This
just came from ProLog. It sounds
great to me.
“Dear Valued ProLog
Express Customer:
We are pleased to announce that
we have more than tripled the download
speeds to our ProLog Express residential high-speed Internet customers
from up to 800 kilobits per second* (kbps) to up to 3 megabits per
second* (Mbps)! Upload speeds are now up to 256 kbps*. The monthly
price for the high-speed Internet service remains unchanged.
The new download speed is up to two
times faster than a comparably
priced DSL connection, allowing you to get the most from your Internet
connection. You can download files, watch video and receive large photo
files faster then ever before! “It just checked now at 5:16
PM at
1835 Kbps. That is not too shabby!!!
Tonight for supper, we finished
neighbor Jean’s lasagna. She
is
our next-door superb Italian cook. That with a small salad was
excellent. We were both too full for dessert.
Tuesday
January 13, 2004 7:25 AM 36
deg at LVIA and 33 deg in the bus stop
Ah, this morning my weight was 206
and the blood sugar was 148.
Apparently, the lasagna was not without peril but it sure was good.
<Sigh>
The dog has been out and I will
follow shortly. <8:01 AM>
The day
is cloudy and gray looking but it was a wonderful day and very
comfortable to be able to sit up there and contemplate the world in
general, and my small world in particular.
I took a few pictures of the area
without the big pine tree. It
certainly changes the landscape but it should be for the good overall.
Sam said that the other large pine tree, right next to the house, is
now a much safer tree since he topped it over a year ago. I really
don’t want to remove it. Its root system appears to be sound.
This is how that area looked this morning about 7:30 AM.
As I sat there, I contemplated the
vindication of some of my many my
pet vices. Now, coffee is good for you, as are nuts, wine is now heart
medicine and even dark chocolate is now held in high esteem! Of course,
oatmeal has been a standard here for years. We now incorporate all of
them into our diet, in “moderation”.
This morning we decided to do our
shopping. Before we left, we went to
Rite-Aid for my prescription for my glucose test strips. Queen called
it in yesterday. It wasn’t ready. From there we walked down
to
the Time News and chatted a bit with the staff. Everyone was busy;
Pattie was tied up on the phone so we really didn’t get to
talk
with her. Then from there we left for our Lehighton trip. I had to stop
at the Post Office to mail both my IRS and State estimated tax
payments, and then we continued on from there.
We left about 10:15 and got back
about 12: 30PM. The stores seemed well
stocked. As we left Aldi, I saw a Mercury Grand Marquee with the
license number of K3BTU, so Willie Gersbach must have been in Aldi
also. I didn’t see him though. Then, we moved on to Wal-Mart,
Giant, and home. In Wal-Mart we met Marie Dieter. She is always a good
kid and fun to meet and talk with on any occasion.
It was an uneventful trip but we are
glad it is done. It is supposed to
get really cold tonight and into the next few days with possible snow
in the forecast. At least that is what the weather gal on WPIX said
this morning. If I am awake in time, I often watch Linda
Church’s
weather on the WPIX New York’s early morning news channel.
Every
time I watch any New York City news, I am everlastingly glad that I am
a smalltime “hick from the sticks”. Man, the city
life, you
can keep. Sheez!!
Tonight once again, we dined in
God’s restaurant. We had
Queen’s finest spaghetti. It was perfect. Oh yes, we got the
free
dinner coupons that she won at the Health Fair today. One of these
days!!!
Wednesday
January 14, 2004 7:31 AM 10
deg at LVIA and 8.8 in the bus stop
This morning my weight was 207 and
the blood glucose 128. It was very
cold up there on the park bench. I was prepared by using my warm L. L.
Bean super insulated jacket. I can only wear it when it is bitter cold
outside because it gets too warm for me in a building makes me sweat
like crazy. So these are the days to use it.
I downloaded the newest version of
IncrediMail. Among other
improvements, it permits me to readily insert pictures in my e-mail
very easily without using attachments. I think that they also have
beefed up the spam controls. It will block images in messages with the
option to view them. In addition, not only will it enable me to remove
old e mail directly from my server, but I can
“bounce” an e
mail back to an undesirable sender. Eventually I may be taken off their
list of suckers. I like it a lot.
That is a nice feature. It
keeps things looking better in the
e
mail department.
In fact, it now has quite a few new
features that I will never use.
This morning we went downtown for a
few items at Country Harvest. Then
we went over to Rite-Aid and I was able to get my prescription. We
first stopped in at The TN office for a moment.
Then I took Queen home and went to on
to the “Iron
Works”
for a short session on the equipment. I believe that I am beginning to
feel better in just this short time. I am not at all sore and I think
my flexibility has improved. I hope so. It will take time. If I can
increase my exercise level and reduce the food intake, it should help a
lot. Well, we haven’t had this for a while. Ha!!
