Notes - work, pharmacy and a poem

         You spent an hour or so working in the yard this morning – mostly dealing with leaves in/on and around the deck and in the woods by cleaning the two paths to and on the picnic table area. Carol raked mostly on the sides and back. The leaves are to be collected by the city Tuesday for the last time. Tuesday, the third is also when you meet Dave and Marsha so you will probably go up to Kim and Paul’s for lunch on Monday and stay over then come home Tuesday night. Presently you are waiting for Carol at Kroger’s on Mason-Montgomery Road. You had a late lunch at Panera/Chipotle then Graeter’s ice cream for dessert after a stop at Walmart on Mason-Montgomery Road.

         1628 hours. I notice that you like to place ‘road/street’ after the road or street name. What is the significance? I tend to not want to include it, but you ‘force my hand’.

         Once home you found you had trouble dropping the pills in your weekly clear plastic pillbox, which is approximately nine inches by two inches by one inch deep. The problem is that the tips of the fingers on your right hand are, more often than not, numb from the tip to the first knuckle (about one inch) as if they were asleep. Being right handed you find this more than annoying. Filling the weekly pillbox is a Saturday night ritual that you rarely miss. The reason is another ritual on Sunday morning. You take your blood sugar, fix half a peanut butter and raisin wheat bread sandwich, peal a banana and pour yourself a glass of skim milk into a glass and usually stop when the glass is three-fourths full. Then you sit down and sort out the Sunday Cincinnati Enquirer comics. First, you take your pills after taking an initial glance at the first comic on the top left hand side of the page, “Zits”. Then you open the pillbox marked ‘S’ for Sunday and proceed to sort out and take the morning pills. This routine is abruptly upset if you have forgotten to load the pillbox the night before.

         Loading the pillbox on Saturday night. The first pills you drop in, one and a time, always from right to left (Saturday back through Sunday) is Hydrochlorothiazide, 25 mg., one each day. This is a small pink pill of less than two centimeters in diameter. The second capsule is Januvia, 100 mg., one each day; it is beige and two centimeters in diameter. The color and size is what is important, next in importance is the container. The first four are clear plastic, round, labeled; with a white screw non-childproof cap and the same size, three and a half by seven centimeters. The third capsule is Levothyroxine, 100 mcg. It is small, yellow and oblong about one by two centimeters, again, one a day. The fourth capsule is a thin oval shape in a dull orange tint, Simvastatin, 20mg. One more pill container sets in this first row of a beige plastic basket ten by six inches with a depth of two and one half inches. It is a smaller white container with a “Bayer Children’s Aspirin” slapped on its side. The common ‘baby aspirin’ is circular, small and yellow. You only drop one of each in the Saturday, Thursday, Tuesday and Sunday pillbox days. This concludes the first row from right to left. Orders are to take no statins but the seven Simvastatin and the four baby aspirin a week. Too many statins were causing your kidneys to begin failing. This has since been corrected and the kidneys are presently in a healthy normal range. The doctor was surprised how quickly the kidneys healed, at least he told you he was. You didn’t understand the reason for him telling you this because you had nothing to do with the healing other than to stop the other statins like he ordered.

         1805 hours. This is fun. This is something I enjoy writing about because it is a ritual every week and I look forward to it just as I do the Sunday comics. I could do this sort of thing all day. I have two more rows to go to complete this ritual in/from a beige plastic basket. The ritual symbolizes that I have accomplished the weekly goal of living a fairly normal life for one more week. This is what happens when you have been taking pills mostly daily since the early 1960’s.

         The second row of pills begins from the left in a dark (about) three and a half by two inch wide container with a white cap. It is a dark gray iron tablet, 65 mg, about two centimeters in diameter, and it is the equivalent supplement to 325mg of Ferrous sulfate. The second pill in this row is in a slime green Kroger container and it is a large white, three-centimeter in diameter tablet, Vitamin D 1000 IU bone supplement; again, these pills are taken once each day. The third container in the second row is clear; as were the first four in the first row. It is Lisinopril, 40 mg. The pill is yellow-beige and two centimeters in diameter. This last pill container in the second row is white, about one and a half inch square three and three-fourths inches high with the white cap. It is a two-tone green capsule a centimeter in diameter and is named Diltiazem Hcl Er(Cd), 180 mg.; like the others, one tablet daily.

