lets not forget them

LETS NOT FORGET THEM

ive never really been around a big disaster before
except in the 90s when the jarrell texas tornado hit
jarrell and killed folks and sucked away a whole subdivision
down to the concrete slabs and sucked the hide off cows
some of the missing folks were never found

now my brother and i were driving back from arkansas
as we left waco heading south on i35 to home
the sky just sort of got weird looking like
if you have been around storms and tornadoes
you know that almost weird feeling you get inside
looking at it
its almost a 6th sensing it

little did we know that the tornadoes were just ahead of us
they thank goodness outran us down the interstate

folks we knew were affected
one was found in her bathtub hanging in a tree
some turned out ok

i had a lot of patients who lived in jarrell texas
who were directly affected or their families were
its a scar on their memories and on jarrell
that still lingers today

the next disaster that i have been close to is the
santa barbara montecito fires and the following mudslides
folks these disasters dont care how much money you have
what color you are what your sexual orientation is
whether you are male or female old or young
they are a nondiscriminating disaster that destroys
and kills those things in its path

i didnt know any who were killed here
but ive met a lot that were affected
we even evacuated out of here ourselves twice
once for the fire and once for the flood
luckily we were just a few miles away from the disaster
mainly we were affected directly by the smoke
we couldnt hardly breathe
easily taking care of by leaving

to see the destruction so close by
like the jarrell texas tornado
will remain with us forever

as i was thinking about this this morning
all i could think of was
puerto rico

thinking how lucky we are to be on the mainland
and to be an american citizen
oh thats right they are american citizens

these folks unlike the jarrell folks or the montecito
folks could only run so far
since the ocean was their barrier to escape
they did have warning
but what could they do about it
the montecito folks had some warning but many didnt heed it
when it hit them the floods there was no time
to escape
the jarrell folks had no prewarning time to escape
many like the montecito folks were doomed

the puerto ricans were sort of doomed too
where could they go
some lucky ones flew to the manland
but just a few

then like with jarrell and with montecito  there was
total destruction

if you live here you have seen the amazing work that the
government organizations have done
those amazing fire fighters the police the cal trans folks
the corp of engineers all the local help
amazing was the response
to the devastating disaster
so it was with the jarrell disaster

it seems that puerto rico hasnt fared as well on the recovery efforts
i try to ignore the partisan opinions on this
i just know that the recovery for whatever reason doesnt seem
to be going as fast as what ive seen before
even with harvey in texas

i just know that weve seen the heruculan work done around here
i wish some of that effort could be sent to
puerto ricos way

lets dont forget them
it just seems we have

the organicgreen doctor

lets amazon our healthcare system

LETS AMAZON OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

just the other day i was talking to my wise listener on things
my wife she
she looks like shes listening
shakes her head yes
i know i know she says
all while she is in the social media vortex

i said to her
as she was vortexing

you know
amazon should take over our healthcare system
yep
she shook her head yes
i know i know
as
she was looking at her lit up phone

then
today i read this article
on how amazon along with berkshire hathaway and jp morgan
warren buffett
are planning on
amazoning our healthcare system

i wonder if our condo is bugged or something
im putting duct tape over my laptops camera
right now

when they made this announcement
these stocks dropped
cvs
anthem
united

warren buffett said the healthcare costs are a hungry tapeworm on our
economy

we all know what amazon has done to the retail business
its disrupted it big time
it has created a new way to doing business

just this weekend on saturday evening
i had been looking for a particular organic product ive used
for years in texas
it was not available in this area
i tried to order it from the company
it was going to be hard to do plus expensive
so i thought
ill amazon it
click click and it was sitting on my porch monday morning
all the way from texas

can you imagine what will happen if these companies and their
brainy leaders who think out of the box
could do for our healthcare system
without all the politics thats involved in making a change
one that most agree needs done

i bet warren could get rid of that tapeworm real quick

you know washingtons not going to fix things anytime soon
but
i bet amazon and warren and the money guys will

i say
go far it amazon
you go warren

we need a change
i vote you guys do it

the organicgreen doctor

mary jane how youve changed

MARY JANE HOW YOUVE CHANGED

this is the best honey 😉

recently i was visiting an acquaintance who is a gardener
and
wanted my advice on some of his garden issues

now he has a nice system he uses for his garden
he makes his own worm compost
well the worms do all the work
by his recycling food scraps to the worms

inside he has a dark room from his old photography day
he has grow lights
he starts all his veggies from seeds

you know what else i grow
what i said
cannabis

he is a retired professional with a neurological disease
he raises it for his own use

as he was showing me his harvest in his baggies
i looked around suspiciously
listening for sirens
thinking
man he better be careful
he gonna get busted if he gets turned in
to the man

then
i remembered
its all legal here in california
you can grow 6 plants
only one can be grown outside
thus
the inside darkroom with grow lights

i guess its like a tomato
it tastes better if you grow it yourself
pluck it off the vine
eat it fresh
buying at the store isnt quite the same
so
i guess it is with
mary jane
ie reefer grass pot weed herb cannabis or mj

