ppp 05-12-08

Quote of the day: When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half.
Gracie Allen (1906 - 1964)

The stork touched down Saturday at 13:59 and left a bundle weighing a hefty 7lbs 10oz. Joseph Leonard Pepin arrived Saturday afternoon to the delight of my son Greg and his wife Laura. This makes my wife a grandmother. Do you know what this makes me? Yes… a man who has a son who has a son (who was born with more hair that I have). I’m not sure that I’m ready for the “g word” just yet but it will come in time. We have all been awaiting Joseph’s arrival and frantically working on my son’s house. We still have an egress window, shower, sink, and about 75 sheets of sheetrock to go but we did get close.

Setting goals is important. Our goal was completion of the project. Only a few unexpected setbacks (sewer system back up, need for a booster fan on the clothes dryer, bad wiring on the part of the previous owner, etc) and Joseph’s 1 week of impatience to see this wonderful world of ours kept us from our goal. We will finish but will now have to work between naps or send mother and child on field trips to grandma’s house every Saturday for awhile.

Do you set goals? If you don’t “How will you know when you get there if you don’t know where you are going?” On building projects, retirement planning, or any other worthwhile endeavor it is essential to have a plan. Part of the plan should include contingencies for going off course. The important thing is to keep your eye on the goal and do what is needed to achieve it. With planning we won’t have to rely on Joseph Leonard to hold the sheetrock in place while we nail it.

ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "I am working good!" a new immigrant janitor at the hospital... happy to have a job.

pps. Occasionally, some of the links require FREE registration.... I'm sure you can handle THAT slight inconvenience.

Deaths from influenza were up last season due, in part, to the poor match between the emergent virus strain and the strains selected for last year’s vaccination. Munufacturers will make 143 million doses, up from last year. We all pray for a better match. (Yes, I will urge Joseph Leonard gets his)

There is a list of drugs that people over 65 years old should NOT take. Study shows that one quarter of seniors who were disabled were taking one or more of these drugs. Darvon, Demerol, Procardia and Xanax are just a few of the drugs. I am not blaming the patients but the practitioners who prescribe the drugs.

The PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE if recommending the use of Chantix for smoking cessation despite recent warning about psychiatric side effects. Some members have previous ties to the drug or manufacturer. Best advice is to let your doctor weigh the risks vs benefits. Rumor has it that smoking has its own set of adverse reactions.

4) Be wary of the snake oil salesman who describes a new disease and happens to be selling the cure.

Just about every Engish speaking adult on the planet knows what ED is (and the Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra manufacturers will not let you forget). A drug company is pushing the diagnosis of a female “disease”, HSDD, for which I’m sure, they are working on a treatment (not a cure). They describe about one in ten women suffer from Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. Here we go again!

Mylan to being shipping ropinirole ASAP. Expect some saving now and a bigger price drop in 6 months.

Walmart is expanding it generic drugs for $4 per month program. This time it offer 3 months of certain generic drugs for $10. Target is following suit. (Take THAT Canada!)

The price of heparin, a blood thinner, has doubled since the tainted Chinese heparin strangled the supply. Amazingly, the manufacturer’s cost of raw product from CHINA has increased by 500%. Looks like tainting the supply was good for the Chinese economy. Maybe we can produce our own again for THAT kind of price.

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