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Grex > Health > #89: Sindi Keesan's Lymphoma Journal Part 3 |  |
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| 25 new of 475 responses total. |
keesan
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response 291 of 475:
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Feb 26 03:16 UTC 2004 |
Jim does not want to buy 7 programmable thermostats for his house, and he also
prefers to leave the temperautre at around 57 all the time rather than turn
it down at night and have condensation on the windows. If someone wants a
warmer room they can turn up their own heat. Assuming he can find another
compatible housemate.
Today wewent for another walk and looked at the baby rats at the local pet
store. Non-baby rats come in small, medium and larger, for $4, $5 and $6.
You would think the younger ones would cost more since they will live longer.
The smallest babies are pink and hairless and look more like amphibians.
They had pet food for sensitive skin and for sensitive stomachs, and imitation
bones made out of corn starch withfood coloring, or potato starch, or
watermelon or peach pulp (with some binder). A doggie car seat belt.
Allsorts of toys that cost more than the $3 hamsters. Go blue sweaters for
your dog or cat. Cockatiels were $20 off.\
Excuse the sticky space bar on this computer. I was tring to get it to dial
with a newer kernel and older library and pppd - no luck.
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rcurl
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response 292 of 475:
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Feb 26 05:52 UTC 2004 |
We have one programmable thermostat for our 11 room house (including
baths) - works just fine. What is intended to be accomplished with 7
separate thermostats? I would think some could at least by combined into a
common unit.
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rational
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response 293 of 475:
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Feb 26 05:56 UTC 2004 |
11 rooms?! You're rich.
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anderyn
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response 294 of 475:
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Feb 26 13:55 UTC 2004 |
Baby rats are more food for snakes, etc.
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gull
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response 295 of 475:
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Feb 26 17:09 UTC 2004 |
I don't turn down the thermostat in my apartment unless I'm going to be
gone for a couple of days or more. The markings on it are so vague and
inaccurate that it takes an hour or two of fiddling to get it back in
the right spot again, so it's just not worth messing with it. It's a
very cheap Honeywell unit. The classic round Honeywell thermostats seem
to be better.
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keesan
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response 296 of 475:
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Feb 26 17:16 UTC 2004 |
There will be one thermostat per room, and one baseboard heater per
thermostat. What is the point of having the heat in one room controlled by
the thermostat in another room?
One electronic thermostat could be set to turn the heat down 5-15 deg using a
photocell, presumably when the light was off and the sun was down and you did
not live near a streetlight, but there was no way to turn it down below 59
in the daytime.
At Kroger's we stopped to get me more juice (grapefruit, with nothing much
added to it) and looked at the eggs section. 97 cents for 18 large eggs and
we wondered why anyone would pay $1.55 for Grade B Medium eggs but bought a
dozen anyway and were automatically charged 69 cents. They were brown and
looked to me like X-Large - maybe anything nonstandard goes into the 'Grade
B' cartons, of any size. Does Grade B mean they are older?
You could also get 'cage free' eggs, or low cholesterol eggs, or 'vegetarian
fed' eggs which were kosher and high in vitamin E. Are there non kosher eggs?
What are chickens eating nowadays, pigs? If so, does this make them
nonkosher?
I did not see any green eggs. Someone at market was selling green eggs
claimed to be low cholesterol.
Rice is tasting better, tomato sauce still quite sour, same for apple sauce.
I cooked yesterday - some sort of small Indian bean (mung?) with onions,
garlic, carrots, cinnamon, paprica, sliced wood ear, and fermented black
beans, and some tomato paste. It tasted odd.
Jim just came in to measure the walls to see if his space heaters will fit.
We have 4, 6 and 8' baseboard hydronic heaters which can be rewired for
permanent use, and an assortment of possible bathroom heaters. The hydronic
heaters sold new for wire-in use can cost up to $200. Cheaper new ones start
at around $30 and clank.
I have a big translation arriving tomorrow. The agency is expected about one
box of documents and will send me as much as I can keep up with. End of my
vacation.
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keesan
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response 297 of 475:
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Feb 26 17:18 UTC 2004 |
We are buying only thermostats with temperature markings. One marked L M H
was $4 cheaper but would need calibration.