it must be better if you grow it yourself
its all fresh
it just is better i guess if its yours

i thought about all this a lot after seeing his garden set up

so
i decided to try the mary jane again for sleep
getting some from medical dispensaries that is for sleep
the dose is on the side of the box
1-5 at night 1-2 hours before bedtime
if you are a regular mj user you take 5 it says
if not if you are a novice
take 1-2
so
i took 1/2 at bedtime last night
since the night before i had a sleepless night

well
man on man
i went on a 6 hour ride
up and over and through and over and under
my dreams
it was like a super aricept dream
those vivid ones i get from aricept
just really accentuated
not violent or scary
just non stop
my brain was still going full speed when i woke up
this morning
in fact it was trying to get out the front door
when i reached out and pulled it  back

i slept for 7 hours
but
i sure as hell dont feel like it
i fill sedated like this morning

then
i got to thinking
you know what
i didnt even think about the interaction the mjs
thc and cbd probably had with my aricept (donepezil)

it reminded me of the interaction that the indian herb ashwagandha
had when i took it
it was the most godawful disturbing dream
so violent
that i have ever had
i slept a good 7-8 hours
but
i felt like what happened in my dream was real
it disturbed me for days
again it probably was the interaction of the ashwaghanda with mj

so
my guess is
that interaction with mj and aricpet(donepezil) is what will be
keeping me from using mj for sleep

dang it
just when it got ok to legally use it

i do hope
that our government will allow the research that needs to be
done on this drug
so it can be properly used in medicine
it seems to be useful in some neurological diseases
it may help slow down the progress of alzheimers disease
we know it helps with seizeures
chemo patients use it for nausea and for improving their appetite

this all seems sort of weird surreal in a way
that we can use it here but not say in texas or arkansas or mississippi

but
in the meantime
the law changed here
now the local governments will be getting a lot of tax
revenue from its legal sale
they got
zero revenue before
plus
they had to pay for all those folks getting thrown in  jail
costing us taxpayers millions each year

it all seems good to me

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-its in the blood

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ITS IN THE BLOOD

the other day while at the ucla infusion center
as i was getting my iv started
i saw the red blood ooze out the long tubing
thats connected to the iv

i said
did you hit an artery there
i was joking
she the nurse looked up at me
for a second
i think she thought
did i
no you didnt
i was joking

but
as i looked at that blood oozing down that line
i was thinking
the answer to all this alzheimers thing
is in that blood flowing down that line

in that blood a genetic test was done
positive for the apoe 4/apoe 4 gene
the one that increases your odds for getting
late onset alzheimers disease

knowing you have it is nice i guess
but
it would have been better to have known it when
i was in my 30s and 40s
i probably would have gotten even more aggressive
with my health
eating right
controlling my blood pressure and cholesterol
controlling my weight
sleeping better
all those things that make a person live longer
it the genetic test
sort of gives you an incentive to try harder
to be healthy
like
when you get a report back that your cholersterol is way too high
which
increases your risk one day to have a stroke or heart attack

ok
so that one happened to me when i was forty

then
as i looked at that blood as it flowed out the end of the tube
soaking into the sheet
i thought
that stuff im taking
in a lot of folks
that aducanumab antibody
its in their blood naturally
lucky them

then when she finally got it all hooked up
and cleaned my arm all up
into the vein went that stuff
either salt water or the aducanumab
im sure i dont have any naturally of that aducanumab

later when i got home
i saw this article about infusing young blood into folks
that it might slow down the alzheimers disease

i knew it
i thought
when i was looking at my blood flow out the end of that
iv line
i know its in the blood

we just need to figure out what that it is
and
give that it to all of us

when blood from young donors were given to patients
with mild to moderate alzheimers disease
functional improvements were noted
like
paying bills and taking medicines and cooking for yourself

that fountain of youth stuff in blood may help folks
have better memory

now i understand what those vampires are all after

the organicgreen doctor

i was thinking...

I WAS THINKING...

thats what i call my infusion days
thinking days
since
like yesterday
i have to lay on a bed
hooked to an iv
getting this clear liquid
covered with a brown opaque bag
like they are hiding it for all to see
not knowing
whether
its just salt water in there or is it the
real stuff
acucanumab
a potential life changing drug for me and my family
if it works
if im getting the real stuff

in 6 months i will for sure get the real stuff
for another 2+ years
hopefully by then if it works it will be on the market
if it fails
well
we start all over again

the problem is that during this 3.5 years+ of getting this
stuff
i and the others in this study want really ever know
how well its working
we get the memory tests and the scans
but
we never see the results
so
we really wont know how well this stuff is working
except
that
we wont none of us be getting worse
if it works

the further along you are with the disease
maybe
the easier it will be for you and your family to tell the difference

i always tease the nurses
you know
i say
with a serious face
i always feel smarter after i get these aducanumab infusions
they stop
just look at me
then they get it
they smile then laugh

