HOUSEHOLD DANGERS

Last week my husband had been watching TV at the kitchen table. He stood up for some reason, lost his balance, hitting his head on the table. Then he fell backwards, missed the chair, fell to the floor and the chair toppled over on top of him. In a cartoon that might have been amusing, but not in real life.

He ended up with a hematoma the size of a baseball on his head, broken ring finger on his right hand, and a badly lacerated pinky. Since he is on blood thinners, the kitchen floor quickly became covered in blood. I was trying to apply pressure to his wounds, mopping up the floor, and arguing with my husband on the necessity of calling 911. He didn't need no friggin' rescue squad.

What the heck is it with men and their tough guy routine? I was on the verge of hysteria and he wanted me to just help him walk to the bedroom. The big guy wasn't walking anywhere under his own power. It took three EMTs to get him on the gurney. After two hours in the ER, X-rays, CAT scans, and stitches he was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics. I was instructed to watch out for any signs of concussion and told to change his bandages daily. His hand stopped bleeding after eighteen hours. The hematoma on his head seems to be emptying down around his eyes, the right side of his face, and his neck. Not sure what this means, but we will see the doctor tomorrow. We were told that some of this would happen, but whether it is excessive or not I do not know.

Took a self guided tour of many of the Ohio, Ashtabula County covered bridges with the Cairns, close friends. The day could not have been more beautiful with blue skies and mid 70s temperature. We stopped for lunch at the Jefferson Diner, home of the "Wimpy Burger".

Finished up the day by driving around Geneva-on-the-Lake and passed by the Perry Nuclear Plant.

Netcher Road Covered Bridge

Caine Road Bridge

Benetka Road Bridge

Side view of State Rd. Bridge

State Road Covered Bridge

Longest Covered Bridge in US

Shortest Covered Bridge in US

2017
I received a phone call from the senior center informing me that my mother would no longer be able to use the Senior bus that picked members up at their homes for special events and field trips. She had wandered away from the group and solicited a ride from a complete stranger. Fortunately it was a kind stranger who drove her safely home. She had no memory of the event.

I contacted assisted living facilities in the area and was surprised to find how many there were and selected one that was specifically designed for Alzheimer patients. We selected Maplewood of Twinsburg. I wanted a place that was beautiful and had programs that would stimulate her mind. The close proximity to our Twinsburg home was a bonus. It was expensive, but with her monthly pension, social security, and long term insurance we could handle it. 

The next time she had bladder surgery planned, we made arrangements for her to go directly from the hospital to her new home. I was pleasantly surprised how accepting of the change she was. She actually seemed relieved not to have to struggle anymore with finances, the mess of her home, and the loneliness of her life with old friend after friend dying or not remembering her. 

Her cancer advanced rapidly that last year, but she remarkably kept cheerful up to the very end. My one consolation is that our relationship was the best it had been in many years during her final months and she was happy.

Mother's Day 2017

2015
These past four years have been very difficult, beginning with my husband's massive cardiac arrest on New Year's Eve. He was life flighted from Twinsburg to Cleveland Clinic main hospital and put on life support. They lowered his body temperature to 85 degrees and placed him in a coma for one week. Even though he had been technically "dead" for over ten minutes, he still had active brain activity. He was quite talkative after they revived him from the coma. He underwent triple bypass surgery, his second since his first bypass at thirty-nine at the old Mount Sinai hospital in Cleveland.

At seventy years of age it took him twice as long to recover and we decided not to wait any longer on finding a vacation home in Florida. Thanks to the Cairns, who have been friends of ours for more than half a lifetime, we purchased a manufactured home in Plant City in the same retirement community they were spending winters. We became active with morning water aerobics, book discussion club, bridge, Wednesday dinner group, and a weekly prayer group.

2016
My mother's mental and physical conditons were deteriorating rapidly and doctor's were concerned that she would not survive radical surgery. She had bladder and lung cancer. Her hoarding was out of control and her dementia had intensified to the point that she fought anyone who disagreed with her. She paid a married couple $350 a day to drive her around on shopping excursions and do small chores around the house. Every room in the condo was loaded with clothing and papers. My mother had purchased gifts and greeting cards for friends and family, but could not part with them. So they were never given to their intended recipients. Such is the hold that hoarding can have on a person.

