It might not come as a surprise to you, but I’ve been out a bit myself lately. I’m in the second week of a vacation/work vacation, in the latter portion alas. The strips running in newspapers this week and next, and on GoComics, are “best-of” repeats, chosen and recolored by myself. This week’s strips are from 2012, and next week’s will be from 2008. I hope you enjoy seeing them again.
171 responses to “Time Out”
Morning Jackie, and everyone else! Hi Ghost Sweetie!
The one time I was given sulfa I broke out into a sort of sunburn-looking rash, so my doctor changed the medication and it cleared off. I’ve stayed away from sulfa since then.
Rick, have they checked thyroid lately?
Is everyone over there on the east coast ok? Hope so!
Llee:
Yes. It’s normal.
I am considering becoming a vegetarian.
For years, I have read that all forms of meat – even fish – are bad for humans.
It might be time to test that claim.
Nice visual joke: https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/28468713_1809308219120973_536282826941423837_n.png?oh=cb788a81ae8b89bebd3aedad00446d74&oe=5B405C48
I hope Charlotte and all others in the NE are doing OK. I have a few friends there from whom I have not yet heard….
Rick:
I have been Veggi for about 4 years. I also eliminated as much sugar as possible. PSA went from 5.5 to 3.O, I lost 40 pounds in 9 months. My Gleason is scale was at 6. I have not had a new Biopsy in 4 years. I consider it inoperable, ain’t no way you gonna cut dem der nerves. . I have looked into radiation but those side effects only a little better.
Rick in Shermantown – you don’t say how old you are, but if you are 60 or older, you may need more vitamin B12. This vitamin is essential for red blood cell formation. Not enough vitamin B12 in your system can lead to not enough oxygen, so feelings of tiredness and even in extreme conditions some numbness or tingling in the extremities.
Vitamin B12 is not hard to get in your diet if you eat meat and leafy green vegetables. The problem is that as we get older, sometimes the part of our gut that absorbs this vitamin does not do as good a job. About 2% of us older people develop this condition, which is more likely to affect women than men, probably because they are smaller. It is an autoimmune thing, so if you have another autoimmune condition such as hypothyroid (which I do) or arthritis, etc., you are more likely to develop another one.
Luckily, it is easily corrected by getting a monthly shot of vitamin B12. First, I would try increasing your intake of vitamin B12 foods or taking a supplement. If after a couple of months that doesn’t seem to help, ask your doctor to give you a shot. The B12 shot is not expensive and if you don’t need it, it will not cause any harm, but will be excreted. The results for me were immediate – I felt better by the next day. The feeling lasted for a few months, but then I needed another shot. Now I give myself a shot every month and I’m doing fine.
Just giving you something else to consider. If you want to Google it – search for pernicious anemia.
Anon:
Nearly three years ago, I eliminated nearly all carbs and sugar from my diet, and I went from 212 to 175 in about seven months. About six months ago, even though I was not doing anything differently, I started a slow, inexorable climb. Now, I am about 190. I guess it’s not bad for being nearly 65 and standing 6’1″, but it frustrates me no end that I can’t lose the weight.
In February 2017, my PSA was 5.5. This past Wednesday, the PSA was 8.8. The doctor is concerned and wants me to have a biopsy, especially because I have not had one since 2005.
You present a good case for being a vegetarian.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it.
Judy:
I’m glad you mentioned B12. You reminded me that one of my friends started have B12 shots when he turned 70 two years ago, and he said that he feels much improved.
When I saw my physician this past Wednesday, he asked if I was still taking a B12 supplement. When I said that I wasn’t, he didn’t say anything about resuming the daily vitamins or about shots. I will send an email to him about it.
Overall, I guess that I am doing fairly well. I don’t take any medications at all so far. Perhaps the B12 in conjunction with the fish, fruit, and vegetables that I eat will take care of the tiredness.
As I said to Anon, thanks for taking the time to write to me. I really appreciate it.
Rick – glad I could make a contribution. I agree, sounds to me as if you are doing fairly well. Keep up the good work, and I hope you get to where you want to be.
