Multiple Sclerosis, Blue Ray, and Yard Work

What in the hell is blue ray? Do you know anybody that actually has it? I have never even seen one at the store! They have been advertising them for a long time, seems like for years, but I gotta tell ya, I think something fishy is going on. This reminds me of the Chevy Volt, except you can't drive a blue ray. Come to think of it, you can't drive a Chevy Volt either! I remember when DVD's took over for VHS tapes, In a matter of hours you couldn't rent tapes anymore. Where are the much talked about blue rays?

I went out and raked leaves today, I almost died! I used the blower on a chair, not the blower, me on a chair. Ran over them with the mower, dumped them in a pile, then chopped them up into mulch. The boy got home from physical therapy just in time to help, he was thrilled. We have what I think is an Ash tree, and it drops its leaves, then in a few weeks, drops something that is about 3 inches long that I think is the seed pod. We got almost all of it done, then the rains came. I am going to be chair bound for a couple of days, nothing I can do about it, but I do love fall weather and leaves.

That's the way it goes for me now, do something you like, sit for a few days. Sometimes it's doing something you have to do, and sit for a few days, so I guess I shouldn't complain, but I will. The family is great with all this. We kid about all aspects of the MS, I think it helps, especially when the kids were little. I will never forget the day I told the boy to do something and he told me to be careful or I would need a brace on the other leg! Ah, good times. They treat it just like I would want them to, if I had a choice in any of this. The laughter helps, but it does too when the boy, without me having to ask, tells me to sit down so he can take my shoe and brace off for me. I really wish he didn't need to do that one for me.

Multiple Sclerosis, Alternative Energy, and LDN Therapy

Has anybody ever seen the Everex Green gPC's? We actually had one for about 2 weeks. I loved it, the boy wasn't crazy about, it was a Linux based system, so none of his gadgets worked on it. It was quiet, no fan, only drew 2 watts of power off the cpu. You could run Facebook, Utube, Meebo, hey, come to think of it, you could run everything on it besides his itunes! The more I think of it, I should have kept that $200 computer, and returned the boy! I was looking today, they appear to not make them anymore. You can buy them refurbished still, but they want $140 for one of those. Like I said the other day, I have an ongoing project to make a computer out in the shed, I know what operating system I will use, so that's one less thing to worry about.

I got the rest of my cans drilled today, I will begin the construction process this week. I am also looking into the possibility of running a space heater off of a solar panel. The only problem so far is that I have no idea what I'm doing! What can you run off a say a 45 Watt solar panel? Does that mean you can run a 40 watt bulb and have 5 watts left over? What about Ohms law, volts x amps = watts? OK, I don't know what that is about either, but I think it's important! How big a solar array do you need to run one of those things, it uses 1.263 kilowatts per hour? Is that a lot? They are making this difficult, in hopes that I will just knuckle under and pay the man to heat my home, but they are wrong!

Vitamin D goes as scheduled, nothing new to tell. I'm debating starting my LDN regimen, I think I would know now if there was a problem where it came from. Who do I check with to make sure one doesn't cancel out the other, or turn it into acid in my veins? That would stink, having medicine hurt me instead of help me. Truth be told, I'm not going to start another med, I worry I'm already taking too many different things. One to control blood pressure, one to sleep, one to keep me from going nuts, one for the legs cramps, one for the bathroom, and as always, my beloved shot. So, I just wait, and hope.

Multiple Sclerosis, Diet, and Alternative Heat

It was a better day today, I'll take it. Now I need to string a few of these together, say a few years worth. Now I'm not claiming to be ready to dance a jig or anything, but I can handle this. My right hand was more usable, still not much feeling or strength, but usable just the same. Do I need to exercise it to see if I can shock it back into working? Maybe I need to start juggling again, and yes, I do know how to juggle! The legs were a little more snappy too, so I'm diggin it.

I'm in the swing with this food thing too. The green leafies are going OK, I'm still searching for all the different ways to go. The pork and sauerkraut I had yesterday was awesome! I want to make some of my own kraut this winter, give it some real bite. Halloween was a really dumb time to start a no sugar way of eating, plus tonight was dinner the sister in laws house to celebrate the fall birthdays. No birthday cake for me, no dump cake I think the one was called, and no ice cream. Everyone has bowls of those mini candy bars I love to eat, and can polish off bowls all by myself. Hey, maybe that's why I needed to do this?

