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A giant snowdrift blocking the road
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Dreams
- Hits: 1828
I'm in my father's house, not house, living there, there's Uncle B**** and P**, at the end of a hall there's an antique phone, land line...Uncle P** tells me to call this number, it's a scam or something, as soon as I lift the receiver there's a voice telling me that I've done something wrong and the police have been dispatched.
We shrug, we've done nothing wrong...
I can't seem to find my room, opening doors, so many doors, he's let out some of the rooms to strangers, I see beds in each of the rooms, otherwise bare...
I'm drinking cranberry juice and soda, we have a soda machine, don't know why, I'm thirsty, but can't seem to quench the thirst, no matter how much ice I add the juice is never cold enough...
...driving, in my jeep, following a car, cutting across the states from Montana through Idaho and into Washington...the road is full of snow, the car ahead of me is trying to speed but the road is too slippery, I'm in no rush and back off, through a tunnel, exiting the road is completely blocked by a snow drift, an ice cave follows the general direction of the road, but it's impassable, you can see the colors of daylight through the snow above, I get out to take a picture, get my phone, this would be a great panorama, but my fingers, they're not working as they should, I can't seem to get the passcode in, the phone/camera isn't working...
Valentines 2016
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 2139
Another Valentines in Hospitality. That's OK, need the cash, these are the first busy days in over a month.
It started Thursday, the early trickle of Valentines couples on errant schedules, hoping to avoid the rush or the special menu pricing, alternate lifestyle couples that have more than a single person to pass Valentines with and so their whole weekend will be taken up, and sensible diners who know damn well this isn't a weekend to dine out...
Friday, busy, as above. Saturday, the countless couples, and the almost as many no shows, people who call around and book reservations at as many restaurants as they can, then decide where they'll spend Valentines. They don't let us know, and don't answer the phone when we call to confirm. Like every year I've ever been there, we never fill. One table even tries to walk-in, no reservation, we have room, but that's some audacity and poor planning...
For most of these people this is a rare night out. They're on tight budgets, drink water, skip the appetizers, you can dine with us for pretty reasonably, comparatively. Duty bound husbands and spouses, couples, but for all the hype I don't get the love off even a single table. Comfort, complacency, but Love, well, it's a lot harder to find.
We have few regulars here this weekend, most know better. But there's a few, one, ordering expensive wine, $200 bottle, 3 people, over $600 bill, he brings a couple of us glasses of wine to share, steps out, runs to the florists, buys a few dozen roses (and these at Valentine's Pricing), then comes back to the restaurant to give them to some of the customers, his dates, the female kitchen staff, he's brightening a lot of lives and he knows it, he's a champion...
Tomorrow, the relentless onslaught of deuces, Sunday, traditionally closed but we're opening for this, already booked solid, but as we should have learned by now appearances are deceiving. I'm, we all are, Valentines free this year, it comes with the job, the territory, but so far, this year, I'm kind of glad...
Placebos
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Link of the day
- Hits: 1888
A rather interesting article on how your body trains itself to respond to medicine:
http://mosaicscience.com/story/medicine-without-the-medicine-how-to-train-your-immune-system-placebo
Noteworthy in the study is how the mice died even when no poison was administered, the thought/association of dying was enough...
And there's this - the placebo effect is rising: http://www.nature.com/news/strong-placebo-response-thwarts-painkiller-trials-1.18511
Which raises some interesting questions about medicine in general. But I'll let you ask those on your own...
Diseases of Affluence
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 1901
And when people tell you that their sick, unwell, and you think to yourself of how much of our sickness, unwellness, disease is simply a result of our wealth...
We are spoiled, for sure, think of Obesity, an epidemic here, admittedly with smoking it prevalently affects the lower classes, but think, our poorest citizens can still afford to eat too much, eat out, eat fast food, and smoke, and compare this to those people starving and you'll acknowledge that we have perhaps a little too much money. And there are the things like cancer, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes (type 2), dentistry, most of which things trace back to lifestyle choices - diet, exercise, and otherwise. And where they don't they come back to things like life expectancy - old age, dementia, Alzheimers', more privileges of affluence, these things in some countries they are struggling to attain...
Addictions, nicotine, alcohol, whatever else, these have to be afforded, a sure sign of too much money...
And there are the awful psychological afflictions, things like narcissism, neurosis, boredom...all of which are privileges we take for granted, despise and treat even...how fortunate we are...
Our wealth is killing us...
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