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klg
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response 298 of 475:
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Feb 26 17:52 UTC 2004 |
Per the USDA
Grades
A grade shield on the packaging indicates the eggs have been graded
under federal supervision, as most have. Some states do their own
grading; they can display a grade but not the USDA grade shield. In
order of decreasing quality, grades are AA, A, and B. All ungraded eggs
sold to consumers must meet B standards. Restricted eggs do not meet
B standards; their disposition is regulated to prevent them from
reaching consumers, although two types of restricted eggs, checks (the
shell is cracked but the membrane beneath is not broken), and dirties,
may be sold to factories equipped to process them properly.
All graded eggs must be clean and have sound, whole shells. Grade B may
show some staining, provided it covers less than 25% of the shell, and
the shell may be misshapen or have thin spots, ridges, and other
textural defects. There are no color requirements.
The main difference between the grades is internal, and mostly reflects
the freshness of the egg. The air cell in a grade AA egg must not be
more than 1/8 inch deep; in a grade B egg it is over 3/16 inch deep.
The egg white should be thick and clear; the yolk firm and well-defined.
Candling placing a very strong light behind the egg can reveal more
about the egg than one might think. For example, if the egg white is
thin, twirling the egg will make the yolk move nearer to the shell than
it would if the egg white were thicker.
Quality is more obvious once the egg is broken. The yolk of a grade AA
egg is tall; the white doesn't spread out much, and there is more thick
white than thin white. The yolk of a grade B egg is flattened, it has
more thin white than thick white and will spread out to cover a larger
area.
Per the Union of Orthodox Rabbis:
VI. EGGS
The eggs (or other by-products) of non-kosher birds or fish are not
kosher. Caviar, therefore, must come from a kosher fish and this
requires reliable supervision. Commercial liquid eggs also require
supervision. Eggs of kosher fowl, which contain a bloodspot, must be
discarded, and therefore eggs should be checked before use.
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rcurl
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response 299 of 475:
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Feb 26 18:35 UTC 2004 |
Re #293: you can get 11 rooms in any house: just add more walls.
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twenex
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response 300 of 475:
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Feb 26 18:36 UTC 2004 |
/snicker.
Including the hall and vestibule, there are 12 rooms in mine.
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keesan
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response 301 of 475:
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Feb 26 23:14 UTC 2004 |
Do closets that you can walk into count as rooms? Enclosed porches? Hallways
with or without stairs?
Klg, thanks for the egg information. I still think they used the 'grade B'
category to hold all the brown eggs that were not 'large'. I looked at the
dozen eggs and they appeared to be mostly extra large and some mediums. The
store sells brown eggs only in large size. None of them looked misshapen or
stained. I fried one and it had the highest yoke and least runny white I
have ever seen in any egg, meaning it was quite fresh.
So a fertilized egg is nonkosher?
Today I walked to my apartment for the first time since July. I cleaned up
a bit and organized. Jim had for some reason put the frying pan in the
basement and the kitchen chair on the porch when our Chinese friend was
staying there. I formatted a few 5 1/4" floppy disks and threw out the high
density ones to make a lot of space. Anyone want them before Tuesday?
I found the tax info I needed to finish taxes this weekend. Jim found a
Macintosh computer and mouse and keyboard, and the neighbor gave him a Mac
monitor for a friend who likes Macs. He also gave him a 640 monitor for a
grexer that we gave a monitor to, which died. We walked halfway back with
Jim carrying two monitors (one to dump, one for the friend) and then stopped
at my nurse's house and she had bought a 17" used model so then Jim carried
her monitor back here (the one we had lent her). Lots of exercise today.
I carried the floppy disks and tax info and a couple of books on Win95 and
Internet for Dummies for the friend we made a computer for to do internet.
What we really went for was my Slovene dictionary but I forgot that.
Jim also found a 26" aluminum bike wheel which he carried with the monitor.
I still need a replacement TTL monitor but he could not carry any more today
so will get one on his bike Tuesday. A big day! I got exhausted carrying
a bag weighing no more than 10 pounds. Got to do this more often.
We stopped and talked to the nurse's mother (while Jim was installing Windows
Entertainment Pack for the nurse), who used to grow and can a lot of
vegetables and fruits from her own garden. She still has the energy to cook
but not much else right now. I am thinking about whehter to plant a garden
this spring (after Jim digs it). Another sign of spring - two squirrels
chasing each other in circles.
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keesan
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response 302 of 475:
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Feb 28 01:47 UTC 2004 |
Good thing that the agency that was going to send me the Slovene translation
forgot to even call or email me about it and I did not need the dictionary.
They were going to call back about it a few weeks ago and also forgot. There
is a shortage of Slovene to English pharmaceutical translators in the US, when
you really need them.
