Today I received an e-mail from one of my friends (who happens to be a doctor in Spain); where he highlighted some very interesting worldwide facts on the global use of medicine:
'En el mundo actual, se está invirtiendo cinco veces más en medicamentos para la virilidad masculina y silicona para mujeres, que en la cura del Alzheimer. De aquí a algunos años, tendremos viejas de tetas grandes y viejos con pene duro, pero ninguno de ellos se acordará para que sirven'.
TRANSLATION:
'In today's world, there is an investment of five times greater funding in medicines that are for erectile dysfunction and breast augmentation than in searching for the cure for Alzheimer's Disease. Therefore, in a few years we shall have older women with large sexy breasts and older guys with hard penuses and neither of them shall remember what these elements are good for...'
Go FIGURE!!!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Such is Life
I have not written much in my blog about taking care of my Pop recently, because, well, I have been taking care of my Pop. His disease has progressed quite seriously in past few weeks, allowing me for very little time to write in my blog. Moreover, I am exhausted by the time he goes to bed.
Don't get me wrong- physically, he is doing great. His appetite is good, he looks as handsome as ever, but his problems with memory and his balance are getting noticeably worse. He has started doing things like trying to brush his teeth with shaving cream instead of toothpaste, or putting away dirty dishes with the clean ones, or getting up in the middle of the night and trying to go outside.
I have to be with him, or at least close to him, in order to avoid any potential mishaps.
His depth perception (when climbing stairs) is terrible. I guess, that, in other words, his overall abilities are now much more impacted by his dementia, by his Alzheimer's.
A fact which was confirmed by his new doctor very recently. Fortunately, this new doctor appears to be much more proactive, rather than reactive, when it comes to controlling his situation. We are starting some new meds and some new exercises that will hopefully help.
I feel, like a bit overwhelmed at times; it is getting harder and harder to watch over him without becoming totally overbearing. I now have to help him with his bathing; and just a week ago, I commenced putting him in adult diapers (at nighttime) after a few "accidents" --- a fact which he has accepted better than I thought that he would have.
I should have been better prepared to deal with this overall decline in his situation, but I just thought that we were doing so well. I did NOT think that this diminishment of capacity would come so quickly.
I guess that I will continue to roll with the punches, but I do not wish this situation on anybody; it truly drains your energy in a very fickle way. Essentially, I am a prisoner without my own life to live. Yet, when I see him smile, when I see him happy and comfortable being in his own home; when he tells me that he loves me at bedtime - well as corny as it may sound, it makes all of my efforts well worthwhile. He is my father and I promise to continue taking care of him as long as I am able to do so.
Don't get me wrong- physically, he is doing great. His appetite is good, he looks as handsome as ever, but his problems with memory and his balance are getting noticeably worse. He has started doing things like trying to brush his teeth with shaving cream instead of toothpaste, or putting away dirty dishes with the clean ones, or getting up in the middle of the night and trying to go outside.
I have to be with him, or at least close to him, in order to avoid any potential mishaps.
His depth perception (when climbing stairs) is terrible. I guess, that, in other words, his overall abilities are now much more impacted by his dementia, by his Alzheimer's.
A fact which was confirmed by his new doctor very recently. Fortunately, this new doctor appears to be much more proactive, rather than reactive, when it comes to controlling his situation. We are starting some new meds and some new exercises that will hopefully help.
I feel, like a bit overwhelmed at times; it is getting harder and harder to watch over him without becoming totally overbearing. I now have to help him with his bathing; and just a week ago, I commenced putting him in adult diapers (at nighttime) after a few "accidents" --- a fact which he has accepted better than I thought that he would have.
I should have been better prepared to deal with this overall decline in his situation, but I just thought that we were doing so well. I did NOT think that this diminishment of capacity would come so quickly.
I guess that I will continue to roll with the punches, but I do not wish this situation on anybody; it truly drains your energy in a very fickle way. Essentially, I am a prisoner without my own life to live. Yet, when I see him smile, when I see him happy and comfortable being in his own home; when he tells me that he loves me at bedtime - well as corny as it may sound, it makes all of my efforts well worthwhile. He is my father and I promise to continue taking care of him as long as I am able to do so.
