Diabetes

With diabetes I should have been monitoring my blood glucose levels closely. All the years that I let it go mainly living in denial, cost me pain and money with costly cataract surgery. I was told the reason why at 55 years of age in had progressive cataracts was due to diabetes, by not one doctor but several. The reason I am writing this is not to make a personal confession, but to let everyone realize the importance of being checked for diabetes, and if there is any indication of elevated blood sugars, start doing something about it before it's too late. In my situation it wasn't so serious that it couldn't be corrected, but kidney failure, heart disease and many more illnesses that are associated with diabetes, one cannot take a diagnosis of type II diabetes as not serious. Medication, diet and exercise are the main practices that will defend against any serious disease of diabetes. Diabetes cannot be cured, but it can be control.

Economy over the Environment

Should there really be a choice between environmental sustainability and the economy. It seems that the economy is all that is on the political choice of most voters these days. I wonder if they realize that going Green does help the economy and also the future of human civilization. Without looking after the environment nothing is sustainable, because it's a lie about growth that keeps going without limits. The truth is there are always limits in what we can do with dwindling natural resources.

Carbon Taxation is one of the many political solutions to the problem. Reducing our carbon footprint not only saves the environment, but energy which too saves money. So where does the saying Green Shift is a Green Shaft? "What non sense!" Going green creates jobs in many areas, for once the auto makers cannot sell cars with peak oil around the bend people will need jobs in other areas.

Ideas from a Manic Mind: Cataract Surgery Tomorrow Morning

Ideas from a Manic Mind: Cataract Surgery Tomorrow Morning: "Today I started the three antibiotic eye drops that are needed to be taken every five minutes apart, four times a day. This is for the catar..."

Cataract Surgery Tomorrow Morning

Today I started the three antibiotic eye drops that are needed to be taken every five minutes apart, four times a day. This is for the cataract surgery that I have done early tomorrow morning, in Owen Sound' Hospital. Actually I admit that I'm a little nervous about the cataract surgery, the thought of someone making an incision into the eye is troubling. They say there is nothing to it these days, with all the surgical technics and professional staff. It will be my right eye will be done first. And because I also have glaucoma it is necessary for me to go back to the doctor's office at 4:10 PM after well after the morning surgery. He probably has to take my pressures and make sure everything is alright before he sends me home. My left eye will be operated on in January and hopefully I will have good vision, so that it is possible to read normal print once again. For so long, I have been relying on zoomed web browsers, large print book and sitting close to the television set My left eye got worse for a long period of time, but the vision has improved in it somewhat allowing me to do computer work and read. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope for the best that everything goes well. I had measurements taken in the surgeon's office two months ago and they reassured me that they would such an improvement. I hope so for my sake.

Teaching Joyce to Knit

I downloaded a book to my Sony Reader on knitting; the goal is to teach my wife to knit. She has little to do with her time and Joyce wanted a hobby that would fill her time. I will have to read her the step by step instructions and maybe I will learn a craft besides this too. In the past I have read to Joyce, but with her scanner and computer it takes away the challenge. The book we are going to work from "A Passion for Knitting" hopefully will take me through the steps of helping her to continue on from what she has already learned. Joyce had someone teach her how to cast-on and off but that was about the extent to it, no one wanted to work with her, and it wasn't that she couldn't grasp it. I believe they didn't feel comfortable around a blind person, because they never came back to teach her again. My hope is with this book I can get her going and from there she will have a wonderful hobby that will occupy her time. It will give her something more to get up in the morning too than just the same old thing. And I look forward to the things that she may knit like a scarf or even a sweater for me.

The Best Move for Me and a Health Confession

I have to make a confession; several years ago my weight went up to 364 lbs. The doctors told me that this was due to medication. I have since then had medication changes and with some exercise I am lost some weight I know weight 288 lbs. but I need to lose more. The only way I can do this is through exercise like walking and weight training.

The doctors and a naturopath told me I would be dead if I didn't get the weight off. 55 years old so far so good I have diabetes due to obesity, but since I've lost weight my blood sugars have fallen into normal ranges. Being obese isn't great and it isn't good when you over hear comments about your weight being spoken, or jokes about you being called names like the Michelin Man. I know there are a lot of fat jokes out there, but it's not that easy. I didn't eat at MacDonald's every day or any fast food joint. Actually I don't eat that much and I am a vegetarian who doesn't buy junk food or sweets, so why do people judge me before now that it's medications made by the Lily company that caused my weight gain and also my diabetes.

MY PLAN

• Watch my diet by calorie counting and using a food journal
  
• Walking and treadmill workout daily
  
• Weight training two to three times a week
  

I try to do this and start out doing it for a couple of weeks, but then I get sidestepped. I need a way to get on track and the best way is one step at a time not to many steps on my plate.

Being Visually Impaired isn’t the End of the World

My wife "Joyce" who has been visually impaired for years has been surprised at the comments from the public, which comes out of plain ignorance. They ask how do blind or visually impaired people eat or go upstairs and many other comments that Isn't beyond the stigma that the public create about a visual disability. I have talked to other people who are in the blind and visually impaired community; they also unfortunately have the same stories. People say to me how can she get around they tell me how frightened they would be, but if you are the one that is visually impaired you have to do what you can to get around. The Canadian Institute for the Blind and other service dog schools, one can gain their mobility with help. But people who are ignorant cannot see beyond this so the judge from what they think how they would feel if they were blind.

I am getting handle on what visual impairment is like, for I have cataracts and on Thursday I will be going in for surgery on my right eye. Fortunately blindness isn't something that I have to live with, but there is life after losing your sight. My wife has adaptive technology for her computer, and she has audio books that come from the CNIB daily. Though the reading material isn't the amount as text available for the sighted community, it is available to the blind community.

Many years ago I had a dream to start farming with draft horses, but the cost of starting a farm and buying, land, building and horses was daunting. I went to college and studied equine management and after that I sat in on a workshop that was using draft-horses. In the workshops I actually got to work with a three horse hitch, the feeling of power is more than any car or motorcycle could possible give me. I loved it and every moment of it.

I guess it was the romantic vision that I had of being connected to the soil with a team of horses working before me. I always predicted an end to oil or a climate change was we would have to stop relaying on fossil fuels to power our farms. The truth is that many people will not go back to the horse, it's too slow and it's really hard work. I watched an interesting program on the television the other night about biodiversity in agriculture. It's simply letting nature do the work for you that machines and man have been trying to do. The only thing we will have to eventually reduce or meat intake and reliance on gains. The solution word be for the world to eat a basically vegan diet. I know a lot of people will not like the thought of this but this planet cannot sustain the amount of mouths it will have to feed by the end of this century.

Hockey Announcer and Big TV

I watched a Ontario Hockey League game on our local cable channel, what I noticed was good play-by-play announcing without all the opinions and comments that you hear, from broadcasters on the CBC to name a few. I know they don't want such thing as dead air, but with this game there wasn't a moment of it. Even the fights were play-by-play. Very descriptive that is the way hockey and other sport used to be announced before the days of television. I feel for the blind and visually impair who I am sure would love to follow the game, but because of these so called announcers, they have to really on a friend or family member to describe the plays. I say back to good old announcing, sometimes old is better that new and this goes for sports casters.