Doctor says

When I was about 45 years old, I was sent to a cardiologist because of PVCs. Basically that means your heart beats before it fills with blood. It's kind of a weird sensation and I was having a lot of them. The good doctor told me, there is medication for it, but PVCs won't shorten your life span. You can go on the meds but there are side effects. Having heard the side effects I decided the weird feeling was the better choice. They eventually went away and life continued on.

Then we were returning home from an 8 day vacation at the end of September. We got home early enough for me to make my appointment for blood donation. I just didn't feel right while sitting waiting for the tech to take my vitals. Yea, blood pressure was 196/98. I think that's close to the death by stroke zone. The tech waited 10 minutes and my blood pressure went down to a level they would take the donation. You have to ask is that a good idea? He has a heart problem lets take some of his blood. 

The next morning I had a revelation. the PVCs were back and with a vengence. Missing about every third heart beat. I have a blood pressure machine at home and was checking my pressure. It would quite often go above 160/90. Not good.

After 45 days I decided maybe it was time to see a doctor. Yea blood pressure was 160/90 still not good. I did explain that I had white coat syndrome and they could probably subtract 10 points just because we were in a doctor's office. Dr got out the old stethescope and was listening to my heart. She listened about 3 seconds and grabbed my wrist searching for a pulse. Hey I am still sitting upright, I do have a pulse, its there occasionally. Then the tests started: EKG, we'll take three vials of blood, here is a container and there is the bathroom give us a sample. 

We are going to stick this monitor to your chest for 48 hours. You will see a cardiologist in the next 2 weeks. We need to get your blood pressure down with medication. Then the tests started coming back. You have elevated cholesterol. Not just a little elevated but through the roof, you need to be on statins. You have a high risk of stroke and need to start taking aspirin every day and lose some weight.

Hold on, hold on here. I think maybe lets try a few life style changes first. The doctor said most people would rather take a pill than make lifestyle changes. Well, I am not most people and medications have side effects. I am a firm believer in pills when necessary but lets shock my system with some nutritional deprivation.

I know I was drinking way too much coffee. A pot and 2/3 was most likely way off the scale of normal. I think my Mr Coffee feels neglected and abandoned. I will have to say caffeine withdrawal is no fun at all. It didn't start till after 2 days caffine free and then boy it was like getting hit by a 2x4.

Oh and not just the coffe had to go. Those hand cut prime ribeyes I love. Maybe 2 ounces occasionally

BBQed pork rib meat. Yea, no more of that.

Those bacon slabs I slice thick, gone.

This meal no,no. Get the skin off the chicken and lose the chips.

I have 30 pounds of pork ribs in my deep freeze, I'm supposed to eat that, what sliced in small portions of 1 bone each meal??

3 years ago I switched out what I eat in the evening due to a health issue I don't remember now. This was one of my meals, well now the butter has to be gone from the bread and no CHEESE on the salad.

I don't know, do you live longer or does it just feel like it?

I might end up like the Beverly Hillbillies eating possum innerds. They're just as good the second day.

My plan is after this total shock to my system to start adding a few enjoyable foods and maybe some caffeine back into my routine. As of tonight my blood pressure has fallen and is in the normal range. Have no clue yet on the cholestrol and why after a week much smaller meals not one pound of weight  has been lost? Come on, I deserve to have lost at least 5 pounds with all the good food I have given up.

Problem is not falling back into really bad eating habits. Life is like that, we can make a decision to change and then just slide back to where we started.

Routines and habits are hard to break. That's why most people would rather take a pill than change their life style. I get that, it has been a tough week and will be several more tough weeks.

We all get comfortable not just with our diets but also with the sin in our lives. It's part of the comfort zone and it's easy to justify. It's not so bad, others are worse. Problem is, God calls us to be holy, not just better than how we see someone else. Being holy may mean kicking some things we enjoy out of our lives and leaving our comfort zone. Might have to ask God for help to change for the better because on our own we are bound to fail.

 

Left behind

We have climate controled storage units. If you want to store your very valuable things with us, like say old books you are never going to read or Christmas decorations you will want, maybe in 5 years, we will make sure they don't freeze or get damaged by our lovely Iowa high humidity. Because we have a furnace and an air conditioner and a dehumidifier in the building.

