The next decade....what's in store?
Musings of a yamfooted traveller still trying to shake off those last 20 pounds as she treks across the Caribbean
I have managed to find a way not to give Caribbean Star any of my money. LIAT all the way to Jamrock for the 40th.
I feel so proud of my creativeness in finding a way to fly LIAT home
Now, I won't be talking about weight loss anymore. I haven't given up, but like how auditors have a busy season from January to March/April, my busy season as a hotel trainer starts bright and early on 1st October. Will try and fit in exercise, but sometimes that just won't be possible, except for the walk to and from work.
Right, C'bean Star, learn this. He who upsets this customer, gets the full wrath of my tongue, and does not get my money. I have a choice and I have exercised it!
Remember this story while I was in Nevis? I wasn't paying for the hotel, but I would not allow the company to pay for a hotel that didn't value its customers. Miss Yamfoot does not joke when it comes to customer service.
Not 'herbalist' as in ganja-ist!
The house has aloe vera growing outside. Actually, because of my city upbringing, I first asked the landlord if it was pineapple! You have to forgive me. Have been discovering how things look growing in the earth. The last thing was cabbage. I had no idea how it looked in the earth. Quite something...this education that I am getting here.
Anyway, I decided to pick some this morning. I don't have a blender or juicer, but somebody at work was telling me I don't need that. Peeled the skin off, cut up the jelly like substance into small pieces, used my potato masher to mash it, poured hot water on it, put it in a 1.5 litre bottle with some Passion Fruit juice, lime, honey and water. Drank it, trying not to gag because of the bitter taste.
Your mind is a very powerful thing. When it was going down, I kept thinking "this is good for you...feel it flushing out your insides....little by little" and so I progressed quite nicely near to the end of the bottle, when I got a lump of aloe vera and it made me gag, but I didn't throw up.
I have on my face now, some of the aloe vera as well. It's supposedly one of these wonder plants. Is it a herb? Maybe not. But anyway, I need a juicer or blender to make this work. Not sure how fast it will grow back. There are three plants in the yard.
Anybody use aloe vera on a regular basis?
This is an event launched about one year ago in Grenada, on the west coast in the fishing village of Gouyave (pronounced Gwave). Had always intended to go so last night three of us from work went.
There were intermittent showers, but that didn't dampen the enjoyment.
There are several food stalls along two streets with a variety of offerings. Large lobsters, steamed snapper, fried fish, fish pizza, shrimp and fish kebabs, fried bakes, coconut cakes, sweet potato pudding, fudge, fresh local juices and the list goes on.
Normally, I would have eaten till my stomach felt uncomfortable, but I didn't. Started out with a fish rissole, then had lambie (conch) waters (soup), then fried sliced fish with callaloo (not like the Jamaican one), avocado, and boiled plantain also a fried bake (similar concept to our dumpling, but round and flat). Dessert was a coconut cake (like rock bun).
All in all, a pleasant evening which I shall be returning to. It's the off season now, so there weren't too many people to make it uncomfortable, however, I understand when we have a lot of visitors, you have to get there early to avoid the crowd. The streets are pretty narrow and then you have to watch out for the drains at the side of the road.
I don't recall us having anything like that on a regular basis in Jamaica?
You will know from reading this blog that I am a frequent Caribbean traveller. The first time I flew LIAT was in 1990 on my way to Carnival in Trinidad. I can't say that my experiences have been bad. Sure, sometimes I cuss, but it's nowhere near the cussing I am about to give Caribbean Star. (Isn't it great to have a blog to vent?)
You remember me saying that LIAT changed their schedule for September, October and November and that I would have to regrettably book Caribbean Star? Well, that process started about three weeks ago.
Went to their website and found that when I clicked Grenada as the origin, Barbados did not come up as a destination I could select. After emailing them through their feedback form and getting no response, I called the IT department. The gentleman who spoke with me promised to call back within a certain time limit to update me on what had been done. This he did, and generally kept in touch over the period of two weeks. I said to my colleague who was also trying to book the same route how impressed I was by the service.