so i was thinking on thinking day

now
i could sit and watch tv
but i decide every time i go there
to let it be my thinking day
for most of the time
its just me and my iv
with the ocassional checkin by the nurse
a few minutes with the neurologist
a few minutes with the research manager
but
mostly
its just me

its my time
my thinking time
we all need
thinking time
you know

my wife she stays out since she is squeamish about the
iv and blood drawing and all
i dont want her to become the patient
so
i like my thinking day

i solve problems
i do my garden planning my weekly planning
i do my moments of zen stuff

when i leave though
im ready
i have this blue wrap on my arm
and
a head full of ideas
and
i am always at peace with myself when i leave there

the organicgreen doctor

doing it all wrong

DOING IT ALL WRONG

at least i didnt bite into my iphone battery like
that guy did on the internet

several months ago i got tired of dealing with a reading light
whenever i found one that worked great
the bulb would burn out
it was always too expensive to replace
so
i just bought another one

we had a bunch of those ittybitty lights laying around
with no bulbs that worked
or
whose ittybitty wires just broke inside
i guess it couldnt hold up to all that tossing and turning
i did while i read at night
and
from hours of sleeping on it

so
one night
while watching nashville
there one of the daughters
in one scene
was holding her phone in her hand
reading her book
i thought
thats the answer
my iphone

so
i tried it
the lights bright enough
it doesnt seem to burn out
but
in the morning when you wake up
there is the phone
if you are lucky its on the floor
but
many times i feel this warm lump under my back
i reach under
and
theres my iphone

sometimes the cord would be attached as it needed
to be charged
so i would read while it was being charged
then
the wire would be all coiled up under me
when i woke the next morning

then
i read this article about charging your iphone correctly

dont let it go down to zero
it doesnt do well if you do that
it loses some of its capacity

dont charge it overnight and leave it on at 100%
it degrades itself some
not as bad as the old ones

the ideal spot is 40-80%

dont store your phone at 100%
ideal is 50%

dont sleep on your phone
dont charge it while taking a bath
dont bite into the battery

some things like the last two
seems to be obvious
you would think

ok
so i woke up this morning
again
my book on the floor
my cellphone charged at 100%
lying underneath my back

i have something to learn from my readings
huh
plus i notice i need another layer of duct tape on my wire

the organicgreen doctor

the shutdown 101

THE SHUTDOWN 101

money-cnn.com
yesterday as i watched several news shows
they interviewed folks from both sides of the aisle
and
the presidents folks

they all seemed to be wagging their fingers
into the camera at the other side

i thought to myself
yall need to go home and go into the bathroom
close that door
look real good at that person you see in the mirror
wagging your finger at that image you see
thats whose to blame for all this mess

for someone who has a third of the approval rating
of the presidents
his is the lowest i think ever of any president at the
one year time
yall really dont have much to stand behind
17+-% ratings are pretty low
they probably cant get lower

yall just arent doing your job
yall are sent there to govern
yes
govern
i know lately yall on both sides have forgotten
how to do  that
govern

i like the 60/40 rule
that you have to have 60% to pass something
well it makes you govern
not rule
ie
the affordable care act
the new tax bill
that wasnt governing

our countries long term stability is better off
when folks have to govern
have to compromise
to get things done

some of these things have just been sitting out there
for years
not being taken care of

its all being done
using crisis management
thats when things get done but not done well

thats like a family who is planning a long vacation
does all their ticketing and packing at the last minute
things are chaotic
things get left behind
travel gets disrupted

thats
the way all this feels
chaotic

one thing i notice is that folks on social media
who voted for all these congress folks and president
they arent happy
they are on both sides
equally unhappy with those sent there to govern

i suspect that after the next election
some of those folks will be gone
people are disgusted with yall monkeying around with us

just do your job

the organicgreen doctor

the old man of the sea

THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA

nfl.com

last week i told my wife she
dont plan anything for me on sunday
i want to watch both those playoff games

i really wanted to watch the old man play
to see if he could do it again

that old man is
tom brady
in football years
40 is old
unless i guess you are like a kicker or something
but
a quarterback is different
you have to
have so many skills
be mentally fit
good arm strength
have the ability to scramble some
have the ability to hold up to all those crushing blows
that quarterbacks have to take

now
as far as 40 year old quarterbacks go
he seems to be in much better condition
mentally
physically

my guess he is better conditioned than some
of the younger quarterbacks

now
he is known to be in super condition
both
physically and mentally
he eats a well regimented diet

when you look at him play
he dont look 40 years old

i am sure a lot of nfl owner teams
would love to have this 40 year old quarterback

now
unlike a lot of folks
i want brady to win it all again
he can set records that probably no one
will ever break

so yes
im rooting for brady
a player for the ages

then
i sort of like the nick foles story
he is on his 3rd or 4th team
he has had one good year
but
now this is his biggest opportunity coming up in 2 weeks
as
the super bowl quarterback
will he be known as the one that knocked brady
out of his last chance for another super bowl win

many of us who lived in the austin area know foles
he played at drew brees high school
then off to arizona
then got drafted
then his nfl carreer is as above