Now at 4:02 PM WQXR is predicting
three to five inches of snow for the
New York area.
Tonight for supper Queen had the rest
of the turkey and stuffing meal
that was out in the bus stop. With it she had cauliflower, cooked baby
carrots, cottage cheese, and applesauce as a side dish. It was just as
good as the day we had it originally. We eat damn well here.
Queen is here at her computer
perusing her e mail and familiarizing
herself with the whole works. She is doing very well.
Thursday
January 15, 2004 7:19 AM 9deg
at LVIA and 9.9 in the bus stop
This morning my blood sugar is 129
and the weight 206. It has finished
snowing or so it seems. I shall have to go out and do something about
it before it really gets cold. <8:07 AM> I am back inside
after
my cleaning chore.
If we had to
have snow, this was as good a snow as I could expect. It was very light
and fluffy. Queen just purchased a new snow-shoveling device for me
from QVC. It is configured like a truck’s snow plow and one
is
supposed to be able to simply push it and it will move the snow all to
one side, as you move it along. I could not keep it in a
straight
line. Ah, Queen read the instructions and it said it was for snows up
to 4 inches. This one was more like 6 inches. It looks as though it
should be fine in a lesser amount. The snow blower really did a number
on it. It threw it for tremendous distances. We must have had about 5
or 6 inches of the white stuff.
As I said, I did get out the gas snow
blower and it went just fine. I
cleared some of the stuff along Mike’s place then of course,
I
cleaned a place out at our park bench and afterwards I got my tush
cushion, broom, coffee and camera and sat up there with a cup of 8
o’clock coffee, Yes, I am nuts, but it was beautiful. I took
a
few pictures and I must say I enjoyed sitting there in the glistening
snow. Now I am ready for the Lord to take it away. Ha!! Since they want
bitter cold weather for awhile that won’t be anytime soon.
Here
are some of the pictures. It would have looked better had I waited for
the sun to arrive over the mountain. However, now it is a beautiful
sunny bright day but damn cold!
I recently
downloaded a new browser that
I am
trying. My old standard has been MSN’s explorer browser, This
one
is http://www.netcaptor.com/
, It leaves any site you have open in a small box at the bottom of the
browser and it will recall them whenever you wish to refer back to that
site, instantly. It is nice and it seems just as fast as or faster than
Explorer. I shall try it. It has many different features. I have long
since given up on Netscape. That used to be excellent, but with their
close ties with AOL, they are a real mess and I won’t touch
them
anymore.
I also use a version of http://www.Excite.com
which I personalized as my start page. It is very easy to personalize
and I use the same one on all my machines. It has most of my favorite
sites that open quickly. All the weather data I use, just a whole
myriad of things that I often refer to in my letters.
I came upon a site for those of you
who are crossword puzzle fans. It
looks as though one has many choices. http://www.refdesk.com/crosswrd.html
Tonight for
supper, we had salmon, a
baked potato
each, peas, Queen’s coleslaw, and a tomato cottage cheese and
dessert. Then we finished with an ice-cream bar each. It was an
excellent meal. I got the salmon just right. The fresh mushrooms sliced
on it with lemon, and dill was delicious.
Friday,
January 16, 20047:32 AM 3 Deg
at LVIA and.4 deg in the bus stop
Geez, it is cold
this morning! I had to
take a
second look at the temperature in the bus stop. It was 4/10 of a degree
above zero. Butternut was out and is happy to return to the warm house.
Geez, last night I saw the weather on
Mt. Washington, NH. It
was:
|
-41°F
|
|
Fog
|
Feels
Like
-91°F
|
|
UV
Index:
|
0 Minimal
|
|
Dew
Point:
|
-41°F
|
|
Humidity:
|
100%
|
|
Visibility:
|
0.1
miles
|
|
Pressure:
|
N/A
and N/A
|
|
Wind:
|
From
the West Northwest at 81 gusting to 93 mph
|
Now that is cold.
For anyone also
with diabetes I was sent
the
following from the maker of my blood glucose meter.
A spoonful of cinnamon helps
treat diabetes for what it is
worth,
Queen has been adding it to my oatmeal for the last two days. If one
looks, my readings for those days have been quite low. I like it
because it tastes good. It certainly seems to be worth a try. The
article appears to be authentic.
A
Spoonful of Cinnamon Helps Treat Diabetes
By
Alison McCook
Last
Updated: 2003-12-11 15:35:10 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - People with diabetes can help keep their bodies
healthy by simply adding a dash of spice to their diet, new research
reports.
In
a study, diabetics who incorporated one gram -- equivalent to less than
one-quarter teaspoon -- of cinnamon per day for 40 days into their
normal diets experienced a decrease in levels of blood sugar,
cholesterol and blood fats.
