Monthly Archives: December 2007

How He Does It

Jon Armstrong, hubby to Heather, the author of Dooce.com, has written the most amazing blog post called “How I do” about living and loving a woman who battles chronic depression.

One of the biggest and most detrimental side effects to being a partner of someone with a mental illness is that there is the impulse to not share the hard stuff with them for fear they can’t handle it. Likely corollary to that is that the disease is a part of our relationship, meaning it needs its own space. The meds and therapy continue to help, but the disease is always there. I have to be aware of those times where nearly every exchange, every gesture and every non-verbal cue is related to the illness in some way. This adds a burden to any relationship and ours is no different.

I’m no shrink, but if you live with someone who is depressed, that this post is packed with great advice and strategies for taking care of yourself, your partner and your relationship. The post already has 315 comments, which I think speaks to just how important this topic is.

If someone you know is depressed or has a loved one who is, share this post with them.

Bravo, Jon!

Blog 365 – Pure Heroin for Blog Addicts

For those of you who, like me, tried to post every day during National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) and failed, a new addictive blog challenge has arisen – Blog 365.

That’s right – some sicko blog-pusher has posted a challenge to blog every day for a year, starting New Year’s Day 2008.

The rules for Blog 365 are a bit looser than those for NaBloPoMo. You don’t have to actually write the post on the day you post it, so that you can pile up pre-written posts and feed them out one at a time. Posts can be anything – a photo or video link are fair game.

For a blog addict like myself, Blog 365 is pure heroin. I think I should stay away from it.

But don’t let that stop you from joining the already 465 bloggers who have signed on to the challenge. (It’s always nice to know there are others whose addiction is worse than mine… )
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Heroin photo used with permission from the DEA Multimedia Library

XO Laptop – Second Impressions

As I wrote last week, we got an XO laptop for our 12 year old daughter as part of OLPC’s Give a Laptop, Get a Laptop program.

Our first impression of the XO Laptop was that this was a really cool little laptop.

And it is. A computer that has built in video, audio, internet browsing and file sharing for just about $200? That’s amazing.

The XO is a big hit among the populations for which it was designed – kids in the third world. Read how the XO is transforming life in a Peruvian Village.

But after almost a week of fiddling with it here in America, we’ve decided the XO just doesn’t completely fit the my kid’s computing needs. Which is totally fine – it was never meant to. So what follows is not complaining and is not meant to be a negative review. It’s just the facts of our little experiment to see if the XO could be my daughter’s personal computer.

Our XO Experience

After fiddling around with the video camera and the internet, it was time to get down to work. Truth be told, we had little use for most of the games and actvities loaded on the XO – activities meant for a learning environment. The games my daughter did access were fun and easy to use. But we focused mostly on the activities she uses most – internet, writing and music.

While the XO multi-tasks, programs load slowly. Web based email worked fine, but we still cannot figure out how to save attachments. Some web pages load smaller versions, and it’s a bit like web browsing using your cell phone. Other pages load fully, but you have to scroll to see the whole page n the small screen.

The XO really saves activities, not files, in something called Journal. Naming a doc requires opening the journal entry for the activity that generated it. Journal entries pile up quickly, and it’s a bit slow scrolling through them to find a file, especially for someone like myself used to a folder tree system.

The word processor is just fine, but there is no printing (yet) and not a smooth interface with Microsoft Word or Publisher, making document sharing difficult for my daughter, who edits her school newspaper. File sharing with the XO is meant to happen among groups of XO users, but we’re the only users in our laptop’s range.

There is no way to play Itunes on the XO, so a kid who has her music stored there will be unable to use the XO for this. I gave up trying to figure out if I could use some other Linux-based program for this, as it is pretty much beyond my tech skills.

I tried to chat online with other XO users in my neighborhood, but no one accepted my invitation to chat. Maybe they don’t know how to use this feature.

And finally, the pointer is jumpy, a source of continuing frustration. (A fix is due soon.)

My daughter, God bless her, was willing to stick with the XO and work between it and the family computer till upgrades later next year. But it felt to me as though this gift, given with such love and received after much anticipation, was becoming more of a burden for her than a joy.

So, yesterday we bought her a laptop at the local tech superstore for a great price. It was a model that is being discontinued, but what do we care? It’s already 10 times better than my 4 year old laptop…. Of course, she’s flying with it. Listening to tunes while writing articles for the paper, checking email and planning on uploading and editing the videos that she and her friends have made. I’ve only had to get involved to help her set up E-mail and update her antivirus software, both tasks I can do without having to read a manual.

