Kevin's Watch

Oh - no doubt Sky; stress over an extended period [I'm talking decades here] has played a HUGE role in the problems I now face. The bottom line is that I have not [often in a poor attempt to 'self-medicate' the effects of this stress] been kind to my body and have no reason to castigate it now it is time to 'pay the piper'. How is it however, that everything I like - I'm talking alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, sugar, rich food, curries and spices ..... you name it, it's on the list!] is the stuff that's bad for me? These are all unrelated chemical compounds/foods - how does my ruined gastro-intestinal tract recognise all the stuff I like and add it to the list. I'm surprised reading Stephen Donaldson isn't on there as well! I'm down to eating about five cup sized meals a day, two hours apart, of fish/rice/lean chicken and boiled peas/mushrooms. Lean stuff for a guy used to living pretty 'high on the hog' I can tell you! Still - perhaps a leaner and wiser Peter will emerge, phoenix like from the ashes of my former hedonism! Here's to life as an ascetic anchorite. As a wise man once said "A man who has no teeth should learn to like soup"!

Hey Peter, Is "salt" a problem? For mine, salt can transform a tomato! Nothing beats a margerita pizza with a nice glass of red wine.... Is red wine a problem?
Damn, when you dont have this or that it is not too bad..... but when you are told you cant have this or that it is up the shit.
Good luck mate. Be as smart and strong as you can and want to be.

Nice Kizza.

Pete, I know it seems like you cant have all those things. Can you tell me what kind of gastro intestinal issue you have .. you can pm if youd be more comfortable. I had two duodenal ulcers and chronic gastritis .. my stomach lining was a bit of a mess. Couldnt eat anything without acid burn. But since retiring, I have not only lost weight .. almost back to my pre kid weight .. and after years on somac .. an acid blocker .. I am pain free .. and I dont take somac anymore ... I eat whatever I want .. spicy food, alcohol, sugar, caffeine ... the lot. And let me tell you what I think the reason is .. I dont work with stress anymore. I spend more time outside, in my garden, working on projects, caring for animals etc .. and I swear it has made ALL the difference for me.

Walking in a verdant wooded, along a river or a beck, among flowering and leafy plants, is not only great for the soul, I think its therapy. And it is healing. Knuckle down with the hard graft diet .. but know that things will improve. Ive never smoked tobacco though .. so thats not part of my diet. Maybe that one ISNT good for you. But I drink coffee, alcohol, eat chocolate etc .. and have no problem whatsoever.

Moving to a small rural village has been a godsend. If you cant move .. take time out to walk somewhere gorgeous, leafy and green. And to be honest theres not a lot of green here .. but just enough to do the trick.

Skyweir wrote:Definitely an upside

And make the most of the time off .. Im wondering how much stress plays a role in your health issues. Time off might be the very best thing for you to boot. Well that IS the point of sick leave now that I think about it

Today has been a huge day here in my neck of the woods. We took in a highly anxious mutt for the day .. and she bolted. Ugh .. the last thing you ever want happening. So I took off in hot pursuit after her, Trev went back to get the car .. cos chronic asthmatic and not a runner.

We live in the middle of the bush .. open land for as far as the eye can see. And the owner said .. she is very obedient and will come to a whistle or calling her name. Really???? She did neither .. She gave me a run for my money .. literally .. but I caught her, safe and sound and carried her home. A cute little Puli ..

We mentioned the not responding to a whistle or her name .. and she said .. well shes deaf. rrriiiigggghhhhtttt

Then the rest of the afternoon, after the Puli left, we finished off the roof to our greenhouse. Its done. Tomorrow it will be setting up and planting seedlings. Very excited. Well I do have some painting to do .. but it wont affect its function.

Don't you speak dog sign language yet Sky?HAHA

I had to google Puli to see what it is. I had visions of you chasing some long legged hound across a paddock, and then I saw the type of dog you were chasing.
Does is have a long coat? Little wonder it is hard of hearing never mind seeing!
Glad to hear it all ended well.