Today was warm and sunny again so we went for a walk to the and the hardware
store, where Jim determined he could put three 220V space heaters on one 15
amp 220 circuit. He is inventorying the collection to choose the right ones.
On the way back the owner of the 1200 square foot house to which a 2900 square
foot addition with full basement and double garage is being built came out
and let us look at the cement-fiber shingle siding, which Jim would like on
his own house (after he finishes the wiring and ventilation and insulation
and roofing and garage door). She let us carry back some 4' long wide boards
from the dumpster, where Jim also found 4 somewhat stale and sickeningly sweet
looking donuts.
I felt strong enough to carry back a 6' 2x4, one block. Tomorrow we can walk
them over to my apartment for exercise.
Assuming the big job will actually arrive Monday (when I scheduled lunch with
a friend who had wanted it to be Friday but I had a job coming), I need to
finish taxes this weekend. I added up $111 worth of drugs (the rest was
covered by insurance) and over $10,500 of medical expenses including
deductible, insurance, dentist, bed pad, parking 19 times at the hospital.
If I put all my earnings (after expenses) into a ROTH IRA, I can deduct half
of what I put in the IRA from my federal income taxes (to equal nothing) and
pay only Social Security tax (which I may never get back).
The hospital refunded $38 to the insurance company for overbilling me for 3
antinausea pills when they only gave me 2. Probably 1 would have worked.
They billed me about 20 cents less for 1 instead of 2 benadryls.
Jim must have seen the Mikado too many times. He figures that the main part
of getting his wiring and ventilation done is drawing up the plans, and it
will then be as good as done. It does seem to be taking forever to choose
the wattage and length of heater, and locations which will not conflict with
furniture or electric outlets or ventilation (left over from the furnace era
25 years ago). He might wire in two boxes in each room so he can move the
heater if someone wants to put furniture there. Or have two heaters in each
room and turn one off if it is blocked. He wanted to put the ventilation in
the floor but I pointed out that things fall in it that way, such as dust.
I had been hoping in a few weeks to get back to working on my house, now that
he had 6 months of free time to work on his while it was cold. I offered to
buy him new siding for his house when (?) mine was done. Now he wants new
roofing that is photovoltaic. I pointed out that finishing the wiring would
save him about $100/year in insurance costs, which is more than solar power
is likely to do even if did not cost anything to install. Insurance companies
don't like the idea of fuse boxes, or 60 amp service.
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keesan
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response 303 of 475:
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Feb 28 05:01 UTC 2004 |
I made supper - frozen green soybeans, sliced wood ear, frozen mustard greens
with red stems, dried lily flowers, garlic, ginger, toasted bought tacos.
This tasted less odd than yesterday's supper, maybe because I left out the
cinnamon. Things are tasting a bit better than I last remember. Blueberries
tasted awful a month ago and today they were good in my oatmeal. The oatmeal
is also tasting better.
My hair has not been falling out for a week or so. I still have a small number
of 2" long hairs dating from an early Sept. haircut, but the others are all
about 1/2" except for a few baldish spots.
We have (maybe) chosen the locations of the heaters for all of downstairs,
which requires moving 2 or 3 of the return air vents that Jim already put in,
rather than moving some of the electric or phone outlets that he added. He
had put them in outside walls which interferes with insulation so wants to
move them anyway. The kitchen heater will go under a short built-in table.
In Japan they put the heat (charcoal) under the table and put a cloth over
it and everyone's legs, but he is not considering a cloth. It is supposed
to keep the window over the table from fogging up and dripping. Jim was last
seen making multiple copies of one heater drawing and moving them through
walls. He picked out the best location for a heater in the room I am using
and then I pointed out that my furniture arrangement would block the heat.
No way you can outguess all your tenants but he will use the other wall
instead. People have put queen size beds in the 9x10' room so he wants to
leave wall space for that possibility.
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rcurl
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response 304 of 475:
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Feb 28 07:20 UTC 2004 |
They use open charcoal heaters in Japan? Burning charcoal emits copious carbon
monoxide. Many people have been put to sleep- permanently - by using charcoal
for heating or cooking indoors.
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keesan
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response 305 of 475:
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Feb 28 14:30 UTC 2004 |
Traditional Japanese houses had sliding rice paper screens as walls and were
pretty drafty.
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rcurl
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response 306 of 475:
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Feb 28 21:12 UTC 2004 |
Just don't try it yourself.
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keesan
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response 307 of 475:
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Feb 28 22:21 UTC 2004 |
I don't have sliding rice paper walls.