if he wins
i want be disappointed
since the story line will be a good one
just
not as good or as big as tom bradys

go pats

mudslide update
the 101 is now open to traffic as of yesterday
we will get to drive home that way later this week
when we return home
another victim was found
a 27 year old mother
there are two more people missing
both kids
the real tragedy of this tragic event

thatcher update
he gets to go home today
a true miracle child

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n news-homesteading

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-HOMESTEADING

liberty hill living magazine

now that we have moved
i guess i dont get to homestead anymore
now that we dont live at the country n anymore

now
i get up each morning
go to my garden plot at the gardens
carrying my container of compost materials
say hi to the four chickens there
dump the best of the stuff in the container
over the fence to those chickens
lucky girls
the rest
i dump into the compost piles thats maintained there
its 9 piles that are 4 ft x 4 ft x 4 ft each
i sometimes will stir down into the pile
just to feel the heat and see all the worms working
like crazy

then over to my garden i go
i put my shadow in my garden as much as possible
looking for problems like unwatered plants
insect infestations
varmint damage
lucky for us we dont get too much of either of these
just think you can garden here without
ever stepping onto a mound of fireants
or
get bitten by mosquitoes

after inspecting things well
i hand water my garden
i try to do this at least twice a week
it reduces water use
it makes me come to the garden and make sure
its all ok

ill also harvest things if they are ready
right now thats broccoli swiss chard kale spinach
arugula lettuce mix cilantro carrots beets sweet peas
green onions if i decide to pull them early
before they get big

for onions i planted mostly the texas 1015 yellow sweet onions
they seem to be short light and hopefully will do well
here
i have close to 150+- of the different onions
i have 3 other varieties planted
including a red variety

i also while i am there stroll through the garden
looking at the other 20 plots
sometimes i run into another gardener
i stop and visit with them for awhile

i also commonly will walk down through the orchard
where there are numerous different citruses
bananas mulberries pomegranates avocados to name
some of them
ive been known to reach up and pluck one
for my immediate consumption

fresh flavor is the best

so i can spend a few minutes there
and
i have been known to spend over two hours there

usually once a week
i volunteer there for 2-3 hours
doing whatever the garden manager needs done
like
making a bed to plant
planting veggies
harvesting veggies
putting down mulch
putting out fresh compost
organically treating veggies for insects
enjoying every minute of it

the produce from the central plots are donated to
food kitchens

then im off to do whatever i want the rest of the day

like the new 310 gallons of rainwater catchment at the school where i
volunteer at once a week

recently
i was able to access this article in the liberty living magazine
where they interviewed me about my garden at the country n in texas
here is the link
the section on my interview is about half way down the page

yes
we are no longer homesteading
but
well
we sort of  are
santa barbara style

mudslide update
hwy 101 due to be opened on monday
one local school district carpenteria opened back up
the mudslide area is still blocked off from folks going back
20 dead 3 missing 127 houses destroyed 254 damaged
it will be years before this area will if ever brought back to normal

thatcher update
he is unhooked from everything
he is now in a room with mom and dad

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-trumps memory test

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-TRUMPS MEMORY TEST

ill be the first to admit
i dont like donald trump
but
lets be fair to him regards his memory test

alzheimers starts in the brain 15-30 years before
any symptoms start
before any memory tests are abnormal

there are subtle things that can happen before the
memory tests become abnormal

sometimes the first thing is spatial things
missing things in your peripheral vision
which can show up when driving
sometimes subtle memory things happen
im speaking from personal experience here
things you notice that others do not

eventually when the time comes
the memory tests become abnormal

first let me say
if you are going to need memory testing anytime
soon
dont be reading whats in those memory tests
it affects how accurate they are

now i have personally been administered the same memory
test he had done more than 15 times over the last 8 years
i have personally administered that particular test to
family members and friends several times
i am quite familiar with the moca memory test

when you go to a doctors office
he might administer one of three tests

one is the minicog test
it involves being told three words to remember
then
you are given a time and asked to draw that time
on a clock

if you dont pass that one
you have memory issues
you need more evaluation

its a quick and simple test
its not sensitive though in picking folks up early
with memory loss

the next is the mmse
multimental state exam
its scored up to 30
get 30 and you might be ok
but
for those like me when i was first tested
it missed me
i got a normal score on the mmse

the third test is the moca
thats the one that trump took
the best score you can get is 30
a normal score is 27-30

when i was first tested in 2010
my score was 25
which was abnormal
its in the mild cognitive impairment range

the moca test is a more sensitive test to pick
up those early changes
like what you see with early alzheimers or mild cognitive impairment

its not a 10 minute test
its a 20-30 minute test

so with a normal result
a 30 score
as of right now
trump probably doesnt have any symptoms of dementia
or short term memory loss
the first thing that usually shows up in alzheimers disease

my scores earlier this year on one of the moca test
was 30
a perfect score

so why did mine get better
medication ie aricept (donepezil)
supplements
correcting things like cholesterol blood pressure weight exercise
stress sleep staying mentally engaged
all helped to make my scores improved

