CCSVI Clinical Trials

 A break from my alphabet posts because of an important announcement. The Federal government is going ahead with funding for CCSVI clinical trials. Read about it here http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1016906--ottawa-to-fund-trials-of-controversial-ms-treatment?bn=1

Yay!!! It's a step in the right direction.

T: Trails

Another rainy day here.  Ever since the tree incident I'm nervous during a thunderstorm, as the tree that is now only half a tree, is very threatening. A city inspector is supposed to drop by to have a look at it and it will be cut down if it is deemed to be unsafe. I think it is and so does my neighbour. She has more to worry about than me since her house is tiny and has the most exposure to this half  tree. You would have to see it to realize what a huge thing it is and far too big for the tiny property it's on. If I don't hear anything by next week, I guess I'll have to start nagging my city Councillor

I'm waiting for the results of my  thyroid biopsy. I should know the good/bad news by the end of the week.

My legs are killing me and I'm walking very stiffly at times. Still I manage to get out on the trails walking. I'm a wreck afterwards but I don't care. I'm a wreck anyways, so may as well keep walking. If it means I spend the rest of the evening lying on the couch so be it.

The only other news is the federal government has introduced legislation to privatize the growing and sale of medical marijuana. Health Canada and regular folks like me will no longer be permitted to grow the stuff. I don't have a problem with that except once again; will the weed be of poor quality and expensive like the health Canada product is ?

There's no point in me even saying that marijuana should be legalized. Our prime minister has made it clear that no way will that ever happen while he is in office and he has a majority in parliament . An international panel has declared the war on drugs to be a total failure, and recommends marijuana be legalized, but do the politician listen ? No they and the enforcement community are stuck in  the 1950's ideology of " Reefer Madness".

For some reason a person has decided that the Sassafras trail, is the LSD trail, as you can see from the pictures below.Why anyone would get stoned and attempt to navigate this trail I think is very foolish. There are no lights, and if you veer off the trail even slightly there's tons of poison ivy. You could also easily fall down the embankment and end up in the harbour.  Otherwise it's very pretty and soul restoring to walk there.

S: Subculture

 On June 3rd I went to the "Treating Yourself Expo" in Toronto. Everything and anything, you need to know about medical marijuana. Not to long now until I get my license to legally smoke and grow my own weed. The only thing holding it up is the mail strike. In the meantime, if I get hassled I have a temporary card to legally smoke it, and the name of a good lawyer too. A young man in a wheelchair told me he was arrested even though he had his license on him. The charges were thrown out of court, but still he went through a year of stress. 

What an interesting show. The people at all the booths were so kind and had lots of useful information. The common theme  seemed to me to be about compassion, although it's amazing to see how companies are cashing in. All the things you need to start your own grow op, whether indoors or out; including a
self contained unit with lights, tables, fans, and security cameras starting at $80,000 and up, depending on how you want it customized.  They had a small unit for $1200 called the "Spinner" which holds about a dozen plants and only uses about $20 per month of electricity. If things go well, I'm considering buying one for myself. 

I tried this amazing marijuana pain relief cream. It wasn't for sale at the show but the had samples. I rubbed some on my neck which was so stiff and sore, I didn't think I would survive the trip on the bus to Toronto.
At first I thought it wasn't working; then after about half an hour Wow! It removed all the pain and stiffness.
I'll let you know the name of it as soon as I sort through all the information I picked up at the show and I have a ton of it.

Then I purchased a marijuana cookie; cranberry and white chocolate. During a break, I had a cup of tea and half of the cookie. Same thing as the cream; at first I didn't think it was doing anything and then Boom! Did I ever feel good and mellow. The cookies range in price from $8 to $10 each which is expensive, but you could easily break it up in pieces and still get a decent buzz.  What a nice relaxing trip home on the bus!!

So here we are with  this weed  subculture. It seems like everybody is doing it, yet the stuff is still illegal!

The only other news is that a tree fell on my house during a real nasty thunderstorm. The guys are outside right now cleaning up the mess.

R: Retirement

R:Retirement

Retirement is the big topic of conversation at work. Seems like every week another Baby Boomer says goodbye to the work place. I still need to decided whether to take early retirement or try and hang in there another 3 years. Seriously though, I don't think I can. I've had a serious decline in my health the past few months; the most recent thing being my legs, especially my right one. I can still walk good but I'm having some trouble going up and down stairs; going up is much worse. Ahhh! the only way I can cope is to take it one day at a time. The future is this scary place and I can't handle it.