Taking a vacation in a high crime city! No way.
By Patrick Osio
You're planning a vacation trip; you want to stay relatively close to home, no overseas travel, not this year. Maybe Mexico or in the U.S. – but it has to be affordable and with plenty to do. So you’re reading about some cities. You find one of interest, but on reading other information lo and behold you find that the chances of becoming a crime victim in that city are 1 out of 4 – a whopping 25% chance of being a crime victim. That ended that city as a destination.
You select another city, it sounds interesting, but now you also want to check up on how safe it is. Oh my gosh, you read that the chances of being a crime victim are also 1 out of 4. Scratch that one too. You go to the next city of interest, this one has great beaches, from good to excellent sea food restaurants, but before you book rooms, you check the safety. This one is better but still the chances of being a crime victim are 1 out of 5 – a 20% chance. What the heck is going on? Scratch that city.
Now you start checking other cities but begin with the safety factor first – you find that some are 1 out of 7, or 1 out of 8, or 1 out of 9, or 1 out of 10 – one out of ten people that’s 10% of people being victims of crime in that city – that is scary you think and decide maybe you and your family should stay home.
The cities checked before giving up are Chicago, Cincinnati, Miami, Jacksonville, Baltimore, Kansas City, Memphis, Dallas, Richmond, St. Louis, Little Rock, Philadelphia, Tampa, New York, Orlando, Cleveland, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Detroit – you had no idea that the chances of being a victim of crime in those cities was that high. What an eye opener.
But is it really an eye opener or are those cities "guilty by association"?
All the mentioned cities are great places with much history and plentiful things to do and enjoy. The high crime rates are true, but within certain, but not all in fact few, neighborhoods in each of those cities. The odds for being a victim of crime in those neighborhoods fall on the neighborhood residents not the tourists who visit the city and don’t travel into those affected neighborhoods.
New Orleans and Miami, as examples, were suffering from a drop of tourism due to high crime reports leading city officials in New Orleans to explain that the French Quarter where tourists congregate and spend their visiting time are very safe provided they are not involved in criminal activity. All cities mentioned are victims of generalization that the media portrayed and people believe that the entire city is not safe due to some neighborhoods having high crime rates.
Similarly, Baja California has been victimized by an unknowing, some would say insensitive, press that Tijuana, with a population nearing 2 million, covering over 400 square miles with dozens of neighborhoods, has neighborhoods with high crime rates wherein the drug cartels are entrenched, but it does not affect the entire city. Where tourism congregates is relatively free of crime, and other than petty thefts, most other crimes against tourists are negligible in proportion to the number of visitors.
The press reports high profile gang wars, and law enforcement shoot out encounters with drug cartel members as though it is the entire city by not identifying affected neighborhoods or even the size of the city where these confrontations take place. Like the French Quarter of New Orleans the Tijuana sections wherein visitors congregate are as safe as the French Quarter.
It is unfair to generalize about the entire city of New Orleans, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Dallas and all the others due to high crime in some of their neighborhoods, it is also unfair to generalize about Tijuana.
It is an even greater injustice that in generalizing about Tijuana the nearby municipalities of Rosarito Beach, covering close to 200 square miles, and Ensenada, a giant at over 20,000 square miles of territory, are drawn into the same generalization as Tijuana because travelers are under the impression that to reach them they have to cross Tijuana – not true, but the US press has never corrected the perception. Going to Ensenada from the US-Mexico border one takes a highway that skirts around Tijuana to a very safe toll scenic highway to both Rosarito Beach and Ensenada. Like in Los Angeles, using a freeway that crosses Watts (350% greater homicide rate than rest of L.A.) on the way to Disneyland.
These types of generalizations hurt everybody – the potential visitor to a great city in the US or Baja California because they miss out on a great experience; the city who loses the income that is spent by tourists that create employment and better life for residents; and by workers whose livelihood depends on visitor’s expenditures.
