ppp 08-11-08

Quote of the day: Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor

by taking up another.

Anatole France (1844 - 1924), The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard

My grandfather liked to tell the story of the time he moved his outhouse. “Back in the day” when most homes had outdoor plumbing, small bands of youth would roam the countryside and tip over the outhouses for something to do on Halloween night. After having been victimized one year he took action the next. Did he wait with a shot gun? No, but he was never again bothered by outhouse tippers. He simply moved the outhouse in front of the hole. About midnight he could hear the howls and screams as more than one would be vandal approached the outhouse in the dark and became the victim.

This weekend we were able to finally move our 50 ft hunting/fishing house-on-wheel to its proper resting place. The old site was starting to look a little shabby with the accumulation of usable hand me downs and discards. The old mowers (two of them brought to “the lake” when they were replaced with newer models back home ) sat under the end of the trailer having been used only a few times before giving up their spirits. There were 3 grills, one of which turned to ferric dust when an attempt was made to move it. Other, less descript “useful” items conspired to bog us down and prevent the move.

Six guys worked a total of 150 hours preparing the site and the trailer for the move. The last push began at 6am on Saturday. Knowing that a nearby buffalo farmer and his tractor would arrive at 11am we worked at a frantic pace to jack it up and put on the tires, disconnect the electricity and takedown a few last dead trees. We planned for JR to pull the trailer forward about 300 yards down the dirt lane and back it about the same distance off road and through the path we cut through the trees. Once tractor and plow jockey arrived, the physical move took less than an hour. Amazingly there was only one scuff mark on the unit (from the big tractor tire). Planning and hard work had paid off.

The next task was less prestigious but more odoriferous. While my youngest son and his cousin dug a new pit (4 x 2 x 5ft deep) others had the task of unhooking the electricity (yes, it had lights and heat) and finding a way to transport the not-so-porta-potty to its new resting space. It took all six of us to wrestle the big "two holer" off of the utility trailer and position it perfectly. It was rewired and stocked with the same old reading material. The old site was filled in and warning flags dutifully posted.

The last project was the move of a special dead tree. We dug it out and reburied it at the new campsite. The barkless stump was only about 4 feet tall but it contained the initials of my grandfather, FAP, who had owned the land we were on and who had once moved another outhouse ever so slightly.

ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "Same stuff... different day!"

Health professionals are warned about the concomitant use of amiodarone and simvastatin (Zocor). Appears that when amiodarone is prescribed with simvastatin doses greater than 20mg patients are more likely to experience rhabdomyolysis, a serious breakdown of muscle tissue that can threaten kidney function and lives.

The theory is that the men will die of something else before any PSA detectable cancer would kill them and that the expense of the test and the resultant surgeries or treatment are not worth the effort. I wonder how this would play out if the disease were breast cancer and the usual victims women.

Appears that obese men do not show a diagnostic rise in PSA levels so the disease in more advance when it is detected. Fat guys also do not do so well with the surgery necessary when cancer is detected. Maybe I’ll have the salad for lunch… no croutons.

Evidence based medical study shows that the use of Clomid (clomiphene) does not increase fertility. Side effects were experienced but not an increase in fertility. I suspect that payment for this drug will soon be curtailed but that many couples will still want to try it out of desperation.

Chantix teaming up with firefighters union in attempt to make all members smoke free. Good marketing but some firefighters I know are already crazy enough!

Byetta patients (diabetics) outlived patients (diabetics) taking any other drug to control blood sugar. Byetta patients were somewhat healthier that the rest of the group at the start of the study so there might be some other factors involved with survival. (If you don’t have diabetes at all you are likely to live longer so don’t feel bad if you don’t have a reason to take Byetta).

About 1/3^rd of patients who received one or more prescriptions did not ever fill the prescription. Topical goop was least likely to be filled. The elderly were more likely to rely on the power of the pill than their young counterparts who must benefit from the paper karma.

Disclaimer: "Pepin's Pharmaceutical Prattle" (AKA "The Prattle") is the property of PHARMWORKS, LLC and Steven M. Pepin, Pharm. D. The opinions expressed are those of the bald-headed author. To start or stop any drug without the advice and supervision of your physician would be stupid. So don't do anything based upon what you read here without professional advice. To be added to or removed from the distribution list please e-mail your request to spepin@pharmworks.com . All insightful comments from readers are thoughtfully considered (the rest are callously discarded). Copyright 1998-2008 PHARMWORKS, LLC all rights reserved.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------