so i have a perfect score on my last moca test
does that mean i dont have alzheimers disease
no
the diagnosis is made on more than just the moca test

they use
family history
past medical history
risk factors
spinal fluid for tau and amyloid
a pet scan for amyloid the amyvid pet scan
genetic tests
serial memory tests
then
the gold standard
the neuropsychological exam
eg mine is abnormal even though my last moca was normal

the neuropsychological exam is more accurate
if there are memory issues it will show up
yes you can have a normal moca and have
an abnormal neuropsychological exam
it take 2-3 hours to do this exam

the moca test is a screening test
it doesnt rule out alzheimers disease

there is a state
called
prealzheimers or prodromal alzheimers disease
the memory tests are all normal
the scans and spinal fluid levels are abnormal
in this stage
you just dont have symptoms yet

so
trump
either does not have alzheimers disease at all
or
he is in that prealzheimers state or prodromal state
a time that can last 10-20 years

so
as a medical doctor
as a family doctor
as someone who has had this test multiple times
as someone who has administered this test multiple times
as someone who reads 10+ articles on alzheimers disease each day
as someone who has lectured on alzheimers disease multiple times
as someone who has been and is now in two of the most
important alzheimers studies ever done
i feel like
i can speak with some authority about alzheimers disease

so
if i was trumps medical doctor
if i had administered the moca test to him
i would tell him
right now there is no evidence that you have memory loss or dementia

i would tell him to correct those other health issues
like
the what i called heart attack levels of the ldl cholesterol
he is just a point or so away from being labeled morbid obese
get more sleep
get more physical activity
greatly improve his diet
let your calcium score on that heart ct be a warning
if a heart attack or a stroke dont get you
demential or alzheimers might in the future


the posting of the moca test for all to read
i think does a disservice to those who may need a moca test
in their workup for memory loss
practicing or reading the tests affects its accuracy
i am not allowed in my studies to have other memory testing
since it causes what they call testing effect

also
this doesnt mean trump doesnt have mental problems
or psychological issues
this moca test this screening test
doesnt check
for anxiety
for depression
for bipolar disorder
for psychosis
for paranoia
for narcissism

those are tested usually by a psychologist or psychiatrist

so
no he dont appear to have active dementia or alzheimers
manifesting itself right now

lets all move on from this

mudslide update
maybe next week the 101 will be open
no new recoveries no change in the death toll
we saw what seemed to be miles of trucks loaded with mud
and stuff on the freeway waiting to go to a dump place
way north of santa barbara
they are expecting to dump over 20,000 dump truck loads of
stuff in those dump sites

thatcher update
he is awake
playful
tape free
looks like iv free except for the pic line
oxygen free
soon to be moved from icu
you go thatcher

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

did i or you get faked newsed on facebook

DID I OR YOU GET FAKED NEWSED ON FACEBOOK

during the election i got tired of all the stuff that was
appearing on facebook
from both sides
so
i found an app and put it on my facebook page
it filters out political stuff
especially any mention of trump or clinton
then
if folks got too aggressive on their political postings
i used my darwinian clicker and blocked them
i must admit i blocked more folks who believe
like i did then those who have opposing views from mine
then
if racists or bigoted or homophobic stuff got posted
i blocked that person also
so
what was left was a much more pleasant read each day

when i go on facebook i want to know
how folks are doing
how their family is doing
not that other stuff

then
i started hearing about the true fake news stuff
not trumps fake news he rants about
the real fake news that was mainly put out by
the russian hackers it seems against the clinton
run for president

it seems from court and legal documents that the russians
wanted trump to win
the russians as most agree hate and loathe clinton
so
they did these fake news stories and posted it
mainly on facebook
mainly to folks in areas that determined the election
like
michigan and wisconsin and pennsylvania and a few
other states

after i heard about all this
i no longer click on any news related stories on facebook
ever
i consider anything that gets posted there as
possibly fake news

i get all my news online from 3 different news feeds
that gives me a variety of news sources from
across the news spectrum
then
i decide for myself what to believe
not just what some reporter wrote

so i wondered
did i read fake news on facebook during the election
that may have affected my thinking

so kim komando the computer guru
posted this link that you can click on to see if you
got faked news

here is her article click here

here is the facebook link to see if you got faked

this should disturb you that this has happened to us

no i didnt click on any fake news sites on facebook
according to this link


mudslide update
the hwy 101 is still closed between santa barbara and los angeles
since i have to have an mri at ucla to get my next infusion
i cant get it anywhere else since this is all part of the study
we had to make it down to los angeles yesterday to be here
for our mid morning mri scan today
so off we went north for about an hour up the 101
then up and over the  mountains
a slow trip that was quite curvy
but i must add quite beautiful
the line of cars and trucks seemed to extend behind
us for a couple of miles
all moving slow
lucky for us we seemed to be number 3 in line
then after 3 hours of driving we made it to the
interstate 5 south of bakersfield
then
lucky for us
we drove during the right time of day for the la traffic
missing all the backups on the notorious 405
we made the trip in a little over 5 hours
it could have easily take 7 hours
but it didnt
if we are lucky in 1 week the 101 will be opened some
so we will not have to go back the way we came