Read more news by Patrick Osio
You're planning a vacation trip; you want to stay relatively close to home, no overseas travel, not this year. Maybe Mexico or in the U.S. – but it has to be affordable and with plenty to do. So you’re reading about some cities. You find one of interest, but on reading other information lo and behold you find that the chances of becoming a crime victim in that city are 1 out of 4 – a whopping 25% chance of being a crime victim. That ended that city as a destination.
You select another city, it sounds interesting, but now you also want to check up on how safe it is. Oh my gosh, you read that the chances of being a crime victim are also 1 out of 4. Scratch that one too. You go to the next city of interest, this one has great beaches, from good to excellent sea food restaurants, but before you book rooms, you check the safety. This one is better but still the chances of being a crime victim are 1 out of 5 – a 20% chance. What the heck is going on? Scratch that city.
Now you start checking other cities but begin with the safety factor first – you find that some are 1 out of 7, or 1 out of 8, or 1 out of 9, or 1 out of 10 – one out of ten people that’s 10% of people being victims of crime in that city – that is scary you think and decide maybe you and your family should stay home.
The cities checked before giving up are Chicago, Cincinnati, Miami, Jacksonville, Baltimore, Kansas City, Memphis, Dallas, Richmond, St. Louis, Little Rock, Philadelphia, Tampa, New York, Orlando, Cleveland, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Detroit – you had no idea that the chances of being a victim of crime in those cities was that high. What an eye opener.
But is it really an eye opener or are those cities "guilty by association"?
All the mentioned cities are great places with much history and plentiful things to do and enjoy. The high crime rates are true, but within certain, but not all in fact few, neighborhoods in each of those cities. The odds for being a victim of crime in those neighborhoods fall on the neighborhood residents not the tourists who visit the city and don’t travel into those affected neighborhoods.
New Orleans and Miami, as examples, were suffering from a drop of tourism due to high crime reports leading city officials in New Orleans to explain that the French Quarter where tourists congregate and spend their visiting time are very safe provided they are not involved in criminal activity. All cities mentioned are victims of generalization that the media portrayed and people believe that the entire city is not safe due to some neighborhoods having high crime rates.
Similarly, Baja California has been victimized by an unknowing, some would say insensitive, press that Tijuana, with a population nearing 2 million, covering over 400 square miles with dozens of neighborhoods, has neighborhoods with high crime rates wherein the drug cartels are entrenched, but it does not affect the entire city. Where tourism congregates is relatively free of crime, and other than petty thefts, most other crimes against tourists are negligible in proportion to the number of visitors.
The press reports high profile gang wars, and law enforcement shoot out encounters with drug cartel members as though it is the entire city by not identifying affected neighborhoods or even the size of the city where these confrontations take place. Like the French Quarter of New Orleans the Tijuana sections wherein visitors congregate are as safe as the French Quarter.
It is unfair to generalize about the entire city of New Orleans, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Dallas and all the others due to high crime in some of their neighborhoods, it is also unfair to generalize about Tijuana.
It is an even greater injustice that in generalizing about Tijuana the nearby municipalities of Rosarito Beach, covering close to 200 square miles, and Ensenada, a giant at over 20,000 square miles of territory, are drawn into the same generalization as Tijuana because travelers are under the impression that to reach them they have to cross Tijuana – not true, but the US press has never corrected the perception. Going to Ensenada from the US-Mexico border one takes a highway that skirts around Tijuana to a very safe toll scenic highway to both Rosarito Beach and Ensenada. Like in Los Angeles, using a freeway that crosses Watts (350% greater homicide rate than rest of L.A.) on the way to Disneyland.
These types of generalizations hurt everybody – the potential visitor to a great city in the US or Baja California because they miss out on a great experience; the city who loses the income that is spent by tourists that create employment and better life for residents; and by workers whose livelihood depends on visitor’s expenditures.
Read more news by Patrick Osio
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