Monday's Missives

• The question was asked when talking about steroids in pro baseball,"What if it were Nolan Ryan we're talking about?" The point being if you thought all the users are scum.
• Interestingly, if talking about football the numbers may not be all that high in my opinion but, in baseball the holy hand wringing- especially say- 10 or more years ago is very, very naive- I guarantee you essentially 100% used steroids at some point.
• I hardly ever get naive or guarantee correct the first time.
• My patient died this morning before I got to them. It's a relief sometimes when that happens- like cutting class- I break out a movie, a book, go for ride or whatever, kind of fun- playing hooky. But, I always at some point in that day think of the family and hope they are OK even though I never met them or their loved one.
• The best nursing facility I've been in with easily the best nursing, rehab and dietary department etc. was a dump- literally a dangerous looking place in a bad neighborhood. The one which has easily the most beautiful facility I've ever been in in North Texas always has such a blase' attitude toward their patients when I go in, it very much borders on neglect.
• I gave Zac a piece of peach to take his sister when I made his this morning. After he gave it to her he smiled real big and said," Are you happy sister?"
• My sister is wanting to organize a regular family reunion- I hope she pulls it off- they can be fun and important. When we had them in the past we did them at the Wise County Posse Grounds in Decatur TX which was cool since a lot of the family has or had roots there and the counties reunion fair is there annually anyway.
• Sad, how often we think about reunions at of course- funerals and every time we say we need to get together... there are fewer and fewer people you call family to pull together. I do like though that there would be people from all sides of the families- in laws and outlaws etc. who would feel perfectly welcome to come if we can pull it off.
• Supposedly, if I laid out my political beliefs for you and you were an expert in political labeling you'd stamp me a Libertarian.
• Although I'd have to ask,"Is there a such thing as a qualified Libertarian?"
• Anybody who doesn't see a bias in the main news outlets toward a liberal political view seems dishonest to me. If I could honestly call myself liberal in my political thinking my response to the accusation would be along the lines of,"Of course it would seem that way if nothing else- we're right."
• A standout example on this subject: recently a guy defended his family against a burglar with a baseball bat- his aluminum ally I remember very well it being called because I simply could not check the news without hearing about one aspect or another of that story. The homeowner broke the burglars jaw and he was found in a storage shed nearby.
• You would have never heard a thing about it from any of those sources if it was a pistol he used- and have to know I'm right.

Mondays Missives

• It seems the more benign the commenter or blog writer the more vicious the comments will be directed at them.



• Yay I got my office back!



• Well, sort of the baby as been sick so when I get up with him that's where we go and that's the only place the big kids can watch movies and use the internet.



• Crap, it's worse than before.



• I wish I had an office.



• My oldest borrowed my laptop last night and this morning there was still a usb cable hanging off it- he must have pulled some of my music for his mp3 player.



• That's cool.



• Showed some of my pictures from The War to someone the other day: simply horrific I can say now but, I wonder most what it made her think about me personally.



• I'm pretty sure nothing can change a person like war or prison but, I believe the consensus is the change can be positive or negative and that depends on the individual.



• Laws and policies based on fear and misunderstanding really bother me and one example that comes to mind is the use of anabolic steroids. The words alone conjure images of roid rage, exploding hearts and damaged livers. The truth is millions of people in the US alone have used them without becoming violent. It is unclear how associative heart damage is to steroid use, there are ways to overcome the potential anyway and liver damage in users is always associated with oral use of extremely high doses. Also, most evidence against there use is anecdotal- no scientific studies (especially when first criminalised in the early nineties). During that time even the DEA and FDA were reluctant to pile on and testified against there criminalization.



• My thinking was first challenged on that subject by guys I knew who were using them when I was working out- smart people who never murdered anybody, their hearts never exploded and heir livers never fell out in the shower. Also, there are two doctors local to me who I know will tell you off the record how to use them if you know them and ask.



• Another bothersome aspect to this subject: when I worked out I got big quick- 18.5 inch biceps and as I recall 44 inch chest (Arnolds biceps were 22 inches for comparison) people would pull me aside and be really concerned I was using steriods and would hurt myself. Good grief.