wtea t-14, why, pic rain gauge

WTEA T-14

donate to your local walk to end alzhiemers
donate $1, $5, $10 or more
either at the local walk or do it electronically by going to
the alzheimers association  website www.alz.org

my organicgreendoctor.com team is walking saturday
october 15, 2011 here in austin at 800 am

donate and or join my team at this link
no amount is too small
do it at this website or donate at the walk or mail
me a check and ill take care of it for you

help fight this devastating disease

tomorrow my wife she and i will be doing a walk to end
alzheimers at georgetown texas as our warm up walk
before the one for our team in two weeks

WHY
this is why i have made the support of the walk to end alzhiemers
an issue in this blog
it is to help me and probably to help you
i have it and you will be affected by this disease sometime in
your future if not already

my mother was a nurse and many of you who read this had her
as your nurse in the hospital or had her help you with something
medical at your home
you know that she was a special nurse and a special person
she suffered with this terrible disease and reached the final stages
of the disease when she died

my father was a minister and many of you sat in his churches and
listened to his preaching
looking back although not officially diagnosed and looking at the
symptoms he was having i realize now that he had alzheimers and
was in the middle stages when he died of a heart attack
he was spared those final stages

my close relative younger than me has had alzheimers disease
now for about 5 years
many of you have seen that person slowly develop the disease
such that he is now in the middle stages of the disease

i was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment amnestic type
thought probably to be from alzheimers disease
i am lucky as my symptoms are minimal right now and no one
really notices i have a problem even my wife friends or family

i am able to be an advocate for the alzhiemers movement while
im able to do so in a productive way without being limited by my
disease

ive have chosen the alzheimers association to be the charity i
support because it is for a cause that has affected me personally
and my family members and will eventually affect you also
its almost a 100% chance youll be affected
probably no other disease can be said to affect so many people

the walk to end alzheimers is a big fund raiser for the alzheimers
association each year

they have been the big support for caregivers, sources of
information on the disease, advocates for research and
for legislation to help fight the disease eg napa

we and you need your support

PIC RAIN GAuGE
i reposted the rain gauge picture yesterday
if you missed it here it is

the organicgreen doctor

hog huntin, texas rain gauge, vines

HOG HUNTIN
am not talking about what the rolling tide did this last weekend
and what the aggies want to do this weekend

(hog fans remember there are 8 big 12 schools pulling for the hogs
to win this weekend against the aggies
one school and their fans in particular want it bad
show them what they will be up against next year)

in the north especially in the new york areas they are developing
a wild hog problem
welcome to what the south has been dealing with for years
texas has over 2 million wild hogs that are pretty much uncontrolled
my guess is the hog count is not accurate but is much greater
they sure do a lot of destruction in the million of dollars especially
to the agriculture industry

if they dont do something they will be where we are in a few years
thats because those hogs drop those babies more than rabbits do
> 12 per year per momma

in new york game ranches have bought in the russian hogs to use
for hog hunts
they did not let any escape they said and are not the source of
those wild hogs
interestingly all the largest numbers surround the big game ranches
a+b=c
seems simple to me

new legislation restricting their imports has been delayed for 4 years
lets see 1x6 females x 6 females x 6 females x6 females = 1296 females
if 50% of litters are females and each produces 6 females
then multiply x 4 years = greater than 5000 females from one female
know theres a formula to figure that out but i quit doing those after
i finished taking calculus in college years ago

think maybe they need to do something quicker dont you think
maybe export some of those red neck hog hunters from that
cable hog hunting show
theyll get er done for sure
then they could do a new series called yankee hog hunt

just sayin

TEXAS RAIN GAuGE
i have a large rain gage that is 3 feet high that measures up to
5 inches of rain so i can see it from a distance whenever it
rains
it is out in the open so i could get a more accurate rain
measurement of the rain

however the rain we have had is so scarce it disappears before
it gets to the bottom of the rain gauge
so i got this one
it was free off the twist top of a bud light beer
so now it can accurately measure our rain

VINES
several weeks ago i posted a blog with pictures of two
plantings in my yard
one was the monkey pod vine
well the drought has taken its toll
i had to selectively decide to water plants this summer
and the monkey pod vine became my low priority

all did not make it except for one scrawny plant thats
next to one of my struggling tomatoes
i cant make myself take a picture of it since it looks
so bad
hopefully it will produce a monkey pod for planting next year

the other vine i planted was a christmas lima bean which is
growing great
its about 10 feet high and nice and green
hopefully i can get some nice big beans off it in time for
thanksgiving
will try to post pictures if i do

the organicgreen doctor

50000, stuff, fb funny

50000
my blog hit the 50,000 viewing yesterday
my most popular blog is the last day thanks december 22, 2010
most of my viewers are from the united states but other
top five countries are united kingdom, germany, russia, china, and
the netherlands

the majority of my readers are from texas, arkansas and california
but you come diffusely to this blog from around the united states

this is the 13th month of my blog so
maybe it will hit 100,000 in 1 year

thanks again to all the readers for reading this blog and responding
to it via email. facebook, twitter, blog comments, phone calls, texts,
and personal conversations

