Advancing Medicine

"Allen must have had four cups of coffee before he went to work this morning..." from the Right Stuff. Poor Allen Shepard. Just shows how insanely much those brave men went through while technology caught up with desire. Technology has changed a lot in all areas since then, and the simple acne cures that were once available have improved tremendously as well. The best acne treatment of today are as light years away from those first creams as our modern rockets and airplanes are from those in the 60s. There is no reason to suffer the problems of acne blemishes when you have the benefit of all of the advancements made since then.

..it Happens.

And, even after all these years, there are occasional disappointments. A client I'd 'worked' for weeks, back and forth communications, seemingly agreeable on both ends, decided to go with a provider who charged a third of the price... and it's not like my prices are astronomical, just reasonable. Oh well, here's hoping they get the quality they were so smitten by with my samples. What are the chances of that? The only plus side is that many times when this happens, I hear from the same client a week, a month or so later, and they are on their knees.

What Makes a Good Diet Pill

It's getting close to the end of the cold weather, and that means the end of the cold weather clothes, so of course, I'm thinking thinner. That also means thinking about finding the best diet pills. The first thing I look for when examining different diet aides is safety. Of course, no diet pill will do if it wrecks your health. I think we've come a long way in making safer, better diet pills. The next thing is appetite suppression. All the blocking, stopping and all of some of the pills are fine, but nothing comes down to real weight loss more than simply stopping eating so much. I eat a lot in the winter. There's not much else to do. In the spring, I feel so good, and start getting so active that I'm not as apt to simply eat, but I still need help pushing away from food sometimes, so that's a big part of what makes a good diet pill for me.

Seasons' Drawing down

All my shows are going off for the season. There's only one "Royal Pains" left, and the last one was a little bit of a mind-blower, so I can't wait to see what the finale brings. I would have thought they'd use the closing scene, where the boys find themselves being 'kicked out' (or at least it looked like that) as the season finale, so if that wasn't 'it' the real finale must really be a dilly. "White Collar" wasn't on this week, and the last two episodes are in the next two weeks. That's actually my favorite show at the moment, on USA. I've also started watching "Million Dollar Listing" just because it's sort of like "Cribs" for sale. I do like the agent drama a little bit too, but the big draw is getting to see all the fantastic California real estate.

Fast and Safe Weight Loss

Who doesn't want to lose weight fast when they diet? I know I do. I think everybody does because dieting isn't all that much fun. Living right and healthy are fine, but to actually lose weight you have to go that extra step, and having a little help to achieve it is handy. Rapid weight loss pills are a popular way to get the job done so you can get on with your life. I have used diet aides. The trick, I think, (I almost had a typo there, and first typed I thin... Freudian slip) is to make sure you actually eat healthy. Certainly you could probably lose weight faster if you used the diet pills and cut calories drastically, but that's where the big dangers come in. Using the basic healthy living and fitness advice you can find anywhere, and cutting calories reasonably while using diet aides can really give you the rapid loss you look for.

Kill the Muse

My half-sister called me recently. She decided she wanted to write something to get published. It brought a familiar memory back for me. The hopeful dreams of someone who hadn't really studied the realities of the publishing market. I was there once. What happens though, after years of working in the writing industry in one capacity of another, that we become jaded. Is it better to ignore the realities and shoot for the dreams? I mean, if you don't research, you can at least hold on to the dream, and keep working. You may stumble in the dark a bit more trying to get published, but the cynicism won't take over, and destroy the dream. I used to love fiction writing, but the realities of the publishing world crushed that. Of course, the need to pay the electric company, ISP, grocery store, and all of them with something other than hopes and dreams also helped shape a new direction in my writing career, but is it more fun? No, not really. Now it's a job, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I do miss the enjoyment of writing because I loved the stories. I thought it would never die, but you can kill a muse, it turns out... with reality.

Floating Into Reality

Why is it, that in fiction, where it is suppose to mirror real life, real issues, no matter what the genre is, real people, you never really see things that most people deal with? I mean, for the most part, characters, at least the leading characters seem to just appear in their lives without much issue other than the 'primary' concern of the plot. You don't see them struggling with their creditors, lol, or having to handle medical problems, or get eczema treatments, unless they are central to the plot struggle. The thing about real life is it is rarely so focused on a single 'plot struggle'. It is a constant combination of everything, and most of us anyway, rarely 'float' through life.

1947

The date the sound barrier was first broke. Watching this movie brings up so many questions, and also so many philosophical thoughts: 1947 wasn't that long ago, but it seems like another era. I guess it was, in fact it was before I was born, although not too long before. But it is still in the current lifetime of many people, just the fact that so much as gone on in what would amount to one single lifetime, more than in ANY other era prior to the 1940s, it makes it one of the best times to have lived, I think. I don't know what will come in the next 70 years, but its hard to imagine that so many developments will come to pass. And certainly in no other century have things developed so quickly. In fact, most of the time before that were pretty slow moving overall. Can it continue? Can we keep up the speed of technology that we've had in this 70 years? Is it even possible, or will things go back to a slower development speed now that a certain plateau has been achieved?