         The back third row of medicine has four containers of larger size so no more than four can set in the row. From left to right in a clear plastic bottle with white cap is Florentine Hcl 40mg. It is a large-medium sized white capsule with partial orange stripe markings. The next clear container is full of Kroger brand Senior Vitamins. The container next to last is larger and white supplement called Glucosamine 500mg; Chondroitin 400mg tablet to help rebuild cartilage and lubricate joints. The last bottle is brownish (though clear) and is five inches high and two and a half inches wide. It contains fish oil tablets, your order is for four of these a day, taken in the morning. - Amorella

         Wow. This was a fun exercise and it vividly reminds me of the poem, “The Naming of Parts”.

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Reed, Henry. "Naming of Parts." New Statesman and Nation 24, no. 598 (8 August 1942): 92 (pdf.)

LESSONS OF THE WAR

To Alan Michell

Vixi duellis nuper idoneus

Et militavi non sine gloria

I. NAMING OF PARTS

To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,

We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,

We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,

To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica

Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,

          And to-day we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this

Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,

When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,

Which in your case you have not got. The branches

Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,

          Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released

With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me

See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy

If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms

Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see

          Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this

Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it

Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this

Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards

The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:

          They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy

If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,

And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,

Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom

Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,

          For to-day we have naming of parts.

From: solearabiantree.net

** **

         1852 hours. This was published two days after I was born. Good for Henry! I’m happy it was publishable. Dr. John Coulter focused on this poem in one of his classes, I forget which of the many I took from him. Reed’s poem made an immediate impression on me. And, looking at the broader perspective, this poem is much more important than a birthday and the naming of pills.

         Indeed, from your immediate perspective, this is the point of this day’s work. – Amorella

         It is the truth, Amorella.

         I know it is, boy. Post. - Amorella

Notes - catching up / Humor flowers / connecting dots not collecting dots

         Late afternoon. You have had a very busy few days. Monday, the twenty-fifth, everyone had ham sandwiches and veggies before packing for Westerville. You drove up and left Linda, Jean and Jen after soup for supper, a stop to see Ralph who is recuperating from heart surgery, then Graeters and up to Kim and Paul’s for the night. The boys were fun, then baths and to bed. Kim fell asleep with them and we talked to Paul and went to bed. Tuesday, the twenty-sixth, we drove to Cleveland Heights to buy Jennifer cookies at On the Rise then to lunch on Lee and downtown to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Afterwards, an Amish supper at Der Dutchman on SR 97 and I- 71 then to Westerville to drop off Linda, Jean and Jen and back to Kim and Paul’s. Wednesday, the twenty-seventh, you rested while the ladies went shopping at Polaris, a late lunch at Olive Garden then home for Jet Pizza for supper, and time with the boys after supper as usual. Thursday, the twenty-eighth, Thanksgiving at Mary Lou’s with family – Uncle John, Dwight and his friend Tom, Sharon and her children Mia and Mason, Gayle and Ralph, Kim, Paul, Owen and Brennan, Mary Lou, Mac, Carol and yourself. Late afternoon after an early supper everyone had left including yourselves. Home and a viewing to last Monday’s “Blacklist” for Carol, Linda and you. Today Carol did lots of work cleaning up and raking while you napped and took the car for a good automatic washing and your hand cleaning as follow-up. Carol napped and you caught up on several episodes of “Revolution” but have two to go. Needless to say there was no work on writing, nor did you feel the need to take time for it. - Amorella

         1831 hours. Seeing family is both fun and stressful in its own way, nothing bad, just coordinating events and being hopeful that everyone was having a good time, or should I say, having the ability to have a good (social) time if so desired.

        Carol went out on an errand or two. You are ready to watch a show or two with her then go to bed early. Later, dude. Post. – Amorella

         Doug Goss sent this to me earlier in the week. The article listed eleven but the first appears to be the most important because this shows that once in a while people on the planet have the potential to hit an observation hitherto unseen or not reported. We need facts to learn more about ourselves; by this I mean our species. As such, this fact is a positive. I have long felt that we would be better off if another species, kinder than we are would stop by and give us pointers on how to survive more humanely in the world. Magic would work too if like a bolt of lightning we could see a reality (unlike [better, more positive] what I try to create in my imagination. Otherwise I am tempted to see the future world somewhat similar to the settings I find myself viewing on the TV show, “Revolution” or the earlier “Mad Max” themes where things do get worse, much worse for everyone or most everyone anyway. A few always appear to get by through luck or circumstance or both.