I sought help from the local police, senior center, and county agency for the aging, but until she was at a risk to herself or others I could do nothing about it. It was a heartbreaking time for me. Most of my mother's medical procedures were as an out patient, but the one time she required extensive hospitalization my husband and I cleaned up as much as we could. Within three months the condo had returned to an even worse condition.

Be careful about free medical advice

A friend of mine thought she was being very helpful about recommending an OTC sleep aid that worked for her. Since I rarely sleep through the night anymore, I purchased a bottle and tried it out.

I followed the instructions very precisely, making sure that I allowed myself at least eight hours of down time during the night. Unfortunately my days were spent in a fog and more depression than I've ever experienced before. I even pondered thoughts of ending it all.

Warning! If you experiment with self medication, even with "natural" or OTC stuff, be sure to let family members know what you are doing. Give them a chance to see if there is a change in your personality or physical activity.

This is what dirt poor really looks like, Hillary

I wonder how many Americans feel that they are living through an apocalypse? This video shows how a middle aged couple dealt with losing everything in the 2008 economic crash.

Bill's tiny house

I think this shows the resilience of the American Spirit. Many of us are just two or three paychecks away from poverty.

Six Blind Men and the Elephant

There's a fairy tale about six blind men describing an elephant. Each man touches only one part of the elephant and describes what he believes the elephant looks like by what he felt. Each man disagrees with the others and they argue and argue without coming to any agreement. Each believes that his description of the elephant is the only right one.

Government leaders and factions throughout the world refuse to listen to one another, believing that they and only they are right. When persuasion fails they often resort to deadly force to annihilate any opposition.

My Experience with Income Inequality

I donate $500 to $600 monthly. Not bragging here, just putting the facts up front. By the way, my annual income places me in the lower middle class. I'm barely over $50,000 a year.

I like being able to chose where some of my donations go, so when I hear that 92 million Americans are outside of the labor force I begin to worry quite a bit. I don't have any tax shelters. Most of my income goes to pay for my housing, food, medical, and charitable donations.

Even though I've had minor cost of living increases over the past five years, more money is withheld each month than I received five years ago. I repeat - I actually receive less money today than I did five years ago.

When the federal government starts talking about increasing minimum wages to $15/hr. and extending unemployment indefinitely I begin to worry a bit. I'm hoping they're talking about getting this money from wealthy liberals, but I doubt it.

Future of American Medicine

This week while sitting in the waiting room before my annual physical, I overheard a retired Ford Motor employee being told by a staff member that his supplemental health insurance plan would no longer be accepted by Cleveland Clinic and that Medicare might not cover all his expenses. She mentioned that he would need to speak with one of their financial planners before scheduling any appointments.

Just last week my husband had to prepay Cleveland Clinic $1200 before the doctor would perform laser surgery to correct his astigmatism in one eye. Medicare would cover the cataract surgery, but not the 30 second laser procedure.

Fortunately, we had the cash to cover it, but I couldn't help thinking that these two incidents reflect a change in the way Americans will receive medical treatment under Obamacare. Anyone who depends on Medicare as the sole source of healthcare payment knows that it covers only the most minimum care. 

Seniors have been paying $300 to $500 or more per month for supplement healthcare insurance for quite a while now. I'm wondering how many of these supplemental plans will no longer be accepted by hospitals and physicians. What's coming for seniors? No treatment unless you prepay?

Affordable Care Act

Seniors need to know - "If you have Medicare, you’re considered covered and don’t have to make any changes. You can’t use the Marketplace to buy a supplemental or dental plan." This is a direct quote from the government's Healthcare website.

There is no need for seniors to waste their time applying online. If you have already lost your supplemental health care coverage or will lose coverage over the next few years, there is no provision in the ACA to help seniors.

Medicare Advantage programs need only pay benefits that Medicare would pay. The patient is responsible for all other charges.