STUFF
the chinese are sending its first space station lab into space
its a sign that we are loosing ground in the space race
is it just something else we are loosing to them
they already own part of our country and somewhat influence a lot
of what is happening here

scary huh

google is financing solar system installations
most home systems cost $20-30000 to install
most people cant afford that so google is funding solar companies
via loans to install these systems on your house and you pay
for the electricity it produces for a long term lease with
no upfront money and electric rates that are lower than what
you pay now
why are they doing this
they are not able to manufacture all their electricity they use so they
are offsetting it by offering this program
eg youre paying $150 a month for electricity
they put the panels on your house and the panels generate electricity
you pay an agreed upon rate for the electricity you use so you
pay only eg $100 a month for x years
the lease goes with the house if it is sold

google gets the incentives for putting in the solar and the interest on
the loans and someone makes something off the excess electricity
that is produced

i am strongly considering using this to put up more solar panels on
my property to supplement the ones i have now
i actually may be able to sell my panels and pay a electric bill each
month to google or a google contracted entity

i will be almost totally googled when that happens

FB FUNNY
thanks to ln for this

hi say to wanted really i but this read to time your all took you

read it backwards

the organicgreen doctor

bye bye bank, bye ags, we got rain, the boys

BYE BYE BANK
am saying goodbye to my megabank that ive been with for
over 15 years
dang that feels so good to be rid of them

first they bundled all our mortgages and sold them off
this is one of the reasons we are in this financial mess
then we the government bailed them out

then
they have made huge profits over the last 2 years
then
they started charging for everything
$5 for checking account (ive got 2 accounts)
$3 for debit card
$12 for online banking
charge for checks
0% interest rate on accounts
potential charge for use of debit card
stopped rewards program for debit card

so i pay them at least $300 a year to use their bank
now that aint right
plus the megabanks helped get us in this mess and they seem
to be profiting off us

so
i switched to a credit union
found one next door to the two branches of the megabank we use
every day
dang that felt so good to do that

$0 for checking account
$0 for savings account
$0 for money market account
$0 for checks ordered online
they pay for each use of the debit card
$0 for debit card
they actually pay interest on my checking, savings and money
market accounts
$0 for use of debit card
%1 on all credit card purchases
$0 for online bill pay

total amount they will be paying me to bank with them next
year is well over $300 a year
will make over $100 just from buying groceries with the credit card
the interest rate on my money market is 20 x the rate on my
mutual fund money market

this was all a tough decision
it easily offsets the extra im paying every month for my smart phone

i feel refreshed like i did when i quit smoking
like ive got rid of this long time addiction to megabanking

just wonder if somehow this is all not right and somehow they will
take it all away

BYE AGS
d gigem ags
they are gone for sure now
think they made the right decision
now they are out of the shadow and control of the horns
sure will miss those rivalry games though
dont think they will continue the football games as ags will be
in a tough schedule every year
maybe in softball, basketball and baseball

even with them gone the rivalry feel will not ever go away
ags horns
it is sad to see it go
good luck

WE GOT RAIN
we got our first measurable rain last night in over 3 months
we got 1/4 inch of rain
if you bought the water i collected off it it would be $70
the ground is actually wet looking
hopefully it soaked better in the garden if not will have to
water it well today
just need more rain please
we are still 24 inches behind over the last year

my nephew he is here starting to work on a new movie
he was ousted from his chair by the lightning and thunder
just need to drop him in that rainwater tank and get that
limestone rock out of my tank #5

THE BOYS
roma survived
thank goodness for the kicker
they injected him before the game and once during the game
let see they take a needle of numbing medicine
probably marcaine or some other long acting anesthetic and
inject it around the site of the fracture
think broken wrist and they inject the fracture site so you can
use the wrist so it wont hurt

know that must really hurt bad when the numbing medicine
wears off
bet he sleeps in a chair tonight
hopes he doesnt have a night time cough-ouch
hydrocodone (vicodin) to the rescue

the organicgreen doctor

fall, football

FALL
fall so thats why they call it fall
it just fell in last week
didnt even notice it happened at all
thought it was suppose to be cooler and nicer
instead its hot and dry
100 degrees + is not what i think of for fall weather

the only thing that looks like fall is all the brown leaves
on the trees here
the leaves are starting to fall already
but not because of the fall weather but the dry hot weather

rain please

COWBOYS
how about them cowboys huh
not talking about the dallas cowboys either
but the okie state cowboys
they put it to the aggies on the aggies way out of the
big 12 door
am sure every big 12 team is hoping to do the same thing
the aggies will get a taste of the sec this week when they
play the razorbacks from arkansas
next year the ags will then have to play alabama, lsu, fla, ga,
miss, miss state, auburn etc
whoa what a brutal schedule

the osu boys seem to be real this year
bring on the sooners and horns

the dallas cowboys play tonight with romo and his broken
ribs
bet those defensive guys will be tackling him high tonight
this is going to hurt to watch
but i plan on doing it

oded on football this weekend
did the nfl redzone yesterday
what a great station for someone with add
found i got all the games mixed up
guess im old school
one game at a time
then do the aftergame show to find out what happened elsewhere

now i have a droid phone i can even watch the nfl zone on my phone
not sure im ready for that yet

the organicgreen doctor

wtea t-21, facebook where arent thou, np exam

WTEA T-21
well 21 days left until the walk happens

the walk to end alzheimers for austin texas is saturday
october 15, 2011 at 800 am

click here to donate and or join my team the organicgreendoctor.com
or
click here  to donate or join your local walk to end alzheimers

FACEBOOK WHERE ARENT THOU 
what the %^*()#@! are they doing
whos running the show for them
some guy with aspergers syndrome that has no social skills
oh yea
thats it

anyone who understands american minds knows that you cant
make changes like this on us
just ask netflix

i have two facebook accounts
one for me personally and one for this blog (the one you
can click on to the right) and they now look different
ones got the new ^&%* and the other one has the old stuff
you know which one i know how to use dont you

maybe mark should have eased a small piece into the system
a little at a time so we all would not have such facebook shock
i feel like i did when i was first given a smartphone to use
its like youre on your own to figure it out yourself
are we all just mice trying to work our way through the facebook
maze

yesterday i got stuck on my profile page and couldnt get off
wonder what will happen to me today
maybe mark needs someone to help him understand the rest
of us

ok google + let me in
their loss(es) will be your gain(s)

