Sorry for the lack of posts, but Shawn and I have been really busy reorganizing and cleaning the common areas. We basically had a GI party in the living room, dining room, and kitchen, and we got rid of all dander and anything that might trigger Shawn’s allergies (spring is a coming). All wood got rubbed down with Murphy’s Oil Soap and then Lemon Oil, all stainless steel is sparkling, carpets are clean, and we hung some new curtains.
Shawn’s blood sugar has been rock solid. I keep forgetting to put up some food posts, but last night we just had leftovers and since there wasn’t that much, I made some quick stuffed portabellas. Tonight I cooked some brats and sauerkraut, steamed cauliflower with a little butter and cheddar, boiled up some beets and sliced them up, and some cottage cheese and pineapple. His blood sugar was 123 before dinner and his two hour post-prandial was 129, so we really feel like we have a good part of this figured out.
ruemara
You guys are so… domesticated. Good on you and Shawn for the blood sugar controls.
Mary G
Amazing how helping out a friend helps you too. Glad to see you so energized, John.
John O
Get an HgBA1C and we’ll talk.
Also, too, a room.
kc
We basically had a GI party in the living room, dining room, and kitchen,
Helen
Cole – have you lost weight since you started this “diet”?
Corner Stone
When did WV pass equality for LGBT marriage act?
kc
A . . . gastro-intestinal party?
Mart
At the risk of being pilloried, I find seasonal homeopathic allergy medicine very helpful with no side effects. The side effects of real allergy medicine about kill me. I realize the improved health may be in my head. My dad the physicist said to me, you do realize that according to Avogadro’s law there is not a single molecule of medicine in this medicine? Few years back thought I had Bird Flu while working in Europe. When I got to Germany loaded up on 25 euros of authentic German homeopathic medicine and was able to make it through the work week. Has helped me with animal dander. Might want to try out a ten dollar bottle to see if helps any. If not, sorry you are out the ten bucks.
jl
Sounds good.
But, probably best not to try to get Shawn to shave Steve’s ass. That is a bad approach no matter who tries it.
Corner Stone
We all do know that Shawn is not, in reality, a fat white cat. Right?
Suffern ACE
@kc: Well they were both in the service together, so that could be a “General Infantry” party. But there’s only two of them, so that’s not much of a party. “Gelatin Injection”? Do diabetics need Gelatin Injections?
ruemara
@Suffern ACE: Are gelatin injections even legal?
burnspbesq
Thanks, Cole. Y’all shamed me into finally reading the Neal Barnard book that my doc recommended that I read several years ago, and I started trying it (it’s close enough to full-on vegan that the distinctions are hardly worth mentioning). Today was easy: cantaloupe for breakfast, an oat-based meal-replacement bar for lunch, some grapes around 4:00, and black bean chili for dinner. We’ll see how it goes from here.
Fair Economist
Keep records of what you and Shawn are cooking and eating. You’ve got the makings of a great book, or blog, or both. “Treating Diabetes the Gourmet Way” is still available, judging by Google.
burnspbesq
This book.
http://www.amazon.com/Neal-Barnards-Program-Reversing-Diabetes/dp/1594868107/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394683374&sr=1-2&keywords=neal+barnard
NotMax
Murphy’s Oil Soap is a non-petroleum-based cleaner, not a treatment or preservative. As it is primarily vegetable oil (think salad dressing) which does not penetrate but instead leaves a coating, if used as a wood cleaner it is recommended to remove that coating with clean water, as one would remove any soap or soap film. Lemon oil will act as an emulsifier and make the vegetable oil coating sticky and uneven, and attract grime.
If the wood is sealed (with a polyurethane coating, for instance) what needs cleaning is the coating, not the wood, and using vegetable oil soap can damage and discolor the coating over time with repeated use.
On leather, the film Murphy’s Oil Soap leaves behind, however, can be a small plus, sort of a poor man’s version of saddle soap.
joel hanes
a GI party
Having never attended a GI party, the other members of my family have no idea what it takes to get something really clean.
Have you noticed that it’s really difficult to get liquid floor wax any more? Johnson’s Paste Wax in the flat yellow can is about the only remaining floor wax on my grocer’s shelves.
Which leads to this question: in today’s Army, does one still mop wet, use a buffer to strip, mop three times, wax, and buff ?
Driving a floor buffer about can be a sort of fun if you’re bored enough.
TaMara (BHF)
@Mart: I’m with you on that, so I’ll be pilloried next to you. Of course, western medicine is admitting the value of things like local honey to help with grass and pollen allergies – – – Of course that’s probably not an option for Shawn – – – And many who rescue animals know the benefits of Rescue Remedy, etc.
? Martin
@kc: That was my thought as well, and then I remembered he was in a frat and an eating/pooping party suddenly seemed more believable.
joel hanes
@Mart:
I find seasonal homeopathic allergy medicine very helpful with no side effects.