the mudslides were the result of a perfect storm
it turned out to be a 1 in 2000 year event
in all my reading on this this morning
there was a flood several years ago
down the creek that is a block away from our condo
it was a 15 foot of mud rocks debri that caused flooding
in the part of santa barbara we live in
yes it closed the 101 then

so in the south
you have tornadoes and floods
we here it seems
have mudslides and fires and i must add earthquakes
although the south is getting a lot of earthquakes now
from all the fracking thats done

there has been no change in the death toll
someone who was displaced in the mudslides
will be staying at our condo while we are gone
our contribution to the cause

THASHER UPDATE
he is extubated
his ivs are out
his pic line in in
his oxygen is off
he smiled
he sucks on his pacifier
he drank a bottle of formula
his parents have got to hold him in a chair
he grabbed his dads hat off his head
the miracle child

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

new tax calculator

NEW TAX CALCULATOR

as we have downsized moving out here to california
we downsized our taxes some
we thought
actually
we downsized or lost some of our deductions
then
trumps tax law wiped out what was left

i ran across this trump tax calculator online
click here 
from clark howard the consumer guru and marketwatch

its fairly straightforward
you only need a little information to do it
since
many of you like us will lose some of the deductions
like
property taxes
sales taxes
medical expenses
mortgage interest
since the trump law increased the amount of standard deductions
you take

i ran my 2016 tax info through
last year we had a lot of medical deductions
along with those deductions above
for us our 2016 taxes were lower because of those deductions
but
if we had ran them through the new tax law
if it had been in effect
we would have still had more deductions than
the standard deductions
but
our calculated taxes would have been higher
we would have fallen in a sort of donut hole spot

now lucky for us
for 2018 all our stuff has been streamlined
since we have removed those things that allowed
us to take deductions
but also removed some taxable income

running our numbers through this trump calculator
we would owe close to $2000
running our numbers through the h r block tax calculator based
on the 2017 law we would have owed no taxes

so we lost
plug in your numbers to see where you will be in 2018

we all know from reading
this law is apolitical
if you are democratic or republican or independent and you
are wealthy
you will make out like a bandit on this new law

for now
many of you will come out ahead under the new law
but your kids and grandkids
they wont


mudslide update
20 people died
3 are missing including a 2 year old whose family died in the flood
155 houses destroyed
its unlikely any of those homes were worth less than a million
many were multimillion dollar homes
close to 250 houses were damaged
the 101 freeway the way folks go south is still closed and will
be closed for at least 1 more week maybe more
folks are traveling via amtrack and boats to get back and forth
a special bus convey is being used to move needed workers
like teachers firemen rescuers medical folks weaving back
and forth with a police escort to get to santa barbara
there is waiting lines on all these
and
the rainy season hasnt started here yet

we have to drive an extra 5 hours by going north then east
then south around the mountains to get to ucla for my appointment
tomorrow for my mri and blood work
i have to have the mri before i can get my next infusion
we have decided to stay there since i have to come back in a week
to get my aducanumab infusion
we are hoping in a week the 101 will be opened
if not
its back the way we came around and across the mountain
at least its a pretty drive

thatcher update
he is extubated
he is able to suck his pacifier
a pic line was placed which will allow some of the ivs to be
removed
his little sister got to facetime him yesterday
he is playful
he is on 100% oxygen to help keep up his levels
he is off some of his drips like the epi drip
he is slowly getting there

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-billy

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-BILLY

thats not really his name
his name is more of what you would find in ireland
which he must be from based on his accent

we met billy not long after we moved in here
he would stand on his front patio
easily viewed across the courtyard from our condo
with his sporty hat on
dressed neatly
standing usually in the sun
he usually liked to talk to the women as they walked by
not in a harassing way though

later after watching for awhile
and
hearing what he was saying
i realized that some of it was gimmerish

i told my wife she after my observations
he has alzheimers disease you know

he lives with his wife
my guess they are in their 70s or early 80s
my impression is that he probably was like
a college professor or something like that
now
i dont know that for a fact
its just the thing that popped up into my brain
when i looked at him across the way
yep
a college professor
like my historian brother and writer brotherinlaw

so i at first sort of ignored him
when i walked by
it was gibberish he was saying
i just said hi and kept on going

then
one day i noticed he was out on the porch
with his hat on
his handy cane in hand
he looked to the left
he looked to the right
then
off he went
over toward us
then
he turned towards the street we live on
a busy one especially during traffic times
he then
turned left towards the bus stop and uptown
he went
maybe i thought he use to be a runner or track star
so
i waited
no wife came out
no caretaker came out

i
having read about and seen first hand
bad things happening to alzheimers patient who wander off
eg once my younger brother wandered off into the woods
near his home before he was eventually found
he was going hunting he said
something he loved to do

