thinking of ben, happy new year

THINKING OF BEN

after i wrote my blog yesterday and after i watched
the video that ben breedlove did and after reading about
him and his family and his doctors who were visibly affected
by bens death
i sat in my dark living room looking out at this view
with my wood burning stove as the only source of light
in the room
i thought of other teenagers and friends ive known who died like he
did at such a young age
some from car wrecks, cancer, heart disease and from
other health conditions
i think i remember them all
i think about my life and how i guess im lucky in that i did get
to live past my teenage years and got to do what i always wanted to
do in life
yes i am lucky
when i die i wont get to have the experience ben had as i will
probably not be cognitively capable when my time comes
guess thats a trade off
he experienced it but i got to live my life longer

i have now sat here in the dark for awhile
now the sun is rising over the distant hills and the sky is bright
with it azure blueness and brightness
as the sun shines as it rises over the horizon
i realize that i can see this brightness every morning as i sit
here looking out at the horizon
i cant see bens brightness he saw but i can see the brightness
form a new day
and i get to see it every morning

we should all pause watch his video and think about our lives
and our futures
try to make a difference in someones life every day
you only get one chance
ben apparently took a lot from his short life
we have more time
can we do better

donate, give, help some one, smile, be nice, make a difference
think of ben today

i know i will

HAPPY NEW YEAR
wishing you all a happy new years
dont forget the blackeyed peas on new years day
for good luck

the organicgreen doctor

new gene, ben

NEW GENE
many of you who read this blog know that i carry the
double allele homozygous double hit sucky combo genotype
for alzheimers called the apoe 4
this was inherited from my parents
both parents and my younger brother had or have alzheimers disease
(although having this gene doesnt mean you will get alzheimers but
it increases the chances that youll get the disease)

well i have determined that i have another gene and it appears that
i may be the only one in the family that has the dominant form of
the gene

the gene is called the napgene
there has not been a lot of research done on this gene but i think
i may start a case study of one ie me

the napgene causes me to take naps twice a day
once right after lunch and
the other time is right after the evening meal when the good shows
or ball games come on
the dvr has made a huge difference in my life
i dvr the night time show i was going to watch and i instead watch it
at lunch time when the napgene shows its effect again

i even have to prep myself for big events like last nights holiday bowl
i take a long nap later than usual the afternoon of the event
then last night for example i was wide awake when the game started
now
who won that game
will find out later today at noon naptime

i know this napgene didnt just start because i retired or because my
hair has turned grey
it started turning grey in my late 20s

those of you who know me well know that ive had this napgene for years
have never been able to watch saturday night live
my medical school friend had a fantastic movie room that we would go to
see a movie there
never ever did i ever make it through a movie
ok i never made it through the introduction part of the movie
even slept through independence day at full volume that made the seats
vibrate
so they tell me

how i made it through medical school, residency, all night call nights, all
night er work i never know
something must have shut off the expression of the napgene during that
time

know my brothers have the napgene as we easily demonstrated it after the
thanksgiving and christmas meals
but i think i have the double gene and they have the milder single gene

napgene dont think i want treatment for this one

BEN
IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS VIDEO
STOP
GET A HAND FULL OF TISSUES
AND WATCH IT
click so it fits your full screen

ben an austin teen had hcm hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
he had several cardiac arrests and even had an implantable
defibrillator pacemaker

he talks about his experiences with note cards
this was his last video

ben breedlove got his wish one week later when he had a
cardiac arrest and died on christmas day
rip
:(

the organicgreen doctor

words,football

WORDS
from yahoo finance there are ten new words learned in
2011



tebow, tebowing, tebowed
ive been tebowed
i like to watch him play
hope he gets into the playoffs

supercommittee
well they didnt do much good did they
lets just strike that word out of our vocabulary
lets vote out any one who was on that committee

rapture
well it didnt happen did it

oops
if you live in texas you know who this came from
its what you say if you voted for him
what a crash he had-lesson one dont take drugs and
do a speech or answer questions
we already knew he wouldnt make it

ubeki-beki-beki-stan-stan
speaking of not making it
add him with perry to the dumb list
herman couldnt pronouce uzbekistan in central asia
its scary he wanted to be president

human microphone
was at the occupy austin with 2000 people one day and saw how
this worked
the speaker said something then it was repeated through the crowd
its used when microphones arent allowed
it worked
not even pepper spray could stop it

gunwalking
we walked those guns over the mexican border but forgot to change
the batteries so they all got lost
but they all got used
hope this doesnt happen and get used again

bunga bunga
thats what that italina prime minister did with all those young girls
sick guy

pedexting
i added this one
walking while texting
i did it again last week and ran into a tree limb
glad i wasnt down town somewhere

skexting
my younger son did this the other day
he texted us while skiing
probably not a good thing to be doing

words endgame and cone of uncertainty
endgame relates to how europe will finally fix their debt crisis
maybe we need an endgame here in the usa
would recommend the dave ramsey method to congress

cone of uncertainty
this was used in regards to the uncertain path that irene was
going to take
would use it for what is going to happen to us and the economy
in the future
it may be the most important word

what words will 2012 bring us
should be interesting

FOOTBALL
longhorns play california in the whatever bowl
i dont even try to figure how what bowl game is being played
some of those names just dont sound right

its important to the horns so they can see what they may have
for next year especially the quarterback position
just pick one and sink or swim with that one
talk about confidence killer

lets go horns

organicgreen doctor

hope for the future, be there

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

got a comment from a reader of this blog on a recent blog

think its worth repeating

mentioning habitat for humanity triggered memory of an old boss
who does habitat for humanity projects