NP EXAM
back in august i had to undergo an 8 hour neuropsychological
exam by a neuropsychologist to satisfy the disability insurance
company
it was not good enough that i had records of all this from a
well-established medical institution who is involved in the research
on alzheimers disease
think now they wished they hadnt done it
although it was a lengthy tiring exam i gave it my best effort and
felt like since i knew i had a problem that it would show up on
the exam
well it did
included in the exam are ways to tell if your are faking it or if your
are just crazy or if you are not giving a good effort
i passed all of those

the end result were that the abnormalities that ive noticed
personally and those that have been seen on all of the other
five neuropsych exams are all consistently present
(including the brief mental status exam that was done for
the video taping my wife she and i did this week)

the end result was that the np exam i had done showed the
persistent deficits and that the insurance finally agreed that
i had a problem and
will now give me my disability checks until i reach the age of 66
unless it all goes away
wish it would but i doubt it

the policy as written requires that i be able to do the same
medical practice as i was doing which i can not
heck i am giving up my medical license, cant get malpractice
insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, health insurance,
or long term insurance
luckily i had these all in place before all this happened

the organicgreen doctor

video, thanks, garden for fall

VIDEO
my wife she and i celebrated end alz on alzheimers action day
by doing a video filmed at university of texas southwestern
we wore our purple for the video

for the video we were interviewed as patient and spouse then
i was video taped having a provider do a mental status exam
on me asking me questions from a standard exam

the goal of this is to show it to medical students, residents, and
doctors to show them how to do a mental status exam on a
patient
surprisingly many physicians dont know how to do this test well
including this writer when he was in practice

patients at different levels of the disease process were used
from mild like me to more advanced alzheimers disease
i had only minimal difficulties doing the test
but some of the short term memory problems showed up

if i was in a doctors office being screened using the old tests
no abnormalities would show up but
this newer test called the moca test (like the coffee) picks up
some of the difficulties that i have

hopefully this video will help these new doctors to be, new doctors,
and doctors to learn how to administer these tests

catching this disease early is important to begin treatment
and to help patients manage their lives

THANKS
thanks to those who wore purple yesterday in support of
alzheimers action day and to those who
helped raise donations to the cause

thanks to the clinic where i worked as they all wore purple
and to my wife shes school where they did the same
any awareness and support is appreciated

GARDEN FOR FALL
ok its time if you live where i do to get your garden ready and
to start planting for the fall

left over in one bed are tomatoes, peppers, egg plants, arugula,
swiss chard, basil, christmas beans, malabar spinach, amaryth
and okra that i have summered over
they are now starting to take off again as the weather is cooling off

recently i cleaned off the bed that i will be using for my fall garden
i removed all the old plants and composted them
then i added 2-3 inches of compost and worked it into the soil
i also added some organic fertilizer and worked it into the soil
it was covered for a few weeks and allowed to ripen

two days ago i watered it well with a drip system i installed so the
soil would have plenty of moisture when i planted my fall crops
i covered the area well with pine straw mulch and newspapers
to retain the moisture

today i will travel to my favorite organic nursery to buy my fall
plantings especially the cole crops
its a few weeks early for the lettuce

i will be looking for broccoli, cabbage, brussell sprouts (one of
my relatives calls these poot balls), swiss chard, mustard and
usually will find some other plants they have they ive not used
before

these will be planted and watered well with a seaweed solution
that stimulates root growth
they will be mulched well to retain moisture
the bed will be covered with a hoop of pvc pipe covered with
a thin white row cover to shade them
later a thicker row cover will be used to protect them from the
cold weather this winter

i use liquid fertilizer every 2 weeks and add more organic fertilizer
usually monthly
i water based on how much rain we have
which is none lately

last year i got a infestation of white flies that destroyed these so
i will be keeping a closer eye on them and will attack them early
if they show up

this garden will provide food all winter long until the spring garden
begins

enjoy yours

the organicgreen doctor

tomato take two, end alz day, video

TOMATO TAKE TWO
ok will try this again
i use google to do this blog
for some reason it doesnt like this picture of this tomato
i agree it does look scary
this tomato may actually make it on a local garden show
my wife she and her students are making a project out of
monitoring it as it develops

the person who owned this tomato had her electricity go out
at her house (no she did not live in san diego)
the tomato was left in this hot environment and according
to gardening people consulted the tomato acted like a
hot house for the tomato seeds

here is attempt number two

dang thats an ugly tomato

END ALZ



todays the day
its end alz day
alzheimers action day
wear something purple
a dress, a shirt, necklace, earrings, shoes, pants
to symbolize your support against this awful disease

VIDEO
my wife she and i will be making a video today at ut southwestern
medical center with a staff neurologist today
we of course will have our purple shirts on to support the end alz
movement

the video will be used to teach medical students and residents how
to do mental status exams on patients being evaluated for dementia
think maybe practicing doctors should also consider watching this
video

wish i knew what i know now about alzheimers and its evaluation
when i was practicing medicine in the clinic
would sure have done a better job caring for patients and finding
them with problems earlier

go purple today

the organicgreen doctor

weird tomato, end alz, no rain, gamers, chocolate yum

WEIRD TOMATO
some one at my wifes shes work sat this mater aside and
later look what happened
it looks like a mutant tomato
wonder if it got nuked by something or
was it all that chemical crap thats put on tomatoes to get
them to grow and look like we want them to look
so they will sell

must not be an organic mater

wonder what would have happened if she had
eaten this thing
would it have grown and taken over her body
would tomatoes have grown out her ears

no
what happened was
the tomato was sat on a window sill and the tomato
acted like a green house for the tomato seeds
and they sprouted and are growing

my wife she and her students are monitoring its growth
with photos
well see what happens
just dont eat it though
dont want no mutant wife she on my hands

