ShowMeBlog

Blood Pressure is Not Good

  I did not think it was a good idea because of how I was feeling...but I decided I wanted to get my blood pressure checked.  So I walked very slow up to the CVS store.  I am not sure it it is one mile or maybe it is only half a mile.  But it is a pretty good walk.
  When I got to the CVS I took my blood pressure. 
  My BP was 196 / 88 with pluse rate of 81
  That is not good.  I got my two Rx refilled.  I had to wait on them. 
  I took my BP before I left and it was 185 / 88 with pluse rate of 69.
  The two medications cost me $40.00 and that is a 30 day supply.  I hope I am around in 30 days to get them refilled.

   

  I am going to take my BP medication now.  Then I am going to try and just lay down.  The next time I get on the Internet I may download and sign a living will.  I sure do not want to have a stroke and be hooked up to machines.

04/19/2006 156/90
04/27/2006 158/80
05/08/2006 163/81 *
06/02/2006 168/81
06/15/2006 147/73
06/30/2006 196/88 with 81
06/30/2006 185/88 with 69

* I just had biopsy done.

Security on Segway

  Security at Dadeland Mall now has a Segway.  I do not know how many they have or where or when they use it.  My guess is they use it when the mall is open and they put it on the charger at night.
  My feeling, in the past, was that it would a good idea to have Dadeland Mall security on a Segway.  (Remember I worked there for about a year and a half.)
  I get food from the food court all the time and so I have seen a couple of different officers now on the Segway.  I have changed my mind now.  They have a helmet and they look like a robot.  It put them up higher than everyone else so yes they get a great view over the heads of everyone but I think that cuts into the inter action they have now. 
  I was thinking it would be like a bike patrol officer,  yes I was one of those in Missouri,  and everyone smiles and talks and you get good communications and good PR.  I don't see that with the guys using the Segway at Dadeland.
 
 

Emergency Room Visit?

  I took a bag a trash out early today.  It was hard for me to do it.  It took a great deal of effort for me to get back up the one flight of stairs to our apartment.  I just went to the mail box and got the mail.  It was a major effort to do it.
  Any effort hits me with shortness of breath.  I am at 204 pounds.  My family and you, I am sure, all think it is because I am a fat pig that is eating junk food.  I know my body and I have never been 204 pounds and my wight went from 191 to 200 almost over night when I was eating less than normal.
  This is fluid retention from the medication I am taking and/or because my heart can not or will not pump it from my body.
  I will see if I can make it to Monday with out going to the emergency room.  I will see if I can get in and see my doctor on Monday. 

Good News and BAD News

  My weight is not because I have been eating more.  I put it on too fast and I put on too much weight.  That is the good news.  All of a sudden I did not lose all control and go from 190 pound to 202 pounds.
  This weight is due to fluid retention.  That is the bad news.
   Here are some side of effects of the medication that I am taking:
   "...

• More common side effects may include:
  Dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, headache

• Less common side effects may include:
  Abdominal pain, abnormal vision, arthritis, constipation, depression, diarrhea, difficulty sleeping, dry mouth, eye pain, fluid retention, flu-like symptoms, flushing, gas, increased sweating, inability to hold urine or other urination problems, indigestion, inflammation of conjunctiva (pinkeye), itching, flushes, joint pain, lack of muscle coordination, low blood pressure, motion disorders, muscle cramps, muscle pain, muscle weakness, nasal stuffiness, nausea, nervousness, nosebleeds, pain, rash, ringing in ears, shortness of breath, thirst, tingling or pins and needles, weakness..."

Questions about Liberty City Raid

Link: www.miami.com.
  Several groups are leading a press conference today to question the recent arrests of seven suspected terrorists in Liberty City.
  The press conference will be today here in Miami FL.  I wonder if CNN and other news organizations will cover the press conference.
  If I had a digital camcorder I would attend the event and record some video and place it on ShowMeBlog.  I need to get a small digital camcorder one of these days.