so
out the door i went
i turned left
there was billy way down the street
with cars zooming back and forth
he was trying hard to get into this locked car
looking around
then trying another door
so
i walked up to him
billy i said come lets go this way
he muttered some gibberish
he sort of sounded like my younger brother when he got worse
ok i said
its over this way
he looked at me
smiled that cockney smile
ok
off we went
back up the sidewalk
turned right towards our condo
the left towards his condo
there was his wife
all worried looking for billy

here he is i said
hes safe now

i thought
next time
he might not be though

it takes a village to help these caregiver folks out
24/7 duty is what they do

ive noticed folks sort of keep an eye out for him
hes always wandering next door to the condo next to him
then
a few minutes later i see the owner walking him back
to his place

there needs to be some type of system
that you can implant in someone like billy
that will send out warnings if he goes beyond some gps border
and
has a gps tracking system so one could look at a smartphone
to find their location
maybe one that could be implanted permanently
i will volunteer to be the first one to use it

i so worry about folks like billy
there is always a chance that things wont end well
a tragedy for him and his family

yep
i want to go first


mudslide update
here is a link to a lot of mudslide images
click here

16 killed including 4 kids
42 missing
a lot of well known actors musicians sports folks had to
run for their lives
their homes are destroyed
over a hundred total
hundreds more are damaged
our relative still cant get in to see their new home
in fact
everyone in the mudslide evacuation zone are being told to leave
and
expect to be gone for a couple of weeks or more
they are bringing in so much clean up equipment that folks
wandering around are getting in the way
theres no water no electricity no gas

the 101 hwy may be opened on mlk day
maybe
the beaches are all closed indefinitely
along the beaches are rolled up balls of metal that are
unrecognizable cars
the largest was this big ole hummer reduced to a ball of metal
there are boulders the size of bulldozers

amtrack finally opened
boats are taking folks from the santa barbara harbor the
30+ miles away to the ventura harbor
otherwise its a 4-5 hour track through mountainous roads to ventura
our trip to ucla will probably take 7-8 hours next week
i have to have my mri scan before i can get my next infusion
of the alzheimers experimental drug aducanumab
so if the 101 doesnt open by then
well
we are going to take us a little day trip
up and over the mountains down the valleys
down the 5 freeway then into los angeles
a sort of sight seeing tour for a day

thatcher update
hes starting to wake up
hes off the nitrous oxide and is having to take some morphine
for pain
during one waking up period his mom bent over and kissed him
his heart rate went up
his skin got all flushed
hes a mommas boy i guess
thanks for everyones continued support

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n news-rainwater system

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-RAINWATER SYSTEM

i was thinking as she said
theres this grant that we can get for doing something green
that will pay for improvements in the garden

i instantly thought
rainwater system

now i realize that it doesnt rain here that much
the annual rainwater is about 1/3 of what austin texas gets
however
if you catch the rain when it rains
catch as much as possible
thats x gallons of water that doesnt get pulled
from the water systms
and
thats x gallons of water that doesnt just flow out
to the ocean

so
i told her
how about a rainwater collection system i said
do it she said
come up with some figures on what the $300 could
be spent on

i got this i said
since
i put in a 30,000 gallon system at our country n
all by myself
i put in a 3000 gallon tank in my wife shes first school
and
later put in a 1500 gallon tank in another school
plus
i helped a neighbor design and put in his
20,000 gallon system

yep
i got this i said
a  piece of cake

then at an alzheimers meeting
one of the fellow volunteers and i were talking about gardening
and rainwater
she said i got these two barrels that we just never hooked up
you want them
you betcha i said

so i painted those
put in screens at the top
put in the faucets

then
i ordered online 3 more tanks that had all of the connections
like the faucets drain holes screens already done
at a cheaper price than i could do
so
i ordered them

well
we only got one instead of three
so
amazon said
you keep that one and well send you 3  more
so
now im waiting on those other three

so
i painted the blue tank from amazon a nutmeg color
so it would match the other tanks that were donated

now
i took down part of the downspout
replaced it with a 2 inch pvc
that allowed the water to flow easily down into the tank

i hooked all three tanks in a series
using 1/2 inch irrigation tubing from the home center
thats buried underground

when we get the other three tanks
ill paint them
and
hook them up in the series

the two donated ones are 35 gallons
the bought ones are 60 gallons
so when we are finished
we will have 310 gallons of rainwater collection capacity

water that will be used in the garden over the next few
months instead of draining to the sea

the goal i think
is to use these tanks as a teaching tool
for art english writing science math
and
for the kids enjoyment

those veggies
they always prefer rainwater over city water every time

as i went over to the school to check it during the rains
our tanks were filling up
the other gutters were flowing all that water
out onto the grass
out onto the driveway
out
you got it into the ocean
carrying who knows what off the ground and the street
to the sea

