sequestration

SEQUESTRATION
i didnt like this word the first time i heard in on the news
i wasnt sure why
maybe it was the effect that sequestration would have on
our economy and on social programs that are important
for many to survive
its just is not a pretty sounding looking word

then
being a male i realized
it rhymes with that dreaded word that all male cats and dogs
dont like
and resonates with females sometimes
castration

maybe thats the word that the news media and congress should be
using instead
castration

congress and the government on march the first will instead of
going over the fiscal cliff will now under go castration
it will equally affect all the government
castration

that sounds good doesnt it
john boehner and president obama both accept castration
guess john boehner wont live up to his name after this happens

it does sound better
instead of our defense being sequestered its being castrated
those social programs are being castrated not sequestered

yes thats the proper word
castration

maybe less testosterone in government may be a good thing



here are the two solutions that are being proposed
just over the hill there in the middle is where we need to be
going
we can go left and just raise taxes and one day well get
to where the budget needs to be
or
we can go right and cut spending only
like whats about to
happen in the sequestration (or castration) tomorrow

but what needs to be done is a road needs to be built
down the middle that is as wide as the original road
so we can quickly and more efficiently get to our
destination
a balanced budget

both sides need to give
i listen to dave ramsey clark howard and have read a lot
of financial advice

to be a saver
you should be saving 15% of your income for future use
its recommended that this be done in increments of 1% until
over time you reach your goal of savings
thats what the government needs to do
gradually decrease the budget and gradually increase revenue
sources

yes both have to be done
but please quit shocking us with these sudden jolts of changes

we and they need to remember that we will have the chance to
sequester (castrate) the politicians in two years if they dont fix
all of this
well fix them

the organicgreen doctor

trying again, trying early

TRYING AGAIN

this thing in that white cup that ive written about before
is called a monkey pod vine

two years ago my medi school friends friend gave me
some of these pods
it was a bag full
i was worried since they looked so strange
they looked like something from those old science fiction movies
you know where those pods are sent from outer space and
they grow and take over the world
thats what these look like except on a smaller scale

they grow a long vine that is aggressive but apparently produces a
beautiful flower
ive never got to see them but have only heard the stories


two years ago after i planted them they got up on our arbor
which is eight feet tall
then the drought hit and i had to make decisions
on what got the water
monkey pod vines or tomatoes
i went with the tomatoes

our drought lasted 2 years then eased some but im afraid its
returned
we usually average 30+ inches of rain a year but since september
thats 5 months ago for those who cant figure it out
we have gotten only 3 inches of rain here at the country n
and that was in 2 days several weeks ago

despite that scarceness of water i plan to try again to grow these
monkey pod vines

when we were visiting our med school friend he said hey they
have some more monkey pod vines
you want them
yep
im determined to get them to grow

(i wonder if this is one of those tricks that he is known to
play on people you know like those pods dont really grow into
anything)

ive set up a special dripper to the area where ill plant them
to see if i can get them through the drought

ill post pictures if they grow

hopefully my med school friend isnt sitting on his back porch
rocking in a rocker in his overalls
having a good chuckle

TRYING EARLY
for the last several years when i plant my tomatoes some of them
freeze well all of them froze last year
ive usually had to replant them every year
sometimes twice
but i dont give up
since that nice fresh juicy tomato is hard to duplicate from
store bought ones

this year ive tired as i described in an earlier blog to plant a few
tomatoes deep in the ground in a big hole
and
so far they have survived a 29 degree freeze

the reason to plant early is to get good root growth and to get
an early start to the tomato season
since the hot summer can hit early and shut down tomato production

so i went to my favorite nursery
where lucky for me the vegetable garden guru was there working
in their garden
i had him all to myself
asked a hundred questions of him
so
i plan to go ahead and plant all of my spring tomato crop early
 (since these survived the freeze and those terrible 60-70 mph
winds we just had)
by planting in those deep holes hoping to survive the 1-3 freezes
i know are coming before april

heck that wind blew off my top layer of mulch and compost 

i had put on all my beds

always having to battle mother nature arent we

im glad im not doing this for a living

wish me luck

the organicgreen doctor

ranks with duct tape

RANKS WITH DUCT TAPE

this stuff ranks with duct tape in its uses
heck you can even use wd40 to remove duct tape
that makes it a winner

so if youre going to have two things around the house in
your toolbox
they should be duct tape and wd40

my sisterinlaw posted this on facebook recently
i dont know the original source but here it is in its
entirety as she posted it

DID YOU KNOW?
What IS The Main Ingredient of WD-40?
Before you read to the end, does anybody know what the main ingredient of WD-40?
No Cheating.....

