The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach

Category: personal

Stuff about me (Bernard HP Gilroy), instead of or in addition to stuff about education.

  • Somewhere Beyond the Bitter End

    This is another in my intermittent series of posting things I’d written long before, so that they’re out there on the Net. I wrote this one quite some time ago, back when I was in the Bard Writing Workshop that Hun runs. I wrote most of it after taking a quick walk on a brisk October day right before that day’s meeting of Bard — so yes, this is yet another of my last-minute desperate writings because I didn’t have anything. But it came out OK. I eventually submitted it to The Hun Review and it made it … in 2007, I think.

    The title comes from a Patty Griffin song.
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  • Week 7 on HMR

    Weight this week | Change since last week | Total change
    325.4 | -5.8 | -43.0
    Blood Pressure | Systolic | Diastolic
    * | 120 | 80

    I had a pretty good week, losing almost six pounds. It’s not quite a record but I’ll take it. 🙂 My blood pressure has clearly settled down to an equilibrium, as it is now bumping between 120/84 and 110/80 weekly. My doctor has decided I need only biweekly visits, and I’ll be having blood work done monthly rather than biweekly. All in all a very satisfying round of progress.
    weight-2009_0127
    bp-2009_0127

  • Week 6 on HMR

    Weight this week | Change since last week | Total change
    331.2 | -4.2 | -37.2
    Blood Pressure | Systolic | Diastolic
    * | 110 | 84

    It would seem I’ve hit my steady state in the program. Weight loss is bumping around 5 lbs weekly, which is more than satisfactory. My blood pressure also seems to have leveled off and found its equilibrium value. I’m still in for the long haul but it honestly hasn’t been so bad so far.
    weight-2009_01201
    bp-2009_0120

  • Health of the Republic: Reset to 50%

    It’s been a while since I’ve updated this ticker.  And it remains completely arbitrary, of course.  But with a new administration taking hold of the reins, it’s time for some (cautious) optimism about the restoration of the Republic.  I have genuine high hopes for Barack Obama and his people.  I think this is a smart, dedicated man who “gets” America — not the stupid rah-rah of the Bush years, but a deep and abiding commitment to the principles of this great nations — the principles that, in fact, make this nation great.

    On the other hand…  only 50%?  But yes, there are still the forces of malice and stupidity.  Over a quarter of the population somehow thinks the 43rd President did a good job.  Nearly 20% believe Saddam Hussein sent the 9/11 highjackers!  The Republicans are licking their wounds, but they’re not reforming.  We face a financial and economic criss of literally once-a-century severity, with a significantly weakened industrial and social base from which to launch a recovery.  We are still embroiled in two wars which appear intractable, and we still do have people out there hoping to cause us real harm.  And we’ve got all the long-lasting pernicious effects of the Bush administration — from torture to spying to “burrowing” — to overcome.

    So, here’s a glass lifted in celebration and anticipation of you, President Barack Hussein Obama.  Good luck and godspeed.

    Now, let’s get to work.

  • Back on Track

    Weight this week | Change since last week | Total change
    335.4 | -6.2 | -33.0
    Blood Pressure | Systolic | Diastolic
    * | 112 | 80

    This was a better week from the viewpoint of weight loss — nearly three times as better, in fact.  Even better, my blood pressure seems to be improving as well:  This week, the BP was 112 over 80, enough of a drop that my doctor considered taking me off the rampiril.  (He didn’t, though.  The recent fluctuation has been enough to warrant further treatment.)  I can’t complain about 33 pounds over five weeks.  That’s a lot better than I would ever do on my own.

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  • Holiday Weight Loss

    Weight this week Change since last week Total change
    341.6 -2.4 -26.8

    After two weeks of holidays, my total weight loss was 4.6 pounds.  While that represents a falling-off of my original rate, such is to be expected.  And at least I can say I lost weight during the holidays, which is something uncommon in America.  I’m hoping that, with school back in session and me more on a regular schedule, I might up that rate a little bit.

    My blood pressure hardly changed at all, which was disappointing after several weeks of strong improvement.  Of course 120/86 is still better than 180/120(!) and even than 120/90, though barely.  My doctor put me back on ramipril last week but it hasn’t seemed to have an effect yet.

