ot: snow ball effect

 Hi all!

the winter is here now.

I still have both my dirt bikes down. I blame on myself, but lack of
toy funds are part of the reason. Okay, I should had the RM on her
feet with new bearings already, but I'm slacking. I'm just like that.
XR motor still on cardboard boxes. Liquid dish soap boxes. One of them
was full of cockroaches last time I checked. Sprayed some poison on it
and I guess it's ok. Damn toad infestation good for nothing. I was
telling wife that toad infestation was good for at least getting the
roaches under control <she is terrified by any kind of frogs/toads>,
but I guess toads don't like liquid dish soap cardboard boxes. The
little CG125 is running like a champ. 75500km on the clock and it
doesn't smoke and start with just a push of the button, no choke
required, but it eat chains and sprockets like there wasn't tomorrow,
but for about 30USD for a chain+sprocket kit it ain't too bad. Did I
mention I got a promotion at work? That's because I'm the only one guy
running the IT operations of the company. Not a small company.
Shipping container business. It's fun, but I'm doing 12 hours/day, at
least. They said a new guy will be hired May 2nd. I hope! I'm taking
jobs anywhere on the world, if you know of a job in any third world
country that doesn't have a civil or any other kind of war going on,
let me know. First world would do it too, I'm not too picky. I was on
the cardio last month. I was feeling tired and running 5 minutes felt
like running a marathon. twice. Well, triglycerides are 3x what they
should be, total cholesterol is also hitting the ceiling and blood
sugar is "one point" below critical level. I'm on statins (crestor)
for life, but I find this good, I found out before having a heart
attack in the middle of nowhere, alone on an enduro trail... There is
a plus side (there always is). Doc said I should ride *every* weekend,
rain or sun. How's that for a doctor? Guess this is a keeper. Well, I
will see him the rest of my life or at least while I have this medical
insurance.

hope all'y'all are all ok (lol)

hugs for the boys and kisses for the ladies,
from the rainy south,
Tiago

 On 04/19/11 10:18, Tiago wrote:


I was just thinking about you the other day -- figured the
responsibilities of marriage were rearranging your priorities! Thinking
about spawn yet?


Hmph.  And you had to store your engine in detergent boxes?


Friends may be moving back to Bogota in the fall -- at least I'll be
able to get accurate updates on crime/war/etc...


Friend is moving back because he can't get an IT job in THIS nominally
first-world country.  How about India?


You've cut down on sugar as well as fat, right?  What kind of chol/trig
scores do your parents and other relatives have?  Mine all have high
scores, as do I, but my mom and grandma had no symptoms and lived to 90.


Do you have to have quarterly blood tests with crestor like you do with
lipitor?  Do you take niacin?


Exercise is good.  Get the guy hooked on riding with you and you won't
have to worry about insurance!


Ski season in southern California ends this Saturday.  I went last
Friday and have no hope at all for the rest of the week.  Plenty of snow
where it counts, but it turns to unpleasant slush so early that it's
just not worth the 220-mile round trip even if it's free (season pass).


--
Cheers, Bev
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you see me running, try to keep up."
       ...Back of bomb technician's shirt

 
I'm just too lazy lately. Both of my two best riding buddies are with
wrecked knees and can't ride. Wife and I are thinking about adding a
little rider to this world, but not exactly now... Maybe next year or
the year after next...


LOL! I was talking with people at work about purchasing a 20 foot
container to replace my bike shed, just for the coolness factor. I
gave up after learning that the cost to transport and put it on place
exceeded <much> the cost of the container itself. My bike shed is
sufficiently big and well equipped, room for 4 or 5 bikes...


I got a job offer in Colombia, but it was on the dangerous place of
the country. Have you seen National Geographic special on narcotraffic
submarines? Well, the job was neighbor to them... :) Thank you but no
thanks! I talked to people in Argentina too, but Uruguay would be much
much better... Let's just wait for the future to happen!


I was thinking something along the lines of Philippines, Indonesia...
China perhaps, I loved China. If it's to change, let's do it
radically. Brasil ain't a bad country, only problem are the
politicians, they ruin the country *bad*.


Both grandparents mother side died of heart issues. Mom is on pills
since early 30s (<sigh> just like me). Doc said if I went on a hunger
strike I would still get high levels, he put it as "internal fat
factory" and apparently mine got out of hand. My little brother (who
is only 25!) had to go to the emergency room two weeks ago due to
dangerously high blood pressure, but then he is on eating packaged
shit, while I make a point of cooking all my meals from fresh
ingredients with little salt and fat. Mothers day I promised mom to
cook her a "feijoada". I can't go light on fat with that, but I will
try to make it low on salt... 3 weeks to plan.


I just started with a "medium" dose. Doc said he wants blood tests
after 90 days, but he thinks I will revert to the "low" dose. After
that, probably blood tests every 4 months, yes... Better find out now
and take preventive measures then find out 20 years in the future (or
less!) that I am on the verge of a heart attack. A work mate about
same age as me is on very strict diet, I'm not, but he is a bit
overweight... I can eat *anything*, only moderately. No idea in
pounds, but I'm 70kg for 179cm, not fat by any criteria. It's the
"internal fat factory" thing.