(ok my doing the habitat for humanity house is partially selfish
ive never built a house before and want to watch and participate
so i can learn some skills that i can use here on the country n
especially as i redo my old barn but
i also what to give back as mentioned in yesterdays blog)

he is an amazing man and has a heart of gold
he is tireless in helping mankind
we often see people that make us wonder what this world is
coming to as they seem so self centered and rude
he is like many that you dont think twice about
the good guys
the ones that open the door
the ones that bend down and pick up something for someone
he is amazing yet there are hundreds of him
we just seem to not tell ourselves enough
what a nice young man
she stated she would make that her new year resolution
to focus on the good not the one in a million bad ones
thank you

thank you mmmcarrots

BE THERE
some one emailed me and asked what they could do for alzheimers
i was doing the alzheimers research study, blogging about it and giving
talks on alzheimers

what could they do

i  told them just be there
be there for friends family neighbors who are caretakers
they need you to be there physically and emotionally
its a long journey for many of them

just
be there for them

the organicgreen doctor

christmas, giving or gifting

CHRISTMAS
nice christmas
spent it with my two brothers and their wifes
my historian brother he and my rainwater brother he

we potlucked it
actually had a nice vegetarian christmas meal
ok i did sneak in some christmas ham
made me a large pot of greens from the garden-turnip greens, kale,
asian cabbage, cabbage, spinach, swiss chard, onions, garlic
all organic
my wife she added her corn bread
all went well with the other food

my wife she and i had a private christmas earlier in the morining
where we opened our gifts together in front of our fire in our
wood burning stove
very picturesque

my proudest gift was a rogue hoe
now i have two hoes
this rougue hoe will last forever
sort of like your wife
it will easily be used in this rocky hard soil around here
cant wait to dig things up with it

overall a great christmas
hope to repeat it next year

GIVING OR GIFTING
have thought a lot about christmas this year
we do approach it all wrong
just watch tv at all the ads for stuff we dont really need
it should be about giving not gifting

my relative gave me a gift card this year
it was to www.kiva.org
the gift was for $25 and i went online and registered to kiva

kiva is a organization that gives microloans to people all over the
world usually to start or improve their businesses
they then pay the money back
there are very few defaults

the last one i did was to a guy in florida who needed $5000
to start his own lawnmower business
so donors of all over the world donate $25 a piece and kiva
loaned him the money
he has already paid 10% of it back in a few weeks

when these loans are paid back i will then re loan the money back
to some one else
my relative has tripled the amount of money he has loaned over the years
as he just continues to roll the money over into new loans

those dam banks would never ever loan these people this money
like the guy in florida
can just see shank of america loaning a new immigrant $5000 to
start a new business

give next christmas instead of gifting
so many of us and our kids already have too much as it is
give to someone who needs it more
or like with kiva give to those who are trying to improve themselves

give

the organicgreen doctor

merry christmas happy holiday, marines christmas song

MERRY CHRISTMAS HAPPY HOLIDAY

this is the heritage oak tree from cedar park texas
thanks to dg for this picture

have a merry christmas or happy holiday to those who read this blog


MARINES CHRISTMAS SONG
here is a christmas song written by a marine stationed overseas
makes me think of my nephew mac who is serving in the marines
in afghanistan and will be there for christmas
thanks for serving and we wish you a merry one

the organicgreen doctor

first anniversary

FIRST ANNIVERSARY

here is the posting from one year ago titled 

last day thanks

it has been my most read blog-it was posted the same 

week with 

neurology visit

one year ago was my last day to practice medicine

i had tried to get everything in order that day because

i knew i wouldnt be back but no one else knew

although one person did come up to me that day and

said 

youre not coming back are you

i had slowed my practice down some by trying not to see

new patients and by not seeing as many every day

i also had been trying to catch everyone i could up on 

their medicines for refills until they could get in to see

some one else

i even did a well child check after hours my last day so that

i could get the check up done for one of the employees

am sure she suspected something was up

i didnt want to stop practicing until i had a definitive answer

even though i knew what was going to happen

i left abruptly 

i was there one day and the next i was gone

once i got the official diagnosis and recommendation for

treatment the decision was easy for me

i had already decided years before that if i were to develop 

early problems that i would stop practicing medicine

so thats what i did and i havent looked back at all

in medicine there is a motto do no harm 

so thats what i wanted to follow

would never forgive myself if i had continued to practice and 

had made a mistake that harmed someone

i have had a busy year

my son was married so that kept us busy with all the events 

associated with that wedding

(told my younger son he that he would have to go to las vegas

to get married when his time came)

