Awaiting the Dark
Having just downed a large serving of Benedryl, I am now burning time before the promised waves of sleepiness hit. I don't think I've ever tried Benedryl before, but I've heard good things. Something about the old-school drugs going straight to my brain. With plenty of seasonal allergies and a cold thrown in as a bonus, I can't wait.
While we wait, I think it's time for random news.
Reptile Expo
Last Sunday, I took Julie on a special date to a one-day-only reptile expo. They called it a "reptile" expo, but it was all snakes. Snakes in boxes, snakes in Tupperware, and snakes right up in there with you.
It was pretty crowded and about one in fifteen of the people wandering through the crowd was wearing a snake. Early on, I had what you might refer to as a "sensory cascade" when I noticed in my peripheral vision that a snake with a head the size of Julie's fist was checking out my ear.
On paper, I'm cool with snakes. They're neat in how they can climb around on stuff and they don't need arms. Some are really pretty. Some have awesome spitting powers. I like to play with them when I see them on the trail. It's all good. However, my dark real-world secret is, I think they are spooky. How do they climb without hands? Why don't they have any fur? What's with all the lurking? How can your entire body be a tail? Why don't they have hands!?
So, after a couple initial adventures in adrenalin suppression, I amped myself up to a super high level of situational awareness and we make it through the expo. Everybody could tell we weren't fellow reptile owners (herpetology enthusiasts? herpies?), and we got a cold shoulder at most of the booths.
Still, it was neat to see all the snakes. Somebody had a Tupperware with an anaconda as big around as my wrist and they were selling it for $1000. Evidently, the breeders target a trait called piebaldism, which causes portions of the snake to be white. I'm guessing that about the only trait they can consistently measure with snakes.
Taco Tuesday
My favorite local taco joint sells cheap tacos on Tuesday. At least I think they do. There's no sign or anything. We just order 10 tacos on Tuesday and they seem to be less expensive. But they are huge! And very taco-y.
My hard work is paying off and this Tuesday, I hit a new PR. Six tacos.
Taco PRs are complicated. It's not a matter of just going crazy and eating as many as you can. I could eat fifty that way and I'd also be out of tacos. No, taco PRs are about relaxed discipline. It's a matter of eating five and saying, "No, I still need one more to call it dinner." We'll call it the maximum guilt-free number. When we started taco Tuesday, my number was four. In somewhat unrelated news, I think I'm gaining weight.
Benedryl Update
It's been about 30 minutes since I drugged up. I suspect the silent snoozes are starting to sneak softly ... um, nigh? We've got time for a couple more stories.
Food Trucks
You may remember a previous blog post where I bemoaned the hazards of being a hungry, uninvited extra on a Food Network show about truck food. Today, thanks to the kind hearts of the Hageman family and widespread availability of DVR technology, we watched the episode of The Great Food Truck race about Manhattan.
While the show didn't say much about plight of all the hungry sods who loyally waited in line, it was respectful and pleasant enough. The interview that made Julie and I all cranky and disenchanted was not shown. Instead, it was all about the magnificent crowds and how the truck folk couldn't manage to feed them.
I think it would have made the show awesome if we'd have thrown a minor riot. Maybe rocked a truck a bit or something else menacing. We're good at mob work here. After awesome football victories, the goal posts don't just get up and walk two miles on their own you know.
Ruminations
I am in the planning phases of a fantastic lifestyle experiment. I intend to cure my seasonal allergies (ragweed). At the conclusion of a long internet search experience, I realized two things:
(1) The "medical profession" doesn't have any opinion at all to describe why grown-ups develop seasonal allergies. I consistantly saw that they were listed as an immune disorder with no information or even theories about what caused or is causing this disorder. I buy that when I'm in my 30's my body is already headed down hill, but I don't buy that my immune system is suddenly wrong at age 23 with no root cause.
(2) The only people who talk about "curing" (taking drugs every day doesn't count) seasonal allergies are people who mention it tangentially as a side effect of major efforts designed to repair their intestinal flora. Later I learned that scientists recognize that healthy intestinal flora does play a role in maintaining a healthy, well-balanced immune system (compare to: suicidal, useless, insane).
I'm looking in to a diet called GAPS whose later phases look a lot like paleo diets, but whose early phases involve a lot of homemade broth and probiotic supplements. A lot of people try this diet in an attempt to improve their childrens' autism symptoms or to eliminate bowel disorders like Chrohn's disease. Some of them mention allergy elimination and that's why I'm on board.
I think the first few weeks amount to a sort of broth fast, but we'll have to see. I'm still waiting for my shiny new diet book to arrive. I figure I'll do the plan for two weeks, then stop taking my Zyrtec knockoff (anti-ragweed) and see if I notice any improvement. Exciting stuff.
While we wait, I think it's time for random news.