WD-40 ~ Who knew!

I had a neighbor who bought a new pickup.
I got up very early one Sunday morning and saw that someone had spray painted red all around the sides of this beige truck (for some unknown reason).
I went over, woke him up, and told him the bad news.
He was very upset and was trying to figure out what to do....
probably nothing until Monday morning, since nothing was open.
Another neighbor came out and told him to get his WD-40 and clean it off.
It removed the unwanted paint beautifully and did not harm his paint job that was on the truck. I was impressed!

WD-40 who knew?
"Water Displacement #40".
The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and degreaser to protect missile parts.
WD-40 was created in 1953, by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company.
Its name comes from the project that was to find a 'Water Displacement' Compound.
They were finally successful for a formulation, with their fortieth attempt, thus WD-40.
The 'Convair Company' bought it in bulk to protect their atlas missile parts.
Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40 that would hurt you.
When you read the 'shower door' part, try it.
It's the first thing that has ever cleaned that spotty shower door.
If yours is plastic, it works just as well as on glass.
It's a miracle!
Then try it on your stovetop.
It's now shinier than it's ever been.
You'll be amazed.


WD-40 Uses:
1. Protects silver from tarnishing.
2. Removes road tar and grime from cars.
3. Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
4. Gives floor that 'just-waxed' sheen without making them slippery.
5. Keeps the flies off of Cows, Horses, and other Farm Critters, as well. (Ya gotta love this one!!!)
6. Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7. Removes lipstick stains.
8. Loosens stubborn zippers.
9. Untangles jewelry chains.
10. Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11. Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12. Keeps ceramic / terracotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13. Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14. Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15. Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16. Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17. Lubricates noisy door hinges on both home and vehicles doors.
18. It removes that nasty tar and scuff marks from the kitchen flooring.
It doesn't seem to harm the finish and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off.
Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.
19. Remove those nasty Bug guts that will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly!
20. Gives a children's playground gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
21. Lubricates gearshift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers...
22. Rids kids rocking chair and swings of squeaky noises.
23. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
24. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25. Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.
26. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28. Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling.
29. Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.
30. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31. Removes grease splatters from stovetops.
32. Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33. Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35. Removes all traces of duct tape.
36. Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.
37. Florida's favorite use is: 'cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers.'
38. The favorite use in the state of New York, it protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39. WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a little on live bait or lures and you will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose.
Keep in mind though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states.
40. Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.
41. It is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray it on the marks and wipe with a clean rag.
42. Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash. Presto! The lipstick is gone!
43. If you spray it inside a wet distributor cap, it will displace the moisture, allowing the engine to start.

P.S.
As for that Basic, Main Ingredient.......
Well.... it's FISH OIL....
Who would have guessed ? ? ?

it can also be used to make a thief crawl out of a duct system
make a python get out of a car
remove a stuck ring
spray directly on roaches to direct kill them
remove chewing gum from hair
remove doggie doo from shoes wonder if it works for chicken poo

but here my friends is the official wd40 website that lists the 
2000+ uses for wd40
of course they dont accept responsibility for these uses

dont inhale 

the organicgreen doctor

go where, oscars

GO WHERE

when i first heard of go daddy.com it was from all those
commercials at the super bowl a few years ago
i was afraid to go see what it was about because i was
afraid if i went there and it was one of those sights that my
computer would get overran with all of those sights searches

in fact when i called my garden produce garden p...
my blog website got overran with searches for p...