I don’t doubt you. There’s lots of anecdotal evidence just like yours.
mazareth
It’s somewhat academic for me because I’ve been a vegetarian for the last 20+ years, but can you even get decent brats in outside the upper Midwest? And I don’t mean Johnsonville.
When I was in High School and my first couple years of college, I worked for a butcher that made brats, kishka and blood sausage, etc. from scratch. He even blended his own spice mixtures. This was in Wisconsin back in the mid seventies to mid eighties. Back then, most of the local grocery stores made their own brats in house.
I ask because the “brats” I had in Ohio when I was in Grad school were horrible.
John, I’m glad to hear that Phil is doing well on his new diet. I lost a grandmother far too soon because she didn’t manage her diabetes well.
Ruckus
@joel hanes:
Never been that bored.
But I have been that drunk, which I think makes driving the buffer a lot more fun.
NotMax
@joel hanes
Possibly because modern flooring is more vinyl or laminated (as opposed to the older linoleum or varnished types), and using wax on those newer materials makes for some slippery conditions.
burnspbesq
@mazareth:
Hell yes. Even in my nondescript Wonder-bread suburb deep in the bowels of Orange County, we have a German butcher and an upscale supermarket that make their own.
Citizen_X
@TaMara (BHF): Local (raw, unfiltered) honey has local pollen.
Homeopathic remedies have nothing.
burnspbesq
If these allegations can be proven, this is some pretty horrendous shit, and anyone involved should be looking at some serious time in the brig.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/03/a-gitmo-prisoner-alleges-he-has-been-tortured-under-obama/284369/#comments
NotMax
@mazareth
Kishka (Polish type, made with blood) is okay. Like haggis, can be somewhat of an acquired taste.
Kishke (Jewish type, sometimes known as stuffed derma) is heavenly.
? Martin
@burnspbesq: I wouldn’t be opposed to putting all of Congress in prison for allowing this to continue.
joel hanes
But you’ll pardon me if I note that the “theory” of homeopathy is absurd and Wrong ?
Joshua Norton
I had a fairly productive day myself. I moved the box of Christmas decorations a little closer to the door.
NotMax
@NotMax
Left out the most important ingredient.
Kishke (Jewish type, sometimes known as stuffed derma, made with rendered chicken fat)
KG
@burnspbesq: you’re in Irvine (can anything else be the bowels of OC?)? I thought you were further north, like Costa Mesa way
Eric U.
I think that driving the buffer around is mildy entertaining. As close as I’ll get to driving a zamboni
Still no hopeful signs on the Elkhound adoption front, but at least she has adapted fairly quickly to life with two other dogs without the feared injuries. I think the aggression problem she had before was that there was jealousy between her and the other dog she lived with. We let her know she was lowest status and she seems to have picked up on that pretty quickly.
Punchy
“All the wood got rubbed down…”
I bet it did.
Mart
@Citizen_X: Homeopathic at least has a placebo effect. My wife and daughters did not respond like I did to it, but it has changed my life. If only in my head, I am OK with that. That my wife and daughters wasted 30 bucks on “medicine” that did not work, that is a lot cheaper than most pharmas that do not work.
burnspbesq
@KG:
I’m actually in Orange, near the 55/22 junction. My office is in Costa Mesa, near the Performing Arts Center.
Mattern Deli on East Chapman between Esplanade and Hewes. Pacific Ranch Market, on the corner of Chapman and Newport.
Citizen_X
@Mart:
So do sugar pills.
KG
@burnspbesq: I’ll have to check those out, grew up in Yorba Linda, did my JD at Chapman and now am in Long Beach but still venture behind the Curtain to see family
ETA: I assume you know of the breakfast burritos at Nates?
Helen
@NotMax: Are you polish? I ask cuz I am (1/2) anyway polish. Lottsa Irish in there. I grew up calling Kielbasa “Kabasee” What did you call it?
And we have moved into “who cares” territory.
Violet
@Mart:
Most effective medicine in the world is the placebo. If a placebo works because you think it works, that says a lot about the power of belief.
burnspbesq
@joel hanes:
Dara O’Briain went there first.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uDYba0m6ztE
scav
@Citizen_X: Circus clowns and Brats can have the placebo effect. Of course placebos are very individual. Tater Tots are my personal valium some days.
burnspbesq
@KG:
I do. Never been there. Taco Mesa does a hellacious machaca and egg burrito.
Eric U.
I have never known something had a placebo effect until I took electrolyte pills for cramps. They go away immediately after taking the pill, so there simply cannot be time for a theraputic response. Not complaining.
For mood disorders, certain Indian foods contain a spice that lifts my spirits every time. Makes me want to take up Indian cooking
burnspbesq
@KG:
Mike Lang is a friend; we met through working on ABA Tax Section stuff. I tried one of the cases he uses to teach about conflicts of interest in the ethical problems in tax practice course.
NotMax
@Helen
Mother was born in Poland (that village is now in Ukraine).
What did we call kielbasa?