END ALZ


tomorrow is alzheimers action day
wear something purple tomorrow to support the battle against this
terrible disease
september is world alzheimers month

NO RAIN
to answer all the inquiries about did we get rain
no we did not
dang it
the drought continues
now cities are starting to fight for water from water sources
rain please

GAMERS
gamers do it better
seems gamers managed to unlock the structure of an important
protein thats involved with the aids virus
computers couldnt do the 3 d imaging so the gamers were used
and of course playing dungeon and dragons that did it
apparently its an important breakthrough
maybe all those video game playing those gamers do
were and are worth it huh

CHOCOLATE YUM
well now there is more proof chocolate is good for you
didnt need the evidence to make me want to eat more

apparently it was shown in a recent study to decrease the number
of cardiovascular events in those who ate chocolate vs those
who didnt
it already may help with alzheimers diseae

so more brownies and snickers in your diet

wear purple tomorrow
the organicgreen doctor

medal of honor-true hero, bernie review, football

MEDAL OF HONOR-TRUE HERO
everyone needs to watch this video of the new
medal of honor recipient
he is a true american military hero
there is no fake stuff or bs stuff
its all real
this is from the local kxan news station in austin
he at one time lived here

click here
to see the video and read the story about
dakota meyer

even his name sounds like a hero

BERNIE REVIEW
we saw the movie bernie with jack black, matthew mcconaughey,
and grouchy old shirley macclaine
jack black was an undertaker who befriends a rich grouchy widow
shirley macclaine and matthew mcconaughey played a district attorney
its called a dark comedy
its is said to be one of jack blacks best works
after seeing it i agree that its one of his best acting jobs

its set in carthage texas
its written based on a true story and tried to stay as close to the
story as possible
richard linklater the director has had this in his brain for years and
teamed upped with texas monthly writer skip hollandsworth to write
the movie

if you are from the south you will probably understand this movie
much more than people from other parts of the country
although it was well received when shown in los angeles recently
enough to be picked up for release sometime early 2012

i laughed all the way through the movie and laughed all the way
home and am laughing some as i think about it while im writing
this

the movie was mainly filmed in bastrop texas
the site of the most recent fires that devasted the area
many of the locations and areas where scenes were filmed have
been totally destroyed
richard linklater the director of the movie lives some in bastrop
the  homes around his were destroyed and some of his property
was damaged also
he grew up in carthage and the longview area and loved bastrop
because of the pines that are just like east texas
he is quite saddened by the destruction

all proceeds from this screening were donated to the bastrop fire
relief
a lot of organizations and celebrities donated to the cause
a lot of firefighters from bastrop were there and received a large
round of applause

my nephew he of the rainwater tank fame was our hero in his scene
as the injured teenager lifted up my jack black
a star is born

would give this movie 2 thumbs up
enjoyed linklaters unique way of telling the story
know my white on white relative will love this movie
watch for it in 2012
plan to watch it at the alamo drafthouse here in austin when it
comes out next year
great place for this movie

FOOTBALL
those cowboys will try to steal your heart if you let them
dang cant they just beat the heck out of someone and get it
over with
sure glad they won that one
it would be cowboy romo trashing all week if they had lost
keep it going boys

horns a young team showed great promise for the future in
their win against ucla
think they have their
quarterback
running back
defense
tight end
wide receiver
they will all only get better as the season progresses
they will get tested though with their next three games
well see how ready all these young guys are

note this could be decision week for conference realignment
??big 12 vs pac ++ vs acc vs independent
should be interesting

hogs will find out how good they are this weekend when they
play alabama
should be one of the best games on this weekend

the organicgreen doctor

wtea t-28, one a day, senior moment

WTEA T-28

the walk to end alzheimers in austin is saturday
october 15, 2011 at 800 am
we still need donations and team members for our team the
organicgreendoctor.com
click here to donate and or join the team
no donation is too small
or
donate or participate in your local walk
click www.alz.org to find it

ONE A DAY
well it looks like one a day may help keep the azheimers
away
at least by 25%

a recent study showed that one to two drinks a day decrease
azlheimers or other dementia by 25 %
the type of alcohol-beer wine etc-didnt seem to matter
i use red wine because of the benefit on raising hdl cholesterol
(which also helps decrease alzheimers incidence)

for women it was only one a day
sorry gals must be that estrogen

however 3-5 drinks a day seem to have the opposite effect

so one a day like the vitamin


SENIOR MOMENT

here is a senior moment 

a video of two seniors setting up their webcam

been there done that
recently set up my videocam to do a skype  talk with
a group in lousiana on alzheimers
hadnt done it before so had some video of me recorded
trying to figure it all out
wasnt this funny though
they are an internet sensation now

the orgnanicgreen doctor

bernie benefit, adipose gas guzzling

BERNIE BENEFIT
bernie is a richard linklatter movie starring jack black, matthew
mcconaughey,shirley maclaine and my nephew he of the rain
water tank fame that did not fall in my rainwater tanks last fall
going after a rock i dropped accidently into one of my tanks
(on the right of this blog go to google search  then type
my nephew he
and click to read about this)

well maybe hes not starring in the movie but he was on the
film crew that filmed the movie and they snuck him in the
movie as an injured high school student
to us he is starring in the movie

last time he came here to film a movie he brought tons
of rain with him
hopefully he will do the same this time

richard linklater has property in bastrop that was
damaged by the fires here recently
his neighbors property burned up but his was only
partially damaged

much of the movie was filmed in the bastrop area

they had scheduled a crew and cast screening of the movie
before it was released but he decided to do the benefit
showing earlier to raise money for the bastrop fire victims
all proceeds and donations will go to them

jack black plays an undertaker who befriends shirley maclaine
a rich widow then .........
watch the movie to find out what happens
its pg13
look for my nephew
he is carried by jack black in an accident scene

donate or buy tickets at the paramounts theatre ticket
website here
click the admit one ticket on the right to buy a ticket or donate