Tomorrow is the start of a new week, yeah! I need to get into a more normal routine, less pissing and moaning. I will still piss and moan, but how about I do it a little less? I'm going to finish the bathroom this week, and I have some design time that needs to be spent on the solar heaters. I have to stop dragging my feet, it's going to be cold soon. I was looking today at this heater by EdenPure. The ad says you can save 50% on your heating bills by using this product, and at under $400, it also tells me you can recoup your money in a few weeks. It has to be true, Paul Harvey endorsed it for Pete's sake!

Atkins Diet, Multiple Sclerosis, and Fresnell Lens Power Supply

Ah, bacon and eggs, I forgot I knew thee! What a nice treat from oatmeal and cereal, not as good as Fractured Prune donuts, but good. The problem is I don't want eggs for the next however many years I'm going to live, if this diet does me any good. My father could eat eggs every meal, but he's more of a machine then man when it comes to eating. My body is all in an uproar, not sure if it is the little bit of animal fat I added back into the diet, or just one of those things. Lets just say I appreciate having more than one bathroom in the house!

I need someone to write out a menu and make sure my pantry is stocked accordingly. I hate trying to figure out what to eat, it ranks right up there with what do you want to watch on TV. I'm curious if anyone has had any luck doing Atkins, and having MS? I hope this works, I don't want to have to figure out a new plan. I liked it better when my mother used to yell and tell us she didn't care if we ate it or not, it was dinner! How do I get a celebrity chef? Do you need money for that?

So why couldn't you focus a Fresnell lens on a hug vat of water, heating it either almost to boiling, or even to do boiling? OK, forget about the boiling, but say you have a closed system. You run said system either through a baseboard system, or one of radiant floor systems. Is that possible? I think I'm on to something, I just can't find the information I'm looking for. If you can control temperature by focal point length, what is the big problem? I'm determined to either heat the house for free, or blow it up trying!

Solar Space Heating, Multiple Sclerosis, and Family

Design change on the solar heater made today, I think for the best. I actually decided to make 2 different kinds, that way I'm sure to hit the right one, yes? Both are going to be window units, sitting on the outside of the window, entering the house both above, and below. One will be a purely thermo siphoning design with rows of aluminum cans drilled out and connected end to end. The other will be a horizontal baffle system with a small DC fan to pull the air through the unit. It will take approximately 115 cans for the one, and I'm not sure what to use for the baffled system, give me some ideas!

I went up to my father in laws today and got about 65 of the cans drilled out. We had a nice time, went out to lunch, talked about the design aspects of the heaters, and solved most of the worlds problems. We got back to the house to find a big limb from one of his numerous trees laying in the front lawn. Luckily the tree limb missed the house, all the cars, even the one neighbor who always parks his BMW in front of the in laws house, he likes to leave the street open in front his own. We went out and cut the limb up, then we carried it around the back of the house to a brush pile he keeps. I carried one baby limb, that was all I could manage on the uneven ground to the back, I have MS you know.

It's hard to give in to the fact that I'm not able to do those kinds of things, but it is amazing to see I have a 83 year old father in law, and a 73 year old father that still can. OK, forget about the MS thing, say I was just a regular guy. I wouldn't have a choice but to have stayed in good enough shape to do all things I see these 2 men do, they amaze me! I remember going to pick up a sofa with my grandfather when I was about 20. He put his one hand on the loading dock platform and hopped up like it was nothing. I used the steps, I wasn't going to have a problem doing it, I'd never of out lived it! I am very lucky to have the 2 I still have here, I need to make sure I tell them both I know it!

What's The Truth About Global Warming?

Can anyone tell me what is actually going on with global warming? Does global warming actually exist, and if it does, are humans responsible for it? I hope you can get a more concise answer than I could find. Like so many things in our society, global warming is split along political lines. One side claims it's the liberal hippies on the the left forcing their way of life on everyone. The other side says it's the Facist right wing conservatives trying to keep their cash cow producing milk. Hey Lucy, you got some splainin to do!

