I just got home from a meeting and I am wide awake, despite the fact that I still have to get up early to go to work tomorrow. I will have to get up early enough to stop by my favorite bakery for a supercharged latte to get me through the day.
As I sit here surfing the Net and pondering my blog, my cat Rosie is chasing her tail. It's really strange--it's as if all of a sudden she discovers she has this thing at the back of her and doesn't know how to deal with it.
So the Eternal Question for my insomniac night: Why do animals chase their tails?
I thought maybe I should watch the news, and/or catch up on the latest political developments, but honestly, I think it's more interesting to watch my cat chase her tail.
One of my friends tonight said something like she would vote for "any Democrat with a pulse." My dilemma is that I think contenders in both parties are old enough to know better, and neither party is truly taking responsibility for really leading the country. It must be too much fun to point out the specks in the opponents' eyes.
Oh, heavens, I just climbed right up on that soapbox, didn't I? Insomnia and political discussion make for uncomfortable bedfellows (pun intended).
I think I want that drug for insomnia that has the advertisement with Abe Lincoln and a groundhog playing chess in some guy's kitchen.
Maybe I have just done the human equivalent of "chasing my tail."
Off to try to get some sleep....
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Pummelo Revisited
My couple of readers may remember that I'd had a dream about a piece of fruit that I'd never seen before last year, and subsequently found out that the fruit I'd dreamed about was known as a "pummelo." I went through a bit of angst over whether or not to try the pummelo, wondering if I would affect the time-space continuum or end up in the underworld like Persephone, who ate seven pomegrante seeds and then had to stay in the underworld for seven months out of the year.
Well, I finally tried the pummelo. As far as I know, I haven't had any effect on the time-space continuum, and I'm not in the underworld. Only time will tell as to whether I added months onto the winter season in the Mitten.
But I have to say the thing was horrible. It was about the size of a grapefruit, and I thought it might have a similar taste. But once I battled with the very thick, tough skin and got to the fruit, it was terribly bitter. Quite icky, actually. I ended up throwing the rest of it away.
Okay I think I've talked about fruit enough.
Well, I finally tried the pummelo. As far as I know, I haven't had any effect on the time-space continuum, and I'm not in the underworld. Only time will tell as to whether I added months onto the winter season in the Mitten.
But I have to say the thing was horrible. It was about the size of a grapefruit, and I thought it might have a similar taste. But once I battled with the very thick, tough skin and got to the fruit, it was terribly bitter. Quite icky, actually. I ended up throwing the rest of it away.
Okay I think I've talked about fruit enough.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
This is your brain on...
Some of my friends know that I have been struggling with a horrendous case of asthma, almost since I got over the pneumonia. Well, the treatment of choice for uncontrollable asthma is prednisone--a form of steroid, to put it simply. I was on a fairly high dose of it in order to keep my breathing under control, and it comes with a lovely assortment of side effects: stomachaches, mood swings, weight gain, to name a few. It also acts as sort of a stimulant, which means that I had LOTS of energy for the last few weeks.
The good news is that I am finally able to breathe without wheezing, which means that I can decrease the prednisone (it has to be decreased slowly, because if it is stopped abruptly, it can mess with the adrenal glands and cause all sorts of problems). The bad news is that my body had gotten used to the stimulant effects of it, and now...I'm...moving...really...slowly.
Yesterday between naps, I considered calling Agatestone and asking her to come over and feed me chocolate bars like she mentioned that Starsky did for Hutch when he had been drugged, but I kept falling asleep. :)
I haven't been all that tempted in my life to try illicit drugs. I guess when I have to take a whole pharmacy's worth of meds just to keep breathing, adding more drugs doesn't sound like fun. But I can partly understand why athletes succumb to the temptation of taking steroids. Of course, I haven't run any 3 minute miles or lifted 500 pounds lately, but if a mild, legal version of what they take can have such an effect on my body, I suppose it would not be a strong temptation for an athlete to say, "Just this once before a competition." Certainly I am not condoning it, especially since the long-term effects from even the legal version of steroids are quite scary, but guess I can sort of understand the thinking that might lead someone to try steroids for performance enhancement.