Hahahaha .. well the fact that I carried her home .. not sure I could have done that if she was a biggun.... and her legs are minuscule and yet she was a fast wee devil .. yeah cute little breed .. cant believe its a herder breed. She seems incapable of sizing up danger, or having a clue .. she is quite a sweetie though .. despite her obvious high anxiety .. though after her big run .. she was totally chill the rest of the day

Clearly burned off the excess energy.

Yeah, that sucks Peter. Sorta half wondering when I'll have to start paying the piper...

--A

Seems to be a combination of chronic gastritis with associated gall bladder problems. I have permanent indigestion which I take proton inhibitors (omeprazole) for - alas with minimal success - and was getting increasingly frequent bouts of atrociously painful biliary colic to which end I had my gall bladder removed recently. Alas on emerging from the anaesthesia I found I couldn't pee so was fitted with a catheter for 10 days which was no fun at all!
Hopefully the op will take at least the gall bladder problems out of the equation, and though the improvement has been slow in coming my liver does seem slowly to be getting more comfortable. Since this all started I've lost ......mmm......five and a half stone (over say a two year period) - but one and a half of this has been since the op. My gastritis issues will I think take some time to resolve, and be dependent upon me sticking to the eating regime I have outlined above (Alas Kizza, pizza and red wine - sounding like the very manna of Heaven at the moment - are methinks a ways down the road at present) - and absolutely hang upon my getting my stress levels back in the box. Ridiculous for a piss-pot little job like mine, but the pressure we are subjected to by a combination of understaffing and real-time conflicting demands is constant and unrelenting and has undoubtedly taken its toll. This is an issue I have yet to address, but I'm seriously thinking that it's time to get the f*** out of Dodge!

So there you have it - the sorry tale of the tape in Peter's world at present! Sky - you have no idea how much hope it gives me to hear that you have had somewhat similar problems and overcome them. There have been times recently when the darkness has threatened to swamp me and to be given even the smallest glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel is a gift indeed.

I am soooooo glad Pete yeah I took proton inhibitors for years .. they thought after the treatment I would be able to come off them but I never could. Till I retired and I took myself off everything.

Yes sounds a very similar journey indeed .. and there is hope at the end of the tunnel. I had my gall bladder out .. but because it turned necrotic .. a consequence of yet a different journey. And that actually helped a lot. There is hope at the end of that journey Pete .. stick with it .. the body is an amazing machine .. it does a great deal of the work to self correct .. and yes now I eat and drink what I like. Of course I dont go overboard often

And if I do .. I really do not suffer for it .. not the way I used to anyhow. But truly I eat chocolate, cream, drink coffee, alcohol, rich food, spicy food .. in fact Trev made a delicious massaman beef curry for dinner tonight with homemade roti .. so am sitting pretty comfortably for a 57yo old bird .. and I credit my lifestyle.... mmm ... not my current naughty diet .. but the natural world that surrounds me and being

There's no doubt that exercise and activity make a big difference, especially as you get older. I should really do something about that.

--A

You're pretty good though Av if I recall correctly; you by and large keep fairly well excercised with walks and stuff, and certainly limit your alcohol intake. The big issue would be smoking would it not? I saw a cardiac specialist once who told me the five a day I smoked would "never hurt me"! I don't know if he was correct or not (I suspect he was probably trying to convince himself as much as me) - but I still believe that limiting your smoking has to be better than giving free reign to it, in the absence of giving up all together.

Yeah, not enough exercise though, getting far too lazy.
But yes, the smoking is the issue.

Managing to (mostly) keep it to 10 a day, (have been backsliding a bit recently, stress and all), but as you say, must be better than the 30-odd I was doing before.

--A

10 a day sounds pretty good. Not far from 10 to 0 a lot closer than 30 to 0

You winning

peter wrote:and absolutely hang upon my getting my stress levels back in the box. Ridiculous for a piss-pot little job like mine, but the pressure we are subjected to by a combination of understaffing and real-time conflicting demands is constant and unrelenting and has undoubtedly taken its toll. This is an issue I have yet to address, but I'm seriously thinking that it's time to get the f*** out of Dodge!

It's amazing what work stress can do to your health. In the same boat myself - constantly saying it's not worth it, but hey, bills need to be paid.

My problem is that I tend to normalize this stuff - and maybe it is normal, but that's seriously messed up too.