Other Families’ XO experiences

Read another family’s entirely different experience giving an XO to their kid – He’s younger and clearly more tech-minded than my kid or me.

This Dad clearly spent a bit more time with his kid on the XO than I did with mine, and it shows.

Both these kids were under age 10, which may be why they picked up on this system faster than my 12 year old, who already was used to current operating systems and had her own idea of what a computer should be able to do.

Bottom Line

The XO is a great laptop for the price. In fact, it is an amazing laptop for the price, especially since for every one you buy, one gets given.

If you don’t need to rely on the XO for all your computing needs, are interested in playing around with Linux and are willing to wait for the upgrades that will make it a bit more user-friendly here in the second world, then it is a fabulous laptop for your kid. Printing should be available by mid 2008, and there are even rumors of a change to a Windows platform.

But if your kid is like mine, namely not too tech-savvy and already used to the computing environments offered by Apple or Microsoft, the XO alone will likely not serve his/her computing needs.

And that’s okay – After all, the XO was not built for my kid. It was built for kids whose families cannot afford even one computer, let alone our family, where the one laptop, one cellphone, one digital camera per person program is in full swing.

My question now, of course, is what to do with the XO we have. There is not yet a program for donating it back, which was my first thought. On second thought, I hear they are going for up to $600 on E-Bay…

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More XO Reviews

Aaron Landry – has two articles on the XO, and great discussion in the comments section
Ubuntu tutorials – Nice sum up of specs
NY Times review by David Pogue
Notebookreview.com – very complete review
David Seah – First Impressions

A Healthcare Wish List for Santa

I wrote a little song for all of you for Christmas.

Won’t you sing along with me? (Click on the song title for music – I apologize for the crappy sound quality, but it’s the best my 13 year old nephew producer and I could create at 10 pm on Christmas night.)

Happy Holidays to all!

Santa Baby

Santa baby, if you can fit it under the tree, for me
We need a national healthcare policy
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, Universal coverage costs a lot, but why not?
While you’re at it keep the premiums low,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Pay whenever we are ill
Pay for every shot and every pill
Next year it could be twice as much
But I know that you can foot the bill

Santa Baby, our healthcare outcomes should be the best, the rest
Of the world should learn from us, not us from them,
Santa baby, So hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa honey, one little thing we really need for sure, a cure
For cancer and for chronic disease
Santa honey, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa cutie, if you decide to keep Medicare, No fair
Unless you pay the doctors what they’re worth,
Santa Cutie, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

One more task you can perform
Malpractice is in need of a major reform
I know you want it even if we don’t
And you can make it better even if we won’t.

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, please bring,
A President who’ll listen to science
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry, down the chimney tonight!

Chicken Country Style

Tonight at Irene’s we made yet another recipe from her Archives – those great old recipe files she has culled together over the years. This one’s from the NY Times and is at least 30 years old. A few modifications have perfected it – for example, whole wheat flour is used instead of regular flour (makes a better crust), olive oil replaces most of the butter in the original recipe, and tarragon is added for flavor. Feel comfortable making it for company the first time. You won’t be sorry.

CHICKEN COUNTRY-STYLE

2 ½ lbs. Chicken thighs
1/2 cup flour (Whole wheat is best)
2 tsp Irene’s Chicken Spice Rub
Olive oil
2 tbsp butter
4 cups peeled and cubed Yukon Gold potatoes
¼ lb. mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
2 tbsps. finely chopped shallot
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup chicken broth
Chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and cube the potatoes,
and parboil 2 minutes. Drain well and hold.

Slice the mushrooms in half lengthwise. Trim off the stem and cut each half into thirds. Add to stems and hold.

Mix the flour and spice rub on a plate, and dredge the chicken pieces lightly.

Very lightly oil a large cast iron skillet, heat to a high heat and brown the chicken, skin side first.

Remove the chicken and hold on a platter. Pour off excess fat from the skillet, and then melt the butter in the same pan.

Roll the potatoes in the pan and season with salt and pepper.

Remove the potatoes to a platter. Add the chicken back into the pan and cover with the potatoes.

 

Bake about 30-40 minutes. (If the chicken finishes before the potatoes, remove the chicken and pop the potatoes under the broiler to brown.)

While the chicken and potatoes are baking, heat a small amount of oil in another skillet. Add shallots and garlic, cook for a minute or two till aromatic. Add mushrooms, and cook for a few minutes until they give off most of their liquid,

adding tarragon towards the end.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the wine and broth,

bring to a boil and cook off almost all of the liquid.