Making The Most of Technology

Some things that technology has brought are actually very amazing, like the ability to use human growth hormones to improve health, lose weight, get stronger, and even improve your inner organs, and make them work better. There are a lot of hgh pills available. It is important to understand what they really can do, and what is asking too much. There are a lot of myths surrounding all sorts of new medical advances like that, and too often people just accept everything they read, or hear and then feel disappointed when the products don't work like they think they should. Knowing the truth gives you the ability to chose wisely, and get real results.

Sacrifice to Technology

Watching an old movie on TV. "The Right Stuff". I know they are just fictionalized accounts, but watching movies like this really brings home how much sacrifice went into the development of things we often take for granted these days. I wonder now if such sacrifices still continue. Certainly, at least on a personal giving of time and energy, but what about life sacrifices? Are they necessary anymore? Or was that something that only happened when technology was so new?

Office Development and Desktops

While most of the world uses laptops for everything, and even I have become quite a convert in most ways, I still love a desktop in my office. you can get bigger screens, expand a bit more with a desktop than you can with a laptop. Acer has always made decent laptops, but I never considered looking at acer desktops. Now I'm in the process of re-doing my mobile office, and although I've used laptops on a stand for that before, I have a new multi-screen set up, and I'm going to need a desktop for it. I have the plans for a new stand that will hold several screens (credit my watching "Wall Street II" for my new preoccupation with a three to six screen setup.

Space in Space

I feel like such a dinosaur sometimes. I began this blog so many years ago, and so many of the bloggers I knew back then are gone, their blogs abandoned. Sure, new blogs pop up, but one wonders how many blogs can exist in the ether, before it can't hold anymore? It's sort of an abstract concept. Is there an end to the internet? An article I read recently suggests it is already "sold out" and a new way of constructing URLS is being put in place to broaden the expanse. I'm not sure I like the idea, because it sort of makes use of an "area code" type deal the way phones did when they ran out of phone numbers. I guess, it's only a matter of time. Everyone has websites, and often buy several URLS over the course of a few years. I know I have, and most of the people I know have. Whether those URLS are "dead" or kept up isn't even the issue. Certainly those that are abandoned and not paid for get put back in play, but that's not enough to keep up with the demand. All this has hapened in the space of one or two decades. One has to wonder how many more websites, blogs, forums and the rest there will be in another ten years.

Keeping an Eye on Security

There are a lot of great ways to use security cameras, and not all of them are just to watch for burglaries, or theft. Those are two great reasons, and probably the most common reason people look for security cameras, but don't miss out on other ways to use them. For me, I live in an area where crime is low due to the rural nature of the surroundings, and distance from urban areas. However, one of the downfalls of our home is that there is no window at all on the driveway side of the house, and I can't see if anyone is coming up the drive, or what is happening with some of the valuable items we have on that side of the property, such as our boat, cars, barn and animals. So, we installed a security camera under the eves of our attached garage on that side of the house, and can see everything clearly. It gives us great peace of mind, and is just one way you can use a security camera to keep an eye on your property.

Great Nerves, Thick Skin

One of the hardest things to deal with as a freelance writer is the occasional lulls. I had three great months, and now I'm going through a lull. There are jobs, and I am working, but not the way I was for those other months. It was wonderful, and it's so hard to keep in mind that those times don't last forever, and that it goes up and down, when you're so busy you don't even have time to sleep, and money is rolling in easily. When the lulls come around, it's hard to remember that they are temporary, and won't last forever. I swear, to be a freelancer you have to have nerves of steel, and skin thicker than a rhino.

Winter Projects

When I first moved to this house 16 years ago, I loved the huge bathroom, and the cabinet style vanity. I'm not fond of it anymore. It's showing its age, which was probably about 20 years at the time I bought the house, so is in its mid-30s now. I am thinking that instead of the old-fashioned cabinet style sink I will go with a pedestal sink. I need to look for a new bathroom sink, and am thinking about separating the shower and tub like many more modern homes do now. There is plenty of room to do it, and I think I'd love to have a deep, jacuzzi style tub in there along with a nice shower stall. It's going to be expensive, and a lot of work, but will make a great winter project for next winter.

DVR Heaven

I don't know what I did before I got a DVR two years ago. I vaguely remember messing with tapes, trying to remember to set the VHS recorder, or rushing to push the button and capture a coveted show just in time. With the DVR I can just select series, and it automatically records the show even if it switches days and times. I still usually watch my favorite shows when they're actually on, but sometimes I just half watch them while I do other things, because I can always go back and watch them over and over. The DVR was a real life-saver this week. We had the blizzard of the decade, and got buried in 2 feet of snow.

As a result, I lost satelitte signal, and missed one of my regular series. It often replays in the middle of the night on a different day, but I wasn't sure when. The DVR did, and still recorded it since it didn't get it the first time around. Hooray!