And
for people with diabetes, the less of those substances in the body, the
better.
Type
2 diabetes arises when the body loses sensitivity to insulin, a hormone
that shuttles the sugars from food into body cells to be used for
energy. As a result, the amount of sugar, or glucose, in the blood
remains high, leading to fatigue and blurred vision. Over the long
term, excess blood glucose can increase the risk of heart disease,
kidney failure and blindness.
The
current findings suggest that a small amount of cinnamon can help
protect diabetics from these and other potential complications of their
condition, study author Dr. Richard A. Anderson of the Beltsville Human
Nutrition Research Center in Maryland told Reuters Health.
Diabetics
could add a dash of cinnamon to their morning servings of coffee,
orange juice or cereal, Anderson noted. "You can also make a cinnamon
tea by simply boiling water with stick cinnamon," he suggested.
Anderson
noted that cinnamon may also help stave off the onset of Type 2
diabetes in people at risk of the condition.
He
added that cinnamon contains some substances that can be toxic in high
amounts, so people should be sure not to get too much of a good thing.
"Certainly, a gram per day is not a high amount," he reassured.
During
the study, Anderson and his colleagues asked 60 people with Type 2
diabetes to consume 1, 3, or 6 grams of cinnamon each day for 40 days,
or the equivalent amount of wheat flour, as a placebo. Both the
cinnamon and wheat flour were administered in capsule form.
Reporting
in the journal Diabetes Care, Anderson and his team found that all
cinnamon-takers experienced a drop in blood levels of glucose, fats and
cholesterol by up to 30 percent. No change was seen in the people
taking placebo capsules.
Anderson
explained that cinnamon contains compounds that help make insulin more
efficient, improving the hormone's ability to bring glucose to the
cells that need it.
As
an added bonus, cinnamon contains virtually no calories, Anderson said,
allowing diabetics to add zest to their meals without adding to their
waistlines.
Cinnamon
contains less than 3 calories per gram, "negligible in the total
dietary intake," Anderson said.
Previous
research has shown that cinnamon appears to help fat cells recognize
and respond to insulin. In test tube and in animal studies, the spice
increased glucose metabolism by about 20 times.
SOURCE:
Diabetes Care, December 2003
I think I shall wait a bit before I
venture forth to the park bench,
not until there is some sunshine up there. It wasn’t too bad
up
there sitting in the sunshine. As I have said that is a good place to
think. I remembered the program I saw on the tube the other night as I
lay in bed. It was a re-broadcast of an interview with the former Mayor
of New York City, Ed Koch. I had seen his statement in print but not
out of his mouth. He said that he is supporting George W. Bush for
re-election. To paraphrase him to the best of my recollection, he said
that he disagrees with Bush on just about every domestic program he has
proposed. However, the Democrats are completely wrong in their idea. If
the country is not safe, all the domestic stuff amounts to nothing when
we as a nation are in peril. He said their idea that opposition to the
war as the way to go is stupid!
Koch said, “not one of them has
the stomach to do what Bush
has
taken on and has accomplished in going after the terrorists.”
Of course, there is also that great
proponent of moral rectitude, Teddy
Kennedy, telling, this all a cooked up scheme for Bush’s
re-election.
I completely
agree with Ed
Koch on this one.
We are every bit as much in a war as we were during WW2, only now they
can and did bring it here to us. The fact that nothing major has
happened so far is NO accident. The ACLU not withstanding. There were
some tough laws enacted during WW2 also. Yes, keep your eye on the
government, but we really do not have much choice. He even spoke well
of John Ashcroft . Ha!!!
I would think that
every night Al Gore
goes to bed,
he should be on his knees thanking God, he was NOT elected. I know I
do. That really would be the wolves guarding the chicken coop.
Geez!!
Anyone, who thinks 911 would not have
happened is downright stupid.
Sure just sit down and talk reasonably with them. Neville Chamberlain
also had peace in our time, bull sh*t. I lived through that
also.
I want to go to
the “Iron
Works” this
morning for another crack at using the equipment. I pay for it by the
month, so I might just as well avail myself of their facilities.
<Later 12:04 PM >
I am back. I met Connie and Bob Reinhardt
there. They were finishing their workout on the machines.
On the way home Queen wanted me to stop at Country Harvest
for a
salad mix. I stopped in at Pattie’s office on my way home.
She
was supportive of the old man’s attempt at fitness. I believe
that it is getting easier as I attend more frequently. However, a nap
will go well for the “old geezer” this afternoon.
From there, it was home.
Please love one another, Mom
and Bob [Queen and Bobby]
The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter."
-Mark Twain
The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up."
-Mark Twain
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on
its shoes.
Mark Twain
Imagination is more important than knowledge...
Albert Einstein
