Eric Hanson

John,

You might have a couple of decades on me, but I won't turn down the offer to help load something if the offer is given either.


Eric

Tereza,

I like that--out do each other with a simple act of kindness.

Last spring I mentioned in my AP Psychology class about opening the door for women as something that I just have to do.  Sadly, not one student seemed to even know what I was talking about--The only guy there (he seemed to be a respectable, somewhat old-fashioned kid) just told me that not only did he not do this, but he didn't even know what I was talking about as a sort of intuitive action.  

A little sad.



Eric

Thom--Yes about causing pain and I can explain.

First, two terms:

Addiction--a self-destructive pattern of behavior where the behavior controls the person, not the other way around.

Chemical dependence--the body has made chemical adjustments to acount for the presence of a new substance that is foreign to the body.  If the new substance goes away--withdrawal.  But before that, tolerance.



OK, *Addiction* does not cause the pain (as in physical pain), its the chemical dependence.

Normally, just sitting, we all have sub-1 level pain (as in 1-10 scale).  Its below threshold.  We litterally don't notice it.  We have little drips of endorphins that help keep that irrelevant pain at bay.  This way we don't react to litterally every stimuli we encounter.

But use narcotics--drugs that act like and target endorphins--and we eventually get a tollerance and need more of the narcotic to get the same effect.  At first, this is rarely a problem.  But if the tolerance gets high enough, then the normal amounts of endorphins won't be sufficient because we have actually grown more receptors (which then have to be turned off), and we stop producing endorphins in the first place.  This is especially for the Mu variant of endorphines, something I can explain later if needed.

Note:  I have not yet mentioned chemical dependence.  Thats because even with just a sufficient tolerance, all those sub-threshold pains that once you were blissfully unaware, now they shine through with the intensity of something that is far more painful than it should ever be.  We get all sorts of aches and pains that were always there but previously sub-threshold.  Now they are very noticeable.  And how do you get ride of them?  Guess what is the easiest way--more narcotics, and its not hard to figure out where this cycle goes.


None of this is to say that narcotic pain medications are inherently bad.  As with anything, the "use as directed" rule applies.  Following a doctor's prescription actually matters.  And don't try to get creative with dosing without consulting your doctor first.

So Thom, if a way, they don't make or cause more pain, but they make existing pain much, much LESS tolerable than before when you just did not notice them at all.




Eric

Ok, here is another one that I do.  I simply can't not open a door for a woman if she is near and I can do it without much effort.  Its something that my father taught me long ago (I think--oddly I can't remember the exact time when I learned it, I just sort of always knew it.).  It just seems courteous.  And its not like I won't do so for a man if he is carrying a bunch of stuff and has his hands full.

But I am deeply conditioned to always open the door for a woman if I can.

I have some people tell me that this is sexist and that I am perpetuating gender roles.  Maybe I am perpetuating gender roles, but its a pretty harmless one.  And again, it just seems courteous.



Eric

Agreed about the train noise—if distant.

Under the right conditions I can hear the train which is miles from us at the closest point—and I can hear it from miles down the track to miles up, fading away.

Reminds me of a Paul Simon song “Train in the Distance.”

Eric

Susan,

Good to know that you felt no euphoria.  I bet you still got pain relief but you were out for most of the time.  And again, I personally think going with the weakest pain reliever that works is useful for preventing any addiction.  

I also strongly recommend PT.  I have PT before and it is not only a part of pain relief, it’s a part of healing & recovery.

Good luck!!

Eric

I gotta agree with everything John has said in both his posts.  Treating pain is a serious but totally legitimate aspect of any surgery.

