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Thoughts on the Passing of Artie Hicks
Yesterday, I was thinking about Artie Hicks, one of my old English teachers at Huston-Tillotson University, which was Huston-Tillotson College back in the mid-1970s when I was a student there. I looked him up on the web, just out of curiosity—and found his obituary. That seems to happen a lot lately. Anyway, he was a…
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Make or Break Escape Plan When Your Car is in a Flood
Sena and I saw a Weather Channel segment on how to escape your car if it is sinking during a flood. It’s mainly a reminder to turn around, don’t drown. However, there were a couple of interesting things about it. One was the quiz, in the format of a “how would you survive?” quiz with…
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FDA Issues Warning Not to Use Tianeptine
There have been several warnings from the FDA and others for several years (going back to at least 2014) against using tianeptine. It’s used as an antidepressant in other countries, but “FDA is warning consumers not to purchase or use any Neptune’s Fix products, or any other product with tianeptine — a potentially dangerous substance…
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Old Doctors vs Young Doctors
I ran across a recently published web article that originated from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), to which I don’t have access because I’m not a subscriber. The title is “Do Younger or Older Doctors Get Better Results?” and it’s in the form of an essay by Pete Ryan. It’s been picked up by over…
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Sena Says Chase Away the Winter Blues, Try Lume!
Sena said I could give you an update on the Lume products. Remember, she said this was OK. She’s actually happy with the product. She uses it as recommended by the creator, who recommends applying it “under boobs, butt crack, pits,” and so on. That’s how the commercials go. We shoveled snow and scraped ice…
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Civil or Uncivil Bird Society
We caught sight of several birds engaged in the usual interactions with each other and their prey (in the case of the hawk). Call it civil or uncivil society, it’s natural no matter how you see it. I’m going to call it a Red-tailed Hawk that caught a gray squirrel and had a tough time…
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Making My Own Race Card
Tomorrow’s schedule for the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration of Human Rights Week has Michele Norris presenting the MLK Distinguished Lecture, “Our Hidden Conversations.” It’s based on her Race Card Project which produced her new book “Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity.” Sena and I probably are not going to…
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Sena Gets Her Lume!
Sena finally got her Lume products delivered yesterday. That’s right, I said “Lume,” the total body odor remover you see being advertised on TV. I can’t bear to watch them, which might say something about how we’re socialized to avoid confronting our own B.O. In my defense, the commercials have been described as “in your…
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Tegeler Wrecker and Crane is the Heavy Rescue Team in Eastern Iowa
We saw the KCRG news item about Tegeler Wrecker & Crane getting almost 10,000 calls for help after the big snowstorms last week. They’re a big towing and wrecker service which reminded me of the Weather Channel shows Highway Thru Hell and Heavy Rescue 401. Tegeler pretty much does everything they do, including heavy duty…
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Heed Warnings About Risk for Frostbite
I just saw an article in the Daily Iowan about the importance of knowing how to avoid frostbite during wind chill advisory and warning periods. As a consulting psychiatrist in the general hospital, I saw what can happen to people who suffered frostbite injuries. They were treated on the Burn Unit. The risk for frostbite…
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