Eventually they were able to get that fixed, but then the Web Only non-refundable fare of US$50 one way, was not coming up, so that was my next issue. After the matter had stepped out of the domain (pun intended!) of the IT guy, I was referred to two guys, whom it was said would get in touch with me. Over four days, I did not hear anything. So I called one of them this evening.
Waste of flicking money, for although he was pleasant and empathetic in trying to understand my query, the person who he referred it to is in serious need of customer serivce training.
It wasn't that this E-Commerce managerwho called told me that the web fare wasn't available on that route, or that he didn't offer an explanation. But rather, it was that....
1. He spoke so quickly that even after asking him to repeat his name, I couldnt not tell you what it is.
2. He had a triumphant condescending tone when telling me that GNG/BGI/GND is a different route from BGI/GND/BGI (where the US$50 fare is available) and the fares weren't applicable on that route ( an easy cop-out answer as far as I am concerned, so that I wouldnt bother them again....any airline people can tell me why the fare would be available on the return leg of BGI/GND/BGI route but not on the GND/BGI route?)
3. He showed NO EMPATHY....one of the biggest mistakes when dealing with a displeased customer. He was matter of fact, business-like, brusque, curt, and any other synonyms of those words that you can think of.
Don't get me wrong....it is not a huge problem re the fare because the next fare is U$75, and LIAT has a US$25 fare from Barbados to Grenada. So the money is not the issue. All those things above are the issue.
And to cap off my horror experience with Caribbean Star, the online booking system does not accept non-US credit cards! It has Zip Code as a mandatory field, and when I put in the customary 99999 or 00000, it nah wuk! Means I have to call that call centre to have some spanish speaking operators deal with me like they are robots.
I don't think people really understand the thing that pisses off passengers. Well here is a good description above. Learn from it.
Thank goodness the next time I have to fly in December, the LIAT schedule will be back on track.
I was working a half day today, so took that as a chance to go to the gym. Before I left the office to walk up there, I told my colleague that I just didn't feel like, but she said to persevere. That I did and went on the treadmill. After 3 minutes, I just couldn't do it anymore. So I left.
One minor celebration though.....
I didn't go and buy ice cream or cake or anything junky like that, which would have been normal after I stepped on the scale and saw that I weigh 92.6 freeeeeeking kilos! Cho bl&$^#d cl$^#%t! You get no reward for eating less sugar, and eating less in general. I'm not starving myself so it is not a result of metabolism slowing down. Maybe though, it is ovulation time (don't you just love it how I give you these details about my body functions?/)and I think I normally put on weight around that time. I sure hope that is the reason.
I went to the natural fruits store, bought a fruit punch without sugar and bought a fish wrap from the eatery next door. When I got home, ate that and some dried apricots and prunes. Now I am going to hang out the clothes, and take up all the dried ones from off the living room bed so I can chill out tonight and watch The Biggest Loser.
Maybe I will get inspiration from people who are way larger than I am....ie OBESE. I am only OVERWEIGHT.
Didn't exercise yesterday (apart from the walk to work) so was determined to go today.
Got up at 6am...well actually the clock alarmed at 6 am and I hit the snooze button twice then still didnt get up. Eventually got out of bed at 6:47am. Had breakfast, instead of the usual water therapy because I wanted to exercise early since it is going to be a late night at work today.
Had intended to head out to the gym at 8:30am, but at about 9:15, I went back into the bed. Didn't sleep a wink but I feel so tired. Maybe the anemia thing is back. I dunno. Maybe I should take some iron tablets just in case.
Anyway, I will still carry my gym clothes to work and hope to bathe after and change back into clothes for cocktails. I dunno, I dunno, but I feeling real tired these days. It's affecting my productivity for sure. Gotta find a cure.
This was the reason the insurance company declined my application.
They say it is not their policy to insure people with a history of anemia. What a crock! My doctor said she was so pissed when she read their reason for declining me.