I of course don’t know what your pain prescriptions are, but a reasonable guess is that you will be on Norco 10 for pain.  Norco 10 isn’t a pain medication—it’s two.  The narcotic part is hydrocodone, a very strong oral narcotic pain medication (10mg, a large dose).  It is mixed with acetaminophen, the generic chemical in Tylenol, at 325 mg which is a single pill of regular Tylenol.  Hydrocodone targets endorphins which partially reduce pain, but are actually better at changing our emotional reactions to pain, or put another way, we still feel the pain, but the pain doesn’t feel so bad.  Acetaminophen bonds to substances P receptors, the receptors responsible for transmitting pain signals.  Acetaminophen (and aspirin, ibuprofen, others) actually block the pain itself through the effect is limited.  Together they make a very effective 1-2 punch against pain.


Having dealt with my share of pain in the past (thank you kidney stones!), my perspective is that Norco 10 is very good at stopping pain, or intercepting pain in progress.  But pain is like a fire—if you can catch a forest fire when the first spark ejects from a camp fire and causes a candle-sized flame in dry tinder, it can be put out very easily.  But if that candle sized flame is allowed to grow, the flame gets out of control and you need a much stronger “flame killer” to put it out—that’s what Norco 10 is for.

But if a couple of days have gone by and your pain is not gone but controlled, I personally don’t like Norco at this point—it’s too strong, hits too fast and tends to conk out too early.

I have been known to ask for a prescription of Tylenol 3 (or actually, I prefer Tylenol 4, a much less common formulation).  Here is my reason:

We have the big, serious pain under control.  We still need something to control pain, but we have put out the big fires and now Norco is just too strong, hits too fast and doesn’t last all that long.  Instead, if my doctor agrees, I prefer Tylenol 3 (or 4).  Tylenol 3 is 300 mg of acetaminophen plus 30 mg of codeine, a much less potent narcotic. (5-10 times less potent).  Codeine takes a little longer for peak onset, but lasts a longer duration.  I think it is great to control pain once the big pain Forest Fire gets put out.  And for reference, Tylenol 4 is 60 mg of codeine and I think really lasts well.

This is all long-winded, but in drug addiction, the most dangerous, addictive aspect of a drug isn’t how intoxicated it is, but how fast it has its main onset.  I would bet that codeine has about twice the time from swallowing to peak onset compared to Norco.  And my experience is that doctors are very willing to write another prescription for a generally weaker narcotic than a stronger one.  Also, codeine tends to not knock a person silly the way hydrocodone does.


I AM NOT GIVING ANYONE MEDICAL ADVICE!!  But I have had a fair amount of experience dealing with pain and I much prefer codeine over hydrocodone is codeine will work.  It might be worth considering, but of course talk to your doctor and see what she/he says.


I hope you have minimal pain, but if you need narcotic pain medication, maybe consider looking at this route—going with the weakest med that works.



Eric

If you can see them, they are amazing!  My house got bullseyed by two in 7 years!  Absolutely jaw-dropping!  The last on lasted about 4 minutes.

I might have to post my video of the skyline going dark.



Eric

I have had this latent idea for some time.  I have wondered if there could possibly be a market for a 100% Permie approved (meaning better than organic!) mulch that is boosted with some sort of natural fertilizer.  Here is my idea, critique the hell out of it!

Being one of my ideas, it starts with wine cap mulch that breaks down the numerous types of wood growing along my fence line.  The majority is Autumn Olive.

After that sets for a year, I add a batch of shredded comfrey and add rabbit pellets.  We have a rabbit and it is a little poop-making machine!  Nice little hardish pellets that are easy to handle, not messy at all and are apparently very hot.

I could also include his litter which is urine soaked wood shavings.

Not certain how to sell—particularly how to package—and I have no idea about legalities aside from the high probability that they exist in high numbers.

Not planning on getting rich, but it seems like a productive way to utilize a waste stream and some skills I already have.  Maybe a little retirement project.

I also figure that I make a shallow pit (or two) so the Wine Caps have good soil contact.  Also, the more I use the same spot, the better the soil biology gets and that gets into the chips as well.


Fire away!



Eric

Oh, the overcast—-


Those clouds were probably sitting just above the boundary layer.



Eric.