i had planned on retiring in 3 years and had programmed things to 

do when i retired

i just started doing them 3 years before i had planned on doing them 

luckily i had a disability plan that covers me until i reach social 

security retirement age-66

it was a battle to get them to pay off but after 6 months they

approved the claim but not untilafter a grueling 8 hour neuropsychological

exam ordered by the insurance company 

slept good that night felt like i had ran a marathon

i stay busy with this blog as it takes 3-4 hours of my time each day 

to research write respond to comments, emails, face book messages etc

this blog has grown over 5 times its volume in the last year

i am in the adni-2 study at ut southwestern alzheimers research center 

and have had to go up there for the study and my neurology visits

frequently this year-logged over 4000 miles traveling

at $0.23 per miles thats $920 i was able to send in to my flex 

account for reimbursement this year for medical travel

i was in 2 short studies there also-one a videoconference for

doing remote neuropsychological exams and the other a video 

that shows medical students and residents how to do a neurological

evaluation and how to do the mental evaluation test called the moca

two article were written about my story and what happened to me

those are easily access on the upper right side of this blog

one article written by mary roser from the austin american statesman

was picked up by the ap news and by mulitple newspapers and

online news services across the us and canada and europe and india

our team the organicgreendoctor.com for the walk to end alzheimers

was one of the most successful teams in the walk this year

we raised the most money and had the most members of an 

individual group

got the plaque for that in the mail yesterday

i gave a talk to a group in lousianna on my story, alzheimers, and on 

organic gardening

i also gave a talk on this-alzheimers not organic gardening- to a large 

group of family doctors recently 

they asked lots of questions

hopefully they will use what we talked about in their own practices and 

will do more evaluations hopefully earlier on their patients instead of 

referring them all 

so ive been busy this last year

and occasionally reflect back over the year and 

realize that it has been a productive one 

maybe i reached more people with this blog and the talks and the

news stories than when i was practicing 

do i miss it 

yes

i miss the interactions with my patients

felt like i did a good job

luckily with face book and twitter and with this blog i have 

kept in contact with a large number of them 

what do i have planned next year

i plan to do more talks on alzheimers

(in fact contact me if you would like a 30-45 minute talk on alzheimers

to your group)

i will continue to do this blog

i will be starting doing habitat for humanity building projects in january 

have always wanted to do that

we have several trips scheduled this year to places we havent been

and frequent trips to see our two sons in san francisco

i will continue to exercise daily-have starting seeking out local hiking

trails to walk regularly 

i will continue to be involved in the adni study this year

no spinal tap this year thank goodness but still have to do those dang

neuropsych exams but only once this year

i will continue to do my organic gardening all year long

part of our christmas dinner will be out of our garden

i will continue to blog on organic green stuff 

and to make my wife she happy i will

continue to be a good house keeper

a good cook

a good shopper

a good travel agent

a good lover

a good husband

so overall not a bad year considering that i didnt plan all this

to happen this way 

just hope this year will go as well

and things will not progress this year

(there appears to not have been progression on neuropsych exams

this year)

keep in touch for year two

the organicgreen doctor

which would i druther

WHICH WOULD I DRUTHER
thought this weekend about which i would druther have
huntingtons disease or alzheimers disease
that one to me is easy

this weekend i was able to witness first hand what its like in the
last stages of both diseases
both of these are diseases that are bad
they are similar
in that they are progressive fatal neurological diseases for which
there is no cure
the disease just keeps marching on no matter what is done
the patient suffers and the family and friends suffer with both
the caretaker gets stuck finally with all the decisions that need to
be made
some of those can be overwhelming
hopefully they are made a long time before the final stages are here
the caretaker ends up providing most of the the care and experiences
the suffering that occurs

one the body goes but the brain is left in tact
the other the brain goes but the body is left in tact

both diseases are sad ones
i know which i would not want to have and its not the one that
i may have now

and you

the organicgreen doctor

my younger brother he, tebow, shutdown

my younger brother he
my wife she and my historian brother he and i are going to visit
my younger brother he today
he is the one that is the late mid stages of alzheimers
he had changed a lot between the visit before last and the
last visit
a time span of just a few months
it was scary that this disease could travel that fast in a few months
made me think more about my situation and the
completion of all my ducks in a row

this visit will come just one day after i vist my friend gf who
has huntingtons disease
know it will be a depressing ride home for us when we
drive back to texas tomorrow

what is disturbing is that i know that in ten years that there will be
medicine that can be used to stop or slow down this disease so that
he and maybe i wouldnt progress to point that he is now and
i might be in the future
just born ten years too early
know that our kids and nephews and nieces will have something
available to help them

my historian brother will be disturbed by what he sees today as
he as not seen my younger brother he in several months
know i was disturbed as well as my rain water brother he
when we visited last month
but this visit needs to be done
know he will know who we are and will enjoy the visit with us

my brother he
sorry youve got this sucky disease
lets enjoy our visit today

TEBOW
tebow didnt tebow this weekend but brady tebowed tebow
didnt know he could spike the ball in the end zone like that
guess hes tired of tebow getting all the attention

ok cowboys dont let us down this weekend
if you dont watch out well change over to the texans