Today's hike was to the downtown library to renew my card, followed by a
picnic at Zingerman's. Day-old bread and older pears from market. I looked
at heaters and grills at Kiwanis. They had one used 3' plug-in heater for
$10 and one grill for ventilation for $1. Jim wants to plan out his basement
finishing job before doing the ventilation. This may never happen but it will
be as good as done. He offered to start back to work on my house tomorrow.
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drew
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response 308 of 475:
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Feb 28 22:34 UTC 2004 |
I don't remember there being a basement in the house that I saw. Does Jim have
a second house somewhere nearby?
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jmsaul
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response 309 of 475:
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Feb 28 23:58 UTC 2004 |
Re #304: It's more of a problem in Korea than Japan, but a number of people
die from using charcoal heaters every year.
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keesan
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response 310 of 475:
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Feb 29 04:26 UTC 2004 |
The only thing we burnt recently was two tacos that Jim was trying to cook
in the toaster oven. They caught on fire so he took the oven outside.
Jim's house is a 1.5 story with a full basement. We are building a house
without a basement under it on Felch St. The side porch has a basement under
it and will be used for the water heater and dehumidifier. My apartment has
a basement bathroom and two dead washing machines in the basement. That is
one reason I am staying at Jim's house, where there is a bathroom on the same
floor as the bedroom. I am still slow on stairs and when I get out of hte
hospital needed help to climb even one step. The new house will have a
bathroom on each floor.
I just discovered that for Michigan taxes you can subtract the cost of health
insurance but not the cost of health care from what you pay taxes on. You
can also subtract what you put into a medical savings account . Where do I
get one of those and how much can I put in each year? If I can put in $8000,
it will save me $320/year on MI taxes.
Jim's taxes should be easy since I did not pay him anything this year - just
apply for the property tax refund.
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gelinas
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response 311 of 475:
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Feb 29 04:41 UTC 2004 |
Last I heard, Medical Savings Accounts were donated to the government at the
end of the year. Roughly.
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keesan
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response 312 of 475:
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Feb 29 04:46 UTC 2004 |
I know that I will be paying $8000/year in medical expenses this year and
next, and nearly that much for three years after that. CAT scans are about
$3000 each, talking to the doctor probably another $500 a shot, multiplied
by 4 with a slight discount negotiated by the insurance company. For this
year (2004) add two infusions at $7000 each minus a discount. Luckily my
deductible is only $8000.
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klg
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response 313 of 475:
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Feb 29 05:01 UTC 2004 |
MSAs are tax-deferred accounts that allow you to save money for
medical expenses. Here's how they work: Your employer (or self) would
take the money currently spent on your health insurance and deposit a
portion into your newly established Medical Savings Account, up to
$1,400 for an individual (or $3,375 for a family). The other portion
would be used to purchase a catastrophic policy that covers medical
expenses after you meet a deductible.
Using your MSA funds, you pay for your first $1,400 worth of medical
bills directly. MSA funds can be used to cover any medical expense
that is currently tax deductible. The list of medical expenses is very
broad. It includes (this is a partial list, the entire list includes
over 100 deductions): acupuncture, anesthetist, chiropractor, contact
lenses, dentist, eye glasses, medical doctor, psychologist, registered
nurse and surgery.
You have two options for handling unspent MSA funds:
you can save money (tax-free) for future medical expenses and the
interest that you accrue is also tax-free; or you can withdraw money
from your MSA at the end of the year, but would need to maintain a
minimum balance.
Nonmedical withdrawals would be fully taxed and subject to a 15
percent tax penalty.
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keesan
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response 314 of 475:
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Feb 29 16:15 UTC 2004 |
I don't quite follow. I am supposed to split up the amount that I currently
spend on medical insurance and use part of it to pay for medical insurance
and put the rest in a savings account? Or I can use part of $1400 to pay for
my medical insurance and the rest into a savings account that I use to pay
for part of the deductible? I pay about $1000 for my insurance which would
leave $400 to go into a savings account which hardly seems worth the bother
of saving $16. Or do you mean that I can put $1400 a year into a savings
account (on which I don't pay Michigan taxes when I spend it the same year)
and then also pay health insurance? My insurance will probably be up to $1400
pretty soon - if i don't change policies every couple of years the premiums
get a lot higher because there is nobody left except sick people who cannot
change policies.
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mary
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response 315 of 475:
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Feb 29 18:54 UTC 2004 |
Will you be able to change policies now?
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