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  • How to Save a Life

    Weight this week Change since last week Total change
    344.0 -2.2 -24.4

    Just like JD, I often think of that song… Anyway, if you’ve been reading our story so far, you know that an aching tooth sent me to (of all places) the cardiologist’s office. He mandated a number of lifestyle changes to help me stem off a heart attack. First and foremost would be to lose weight … a lot of weight, in fact, and as fast as possible.

    Without mandating anything, he suggested I see a local weight loss clinic (Princeton Weight Management Center), an office affiliated with Health Management Resources, Inc. (hereafter HMR). HMR has 25 years of experience in doctor-managed weight loss and has a track record of bringing down weight by 100 pounds or more, safely. It’s a bit pricey but it’s a full-service weight management program.
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  • The Toothache That Saved My Life

    In mid-October, I had a toothache. As anyone who knows me is aware, this is far from an unusual occurrence. In fact, ever since grad school, my teeth have been an utter mess and I don’t seem able to get a handle on the situation. So every once in a while I suffer a toothache and have to cope with it, which I usually do by dosing myself with 1000 mg’s of Motrin at regular intervals until I can see my dentist.

    During this particular cycle that turned out to be on 2008 October 24. I visited my usual dentist and laid out my agony. He wasn’t surprised, either, especially since my last x-rays had revealed an old crown that was on the verge of failing. Naturally, we both assumed this had happened and that the old cavity lay exposed to new decay. He tapped around my mouth for a few minutes (and after a lifetime of instructions not to stick sharp metal objects in one’s mouth, a visit to the dentist is guaranteed to be harrowing), and came to the unexpected conclusion that the crown had held. In fact, there was no sign of decay anywhere near the tooth that was hurting.

    Somehow being told that did not cause the pain to go away.

    The dentist probed a little more and discovered significant decay on the wisdom tooth nearby. In a shocking (yet disturbingly common) case of bad wiring, the pain signals from that tooth were being reported to my brain as coming from the healthy tooth. This “misplaced pain” is a known phenomenon in dental medicine. In fact I’d previously suffered a bout of it with a different wisdom tooth, so in retrospect it wasn’t all that shocking. In the earlier case, I’d popped over to the oral surgeon, he pulled the tooth, and I lived happily ever after (at least, until this new problem).

    The receptionist placed a call over to the same oral surgeon and, quite luckily, he had a slot open right then. Even better, he was within literal walking distance from the dentist’s office. So I pulled on my jacket, pulled out the iPod, and hiked over to the surgeon’s, where I was immediately seated and my vitals taken pro forma.

    And that‘s where the story took an unexpected turn…
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  • I am a Values Voter

    After the election in 2004, we were preached at that George W. Bush won election (not re-election) due to the rejection of John Kerry by “values voters” .. as if the millions who voted for Kerry had no decent values. That spurred me to write the following, which I still embrace today. In this election, even more than that one, it’s important to recall that we on the left have values as well — values which I, personally, think are better than those evidenced by the rabid right.

    I am a “Values Voter”.

    I value

    * compassion over condemnation

    * debate over demagoguery

    * reason over rage

    * freedom over fear

    * truth over lies

    These are American values.

    I believe

    * that real patriots ask questions

    * that government should not decide who I am, or who you are

    * that a sound safety net serves the interest of us all

    * that people should be judged on the content of their character, not the content of their wallets or the color of their skin

    * that justice everywhere is threatened by injustice anywhere

    * that labor has dignity and diversity has worth

    * that each person deserves a fair deal and a true opportunity

    These are core American beliefs.

    I am a “values voter”…
    … and this is my country, too.

  • Review: Marc Cohn at the Westhampton Beach Peforming Arts Center

    Marc Cohn & band
    Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center
    Sunday 2008 August 24 8:30 PM

    It’s my habit to see Marc Cohn every chance I get during the New York leg of his tours. This explains why, three days after my last Cohn concert, I schlepped all the way out along Long Island’s southern shore to Westhampton. Tonight he had no opener; it was just his band and him. The WHBPAC is an intimate space, acoustically rich and comfortable. It lacks the grandeur of St. George’s Theater but is quite nice for a modern building.

    As before, the playlist is below the fold. I don’t have as many comments, as many of the songs are the same.

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