Category Archives: Technology

Sweet Beet – 1 Down 27 To Go

Day 2…I made it past Day 1.  I think I urinated about 30 Times!  No lie.  But  I do have a spastic bladder fbreathoffreshair2rom the MS and I did forget to take my pills until almost noon?  MS  Fog maybe, but I was so busy today with work while trying to fit in Juicing and getting everything cleaned up .  What a mess I made.  It certainly is a lot of work for someone with limited mobility and only use of 1 good hand.  My product looks NOTHING like theirs but its in the same hue.

The Juices (2 different ones 2 times in the day) along with the Ginger Shot were tolerably tasty.  I’d be lying  if I said I was not craving something sweet or crunchy.  I will say I was full for the most part and hunger was not a factor.  The going to the bathroom all the time most certainly is!  Cleaning the machine and the containers….tedious.  It will be worth it Im sure.

My wife and I worked together to get everything ready tonight for tomorrow (Day 2) by preparing the portions and putting most ingredients all in 1 bag for each Juice session.  It can only get easier and after all…it is mind over matter.

And the 28 day Juice Begins…

breathoffreshairThe Science of clean, healthy, efficient cells.   Thats the best way to describe Juicing in a nutshell.  That is what I gathered from watching #SJM Superjuiceme.com a second time.   I am prepared.  I did a full blood panel and have my Dr.’s OK.   The materials & tools are prepped and ready, my wife is on board, I have the ingredients.  I’m very impressed with the App that you use to prepare as well as daily activities and coaching.  What have I forgotten?  Will I have problems in the bathroom department?  Do I have the mindset and the willpower to last 28 days?  Many others before me have succeeded and some have failed but what have I got to lose.

I will be blogging about this pretty frequently so… Here goes nothing or something and here’s to your health.  It looks pretty good!

 

Bench of Dreams and Tools too – Pretty sweet #DREAMBENCH

jewelersbenchMy wife works at a Jewelry shop and this popped up in my surfing 1 day and I wanted to pass along as I love good tools and fine work surfaces.  Albeit my dexterity ain’t what it used to be with the MS and all.  But hey…A contest is a contest and FREE is a good thing.

This company #laserstar has some pretty cool lasers as well – I’ve seen them in action, they are nasty Ms. Jackson!  But thats a good thing.

So head on over to http://info.laserstar.net/jewelersdreambench and be sure to enter their #DREAMBENCH contest.  Better hurry!  While you’re  there, check out the “lasers”!

 

Blasting, Juicing, Shaking – Can it make a Difference?

So a couple of weeks ago I bought a NutriBullet 900 and have been reading Juicing blogs including one that led me to http://www.superjuiceme.com/.    The 96 minutes is WELL worth a full watch especially for anyone like me with a chronic illness or disease that might be taking drugs and is concerned about your overall health.  No better time than the present, Eh?

Before purchasing the NB900, I succumbed to a late night infomercial of the previous model and several YouTube video reviews of this new monster that did not even appear to be available on the company’s webpage.  Guess the 2 for 1 sale of the old model was a good indication of the arrival of the new model I was about to purchase.

No need for me to review how awesome the NB900 is – just look up the reviews on YouTube yourself.  I have used several times in the past 2 weeks and really like it.  Now I need to apply to the SuperJuiceMe principals.

The real crux of this post is to inform you of the Juicing Experiment and that I plan on taking part in it and documenting as I go.  Wouldn’t that be something if I could reduce my medicine intake, stop being a borderline Type 2 Diabetic, Stop using a CPAP, lose weight, have an adverse affect on my Multiple Sclerosis and improve my health by following a Juicy and healthier lifestyle?  Check out the SuperJuiceMe Experiment and see what you think.

To our improved health!

Shop, Donate, Smile

Do you shop at #Amazon as much as I do?   I mean who does not want a package to open daily delivered to your doorstep?  Even if it is toilet bowl cleaner or batteries for your #NeatoRobotics XV-21 Vacuum or supplies for your next Super Bowl Party.  Who has time to go out and get all that crap day in and day out even if you don’t have a chronic illness.  I’ve saved gas and time — that warrants an #AmazonPrime subscription without question after the first week of use.

I could be embarassed to admit how much I actually spend a year in online purchases; but maybe not.  Others may be more so.  You know who you are.  🙂

Well tonight my buddy Jerry Frye of Frye’s Painting told me about #AmazonSmile.

Wanna give back to the MS community or another org?
Use Amazon Smile! http://smile.amazon.com/

Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice.
AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same Amazon Prime benefits.
Support your charitable organization by starting your shopping at smile.amazon.com.

Every Bit Counts!  Thanks Amazon for #GivingBack!

