Another interesting tidbit

I know I haven't been very active on this blog recently, and I palologize. :) Been crazy-busy, but this morning I want to write about something new.

Sometimes I wake up with my left hand numb. It doesn't affect movement, it isn't painful, and working the hand makes the numbness go away relatively quickly.

I did some research on the topic and it appears that there are many causes, from heavy metal toxicity to heart attack.

Of course, heart attack would normally be in the right arm, but it's still a possibility.

We don't have a well (municipal water is tightly controlled) so heavy metals are unlikely.

The simplest (and most common) cause of temporary numbness appears to be carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel is caused by compression of a nerve as it runs through your wrist and usually affects people who use their wrists a great deal, such as people who spend a lot of time on the computer. It can be caused or exacerbated by extra weight, so often the first thing prescribed is to lose those extra pounds. The second thing prescribed is often surgery, but there are other options. Using an ergonomic keyboard (one that supports the natural movements of the wrist) is probably the most effective. Support your wrists while you type, even if it's just books lined up along the front of the keyboard.

My problem doesn't fit carpal tunnel, so I kept looking.

Most of the options fit in the "nerve damage" category. Causes could range from a sudden addition to your weight training regimen, to a sudden blow or trauma to the shoulder. i.e., did you recently help someone move or build a fence? Sleeping wrong (or long periods of inactivity while you sleep) can also cause the nerves to go to sleep temporarily.

The Brachial Plexus is a set of nerves that runs down the neck and into the arm. Once the nerves pass the shoulder the group breaks up, so depending on where the pressure is any of the nerves (or the whole group) could be affected.

It can also be environmental. I think I may have narrowed mine to constrictions around my shoulder from my pajamas, pressing on that nerve. I also wonder if my dreams are causing me to tense the shoulder and compress the nerve. It is always the left hand, and apparently the nerves of the right hand are situated differently than the left so they're not as likely to be compressed.

Please note that if there are other symptoms (nausea, pain, dizziness, etc) you should seek medical attention.

Going to be an interesting test, eliminating factors one by one until I can identify the problem--and then target it.

Emergency Preparedness #1

Emergency preparedness is not something you can just ignore, although most people seem to be trying. If I think my neighbors aren't my business, my attitude may change when I'm trapped inside my home in a flood or under six feet of rubble after an earthquake.

There are a number of different types of emergencies.

Individual, such as unemployment or a house fire.

Local, such as a flood or an earthquake--emergencies that are local in scope but affect a number of people.

Universal, such as a war or an extended depression.

All of these can be prepared for with a little foresight. First step, request the "neighborhood watch" area list. Since those areas already exist, you can use that foundation for your emergency planning.



Sample text for a neighborhood emergency preparedness flier:


Preparedness Meeting

Area Leader:
(Date, time and location)

List of families in the "area"

There are a number of different types of emergencies to be considered, from personal (such as unemployment or a house fire) to local (such as an earthquake, where help should arrive within apx 72 hours) and universal (which could be something like a major depression or a war). We would prefer to have a representative of each family or house at the meeting.

The following will be discussed:

Special Needs: In our area we have autism, dementia, and several others with various medical problems. These needs must be addressed in an emergency. A family medical survey has been included with this letter. Please fill it out and bring it with you. Do you (as a family) have sufficient medication, food, and water to last at least 72 hours? Do you have sufficient food, clothing and medication to last a year if necessary?

Abilities: In an emergency all special skills might be necessary, from babysitting to flying a plane. Please come prepared to discuss the skills of your family. Skills such as budgeting or writing a resume could be used in personal emergencies, so please come prepared to say whether or not you are willing to offer these skills to your neighbors in case of need.

Communication: What I propose is a fanout program. Each house has other homes within sight--those families would be your first priority after your own family is safe.

What we can expect from an emergency

Garlic Update (a little late)

I don't think I'm going to try the garlic experiment again this year. The plants grew really strong but the bulbs never developed.

This is a picture of my entire garlic harvest from the hydroponics last winter. I planted the biggest cloves I had (none less than an inch long) and the largest clove is less than half that size.

Instead I have my two hoop houses (NOT poop houses, lol) and I'm growing apricots from seed. I still want an indoor garden, but I haven't had much success no matter what I try to grow. Tomatoes and squash got too big, garlic and onions don't bulb up. Lettuce grows long and spindly then dies. The peach tree got infested with bugs and died. Herbs grew for a while then keeled over.

So much for my green thumb. :)

Forcing seeds update

I wasn't successful in forcing beets into hibernation.