I have had low heboglobin because I have had very heavy monthlys, easily changing the strongest "plug "every 45 - 90 minutes on some days. Now I take Le Pill to control the flow....a result of me having those blood thirsty things in my baby-carrying case - it's hereditary. (The non-meat eating track I have been on for over a year is also in an effort to curb the blood supply to them).
So I'm pursuing this with vigour. They don't know that I is Jamaica and wi nuh tek foolishness!
By the way Dr D....which condition is likely to cost the insurance company more money.....
a. Somebody with anemia
OR
b. Somebody with diabetes which requires medication???
(I suspect I know the answer. Bun fyah pon dem medical advisors the insurance company uses).
Actually, me thinks my iron is low cause I feeling tyad nuh rahtid these days. Shhhh, don't tell dem.
Just read this article and wonder why the Jamaica Employers Federation quibbling over an extra 2 weeks of maternity leave.
That would bring it up to 14 weeks. 14 weeks!!!!!!???????? That is hardly enough! If we want to be a progressive society, the Maternity Leave Act should be 12 months with full pay. Ok, I will make a concession. 3/4 pay. That way, mothers can bond with their children and not have to leave them with people who might end up harming them!
The company where the new mother works would have at least 6 months to train a replacement to cover for the time the mother is on leave. That will strengthen the organization since you now have two people who can do a job.
Steups. Things like this just piss me off! This, and quibbling over increase of salaries to teachers, nurses, policemen and doctors. These are some of the most important persons in society. Just make the criteria for selection into these fields high, so you don't get riff raff entering. Then implement a proper Performance Management system to ensure that good performers are rewarded, and poor performers get the support/coaching/training/education to be good performers, and after that if they don't succeed, then you separate.
I want to be prime minister.
So I decided to go out Friday gone. Remember I had a houseguest. Well he wanted to see what Grenada social/lime life was like.
Went to a restaurant first. Experience not as good as when the family went there for Pops' birthday last month, but it could pass.
Next it was time to hit the bars. Went to a relatively new one right near the restaurant. Oh my goodness! It looked like somebody had a spare room in their house and decided to turn it into a pub. No atmosphere. No character. And Grenadians had told me that it was nice! Hmmm....
Next it was to another one in a residential area. Long line of university students. Not our scene. Next it was to a spot right by the ocean. Music was in full swing there. A band was playing some really old Grenadian calypsos, which the older crowd were enjoying, dancing till they soak and ting. White plastic chairs, wooden roughly made tables. Ugh.
And finally we ended up at an all night place near to the hotel. Didn't buy any drinks, but rather sat by the water's edge and chatted, three of us.
As far as I am aware, there is no classy spot in Grenada to enjoy a nice glass of wine or other drink of your choice, with nice decor and ambience. Sounds like a need has to be filled. If I was an entrepreneurial type, that would be my next project.
Anyway, here is what I looked like in my skirt.
I've decided that I will do this from now until I go to Jamaica. That's about 3 weeks from now.
Anything I read that has 'sugar' as an ingredient, I not using it. But of course I will have honey.
I also trying not to have bread.
This is so hard. Why do I have to be fat?
*Because yuh did nyam too much food when yuh was growing up, Tubby. *SIGH*
After not sleeping much last night, I went to work at 9 this morning. Came home at 4:30 after doing the supermarket as I have a friend coming to stay on Wednesday night for a few days en route to Trinidad, and I had to buy stuff. The rest of the evening up till now was also because of the impending visit.
Washed one full load and one half load of laundry. Used fabric softener both times. I remembered *yeah*. Put some outside on the line, where they shall stay until tomorrow morning. The weather forecast says no rain tonight or tomorrow morning early.
Then cooked Ackee & Saltfish, which takes a lot of preparatory work - pick saltfish, cut up seasonings....well, maybe that is not so much to do. Cooked Curry Shrimp and curry Soy chunks. Spread the bed in the living room. Will clean the bathroom before I go to bed.
Now what I didn't tell you is that last night, I swept and mopped, spread the creaky bed, dusted the room, and wiped off all of the kitchen counter, including under the microwave and toaster.