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11 Science Facts That Seem More Like Science Fiction

The Huffington Post  By Liat Kornowski

Posted: 11/28/2013 9:03 am EST -- Updated: 11/28/2013 9:03 am EST

In our hectic, mile-a-minute existences, it's easy to forget just how amazing our world truly is.

Fortunately, the authors of the newly published 1,227 Quite Interesting Facts fo Blow Your Socks Off have made it easy for us to slow down and savor some astonishing scientific facts--about everything from the bodies we live in to the planet that hosts us.

1. 
The human brain takes in 11 million bits of information every second but is aware of only 40.

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         2032 hours. I found this ‘free’ article from online Encyclopedia Britannica.

** **

Information Theory (Article Free Pass)

Physiology

Almost as soon as Shannon’s papers on the mathematical theory of communication were published in the 1940s, people began to consider the question of how messages are handled inside human beings. After all, the nervous system is, above all else, a channel for the transmission of information, and the brain is, among other things, an information processing and messaging centre. Because nerve signals generally consist of pulses of electrical energy, the nervous system appears to be an example of discrete communication over a noisy channel. Thus, both physiology and information theory are involved in studying the nervous system.

Many researchers (being human) expected that the human brain would show a tremendous information processing capability. Interestingly enough, when researchers sought to measure information processing capabilities during “intelligent” or “conscious” activities, such as reading or piano playing, they came up with a maximum capability of less than 50 bits per second. For example, a typical reading rate of 300 words per minute works out to about 5 words per second. Assuming an average of 5 characters per word and roughly 2 bits per character yields the aforementioned rate of 50 bits per second. Clearly, the exact number depends on various assumptions and could vary depending on the individual and the task being performed. It is known, however, that the senses gather some 11 million bits per second from the environment.

The table Information ‘transmission rates of the senses’ shows how much information is processed by each of the five senses. This table immediately directs attention to the problem of determining what is happening to all this data. In other words, the human body sends 11 million bits per second to the brain for processing, yet the conscious mind seems to be able to process only 50 bits per second.

**

Information transmission rates of the senses:

Sensory system                  Bits per second

eyes                                    10,000,000

skin                                     1,000.000

ears                                    100,000

smell                                   100,000

taste                                    1,000

**

It appears that a tremendous amount of compression is taking place if 11 million bits are being reduced to less than 50. Note that the discrepancy between the amount of information being transmitted and the amount of information being processed is so large that any inaccuracy in the measurements is insignificant.

Two more problems suggest themselves when thinking about this immense amount of compression. First is the problem of determining how long it takes to do the compression, and second is the problem of determining where the processing power is found for doing this much compression.

The solution to the first problem is suggested by the approximately half-second delay between the instant that the senses receive a stimulus and the instant that the mind is conscious of a sensation. (To compensate for this delay, the body has a reflex system that can respond in less than one-tenth of second, before the mind is conscious of the stimulus.) This half-second delay seems to be the time required for processing and compressing sensory input.

The solution to the second problem is suggested by the approximately 100 billion cells of the brain, each with connections to thousands of other brain cells. Equipped with this many processors, the brain might be capable of executing as many as 100 billion operations per second, a truly impressive number.

It is often assumed that consciousness is the dominant feature of the brain. The brief observations above suggest a rather different picture. It now appears that the vast majority of processing is accomplished outside conscious notice and that most of the body’s activities take place outside direct conscious control. This suggests that practice and habit are important because they train circuits in the brain to carry out some actions “automatically,” without conscious interference. Even such a “simple” activity as walking is best done without interference from consciousness, which does not have enough information processing capability to keep up with the demands of this task.

The brain also seems to have separate mechanisms for short-term and long-term memory. Based on psychologist George Miller’s paper “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information” (1956), it appears that short-term memory can only store between five and nine pieces of information to which it has been exposed only briefly. Note that this does not mean between five and nine bits, but rather five to nine chunks of information. Obviously, long-term memory has a greater capacity, but it is not clear exactly how the brain stores information or what limits may exist. Some scientists hope that information theory may yet afford further insights into how the brain functions.

From: britannica dot com – information theory (mathematics) - Physiology

** **

         2203 hours. We took a break to watch the news and the latest “CSI” ‘Girls Gone Wild’. How they keep coming up with new episodes is beyond me. I mean you can read only so many police reports in the U.S. I suppose they could adapt (as I’m sure they have to do all of them) from the U.K. and Europe. Still, it is amazing.