add ecology to the teaching tool


flood update
death toll 17
over 100 homes destroyed
several hundreds are damaged
hundreds have been rescued
many by being airlifted out
dozens of folks are missing
the 101 freeway is still closed for a 30 mile stretch
its suppose to be opened on mlk day on monday
scooping up the mess is like shoveling soup
half is scooped up and half runs off the scooper

the alternate route will take 5-6 hours for a trip
that usually would take 30 minutes down the freeway
my relatives still havent been able to see their new home yet
a well known tennis pro just got airlifted out of his place

thatcher update
he is a tough little guy
his valve seems to be working well
his band is doing its job
his pressures inside the arteries and heart are where they want them
he is still on the ventilator and is all swollen up
he is still paralyzed from the drugs
the plan is to wake him up today and extubate him
he will gradually be diuresed ie get the fluid off him
yep
he is a tough little guy

thanks to those who donated to his gofundme accout to help
his parents with expenses
thanks to those who wished him and his family well

here is thatchers gofundme account
#thatcher strong

use some of your charity money or some of your gift money
to help them out some

if you look at the pictures on the gofundme site you will
notice how thin his little arms are
so much of the energy and nutrition he takes in is being used
by his little heart that the rest of the body like the muscles
arent as big as they should be
that will change though as he recovers
i see a little chubby kiddo soon appearing in those pictures

thanks again

the organicgreen doctor

slides and hope

SLIDES AND HOPE

edhat.com

first the slides
the thomas fires affected us directly because of
the poor air quality that made it hard to breathe
we my wife she and i were not really directly affected otherwise
although we thought we were the day we evacuated down
to the la area for a day
the thomas fire was devastating in its destruction

the other day
i thought thank goodness its over with
then
i got to thinking as i looked up from the garden plot
as i was working in my garden
looking up towards the beautiful mountains
i thought as i looked over towards the east
where the fire did all that burning
there is nothing there to stop all that rain
when it comes

little did i know
that it would be this bad
the power of rainwater boulders
in a 10 ft river mixed with mud cars debris
rolling down that mountain for several miles
down through neigborhoods
all the way to the ocean
destroying everything in its path
removing completely multimillionaire mansions
it spared no one in its path it seems
even oprah

yesterday here at our place
we must be in some flight path
there were it seemed lines of helicoptors
some military flying back and forth all day
i presume carrying rescued folks
or
injured ones as we live a few blocks from the
hospital

none of our kinfolk were affected
except for one who is finishing up a build in that area
they think their place is ok
but
they are not allowed to go into the area yet
there is no electricity or water there either

looking at the freeway
the 101
that runs along the coast through
santa barbara and montecito and carpenteria
what it looks like
is
a river that is 6 lanes wide
covered with several feet of
if you live in the south
quicksand mucky mud
littered with boulders mangled cars all kinds of debris
it looks to me like a river
if you live in texas
like the lano river or lampasas river where its wide
but shallow with water streaming down through the
mud and rock
its a sea of muck
that runs for miles and miles

how they will be opened by thursday night
all i can say
it aint going to happen

so far 18 folks have died
one small child removed from the mud
they dont know who she is or where her family is
she was found luckily when someone went to check
on their neighbor
they heard her
and
they reached down into the mud and debris where they heard
her cry
and
pulled her out
she apparently is ok

the stories go on and on

for such a beautiful special place to live
almost idealic for us
so much havoc and destruction could be dumped
on it over the last few weeks

we are lucky this time to be safe and sound
it all could have easily have happened above us
the fires and all
lucky for us
the fireman and nature stopped it before it got above us

ive learned since then this area has a long history
dating back to the earthquake of the early 1900s
that totally destroyed this area
the fires and floods seem to happen off and on over
the years
like in the south with the tornadoes and floods and hurricanes
folks seem to persevere through it all
like they do elsewhere


now for the hope

thatchers heart issue was picked up when he developed
a viral infection that required transfer to a childrens hospital
the issue was his heart was arranged wrong
the best treatment was to put everything as close as possible
back to where it all should be
but
the worry was that since he was older
that probably wouldnt be possible to do
ever
a temporizing procedure would have to be done
that would buy him time
years probably
the final solution would probably be eventually one day
a heart transplant
thats where things were as he went to surgery

then
as they did the operation this week
it seemed that the arteries were not as closed down
one valve was able to be repaired
it looks like they will be able to go back in later
to put things all back together again
like they should have been

all i could say
when i heard the news was
wow

i knew from what i read of his status online
that
this will make for a huge difference in his quality
of life as he gets older
his prognosis will be much better

as my wife she always says
wow

now im sure they have good insurance
that pays for some of the bills
thank goodness the law now doesnt allow caps on coverage
like it use to years ago
but
as we all know when you use your insurance
it doesnt cover it all

both parents have jobs
it would be hard to work knowing your little buddy
is laying up in the cardiac icu
this little 6 month old guy

the expenses besides just the medical
im sure are accumulating

so if you have some funds to donate to a good cause
their happiness and his future
consider donating to his gonfundme account

here is the link to thatchers account
#thatcherstrong

the organicgreen doctor