I live with insects, so lots of stuff associated with that. I have spider webs, grasshoppers, crickets, some other flat insect that I have no idea what it's called.
So, suppose I then had to go have sex (on the creaky bed!) with a husband, help the kids with homework and other things associated with having a family, AND get up tomorrow, go to work at 9am, finish at midnight (with about a 2 hour break for that whole day), I would go nuts!
Thank goodness for singleness!
I remembered that I had taped one of my Pilates classes at Spartan. Was looking for it the other night but couldn't find it. While tidying the guest room tonight - the one with the creaking bed.....actually all the beds in the house creak, so no sex....oh, there's the carpet - I found the tape.
So now I listening to it to get some inspiration, and see if there are any exercises on it that I haven't remembered. I keep doing the same exercises on my own here in Grenada and there are hundreds of Pilates exercises. I keep telling my teacher she needs to make a DVD. I'm going to bring it up again next time I see her.
At least the weight budged a bit. But it wasn't due to any hard work on my part, but rather the womanly cycle. I'm now 91.6, down from 93.8. The weight tracker thingy does not recognize decimals.
Today is my departed paternal grandmother's birthday. Can't remember how old she would have been today, if she had not passed away in February 2004.
Celebrate well Grandma G!
An infomercial is currently on, about a product that can help you cleanse your colon. The man who is selling his product, says that John Wayne, when he died, had 40 pounds of faeces in his colon! Elvis had 60!!!!!!!
One of his points is that meat is acidic. In response to this, the colon produces mucus to line it, in order to protect the lining from the acidity. Ick! Ok, so another point to support my non-meat diet since last year August.
Now, with this weight not budging, I wonder if I am "bung up"? And sometimes, the morning motion is not very forthcoming, even with Water Therapy (drinking 1.5 litres of water first thing, then waiting an hour before eating). So I wonder if I can do this for 7 days? Eating more unprocessed food, no sugar (use honey instead), maybe even skip the fish and just have nuts and soy for protein sources. It doesn't hurt, so I think sometime before 22 October, I will try this.
Lucky Brand jeans See how the part just below the saddle bags doesn't sink in? That's what I need, cause these thunder thighs are in need of hiding!
I wish I could not work from now until 22 October. Then I would be all about fitness and health for the next 6 weeks or so. But you know what? I would be so bored that I would eat down the house.
Anyway, it is US$114 and the Levi's I just bought worked out to US$52, so it would be slightly financially irresponsible to buy these now.
Maybe it will be a Christmas present......in October!
I started watching The View from the very first day in 1997 I think it was and liked the show....mostly. Meredith Viera was real. I remember her always talking about the fact that she doesn't wear underwear!
So I was eager to watch her debut on The Today show yesterday. Excellent choice NBC.
I also watched Rosie O'Donnell, Meredith's replacement on The View and that was also a good choice. And Katie has changed the landscape of evening news TV.
It's a win-win situation for all the networks I think. NBC morning show ratings will stay strong.
I took a picture of the jeans, and I have it hanging up in the kitchen. Has it stopped me from eating bread at 10:00pm? Nope. But I like looking at it and imagining looking decent in it one day.
Hilarious...especially if you are over 40!
I try to tell people all the while that you must live the kind of life you want to live right now. All those people who kill up themselves at work and literally kill themselves before they ready, through stress which then leads to all kind of illnesses, what is that for?
You miss out on the enjoying of life, chasing the stresses of work. And then, is only when you nearly leave this Earth that you realize what is important, and that maybe it wasn't working a 70 hour week!
Anyway, this gentlemen got wise after he nearly died in a gas explosion.. It took that to make him wake up and smell the cofee.....or is it the rosies? Well, smell whatever it is you want to smell, but smell it now!
In my present contract, I work 9 months out of the year. If my employers had offered me the standard contract with just 3 or 4 weeks vacation, I would have said no. I like my job very much, but there is more to life than work.