Air Traffic Control

  I took retirement in November of 1999.  I have worked after that part-time in Missouri, full time in Orlando FL, full time in Dallas TX and full time in Miami FL. Right now I am not working.

  I went to Orlando FL with my son Jimmy because we both wanted to get away from Missouri and winter weather.  Then we moved to TX because Jimmy wanted to be with his mother and other family members.

  Then my son Ken, who was in Missouri, was looking for someone to share an apartment with him in Miami FL.  Ken wanted to be an Air Traffic Controller (ATC)  for the FAA.  He had to attend and complete college and get a degree in ATC.  I loved FL and was looking for a way to go back and live in FL.  So that is how Ken and I got to FL.
  Well Ken was an out of state student and college cost a ton of money.  Plus an ATC degree cost extra money because of the type of training (books, use of ATC training hardware).  Ken got his degree in ATC.
  There have been a number of reports that our air traffic control system has major problems.  In fact it is in crisis.  The major reason is that President Regan fired almost all of the ATC (Patco Union) people.  He did it to break their union and sent a message to Wall Street and bankers and the right that it was open season on workers.  (He got the job done.  He broke the union and sent his message to the $right wing$ suits.)
  Since he fired just about everyone they had to hire new people and those people have to retire now.  Plus things are so bad in the FAA that everyone wants out of those jobs as fast as they can get out.
  Now the FAA has know that their rules require all those people to retire and they have know that it takes time to train new people and that they needed to start hiring years ago.  In fact it was an emergency.  They can only run so many people in their 3 month training school and it takes older ATC people to train the new hired person. 
  So has Bush had the FAA hiring new ATC people.  NO!  Hard to believe you say.  But it is true.  The FAA, under orders from Bush, would NOT hire any new employees because they did not want them to get the good pay that ATC employees get and they did not want them to belong to the  ATC union (National Air Traffic Controllers Association).
 
 

Staggering Jim

  I walked down to mail a DVD to BlockBuster and send a few dollars to Jimmy.  Well I did not walk so much as I staggered to the mail box.  It is about 4 blocks down the street.  This is not new for me but I am not sure when it started.  I push things like that out of my mind and just work around things like that.. but it is getting hard now.  I stagger from one side of the side walk to the other.  I can not walk a line.
  I do not drink alcohol or do drugs so we can rule those out.
  I wonder about Parkinson's disease.
  I almost never talk on the telephone but recently Darlene has been calling me.  I noticed that when I held my left hand, with the phone, to my ear after a bit my hand started shaking. I can not say that I have tremors however nor that my hands shake a great deal.
  Now I do have very bad "gait abnormalities" and recently I have notice that I start to fall in the house sometimes and I have to reach out and steady myself using the wall.
 
 

Treated by a Gecko Doctor

I decided to see if I could look up a few medical problems I am having on the Internet.  I used Google of course to search and then I found a site and started looking for symptoms like I have..  weakness ..yes.. listing to one side..maybe..."Inability to strike prey" ...what the fuck?
  OH I see I was on Dr. Gecko a site for information on treating Geckos.  I don't think I found my way in at their home page or I would have noticed.  Thank God I did not try and treat myself from what they said.

  I have put ShowMeCam video at the top of the blog.  It will stay there so any new items will be under it.  Let me know if that causes a problem for anyone.
   jhoward@hnbbs.net

 

ShowMeCam

Movie "Crash"

  I heard that the movie "Crash" was excellent.  I just watched it on DVD.  It was excellent.  Russell is going to watch it tonight.  I am not sure if Ken has school tonight or not.  If Ken is home he may watch it.

  I been sick all day.  I am feeling a little better now.  I don't think it is just one thing but a number at the same time.  I feet, both of them, are swollen. 
  But I feel so much better than I was a few weeks ago that even being sick is not all that bad.  Oh in the movie "Crash" there is a guy that has the same problem that I have been having (prostate problems) and I could feel his pain.