ADIPOSE GAS GUZZLING
we all know about miles per gallon (mpg) when it comes to gas
milage on our cars

now theres a mpg bmi ratio-i made it up
(bmi is basal metabolic index a measure of how obese you are
no its not like mpg where the higher number is good
ideal is <25 obese is >30 morbid obese is >45)

i propose a normal ratio is 1.6
eg my car gets 40 mpg and my bmi is normal at 25
so my ratio of mpg to bmi is 1.6 is normal
lets see a morbid obese bubba in a dooley getting 15 mpg
ratio would be 3.75
maybe a tax credit could be given for a low ratio
sounds good to me

it seems as the bmi goes up the mpg goes down
the us consumes an extra billion gallons of gas each
year because of our high bmis ie were obese

dont hear the politicians talking about losing weight
to help get us off foreign oil
wouldnt that be a green way to do it
for each lb of weight we gain we as a nation
consume 39 million gallons of gas a year
(39,000,000 x $3.50 per gallon = $136,000,000)
or overall
(1,000,000,000 x $3.50=$3,500,000,000)

WOW

the organicgreen doctor just figured out how to
maybe get ourself off foreign oil in a green way

maybe relieve some pollution and global warming climate
change or whatever you call it
(something exists from this pollution from the cars maybe call it
smog-whatever its is its not good for us)

maybe balance the federal budget

maybe increase money back into the economy to stimulate the
economy with no new taxes or federal spending
(bet the tea party folks like this)

maybe reduce medical costs and increase longevity

maybe it is this simple
could we trim the deficit by trimming our selves
nah surely its not that easy

numbers dont lie though
fix your ratio

the organicgreen doctor

help, fires

HELP
no this is not about the movie which i havent seen yet
but its on my next to see movie (afer the movie bernie-more
on that tomorrow)
this is about the help i received that influenced me and
what i did with my life

my family while we were in high school and while i
was in college were probably at or near the poverty level
we did not have a lot of things at home and did a lot
of sacrificing to get through this period of time

those programs that helped me are probably not available
today and today i would have more difficulty making it
through the 4 years of college (married) and 4 years of
medical school (married with one child) and my 3 year
residency program (married with 2 children)

i think about this when i hear all the talk about program
cuts and what effect these may have on some boy or girl
that is in the situation i was in
will they have the same chance i had

i only hope they do

in high school a federal program was established to allow
high school students work at local hospitals in medical
areas with hopes that many would go into the health field
in our group mostly sophomores and juniors that worked
together in the summer and holidays many became nurses,
respiratory therapists, physical therapists, and doctors and
some how one became a lawyer
i was one of the ones that became a doctor

we were exposed to a lot of things during those years
we were paid minimal wages
for me it allowed me to have clothes and shoes to wear
and extra money to spend and save for school

i worked as what is now called a medical assistant in the
hospital but also got to see deliveries of babies, surgeries,
emergency room activities such as trauma, resuscitation, and
also death
this was an important experience for me both financially and
by stimulating my interest in medicine and later provided me
a means to work while in college

when i did eventually make it to college i was married and my
wife she and i both were in school together
we both worked 20-36 hours a week and attended school
full time
i worked in the emergency room as an emergency room technician
skills i had learned while working in the local hospital in high school
we were poor but happy
we also benefit from grants and scholarships that help pay our
way through college
we also had federal loans that we had to pay off later
probably half of our college was covered by federal programs
that probably dont exist now

for medical school we had no money but i went ahead and
applied and was accepted
on day one of school we had no income and only a minimal
amount of loan money available
thanks to one of my older brothers he loaned me enough
money to get started that year
even though my wife she was working we were not making enough
for all the expenses of living and for school

a federal program called the national health service was established
which i applied for and got accepted
it paid my tuition and books and gave me a monthly stipend
my sophomore year i also got a job which was also federal and
state funded which required being on call and working in the
summer time

after graduation from medical school and finishing my residency
program i then had a federal obligation to work in an underserved
area for three years which i did
that program was gutted by president reagan and only partially
exists today

as a physician practicing medicine for over 25 years i have paid in
taxes many times over the monies that were spent on me by
all of these programs
the last ten years i have paid close to $500000 in federal  taxes
a good investment by the feds i would say

so i am a product of these federal programs that are being
wacked away at
i would not have made it without them
how many kids are out there now that are in the situation i was in
will they get help
i sure hope so