Another good actor gone: http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/david-ogden-stiers-dead-dies-mash-1202716860/
I liked his Major Winchester much better than the Frank Burns character on MASH.
Dear c xp, thanks for your concern. I’m glad to say we Derry-ites came to no harm from this bad storm. We are far enough from the coast, maybe thirty miles? So no flooding, no high winds, no damage at all, and our power stayed on. Sorry for others who didn’t fare so well.
Remember, Mark, that Major Burns left the show because the writers never allowed him to grow or develop into a real person. After a while Larry Linville had done everything with the character that the writers would let him so he left instead of repeating himself.
With Sundays offering Jimmy has gone beyond window peeking and into predictive cartooning. Awoke to rain and a meowing cat long before I opened this gem.
Sideburns, no complaint with Linville, just didn’t like the character. I was glad when Gary Burghoff left too. In his case it was because I did like the character and felt the writers were getting downright mean and nasty in the way Radar was being treated the last couple of years he was with the show.
Today’s strip reminds me of this book by Robert Heinlein, The Door Into Summer: Pete usually used his own door except when he could bully me into opening a people door for him, which he preferred. But he would not use his door when there was snow on the ground.
While still a kitten, all fluff and buzzes, Pete had worked out a simple philosophy. I was in charge of quarters, rations, and weather; he was in charge of everything else. But he held me especially responsible for weather. Connecticut winters are good only for Christmas cards; regularly that winter Pete would check his own door, refuse to go out it because of that unpleasant white stuff beyond it (he was no fool), then badger me to open a people door.
He had a fixed conviction that at least one of them must lead into summer weather. Each time this meant that I had to go around with him to each of eleven doors, hold it open while he satisfied himself that it was winter out that way, too, then go on to the next door, while his criticisms of my mismanagement grew more bitter with each disappointment.
Then he would stay indoors until hydraulic pressure utterly forced him outside. […]
But he never gave up his search for the Door into Summer.
Regarding B12: It’s also recommended for those taking Metformin.
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/2/327
Squirrel! Donut!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzVjd-M-Zl0
I think we just had an earthquake here. The whole building shook and creaked and it is not windy out right now. Guess I’ll find out when the late news comes on tonight.
Oh my goodness, Mark. Your area isn’t usually prone to quakes, is it? Hope to find out there’s no damage.
I loved the story you just told, it’s perfect! It’s an excerpt from the Heinlein book, I take it? We’ve never had a cat that did that, but it’s so imaginative, and could explain a lot of cat behavior. Is there more about this cat, or in the same vein?
I used to read science fiction, but I think before R. Heinlein came along — does that sound probable? Remember I am a lot older than most of you kids.
I was right: http://www.newson6.com/story/37643610/earthquake-ripples-across-green-country Apparently Green Country is what they call the multi-county area that includes Tulsa.
Glad you liked it Charlotte. I think Heinlein’s work started getting published in the science fiction pulps of the late 1930’s or early 1940’s. And yes, it’s actually from the opening of the book. The cat is a major character in it, and cats figure in many of Heinlein’s books. The tribbles in the original Star Trek are thought by some to be based on a creature called the Martian flatcat from a Heinlein book called the Rolling Stones (no connection to the band, which came later).
By the way Charlotte, you can get that book in the Amazon Kindle format for under $7. I know, because after rereading that quote, I searched out the book and bought it to read again.
TruckerRon:
I was on Metformin during 2015 until I put my Type Two diabetes into remission.
It should no longer be a concern.
I first came across the joke about March 4th being the only date that is also a command in one of the daily A&J strips.
If I remember correctly, Arlo was telling it to young Gene, who promptly rolled his eyes at the dad joke.
Except that “Green Country” isn’t very green right now…other than the businesses with lawn services that have spray painted their brown grass green.
I don’t remember seeing that much if at all in The Deep South, perhaps because the grass doesn’t stay brown all that long down there.
Hey, Jean dear. Always good to know you haven’t gone Tango Uniform. 🙂