Here's a few shots from another recent walk. Strange to find two street  memorials in the neighbourhood.  The cycle of life: creation, preservation, destruction.

 

Q: Questions

Q: Questions

OK  now I have some growths on my thyroid and am waiting for the biopsy results. So looks like it's going be another round of questions What? Why? What to do  about it? 

In the meantime I went to the Global Marijuana March, on May 7th in Toronto. Here's a few snaps of that day. You can see it's a large, diverse crowd. Will Weed be legalized in Canada?

No way, not with our current "We want to be just like America" Conservative government. People forget that the last few years we had a minority government; but now with a majority, the Conservatives will be able to push their much loved hobby horses: Increase in military spending, mandatory sentences for drug possession, free hand for big business to do as they please, dismantling of the healthcare system etc. etc.  Think it won't happen? Just give them a few months to settle in and then you'll see.  

Not that it matters much, according to these guys.

P: People

Above are the American and Canadian Falls at Niagara.

P:People

Over the Easter break I went to Niagara Falls on a day trip.I take the casino bus, but once I'm there I do very little gambling.

It's interesting to observe people's behavior on the bus. On the way to the casino everyone is talkative and bubbly, as they look forward to getting rich quick. On the way back home everyone is silent, so I guess that means they all lost.

I had a twenty dollar gambling credit, courtesy of a coupon and refund of my bus ticket. I decide to match that with my own money, so I spent fourty dollars total on slot machines. Well, it took about five minutes for me to lose it,  so I decided to get out of there and do some shopping and sight seeing instead. Yeah, I've seen the Falls dozens of times and the weather was awful, but better  to that than bankrupt myself sitting at a stupid slot machine. And please don't tell me how you win all the time and you know people who win big jack pots. I hear that so often, yet people are silent when they lose, because the truth is you might win occasionally but if you keep gambling you will lose it all and more.

How sad that  Ontario Lottery and Gaming admits that their main revenue comes from a small percentage of heavy gamblers. They justify it by claiming to spend money on counseling for gambling addicts and offer a hotline for people who get into   trouble from gambling. When did governments become so dependent on the proceeds of casinos and lottery tickets? When did trips to casinos become the mainstay of entertainment for so many?

So people; especially all you seniors out there wasting your pension money. Get out of the casino and go do something else. Anything, but stop wasting you life sitting in front of a slot machine. 

How about a walk on a nature trail? There are even ones for people with mobility  issues. You can even see some impromptu art works, such as these I spotted on the Sassafras trail this past weekend.

And other interesting things

O: Office

O: Office

Cold  rainy, and windy out this weekend. Haven't been out at all . My legs are really sore and stiff. Don't know why.

Decided to continue talking about The Office, no, not the show, but the place I work, although sadly that show is very much like it.  

I wish I could say that I like my job. Well I like the work just don't like the people and the place anymore.  I have a very good paying job with excellent benefits. Don't get me wrong; I'm grateful for it, but the last few years have been a real strain. In the past I was able to ignore the busy bodies, gossipers, and tattle tales, but lately they really have been getting to me. No matter how hard I try, there's always somebody in my face ! I expect it from management.They have to justify their existence and they don't treat me any different than most people (like crap).  What I don't get is coworkers who are determined to make life miserable for everybody around them.

Not sure if social media or things like reality shows have anything to do with it;  but it seems that a large percentage of the population really enjoys being in other people's pockets, all the time. They also seem to think that constant wise cracks and meanspirtedness is funny. It isn't. To para phrase Ellen Degeneres "if you are just kidding how come both of us aren't laughing"   Also think it has to do with my being sick and that I'm not on my game anymore. It's easier for people to get me because my defenses are weak.

If you work in an office you know what I mean. I won't go into details about the different office types mentioned above. What gets me is that most of us there are in the same boat. We earn roughly the same money, give or take a few thousand. We have similar lifestyles.  In so many ways we are the same.  So where's the solidarity? There isn't any. It's like working with a pack of sharks. 

So you will say that I'm ungrateful. That other people have crummy minimum wage jobs and get treated like garbage. That so many good paying jobs have been moved to other countries.  I should give up this job. Well I would love to and my plan is to retire next year. I'm not ungrateful I'm just tired of all the unnecessary negative attitudes. It only makes things worse.

On a lighter note Here's a funny article about women and aging.  I'm in the age group mentioned  and it's good to know others are going through the same crazy stuff..