FIRES
the large bastrop fire is 80% contained now
however
we are now setting new records for high temperatures for september
it is dry
now the winds are starting up again
this time from the opposite direction-originally they were from
the north
now they are coming out of the south
fire officials are slowing down the rentry to the burned areas
because of these conditions

rain please

the organicgreen doctor

water conservation, butterflies, bad thing good thing

WATER  CONSERVATION

one of the local water conservation districts that controls water

use for the edwards aquifer/barton springs has declared stage 3

water restrictions

this covers a large number of people in the austin area and the 

barton springs area where large groups go to swim in cool clear

water in the heat of the summer as it comes up from the springs

now they are in stage 3 conservation and those barton springs are 

slowing down 

hopefully they wont stop flowing

all outside irrigation of lawns and landscaping is prohibited

only essential indoor water use is allowed

only lawns needed for fire protection are allowed to be watered

or watering to protect your foundation

no new water well drilling or new users are allowed during this 

stage 3 restrictions

these restrictions will probably be in force for several months

many of the wells will go dry in this area 

minimal use is recommended

we have a rainwater collection system for our only water source for

both our home and for our outside use

our last rainfall was in june and it wasnt much

as mentioned before when we got all of our rains last year and this

spring i had several tanks undone for repair and for new water line

placement

so i missed several inches of rain that would probably have carried 

me through this long drought without problems

we have been on our own stage 3 maybe stage 4 water restrictions

what does that mean

if you come to visit bring your own water and go to the bathroom

before you come or you will have to do what we do 

we recycle as much of our shower and kitchen water as possible

we use an outdoor facility as much as possible to relieve ourself

(just like the old days but i refuse to use the old slop jar we 

bought at an antique store) i do have limits 

if its yellow let it mellow if its......

we have have low flow shower heads that use minimal flow

just ask anyone who comes to visit us about the flow

whine whine whine

we use the shower water to flush sometimes that saves 2.5 to 5 gallons

we dont run the water while we are brushing our teeth

i dont run the water when i shave-luckily i have a beard

we do a navy shower

any water or liquid that can be recycled in the kitchen is placed in 

a 5 gallon bucket to be used on plants outside or for flushing inside

we hand wash our dishes and rinse them but all of that water is 

used again inside or outside

our washing machine has low water use 

its a side open model

outside i drip irrigate everything that i will water 

most of my plantings are native and have been on their one for the

drought 

many of the non native plants havent survived

survival of the fittest is what thats called

my garden has only a few things and for that im drip irrigating also 

so this summer we had to order water delivered in bulk 

what that means is that a large truck like a gas tanker truck 

goes to a local source and brings you bulk potable water in 

large quantities of 3000 gallons or more (but is cheaper than 

gas)

only problem this time was that the fires in the austin area

caused a slow down in the availability of the water to these

bulk water trucks

also because of the drought and heat the water levels are

falling in all of the aquifers so many people in the hill country 

have wells that are dry now or are barely producing water

many of them are getting regular deliveries of water until

the water levels return or until they just give up and move

we watched as our water levels dropped to at one point to 

only 50 gallons of water that would easily be used up by 

a teenager taking a long shower

our stage 3/4 water restrictions managed to get us through

this crisis

we plan to continue those restrictions into the future

and realized that this is what may be a partial answer to the 

water problems we are in now and will be facing in this area and 

across the us

look at your water bill and look at how much water you are

paying for each month

we use 2500-3000 gallons a month

and dont feel like we are over restricting ourselves too much

just being reasonable

everyone needs to look at ways to save water

xericscape your yard

when this is over or this fall ill list those plants that look

good and have survived this drought without any watering

maybe those are the ones everyone should be using in their

landscaping

why do we need all of that yard full of green grass anyway

we have removed all of our yard grass and xericaped it with 

mulch, raised beds of xeric plants and crushed granite

walk ways

we have learned to appreciate the water we have

dont wait too long to get that appreciation where you live

if you live in the area where we live it will be happening to you

soon

BUTTERFLIES

the monarchs are coming

and they dont got no food to eat

please provide it

a local garden show recommended buying milkweed and lantana

and putting them in pots in your landscape so they would have 

blooms they could access

also provide dishes with sand in them that is kept moist

this provides minerals and water for the monarchs to access

BAD THING GOOD THING

the drought is a bad thing and has very few good things

associated with it 

but there are virtually no mosquitoes anywhere around our house 

and we have seen very few grasshoppers which have overran us 

the last few years

the chickens sure miss those grasshoppers though

now if they would just lay more eggs

the organicgreen doctor

 

9/11/11, football, acl fest, bastrop fire

POST 9/11/01

this is a photo of the stadium of war memorial stadium in little rock
arkansas as they played their game on saturday
even the hog was red white and blue
nice tribute





this is a photo of my nephew mac nash in his marine dress uniform
during a 9-11-11 weekend ceremony
mac is home on leave and is due to be deployed to afghanistan soon



the american flag he is carrying will be taken with him on his
deployment there soon

my wife she and i would like to thank mac and all those other
military men and women
who are serving our country over seas and at home
thanks mac
may you have a safe journey
our thoughts will always be with you

will always remember where i was at on 9-11-01
i was coming out of a patients room that day when
i heard the stunning news
everything seemed to stop that day
we were all glued to the tv for days seeing videos and listening
to the commentators discussing what was happening
that memory will always be there of that day

thinking of those lost that day
may we not have more of this to deal with

FOOTBALL
i oded on football this weekend
my two teams i follow the horns and the hogs both
won
horns tried to lose in the first half but things kicked in good
in the second half-they are using a lot of freshman so should
only get better as the season progresses
tough schedule though for this young team

hogs just flat out dominated the game-nuff said

then there is the other team i follow-the boys in the nfl
was a good game but the ending was a disappointment
this game will come back to haunt them
its a game they may wish they had won

maybe next week will be better for the boys

ACL FEST
the acl fest is this weekend
thats the austin city limits music festival featuring over 100 different
groups
dont plan on coming to austin for other things this weekend as you
wont be able to find a place to stay

one of the websites for information is http://lineup.aclfestival.com/

my wife she and son usually buy their tickets on craigs list

top groups are stevie wonder, kanye west, arcade, my morning
jacket, fleet foxes, allison kraus and others
it will be in the mid 90s
clear
no rain of course but if it does enjoy it
the grass at zilker park is is good shape so maybe it wont be a
dust bowl yet
good music
thousands will attend