SHUTDOWN
we are driving back today from our sibling pre christmas road trip
we have to leave early because they who ever they are
will be closing the interstate south of dallas texas completely for
construction
at least they posted what time they will be doing this

why would they close down the interstate during the christmas
holidays as people are driving during one of the busiest time of
the year

am sure the decision maker was an elected official as this is the
type of decisions they make

hope we get there in time before the shutdown starts

the organicgreen doctor



the organicgreen doctor

my friend gf

MY FRIEND GF
my wife she and i are going to visit my friend gf today
he has huntingtons disease
if you dont know about this terrible genetic disease then click
www.hdsa.org
for more information

if you were one of my patients and you like my personality and
laid back approach then you would like my friend gf

we met him and his wife at a party when we were in medical school
we had a mutual friend who was in my class who introduced us
my friend gf was in a class behind us
during the party we met them and spent a long time with them
we found a couple who felt the same about race, religion, and
politics
weve had other couple friends but none where those three things
were the same
weve stayed in contact over the years although separated by
hundreds of miles
weve visited each other multiple times over the years
they are one of those friends forever friends

my friend gf has a family history of huntingtons disease
he knew that there was this possibility of getting this disease
as he got older
he and his wife were able to plan their lives once they knew he
had the gene for hungtingtons disease
my wife she and i have used their situation although its not quite the same
as a model for what we need to do to prepare for the future

they were able to get their financial house in order as they had
several years before he would get to the point where he could
not practice medicine anymore
life insurance, disability insurance, health insurance, wills, living wills,
health care directive, power of attorney for health care and power
of attorney for finances
those are what is needed to be ready
they were ready when the time came for those final stages
of this disease
those difficult decisions that have to be made have already
be made so some of the stress and pressure is relieved from
the spouse
you cant ever be ready but you can be close
we hope to get our preparation to this point this year
most we have already done

they worked and enjoyed their lives
they did a lot of travel to places we wish we had gone
his wife is such a good trip planner
they have such good memories of all those trips
some included trips to visit us and they would explore the
central texas area

my friend gf is a large guy, very intelligent, very likeable
he loved unusual ties
real unusual ties
i got only one and he must have had a closet full
he loved scieince fiction like books
he sometimes would give me one to read and i would read it
because he gave it to me
then picture this a large guy in an hawaiian shirt with shorts and socks
and tennis shoes at the airport
looks like a terrorist dosesnt he
he was always the one that got pulled out of line and was searched
and had to take off his shoes
talk about profiling
as usual he always took it in stride

his wife is now the caretaker
although you cant prepare yourself for this role she has done and is
doing a good job

my friend gf
look forward to seeing you today
although im dreading seeing you lying in that bed
debilitated
will i be there soon or will it be awhile before i get there
i remember what you were like and thats the way ill always
remember you

my friend gf
we love you

the organicgreen doctor

most popular are, concussion, visit

MOST POPULAR ARE
google zeitgeist 2011 lists the 10 top fastist rising global queries in 2011
i only guessed one of the top 10
that was number 9 steve jobs

at number 5 was the iphone 5
not not the iphone 4s
wait
iphone 5 doesnt exist yet

at number 8 was a bunch of japanese i couldnt read
but guessed it from the pictures

then number one
youll never guess it
i didnt recognize the picture
or when i read the details still didnt recognize that person

guess first then check it at the link above

also apparently banks in the future will be using your facebook twitter
etc information on you and your friends to determine your
credit score
that sucks doensnt it
sorry will have to delete some of my friends
maybe we will all need to reread orvilles 1984

(from www.komando.com)

CONCUSSION
this is a photo of cleveland browns colt mccoy after he was
hit by a helmet to helmet hit from steelers james harrison



all of us watching on tv and the fans in the stadium saw what
happened and knew that colt had had his bell rang real good
those in medicine recognize those hand movements of head
trauma
but
no one on the side lines noticed and sent him back to play
he is now out at least this weekend for concussion symptoms

how many of these does it take to start causing permanent damage

in the evaluation of dementia there is a lot of questioning of whether
or not the patient has had repeated head trauma or concussions
and an mri or ct scan is done which sometimes can show changes
later on in life of old head traumas

what if he had got another concussion that game
the additive effects of two close together could have been
significant

there is a strong link between repeated head trauma or loss of
consciousness and the development of alzheimers disease
protect your  head and your football playing kids heads

concussions and repeated head trauma in patients with the apoe 4
genotype make them at higher risk for alzheimers disease
lets see
remember 3 concussions in my life
well dont remember them but am told about 2 of them
i have the apoe4/apoe4 genotype
wonder if that head trauma affects me in any way
did play quarterback and ended up in the visiting  teams
locker room once
had to be led back to my team
finished the game though
so im told
wonder if i could have played for the browns

VISIT
road trip planned during the holidays
will be visiting relatives and a friend with my wife she and
my historian brother he
will be visiting my friend gf who has huntingtons disease and
my younger brother who has alzheimers disease
both are advancing in their disease process
not sure which is the worse to have
i know
will let you know after my trip

the organicgreen doctor

i wish that i had...