Of course, when I pull up in the morning and see that a tenant has blocked the door open overnight, it kinda defeats all our efforts. We have found we use our security cameras to police the tenants. Yea, you looked up at the camera when you loaded out the cart that belongs at the building. I am sure you made a mistake when you took it, so bring it BACK! Oh yea, we saw you block open the door and drive away, so don't do that again. No one seems to take it seriously that the sign says security cameras. These are not fake cameras, they are watching you. It's like the song. 

We see you when you're smoking. 

We see you when you steal. 

We know when you are bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.  

You better be nice

like sugar and spice

cause our cameras are watching you.

That my friends is a pile of dead roaches in an insecticide dust. We have a house that we are killing roaches in. One morning last week I counted 176 dead roaches. As of this morning in the last 24 hours only 86 died where I could find them. Progress is being made. I do wish the tenant had taken all his little friends with him when he moved becuase we have an empty house till we can be sure the roach count is zero, nada, nothing, all gone.

At the same house there was a jug of liquid left in the garage. No lid on it. I smelled it (I know that could have been dangerous. What if it was a chemical, Nah, couldn't be could it? It had no odor and the consistancy of water.) I poured it out. Strange how that water seems to have killed the grass. Hmm it must have been water so pure that it tied up all the nutrients and the grass died of starvation. yea that's it, I'm sure of it.

The house we are working on now had not had the yard cleaned up for, I am guessing here, 40 years. It was full of trees. The tree service came with those lovely machines and made the trees gone. I love how they grab the tree and it just cuts a chunk off. they have another machine that picks up the pieces and puts them in big trucks and away they go. Almost magical to watch. The trees all gone in a matter of a couple of hours.

So lets see, tenants leaving doors blocked open, roaches left in a house, an open jug of some chemical left, and trees left to grow till the yard was full. It was a week of things being left behind. There are people who say they are going to Heaven because they are good people. Well they are not going to heaven because they are good people. They will be left behind, like unwanted insects, chemicals and trees. The door is open only to sinners who know they are sinners. Jesus paid for them and has blocked the door open so they can go to Heaven.

 

fixing walls

We are working in wildflower cottage. The furnace quit working a year before the previous owner died. The house was sealed up tight and heated with space heaters.

That creates a moisture ploblem which damages old walls that have layers of wall paper. The paper releases and starts to fall.

That creates a real problem. Do you pull off all the paper you can and start repairing or remove the old plaster and start over.

We always try to salvage a plaster and lathe wall as long as the keys are still holding it to the lathe. If the keys are breaking the loose pieces have to come out. This house was well built and the keys are still in good shape, so patch and paint.

One bedroom and hallway is finished and only 4 rooms to go. I am impressed at how well the walls are cleaning up and looking after painting. The kitchen which is the 5th room still to be fixed was never papered but a sand texture was applied and it has failed. That room is more problematic.

I spent most of the week fixing walls in a house and trying to tear down walls in the rest of my life. I saw a car with a flat tire near a building we own. The couple in the car looked pretty sketchy. I walked over and asked them how they were doing. He said we have a flat tire, it was the spare small tire on the car that was flat. He needed a ride to a tire shop. I told him I could do that and he got a shredded tire out of the back seat.

On the drive to the tire shop he told me they were homeless, yea, I had kinda figured that. I asked what their plan was. He has some plan from a charity in Des Moines. I have dealt with enough homeless people this year to know that is not going to happen. I had heard it all before. 

I started giving him ideas of where he could get help, and he said those won't work, I'm a felon. 

I happen to know the programs I was telling him about do help felons. I know that from others we work with. He wasn't listening anymore. I am sure I will meet them again, seems to work that way. Next time we meet they will know I care and want to help and might be willing to listen instead of shut down. It's a process to help others. I may fix walls in houses but I try to tear them down when dealing with others.

I have met several homeless people this year, Don't know that I was able to get a single one to change their lifestyle.

Sometimes it's even disgusting. I had to clean used adult diapers out of trees one day. Coulda lived with out that experience. 

Sometimes the change that you start isn't seen till a couple years later.

I would encourage tearing down walls between you and others that don't fit your idea of living right. The ones I have met have all been friendly even though sometimes I am the bearer of really bad news for them. 

If we listen to each other intead of creating walls, we might find we all really want much the same results, we just have different ideas of how to get there. Talk to someone you disagree with, find common cause, create a new relationship. 

God commands us to love.