then when i went to get my domain for this blog
google which makes it so easy to set up a blog
even i could do it
gave me a choice of several places that sells domains
one was
go daddy.com

nope no racey pictures
well they might have nascar ad pictures
on there now but at the time
it was just for the domain

i never ever watch nascar racing
when things go around again and again like that
i pay the price by getting vertigo and have more than
once thrown up


however i like danica patricks fireyness and aggressiveness as
a women in a mostly all male field of drivers

i think though that those guys

who all have a mean streak
in them when they are driving
like some of you guys on the interstate and highways

arent going to mess with danica patrick much

i can see her getting out of that car and going after one of those
guys if they mess with  her car during a race
like
if youve ever seen a cat go after a dog and whip them up good with
their claws and the dog takes off running with his tail between his
legs
heck she might even fix that area too if they dont watch out


yes
its just possible that i might become somewhat of a nascar fan soon
like a lot of new fans did yesterday
smart move for nascar and for danica to switch to nascar

its a positive sign for nascar when i switched from a nba game back and
forth to the nascar yesterday

but like duck dynasty swamp people log wars ice truck wars ill have
to dvr them and watch them when my wife she is at work

OSCARS
that seth macfarlane is irreverent
everyone should have expected what you got
i personally liked most of it but like his shows not all of it


i guess ill lhave to watch argo
glad ben won some recognition for this movie


im also glad that daniel day lewis won for his lincoln character
its a movie that should be watched by everyone and by schools
so we dont forget what that era was like and for
and
to see how congress still really doesnt work 150 years later

wish that jessica chastain would have won for zero dark thirty but
i havent seen jennifer lawrence in the movie silver linings playbook
though so i cant judge this oscar


then i am glad anne hathaway won in les miserables
when you listen to her story of preparing for that part
and what she went through to make the movies
she deserved the oscar

good group of movies this year

the organicgreen doctor

remember them as they were

REMEMBER THEM AS THEY WERE

yesterday would have been my mothers 91st birthday
she died a few years ago from alzheimers disease
but i dont just remember her from those last days
instead i try to remember her whole life

this is a picture of her probably in her late 20s or early 30s

she grew up in a small rural area in southern arkansas

i suspect from being around her for years that she was a
quiet respectful excellent student that the teachers liked

she did have a stubborn streak though as we all learned
over the years
sometimes it was to do what was right for someone or
a situation
she usually won those chosen battles

she played basketball as it was the only sport they had
and was known as the lawson flash
because of her speed and aggressiveness

its those quiet ones that you have to watch out for sometimes

she was a student in elementary school
high school

she met the love of her life in high school and
at 17 they were married

she was a wife
then she was a mother
then she was a college student
then she was a elementary teacher
then she was a preachers wife and all that entails
including dealing with 8 pks
(no thats not prekindergardeners thats preacher kids)
then she was a mother again for a total of 8 times
then she was a nurse her true profession that she seemed
to be made for and gave her great fulfillment

then she became a caretaker as my dad began to fade some
into some dementia which i presume to also have been alzheimers

then she became a widow

then she became one that required caretaking
something she did so well for others

then she reached the point with her disease
alzheimers disease
that she required long term care in a facility
where the disease as it does marched on unabated

here is a picture of her in the facility in one of the fun moments
there where she was having a good time with us
wearing one of my donald duck hats

however i want to remember her as a child young adult mother
nurse wife preachers wife when she was at her best

i think thats why i like that first picture the best

so when you see an older person or someone like her or
my younger brother with alzheimers
why dont you ask and find out

what were they really like

the organicgreen doctor

runnin on empty

RUNNIN ON EMPTY

if youve ever ridden in a car with my wife she then you
will frequently see this on the dashboard of the car she is driving

the problem is that we live miles and miles from the nearest
gas station

there is nothing worse than being in a hurry and rushing to
an important appointment
starting the car driving out the long driveway
running late and look down at the gauge and it looks like
this

when my cars low fuel light comes on i have 40 miles of gas left

in my car that rarely happens unless my wife she says
honey in ill take your car i dont want to stop for gas
im late for school

(shes a school teacher and drives 40 miles one way to work
-she knows my car will get her there even if its on empty-
and the nearest gas station on her route is 13 miles away
13 thats an unlucky distance isnt it)

then later i get in her car it looks like that there are
3 choices

dont go

hunt for gas around the property like drain my riding lawnmowers
gas tank or siphon gas out of my old truck
if im lucky my 2 portable gas tanks have gas in them but usually
she has used them up and they are empty