I WISH THAT I HAD

when your time comes dont be where you have to say this

read the full article at addicted2success.com

these are from bonnie ware a palliative care worker

five top regrets in life when you are dying

i wished that id had the courage to live a life true to myself
not the life others expected of me

i wished i hadnt worked so hard-every male patient said this

i wish that i had the courage to express my feelings

i wish that i had stayed in touch with my friends

i wish that i had let myself be happier

take a minute
take a deep breath
close your eyes
think about these five things
see if you can change your life now
so
you wont have to say
i wish that i had....
thats my goal

the organicgreen doctor

pedexting, tuition, grads jobless

PEDEXTING
reagan hackleman coined this word in an article from the kxan website
its texting while walking
apparently some lady even fell into a fountain while pedexting once

a ut student got a ticket for pedexting-texting while walking-as
she walked across the street from campus with a group at the
crosswalk
she says she does it all the time
apparently its not illegal to pedext-yet

heck i pedext when i do my 3 mile walk i do every day
try to do it only when i have a wide open pasture or have a
wide open country road to pedext on
will admit i pedexted into a tree once and a fence another time
but never do i pedext on the river bank or on the main highway

the ut student says she has quit pedexting since she got her ticket
wonder if she will try to defend herself in court
hope she wins

sometimes dont the police have better things to do
is it a ticketable offence to walk and read a book
just sayin

TUITION
the tuition at ut just got raised 2.5% this year
wonder who controls those raises
cant they make cuts like we all have done in our own budgets
to keep the tuition rates down
an education already costs way to much as it is for the amount
of money that we all pour into it with our taxes

can remember when i started medical school the tuition was low
and by the time we graduated 4 years later the tuition had increased
almost 4 times
lucky for me i was on a federal program that paid for my tuition
i just paid for it later with a year for a year obligation
many of my class mates were not as lucky
am sure they were paying for theirs way into their careers

as the cost of education rises more students are getting
priced out of an education
we need to do something about controlling the cost of college and
the financial servitude those who graduate are stuck with for years
to come

GRADS JOBLESS
not only are they paying more for college but recent graduates even from
well known schools cant get jobs
they are thrust into the throngs of the unemployed
many have huge amounts of student debt that they will have difficulty
paying
many end up with jobs that dont require a college degree as they cant
find employment in their majors

wonder why so many students are involved with the occupy movements
many have extra time on their hands as they cant get jobs
and when they do they are so strapped for debt

where did all of this go wrong
my wife she and i managed to graduate with some debt but nothing like
what these student have
it took us about 10 years to pay it off
now these students pay over 30 years or a life time

add this to our other economical problems we have
its a big one that we will have to deal with for years to come

the organicgreen doctor

simple quote, vetch, bluebonnets

QUOTE
life is really simple
but we insist on making it complicated
by confucius

so this is what our problem is
when you think it about it

as i sit here on my dell computer hooked up to a verizon card
writing this blog with my smart phone adroid attached to the
computer getting charged to be ready for the days activity
and im drinking my organically grown coffee that i ground and
made fresh today

ive also just reviewed my messages and facebook and responded to
people from across the us

lets not complicate our lives
lets keep them simply simple
its is hard to do

VETCH
although im a little late i will be planting some vetch
today in my dormant areas of my garden since we
will be having a week or more of warmer weather



vetch is an annual legume that fixes nitrogen in the soil
its called a green manure crop
it will grow until i get ready to plant my crops this spring
my beds are 4x12 ft raised beds
ill sow the seeds across the beds and let them grow
if they get too high ill mow them down to about 4-6 inches

when i get ready to plant for example my tomatoes i will
simply plant them in the middle of the vetch
as the vetch dies it leaves its nitrogen and nutrition in the soil
for the tomatoes to utilize
the vetch will also act as a mulch for the tomatoes

after the tomatoes are through producing this summer i will
plant a cover crop of black eyed peas which will do the same
as the vetch does in the fall and the winter
the black eyed peas will also be picked and eaten this summer
to go along with my other summer crops

then next fall ill replant the vetch again as i leave the area dormant
the cycle continues

this method of using cover crops provides a natural source of nutrition
and nitrogen to the soil

BLUEBONNETS
here is a picture of some baby bluebonnets

this is in an area of bare ground where the grass died from
the drought this year
the bare areas are covered with these baby bluebonnets
these bluebonnets are already running their roots into the soil
to help stabilize it and keep the top soil from eroding away
this is one of their purposes in nature

you cant see them but there are native grass seeds in the soil there
and other wild flowers that will sprout this spring and take the
place of the bluebonnets

if we continue to get rain throughout the winter to keep moisture
to these little guys
we should have one of the best bluebonnet showings we had
in awhile

some of these are seeds i scattered in the bare ground and most
have just been sitting there waiting for nature to do the right thing
to encourage their sprouting and growth
they all set out last year since it was so dry

there should be some great bluebonnet pictures next spring
be ready with your cameras

the organicgreen doctor

ian christmas bells, rg3, playoff, post sunday

IAN CHRISTMAS BELLS
computer guru kim komandos son ian recites the christmas bells on this video called
ian reciting christmas bells
it just makes you feel good to hear his voice recite this poem