Anti global warming says it is the science community lying so as not to loose funding for further research. Wow! Do they have a cure for MS, cancer, and diabetes but would loose too much money if they told us about it? Does that mean there isn't one conservative member of the religious right, driving a 3 mile/ SUV, listening to Jerry Falwell that believes in global warming? That's impossible! I read one page that said not using fossil fuels was the cause of global warming. Yep, if we use more fuel, the sun can't get through the smog! Makes sense in a twisted sort of way.

Pro global warming says we humans are releasing so much Co2 into the air that we will all be dead in a few weeks. I guess it doesn't matter if we have MS, cancer, or diabetes, we are dead anyway! So not one long haired, pot smoking, gay, left winged liberal riding a bicycle thinks it's all a shame? Not very likely. I like those commercials that say the world is saved if we all stop eating meat and live a vegetarian lifestyle.

It seems I can't get the jiggy on what's actually going on. There seems to be no one who will tell us the truth. Desperate times call for desperate measures! Ask any old person you know, any old person you see what they think. My parents walked to school all year long, up hill in the snow, both ways! Things are getting warmer! It used to snow like the beJesus here in Baltimore, but me and the boy wear shorts year round now! We had record snows in the Northeast last winter, or did we? I didn't see them! Man this is serious! OK, OK, OK, I'm OK. I'm not sure if I realized everything will work out, or if it was the tranquilizer dart I was hit with, but I'm OK. I forgot, the elections are this year, one of the 2 candidates ...OH CRAP!

We Need Electric Cart Lanes

Man, I can just see myself tooling around Perry Hall in my customized, motorized, eletrizized cart. Doing a grocery run would actually be fun! We will need special lanes for people going a governed speed. I don't want to be out on the road with some of the maniacs driving today. I say Perry Hall bans all gas vehicles and only allows electric. That would be pretty cool. No more look at my Hummer, or look at my Benz SUV. I think it would work. We would need to build a fence around..... OK, that's a bit much.

Can you drive one of these things on the road in Maryland? Do you need to wear a helmet? I would do it in a heart beat! Me and internal combustion engines don't get along very well. I hate them! Just plug this baby in, and I'm off! I know, I know, they have a very limited driving range, most about 25-30 miles. That's cool, they last time I drove further than that was opening day of the Orioles. I don't drive an awful lot anymore. Up to the store, the bowling alley for a drop off, or pick up, and that's about it.

Something about the hum of an electric motor. I think this is a way to use a solar charger. Go completely off the grid with my vehicle. No more gas stations for me! Gas costs how much? I did not know that, you see, I'm electric! Oil change? No thanks, I'm electric, we don't do oil. Super Fresh is just a mile away, no major roads, the ones I'd use are pretty wide. I could drive it in parades! I will definitely need one of those ooga horns now! I think I may have to look for a used, baby blue electric car, or truck, put a whip antenna on it, racing stripes and maybe flames, and be the envy of the neighborhood!

Tilting At Windmills

What in the hell does that mean, tilting at wind mills? I'd imagine it means you could either be for it, or against it? Do they work? Would they work in Maryland? Good questions dude! Thanks, thanks, I just thought of em! Maybe I should ask someone who knows more than I do about wind power, but where do you go to get an honest, unbiased opinion? I watch and read the news, but that's more Brett Farve and Neil young getting the finger type of news.

There are tons of pro and con websites all over the web, but you have to take their tilt with grain of salt. The pro sites say they will save the world, while the con sites call them an abomination that doesn't work. Well, that makes it easy to decide. I want to be a kid again and have everything told to me be the truth. Of course there was the egg rabbit, and that fat guy that cleaned our chimney once a year? Yeah, and don't forget Bunky! Living on a farm my ass!

Ted Kennedy likes them offshore, just not off his shore! I think they would look cool off in the distance in Ocean City, if they work. Who pays to build them? Are they very expensive? Do they come in other colors besides white? Are they safer than offshore drilling? Are they going to lower my electric bills? Is there enough wind offshore in OC, or up in western Maryland to make them viable? I'm just curious.

Do you think if we sent a Seal team in and they grabbed the 2 most knowledgeable people in the world, tied them to chairs, they would give us the skinny without any agendas? That's the only way to get answers. We aren't going to read about it, or see it on the news. Politicians certainly aren't going to tell us, unless one of the special interests haven't gotten them yet. Yet, that was funny! What a trend setter Don Quixote was so many years ago. People are still tilting at windmills.

How Much Is A Watt?