(sometimes ive been known to hide one of those tanks
ive ran out of gas in that lawnmower more than once
usually in the middle of my pastures when im hauling limbs
and trash and it just has to sit there until i get gas
13 miles away)

or

drive my old beat up dirty black farm truck

i harass her all the time about being on empty
i know that if i ever run out of gas then she will never ever
ever let me live it down

ive only ran out of gas once
knock on wood
(except of course for my lawnmower)
that was 45 years ago
i was in our family car at 5am about to go on our senior trip
and drove the 6 miles from our house
to the school on empty
i ran out about a mile away from the school but lucky it was
on a gradual down hill slope and i coasted into a parking spot
bet my dad was pissed when he came to pick it up
however with 5 boys that probably wasnt the first time that
happened

near us halfway between two towns is a gas station that must
like its gas a lot as it always charges 20+ cents a gallon more
than everyone else or else the owner must be from california

im always telling my wife she
why would anyone stop there and pay those prices

(my old truck in its better days)

yesterday i hauled a load of rock dirt and tools to a habitat
job site to do some landscaping
i felt like i had plenty of gas but i guess the load sucked a lot
out of the tanks

as i was driving home on the highway i looked down
i was past empty ie not just empty
but where it looks like the gauge in there broke and fell down

i was a few miles from THAT expensive station
the other nearest stations were 8 miles each way
i started to cross my fingers and go for it but
then
i thought if i ever ran out of gas
i will never ever ever live it down

so i sucked it up and turned into that station and bought
that expensive gas
felt like i was in california when i bought it

now i know why people stop at that station
lesson learned
sometimes things are worth what you pay for them

the organicgreen doctor

delete

DELETE

what if you could push this button on your computer and
delete
yourself from the internet

sometimes when it gets creepy what they know about me
and you
i just want to hit that button and erase myself from the internet

every friday i write my blog on something to do with
alzheimers disease
either research theories personal experiences other
people experiences or news stories etc


well that day alzheimers follows me around on the internet
it gets creepy
my blog is done via google as is my email account tied to my
blog
when i write an email to someone there are alzheimers ads on
the borders of my email
when i go to facebook there are alzheimers ads on my facebook
pages
even if i do a google search for something else theres an
alzheimers ad on the side of the page
it follows me other places also

heck i bet right now when i post this ill get ads on how to delete
information and yourself from the internet
its just creepy

i ran across an article on how to delete yourself from the internet
so first you google yourself
ok i did
sure was a lot of stuff on alzheimers the video we did the articles
written about my story and further back i found all the cities and
towns ive ever lived in and the name and ages of my family
if i wanted to know more i could pay for it and get more info

to delete yourself you open a email address with fake information
email the websites that you want to removed from or one where
you said something you regret
you can email them and request your name and information be deleted
it will take a lot of work and tenacity but it may work

or you can just accept that this is the way things are and just continue
using the internet as before facebooking twitting and linkening in

i guess the only real way to be deleted is not to use the internet at all
since trying to delete yourself may be an almost impossible task
no blogging no email no facebooking no twitting no youtubing  no texting
no online ordering stuff no online bill paying no online video or movie watching

just go away from the internet
it appears thats the only real way to
delete yourself



its just creepy though
its like 1984 but instead of the government its google whos the big brother
creepy

the organicgreen doctor

home grown is best

HOME GROWN IS BEST

here at the country n we are total recyclers
when we first moved here we produced a bag or two of
those large dark trash bags a week
sometimes even more

the garbage folks came by once a week
and took it off somewhere

there was no recycling
the nearest place to do that was a 30 mile drive

then my wife she discovered in the small nearby town
an old grain silo was being used to recycle stuff

once we started using it we reduced our garbage to
maybe a dark trash bag a month

all our newspapers are used in the landscape to be used
under new beds to kill the grass and then later broken down
in the soil
they are also used to help start our wood burning stove
the rest are just chucked into our compost area in our
chicken coop area and the country n hens shred them up
for us and mix them up with the compost

we have a compost system so that 100% of our food waste
gets recycled
we walk to our chicken coop
dump the left over stuff or waste onto our compost area
the chickens attack it like sharks after blood bait
they stir whats not eaten into the mixture of leaves papers
then when they have to go they just dump on top of all this
stuff