RG3

rg3 stands for robert griffin iii
the quarterback from baylor
that just won the heisman trophy
why is he so special

his high school senior class had about 450 students
his class rank was number 7
he finished early and enrolled at baylor
he graduated in less than three years at baylor and is working on
his masters degree
if he doesnt go pro next year (which he is stupid if he doesnt)
he plans on going to law school

texas and other schools wanted him to play defensive back
and didnt think he had what it took to play quarterback
his now coach believed in him
and helped develop him to the quarterback he is now

he should be one of the top quarterbacks drafted next year
think michael vick without the attitude, without the baggage, but
with more intelligence
he appears to be the real deal
cant wait to see him play at the nfl level

rg3
congratulations

PLAYOFF
where were the games this weekend
they just stopped and there are none now for awhile
what if
there was a play off over the next 6 weeks
what great weekend games that would be
just imagine if

bracket one
week one-lsu got a bye, then michigan state played baylor
had to include the rg3 team
then wisconsin played boise
stanford gets a bye

bracket two
okla state gets a bye
ark plays oregon
kansas state plays south carolina
alabama gets a bye

week two-i went ahead and predicted winners
lsu played baylor and lsu wins
stanford plays boise and wins
okla state plays ark and sorry hog fans okla state wins
alabama plays kansas state and alabama wins

week 3
lsu plays stanford and lsu wins
alabama plays okla state and okla state wins

week 4
the national championship game
lsu plays okla state
okla state wins the national championship

what if this really could happen
what a great football month december would be with all
those good weekend games

it always helps to dream

POST SUNDAY
tebow and the broncos tebowed the bears
why dont they show his game as the national game of the week
so we can all enjoy it

then the cowboys iced their kicker again
well they would have but they didnt have a time out left
so
giants did it for them

the organicgreen doctor

prevent it?, pat summitt, eclipse

PREVENT IT?
people are always asking cant you prevent alzheimers
disease
before they were told no you cant
youre just screwed if you are going to get it

now it appears there are those things you can do to prevent
alzheimers disease or to slow the progress down or to delay
the onset
sometimes you are genetically programmed to just get it
like i may be with my positive apoe 4 genotype
but maybe it can be slowed down

how do you do it
its what youre doctors have been telling you for years
start now
start early
start young
for these to work well
even if you have alzheimers or mild cognitive impairment these things
can slow it down

exercise regularly
control your blood pressure over your lifetime
control your lipids-triglycerides, good hdl cholesterol, bad ldl cholesterol
maintain a normal weight
control your diabetes throughout your lifetime
eat a normal diet especially a mediterranean diet
get normal restful sleep
avoid excessive alcohol
dont smoke
stay active mentally throughout your life
listen to music or play a musical instrument
stay socialized with friends, churches, groups, family

these also will make you live longer and healthier

PAT SUMMITT




pat summitt my buddy was named sportswomen of the year
you can read some of the article from sports illustrated here

how frustrating this disease must be for her as she continues to work
while taking her meds and doing all of the above things to try to
slow this down

sometimes when i take my aricept in the am i get extreme nausea and
get blurry vision that resolves after awhile
she takes this and also takes namenda so am sure she has some of the
same side effects

ECLIPSE




tomorrow there will be a lunar eclipse visible at about 45% in
the dallas area at 717 am
read here to get more information on it for your area

this is one of those seize the moments that seem to be more important
every day
stop and take a few minutes to enjoy this tomorrow

the organicgreen doctor

germs/iphone4, rain water, banks

GERMS/IPHONE4
there is a blog i follow called lks grab bag
this weeks posting is interesting and funny

did you know that there may be more germs on an atm
machine than on a toilet seat
read more below on her blog unless you are a germophob
then dont read any more

if you are an iphone4 owner or if you want to know more about
the iphone4 then view her video on the iphone4

WARNING!!!!!! if you dont like to hear 4 letter words than
dont watch the video

i laughed so hard

go to lksgrabbag.com to enjoy this posting

RAIN WATER
this is a rain water update from our last rain
we got 2.5 inches of a nice slow rain over several days
we dont get many like this here in cental texas
usually our rain comes down in buckets so fast that sometimes
it overflows the gutters and drainage system
not this time slow and easy
think we got every drop of rain

we now have over 10000 gallons of rain water collected for
our system for our house
thats half way of our total capacity
thats better than the 50 gallons we had left one day this summer
in the drought
this water would cost us $1000 if we had to have it delivered to
our tanks

it looks like the update on my guttering and drains are working well
and no apparent leaks are noted
now we just need more rain

this capacity will last my wife she and i about 6 months
hopefully well have more rain before then

we also have about 2000 gallons of rain water for our irrigation system
with over twice that capacity available
the garden watering uses that up fast when it s dry
almost all of the plants that we have left on our landscape gets no
supplemental watering
decided to let nature take its course and it did
now we have only the survivors left