To serve, pile chicken, potatoes and mushrooms onto a large platter and sprinkle with parsley.

Serves 4.

(Note – This is the two skillet method. If you only have one skillet, remove the chicken to a baking dish, then add the potatoes to that dish with the chicken to bake. Cook the mushrooms in the skillet while the chicken and potatoes cook in the baking dish in the oven.)

Irene’s Chicken Spice Rub

Just posting this for easy future reference.

2 parts paprika
3 parts kosher salt
1 part Old Bay Seasoning
½ part lemon pepper mix (whatever brand you like)
1 part garlic powder
1 part sugar

Mix all the ingredients together. Store in a shaker jar covered with plastic wrap to prevent it from becoming stale. Tape the recipe on the side of the jar for easy reference.

Cranberry Beans the Greek Way

So Schruggling, a frequent commenter and friend of my sister the OBS Housekeeper, e-mails me Thursday and lets it slip that he is heading to Ferry Street in Newark to buy fish on Saturday with his friend John Kaldes, fellow Big Pharma Guy and author of the cookbook Made in Greece (casual sip…). Schruggling’s wife is Greek, and they always make all this great Greek food, and John is going to help them make Greek octopus with tomatoes for Christmas Eve.

Then, after all that, Schruggling does not invite me to come along with them.

Ferry Street in Newark is like, what, 28.4 minutes away from me by MapQuest? And they’re going to be buying fish and talking food the whole time? And John is a real live, honest to goodness cookbook author ? And Schruggling’s not inviting Me???? Me, with the food blog? The food blog that the NY Times Online just linked to? That Me?

Sure that there is some mistake, I email back suggesting that I could join them, we could do dueling octapus dishes, put it on the blog, won’t that be fun?

And Schrugglin’ emails back something like – We’re not sure what time we’re leaving, it’s going to be a last-minute thing, blah, blah, blah. Maybe some other time.

Okay, fine.

It’s a Guy thing. Or a Greek thing. Or a Big Pharma thing. Actually, it’s not even a Big Pharma thing, since they both work for Generic Pharma, it’s a Big Pharma Copycat thing.

What do I care? I don’t need them to hang Greek. Ferry Street isn’t even a Greek neighborhood – It’s Portuguese. I can go to Astoria, a real Greek neighborhood. Plus, I have these Greek friends across the street who have us over for these amazing lamb dinners and who give me olive oil from their family’s olive grove in Crete and who once left me a whole shopping bag filled with all this great Feta and stuff from Astoria, and they have promised to take me shopping with them in Astoria, we just haven’t found a mutual free Saturday morning…

But who cares? I can out-Greek you anytime, Schruggling. I don’t need you and your friend. Your fellow-copycat Big-Pharma, so what if he wrote a Greek Cookbook friend…

Then Schrugglin’ emails me Friday to tell me that he and John have firmed up their plans for Saturday and can I still meet them and how is 10am at the Popular Fish Market on Ferry Street?

And I am so there….

Since this post is getting way too long, I am going to have to save the whole fish market octopus thing for my next post, since it will involve picture of tenacles and suckers and stuff like that and I haven’t even made it yet.

What I will tell you is that Schruggling (who I had never met till today) is really cute and nice and I feel like I’ve known him my whole life, probably because he knows everything about my whole family from OBS. And John is really gracious and nice, and very serious when it comes to this cooking stuff, and I learned a lot.

Thanks, guys, it was really, really fun. And thanks John for putting up with us. And for the recipes. I even bought your cookbook, and can’t wait to try it out.

And I didn’t mean that stuff I said about you guys, or that whole Big Pharma copycat thing…Well, technically, maybe you are copycats, but if you weren’t we’d all be paying thousands of dollars more for drugs.

And of course, there’s a recipe…

Cranberry Beans, Greek -Style

While we were on Ferry Street, John bought some cranberry beans (he called them raspberry beans, isn’t that just so Greek?). So of course we bought some too. And while we were standing in line to pay, John told Mr TBTAM how to make them, and he made them for dinner tonight. I have a feeling we did not do them exactly right, but they were still delish.

1 pound of Cranberry Beans, unshelled
Tomato paste (we used 1 small can diced tomatoes)
1-2 tbsp Olive oil
1 medium onion, diced small
We added chopped garlic and a bay leaf (We couldnt remember if John said to add them, but it semed right)
Salt and pepper to taste

Shell beans and place in saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil and boil for about 5 -10 minutes. Drain and discard the water. (This makes them less gas-producing.)

Cook tomato paste or tomatoes in pot for a few minutes. Add the onion, garlic and olive oil and cook a few minutes longer. Add the beans and a bit of water, barely to cover.

Simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours till soft. Serve on crusty bread as an appetizer, or as a side dish for dinner. We served it as a side dish along with grilled sausages, salad and a nice crusty bread.

Tigo – Take your Tea and Leaf

One of the fun things about being married to a school teacher is seeing what gifts he gets each year from students, families and colleagues. This year was no exception, but this gift was. Mr TBTAM just brought it home tonight, and already we’re all fighting over who gets to use it first. (I’m the Mom, so I won…)

It’s called the Tigo Filter Cup and it’s an on-the-go tea brewing system, the first of it’s kind being sold in the USA.

Unlike the other travel tea mugs I’ve seen with lots of parts, filters and presses, this is a simple, clean design that just makes sense. Here’s how it works – The stainless steel filter in the Tigo is built in –

you rotate it open to add the tea,

and close it to pour in the hot water. Cap it and go – it steeps and cools to the perfect drinkable temp while you travel. You drink it right from the cup, and the filter keeps the tea in its place.

You can add hot water again and again, re-using the tea leaves the way the Chinese do to get every bit of flavor out of them before throwing them away. I’m already on the third brew of the wonderful Huangshan green/white tea we got with our Tigo, and I think I can still get another cup out of it. If you’re going to drink high quality green or white tea, this is a great way to get your money’s worth without making a lot of mess.

The Tigo is so new that it’s not yet available in stores. But you can order it online from the Tigo Website. That’s a good thing, because I think we are going to need more than one in our family.

In the meantime, I just have to figure out how to get the Tigo away from Emily, who swiped it from me before I could finish my cuppa’.

Hey, there’s a slogan for you – “Leggo‘ my Tigo!”

Genital Photos, HIPAA and the Media – Update

Looks like the Mayo Clinic is recognizing the dual nature of the privacy violations in this case. From the Mayo Clinic Website today –

Ultimately this episode reduces to two actions by two different individuals who violated our policies concerning respect and privacy. One was the inappropriate cell-phone photograph taken by a resident physician, subsequently displayed to others internally but to our knowledge not shared in any other fashion. The resident responsible for the photograph is receiving appropriate disciplinary action.

The second breach by a different person was the reporting of the incident along with the actual patient’s name to the media. The identity of the person who disclosed the patient’s name is not yet known.

I still fault the reporter who wrote that story as much as I fault the person who called the media. They could easily have written the story without revealing the patient’s name. The law may not require them too, but I think ethics do.

Then again, perhaps I am just as much at fault for disseminating the story with my blog…

Genital Photos, HIPAA and the Media

A surgery resident at the Mayo Clinic is under fire for taking a photo of his patient’s genitals during surgery for a gallbladder problem. A concerned surgical staff member took it upon themselves to contact the press about the incident, and so now the entire country knows what this poor guy has tatooed you- know- where.

It seems to me there’s a bigger problem here than the photo – and that’s the violation of this patient’s privacy by the staff member who took the story to the media. Since when is calling the local paper the appropriate way to handle a hospital incident involving a patient?

In fact, I’d argue that the “whistle blower” to the media committed an even bigger violation of the patient’s rights than did the resident who snapped the photo. What could have been a private matter between the patient and the Mayo Clinic (and the lawyers for both sides) has now become national news.

(Hat tip to Kevin, MD for the story, the latest addition to his “Doctors Gone Wild” post series.)

FDA Warnings on Nonoxynol-9 Re-Define Sponge Worthiness

Elaine’s date tries to convince her that he is “Sponge-Worthy”
The FDA has issued a new ruling requiring manufacturers of contraceptive and spermicidal products containing Nonoxynol-9 to warn users that Nonoxynol-9 does not protect against HIV or other STD’s. Labels must also warn that Nonoxynol-9 can irritate the vagina and rectum, which may increase the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS from an infected partner.

Nonoxyl-9 is the active ingredient in the contraceptive sponge. It’s also found in spermacidal jellies used with diaphragms and cervical caps, and in contraceptive inerts, foam and vaginal film.

Nonoxynol-9 is a surfactant, and acts to disrupt sperm membranes, thus preventing pregnancy. Contraceptive efficacy of N-9 containing spermicides ranges from 70% if used alone to 80-90% when used with a diaphragm. Advantages include absence of hormones and easy reversibility. The disadvantages are that they are less effective than hormonal methods, can cause irritation and can increase HIV transmission if your partner is HIV-infected.

