Little Bunnies Foo Foo

Inside my Black & Decker leaf sucker upper, there is a sizable and very toothy grinding element which makes quick but noisy work of leaves and buckeyes, and almost bunnies.

While doing the yard suck yesterday, I found two of these little fellas hiding in plain sight in the leaves and grass I was cleaning up. I thought they needed a little help getting to better cover so we worked out a deal where they would stay in the thicker ground cover by my porch and both promised to beware the cats in our neighborhood. We talked a bit about "stealth mode" a then I got back to work.

Lights out

My doctor's office just phoned and my doc' secretary Vicky says I have severe Sleep Apnea and I need to go back in for a, quote: "CPAP Titration Study".

Sad at slow moving paper work! They are sooooooo behind the old 8 ball. The sleep lab already got me in and out for the Titration before my primary even got back to me with results of the first test.

"Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is the main treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea. It is a pump which uses a gentle stream of air to splint open the airway at night. Depending on the case an overnight study may be conducted at the laboratory or in the home to determine the most effective setting for the machine to alleviate symptoms of apnoea." What you see in the picture is pretty much what I was wearing last night -- only I looked cool in it.

My technician dude for the Titration must have known I am a worrier, though, because when I asked him what the first test results showed, mild or moderate, he said, "You know, I don't really like to use terms like that ..." Blah blah blah. It took the courage of my primary's nurse, Vicky, to give it to me straight.

All I Need is the Air that I Breathe

So I have an update on the blackouts. (see below)

Did a Sleep Study the other night and it showed that I stopped breathing off and on during the short time I did sleep. Spooky. So I go back in tonight to sleep with a PAP something or other on my face. Sounds like it fits over my nose and face like that many-legged thing from Alien. Spooky again.

Andrew Sullivan & Me

Tonight at the pharmacy I was mistaken for several versions of Andrew Sullivan.

The Faces of Fear, ... & Stupidity, Hate, Racism

I am depressed enough these days without seeing this Freakshow, but alas it came my way and I want to share it with you. They are actually scared by the word Czar. I guess it sounds spooky and perhaps Muslim. But not as spooky as the Tea Baggers . They don't know who or what a Czar is and what kind of murky plans he has.

Speaking of words, I think they should take a break from the frenzy and look up the more contemporary meaning of Tea Bagger which they've proudly nicknamed themselves. This kind of unfocused, uninformed, and generally confused rage and indignation is painfully reminiscent of the terrifying video clips of Ohio Palin supporter during the election.)

Everyone is so tired of all the spending, and all the freedoms being eroded. You know, all the "stuff" that Obama has done in his short time in office.

God, these sad, noisy maniacs.

I Haven't Got the Stomach for this Heart Stuff

My stomach is all nerves. As of right now, it looks like I am going to see Richard Josephson (with all sorts of John Hopkins credentials) this Wednesday for the first of what sounds like many tests.

More Blackouts - Could be Terrorists?

Here is a bunch of gobblygook that talks about what "may" be wrong with me, but I have also read about Pulmonary Hypertension presenting itself with similar symptoms.

(Of course, I like Syncope because it almost sounds like a poetry term: Metonymy, Synecdoche, Syncope.)


Syncope is the temporary loss of consciousness or, in plain English, fainting. The situations that trigger this reaction are diverse and include coughing. Situational syncope is caused by a reflex of the involuntary nervous system called the vasovagal reaction. The vasovagal reaction leads the heart to slow down and, at the same time, it leads the nerves to the blood vessels in the legs to permit those vessels to dilate. The result is that the heart puts out less blood, the blood pressure drops, and the blood that is circulating tends to go into the legs rather than to the head. The brain is then deprived of oxygen, and the fainting episode occurs.

Sounds involved.

Here is an additional link I found with a few helpful tips. Reading this and everything else, it is beginning to feel like I am circling the heart disease drain.

Last time it happened, which would have been just this past Sunday on the porch during dinner, I was told my eyes kind of rolled back and I nodded into the table top. Bad Dinner Theater indeed.

Common Dreams Bookmark

Depending on which way you lean, I encourage you to share this site with anyone who you think would benefit. Currently at Commondreams.org you will find an important reminder (think Orwell's Polictics and the English Language) about that words matter from Ralph Nader. Or, for more on the myth of healthcare reform and the phony debate going on, this piece from Rolling Stone.

"Then again, some of the blame has to go to all of us. It's more than a little conspicuous that the same electorate that poured its heart out last year for the Hallmark-card story line of the Obama campaign has not been seen much in this health care debate. The handful of legislators - the Weiners, Kuciniches, Wydens and Sanderses - who are fighting for something real should be doing so with armies at their back. Instead, all the noise is being made on the other side. Not so stupid after all - they, at least, understand that politics is a fight that does not end with the wearing of a T-shirt in November."

Pass it on.

Pfizer is Pfined, Pf----ing A!

This is wonderful! Good news for a change. If I were drinking, tonight I'd drink to John Kopchinski.

"In the Army I was expected to protect people at all costs," Kopchinski said in a statement. "At Pfizer I was expected to increase profits at all costs, even when sales meant endangering lives. "I couldn't do that," added Kopchinski.

Laughter is the Best Medicine, Unless it Kills You

I am officially worried.

Last night, I shared the Poo Trap video with my son Whit (see below) and when I saw him laughing I started laughing, hard really hard, and then I kind of just went away ....

I came to with my head on the edge of the desk where I was sitting. I had blacked out.

This is the second time this has happened to me now.

Always the same circumstances, laughing so hard I black out.

The first time was also with Whit -- sharing a little bit of humor with someone else, and seeing them laugh just makes it funnier I guess. But what if I am driving and someone makes me laugh.

I just saw the doctor for an upper respiratory infection, now I need turn around and go back about the laughing disease.

PooTrap - As Seen on TV!

Christ, this is subtle. Here's what I miss by not watching television .... I can't breathe and am laughing so hard. How tasteful the way they blurred out the steamer caught in the bag on the home page image.

I think we will pass and stick to grocery bags ... showed the video to Otty and Indy and they both gave "the weird ass apparatus" thumbs down.

Colossus Dog - B-Movie Victims

Unspeakable terror. Skin crawling ickiness!
Behold! It started out as fun-filled hike in the Purple Range Mountains with four friends, and turned into a gore-bespattered trip from hell when the Amazing Colossus Dog of Hades fell upon them! There was nowhere to run! But straight down her throat.

Movie slogan, Sometimes, the dog days of summer really bite!

Laundry Basket Blues

Maybe we never outgrow the pleasure of sitting in laundry baskets, we just outgrow the baskets. Whit, busting blue at age 9.