Reptile Expo
Last Sunday, I took Julie on a special date to a one-day-only reptile expo. They called it a "reptile" expo, but it was all snakes. Snakes in boxes, snakes in Tupperware, and snakes right up in there with you.
I'm sure this guy was following me. His scarf seemed friendly.
It was pretty crowded and about one in fifteen of the people wandering through the crowd was wearing a snake. Early on, I had what you might refer to as a "sensory cascade" when I noticed in my peripheral vision that a snake with a head the size of Julie's fist was checking out my ear.
On paper, I'm cool with snakes. They're neat in how they can climb around on stuff and they don't need arms. Some are really pretty. Some have awesome spitting powers. I like to play with them when I see them on the trail. It's all good. However, my dark real-world secret is, I think they are spooky. How do they climb without hands? Why don't they have any fur? What's with all the lurking? How can your entire body be a tail? Why don't they have hands!?
So, after a couple initial adventures in adrenalin suppression, I amped myself up to a super high level of situational awareness and we make it through the expo. Everybody could tell we weren't fellow reptile owners (herpetology enthusiasts? herpies?), and we got a cold shoulder at most of the booths.
Still, it was neat to see all the snakes. Somebody had a Tupperware with an anaconda as big around as my wrist and they were selling it for $1000. Evidently, the breeders target a trait called piebaldism, which causes portions of the snake to be white. I'm guessing that about the only trait they can consistently measure with snakes.
Taco Tuesday
My favorite local taco joint sells cheap tacos on Tuesday. At least I think they do. There's no sign or anything. We just order 10 tacos on Tuesday and they seem to be less expensive. But they are huge! And very taco-y.
My hard work is paying off and this Tuesday, I hit a new PR. Six tacos.
Six tacos. I buy them by the box full.
Taco PRs are complicated. It's not a matter of just going crazy and eating as many as you can. I could eat fifty that way and I'd also be out of tacos. No, taco PRs are about relaxed discipline. It's a matter of eating five and saying, "No, I still need one more to call it dinner." We'll call it the maximum guilt-free number. When we started taco Tuesday, my number was four. In somewhat unrelated news, I think I'm gaining weight.
Benedryl Update
It's been about 30 minutes since I drugged up. I suspect the silent snoozes are starting to sneak softly ... um, nigh? We've got time for a couple more stories.
Food Trucks
You may remember a previous blog post where I bemoaned the hazards of being a hungry, uninvited extra on a Food Network show about truck food. Today, thanks to the kind hearts of the Hageman family and widespread availability of DVR technology, we watched the episode of The Great Food Truck race about Manhattan.
I was unaware we had such an impressive Welcome sign.
While the show didn't say much about plight of all the hungry sods who loyally waited in line, it was respectful and pleasant enough. The interview that made Julie and I all cranky and disenchanted was not shown. Instead, it was all about the magnificent crowds and how the truck folk couldn't manage to feed them.
I think it would have made the show awesome if we'd have thrown a minor riot. Maybe rocked a truck a bit or something else menacing. We're good at mob work here. After awesome football victories, the goal posts don't just get up and walk two miles on their own you know.
Ruminations
I am in the planning phases of a fantastic lifestyle experiment. I intend to cure my seasonal allergies (ragweed). At the conclusion of a long internet search experience, I realized two things:
(1) The "medical profession" doesn't have any opinion at all to describe why grown-ups develop seasonal allergies. I consistantly saw that they were listed as an immune disorder with no information or even theories about what caused or is causing this disorder. I buy that when I'm in my 30's my body is already headed down hill, but I don't buy that my immune system is suddenly wrong at age 23 with no root cause.
(2) The only people who talk about "curing" (taking drugs every day doesn't count) seasonal allergies are people who mention it tangentially as a side effect of major efforts designed to repair their intestinal flora. Later I learned that scientists recognize that healthy intestinal flora does play a role in maintaining a healthy, well-balanced immune system (compare to: suicidal, useless, insane).
I'm looking in to a diet called GAPS whose later phases look a lot like paleo diets, but whose early phases involve a lot of homemade broth and probiotic supplements. A lot of people try this diet in an attempt to improve their childrens' autism symptoms or to eliminate bowel disorders like Chrohn's disease. Some of them mention allergy elimination and that's why I'm on board.
I think the first few weeks amount to a sort of broth fast, but we'll have to see. I'm still waiting for my shiny new diet book to arrive. I figure I'll do the plan for two weeks, then stop taking my Zyrtec knockoff (anti-ragweed) and see if I notice any improvement. Exciting stuff.
Comments
It looks like they act as an immune suppressor. Like a really likable alternative to Prednisone. My hope is that GAPS might repair me, so that my immune system can operate at 100% and have properly tuned accuracy (no ragweed reactions).