So before you dip into your sponge stock or take out your diaphragm for a guy, better make sure he’s truly worthy and does not carry the HIV virus. If you’re not sure, forget the sponge or diaphragm and use a condom.

TBTAM’s Rules for Spermicide Use

  1. If you are at risk for HIV or if your partner’s HIV status is unknown to you, don’t use Nonoxynol-9 containing contraceptives. Use a non-spermicidal lubricated condom. If you want additional protection against pregnancy beyond that which condoms provide, look towards additional methods that don’t entail spermicide use, like the oral contraceptive.

  2. If you are at low risk for HIV infection, and especially if you know that your partner is HIV negative, go ahead and use whatever contraceptive works best for you, including spermicides, diaphragms and sponges.

  3. The best way to protect yourself against HIV infection is to limit your number of sexual partners, or as TBTAM has said again and again – Save sex for those you love. But since even someone you love could have HIV, both of you should get that HIV test before you stop using a condom or use spermicides.

The Road to the Ruing

We’ve known for some time that Nonoxynol-9 use can increase HIV transmission, from studies of sex-workers in Thailand and Africa, who were found to acquire HIV more often when they used Nonoxynol-9 spermacides along with condoms, compared to their counterparts who used just condoms.

In 2002, the CDC issued a warning against the use of Nonoxynol-9 for HIV or STD prevention, and advised against using spermicidal lubricated condoms for HIV prevention. In response, over a dozen condom manufacturers, including Planned Parenthood, stopped adding spermicides to their products, as did makers of personal lubricants.

But at the FDA, the issue became politicized, since it involved labeling on condoms.

Right-wing advocates of abstinence wanted the label to say that condoms don’t protect against AIDS. AIDS Advocacy Groups wanted to be sure that the labeling did not discourage condom use. Women’s groups were concerned that the warning against spermicides might be applied too broadly, causing women who were at low to no risk of HIV to turn away from effective contraception. Also at the table were the condom manufacturers, some of whom continued to manufacture spermicide-lubricated condoms on the grounds that these condoms are appropriate for couples without HIV. And, I suspect, the instability of the FDA leadership over recent years didn’t help the matter…

In 2003, the GAO, under pressure from the right wing lobbyists, issued a statement against the FDA, urging them to move forward on the labeling change. Four years later, the ruling is finally final.

The FDA warning goes beyond the 2000 CDC message to address the widespread use of Nonoxyl-9 in contraceptives, and to correct any remaining mis-perception that these spermicides protect against HIV.

The ruling also contains wording for condom labels that states that their consistent use greatly reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of catching or spreading HIV. A nice compromise, I think, on that issue.
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The full FDA Ruling is posted on the FDA Website
Great info on Nonoxynol-9 from IBIS Reproductive Health

XO Laptop – First Impressions

My daughter’s XO Laptop arrived today – just one day late for her birthday, not bad delivery timing.

She called me screaming in excitement, and when I arrived home about a half hour later, she opened the door holding the laptop up, with the words “Hi Mom!” written on the screen. She had already made a video, taken a few pictures and figured out where our wireless network was. All I had to do was explain that our network password was in hexadecimal, and she had her Internet up and running.

User friendly start up – Check.

We’re still exploring it, figuring out the tricks to this new interface. Found a writing program, but haven’t figured out where the files get saved to. Fortunately, there is support info on the web, and a community of users is growing.

The only downside so far is that I don’t think the XO will run I-Tunes. There’s a USB port, so the I-Pod should be able to connect. I think a program called Banshee should do the job, but I’ll have to do little learning about Linux to download it and get it working for her. One more job for IT Support-Mom…

I wish we could find out who the kid was that got the laptop we donated – it would have been fun to connect with him/her wherever they are (?Africa maybe).

Make Sperm, Not War

The Civil War in Lebanon caused a decrease in sperm count, according to a study published this week in Fertility and Sterility.

Researchers at the American Hospital in Beiruit retrospectively reviewed records of couples receiving fertility treatment between 1985 and 1995, and compared the results of semen anlyses performed on samples collected during the war (1985-89) and after the war (1991-95).

Sperm concentrations were significantly lower during the war compared with the post war period, although sperm volume and motility remained the same. Sperm morphology was actually more abnormal after the war. (Whether this latter result was due to toxic exposure during the war or a change in how semen anlayses are reported is unclear, but the latter seems more likely.)

The authors suggest that the stress of war leads to a decline in sperm production, possibily through a depression of testosterone levels via the effect of stress hormones on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis.

Although a longitudinal study of men before, during and after war would have made a better case, these results are interesting to say the least, and give us one more reason to make love and not war.