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Recalling Short-Term, Outlier, Cache Memory Loss

We’ve written a lot about memory and meaning and memory on this Boles Blog over the last decade or so — and yet I am always a little bit shocked and surprised when I read elsewhere, on other blogs — revelations of how fleeting and failing memories really are in the execution of rallying a daily life.

The blog post in question was written by a fresh and successful database engineer who, at a young age, was mildly complaining, in the midst of a technical exposé, how his short-term memory was failing him.  He was trying to draw parallels between caching database memory and how his mind would clear, on its own, important, stored information he needed for short-term recall.

The young designer shared with us that if he thought of something while in the midst of working, he had to immediately stop and write down the thought on a piece of paper, or in the next thought, he’d forget what he meant to do next when he had a break in time.

The author didn’t seem to be particularly alarmed by his lack of short-term memory reception, but I felt for him because his letter read as if this were a semi-new experience that he was dealing with in the analytical manner of a software designer and problem fixer. He was using mechanical logic to solve a scientific health problem.

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Will We Ever Eat Healthy at McDonald’s?

As a healthy eater, and as a Vegan, I have been a longtime supporter of McDonald’s long-suffering effort to offer a better, and healthier menu, at an affordable price, for their millions of daily customers.

Here’s my review of their new “McVeggie” sandwich — published on January 2, 1999:

The McDonalds McVeggie burger can be found in limited availability. In New York City, there are three or four McDonalds in Manhattan that offer the McVeggie. In locations that offer the McVeggie, you’ll find signs outside and large banners inside touting the McVeggie. There’s even a “McVeggie Extra Value Meal” that offers a large drink and large fries with the sandwich! The full-color McVeggie Extra Value Meal sign was professionally made and looked like all the other food images hanging behind the cashiers. The McVeggie is certainly not a scribbled-on after-thought and it appears to be a full member of the McDonalds family in these limited locations.

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Side Assaults and Medication Induced Nightmares

If you are on maintenance medication for depression or your heart or some other long-term illness, one thing you should always be aware of when taking a new medication is its effect on your dreams.  Your doctor may not care about your fruitful dream state, but you care because you must. Your dreams are the pathway to a prescient future.

Sometimes, the medicine-induced dream-influencing doesn’t happen for a few months, or the fitful sleep arrives in dribs and occasional drabs that leads to a dribbling memeing.  I discovered, through trial and error, and the momentary comparative experience, that Benicar, my blood pressure medication, was indicating horrific nightmares for many months.

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Living with MRSA: Nearly Ten Years On

I have MRSA – to be specific I have HA-MRSA.  MRSA is a superbug – its full is name methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria – the HA denotes I contracted it in hospital – if I had contracted it outside of hospital it would be denoted CA-MRSA – community acquired MRSA.

Superbugs are a group of microorganisms that are resistant to at least one or more commonly used antibiotics.  The commonly accepted list of superbugs is as follows:

MRSA  – (Staphylococcus aureus strains resistant to multiple antibiotics) , VRE (Enterococcus species resistant to vancomycin), PRSP (Streptococcus pneumoniae strains resistant to penicillin), ESBLs (Escherichia coli and other Gram-negative bacteria resistant to antibiotics such as cephalosporins and monobactams) and multiple drug-resistant Clostridium difficile.

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Sleeping in Public at the Queens Mall in New York City

I work near a bunch of shopping malls in Queens.  There’s one mall, in particular, that I call the “Sleeping Mall” because random men, throughout the day, flop on couches and take over chairs for hours at a time to sleep in public.

I can understand this sleepy behavior if you’ve been shopping all day and you sit down to rest your feet and you happen to nod off — that happens to all of us at times — but these men are dedicated, daily, regular ,snoozers who, as you can see in this photo from yesterday morning, even remove their shoes and fall over because they are so thoroughly swimming in deep REM tides.

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The Joy and Necessity of Diaphragmatic Breathing

One of my worst habits is holding my breath.  If I’m in a stress situation, I stop breathing.  If I am in high-concentration mode, I stop breathing.  When I tend to exercise — even during my Yoga asanas — I tend to forget where I am and hold my breath instead of breathing properly.

The reason it is a bad idea to hold your breath — except when you’re under the water and such — is because holding your breath spikes your blood pressure something awful.  Your face changes color.  Your heart rate rises.  Your whole innards are about to explode through your noggin.

Learning how to effectively breathe is key — not only during Yoga and aerobic exercise — but during your regular, ordinary, life as well.

The problem with our breathing is that so few of us do it properly.  We breathe by expanding our ribcage instead of dropping our diaphragms and extending our stomachs.

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Crocs: I Hate You, Now DIE!

When a person is in pain, they will go to any lengths to help ease the suffering.  Ever since my unfortunate Times Square Tripping accident, my left foot has not quite been right.

I’ve had a touch of Plantar fasciitis since the accident and that gives me a bit of heel pain when I walk — and I walk a lot!   A couple of weeks ago, I also wrenched the middle toe on the same foot during a hurried Yoga session — where I learned the hard way to always be present and breathe.

I’m obsessively on the lookout for good and proper shoes, and I’ve heard a lot about Crocs being a great and comfortable shoe.  I never stepped a foot into the mouth of the crocodile because Crocs were hard to find, and because I hate ordering shoes online.

It often takes forever to get shoes delivered — even if you overpay for overnight shipping.  Crocs.com, I discovered the hard way this week, are no better than the Payless when it comes to getting the right shoes on your foot in the nick of time.

Continue reading → Crocs: I Hate You, Now DIE!