         In the article above it is interesting that next to the eyes the skin is next in gathering data. I wonder if this data received has to do with the ‘goose-bump’ phenomenon? I like reading about this type of information. It helps to see how it helps or hinders the ‘humanity’ within us.

         Data does little good without tying it to connection building, boy. Post. – Amorella

         You mean just a simple connecting of the dots (and not interpretation)?

         Intuition need not be complex. It would help if the unconscious mind could be better defined. As you read in your research, the unconscious mind is basically what is not the conscious mind.

         I wonder if it is possible that as our machines for collecting data become more specific and refined that our minds will naturally follow suit?

         Like you were thinking earlier this evening, the species needs more time to grow, to evolve. Technology is a part of the environment and the environment allows mental growth. It is not in your nature to think too positive though. You have good reason to be cynical and rather crusty in your outlook. – Amorella

         In the Merlyn books how does being dead change a cynic?

         In here, humor flowers from those crusty roots. What else? Post. - Amorella

         2236 hours. This got me thinking about one of the tests Kim gave in Career Services at Case Western Reserve. The article on ‘Sensing or Intuition’ (below) is from the Myers and Briggs Foundation.

** **

Sensing or Intuition

The second pair of psychological preferences is Sensing and Intuition. Do you pay more attention to information that comes in through your five senses (Sensing), or do you pay more attention to the patterns and possibilities that you see in the information you receive (Intuition)?

Everyone spends some time Sensing and some time using Intuition. Don’t confuse Sensing with sensual. They aren’t related.

Take a minute to ask yourself which of the following descriptions seems more natural, effortless, and comfortable for you?

Sensing (S) 
Paying attention to physical reality, what I see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. I’m concerned with what is actual, present, current, and real. I notice facts and I remember details that are important to me. I like to see the practical use of things and learn best when I see how to use what I’m learning. Experience speaks to me louder than words.

The following statements generally apply to me:

•                I remember events as snapshots of what actually happened.

•                I solve problems by working through facts until I understand the problem.

•                I am pragmatic and look to the “bottom line.”

•                I start with facts and then form a big picture.

•                I trust experience first and trust words and symbols less.

•                Sometimes I pay so much attention to facts, either present or past, that I miss new possibilities.

Intuition (N) 
Paying the most attention to impressions or the meaning and patterns of the information I get. I would rather learn by thinking a problem through than by hands-on experience. I’m interested in new things and what might be possible, so that I think more about the future than the past. I like to work with symbols or abstract theories, even if I don’t know how I will use them. I remember events more as an impression of what it was like than as actual facts or details of what happened.

The following statements generally apply to me:

•                I remember events by what I read “between the lines” about their meaning.

•                I solve problems by leaping between different ideas and possibilities.

•                I am interested in doing things that are new and different.

•                I like to see the big picture, then to find out the facts.

•                I trust impressions, symbols, and metaphors more than what I actually experienced

Sometimes I think so much about new possibilities that I never look at how to make them a reality.

Take a minute to ask yourself which of the following descriptions seems more natural, effortless, and comfortable for you?

Sensing (S) 
Paying attention to physical reality, what I see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. I’m concerned with what is actual, present, current, and real. I notice facts and I remember details that are important to me. I like to see the practical use of things and learn best when I see how to use what I’m learning. Experience speaks to me louder than words.

The following statements generally apply to me:

•                I remember events as snapshots of what actually happened.

•                I solve problems by working through facts until I understand the problem.

•                I am pragmatic and look to the “bottom line.”

•                I start with facts and then form a big picture.

•                I trust experience first and trust words and symbols less.

•                Sometimes I pay so much attention to facts, either present or past, that I miss new possibilities.

•                 

Intuition (N) 
Paying the most attention to impressions or the meaning and patterns of the information I get. I would rather learn by thinking a problem through than by hands-on experience. I’m interested in new things and what might be possible, so that I think more about the future than the past. I like to work with symbols or abstract theories, even if I don’t know how I will use them. I remember events more as an impression of what it was like than as actual facts or details of what happened.

The following statements generally apply to me:

•                I remember events by what I read “between the lines” about their meaning.

•                I solve problems by leaping between different ideas and possibilities.

•                I am interested in doing things that are new and different.