Test 1: Put the beet in the freezer (it turned to mush)
Test 2: Put the beet in the refrigerator for a month, then replanted
-----Took root and grew, but no seeds
Test 3: Took the beet out of the ground, let it dry out for a month then replanted
-----Took root and grew, but no seeds

I'll try again next year, because we STILL don't have beet seeds.

Seed Exchange?

I just looked at this blog and realized I haven't posted since MAY. Weird.

A little bit of an update: I'm drying mint right now. Aragula and basil were last week. Onions will probably be next. I have a couple baby watermelon and we've got zuccini coming out our ears. Corn is coming on, but for some reason the tomatoes aren't ripening.And I have seeds.

Please, does anyone in the Salt Lake area have need of seeds? Particularly carrot seeds, since I'll be harvesting the new seeds in the next few weeks and I still have a lot from the last batch. I have carrot seeds, parsnip seeds, zuccini seeds, watermelon seeds, and a couple other kinds. Onions and beets are unavailable this year, but I should have plenty of onion seeds next year. For some reason I just can't get beets to survive through the winter, so we're short on beet seeds. I hate throwing the seeds away, poor little things, but with the new crop coming on I don't have much choice if I can't give them away.

I tried the seed exchange I found, but unfortunately it appears to be merely a scheme to sell books. I am also looking for Sonoran White wheat, if anyone is growing that in this area.

I have set up an open seed exchange, Seeds For The Future.

I'll try to be more regular on the blog, although with the job hunt and the garden and writing full time I'm rather overwhelmed.

Part 3: What do you know? I mean really?

1 + 1 = 2, or does it? Why can't 1 + 1 = 11 or I-don't-really-care?

Our brains are built for pattern recognition. It takes time and work to convince the brain that an arbitrary shape on a piece of paper has a specific meaning that will not change. It takes time for the brain to learn that a sound has a particular meaning. But once that connection is made, the brain will quickly latch on to other ideas, assigning meaning to just about anything it experiences.

That does not mean that these things actually have meaning, or that the pattern the brain recognizes is real. Or that the pattern is good for us.

A child draws a circle and some squiggly lines on a piece of paper. We may determine that the circle is a sun, or a flower. We may ask the child "Don't you want clouds in your picture?" and said child looks at us strangely because to the child that's not a sun, or a flower. It's a hand. A palm and fingers. We can see this if its pointed out to us, but our brains know that a hand isn't just a circle with squiggly lines, so that connection isn't immediately made.

As we grow (i.e., age) our minds form patterns from the world around us. Many of us get sick during the winter--how much of this is because of physical stimuli and how much is because the mind sees "sick in the winter" as a recognizable pattern? We sleep more easily at night than during the day. How much of that is pattern recognition on the part of the brain? Infants have to be taught that this pattern is more acceptable.

At some point it may be necessary to differentiate between what we know, and the patterns we have grown used to seeing. If I get ill every January, there's no real physical reason for it. The illness, yes, but that particular month? How much of that is the brain, running along a well developed pattern? When a marathon runner starts feeling tired at mile ten in spite of years of training, is that real exhaustion, or the brain trying to get her to stop?

Why can a singer hit higher notes when he isn't reading music? Because the brain has connected an arbitrary limit to that line on the page and determined the pattern?

In research when they talk of the placebo effect they're talking about the percentage of people who feel a real improvement in spite of the fact that the "medicine" they took was deliberately useless. But they believed it would help, and so it did.

There are so many of these. If you identify the patterns in your life, you may find that they are not patterns at all.

If you tell your brain to stop and the pattern stops...

Horseradish

Armoracia rusticana
Family: Cruciferae

If you are allergic to or sensitive to cabbage, broccoli, or brussels sprouts you may have that same sensitivity for horseradish.

Horseradish is generally used as a seasoning. In large amounts it can cause internal problems and/or irritation of the nose and throat lining rather like any other strong herb. That strong taste is a concentrated dose of natural chemicals that protect the plant from the depredations of herbivores, so eating the top (greens) is not recommended. Horseradish contains coumarins, phenols, volatile oils, ascorbic acid, asparagin, peroxidase enzymes and other chemicals as well. It prevents the breakdown and absorption of alcohol and some other substances. It stimulates digestion and blood circulation so it may be used in situations where people have circulation problems.

It is used for clearing the sinuses (for obvious reasons) which makes it useful for mild allergic reactions such as a pollen reaction when a stuffy nose is the main symptom. It is an expectorant with strong anti-biotic properties. It is also used to expel worms in pets (vermifuge) and for fevers. There are a number of different chemicals in horseradish, some of which interact and cancel each other out.

My drug interaction book says to avoid anticholinergic as well as cholinergic drugs when using horseradish, but I wasn't able to find any information as to whether it cancels out or enhances the effects of these drugs. It also should not be taken by anyone with an underactive thyroid.