Today is the second Anniversary of Hurricane Ivan's passage through Grenada. It isn't happy for many, but I think some good has come out of the hurricane in terms of people's realization of what is important (and it aint material things).
I figure that the sunsets around that period must have looked like the one I saw from my flat this evening. If you look closely, you will see a bird in the leafless tree. When I came to look at the damage about 3 months after Ivan, many of the trees looked like the tree in this sunset picture....
FOOD
(approx 8:30am)
Bran Stix, Kashi Go Lean and Kashi Go Lean Crunch with skimmed milk and soy milk
Water with a splash of fruit punch
(approx 10:00am)
Water (the sun had made me drunk by the time I got back from getting the fish. My shirt was wet. Had to change it)
1 apple
(approx noon)
1 very sweet Grapefruit (yeah! Grapefruits are back!)
1 Cup of tea with 1/2 Splenda, evap milk and milk
Macaroni and cheese
1/2 tin Tuna in sundried tomato and basil
Cucumber and tomato
Diet 7 Up
(approx 1:00pm)
Two small slices of whole wheat bread with peanut butter and Low Sugar strawberry jam
After Days of our Lives ended at 2pm, I konked out on the living room bed. I was out of it.
then EXERCISE
Plugged in my speakers and turned up the music. Danced in my living room for about 1 hour, then did some standing leg work and stretches for about 1/2 hour
(approx 6:15pm)
1 Cup of tea with 1/2 a Splenda, evap milk and milk
1 steamed parrot fish
steamed pumpkin
steamed okra
1 tomato
some slices of fried plantain
1 teaspoon Milk Chocolate frosting (left over from the Chocolate Cake at the soiree for the family)
(approx 7:30pm)
1 pack Holiday cashew nuts
1/2 glass fruit punch (left over as well) with water
And I hungry now again so am sure will eat something else for the night.
Any nutritionists reading this want to give me a calorie count? I supposed to be aiming for about 1,700 per day but I sure this is way over that!
I like living alone, there is no question about it. But one of the downsides is that when you don't feel quite right, there is noone to turn to. No Mummy to call so I can feel safe and secure. No nephew to tell how I am feeling.
These past couple of days, my heart has felt funny, or maybe it's just the muscles around my heart. I have always had missed beats and you might have read on here about me doing ECG's or going to the Heart Institute of the Caribbean. As always, nothing is wrong. Well HIC Dr Edwards said the next step would be to do a holtmeter or something like that where they read your heart for 24 hours during which time you cannot bathe. Hmmmm.
So going to sleep is no fun I tell you, because I am lying there thinking always "is this my last night?", "Is this cause for alarm?" I know when I do certain exercises, my spine goes out of whack. I had a mishap in 2001 which causes this to happen. When my spine goes out of whack, my head also goes out of whack. I guess the misalignment causes the blood flow to the brain to go out of whack too.
So essentially I am out of whack I get. Plus each morning I wake up, I don't feel rested and then I feel tired througout the day. I don't normally drink coffee, but I find myself reaching for a cup everymorning, or at about 4 in the afternoon. Never more than one cup per day though. Of course, coffee and a funny heart beat don't really go together init!
Each time I feel out of whack, I wonder if my thinking for many years that I wouldn't live to see 40 will be a self fulfilling prophesy. I hope not! I continue to exercise in my countdown to 40.
I had my day off today. Couple of things were on the agenda.
1. Watch Rosie O'Donnell on The View
2. Watch Days of our Lives, to catch up on what is going on
3. Watch Katie Couric for the first time in the evening
4. Exercise, of course!
5. Buy a pair of Levi's jeans
I started out late because last night when I was leaving work, I forgot to take the snapper and parrot fish that one of the employees had brought for me. Knowing that I wanted to cook it today for dinner, I had to get it early so it could thaw out. That meant a walk to the hotel first thing.
Massi Kingdom, the sun hot, it hot, it hot. And my umbrella broke so I had no shade. Walked to work, a bit slower than I normally do, wondering why my head was feeling like it wasn't attached quite correctly. Got the fish, got a ride back up the stretch to lessen my exposure to the sun, headed home, took off three of the fish and put that in the fridge and the rest in the freezer.
