Category: Brief Messages or Announcements

Intranasal Esketamine for Major Depression Available at University of Hospitals & Clinics Department of Psychiatry

Learn about the use of intranasal Esketamine for Major Depressive Disorder at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics here.

Big Mo Blues Show KCCK Iowa City

Two songs I heard tonight on the Big Mo Blues Show on KCCK 88.3 radio out of Cedar Rapids & Iowa City, and I can’t pick the best one. One is new, by John Primer, “Hard Times,” out in 2022 and speaks to how hard times are right now.

The other is old, by B.B. King, from 1971 and speaks to how hard times could be back then.

Critter Cam Arrives for Drain Grate Ghost Hunt

The critter cam was delivered and I’ll need to get some batteries and a micro-SD card for it. I’ll also need to learn how to mount it to one of the posts supporting our sun room.

The rough distance from the camera to the drain grate is about 40 feet, so it should be well within the camera’s range.

We plan to remove the rocks, but leave the worm gear adjustable clamp on the grate. There hasn’t been any new disturbance since my last post about it. The rock is still on top of the grate.

I’ll test the camera first just to make sure I’ve got it set up correctly, which could be a challenge for me since I’ve never done anything like this before.

We’re going to try our best to catch whatever has been messing with our drain grate. Wish us luck!

Update: I just formatted and installed the micro SD card, the 4 AA batteries, set the clock to the correct time, and quickly ran through the functions. It seems to work fine in Test Mode. It’s a little late now, so we plan to set it up for tomorrow!

The Drain Tile Grate Ghost Strikes Again!

The drain tile ghost struck again last night. You’ll recall a couple of days ago, I stacked two large rocks on the tile drain grate which has been the subject of numerous vandal attacks for at least the last couple of weeks.

It looks like the top rock was picked up and turned over on the ground about a foot away from the grate. The other rock, which is heavier, looks like it was pushed across the grate, seemingly to remove it. The grate is still attached with the worm gear adjustable clamp.

This happens only at night.

The only trouble is we don’t what’s causing the problem. It’s a mystery that drove us to order a critter cam, which is supposed to be delivered in the next couple of days.

We also don’t know why only one of 7 grates has been singled out for attention. They’re all the same. They help control drainage in our back yard. They all have water in them, which slowly drains. There is nothing else inside the pipe worth all the effort apparently being expended.

Over time, the major interest is not that this occurs, but who or what is causing it. So, for now we plan to leave the scene of the crime as it is. We’ll see what happens tonight.

I’m not going to post any guards. They’ve all been incompetent.

Here We Go Again About Antidepressants

Back in August, my colleagues, Drs. George Dawson, MD and Ronald Pies, MD wrote a rejoinder in Psychiatric Times to a review article published in Molecular Psychiatry by J. Moncrieff, Mark Horowitz and others (Moncrieff J, Cooper RE, Stockmann T, Amendola S, Hengartner MP, Horowitz MA. The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence. Mol Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 20. doi: 10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35854107.)

The idea that most psychiatrists subscribe to the so-called “chemical imbalance” theory of depression has arisen again in an article by Mark Horowitz on October 7, 2022. Sena alerted me to the article which is getting a lot of attention. There were well over 600 comments and counting about it when we read it on October 7th.

I would like to refer readers to the Dawson and Pies article, “The Serotonin Fixation: Much Ado About Nothing New,” published August 3, 2022. Since the issue about emotional blunting from SSRIs resurfaced again on October 7th, it wouldn’t hurt to review their September 26, 2022, Psychiatric Times article, “Antidepressants Do Not Work by Numbing Emotions.”

Scouts Food Drive Pickup Today

Today is the bag pickup day for the Scouts food drive. Bags were distributed October 1-5. They’ll be picked up between 9:00 AM to noon. According to the Scouting for Food website,

On average, the Scouting for Food Drive typically collects over 93,387+ pounds of food from Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and its neighboring areas. This translates to over 77,823+ meals that will be served for those who need it most during the winter season.

The Friday Night Big Mo Blues Show

I heard this on ‘da Friday Night Blues on KCCK 88.3 earlier. I took guitar lessons when I was a kid. I was real good at buzzing the strings. Not everybody can make the audience clap their hands to their ears and howl in pain. It’s a rare talent-thank goodness. You’re welcome.

I heard Iowa Blues legend Kevin B.F. Burt tonight. I’ll never be able to prove it, but I think he was D.J. for KCCK Friday Blues Show for a short time in the distant past. I’m pretty sure I listened to him. I can’t find that in his interviews anywhere, not even in the biggest one I could find. Sena saw him and his wife at an optometrist clinic a few years ago. He was trying to pick up a pair of eyeglasses. He was in a big hurry and kept saying he had to get to his gig. Sena even spoke to him, asking him if he was Kevin Burt. He very kindly confirmed it-but he was still in a hurry.

Autumn Whisper

We were walking the Terry Trueblood trail on October 3, 2022 during the balmy early autumn weather. Sena and I had been looking for a decent picture of Goldfinches all summer long and didn’t catch any.

Sena gently alerted me to a female Goldfinch foraging on a tree right next to the walkway. She was trying to snatch bugs out of the air, and her olive feathers flashed in the sun.

That was right next to Hilde DeBruyne’s orange steel sculpture titled “Wings.” How lucky can you get?

Day 3: Drain Tile Grate Secure!

Well, it’s day 3 and the drain tile grate has not popped off yet. I secured it with a worm gear adjustable clamp on October 1, 2022.

I had to fire the little zombie I posted to guard it. He was drinking blood on the job, gambling on zombie cribbage with a gang of putrid corpses, and making threats to cancel Halloween based on bogus orders from Dracula.

I hired a wolfman from the temp agency who seems more reliable. He carries a sword although I’m not sure why. His teeth are huge—for such a tiny werewolf. Don’t call him “Tiny” to his face. He has an inferiority complex.

If you laugh at him, he’ll surely shred your shoestrings. Quick, say that three times really fast right now!