(if any of you who live in this area ever have leaves to give away
let me know or if you see your neighbors with bags and bags
of leaves let me know and ill come steal them
i reuse close to 100 bags of leaves a year in my compost pile)

whats left is a rich compost that is the best that can be made
and is later used in our garden
the results are the pictures of produce i sometimes post here
in this blog
plus those country n hens lay us those organic free range eggs

so i know many of you cant set up a system like we have
but if you live in san francisco or austin you can recycle all
your compost materials or just start your own compost bin

in these two cities its taken from your door to a compost facility
which then makes compost
which is then reused by the city or is sold or given back
free to folks to use in their farms vineyards or homes

san francisco has been doing this for years and so far has recycled
100 million tons of garbage
all of their restaurants are involved
one chef started out with a small green compost recycle bin and
a large big garbage bin and now he uses a big green compost recycle bin
and barely uses a tiny black garbage bin

the fresh foods and wines he buys are grown using the compost made
from his and other restaurant owners garbage

that would be my system here at the country n but on a much bigger
scale

yep home grown compost is the best

the organicgreen doctor

thanks, habitat

THANKS
thanks to those who viewed and shared and voted for our video
former physician takes action in the face of alzheimers
during the recent neurofilm festival contest

HABITAT

yesterday my wife she and i went to the dedication of the new
habitat for humanity house for the new homeowner

a single mom with 2 kids who works hard every day to
support her kids and who was there every work day with the
rest of us working on the house from framing the house to
putting the final touches of paint on the walls
she was there working and putting in her sweat equity hours
so she could have this home for her family

as i watched her at the ceremony giving her acceptance speech
she became teary eyed as did many of us volunteers who were
there
when you work side by side with someone for several months
you do get attached to them
you see how much this means to them and their family

its nice to see someone work so hard for something thats not
just given to her but that she has earned-this new ownership

thanks to community donations to finance the house and thanks to
the volunteers who built the house
some quite skilled at what they do and others like me who are
just helpers
well ive started to apply some of my knowledge about gardening
and landscaping to the projects
thats something i know how to do right and to do organically

my wife she and i had two sons and never had a daughter
well we do have a new daughter in law and hopefully one day
will have another
she is a good substitute for a daughter however

so ive always had a soft spot for single moms as i always
think that could be my daughter or my niece
when i was in practice i always tried to be supportive for those
single moms
as they have a tough job working and raising their kids


i do like the habitats approach
to have the owners work for the house
and pay for the material part of the house
with a zero percent loan for 20 years
but they set them up for success with financial classes and
with mentoring for some time after they move in

some of our government programs probably should operate this way
they might be more successful and cheaper to run
and people feel better when they can make some contribution to
what they get

like this homeowner who probably never would be able to buy
a house
not one thats new and built this way
to raise her kids in

yes
this is a successful program
good luck to the new owner and her kids

the organicgreen doctor

video update

VIDEO UPDATE
heres the update on our video
former physician takes action in the face of alzheimers

it appears that we ended up in 4th or 5th place in the fan favorite
portion of the neurofilm festival

however
the video which you can watch by clicking the title above
has been watched by hundreds of people in the last week

compared to the other videos and the one that won first place
it was watched three times as much as the number one video

this video has been on youtube for several months
its link and the video itself has been featured in this blog and 
on several alzheimers association websites and the 
national institute of healths website and the huffington post

but since this contest its viewership seems to have taken off
in fact since the contest ended on thursday night the numbers 
who view it have continued to grow

for that reason i consider this entry into the neurofilm festival
successful
after all its getting the film out there with its story on early detection 
that is important

plus the grand prize selection is not related to the popular vote
but is based on 
the story 
the quality of the film 
the presentation of the story 

that will be decided in early march

whether we win that one or the runner up and get our video 
shown at the american academy of neurology or not
as long as more and more people view the video and 
listen to the story 
thats whats more important

the organicgreen doctor

the graph

THE GRAPH

this is the graph of alzheimers

this is the present theory of what happens in alzheimers
those who will get it will began to accumulate a substance
called beta amyloid in their early 40s

this beta amyloid is normally made in the body and is cleared out
from the brain without any problems
this theory will soon be tested this year and we will know if
it is accurate

in the 40s something happens and the drainage system doesnt
work right so the beta amyloid starts to accumulate years before
symptoms of alzheimers starts