BASTROP FIRE
the bastrop texas fire just south of austin is 50% contained
it has burned over 34000 acres and has burned over 1500 homes
talked to some one who saw the area and said it looked like
the moon or like a nuclear bomb had gone off there

there are 22 people unaccounted for but only 2 confirmed deaths
many of the unaccounted for people may be with friends and
relatives or out of town

that picture of the big old airplane picture that i posted in this blog
last week-well...
it never got used on the bastrop fire
it sat at the airport for several days then when it took off
it went to another fire near houston texas
the bastrop fire is the worst fire ever in texas
could have used those plane drops of water
to slow this down last week

maybe there will be explanations only good ones please not
excuses for some of the delays that occurred in fighting this
destructive fire

we need rain please
or the first wind that blows here will restart all of this
its drier here now than the dust bowl from the 30s

may your week be a better one

the organicgreen doctor

wtea t-35, alzheimers vaccine, speech, 9/11, fb

WTEA T-35
the walk to end alzheimers in austin is 35 days away

donate or join my team the organicgreendoctor.com  for the
october 15 2011 walk   click here
any size donations are needed
or
donate or join a team or walk at your local walk at www.alz.org

ALZHEIMERS VACCINE
there is a new alzheimers vaccine that is entering the phase 3 trials
this year
it may be 2-3 years away before its available to the general public
it will be given every few months for the life of the patient
it will cost several thousands of dollars a year to receive it
(of course insurance probably wont cover it)
the name is bapineuzumab jab
am sure they will put a more fancier name on it when its marketed

it works by using antibodies against beta amyloid in the brain
the beta amyloid is what is thought to be the end result of the
alzheimer process
the antibodies attach itself to the beta amyloid and can remove
as much as 25 % of it in some studies

will i take this vaccine when it becomes available
yes i will
even though its less effective in patients like me who have
the double hit apoe4 genotype for alzheimers disease

what have i got to lose
this disease is like a terminable cancer that has no definite
effective treatment
what harm will it do to me to take this vaccine
none in the long run
if it helps even a little its worth the cost and risk

ive decided to do anything that can slow this down as long as it
has been scientifically shown it may help

these may help
maintain normal weight-check
maintain a  normal blood pressure-check
exercise at least 30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week-check
eat a low fat mediteranean diet with fruits veggies nuts-check
maintain a normal ldl cholesterol-check
stay active mentally-check
stay active socially-check
get sleep-partially check as the aricept causes some sleep problems
take omega 3 fish oil-check also take this for high triglycerides
     this may help those more who are apoe4 negative
     screwed again as im apoe4 positive
take folic acid-check
take tumeric root (curcumin)-check
am considering taking vitamin d
need to listen to more music especially classical music

take medications such as aricept early on
it appears that taking aricept early on in the diagnosis can increase
the length of time the aricept is effective
its appears that if you have the apoe4 genotype like i have that
the effect of the aricept will last even longer if taken early on
not screwed on this one

remember dont use any of this stuff unless you clear it with
your doctor
for me there appears to not be long term health effects from
these treatments
even though they are not completely proven to help there is the
suggestions from some research that they may help

what do i have to lose

SPEECH
thought the presidents speech was presidential
at least someone has put forth a plan
it appears that both democrats and republicans agree on many
of the things proposed

it helps that even thought obamas approval ratings are low that
congresses is even worse (around 10%-thats bad)
as john mccann said when he went home last week to arizona
none of those 10% were at any of the meetings he was at

if congress and the president dont get this done over the next 16+
months then not many of them will be around to do something for
the next 4 years

can they just get er done

FIRES
the bastrop fire has burned over 34000 acres and burned over
1400 homes
its the largest fire ever in texas
its still not close to containment
still have not got those big planes flying yet here to dump water
on the fire
they better hurry up because the hotter weather is returning next
week
if the winds come back well be in trouble again

WEATHER
this summer has been the hottest and driest in texas  ever in the
history of the united states
it has been worse even than during the dust bowl of the 1930s
i believe that
rain please
storm nate is going away from us
la nina is returning
were screwed

9/11
stop on sunday and remember those who died on that day
remember the heroes from that day

FB
glad its back
saints packers game was a good one
look forward to the weekend
games on

the organicgreen doctor

fires update, fair weather, football

FIRES UPDATE
theyre getting there
except for the biggest bastrop fire containment is happening
(34000 acres 30 % containment)

the spicewood fire west of austin is 100 % contained
the steiner ranch fire in northern austin is almost contained
the other smaller fires are also mostly contained

close to 1000 homes have burned in these fires

it is very smoky in this area
if you have asthma emphysema or respiratory problems then this
makes it difficult to breathe outside

there is even more fire fighters and equipment arriving now for
use in fighting these fires
finally

hopefully all those hurricanes will do something to bring moisture
into here to slow these fires down some

FAIR WEATHER
thank goodness for this fair weather
it makes all this fire business a little more tolerable but
not acceptable

its so nice to be able to open the house to the cool night air
makes it easy to sleep at night
as the aricept im on interferes with my sleep the cool night air
sure helped me sleep last night

yesterday i took my cup of coffee out to my electric meter
and just watched it spin backwards all day
finally the solar panels are overcoming the electricity used by
our air conditioners which have been running non stop now for over
3 months
it sure was therapeutic to see my meter reading less at the end of
the day compared to the reading at the beginning of the day
hope we can have more days like this


now we just need rain

there are 3 hurricanes abrewing in the gulf and surrounding areas
katia, maria, nate with nate the only one that has the possibility of
helping bring in moisture into the state
just dont bring all that wind that lee brought on us which
led to this disaster