“Stuff we were forced to eat in the old country.”
All kidding aside, in reality never even encountered it until after had left home.
burnspbesq
@scav:
I have always found that the therapeutic effect of Tater Tots is significantly enhanced if they are administered with fish sticks. Catholic comfort food.
NotMax
@NotMax
Always found it somewhat amusing (and things may have since changed) that I was eligible to become President, having been born in the U.S., but ineligible to join the F.B.I. because one parent was not born here.
KG
@burnspbesq: I avoided tax law as much as possible, so didn’t know Lang, but always glad to know local attorneys actually realize Chapman is there (and not all crazy)
Helen
@NotMax: Really? Never occurred to me. Mom was born in Belfast. I can’t join the FBI? Really. I know that if you try to join the Justice Dept. and you have citizenship elsewhere (ME IRELAND) you need a really good reason why.
NotMax
@Helen
As I say, things may have changed, but sure as shootin’ that’s how it was when I was of age to start rooting around in the employment marketplace.
Suffern ACE
@Helen: Yeah. I don’t know if the common answer to the question “Why have you kept your dual citizenship” would fly with the FBI anyway. “In case something bad happens, I want to be able to leave the country” is not exactly what the FBI would like to hear. I mean, it’s the FBI. I think their job is to make sure that the “something bad” doesn’t happen, as they define “something bad”, for better or worse. Why would they want agents who’d think “well if I fail at this, I can leave?”
mazareth
@NotMax:
My old boss made the Polish kind with blood and barley. He also made a Polish style potato sausage. I remember the kishka being good fried up with onions and potatoes.
I don’t often miss meat these days. But if I do, it’s never steak or tenderloin. It’s almost always poultry, seafood or sausage. When I lived in Austria, I used treat myself to this killer coarse around smoked liver sausage. It came in a natural casing.
I never had any Jewish style meats or other foods growing up. I grew up in Central Wisconsin, the nearest significant Jewish population is in Madison. The only Jewish family in my childhood neighborhood was Lutheran.
Helen
@Suffern ACE: I got it in my 20’s because I wanted to get through a European train vacation easily (this was a year or two before the EU opened the borders).
Now? I happier than I can tell you. I love America, but I need a break. A socialist break. And Ireland made that very easy for me.
The beauty is I can work there with no questions. My plan is for retirement, but if I want to work I can.
seaboogie
@joel hanes: kind of like vaccinations, and such then? Sez, you – what does your body say?
Joel
Revis Island.
seaboogie
@burnspbesq: True dat! To which I will add “Shake and Bake” chicken, back in my day. That, plus fishsticks and tater tots were the father, son and holy ghost of midwestern-Catholic-get some kind of meal on the table-of my youth.
? Martin
@KG: I’m in Irvine. I suppose that could now be the bowels. I dispute anything in his neighborhood would qualify as Wonder-bread compared to Woodbridge.
Fair Economist
@burnspbesq: Orange County, CA is still kinda conservative and Republican (not as much as it used to be) but it’s certainly not whitebread. There’s a good ethnic mix these days, and enough wealth to drive some eclecticism, so there’s actually a fair amount of unusual and off-beat stuff here.
? Martin
@Fair Economist: We’ve got a strain of diversity, but it’s notably lacking blacks and even latinos to a large degree. Lot of asians, persians, indians, though. I’d like to say it’s the high cost of living, but it’s not. Most of the african americans from work commute in from Compton and other parts of LA. That’s where they grew up, where their friends are, their hangouts, etc. Latinos live in Santa Ana and communities that they grew up in as well. They don’t see Irvine as a place where they fit in.
We’re less and less conservative each year. Obama won quite a few cities here. Irvine is a bit different from some other OC cities in that we have a very transitory population. The city is 40 years old. Almost nobody grew up here (except for Will Farrell) so everyone came from somewhere else. The old Reagan stronghold is just something we’ve all read about. At with a quarter million people and growing, fuck the old school conservatives. We outnumber them now. It’s slow going, but its going. We’ll turn this place blue, yet.
Not much off-beat in Irvine though. It’s about as buttoned up as you get. But it’s very easy – at least Woodbridge is. Nothing at all to worry about. Like living in the Truman Show.
Anne Laurie
@Eric U.:
Turmeric, possibly?
You can buy capsules at chain drugstores now, but it’s probably more fun to eat it in delicious Indian food…
Cassidy
So when’s the wedding? Is that legal in WV yet?
Bob
“carpets are clean”
That’s a neat trick. Did you use a flamethrower?
Manyakitty
@NotMax: Shmaltz (rendered chicken fat) makes many things better.
Betsy
@NotMax: yeah, and you should never, ever, put any of the “furniture polish” products on fine or antique furniture, even though they recommend themselves with their own labels for use on all wood furntiure etc. Pledge, Old English, and all of that stuff is like some of the worst things you can do to antiques. sorry Cole, more annoying advice from your comment section.