keep fighting the good fight, folks.

gonna be much to say on the topic of "dangerous mentally ill" for a while, i fear.

i hope that they are able to do an autopsy on the pilot. specifically his brain.
did you know at the infamous lubie's shooter had a brain tumor? i wonder how many others w traumatic brain injuries are dx'd as "mentally ill", when in fact they have injured brains.

i, for one, would like to bury the term mental illness in a deeeeep dark grave.

life sucks.

well, i am giving up the dog after all.

my baby, doctor doom, has been a part of the wrangling in my divorce. stbex wants to give him to our daughter. she wants to turn him into a therapy dog.

i was dubious about her need for THIS dog.
she had a dx of ptsd.
but we recently found out that she has epilepsy. she had a head injury as a little kid, around 5. i had no idea until it showed up in neuro-testing. that is when the story came out that her brother had been swinging her around by her feet, and thwacked her into a radiator. her skull was fractured. it was the ultimate "dont tell mom".

this injury turned out to have deformed her growing brain. it was so bad that it affected her physical development. her autonomic system is a mess. she has had one health problem after another her whole life.
she has also battled depression from a young age, which we pretty much chalked up to dealing w her physical problems.

we thought that once the seizures were dealt with, she would be ok.
she recently had another round of neuro-psyche testing.
but it turns out that this bright young lady, who did pretty well in school, even getting into a selective enrollment high school, taking 3 ap classes her senior year, and having a high 3 gpa, has serious learning disabilities!
her processing is impaired, as is her focus. only the fact that her memory is in the highest percentiles got her that far.

she is quite devastated by this news, as am i.
whether she will ever have a normal life is in doubt.
she has had a couple of jobs where they loved her, but eventually her health problems screwed them up. her last job fired her when they found out she had epilepsy. yeah. lawsuit time.

anyway, i really needed the dog in my life this last year. i dont know what i would have done without him. since i thought she was getting better, i had dug in my heels. i also thought that he would be spending too much time alone in an apartment.

but she needs him more than i do now. we are going to send him back to boot camp for more focused training, then we will see about some specialized training, tho he is perfect already at emotional support.

it is a hard pill to swallow. but at least he will stay in my life for the foreseeable future. she just lives 2 doors down, on my farm. he will be able to run around there. he can come here any time she needs him to.

i do have 3 more dogs. his half brother, biff, will fill his spot of the bed pretty well, i think. and my little dogs, banished to the crate at night now because of doctor's grumpiness toward them, can come back and keep my feet warm.

sigh. i hate life some times.

(dear cave dwellers- have a good time w this news, you scum suckers.)

do you have a doc that treats your pain?

today is the day to let them know you appreciate their care-

http://www.fmcpaware.org/pain-care-provider-day-march-20.html

imma write a long, sloppy note to my rheumie. he is the best ever.
dr james grober of northshore university healthcare system.
http://www.northshore.org/research/investigators/james-stephen-grober-md/

eets- rec this up. i know this is an issue for A LOT of du'ers.

some notes on ebay from an addicted buyer.

so, i have been bitten soooo hard by the ebay bug. my collection of fp little people has taken over my whole front room.
so i thought i would share some notes from my experience on the other side of the keyboard.

first, do not try to pad your profits w high shipping charges. lots w free shipping will be much more competitive. we are not stupid, we look at the total cost of the auction. $30-40 shipping charges are a huge turnoff.
smart buyers know this, i must admit. i look for these auctions because in the end the price is lower.

second, take good pictures! dont post fuzzy ass pics. dont take a pic of half your living room and your oriental carpets. again, i look for these auctions. i know the product well enough that i dont have to see that well. and i am expecting things in rough condition, because i am only looking for played w condition. i have gotten a few real steals this way.

third, dont.even.use.a.reserve. just start the bidding at your best price. i find there is a quirk in the ebay system here. i bid on an item with a reserve. i bid over 2x the starting bid, and the reserve was still not met. but here is the thing, until someone else came along an hit the reserve, my bid did not even count. it was only about $10 short of the $70 reserve, but it didnt even count. i did win the auction, but i cursed the seller as my bid sat there not counting. turned out the reserve was 4x the starting bid. that is just flat out stupid. it could have ended up unsold, as many auctions w reserves do.

most of these flaws are certainly inexperienced sellers. you dont see them in the more successful sellers.
dont be them.

is there any evidence for glucosamine, etc for joint health?

my impression is that there isnt any. but i have had another vet recommend it to me for my dogs. 2 big boys w big dog bad hips.
it has never been recommended to me by a doc, and i have joint issues. think i have even asked about it, and been told no. dont recall clearly, tho.

if there is actual evidence please post a link. and not to natural news or any other purveyor please.

eta-the plural of anecdote is not data. i am looking for well constructed studies. for or against.

exciting news about chronic fatigue. it's not all in your head.

finally, clinical markers for chronic fatigue.

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/1/e1400121