Don't Have an Island? Well, Duh, Build Some!

I watched with true amazement the show about the Dubai guys who are building their country it's own islands apparently to raise revenue in the future after we have exhausted their oil reserves. These islands stick out from the present coast of the country a some distance and are shaped like palm trees. A circular "breakwater" protects the delicate branches of the palm! Would you believe Dutch engineers were involved in the studies and design? The Dubai guy ordered that their construction be of totally natural materials. They used primarily sand and rock only! The three palm islands and the group of islands alike a map of the worlds continents will, it is planned, provide by increasing its beach front a greatly improved tourist industry for the little country and provide revenues for its government and residents! These pictures are from the air and space.....he has his own satellite up there to help with the construction! http://www.fresh99.com/dubai-islands.htm

Which is Better?

Double Quarter Pounder® with Cheese++
9.8 oz (279 g)
740 calories. Have three and that's all you need for a day
42 grams of fat. Have another half and that's enough of that for a day
19 grams of saturated fat. Yummy!
1380 chunks of salt or 57% of ones daily need
40grams of carbos. Not bad.
48 grams of protein. Have two and you have more than enough protein for a day

OR

JT"S Special Tuna on Toast made with 2 slabs of 7 grain bread, one tbs real mayo, and one 6 oz can of Chicken of the Sea solid albacore tuna

420 calories
15 grams of fat
2 grams of saturated fat
1170 mg of sodium
37 carbos
30 grams of protein!

Walking Around

I can't leave out dieting around and infusing around and "biking" sitting still! There was no "horsing around" this week so I've been sitting around watching the weather for a good camping window. It was nice Thursday but I figured I had better stay home to wait for any reactions to my proteinase inhibitor infusion. None showed up. The phone, however, kept ringing with calls from the good folks at Baxter Heathcare Corporation developer and manufacturer of Aralast, the stuff the IV dribbled into my veins, and Accredo Health Group supplier of specialized biopharmaceuticals checking to see how I am feeling and of course hoping that I was still living so they could depend on me for bunch of profits spanning the course of whatever number of years they can prolong my life! Then on Friday I decided it was nicer to sit here on the patio and get a good dose of sun instead of fighting the hoards of campers out for the weekend! Upon taking a walk I decided this walking around the neighborhoods stuff is really hard on the local dog's naps so I decided to go to Kmart and get me a stationary bike! So now I can ride in peace in air conditioned comfort! As far as the dieting and finger pricking go I think I've managed a bunch of successes. Most days of the last three weeks I have managed to stay at 1500 or fewer calories, fewer than 200 carbos, and fewer than 60m grams of total fat. In the past couple of days I have started to boost protein consumption (for those abs) to about 100 grams a day. Look out Charlie! We all know scales can lie but belts can't. In May prior to departing for The Netherlands I was forced for the sake of comfort to make a last minute longer belt buy at the Big Lots near my motel in Green Bay. Now I have gone down to the third hole on the belt which was too short then! Congratulations to me! And then there is the finger pricking! Hey this blog sounds like a doctors daily journal! But anyway it answers the question everyone asks like "How are you doing?" I'm sure they aren't concerned about my checkbook or how badly the stock market recently insulted by investments or if I am succeeding at my retirement or whatever! When people ask an invalid, "How are you", I presume it to mean that they want a rundown on my health. Anyway, most of the finger pricking results are very low so either the $4 per month Metformin, the diet with absolutely no donuts, and the exercise is doing the trick or I was misdiagnosed. Oh, I almost forgot a few things. The heart is pumping with reasonable pressures, the cholesterol is under control and the foot tingles might be subsiding with the daily dose of Parkinson's pill (be sure to follow that link and hope I WIN BIG) and I've been a month on only one Albuteral inhaler! Let me know if I missed anything because its hard to remember it all! I started out talking about looking for a camping window and maybe one will develop by tomorrow! Want to come along?

Horsing Around Again!

The formal events at the Marquette County Fair's Draft Horse Show were over so we took time out for this formal photo shoot! Shown with the reins in hand is Barb, Head of Culinary Sciences and Housekeeping at Wilderness Ridge Farms! Barb is to be commended for her skills with the horses!

New Shirt Day Again?

Its going up and down like a .....well OK a yo yo. Last week I was down a couple shirts. Some expert claims it is working on a 10% "adjustment" again. If so its darn near done "adjusting" I hope!