Sounds like a plan! Honestly speaking, as much as I wanted a job
anywhere else in the world, I like what I do and where I live, so I
plan on working for this company as long as they want me, not losing
the insurance on the foreseeable future. To make things just perfect,
they should pass a law where a politician should do their work like
the constitution say they should. Damn politicians, they just raised
two taxes... :(


Skiing sounds very cool. And cold. brrrrr!!


-- Tiago

 On 04/20/11 04:00, Tiago wrote:


Have you thought of buying one of the big steel shipping containers?
You can get them in the US for $1200 DELIVERED in some places, one of
which is up in the mountains east of Salt Lake City, Utah. I'd buy
several if the city would allow it.  And if I could figure out how to
get it down my driveway...


They do that everywhere. If I were going to move I think I'd want a
country that at least uses the same alphabet I'm used to.


BUT my MIL lived to 89 with CHF.  She had lots of pills, but since she
also had macular degeneration and memory problems (not alzheimers, she
just had a hard time remembering things) she didn't take them properly.


Some people's blood pressure is sensitive to salt and some are not.  You
should find out which you are.


That's the donkey knee thing, right?


Muscle damage is a problem, which is why they want frequent blood tests.


My ancestors were Scandinavian and northern German, and the ones that I
know about had high cholesterol.  I suspect that this may be adaptation
to cold weather, but that's just a guess. No HBP, though.


Downside:  Husband has eaten virtuously and done huge amounts of
exercise for 30 years and just found out he has a leaky heart valve.
The meds make him tired.  There is no fscking justice.


Definitely keep it if you can.  Having a job you hate sucks badly, as
does hating where you live.


OTOH, aren't you guys energy-independent?  Or is that just something the
ethanol-people beat us over the head with?


It may be in places that are really cold, but the temps up in the
mountains in the morning (I'm pooped by noon and leave, so afternoon
doesn't matter) range between 15F (9.4C -- I had to look it up) and 45F
(10C) and ordinary ski clothing is easily warm enough for comfort.  Wind
on the face is unpleasant, but fixable.  Lots of people ski in shorts
around the end of the season, but I think they're poseurs! A lot of
people like 'spring skiing', but I hate it -- I like predictable snow,
and slush ("soft" in ski-resort parlance!) is anything but!

I'd never really thought about degrees C before -- seems like a real
nuisance to have such a big spread in F be such a small difference in C.

--
Cheers, Bev
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you see me running, try to keep up."
       ...Back of bomb technician's shirt

 
Yes, I was talking about steel shipping containers, they usually come
in 20 feet and 40 feet (there are 10ft, 45ft and 53ft plus some other
odd not common sizes). They are air and water tight, made of high
grade quality steel and they are cheap, the price they charge to
deliver it and position it right on my property... They weight about 2
to 3 metric tons for a 20ft one...


I love Uruguay. Great country with great people and great food. I
wonder how is living there, but it's perfect for vacations.


Nah, here is worse. They are incredibly ridiculous. Ask anyone who has
been here.


note to self: tie knot on finger to remember taking pills


I am...


no, cow kneecaps dish is another one, also made with black beans.
Proper "feijoada" is pork based. Everything: ears, tails, belly, ribs,
bacon, sausages... everything. It's delicious. check:
http://www.copacabana.info/feijoada.html



I saw that on the informational paper that comes in the crestor box...
Well, I'm just starting it, I'm not sure. I will have to ask that to
the doctor.


Perhaps. My ancestry is Polish from mom side. From dad side is kind of
unknown, but there is native indians in his mix, for sure.



the world is a cruel place


I am almost tired of working for a private company and having the
government eat lots of my income, paying more tax than people in
Germany and the street I live isn't even paved. To get home, I have to
dodge pot holes everywhere. It amuse me when I read around on the
internet people saying "my car with 10000000000 miles never had the
steering pivot or shock replaced", this is a job for every 3 years to
me, no matter what the car is. Govt is raising taxes every day and I'm
not getting anything back, the tax on social health care is astronomic
and the public hospitals sucks, I have to pay for private health
insurance... Not to mention schools, police and everything else. You
should talk to someone who has lived here...


This is propaganda. Don't believe it. We *do* produce more oil than we
need, but it's heavy oil that isn't 100% good for fuel, we have to
import some of our gasoline and diesel. Ethanol is seasonal and right
now fuel distributors are importing it from overseas... Don't believe
this "sugar cane crop doesn't compete with food", it might be, because
after planting cane sugar, the land is worthless for anything else
without spending a lot on fertilizers... We had some power blackouts
lately... Lots of what they say are lies, don't trust the government
to tell you the truth, specially, our government, they are
professional liars, we have a assumed bomber terrorist kidnaper and
murderer as president and among her ministers are people who had
facial plastic surgery to be "different" and nobody recognize him. Not
a serious country, indeed. Great climate, but the politicians ruin it.


10C ain't that cold!


Some measures are interesting. I think meters are better than foots
(more precision), but F is more accurate then C. 1ºC makes a big
difference.


-- T