FOOTBALL
maybe obama was smart to give his address tonight just before
the first nfl game of the year between the saints and the packers

he has an audience that may normally not watch his address
hopefully he says something that we can all grab a hold of to
make us feel better about the economy

am just ready for the nfl games to start
there goes all my weekends for the next 16+ weekends
sure glad my wife she likes football too
my sons they and i trained her well over the years
she likes things we like
thanks my wife she
you are a good sport

baylor may be blocking the aggies from leaving the big 12
for the sec
baylor has the most to lose in this big 12 mess as they will
probably be left in the cold without a major conference to
be a part of
they and some of the others are filing a lawsuit to block the aggies
which will prevent them from going to the sec

dont mess with those baptists

the organicgreen doctor

texas katrina fire, she aint dead

TEXAS KATRINA FIRE
there are 3 major fires around the austin area
the spicewood fire is over 6000 acres and is starting to get contained
the steiner ranch fire is over 50 % contained and residents are
being allowed back in to view their homes

this is a photo of the bastrop fire
its the texas katrina fire



it has been burning out of control now for 5 days
it is 0 % containment
it has become a os fire
limited resources were applied to it and as the winds increased
the fire has grown out of control
many local fire departments were busy fighting local fires
in their areas and had few resource that could be used
for the bastrop fire

so many fires have happened at one time in texas that there are
limited resources available to fight these fires
so the fire had continued at its own pace without abatement



above is a weather radar image of the fire



finally crews are coming from experienced firefighting areas like
california
and these planes finally showed up to help
the state and federal government has started throwing more
resources on this fire

i rarely agree with rick perry but i do agree when he said
if there is equipment available some where i dont care who
it belongs too it needs to be used

maybe they could put some black duct tape over that red tape
to get er done

hopefully now that more equipment and firefighters and more
government resources are applied to these fires some control
can be made of the worsening bastrop fire

on a personal note we are totally safe here at the country n
the fires are 25 miles north and 20+ miles south of us
hopefully no winds will start back up again
which would only restart everything over again

there is a tropical storm developing in the southern gulf at
about the same place where td lee arose from

wouldnt that be something if a hurricane like hermaine from
last year would develop and dump lots of rain on the bastrop
fire
could we be so lucky
stay tuned

SHE AINT DEAD YET
this is from a local austin news website kxan.com
a lady near here tried to get credit to buy a travel trailer
she paid to get her credit report
she was denied the loan because she was dead
that is
according to the three major credit bureaus
she couldnt get the loan until she proved she wasnt dead

shes a big women and she appeared to be breathing and talking
that should mean something to someone somewhere in control that
she wasnt dead
nope wasnt enough

she finally got the chase bank people to admit that someone had
made a data entry error that she was dead

her hopes for a loan for the trailer died after all that

the organicgreen doctor

fires, fall, football, thoughts

FIRES



this is an image of the smoky fire over the skyline of austin
this smoke is from the largest of the fires that are burning around
the city of austin
this is the one that got rick perry to come back to texas
from the presidential race
guess he did not want to pull a george bush katrina snaffu

this fire is south of austin near the community of bastrop
this area is known for forests of old pine trees that nature
put in central texas and are not located anywhere else except
in eastern texas
the trees are igniting like they have gasoline poured on them
because of the high winds and low humidity it has been difficult
to fight this fire
it even jumped over the colorado river and continued on

most of the fires are in the hill country which is hilly and has a
lot of ravines
this is hard to get equipment and fire fighters in to fight these fires
most of the trees are cedar which like the pine trees near bastrop
ignite like they have gasoline on them

there is a large fire west of austin in the hill country and in the
northern part of the city
none of these fires are near containment
tonight the winds died down but today the winds will pick back up
some but not as bad
there also will be extremely low humidity in this area (<10 %) which
makes this all worse

a fire broke out again in the community where i was in practice
several homes were burned and people were evacuated to a local
high school for the night

just north of us is the largest military base in the world-ft hood texas
there is a large fire there also
the smoke from it was blowing over our house last night when the
wind shifted
the base is about 25 miles from our house
fire on a military base with all those munitions doesnt sound very good

hopefully some containment will happen today
we sure could use some rain

my rainwater tanks are real low so ive ordered water delivered
however

we missed two of the big rains in the last year because our tanks
were all disconnected when they happened and we are paying the
price for that today

the water company deliveries have been delayed by the fires and
the use of water in many of the water systems for the fires
hope we dont run out of water here
severe water restrictions are in order at the country n
rain please

FALL
the cool front has came through here and dropped the
temperatures from the 100s+ to the upper 80s
what a relief it is to have these cooler temps
its too bad it brought in the high winds and extremely dry air
which has made it worse for the wildfires

however my wife she and i are enjoying these temperatures
its so nice to open up the house to all of the fresh air and
breezes

will have to wear a light jacket this am when we go on our walk

just need rain

FOOTBALL
oded on football this weekend
but had no hangover

follow the horns and the hogs
sure wished they played each other every year
the horns are real young so will probably struggle some this year
but those young guys are talented

hogs will always have a rough season since they play in the sec
lsu, alabama, auburn, mississippi state, florida, georgia
thats a real rough schedule
so why would the aggies ask to be abused every year by joining
sec
thats aggies for you

was very impressed by baylor this weekend
as they beat tcu in an exciting game
the qb rg3 was pretty impressive-think vince young as a pocket passer

cant wait for week two of college football
and for the start of the nfl season

THOUGHTS
our thoughts are with all of the hundreds of families affected by
these fires
if you pray pray for them
if you meditate meditate for them

the organicgreen doctor