Paleo E-Cookbooks

I prefer reading my non-fiction books, especially cookbooks, in e-book format over print, because it is easier to screen capture a page on my computer than to spend a lot of time hand copying recipes. I can then print out the recipe or save it to an online app called "Dropbox" that is easily accessible with my mini i-Pad wherever I happen to be.

These are the latest titles accessed recently through my accounts with area libraries:

Paleo eBooks

The Paleo diet is one I have turned to combat my own dietary allergies. I feel better and more alert, but have not experienced any significant weight loss. Natural sugar in fruits and some vegetables is still sugar and replacing wheat and whole grain flour with Paleo friendly flour needs to be done in more moderation than I'm currently practicing. I do love my desserts. Drat it!

Paleo Cooking from Elana's Pantry: Gluten-free, Dairy-free recipes, by Elana Amsterdam

A family-friendly collection of simple paleo recipes that emphasize protein and produce, from breakfasts to entrees to treats, from the popular gluten-free blogger of Elana's Pantry

Primal Cravings: Your favorite foods made Paleo, by Brandon Keatley

Inside you'll find assorted breakfasts, meat and main dishes, sides and salads, snacks, sweets and basics like bread, sauces, and dressings. All 125 innovative recipes are low-sugar, grain-free, gluten-free, and industrial oil-free. 

Primal Cuisine: Cooking for the Paleo diet, by Pauli Halstead

150 budget-conscious paleo diet recipes from gourmet chef Pauli Halstead. These easy-to-follow recipes provide more than 20 choices for every meal of the day—even desserts and snacks—and all are free of grains, gluten, sugar, chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones

Living Paleo for Dummies, by Melissa Joulwan

Offering more than 40 recipes for every meal of the day, and providing tips for getting around common roadblocks such as eating out

The Paleo Slow Cooker: Healthy, gluten-free meals the easy way, by Arsy Vartanian

taking the low carb diet a step further by eliminating grains and legumes and eating only lean, grass-fed meat

The Primal Blueprint Cookbook: Primal low Carb, Paleo, grain-free and gluten-free, by Mark Sisson

Mark Sisson is the founder & publisher of MarksDailyApple.com, and author of The Primal Blueprint. 

The Paleo Diet Cookbook: More than 150 recipes for Paleo breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and beverages, by Loren Cordain

The cookbook based on the bestselling The Paleo Diet - Contains 2 weeks of meal plans and shopping and pantry tips.

Paleo for Beginners: Essentials to get started, by John Chatham.

A comprehensive, yet concise guide to embracing the Paleo lifestyle. 

The low-carb, high-protein diet is a simple, healthy way to lose weight and feel better.

Paleo Summer Survival Guide: 12 Must-have recipes plus insider tips for a healthy, happy summer by Julie and Charles Mayfield

500 Paleo Recipes, by Dana Carpender

John Chatham series of books: Paleo Slow Cooker, Paleo Cookies, Paleo Muffins, Paleo Pasta

Remembering 1968

My first job after graduate school was as manager of the Brookside Branch of the Tulsa City-County Library System. I found a one room garage apartment just a few blocks away from my library and arrived in Tulsa with just enough money to pay for my first months rent and only $5.00 leftover for food until my first paycheck.

In 1968 that $5.00 had a lot more buying power than it does today. Hamburger was only forty-nine cents a pound. I was able to purchase two pounds of ground beef, head of lettuce, loaf of bread, milk, ketchup, dozen eggs, and vitamins. This would cost over $25.00 with today's prices.

I never told anyone how hard up I was at the time.  I survived - thanks to a couple free dinners from the family that owned by apartment. 

George Zimmerman Trial Results - Not Guilty

Wonder why anti-gun advocates haven't made the case that Trayvon Martin might still be alive if Zimmerman had not been carrying a gun? Is it because Zimmerman would have been the one seriously injured or killed if he had not been carrying?

An eyewitness said that George was on the ground with Trayvon sitting on top of him, throwing punches downward. We'll never know how long Trayvon would have continued beating Zimmerman. George's nose was broken and bloody.