Gettin' er Done

Here is a device which appears to be in further development which will help those who need to monitor blood glucose. Its called a glucowatch and is worn like a watch and sucks fluid from the tissue under it and measures glucose values. Maybe something like this is in my future. As for now I guess the conventional meters are still the style. For beginners, however, since the recent diagnosis of my extraordinary blood sweetness I have imposed upon myself the strictest of diets to effect glucose control and weight loss (Dr. B indicated that among other things, I need to be counseled about obesity). Thus the Coke Zero which adds not a calorie to my 1500 calorie daily intake! In addition I am counting carbohydrates and staying at between 150 and 175 grams per day. My diet consists of the finest selection of usual foods. For breakfast I like eggs (2 eggs but the yolk of only one), two slices of bacon instead of 4 or 5 and only one piece of toast with a bit of Parkay on it. This I do every other day alternating with cereal and a little turkey on a slice of toast. For lunch a variety of low fat meats or soups and salads fit into the plan nicely. For supper when I would in the past overload on pasta or potatoes and some real nice marbled steak I now start with a big salad with fat free ranch and then go on to a healthy supply of vegetables either cooked or fresh and then a small amount of pasta or potatoes and some meat. I still do like my share of the condemned "red meat" but in moderation my arteries should hold out and I am doing more turkey and some meat substitutes for protein. And believe it or not, I still can't, I did go to 1% milk. That was tough but I did it! I respect to proposed dietary guidelines I've studied the information from the diabetes association but find it contradictory in that they still push the carbohydrates as the bottom layer of their pyramid. I found another set of information which puts the carbos at the top of the pyramid so I am trying to make them both happy with my choices! They all preach "portion control" and that of course makes sense! Last, but not least, essential to my plan to get back into my 33 waist pants that I have stashed under the bed (about 5 years now) is exercise! For the ten years in the truck there wasn't much exercising taking place. But that is changing so for now its two or more walks a day of between 10 and 20 blocks each or as far as my legs and lungs will allow! And its working! Ten pounds disappeared in the last couple months and the rate will probably be better in the future because of the developing diet. As I said the target is a 33 inch waist and about 145 pounds. That means another 3 or 4 inches off the waist and about 25 pounds off wherever it is attached. Also in the meantime I need to do some abdominal muscle strengthening. They sort of fell to waste in the truck! Do you think a 64 year old can develop a six pack abdomen?

I Love These Silly Headlines

This is today's after closing headline on Yahoo's financial site


Dow Jumps 150 Pts in Late Rally AP -
Wall Street shot higher in a last-minute advance Wednesday after careening through a session made turbulent by ongoing concerns about U.S. home loans and the credit market.








The way it looked I thought I was going to lose another shirt off my back today. But for some reason the market rallied and the American Way is safe for another day!

Zero

Back few weeks ago I presented a piece about my Coke dilemma. I just want to say that I have adjusted very well to the new drink and would highly recommend its consumption to all who long for the taste but not the calories or the carbos or the sugar! Since it is totally sugar free I think it would even be fine to give the kids for breakfast before school! The only nutrition it has listed is 40 mg of salt! Try it, you'll like it!

My Great TV Show Ratings Gig

The Nielson lady called a few weeks ago and asked if I would help her out by participating in the TV ratings game going on this week! She asked a bunch of questions and said I would get the stuff to record my viewing habits in a few days. Well, its almost over now and I have faithfully kept my diary since Thursday morning at 5 am. Actually I was asleep then so I told the diary that I was not watching TV. Who in their right mind would be at 5 am? People are supposed to sleep until 8 or 9 or so or get up and go to work.. Anyway I show that I don't watch a lot of TV. I watched the Today show a little, then Regis and his girlfriend a little less. I caught a twenty year old Cosby show once. I spent a few hours watching Animal Planet and TLC and the History Channel. Ice Road Truckers is on the History Channel. What a bunch of wimps! Anyway pardon the swerve. If I remember and if I am not busy I watch the TV 6 local news but the Peterson lady half anchor drives me nuts with her speech and presentation. I often wonder where they find these people. Anyway, I didn't help the big time networks much because I didn't watch any of their garbage takeoffs of American Idol. So I did my share and I'm sure they will appreciate my efforts. They even paid me already! There was a one dollar bill stuck in with the paper work!