I had some food poisoning today. Well, not sure if poisoning is the right word. I made some soup and included some dried foods left over from Korea. Bad thing to do. I rushed to the toilet several times. Unfortunately, I had to cancel one class today but caught the second one. On the way home, the fuel light turned on in the van. It reminded me that I hadn’t eaten much today, so I stopped at Wendy’s for a wrap. When I arrived home, Mother asked, “Do you have to go again?” I took this the wrong way, thinking “the toilet”. I replied, “Not sure yet, but thanks for asking.” She meant, “Do you have to teach again?” Ah, then “no”. Then Floyd asked, “Did you get rid of all that crap?” Again, I was thinking “sitting on the toilet”. “Uh… not sure yet,” I again replied. He meant if I threw out the dried food in the cupboard.
health, wellbeing
Everybody wants to talk about their health. And here’s where it all happens.
headache
I’ve had a headache off and on for the past three weeks. I’ve had enough Tylenol to kill a horse. It’s been down to 1 out of 10 since yesterday. It’s ramped up to about a 6 some days. It really would be nice to get rid of this. Causes? Stress, the accident with the Soul (whiplash), caffeine withdrawal, something I ate or drank … hard to say.
score
M, one of my students, made his first goal for his team a few days ago. He plays lacrosse. I see him in the front yard tossing the ball back and forth with his mom sometimes. “Good work, sir!”
older
It used to be that everyone my age was older than me. That is, until this accident. Now I’m really slow, or have been since the crash. Whiplash is an unforgiving thing. If I should meet the guy who drove his van into my car, I’d kick him in the ass. My back aches, and my neck is constantly stiff and sore. The good news is that my headache is finally clearing up. I go for physiotherapy twice a week. It apparently will last about 90 days before it clears up. I look forward to it.
replant, and plough no more
The Guardian reports that we’re seriously boned unless we change our ways … now.
‘It’s a groundswell’: the farmers fighting to save the Earth’s soil
I planted native southern Alberta wildflowers near the house this spring instead of watering and expecting green grass to grow there. It’s supposed to be conducive to the lives of birds, bees, butterflies, and or course beauty.
Yes, I bought a larger van, but you have to remember that the embodied energy needed to invest into a new vehicle is quite serious – the fuel equivalent to somewhere around 130,000km of driving. I didn’t even get that far in seven years in the Kia Soul.
I plugged in my little electric foot scooter today. It costs – and I don’t care if you don’t believe me – I’ve done the research and calculations – about $1.00 of electricity to go about 1000km on this. Of course, I can’t carry lumber or a family or suitcases and cannot drive in winter. But it serves its purpose.
And of course there’s my favourite – my bicycle. But my physiotherapist is frowning on using it just yet. The bonehead to T-boned my car made sure of that.
cleaning ourselves sick
I don’t re-post many websites – only ones I think are somehow important – but I do believe this one is pretty important for our health.
Germ-Killing Brands Now Want to Sell You Germs
It seems, according to the article, that we’re cleaning ourselves sick. I’ve always been a proponent of a more natural existence – for our physical health, mental health, spiritual health, and any other kind of health we’re supposed to be experiencing.
donation 112
I gave my 112th blood donation today.
They take half a litre every 56 days.
Someone asked me, “Is that a pump? Are they pumping it out of you?” No! It’s not a pump! It’s just a bag of blood sitting on a platform that moves back and forth every few seconds to stop the blood from coagulating, or whatever blood does when it sits still. The heart is a pump. It pumps it all around; and if you put a hole in a vein and let it out into a bag, your heart doesn’t know the difference. It just gets pumped out. No biggie.
holiday outside the box (or inside the box)
Now here’s an idea that, upon first look, seems kooky. Vacation in prison. But, having lived in South Korea for many years, I know that work can take its toll on a person. The busy busy busy, go go go, workaholic lifestyle wears a person thin. Enter: Prison. Well, a place that apparently resembles prison.
Oolong
I’m drinking Oolong tea these days. I did a search on Ask.com. According to Caffeine Informer, the average cup of Oolong has 37mg of caffeine. My Starbucks Americano (tall) has 150mg. And their Pike Place – I was surprised at this – has a whopping 235mg of caffeine! Good gawd. So this is why I’m switching to tea as my “second cup”. Eventually I plan to go without caffeine.
You probably don’t know this, but my nickname from way back is Oolong. The Wife gave that to me. Why? I still don’t know, but it’s probably because it sounds like Allan in some languages & cultures. Good enough reason to switch to tea.
Mom’s biopsy is today
Mom’s biopsy is today. I was thinking of going, but Mom says there wouldn’t really be anything to do – just go and wait for her to finish.
I’ll stay here and do some maintenance on the house instead. I am digging around the rear of the house to stop the house itself from sitting on the ground and to replace the rotten wood that had most likely been there since the house was placed here. Lots of work.