I finally did it!

I am so bad, I haven't seen a doctor in years.
I'm never sick, I hate taking drugs and I don't like Drs Offices, weirdly enough I prefer going to the densist! But I'm not getting any younger and I needed to do some of those preventative thingys.

So I finally did it!
Blood test, blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen, pap, EKG, mammogram, ultrasound... I got the works!

A month later with all the results I'm feeling rather smug because everything is good. I was really happy with my cholesterol; LDL 97, HDL 67. The Dr said my HDL was phenomenal. She told me to keep doing what I'm doing. So, last night as I poured my second glass of red wine, I thought I can keep doing this :-)

So why do I feel the same about getting breast cancer?
I was given a clean bill of health.

Like a lot of women (including my mother), I'm a little lumpy in the mammary area. That's fine, as long as the lumps move around each month I don't worry - now if a lump persisted that would be of concern. The lump my Dr found when she was doing an exam concerned her. She sent me to a Breast Imaging Center for a diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy (if need).
Way to freak me out Doc!

They squashed them one way, then squashed them another way - the instant digital images were very cool. The ultrasound showed cysts just like I'd seen on The Doctors TV show - Man! My boops are like Swiss cheese!

No biopsy needed! I was given information about pain control, how to keep the bumps and lumps under control and how certain foods can make the pain worse. I knew about caffeine, but I had no idea nuts, bananas, wine, mushrooms or cheese could. If you omit the mushrooms that's practically my entire food pyramid, dammit!

And that was it, I was sent out into the big wide world for another year.
20 years later I'm in the same position my mother was in; pad yourself down every month, get a mammogram once a year and hopefully you won't get the big C.

I wish she was still alive today, I wish I could compare notes on lumps and pain. I want to know what she ate, what she thought might help, if there is anything I can do. In this world of medical breakthroughs and advanced drugs, the progress seems to have been in early detection and treatment. Why is there so little information on prevention or avoidance?

I will continue to pad my Swiss cheese boops every month, but it will not be with a feeling of well being, it will be with a feeling of impending doom.

Oktoberfest

We went to a wild party this weekend and took some pretty silly videos.

The scene of the incident!

Cooking Sausages

Fire pits in the dark

Apples in the garage

The drinking really begins

Hows the party going so far?

The 4 women by the sink

How many shots have you had?

Nothing broke (Blair Witch)

Freaky video boy

The brain hemorrhage curdled

All good things come to an end

Last night in Fredericton

The nice thing about business travel is that you usually go to places that you wouldn't normally go to for a vacation. And sometimes you find a cool restaurant.

Not in the big city!

I quite like Fredericton, but I shocks me how different it is from where I live.

Business Trip to New Brunswick

I sent most of today (Monday) traveling across (and up) the American continent.

My New Toy

I bought a Flip Video recently, so here's my first video blog!
Yep, there's lots of room for improvement :-)

Photos of City Park

City Park
Originally uploaded by mandymooo

I am a Flickr addict!

There, I've said it. It all started quite innocently as a place to store photos of my glass. But as the need for better quality photos emerged, my need for a better camera emerged. So I got a new camera. And then I got into Flickr groups and started posting there. Then I started paying attention to clicks and comments....more, I wanted more!!!!!

As well as glass photos I started posting images of my cats - they got more clicks and comments than the glass. Holy moly, I was on to something; post a cute cat photo and get more! I haven't found flowers or my vegetables to be that good at getting comments (not so cute), but I think I just need to find the right group to post them to.

I joined the Self Portrait Thursday group, making 2008 the most documented year of my life :-) Seriously, how many different self portraits can you take at arms length? Well, actually, it's more than you might think. I've also discovered that the less clothes or make-up I wear, the more clicks I get...go figure!

More recently I have started "trying" to take landscape photos of parks and the Denver skyline. I'm not too good, but I'm trying. And once again, I'm convinced if I had a better camera I could take a much better photo!

I hate waste!

My Andy Rooney moment this Sunday.

I hate to throw away food; I hate it when people say "don't worry, it didn't cost much"; I just don't like it. I don't think too deeply about it, I just think it's a waste; it's a waste of money (no matter how cheap); it's a waste of my time buying or preparing it; it's a waste of the pickers. or packer, farmer or bakeries time to produce it. It's a waste of fresh air, water and sunlight; I don't like waste.

I hate it when I have to get a new computer, printer, digital camera, mobile phone because it is incompatible with current software, or a new battery is too expensive and a new phone is cheaper. I hate throwing these things away. I don't think too deeply about the energy required to make, distribute and package these things. I recycle what I can, but I don't immediately think of the landfill they will probably all end up in. My gut reaction is it's a waste to change something out every few years.

What is the problem with keeping a computer for 20 years? Why can't it be designed to cope with emerging technologies? Why can't I just change a chip on my phone? Why can't I send in my printer to be updated?

I hate seeing houses with all their lights on, cars idling while the driver is using the ATM, houses running air conditioning when it's 50 degrees out side - open a window, lazy! When energy was cheap I didn't like to see it be wasted and now I really don't understand.

I grew up using what I needed and looking after what I had. I had no idea that another English speaking country, that I though was very similar, wasn't the same as my country at all. We think how we think because of our environment, how we were brought up, what others did. We listen to teachers, parents and adults around us - that is our normal. I hope people can change, I hope brains can be rewired to think more about waste. I see a glimmer of hope in some people.

It doesn't have to be political, religious or patriotic, to me it is about looking after what you have. It's about caring about your possessions, your surroundings, your family and community. You don't have a right to squander what is there just because you can afford it. That's not the meaning of freedom!

Yikes it hot! I'm sitting in Tokyo Joes waiting to meet a friend for lunch and it's already 97 degrees. We're going to break records today!

Work and Time Changes

I'm just catching up from starting a new job. Life has been pretty busy these last couple of months. I started a new job Feb 1, as a remote Program Manager in SkillSoft's Custom Development Services group. So far it's been pretty fun; nice clients, interesting work and all round nice people to work with. I can't complain. I've also done a bit of traveling for them too; Vancouver and Scottsdale so far. I'll be doing to Fredericton in New Brunswick in a couple of weeks. Most of the team is Canadian, eh! It's nice to hear their accents, but the time differences are taking a while to get used to. Then when you add clients and vendors in the UK and India it starts to get a little manic. I'm 3 hours behind Fredericton, 6 hours (until their time change to BST) behind London, and 11.5 hrs away from Mumbai.

A link to this was posted on a glass board I read -


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