Would pummeling him unconscious been enough? Would the police have arrived in time to stop the beating or would Trayvon have just walked away?

We'll never know.

Guilty

Two years ago Anthony Sowell was convicted of murdering eleven women in the Mount Pleasant area of Cleveland and this week three young women escaped from their ten year captivity in the basement of a home on Seymour Avenue in Cleveland.

One of the women reported that another child had been there when she was first kidnapped, but that child disappeared. Over the past ten years these three young women were sexually brutalized, had multiple pregnancies and miscarriages with one six year old little girl surviving.

Over the past four years I have been volunteering at the Thea Bowman Center in the Mount Pleasant area of Cleveland. Hearing about these horrendous crimes disturbs me to the very core of my being. God have mercy on us.

Best Peanut Butter Cookies - gluten-free

Looking for an easy gluten-free cookie recipe that actually tastes great? Warning - it's not sugar free or low calorie.

Ingredients:

1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat eggs and sugar together. Add peanut butter, mix until all ingredients are blended. Use smallest ice cream scooper or tablespoon to drop cookies onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Will make almost three dozen.

Bake 17 to 19 minutes until golden brown. Let cookies rest a few minutes before removing from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Yum!

"I am not a dictator"

Remember when President Nixon said on TV, "I am not a crook!"? I felt I was experiencing déjà vu when President Obama announced during his last TV appearance, "I am not a dictator...".

I'm beginning to think he mimics the bad aspects of Nixon's presidency (secrecy, paranoia, hit lists) than that of Lincoln, who's presidency he praises publicly.

Whole30

Although I've been eating mostly Paleo since August 2012, I ate very poorly during the holidays. I also developed the habit of eating too much fruit, nuts, and dairy, so I decided I needed to do something serious about my diet in 2013.

I began the Whole30 program today with Pulled Pork, mushroom, onion, and spinach frittata for brunch. Will prepare Stuffed green peppers with Spaghetti squash and salad as sides for dinner. Will make mashed potatoes for my husband, since he's not fond of squash.

The hardest part so far has been drinking my coffee black - I do miss my sugar free Hazelnut Coffeemate.

Since my pantry is well stocked with Paleo products, I didn't have to buy a lot of new stuff.

"Opportunity Conservatism"

Ted Cruz, senator-elect from Texas, is helping to set the stage for 2016. “Why did we lose? It wasn’t as the media would tell you: because the American people embraced big government, Barack Obama’s spending and debt and taxes. … That wasn’t what happened. I’m going to suggest to you a very simple reason why we lost the election: We didn’t win the argument,” Cruz said before pointedly lowering his voice. “We didn’t even make the argument.”  Read more

Election

This is one of the most coherent explanation of the recent Republican failure to secure the 2012 election that I've read. The entire column by Thomas Sowell is a must read. Here is a quote from the column:

"One of the secrets of Barack Obama's success is his ability to say things that will sound both plausible and inspiring to uninformed people, even when they sound ridiculous to people who know the facts.  Apparently he believes the former outnumber the latter, and the election results suggest that he may be right."

Romney believes he lost because Obama gave "gifts" to Hispanic and minority voters. Not sure whether Romney mentioned it or not, but Obama also promised women that he would take care of them from cradle to grave. 

Louisiana's Governor Bobby Jindal countered by asking Republicans to "stop being the stupid party" .

All of the above are correct and if this were merely a political debate that could be won by the best argument, then we could wait it out until the next election cycle. Yet I fear that we have turned a page in our history, a disastrous period of time is ahead of us and we have no one to lead us through it.

We need men and women of great moral integrity, dedicated to the principles set forth in our Constitution, and a belief in Almighty God to prepare themselves during these dark years. This will be a battle for the soul of America. Instead of Camelot our country has embraced Sodom and Gohmorra.

General Petreus Scandal

Gen. Petreus resigned from CIA due to sex scandal. Attorney General Holder supposedly knew about this affair in the summer. Broadwell, his paramour, seems to have been revealing secret information. Did this affair contribute to bad decisions regarding Benghazi?