Take Your Meds

There are many people who refuse to take medicines. I have a customer that comes very frequently to check her blood pressure. As far as I remember her reading has never dipped below 150/90. Initially, my advise for her was to meet with her doctor as soon as possible. After many times, she just refuses to listen. Nowadays, after she finds out what her reading is, she runs away before I say another word. -.-"

This sort of thing is common. If she refuses to help herself, I won't lose sleep over what she decides to do with her health. Unfortunately, I have a close friend who has the same predicament and is equally as ignorant with her health.

Having been diagnosed with hypertension by at least a few doctors a year ago (yes she has had many second opinions done already), she still believes she can get by without blood pressure meds. Frighteningly, her pressure hovers around the 170/100 range. She complains frequently of headaches and eye pain.

I've had many talks with her regarding this. I've tried reasoning with her, warning her of the risks she is taking. Such a high pressure in her system is damaging her organs on a daily basis. She has even taken care of a bedridden family member who has had a stroke - witnessing firsthand the distress and all. So you can say she is pretty well versed in all this. She knows what she is going up against but still decides to treat herself with 'herbs.' It has reached a point where anything more I say will constitute nagging.

A few days back she had such a terrible headache that she could not walk. She vomited in the car on the way to the clinic. The clinic visit revealed what she knew was wrong with her. The doctor tried to admit her to a nearby hospital but he was valiantly turned down. She went home and watched National Geographic.

The Unfinished Portrait

Former US President Franklin Roosevelt famously complained of a 'terrific headache' during a portrait session before he slumped forward in his chair and died of a stroke shortly after. The painting was never finished. I fear my friend may be willingly walking down this path as well. There's really nothing more I can do short of force feeding her the medications . I've considered putting blood pressure medications in her food...but that will mean I have to follow her around daily with a bottle of crushed Norvascs. Worse still she if she credits her improving stats to the 'herbs' which obviously don't work.

Please, all of you who have been prescribed medications, do take them. It would be very foolish to do so otherwise. You can play around with your money all you want, but don't neglect your health. The next words I say to my friend may be a 'I told you so' besides her hospital bed. Even then she may not recognize me anymore.

Yoga's Killing Me

Or to be more specific, my wardrobe.

Right in between the family jewels section

This is the second pair of pants I've had to retire recently - and I suspect due to the body contorting acts I endured during yoga. I probably still can wear it in public, provided I walk tightly and real cautiously. Notwithstanding the title of this post, I still think yoga is very beneficial. Time to shop around for new gym clothes soon then.

Another good news, this is the last of the Vincent clothes! Ever since the dobi somehow chose to address me as Vincent (despite my laundry receipt having the name TED), I've been living in Vincent's pants, literally that is. Now Ted can finally really be Ted. Bye Vincent!

Macro Photography on iPhone

The iPhone 3GS has a pretty decent camera. Given the fact that is is also a phone means that more often than not whenever I want to snap a picture, this is the only camera that I have on me.

If you are into macro photography, there is a very cheap solution for you to get the most out of your iPhone (or any other phones too). All you need to get is a pocket magnifier/jeweler's loupe.

Jeweler's Loupe 30x21mm

The normal rules for taking macro photography will apply here as well. That is :

1) Keep your hands steady. Any movement you make will be multiplied many times over through the lens. Hold your breath before you take the shot.

Mealybugs

2) Make sure you are in a well lit area. Usually taking macro photographs with your phone will involve you (and your phone) to be very close with the subject you are taking. This will sometimes block the light source and make the picture either very dark or grainy. Try to move around a bit and let the light shine favorably on your subject if you want to shoot without lighting aids.

3) Holding a magnifier before the camera lens is similar to manual focusing on a macro lens mounted on a DSLR. There is a sweet spot you have to be on the lookout for. It is a very thin margin between the subject being in focus and total blurring. Be patient and perservere. It gets easier with practice.

Lastly, remember to have fun! You can take a macro of almost anything you want! Even if they are not safe for public viewing...

Merseyside Bankers

Liverpool FC has recently unveiled their new home kit for the 2010/2011 season featuring their new shirt sponsor Standard Chartered. It is similar to the shirt won by the championship winning team in 1990 (hopefully this is not the only way they are thinking of improving the squad after a dismal season). 'Oh we wear the same kit...so we can win the league next season'... righhhttt

Over the years Liverpool FC has been synonymous with Carlsberg. Their partnership dates back to 1992 and such a tenure creates a feeling of attachment and nostalgia. I was quite disappointed when Standard Chartered were taking over from Carlsberg...until I realised how much more StanChart were going to pay.