Meanwhile, it is really nice to breathe without so much artificial assistance. And I think I may be able to get through the day with only a couple of naps.
The good news is that I am finally able to breathe without wheezing, which means that I can decrease the prednisone (it has to be decreased slowly, because if it is stopped abruptly, it can mess with the adrenal glands and cause all sorts of problems). The bad news is that my body had gotten used to the stimulant effects of it, and now...I'm...moving...really...slowly.
Yesterday between naps, I considered calling Agatestone and asking her to come over and feed me chocolate bars like she mentioned that Starsky did for Hutch when he had been drugged, but I kept falling asleep. :)
I haven't been all that tempted in my life to try illicit drugs. I guess when I have to take a whole pharmacy's worth of meds just to keep breathing, adding more drugs doesn't sound like fun. But I can partly understand why athletes succumb to the temptation of taking steroids. Of course, I haven't run any 3 minute miles or lifted 500 pounds lately, but if a mild, legal version of what they take can have such an effect on my body, I suppose it would not be a strong temptation for an athlete to say, "Just this once before a competition." Certainly I am not condoning it, especially since the long-term effects from even the legal version of steroids are quite scary, but guess I can sort of understand the thinking that might lead someone to try steroids for performance enhancement.
Meanwhile, it is really nice to breathe without so much artificial assistance. And I think I may be able to get through the day with only a couple of naps.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Recess!
The other day at work, I heard an overhead page: "Anesthesia to Resuss Stat!" For the nonmedical folks, "resuss" is short for a "resuscitation room." The hospital where I work has a large ER, which has several resuscitation rooms. Those are where patients go if they are really in trouble, such as the severely injured or extremely ill. But the strange thing is, when I heard the overhead page, I thought the announcer had just called anesthesia to recess.
"Anesthesia to recess stat!" I pictured all of these normally serious medical people bursting out the front doors of the hospital and starting a snowball fight in the parking lot, or climbing up the lampposts. It occurred to me that "recess" is a great idea.
We used to have it in grade school: an hour or so where we either went outside and ran around, or stayed indoors and played games, depending on the weather. Somehow in the process of what we laughingly call "growing up," the idea of recess faded to a soft memory in my mind.
I think we should bring recess to the adult world. Oh, sure, we have government-mandated breaks and lunches, but how many of us actually have any fun time planned into the day? I can't remember the last time I threw a snowball, or walked in the woods in the wintertime. But even in my urban hospital setting, we could still take walks around the hospital, play tag in the parking lot, or even bring in board games. I think we would all be the better for it.
While I'm thinking about it, I also think our world would be a better place if we all were given blankets, milk, and vanilla wafers and told to lie down and rest for an hour in the middle of the day. Maybe after recess.
"Anesthesia to recess stat!" I pictured all of these normally serious medical people bursting out the front doors of the hospital and starting a snowball fight in the parking lot, or climbing up the lampposts. It occurred to me that "recess" is a great idea.
We used to have it in grade school: an hour or so where we either went outside and ran around, or stayed indoors and played games, depending on the weather. Somehow in the process of what we laughingly call "growing up," the idea of recess faded to a soft memory in my mind.
I think we should bring recess to the adult world. Oh, sure, we have government-mandated breaks and lunches, but how many of us actually have any fun time planned into the day? I can't remember the last time I threw a snowball, or walked in the woods in the wintertime. But even in my urban hospital setting, we could still take walks around the hospital, play tag in the parking lot, or even bring in board games. I think we would all be the better for it.
While I'm thinking about it, I also think our world would be a better place if we all were given blankets, milk, and vanilla wafers and told to lie down and rest for an hour in the middle of the day. Maybe after recess.
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