Now it was jeans shopping time. But time was a factor. It was now about 10:05am, and I wanted to get back to see some of The View to see how Rosie was doing (I'm happy that Star got the boot....well not happy, but I am not sad, let's put it that way!). Well this is Grenada...nowhere not too far, so I was confident of reaching back by about 11:30.
Hopped on a bus, reached to town in a few minutes, went into the jeans shop, newly opened and run by two of the hotel's former employees, asked for the 550 in size 14 (I had researched it on the internet so knew exactly what I wanted.....sits on the waist, relaxed fit, boot cut). I told the girls it was incentive and that it wouldn't fit but they said they were sure it would, so I tried it on. Well, it went up, and it buttoned without feeling like my body was being cut in two at the waist (trust me, I had that feeling in January 2004 in Orlando!). So that was pleasing, but I wouldn't wear it out in public now cause it paste on on my booty. So 10 more pounds will do it.
Next it was a walk up Young Street on to the street with Cablevision, the island's lone cable company. Paid my very overdue bill (they're nice here, they don't cut off your utilities if you don't pay on time....of course that only encourages us to delay payment, but anyway, I aint complaining) and heading across the top of the market square to buy some speakers so I can play the music on my computer properly.
Next it was in the market to see if there was any lettuce. Didn't see any, but bought two bags of lime (I always have lime in my house), heading to the apple stall but they didnt have fresh apples so didn't buy. Then it was to LA Purcell across the street to buy an umbrella.
Now this is one of the reasons I like Grenada. The town seemed eirily (I am sure that is spelt wrong) quiet. There were snippets of conversation which shed light on the quietude. The Ministry of Works had ordered the police to move all the side walk vendors, so there was no activity there and people were talking about it. As I walked to the bus stop, exactly one hour from when I left my house, I saw a few vendors with placards. Essentially, they feel that if the government had to move them, they should have found alternate locations for them. One placard mentioned the fact that there was no dialogue held with them prior to the dismantling of their stalls. But everything was peaceful. No "we want justice" screams, no noise. They just quietly making a statement. Not much of a statement I daresay. I saw on the news tonight that yesterday they were more vocal.
Back on the bus in the new terminus, I was saying how great it was to go about one's business in Grenada. Reached back to my area at 11:30am, stopped at the supermarket (no lettuce and some green tomatoes....grrrr!), rushed home in time to see Rosie. The View needed Rosie for sure, and it doesn't miss Star.
So all in all, it was a good day out. I just wander how I can get my head screwed back on properly so that I feel normal again.
I think I better start being accountable to the blog for the things I am doing to try and achieve the revised target. So I will check in every day. I know you probably don't want to see what I eat every day, but ah go still put it. Those who want to click.....click.
FOOD
(approx. 9:30am)
1 Tin Sardine in Lemon Sauce, drained, seasoned with onion, sweet pepper, seasoning pepper and sauces (jerk, hot pepper and pickapeppa)
3 slices of a whole wheat hops bread (ah going to take a picture one day)
Coffee with milk, evap milk and 2 Splenda
Vitamin C liquid with a splash of fruit punch
(approx. 3:30pm)
1 small bowl of fish broth (with miniature dumplings!)
1 fish wrap
1 mixed salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot, cabbage)
1 slice pineapple tart
2 cups of tea with evap milk and 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Water
(approx 7:45pm)
1 ripe banana
then GYM
15 mins bicycle, 20 mins treadmill, 10 mins dancing (Machel/Alison Hinds remix "Roll it Gyal" and some latin songs), 15 minutes streches
(approx 9:45pm)
1 apple
1 pack Holiday cashew nuts (190 calories)
Water with a splash of fruit punch.
I'm still hungry and I have to take a pill before bed, so I'll probably have a slice of bread with peanut butter (I know...I shouldn't but ah have to)
It is now 3 September. In exactly 7 weeks, I will be 40. I am supposed to fit into a size 14 by then. I am supposed to weigh 180 by then.