BANKS
some of the megabanks got their credit ratings downgraded
well many of us had already downgraded them anyway
sure am enjoying my credit union

the organicgreen doctor

latte factor, beat the flex, infamy day

LATTE FACTOR


there is a thing called the latte factor
if you dont know what it is then you may be
losing thousands of dollars

if you buy this latte for $3.50 every day for 1 year
you will have spent $1277.50 a year plus tax
in 10 years you will have spent $12,775.00 plus tax

how many other latte factors do you have also

take that money and invest it and you will have several
thousands of dollars at retirement

look for your latte factors

BEAT THE FLEX
as mentioned in a previous blog one of my new goals besides
teaching people about organic gardening, rainwater collection,
green living, and alzheimers i have added beating your flex
to my repertoire

last year after a several months battle with our flex account
company....
what morons you have to talk to
and they are not even overseas
at least those people overseas dont speak the language well
and dont understand americans
but the flex people are one of us

i eventually won by finding other expenses to cover the
lab expense they should have reimbursed for but refused

so ive won against them three times this year

if you are leaving your job you can use up all your flex money
before you leave even though you have not paid in all the years
dedicated amount
they lose you win
they really win because they keep thousands of dollars from people
every year

this year i used up all my flex money the first month of the year
ours starts in october
and got it reimbursed already
$1800 even though have paid $150 so far

then in september i got expenses i discovered were covered as they
denied my other claims right before the dead line
the lady who spoke good english at the flex company told me
i guess you know what you are doing then
as i got all my money back from them

dont let the flex people keep your money
its your money not theirs
its theirs if you let them win
dont let them win

why use flex cards
when i was working i was in the 30% tax bracket
we put back $6000 last year between my wife she and i
as we were having dental and eye care and labs not covered
by insurance
we saved $1800 in taxes by using our flex accounts
thats why you use it

beat the flex

INFAMY DAY
today is pearl harbor day
the day that will live in infamy
its what pushed the us into ww2
the numbers who were there are dwindling every year

watch this video of someone who was there
this is from www.komando.com

memories of pearl harbor

the organicgreen doctor

dreams, tomato, winterize garden, dental fu

DREAMS
one of the side effects of taking aricept (donepezil) is that you
have these fantastic dreams
the dreams are vivid hd dreams
they are never violent or disturbing

last night in my dream my wife she and my cowgirl sisterinlaw she
went horseback riding
my younger son he went to work out at the gym
my brothers and i and my parents were staying at a cabin in the
mountains somewhere am not sure where
it was a beautiful place

they were all late getting back from their rides and gym and our
meal got cold
it was raccoon cooked with an apple in its mouth
(i ran into a racoon early the morning before getting into
our cats food-teach him huh)
there was dressing and greens and veggies surrounding that
old raccoon
i got mad cause they were late but didnt yell or throw things
just gave them my stare that im told i have
no violence

later we all got together again at a mountain resort that had an
alzheimers center and we had a similar meal that was enjoyed
by all
although i dont remember eating any coon in my dream

woke up and felt like i was still in that resort
just hope my wife she didnt leave me there

TOMATO

this is the tomato called the taylor mater since it is from taylor
it was left in a house this summer when the air conditioner
went off
when the family returned when the ac was fixed the
tomato had begun to sprout things all around the tomato
that made it look like it came down from outer space

so my wife she was given it by her friend and i and others recommend
she plant it in a pot

so she did and put it in the garden (of course its organic) that she has
at school
he has grown it all fall in that pot
now that it is cold she moved it inside and put it in her window that
gets sun all day
its thriving
she had sent progressive pictures to me and to the central texas
gardening show on klru here in austin
they plan to show the pictures and talk about it on their jan 7th show

here is the link www.klru.org/ctg
check it out on saturday january 7, 2012

now wonder if it will produce some tomatoes
hope they arent all knarley and warty like

WINTERIZE GARDEN
if you live in this area or where its cold you need to winterize
your garden
ive covered all my veggie beds with row cover that will provide
several degrees of protection

ive add mulch to a lot of my plants in the landscape
those susceptible to freezing that are in pots have been
moved inside or into a small green house ive made in my
garage
have my lemons and oranges in there and they are producing ok

when the weather warms up some i will take the row cover off
then replace it when the cold weather returns

