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