Gotta agree .. and it is majorly messed up.

And when youre living your "norm" it seems that there is nothing that you could ever do to change it or get out .. but there are very often things we CAN do.

No Im not talking about plying oneself with alcohol and drugs and enduring ..

I think inertia is our worst enemy in this; it's so often the case that the 'devil we know' mentality just takes sway with us and fear of taking the plunge ultimately just morphs into slogging on with what we have rather than taking steps to change it. I'm my own worst enemy on this score.

BUT......

If hard work were the path to riches I'd be a multimillionaire by now. There has to be something else, some other factor in which I for one have fallen short. Certainly in the case of 'drive' I have been lacking; I've sat back while people of lesser abilities have pushed themselves forward and risen above me [often while I've been doing the actual work] - and then there is plain simple luck, being in the right place at the right time. Napoleon famously said that ability without opportunity counted for nothing and I paraphrase this to say that those who succeed in life are those whose abilities and opportunities coincide - but you do have to work to make this happen as well and I have failed miserably on this score.

But I think the best advice for any parent to give their child in respect of their future is 'find something you enjoy doing and try to make some money at it'. Alas this wasn't how things were done in my youth [or family]. I have a limited working life left ahead of me but how much would I like to be able to take my own advice now!

That is all SO true, and well said.

I get so caught up in but I'm surviving and it could be worse that I'm afraid to open the door for it could be better. I don't trust it when things are going well - I'm always waiting for the sword to drop.

We both need to learn to shake off the shackles of our inertia Sorus. The adage 'fortune favours the brave' may be hackneyed, but it remains to a degree true nevertheless. If we don't free ourselves to accept the role of the dice in our lives (perhaps just in small ways - I'm not talking about becoming an artist and going to live in a commune in India here), then our luck is as bound as we are! I know I need to find a new job - I just can't seem to bring myself to do it!

Let me help you with it Pete .. these days you have to have a crackin CV, and answer a raft of selection criteria .. which always put me off. The work involved in change.

You guys are not alone .. many of us are just not sufficiently driven to make change. I say that but at different times in my life, Ive really wanted out .. and it got so bad in one role, that I honestly considered stepping out into traffic just so I didnt have to cross the road and walk in the building. Funny cos when I did walk in the building, I colleague shared the exact same inclination that morning. Luckily there were no traffic casualties that day on that corner

So instead of doing THAT I bit the bullet and started looking for other opportunities found one .. and moved on. I have a very supportive husband who always got behind me to help me do what I need to do.

When I retired not that long ago really .. I was 55 .. and knew we had just bought an idylic rural escape .. so had to do something to meet the mortgage .. and happily found a way forward. Though it was not without trepidation.

Today self promotion is the way those who dont do the work surpass you. Our generation are not self promoters. It takes some effort to simply represent your skills and capabilities. Thankfully a CV can speak for itself and .. the written aspects of a job application can also .. but the interview you do have to move slightly beyond your comfort zone.

I do know though that when what you do begins to compromise your health and wellbeing .. it is really time to take a beat .. and seriously rethink. Put feelers out .. get that CV sharp and snappy .. and look for other opportunities, or make your own.

PM me if you want any help whatsoever at all .. either of you, Pete or Sorus.

I will say young Pete, just seeing your name on the board always lifts my heart and makes me feel happy. So glad you are up to popping in when your health allows. Much love and sending the blue bird of happiness both your and Sorus s way May she shine down the best of fortunes upon you both, strengthen your hearts, minds and bodies .. and provide those very opportunities for you to have a crack at

Ah - the blue bird of happiness! Yes, I'd forgotten about him...



I'm returning to work on Wednesday Sky and am feeling a bit ....... reticent to do so really. It'll probably be ok, but I do need a change. I'll take your advice and get my CV into shape. I'm determined not to spend the rest of my working life selling cheap vodka and tags. Enough is enough!

peter wrote: But I think the best advice for any parent to give their child in respect of their future is 'find something you enjoy doing and try to make some money at it'.

Yeah, the problem if you do that early, is that you end up finding out that you've turned something you enjoy doing into work, and often the enjoyment leaches out of it.

--A