No doubt, the family vacation set me back a bit, but I am not complaining because we had a good time. I now have to get back on track and it's just not happening for me, inspite of the looming deadline.
I have approximately 20 pounds to lose. That means I need to lose about 3 pounds per week. Only possible if I starve myself, which I am not prepared to do. Which means I won't meet my deadline, ........which means I will be a ........failure????
It's not comforting that I don't look like my weight. I CAN'T FIT INTO A SIZE 14 JEANS!! That is the bottom line....literally! The bottom big, the belly big, the arms are jiggly.
And today, I had intended to go to the gym at work for 12, work out for 1.5 hours, then go to work at 3. Instead, I am about to lie down on the bed in the living room and watch 'old man' Agassi play maybe his last Grand Slam match. i work until about midnight so no, I can't go afterwards. Note that I didn't exercise yesterday or Friday because on Thursday I did some deadlifts and my leg muscles rebelled.
I am not normally a failure. Only in the weight loss department it seems. Should I just say that maybe this is the weight I am supposed to be? Should I try some other drastic measure like diet pills to squash my appetite? What should I do? Oh what should I do? So afraid of failure, what should I do?
The cricket (singular...or so I thought) had installed itself in the bedroom with the creaky bed. I couldn't sleep in there with it, because the sharp, piercing noise was unbearable.
That is the better bedroom to give guests because it has the larger bed, whereas the other bedroom has twin beds. My brother is a big fella so a twin bed wouldn't do. He also lives in bush in Jamaica so the cricket wasn't bothersome to him.
After he left, I was determined to flush out this cricket. I could hear it but could not see it. I deduced that it was inbetween the built-in chest-of-drawers and the wall. The solution? A can of insect spray.
Bought a tin of Bop with Citronella. Then I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed....holding my breath of course. Left the room. Went back shortly after and discovered I had not only smoked out Jiminy, but also Mrs Jiminy and Little Jiminy. No more noise in that bedroom.
There are still some in the living room but those are fine. Sorry Jiminy. I didn't want to do it, but I have a friend coming to stay and I ent think he accustomed to insects like crickets.
This email has been making the rounds. Got it twice. If it's true (and the medics might steups at it and say it's foolishness...."everything in moderation"), then I'm justified in my decision to stop eating meat. Meat creates acidity. Cancer cells like acidity. Therefore, to reduce acidity, eliminate meat. It's simple! (It's not so simple though, for me to give up sugar.....aaargh!)
I especially liked this one...
Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive
enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and
leads to more toxic buildup.
I read somewhere that beef stays in your system for 14 days!
Anyway, here is what it says about the Big C....
Useful Information on one of the deadliest diseases of our time: CANCER
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do
not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a
few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more
cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are
unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached
the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's
lifetime.
3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be
destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumours.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet
and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells
and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow,
gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver,
kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages
healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce
tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not
result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation
the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can
succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become
resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to
spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not
feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important
food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,
Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural
substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small
amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour.
Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk
and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.
c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic
and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork.
Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites,
which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts
and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About
20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices
provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular
levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth
of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try
and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean
sprouts)and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are
destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is
a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to
drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals
in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive
enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and
leads to more toxic buildup.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or
eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls
of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer
cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6,
Flor-ssence,Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to
enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like
vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the
body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive
and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor.
Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and
acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to
relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment.
Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the
cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer
cells.
You recall my Living to 40 not guaranteed entry where I spoke about Jacki, gone at a young age.
Her niece left a link to the website created to commemorate her life. I just realized she was close to 42. Didn't realize she was older than I am. She was always so bubbly and vivacious and if you read the comments left by her past students, you will see.
This has left me teary eyed this morning, and of course thinking again about the fragility of life as we know it and the need to really live life to the fullest and with dignity and honest and respect and compassion for all.
Go have a look. Goodbye Jacki