I'm trying to edumacate myself as to the possibilities of alternative power. It seems the more I learn, the more I'm aware I don't know. I was much smarter before I started reading! What exactly is a watt? Does it take 60 of them to run a 60 watt light bulb? That can't be right. I'd be using a ton of watts every time I get one of my bright ideas! Why I was so bright when I was a kid, my father used to call me sun! But seriously, what is a watt?

According to Dictionary.com, a watt is "the SI unit of power, equivalent to one joule per second and equal to the power in a circuit in which a current of one ampere flows across a potential difference of one volt. Abbreviation: W, w." Why didn't they just say do! I new that! Yeah, that was an academy class, protecting your joules. OK, so I need to figure out how many my joules and my volts, subtract one from the other, and Bingo was his namo! I wish I didn't read that one, because now I'm going to have to figure out what it means.

Harbor Freight Tools has a really cool looking 45 W solar panel kit for $189.99! Is that good? Can you run anything off of a 45 W solar panel? Can I run the pool filter? Is it in the instructions from the filter people? Did they say in the operating instructions to plug it into to the wall outlet, or a 45 W solar panel? No, they skipped that step! They also have this thing called power inverter. I wonder if I need one of those? It's only $24, so I will probably spring for that too.

Will I need batteries to store the power for days when the sun doesn't shine? People have told me over the years to stick things where the sun doesn't shine, I guess this is what they mean? What's the best way to mount the panels? Do I have to build a cabana so it looks good? How long will it take for me to earn my $189.99 back and start saving money? I saw somewhere that the amount of sunlight that hits the earth every second is enough to power all the planets energy needs for a year! I bet I didn't read that tidbit on BG&E's website!

Powerline Biodiesel

Alternative fuels are fueling quite a debate. Food or Fuel? Ah, seems like a tough question, but is it really? Proponents say that bio fuels are the only way to save the earth and wean ourselves from foreign oil. Opponents say that bio fuels will starve whole countries and is as bad for the earth as fossil fuels. Wow, hard to decide, my degree in bio fuelology is limited. I have to decide by what I read and hear.

Gas is expensive, we all know that. I read that biodiesel can be made for under a buck. That part looks good. Now you have to remember, that's the price if you are making yourself. If the gas guys get in on this, expect to pay the same as regular gas, you just get to feel good about it. Hold your horses though. What about the impact on the environment of all the farm equipment used to raise the feedstock? I'm getting so confused! Bring back the horse and buggy. That's right, horses give off too much methane!

Why couldn't we grow more corn for ethenal, and soybeans for biodiesel? Are all the farms producing to capacity? We aren't still paying farmers to not grow things are we? What about public lands? Instead of drilling offshore, let's plant corn up Camp David, the President doesn't go there anyway. Plant corn and soybeans along the median strips. How many billions of miles of power lines are there in the US that you can't build under? Plant it and let it go. Nobody will have to cut the grass anymore.

The Eastern shore has a biodiesel plant. Yep, we are trend setters and green! I don't know where you can buy it though. The website says you have to go to Texas, Oregon, or Hawaii? That doesn't seem too green. Is anyone really trying to come up with an answer? Biomass is too hard. I bet if you could distill it then sell it for consumption they could figure out how to do it. I have seen people who can't figure out how to come in out of the rain that can run meth labs, let them give it a try. Come on smart guys, give it a better try, we can do this!

Bush Plays Politics With Our Pocketbooks.

I said the other day I was shocked to side with the President on any issue and that I wouldn't be surprised to be right back here talking about him in a few days. Guess what? I'm back! Bush today, in a purely political move, lifted an executive order banning offshore oil drilling. He said he did it to help the average Joe make ends meet. Oh Bite me! He did it to make it look like the Democratic controlled congress was trying to keep a foot on the throat of America by not changing the law prohibiting offshore drilling. By doing so I guess the thinking is the average American is supposed to say, "Hey, the Republicans tried, I'm voting Republican!" The problem is they are probably right.

You cannot rationalize, on paper or otherwise, that our president is any smarter then the average American. If you have had the opportunity to meet many people, you will know what a scary thought that is. He has no cares for me, he proved that with his holier than thou stand on stem cell research. He has used the argument that it may take several years to realize any gas from offshore drilling, but the longer we wait, the longer it will take to get the gas. Sucks, don't it? That's the same thing I thought about stem cells while I watched my body atrophy and digest itself, all the while knowing you did it because of your strong beliefs. I wonder if one of the twins was an MS'er if his beliefs would change.

