Where Is My Salt?

I recently went to my doctor for a physical.  Other than still having Type 2 diabetes, I have some swelling in my right leg.  He told me it was likely due to my salt intake.  I told him I didn't use salt and then he went on to explain it's not necessary to add salt to my food.  I explained I hadn't done that in decades and I think he believed.  After more thinking, I don't know if I've ever done it.

However, there is salt in foods I eat.  So I looked it up and found a list of food with a lot of salt and I'm breaking it down into two groups: foods I'm done with and foods I can reduce.

GOOD RIDDANCE TO THESE

1. Instant pudding: I haven't thought about that in a long time.  Maybe I'll get a chocolate one just to say goodbye.  Ok, goodbye. It looks really good, ok goodbye.

2. Vegetable juice-Farewell to something I've never tasted.

3. Boxed potato casseroles-cheesy potatoes. I may have cheesy potatoes once or twice a year-bye, bye.

4. Pork rinds-sorry no interest, gone.

5. CANNED VEGETABLES! I like some canned corn a couple times a year, but I can do without it. I'm really going to suffer without CANNED VEGETABLES!

6. Jerky and other dried meats.  Jerky no way I'm eating it, but not sure what the dried meats are yet.

7. Tortillas? So long amigo.

8. Pickles-I have tried to throw any of them away my whole life. My kids always slipped a pretend pickle into a sandwich from their toy kitchen and I threw them away which they thought was hysterical.  I knew they were bad for me!

9. Sauces to flavor food.  I'm not much of a sauce guy other than tomato sauce which I could reduce some.

REDUCE THESE:

1. Pretzels I'll reduce once I finish the bag we have.

2. Lunch meats like salami, no problem.  I have been sticking to roast beef and turkey which is suggested.

3. Processed cheese, I need to stick to swiss or mozzarella, I will do it.

4. Sandwiches- I have cut back on bread and I can do more of it.

5. PIZZA- I'm not a big fan. I'll cut back- "Sorry honey, it's not good for me."

6. Salad dressing- I'll use less, but I eat salad because it's healthier. 

7. Cottage cheese-I do eat it regularly and I'll eat less somehow and I'll start with these:

8. Ham: I do like ham and swiss together, but I'll eat less ham.

9. Soup: I have cut back on soup in the last year, I guess I'll continue that.

10. Shrimp? I have eaten a bunch of shrimp the past two weeks but it's not something I eat all the time. I'll eat less after we eat this.

11. Bagels and other breads? I'll have to stop eating the bagels my wife buys, but I've eaten less bread the past year for sure.

            HOW IS IT THIS DID NOT MAKE THE LIST WHEN SALT IS IN IT'S NAME?

How Witty Was That?

Some people are just very clever and very funny, but in an unusual way.  Here are some comedians and others with some of their best lines for your amusement.  I was amused.

BETTY WHITE: "I've always liked older men.  There's just more attractive to me. Of course at my age, there aren't that many of them left."

OSCAR WILDE: "I have the most simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best."

ELIZABETH TAYLOR: "I reckon that some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses.

MARK TWAIN: "Always do right. This will gratify some people and surprise others.

STEPHEN FRY: "You don't have to remind my of my age, I have a bladder to do that for me."

WINSTON CHURCHILL: "I am ready to meet my maker.  Whether my maker is prepared for the great ideal of meeting me is another matter."

GORE VIDAL: "The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country-and we haven't seen them since."

JOAN RIVERS: "I wish I had a twin so I could see what I look like without plastic surgery."

MAE WEST: "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." 

Where is Elmo?

How does a small child get attached to a stuffed animal or a doll? Our eighteen month old grand daughter's favorite by far is Elmo.  She walks around with him and is constantly looking for him. The question frequently is, "Where is Elmo?" 

He is everywhere and in case you don't know who is Elmo is, he's the red one waving to us in a crowd of animals and dolls.

How old is Elmo and where did you come from? He is a "fictional" character on "Sesame Street" today since 2012 when he came to life. He was first used in 1979.  He is actually 3 1/2 years old all the time and celebrates his birthday on February 3rd. He has been the star of two movies and has appeared on many television shows over the years and had a very popular Tickle Me Elmo doll in 1996.

Sometimes it is difficult to find Elmo and recently my granddaughter and I searched several rooms without finding him.  I was sitting in the kitchen and looked downstairs to another room and this is what I found.  He did not have a heart attack.

Sometimes Elmo dresses up and thinks he's on a television show in the house.

He has a different way of shopping because he just jumps in the cart.

Elmo is going to be doing very important work for our granddaughter in the near future and I think it's about time he did something valuable.

If you think it's difficult getting diaper on a baby, it's a different kind of difficult putting a diaper on Elmo as you can see from this picture.

Frequently when I'm babysitting Elmo is just hanging around looking very innocent, but my granddaughter absolutely loves him. After her mom and dad and my wife, I'm just slightly ahead of.... Elmo.

Would You Take A Polar Plunge?

You have probably seen on TV or pictures of people running into freezing temperatures and you may have asked yourself, WHY?   Would you do it one day? People have been doing it across the country since 1902 and I don't think anyone has died from doing it, but it is cold.  It originally started in Boston, Massachusetts many years after The Boston Tea Party.

The above picture is from last year in San Francisco.  It's not just a couple of people. Studies have shown that there are benefits and risks to doing this.  Here are some of the benefits you could have on your future plunge: regular plunges can make your body more resilient and give you a psychological boost also. On days you plunge you can feel more confident, have lower anxiety, and get better sleep.