as it accumulates brain cells start to get damaged

look at the graph between 40-65
go straight up to the amyloid line
the beta amyloid is starting to accumulate in larger and larger
numbers but
the person remains normal cognitively
no one the patient or family or friends or coworkers notice anything

its about this time that inflammation and cell damage occurs
tau protein becomes elevated as the nerve fibers get damaged

still no outward signs that anything is going on
its like cancer thats growing slowly without symptoms until
it reaches a point then symptoms start

then somewhere around 65 the beta amyloid has almost reached its
maximum accumulation
the destruction is accumulating
all of this is irreversible
then the early symptoms may start to show

it may be too late at this point as too much destruction has
happened and the dying of the brain cells cant be stopped

so for me if i have alzheimers
when i was 40 i finally finished my federal obligation and began
to practice family medicine in a large clinic north of here
i worked 40+ hours raised two sons and was physically active
bicycling and enjoying life

but look at the graph at 40-50
the amyloid was starting to accumulate
by the time i moved to the austin area at 50
it would be 50% accumulated
still no symptoms

then 10 years later
boom
abnormal neuropsych exam with no one noticing symptoms
diagnosis very early mild cognitive impariment (mci)
find that on the above graph
and at that point
theres 90% of the beta amyloid has accumulated
theres 60% of the inflammation and cell injury already occurring
damn it

what if in my 40s i could have a test that shows that im accumulating
this beta amyloid in my brain
what if they could give me something to take away all that beta amyloid
what if removing that beta amyloid would prevent that brain cell destruction

that what if may be today
there is a test called the amyvid pet scan that will identify the beta amyloid in the brain


then there is iv medicine that will be given to people in this situation where
i might have been in my 40s that will remove that beta amyloid from the brain

and hopefully none of the cell destruction will occur

thats where we are headed folks and its getting closer

two large studies are using iv anitbodies against beta amyloid on individuals
in their 30s and 40s that are genetically predestined to get alzheimers in
their 40s and early 50s

their graph is shifted to the left by 20-30 years
my younger brothers graph is shifted 20 years to the left
my graph if i have this disease is shifted probably 10-15 years
my mothers graph would have looked like this one

those in the studies will be given this stuff now before the beta amyloid
accumulaton starts on that uphill curve that you see on that graph above
it will flatten out the curve by removing the beta amyloid as its produced
hopefully stopping the development of alzheimers

so if it all works i could have an amyvid pet scan and if im loaded with a
beta amyloid in the brain unless things have advanced too far
i could get those iv antibodies that bind to the beta amyloid and remove it
my course of this disease could be significantly altered

wow what if this could happen

the organicgreen doctor

happy valentines day, video, trim day

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

i want to wish everyone a happy valentines day
but
i especially want to wish my wife she one
for putting up with me picking on her at times in this blog
and
for being such a good wife friend and mother

VIDEO
thanks to all who have taken the time to vote for our video
former physician takes action in the face of alzheimers

its is in third place in the overall voting for fan favorite 
however
its way ahead of all the other videos in the number of 
people who have actually viewed the videos
at 2500+ viewings since the contest started
no other of the videos is close to ours in total viewings 
over the last week

today is the last day to vote at
http://patients.aan.com/go/about/neurofilmfestival

TRIM DAY
when its valentines day then i know its time for
trim day is what i call it
i go through my landscape and trim those things that need to be trimmed
eg

my salvia greggii or autumn sage has gotten leggy and overgrown 
so i will shear then down to about 4 inches so that all my 
plants will get new growth on them 
all 15 of them 
these are one of the best plants for our landscapes
they are tough and produce flowers from spring to fall
butterflies and hummingbirds love them
mine are never watered 

i also trim my peach trees so that a lot of the new growth 
that doesnt point upwards is trimmed off as well as some 
of the small branches so the tree wont me overloaded with fruit

i trim any of my oaks or native fruits trees and crepe myrtles that 
look like they may have damaged branches or if the branches keep 
catching me when i walk by