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Tattoo Day – MS is no Fantasy Island

MS certainly remains a mystery as there is no cure – only treatments. Many argue there will never be a cure as there is no money to be made in the cure but that’s not positive thinking or a hopeful attitude. This can create unneeded additional stress which is another thing we MSers are told exacerbates our conditions further.
March brings MS awareness month and I’ve been planning something big and permanent. A Tattoo.  Many MSers show their Faith and Hope for a cure by making a permanent mark on their skin with meaning.
For me, this has been about a year in the thought and design process.   It included engaging a artist and fraternity brother, Jason Lenox.  I have known and held with high regard for many years.  http://www.jasonlenox.com/2014/01/broken-sun-tattoo-design/  The Tattoo artist, Dust Deimler – http://www.dustdeimler.com/ can be found at 717 Tattoo – in Mechanicsburg – http://717tattoo.com/  I was referred to him by a client/friend who had several hours of work with Dust.    It finally came to fruition this Past Sunday.

There are a lot of things going on here with many hidden elements but I wont disclose them all.  It’s a wind blown sun with tattered rays and a smirk.  Strength and power are represented even though it is weathered and beaten.  The Multiple Sclerosis “orange” ribbon is carried by the Sun and the Rays that are exposed and torn represent the Myelin sheath that covers the nerve fibers carrying impulses.  This Myelin gets destroyed and damaged in the chronic illness that myself and millions of others deal with on a daily basis. There are other things in there too but will remain personal.

March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness month.  I’m aware every day….

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1 Handed Typing bandit

I learned to type by myself around the age of 8.  I never really measured my speed because it was not something I knew was measurable (WPM).  In 7th grade, Typing was actually a class and we used manual typewriters.  I thoroughly enjoyed this class but not because it was at a “private” school I was forced to go to away from all my early grade school friends.  At the private school all the kids were mostly spoiled, snooty, stuck up …well you get the picture.  I did not fit in, so when I kicked all their asses at typing (65-85 WPM) and was finished several minutes before and with less errors than the “others”, I gloated big time.

After being Diagnosed in 2008 with Multiple Sclerosis, I learned as much as I could about the illness.  Externally I was no different.  Internally, I had some lesions on my brain, lost vision in my Right eye (Optic Neuritis) for 2 weeks along with excruciating pain behind the eyeball until the steroids kicked in and ran their course.  Eventually my vision returned.  6 months later (shortly after starting Copaxone) I developed Foot Drop and I started loosing grip and dexterity in my right hand, fingers, arm, etc.  Typing with 2 hands quickly became a thing of the past.  No longer would I be proficient in my IT career.  My right hand got worse and worse by the week.  I could just “feel” it not working and I wanted to cut it off with a machete.

Its amazing how the mind and body adapts as I had to learn how to do everything left handed.  Well now or soon enough www.frogpad.com will release version 2 of its 1 handed Typing keyboard sure to rival other contraptions I have used.  I have opted for the limited edition [early prototype] model and then the regular release due out in April.

I’m really looking forward to this new technology as they have made some nice yet to be seen, but promised advancements.  Check out their site and their Facebook page for more details!

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Beware of Black Ice…AND Carry Your Cell Phone

I get so upset and frustrated many times not being able to do stuff I was able to.  On many occasion I forget I have MS or say fuck it I can do this, I need to feel worthy, useful, like I’m doing my share in the household.  Even if it’s the little shit.  Thinking…I’ll just take more time, focus, concentrate – it will be no problem.

WHAM!!  I fall on my ass and fail again.

I was settling in for the evening and just wrote out checks for some bills I could not pay on-line that needed to be mailed the next day.  My wife said she did not have time to stop earlier to get the mail.  I decided to venture out at 9:45pm and retrieve the mail and ready my money for the government to piss away in the next big scandal.  I grabbed my cane and went thru the garage which was not that cold and I would only be 2 minutes more out and back from the mailbox.  As soon as I left the garage, my 2nd hobble stride into the blacktop driveway I was “flat” on my hands and knees.  I smacked so hard I swear the neighbors heard it.  My entire body jolted from the impact except for the Innovative Neurotronics #WalkAide I landed on and cracked and damaged.  I’ll never understand why these new cuffs do not hold the device on the inside of the leg like my old one did.

It took me a minute or two to come to my senses.  Then the pain hit, then the disgust and depression of crushing my “can’t live without device” – The WalkAide.  I took it off my leg so I could start the long arduous process of maybe being able to get up from the slippery black ice.  Rolled on to 1 butt-cheek and realized I was stuck and had no grip at the same time.  Almost 25 minutes had passed by and I was getting colder and a frosty left cheek.  Desperately I scooched towards the tanbark and noticed the location of the other pieces I heard when I fell.   The battery and battery cover went flying but were still within arms reach.  I quickly used my 1 good hand to grab those and stuff them in my pocket.   There was a glimmer of hope as I felt my cell phone in there and was able to call my wife to bring a folding chair to help pull me up.

Just fucking pathetic is how I was feeling then and now, albeit Black Ice or was it MS? and my determination to keep going, not quitting, keep trying, keep moving, getting up again after another hard fought battle with gravity and this chronic illness.

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