I had to laugh reading what happens when you go into these kind of temperatures. Tell me if you were thinking the same thing I was when I read this: "You feel Zen, you feel every part of your body, you're aware of your breathing, you forget about everything else." How about these comments, "Your heart rate goes through the roof, your blood pressure goes through the roof, you have trouble breathing."

Maybe I would try it in a cold bath tub, maybe not?  Something to consider if you ever want to do it, it can be beneficial, or your body could be close to going into shock. I'll leave it up to you.

Changing A Filter

If you're going to change a filter you might want to change the water filter on your refrigerator or maybe your coffee filter.  When I heard that the air filter in our crawl space needs to be changed every three months, it did not sound exciting.  However, this may make an entertaining blog.

I know our kids have changed the filter a couple times, but it was time for me to experience this exciting household moment. Below is the steps leading down to somewhere in our closet.  

We were prepared.  I put on some dirty sweatpants and two knee pads.  My wife had a very soft, old blanket we would move across the luxurious floor pictured below.  We also had a small flashlight if we needed it. This is the new world that faced me below.

We were both going to go down because as usual, I had no clue what I was going to do.  My wife said I should bring my phone in case we couldn't make it up.  My wife's knees couldn't make it down, so it was my mission and I was going in blind.  I had my phone to communicate and she facetimed me. I was about to visit another world and I would have liked to have Scotty beam we down instead of climbing into it.

I didn't see anything that looked like a filter, but there was a latch somewhere in the above picture and inside was the dirty filter, pictured below, which I replaced.  It says "test" here, is that important?

The crawl space was bigger than I thought and I thought I was going to be crawling and hunched over, but it wasn't that bad.  Below, I am triumphantly coming up the stairs.  All that was missing was the banner behind me saying, "Mission Accomplished." Three more months and I'll be doing it all over again.

                                                        

TODAY'S THE DAY!

Imagine if you woke up every single day for 16 years and the first thing you said was, "Today's the day!" If you're living a normal life like most of us do and you're expecting good things to happen, would your life be better? You may be thinking, "That's ridiculous," but what if it really happened?

I read about the story of Mel Fisher years ago and just came across it again.  He was born in Indiana and served and survived the Normandy invasion and at age 31 he sold the chicken farm he owned. He was obsessed with shipwrecks and he became a pioneer in underwater exploration. He moved to Florida in the search of Spanish galleons that had sunk long ago off the Florida keys. (In 1622)

His main search began in 1969 for the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora, which sunk in a hurricane where 260 people died and a large treasure of gold, silver, and emeralds were lost.  During his 8,000 days and 16 years of searching he lost family members who drowned, he went bankrupt, people thought he was crazy and he mortgaged his house 13 times.

In 1973 he found three silver bars that were from the sunken boat.  In 1975 his son found five bronze cannons with the ship markings.  In 1975 his son, wife, and another diver drowned, but he still woke up every day saying, "Today's the day."  

It was ten years exactly to the day of the horrific drowning, July 20, 1985, another son came over the radio and said, "Put away the charts, we found the pile."  The treasure was worth $450 million, the largest underwater discovery in modern times.  After many years of legal cases he was was awarded the treasure. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West was opened to share the discovery with the world.

He died in 1988 at the age of 76.  His family continues to search for the remaining parts of the treasure, but Mel Fisher is celebrated for his optimism and determination through his museum.

Visiting Costco

Here's a riddle: When can you visit Costco and spend no money? You got it, my blog is here for you.

The Costco we go to is in the middle of nowhere and I have managed to go two different ways and miss the turn.  Next time I'm going find the right turn.

Walking into Costco recently I had only two thoughts: Let's get the rotisserie chicken and I'm ready to head back to the car. It's not that I'm overwhelmed, I just want to go in and get a few things and get out.

After five minutes I had the same thoughts and I wasn't near the chicken.  That's when I came up with the idea of "touring" Costco which would be more fun than actually shopping.  I did help my wife out by pushing the cart and I grabbed a couple things, but here's the FREE tour:

How cool is this pillow? What size bed do you have to have to use this pillow?

This is a pop-up sauna.  How often does it pop-up? What room do you put it in for it to pop up?

It's a cute dish my wife wanted to buy so I could use it as a drainer for fruit.  She said that when I just use a normal dish the dirty water stays on the fruit. Is that really a problem?

This special aroma thing looks very good and it's only $80 because it's on sale from $100.  How many do you want for your house?

Looking for new luggage? How about some Lego luggage? It's easy to put together.

If you're looking for a laugh, how about the Laughing Cow original wedges? I didn't eat any.

This Lumpia thing, wouldn't it sound better if it was Schlumpia? What a great name!

This oversized mat fit perfectly in our cart.  It's supposed to be put at our sliding door to go out to the back. When I checked that area there is an oversized piece of carpet.  The mat is now perpendicular to the carpet. Oh wait, it has now moved! It is on top of the oversized piece of carpet and it's smaller than the carpet. Sitting on top of it is our outdoor shoes for the backyard.

Some things are funny without comments. I did not eat any.

How hard did they work on coming up with this name? Dubai style, chocolate pistachio, almond milk latte.

As a diabetic I'm supposed to watch my sugar.  How long can I watch this sugar without a note from my doctor?

I'm not that big on veggies, but if it's called "Veggies Made Great", how bad could it be? I have had some since the visit and I have to admit, they were very good.

Driving home I told my wife sitting next to me, "I was pretty excited when I was pushing the cart and my fingers were sliding against the hot chicken bag." She only heard me say "hot chick.'  Visiting Costco was a fun adventure except it wasn't free for me.