(please dont butcher your crepe myrtles by cutting off all the 
branches
just trim those lower limbs that are growing wrong)


this year ill trim my turks caps as they are getting too large for
the area they are in
i trim them down to about 4 inches 
the plant will easily grow back and produce lots of flowers for 
the butterflies and hummingbirds
this is another tough plant 
it likes shade and doesnt get any supplemental watering

i trim my lantana xesmenia shrimp plants but not my creeping
lantana

any plant with dead branches or dead flowers are trimmed
of course as much as possible of this goes in my compost
pile or brush pile (i maintain 3 large brush piles on my property 
as a source of cover for animals and birds)

some of my plants are just cleaned up so the dead stuff is removed
they just look better
i am careful to not remove anything that has seeds in it as the
birds use these as a source of food during the winter months


i also have several tall native grasses that have gone to seed
but i dont trim those until the new growth has replaced the old 
in the late spring 
again as the birds use these as their food sources

all this trimming allows me to get an up close look at all my 
plants looking for damage dead or unhealthy plants
i also use this as a time to pull any winter weeds(which i compost)
and to clean up the beds as i move about my yard

yep trim days a big day at the country n

the organicgreen doctor

video update, compost for supper

VIDEO UPDATE
our video
former physician takes action in the face of alzheimers
is now in third place in the popular voting portion of the 
neurofilm festival 

interesting is that none of the other films are anywhere near 
our video in the number of new viewings of the video
since the contest started
we are at 2100+ new viewings
that is
our video is being viewed by hundreds more than any of the
other videos
for us thats whats important is that it gets seen and talked about 
so that alzheimers will be discussed more

you can view the video by clicking the above link
you can vote for our video by clicking this link
http://patients.aan.com/go/about/neurofilmfestival
final voting is february 14 at midnight

COMPOST FOR SUPPER

i have put my hand into compost that is rich and pulled it up to
my nose smelled that sweet smell and have said to more than
one person
thats smells so good i could eat it for supper

my wife she saw an article on a restaurant i think from japan
that actually serves foods especially dessert dusted with compost

i have no doubt after making my own compost and buying the
best compost made and smelling it that i
could dust it on my ice cream and eat it without
any hesitation

heck we all ate dirt when we were kids
and most of us turned out ok
maybe thats whats wrong with all this digestive problems people
have is that parents dont let kids eat dirt

its been found that kids that grow up on farms are much healthier
than city kids
maybe its the dirt
those bacteria and fungi and bugs that make the soil so rich and that
work so well growing veggies
maybe just maybe they will make humans do the same

heck we sterilize everything now
and it seems that is creating a problem with killing all the good
germs with the bad

maybe instead of taking all these fancy probiotics that are sold
at the pharmacies and grocery stores shelf after shelf it seems
that what we all should be eating is
good old compost
replenish those old farm germs back into the gut

so when you see your kiddo eating dirt
dont rush too fast to make him stop
just make sure you use a good compost mixture in your soil


whats for dinner tonight for dessert mom
its
blue bell vanilla bean delicious ice cream dusted
with the ladybug brand of barnyard compost

oh boy mom we cant wait for dessert

just tell them its crushed oreos on it

THANKS

thanks so much to mr t the teacher for giving me a pine cone
from one of the pines from lost pines the area that was burned
out from the bastrop fires
no i cant take the seeds and grow a new old world pine but i
have put it on our mantel for all to see and to have us brag
and talk about this important pine cone

the organicgreen doctor

suck the heads, video update

SUCK THE HEADS

the other night i watched an interview with quvenzhane wallis
the little girl from the movie beasts of the southern wild being
interviewed by anne whats her name
you know the one that got fired from nbc but they kept her around
for special interviews since they had to keep paying her anyway

quvenshane wallis is a cute now 7 or 8 who is nominated for
an academy award for her role in this movie

but she was showing anne whats her name how to eat crawfish
and tried to get her to suck the heads
she just nonchalantly does it
and yes she convinced anne whats her name to do the same

ive lived in the south almost all my life
ive never had a crawfish boil
but ive done shrimp boils and ive got that eating shrimp down to
a fine art
but
eating crawfish is different
you do all that work for a little piece of meat
and its a lot of work and mess and it seems like a lot
of wasted crawfish
guess if you suck the heads you get more out of the meal

ive been places a lot where the crawfish was served and i
attempted to eat them but the effort you seemed to have to
put out was not worth it
bring me shrimp please
i got that down

this weekend we visited my med school friend in eastern texas
near the louisiana line
that night they went to a local restaurant that will boil fresh live
crawfish for you with all the fixins
you pick them up fresh out of the pot