DENTAL FU
well that wasnt bad
in and out in 15 minutes like the burger place with that name
only slight pain with application of the new crown

maybe ill return again if its going to be that easy next time
maybe its like having a baby
where you forget what it was like so you have another one

supposedly theres a chemical that is produced in females that
causes them to forget what it was like

maybe that chemical could be used after you have a dental procedure
dont think i want to have a baby to find out

the organicgreen doctor

deportation, dental, football

DEPORTATION
well they have come with a way to cut the budget some more
its by deportation

they want to deport seniors instead of illegal aliens
so pack your bags if you have grey hair
the immigration department had decided to deport seniors
to lower the cost of social security and medicare

apparently older people are easier to catch and will not
remember how to get home

so i started to cry when i thought of many of you
getting deported and stuck on that bus
then omg
it dawned on me
ill see you on the bus

please save me a seat at the front of the bus as
i get bus sick real easy

thanks organic rainwater brother for this

DENTAL
have to go back today to see the dentist
dont look forward to it
felt like i was tortured last time
have just now recoverd
glad i had some vicodin to take along the way

sure hope he doesnt get up on that table and pull and twist
like he did last time
that was not fun at all

sure wished i had taken care of my teeth when i was younger
brush floss get regular cleaning
and regular dental checks
youll actually live longer
with less pain

FOOTBALL
tebow tebow tebow
he cant pass he cant pass      well he did          
he only runs he only runs        well he didnt
hes getting more believers now
those experts cant ignore results

the cowboy coach iced the kicker at the last minute
oops it was his
dang cowboys

green bay 16-0
take the pressure off and just lose a game then finish the season off
with wins

its lsu vs alababma
okla state just barely missed
they should have beat iowa state

how can ucla get a bowl game 6-7
thats just not right

ark plays kansas state in a bowl game
should be a good game

we just need a play off system like basketball that starts next week
to carry us through until the nfl playoffs
wouldnt that be a fun 4 weeks of good football

the organicgreen doctor

ad8 test, duct tape, football

AD8 TEST
the ad8 test is a screening test designed by washington state
it can screen for cognitive changes in dementia
the i cant remember **** stage

it can be taken by a patient or can be administered by a family
member or friend
eg
when i take this test i get a perfect score
and when i take the sage test i do ok also
however when more advanced test are given to me thats
when the slight cognitive problems i have show up

(report-one year follow up neuropsych tests from ut southwestern
show no change in cognition over the last year)

the ad8 test will pick up someone with problems more advance
than i am eg pat summitt would probably have problems with
this test and glenn campbell
my younger brother he would probably not get any of these
correct as he is in stage 5 of alzheimers disease

go to this link to read about the test and take the test online

it can also be obtained online at this link and printed off
to be done manually

if you or a family member score poorly on this test consider
seeing your primary care provider for evaluation

DUCT TAPE
my wife she read my blog yesterday on duct tape being used
as a fly trap
she said oh no
because she knew what was going to happen today at our house
your right and shes right
duct tape hanging from the windows and doors to see if it would
work to catch those pesky flies

at least i used the christmas red colored duct tape so it sort of
looks like christmas decorations

no flies caught yet but will monitor the situation closely and will
report here if successful

FOOTBALL
its going to be a great football weekend here
it starts tonight with two good high school teams meeting in the regional
finals of 4a playoffs
they played once this season and cedar park lost by just a few points
lake travis is a machine
where do they get all those good players
should be a good game

lsu vs georgia
what if georgia wins wont they make things interesting
then who gets to play in the bcs championship game
if osu beats okla could they be there if lsu loses

texas plays baylor
rg3 tore texas up last year
he is going to be fun to watch at the next level
bet this is his last year
if texas wins they could end up with a decent season to build
on for next year

we just need a play off system like d3 schools have
wouldnt that be fun to watch

cowboys need to keep winning
can tebow continue his magic
can the texans win without a quarterback

it will be cold here and wet
the firestove will be going and the tv games will all be watched

have a good weekend

gardeners get you row cover out to cover your plants this next
week as we may see some 20s here in the austin area

the organicgreen doctor

solar cooker, cheap gas, duct tape

SOLAR COOKER
here is a photo of a solar cooker



my rainwater brother-the one that i infected with the
rainwater virus-use a solar cooker similar to this to
cook food
he bought his made of cardboard for $25
its the ones that are sent to 3rd world countries so they
can be used to cook food there
many of those countries have plenty of sunshine
but have no electricity

he uses a dark broiler placed inside a plastic bag
like an oven bag and leaves it out in the sun
eg he cooks soups and beans
the pot gets up to 325 degrees
no electricity is used

the energy from the sun reflects on the food and energizes
the particles in the food which cook it
beans were good
soup was good
wonder if itll cook a good hamburger

i plan on purchasing the cheaper one then get a better one
if it works well for me
think maybe he just infected me

CHEAP GAS
when we visit california we are always amazed at how
expensive gas is there
makes you not want to drive much there

recently here there was a sighting of gas < $3.00
below is a photo of that sign

sure wanted to drive there just to get that cheap gas
but didnt since it was 50 miles away
would have made for a great picture though

 

its been a while since its been this cheap

DUCT TAPE
its been awhile since ive posted duct tape stuff

so to fight those pesky flies
you know the ones that are to fast for the folded up newspaper
or magazine or new fly swatter
the ones that land on you nose when you try to sleep
how many times has that nose been swatted while sleeping
the ones that wont just go away
dont they just die eventually anyway
think we have super flies at our house

you can hang a strip of duct tape and extend it from something
like a window frame or ceiling
the flies just have to land on that sticky side
then they are done for
try it

the organicgreen doctor