Under the old agreement with Carlsberg, Liverpool got a paltry £7 million pounds a season. Their peers were getting:

Chelsea - £50 million for 5 years with Samsung (£10million/season)

Man Utd - £54 million for 4 years with AIG (£13.5 million/season)

Tottenham - £34 million for 4 years with Mansion House (£8.5 million/season)

Let's talk home loans and interest rates

StanChart's deal costs £80 million over 4 years, bringing in the much needed £20 million each season to the debt ridden owners. Its a lucky thing they signed this last year before Liverpool bombed in the league, heheh. I doubt they will ever get this amount if it were being negotiated now.

As for Carlsberg and all the nostalgia? Nahh... long forgotten. Cash is king.

What's In Your Water? - Six Degrees of Lipitor

A couple of years back, I recall a conversation I had with a friend regarding the many cases of ovarian cysts among our female friends - with some of them requiring surgery.

'I tell you, there's something in the water!' he said...

Well it seems he was right. There really is something in the water. It may or may not be the actual cause of the above mentioned predicament, but then again no one knows at the moment how it affects us. So what is in your water?

It has been discovered that drug residues are increasingly being present in the water supplies in the US. How did it get there?

1) Flushing your unwanted medications in the toilet or emptying the syrups into your kitchen sink.

2) Peeing. What goes in must come out - and some drugs are excreted in the urine almost unchanged chemically, so its just like step 1.

3) Bathing and showering. Imagine lathering on steroid and antibiotic ointments during the day and then washing them off during a shower. Previously a lesser known contributing factor, a recent article is bringing awareness to this route of contamination.

A partial list of the drugs found include birth control pills, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, tranquilizers, antibacterials, antipsychotics, ACE inhibitors, nitroglycerin, steroids, ibuprofen and caffeine.

You may think 'Oh this doesn't affect me, since I have the latest water filtration gadget that costs a kajillion dollars at home and my family drinks exclusively from it.' Do remember that the meat you eat didn't have the luxury of drinking that water when it was still moving. Neither do the vegetables that go on your dinner plate, I doubt if anyone will use Diamond water for their livestock or crops.

So how has it affected us? The worrying thing is that no one can say for sure yet. More research will be needed before a definite conclusion can be drawn. It has however, created a new breed of Fishy-Gagas.

In the 1970s, scientists began detecting pharmaceutical residue in waterways, but in an era when rivers were choking on industrial sludge, traces of drugs seemed a small matter. It would take until the 1990s for that view to change. That was when pharmaceutical estrogens, principally from birth control pills, began showing up in the water too, leading to male fish with androgynous sex organs. Scarily, it did not take much estrogen to affect the fish — just 5 or 6 nanograms, or billionths of a gram, per liter of lake water

Sounds frightening eh? I'm not sure how stringent the testing of water quality is in Malaysia, but I'm guessing this will be a bigger issue in the future.

iPhone Comes To Digi

Digi has caused lots of speculation and anticipation since it first announced that it will be selling the iPhone quite a while back.

Digi announced its packages two days ago and those who were hoping for an iPhone price war have been greatly disappointed. If you had been following the local iPhone forums, you would have known that Apple strictly controls the pricing of the phone itself and the only thing left for the telcos to fight over will be over their subscription plans. In fact the only way to reduce the price of the iPhone - and we have to do this together - is to convince Encik Leher-Penyu that we don't want what he's selling.

Encik Leher-Penyu explaining how all our wallets are belong to him

Think about it. That's the reason why there are clearance sales. It's not that nobody wants the products but rather not many people are willing to fork out the cash for the retail price, but if it were sold for less...they may just be convinced to get it. So even though we cry and have vivid wet dreams at night over the iPhone, when Encik L-P with his Levi501 blue jeans walks up on stage and shows us his latest gimmick, we look him in the eyes and say 'Hah! We're not buying one.' Encik L-P will be negatively affected by this given his health considerations and will decide to relent and sell the iPhone cheap cheap till they are as worthless as Po Chai Pills.

Ok so that will not work. In a stare out game with Apple, I blinked first and bought myself the iPhone. I am at your mercy, master...I'm not worthy... Yes master? The iPad? Ok I'll order three now...