the House and Senate refusing to work together. Maybe the two houses
should set up a special committee composed of 3 Republicans and 3
Democrats from both the House and Senate and swear to sign off on
whatever deal these 12 come up with.

Of course, it would probably include not killing funding for Obamacare
and Teabaggers would surely renege on a promise to sign off on the deal
the 12 comes up with.

So, forget it, it ain't going to happen...

KY moments

I am getting tired of the KY Moments the House Tea Party Republicians have imposed on us all.

I had to buy three months worth of Januvia this afternoon. Nine months ago, this cost me $293; 6 months ago the cost went down to $192 and was stayed there 3 months ago. This reduction was due to "Obamacare" causing Blue Cross to reduce me deductable. This was delightful and amazing to me.

Today, my Januvia cost me @201.99.

This is roughly $10 more than three months ago so I guess Obamacare really has kicked in!

Fwd: Conversation on 6 October 2013

We ate lunch at a very nice restaurant yesterday - "Prime on the Nine" -   when we heard the man behind us say "the furloughed government employees   are going to get paid for not going to work." I asked Kathie to confirm   what he had said. Then, I turned and said:    "I'm a furloughed government worker. I worked four days last week for   free, 3 pm to 11 pm. This coming week, I'll be working 5 am to 1 pm for   free too."    This gave the man pause and he said something like "I hope they start   paying you soon."  I said "thank you", turned away and concentrated on   Kathie. Later, the folks behind me left and the man said "I hope they   start paying you soon." I thanked him.    It seems many people think of Federal Employees as fixing to be paid for   not working; they don't think of the Feds who are working for free such   as the NWS, FEMA, FAA, TSA, etc. Thanks a lot for this Speaker Boehner...    I know "my" House Member is guilty of shafting us all and can't wait to   switch to Democrat (from Republican) next erection season (I say   "erection" rather than "election" as "erection" leads to screwing the   public...)  

Day 7 in the AM or Boehner's Shutdown continues

An unintended consequence of the House Republicans shutting down the US
government on 1 October 20123 is that it makes it easy to keep track of
how many days the US government has been shut down. Given the
rhetoric, I'm beginning to despair. The asshole who arranged this
strategy has commented that he is doing what his voters want and that it
is "not his responsibility to determine the consequences of a shutdown"
[or words to that effect].

Will those dickheads let the debt ceiling be breached later this month?
Will those assholes in the Republican House fuck us all? I fear they will.

House "Master" Boehner keeps blaming the President for maters being so
bad and yet it was the House putting the "kill Obamacare bill"in the
spending bill that lead to the shutdown. Speaker Boner, er, Boehner does
not seem to be leading but rather is being lead by the Teabaggers. (I
can afford to be candid in my remarks as I don't expect anyone to read
them; I would have better results if I had the courage to post on Facebook.)

I am ashamed to have been a Republican for so many years...

Conversation yesterday

Conversation on 6 October 2013

We ate lunch at a very nice restaurant yesterday - "Prime on the Nine" -
when we heard the man behind us say "the furloughed government employees
are going to get paid for not going to work." I asked Kathie to confirm
what he had said. Then, I turned and said:

"I'm a furloughed government worker. I worked four days last week for
free, 3 pm to 11 pm. This coming week, I'll be working 5 am to 1 pm for
free too."

This gave the man pause and he said something like "I hope they start
paying you soon." I said "thank you", turned away and concentrated on
Kathie. Later, the folks behind me left and the man said "I hope they
start paying you soon." I thanked him.

It seems many people think of Federal Employees as fixing to be paid for
not working; they don't think of the Feds who are working for free such
as the NWS, FEMA, FAA, TSA, etc. Thanks a lot for this Speaker Boehner...

I know "my" House Member is guilty of shafting us all and can't wait to
switch to Democrat (from Republican) next erection season (I say
"erection" rather than "election" as "erection" leads to screwing the
public...)

Fwd: Fwd: Government Shutdown Issues

A message I got at work:

Subject: Government Shutdown Issues

Interested Souls:

   Changes in procedures for handling day to day business are continuing now that the Federal Government has gone into shutdown mode for an indeterminate period. Below is the list that was shared before the shutdown with new information in a beautiful magenta hue for your enjoyment:

• Supernumerary shifts will be changed to operational shifts every morning (probably I shifts) since only operational shifts can be supported during a shutdown.
• All leave is cancelled. People will be in either work status or furlough status. Persons whose leave is cancelled will be rescheduled for operational shifts.
• Appointments with physicians should be rescheduled for times outside scheduled work hours. Tours of duty will be flexed as much as possible to accommodate special needs.
• Requests for a few hours of time off will not be approved unless an emergency exists.
• Individuals can request conversion to furlough status for a minimum of one day. Returning a person from furlough to excepted status requires a review at the Department of Commerce level, and the amount of time required for this is uncertain. 
• Central Region will prepare and submit to DOC at 200 PM each day a spreadsheet of persons requesting conversion from excepted to furlough and from furlough to excepted status. Anyone needing a conversion for an emergency for the next day should advise the MIC as soon as possible but absolutely before 200 PM.
• Individuals requiring less than a full day off for personal emergencies or illness will be AWOL for that time. There is no provision for conversion of status to furlough for less than a day.
• Anyone who takes AWOL for emergencies will not be paid for that time even if compensation for furlough time subsequently is granted by Congress.
• There is no guarantee that persons in furlough status will receive compensation.
• All compensation after 1 October will be delayed until there is a continuing resolution or budget.
• Compensatory time and overtime can be used for severe weather and other mission critical activities.
• Equipment maintenance necessary for keeping systems operating will be performed.
• Cooperative program maintenance should be delayed unless necessary to keep equipment functional.
• Social media communication will continue, but any posts must be related to current or expected weather.
• The status of persons who are called for jury duty is unknown. 
• NOAA Public Affairs employees are furloughed, so there is no one to whom to refer inquiries from the media. We are authorized only to discuss issues related to operational forecasts with the media. Persons wanting to know details about the furlough should be advised that information is available at opm.gov.
• Changes in procedures are likely, so please be patient. Feel free to visit with the MIC if there are questions.
  

                                         LJR