pile them on a big platter and start eating them
i looked at that big pile and thought ill starve before i get
enough of those little pieces of tail meat

so i started my method of eating them
my friend said here do it this way its much easier
i am always caution when he teaches me to do things since
we rotated our junior year together and was known to pull
tricks on each other

figured he was going to get me to suck the heads someway and
i wouldnt know i was doing it

so he showed me his way
i was hesitant but once i got started popping those meat tails out
i got in a rhythm and im proud to say that i was the last man standing
and was able to finish all that big stack of crawfish
never ever thought i would do that

and yes im hooked on crawfish now just like i got hooked on shrimp
when my med school friend taught me how to boil them and
peel them and to eat them

and im sorry quvenshane but i looked at those two beady eyes
with those big whiskers and claws and i couldnt
suck the heads
just couldnt do it

VIDEO UPDATE
our video
former physician takes action in the face of alzheimers
is still in second place in the fan favorite classification
however
we have had more new viewings than any of the 70+ videos since the
contest started
we are now up to close to 2000 new viewings

thanks again for the support
you may vote at
http://patients.aan.com/go/about/neurofilmfestival
the contest ends midnight february 14

the organicgreen doctor

video update, meeting

VIDEO UPDATE

here is the update on our video
former physician takes action in the face of alzheimers
that is entered in the neurofilm festival associated with this years
american academy of neurology conference in san diego 

here is the link to view the video and vote
http://patients.aan.com/go/about/neurofilmfestival

in the fan favorite category 
we are presently in second place of the over 70+ videos entered

our video had been viewed over 1700 times since the contest started
thats 3 times the viewings of the first place team

the fan favorite winner will be given a certificate and recognition
at the conference this year

there are also two other categories 
the grand prize 
runner up 

these will be decided by a committee made up of a panel of neurologists
members of the american brain foundation and by experienced filmakers

the winners will be judged on the quality of the story and quality of the film

these two winners will receive financial enumeration and recognition and 
their videos will be actually shown at the conference
whereas the fan favorite will not 

whats important to us is that our video is being viewed by more and more
people each day which is helping getting the alzheimers story out 
to the general public

the jest of our video is that
early detection and treatment and prevention of this disease is how we are 
going to defeat this disease

so feel free to share this video with other people
and continue to vote

the fact that we have got so much attention is important for this 
contest but also is important for the big picture
of finding a cure for this disease

MEETING
this weekend my wife she and i went to a brunch conference that was 
done by the alzheimers research center at the university of texas
southwestern medical center
researchers there talked about what research projects they were 
involved in and what was going on in alzheimers studies now

of course the most important study they are involved in at present
is the alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative study (adni) 
this is the one that i am a study subject for
it has so far produced 2000+ scientific research articles
important profiles of this disease are being developed

it seems that the goal like in the video is to identify people before 
symptoms show up or very early on like me so that treatment 
can be started real early in the disease

it is appearing that once the disease symptoms get started it is 
hard to stop it since so much damage has been done already in the 
brain it can not be repaired

the goal is to catch things before the damage starts

there are important studies starting this year that will be doing just 
that 
one in columbia and one in washington  where people who we know
carry the gene and will be getting the disease will be treated with 
iv medicine that may help prevent the disease
if it does work we will know in the next 5+ years

the other thing at that meeting was
that we were able to mingle some with other volunteers for these studies
some are in the normal control group 
that is they have no cognitive problems
(thats what i had planned to do but it didnt work our that way)

other people who are in the studies have the disease
many are early like me but some are more advanced
a couple in their 60s volunteered to be normal controls
she was ok
he was not
he has the disease and is more advanced than i 
i recognize that lost look in his eye even though he looked ok

another couple was a retired family doctor like me and his wife
she has the disease which has forced him to go ahead and 
retire early to care for her
but she again appears to be ok 
but shes not

there are a lot of us out there and there are more coming
us baby boomers who will be affected by this alzheimers thing
and they are going to be identified early in the disease
as more and more testing is available earlier on 
and as more and more people learn about how important it 
is to know earlier and to get diagnosed earlier

this was a good meeting for us 
it reinforced that my wife she and i are doing the right thing
to expose ourselves so others can maybe know what to do 

the organicgreen doctor