•                I like to see the big picture, then to find out the facts.

•                I trust impressions, symbols, and metaphors more than what I actually experienced

•                Sometimes I think so much about new possibilities that I never look at how to make them a reality.

•                 

Adapted from Looking at Type: The Fundamentals
 by Charles R. Martin

From – The Myers and Briggs Foundation

** **

         2245 hours. Now, the material above is really interesting. I wonder if this eventually will be quantifiable via physiology? This is good stuff when it comes to our species’ sense of knowledge and wisdom.

         Post. You are getting carried away again. Connecting the dots is not the same thing as collecting the dots. Tomorrow, dude. - Amorella

Notes - company arrives

         Mid-afternoon. Linda and the girls have passed Berea and ought to be here within two hours. The house is presentable for family or guests. You are waiting for Carol at Kroger’s on Tylersville and the store, as well as the nearly attached Kohl’s Department store are packed with people and cars. – Kim just called and said everything is coming along on the hours and final signing should be soon. She is very excited as the both really love the property location in the development and the house they are custom building. – Amorella

         1604 hours. I am going to read over Brothers 6 while I have the time. – I don’t have a chapter theme word; not a good sign.

         Read over Dead Six first, then the others. We’ll make a decision. – Amorella

         2023 hours. They arrived before six. We went to the Brazenhead Pub, two had fish and crisps and two had burgers and one had shepherd’s pie. Linda went to bed. Jen is playing a game and then back to reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain. Jean is reading Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel’s Secret War by Hal Vaughan. I suggested Jean read A Man Called Intrepid: (The Incredible WWII Narrative of the Hero Whose Spy Network and Secret Diplomacy Changed the Course of History) by William Stephenson next. I don’t know what Linda is reading. Carol is making hot chocolate. Tomorrow we may go to Westerville then when we leave on Tuesday for Cleveland. Besides everyone wants donuts from Schneider’s Tuesday morning before we leave. Kim ordered two-dozen Jennifer cookies from On the Rise that we’ll pick up around noon in Cleveland Heights. Getting pumped. I love the east side of Cleveland.

         Post. – Amorella

Notes - reality is what it is

         Early afternoon. You are waiting for Carol who is visiting your neighbor who is in the nearby Westchester/University Hospital after falling out of her wheelchair Thursday. Fortunately Carol was raking when she heard D- shout. She had fallen from the car ramp onto the garage floor. She did not appear to be hurt more than bruising but her son J- left his teaching position and headed home to help. Carol took her the morning paper and will find out particulars. You hope she did not break or fracture any bones. – Carol returned. Your neighbor had to have a partial hip replacement and will be at a rehabilitation center for two or three weeks. Presently Carol is in Kroger’s on Tylersville and Cox. You have yet to decide on lunch and then do a few more errands this chilly but mostly sunny day.

         I can work on Brothers 6 while waiting.

         Don’t. Carol will be out in a couple of minutes. You did set up your iPad mini 2 but have yet to download the applicable apps from iCloud.

         I’m not putting in much, barebones because it is on 16 gigs. I do like the size – I can carry it in a winter coat pocket if need be. I’ll find some uses for it and the old one can be used for keeping daily medical stats and as the radio for the living room or family room speakers. Science, astronomy and health apps can also be kept on it. Also, I may find the new one better for dictation and on the spot research.

         You had Papa John’s Pizza for a later supper and watched a couple shows as well as worked on sprucing the house up for Linda and the girls tomorrow. You also have been having fun setting up your apps on the iMini 2. – Amorella

         2203 hours. This has been a productive day but only as setting a new stage for writing and research. Once we finish the upstairs tomorrow there should be time to actually do some writing/editing.

         You might read over Brothers Six tonight and let it settle. Connections with the present will be helpful. – Amorella

         Earlier I had thought this. But that was last night. I have since forgotten. I wanted to include something about it being fiftieth year since JFK’s murder. So, I did not forget.

         One of the reasons we have notes, boy. You took your pain pill a few minutes ago and plan on taking one each night until your arthritis improves. At least the pill dulls the pain. You had been waking up and when first sitting having sharp pain from knees into the lower back. Post. – Amorella

         I feel self-conscious writing about the off and on pain.

         This is part of an honest report, boy. It does not help your ability to focus. That is the purpose for mentioning it. Reality is not an excuse for not focusing as well as usual. - Amorella