A new normal...

[The Chairman]

Well, I've shared bad news, so here's some that is good: I have lost 47 pounds since Christmas, and I just got back my Lipids panel...

My BP that day was stoopid high, and my pulse is almost making me a tachycardic. The good doc says we'll check that after I get rid of all the pain in my back. Usually, I have low to medium BP and I'm bradycardic. Unless my Grand nephew is here, I limit beef to once a week, and stick mostly to chicken and fish. I'm also cheating by taking Monjaro. I'll drop another 80 and then re-assess my weight goals.

 

[ofg-1]

Pete, have you tried acupuncture? Has worked pretty well for my neck problems, or its enough of a placebo to make me think it works.

 

[The Chairman]

Pete, have you tried acupuncture? Has worked pretty well for my neck problems, or its enough of a placebo to make me think it works.

I have in an earlier injury. My mother was born and raised in Tiensin, China (daughter to the Dutch Ambassador, so I'm not Chinese). She sent me to the daughter of her Ahma (sp?) back in the 70s for a sport injury. Those eyes. It would have been a match made in heaven, but I am a "Gai Lao" (I think that's it), and a white devil. In any event, her attempts to suss out the pain failed just as miserably as my adoration of her beauty. I have not tried since. I did have some limited success with reshi ahmo (hot stones) and I wish I knew of a practitioner close, now that I think of it. Most play at it. Few have really studied it.

 

[The Chairman]

but I am a "Gai Lao"

I've been racking my brain over this... I knew the first word was Gai, but had to look up the second. I don't think it was Lao. The more I think about it, my mom used the word Gai Chi, or Gai Zhi. Apparently, the latter means "calcium", but she was adamant that it was an epithet used of white missionaries who did a lot of harm to the peasants. I can remember her using that word when visiting friends. "Bu gai chi!" meant "No white devil". We all knew what she meant. Sometimes she would call me "Mr Gai Chi", and I knew I was in for a talking to later. I always deserved it, too.

I love to travel, and I've missed two ScubaBoard trips already. One of the principles my mother really instilled into me, was to always know that you're the guest when not at home. Never intrude. Never take advantage. Never oppress. Bu gai chi! If it's their home, then it's their rules, even when you pay to be there. Learn some customs, even a bit of their language, if possible. You'll get some diving in and maybe make a few more lifelong friends at the same time.

FWIW, there are two main dialects of Chinese and a bajillion variations of the two. My mom spoke both Mandarin and Cantonese from her birth. I have no idea which this belongs to and my mums not around to clue me in. Apparently, neither of my sisters remembered a whole lot of Chinese, but rather the French that was my mom's family's language.

My mom was amazing. Born in Tiensin, she went through WWII in a Japanese run "European Concentration Camp". My dad the Marine Pilot, helped to liberate their camp and the two were married soon after. I remember 10 days, while my sister thought it a few months. Who knows who is right? They got married. My eldest sister was born in China, and I was born in Barranguilla Colombia, where my dad flew helicopter for Standard Oil. My grandmum was English, my Grandfather a Nederlander, and neither spoke each other's native language, so they settled on French. I bring that up, so you can understand why I love languages and cultures so much. I simply can't wait to visit all the Nederlanders in Bonaire during the upcoming ScubaBoard Invasion. I aim on being there.

 

[-JD-]

Maybe the Catonese gwailou \ gweilo Gweilo - Wikipedia

Or a borrowing of the Japanese gaijin Gaijin - Wikipedia

 

[The Chairman]

Or a borrowing of the Japanese gaijin Gaijin - Wikipedia

The last people my mom would borrow from would be from her captors for 5/6 years. I don't think she hated the Japanese, but I don't ever recall her stating one way or the other. She had a lot to say about Germans, though.

Languages are fluid. My mother learned much of her Chinese from her Ahma as well more formal education. I think she learned a lot of her world view from her Ahma as well. She and her mother rarely saw eye to eye on things. The old British Battlewagon lost control of her child at the tender age of 12, when the Japanese invaded. School still continued in the camps, but they didn't live together anymore. My mom and her sister did all they could to provide their mum with what they could. Unlike the brutal camps of the Nazi, things weren't quite as tight in Tientsin until close to the end. My mom cringed when it was called a concentration camp. She used "detention camp" instead.

My mum's been gone a good bit now. She died shortly before my son. It's been at least 30/40 years since I heard her use the phrase, but I'm pretty certain it was "Gai zhi" (Guy zhee). Was that a misremembrance on her part? Perchance. Could it be that both Asian languages have a similar meaning? Possible. I've never studied an Asian language to know. In any event, the lesson remains today: Don't be a jerk in someone's else' house or country. Be kind, instead.

 

[Boarderguy]

Don't fall prey to the "one more" trap

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Well, I've shared bad news, so here's some that is good: I have lost 47 pounds since Christmas, and I just got back my Lipids panel...

View attachment 832414​

My BP that day was stoopid high, and my pulse is almost making me a tachycardic. The good doc says we'll check that after I get rid of all the pain in my back. Usually, I have low to medium BP and I'm bradycardic. Unless my Grand nephew is here, I limit beef to once a week, and stick mostly to chicken and fish. I'm also cheating by taking Monjaro. I'll drop another 80 and then re-assess my weight goals.

Those are great numbers!

 

[The Chairman]

Don't fall prey to the "one more" trap

I'm hypoglycemic, so I don't drink sugars, ever. I do make my own sodas, a root beer and an orange drink. No caffeine, no sugars and all good.

Those are great numbers!

A few of the numbers, weren't so great, actually. They showed that I either have the beginnings of a kidney issue, or I'm dehydrated. It actually appears I'm over-prescripted. I'm big, obese, even. When you see a guy my size, you tend to think heart disease, and a litany of other ailments that are associated with being obese. Also, they're really trying to get my pain levels down, which, if you haven't picked up on it yet, they've failed. Subsequently, I've gone from bradycardia (less than 60bpm) and a low to medium BP to tachycardia, with medium to high BP. After consulting my cardiologist and GP today, I've dropped 4 meds. One is a diuretic, one is known for tachycardia, and the last two are just not working. I kinda arrived at the conclusion last night, and didn't take them last night or this morning before I got to talk with them. My pulse as I write this is 61, and my BP was 122/70. I actually had more energy since I started taking those med. Go figure, huh? So, now I'm down to three daily meds (Gabapentin, Meloxicam, Baby Aspirin), the weekly Monjaro, and the biweekly Testosterone. Not too bad for an old fart. I'm going to retake the lipid panel in a month

 

[The Chairman]

I'm still normal on day 2 of removing most of my meds...