He can't blame the Democrats for the original ban, it was a Republican who thought it was important enough to sign the original order banning the drilling. What was that chaps name? Oh yeah, it was Daddy Bush. That should make interesting Thanksgiving dinner conversation! Seems the President is making a habit of not following his father, first Iraq, now this.

I'm sure this will become a major issue in the election, with each candidate having opposite views on offshore drilling. Do you think that's why McCain changed his mind and is now in favor of it? It doesn't matter, by the time the election is here both the stars will probably flip on this, and many other issue. Take the money the government will sink into everything offshore, the 300 billion, with a B, that the feds want to give the mortgage guys, and all the money spent on the 2008 Presidential race and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I bet we could have a viable electric car for the average Joe to drive?

An Olds Man

My daughter totaled her car a few weeks ago. She wasn't hurt, so it was no big deal. In some ways it worked to our advantage. She was driving a 97 Nissan Pathfinder. It was a nice car, we had it for a few years, not too many problems with it at all. It had 120,000 miles or so, but a nice running car. The problem was it got about 4 miles to the gallon, if it was going down hill only! I don't know about where you are from, but gas has gone up a little in the Baltimore area. We decided to use this as a chance to get something a little more fuel efficient, a little more green, something that fits the times.

The last car we bought was a real jewel! We bought it from the daughter of an old neighbor of mine. Her father had passed away and she was getting rid of his car. It was a 95 Oldsmobile 98. A real classic! It has leather interior, power everything, and only 11,000 miles on it! Yeah baby, I said 11,000 miles! This was about 3 years ago when the car was almost 11 years old. You don't find many of those type of deals. There was a downside, the paint was falling off almost as fast as the black carriage top! It did however still have that new car smell, so it was a push. That was a bit of history to tell you how much of a car guy I am.

So we start the process of new car shopping. We knew we weren't looking for new cars, but we thought a nice used hybrid would be nice. Did you know a nice used hybrid cost a lot of money? I figured it would take us 75,000 miles for us to start saving money on gas! I know what you're thinking, it's not just about the cost of gas, what about the environment? I am always telling the kids about saving money, recycling, using less, making our own, and really meaning it. The problem is we have college tuition for her, bowling expenses and travel for him, and I am trying to figure out how to pay for it on a retiree's salary. Hybrids are out of the picture.

We decided we needed a nice compact car, something like a Corolla or Sentra. We asked the dude at the dealer how much the used ones were and we started laughing. Once we gathered our composure, we told him how funny he was, but really, how much? As we were leaving I remember thinking this is tougher than I thought. There has to be a car out there for us that doesn't cost as much as our first house and gets better gas mileage than a Sherman tank. Used compact cars are a no.

We see SUV's all over the place for sale, but they are no bargain cost wise, not to mention the gas. Maybe I have to lose the mind set of looking for a 1974 Dodge Dart for $400. I know they exist, I bought one, once. When was that, probably close to 10 years ago I would think? No, come to think of it more like 20 years ago would be right. Dream on! OK, I bought my first car 30 years ago, and if you could find that Dart now even that car would be worth more then I paid then! Bummer!

Hello there! Now that is a cute little car. It's even the same color as the Pathfinder was. We talked to the guy at the dealership and it was just what we were looking for! I nice smallish car, but not small. It has airbags, so it has safety equipment. He told us the color was the reason it hadn't sold, that and the fact it was an American car! What? Did this guy just tell me the car of my dreams was no good because it was American made? He sure had. I told him I'd take it! I was not going to stand there and listen to this guy bad mouth the United States of America, at least the auto industry part of it!

Like I said in the beginning, it all works out in the end. My daughter got a new car, a cute little 4 cylinder car that while not a hybrid, is definitely better on gas then the Pathfinder. It is solid all ways around. The body is good, engine too. Front wheel drive and roomy to boot. There's one thing about it that puts us in a class probably with only a few families on the east coast. I bet you will have a hard time finding a family that is driving not only one, but two cherry Oldsmobiles! If I can find an Olds dealer I may go buy a new one tomorrow!