I haven’t written much about my health the last few years on der Stonegauge… Mostly because Stonegauge is syndicated on the ever-so-excellent Tampa Blab where some of my blog colleagues (who know me better from my endeavor at Boltsmag or my participation at Sticks of Fire) can get wind of this stuff and start fussing and worrying about me. So can my critics as well with anything personal I write about on here. I’ve had private stuff published on this domain before and had it come back to hurt me. But that’s what happens when you blog, ain’t it?

I’m getting away from the fact that I said I haven’t talked about my health much at all on here lately. For the uninitiated, I suffer from a rare genetic disease commonly referred to as NF2. It’s a nasty little gem of a disease that doesn’t get much attention (besides an odd mention on House M.D. every-so-often). It causes benign tumors to grow mostly on nerves in the body. One of said tumors were the reason I began to lose my hearing as a teen and was rendered deaf 10 years ago last December.

It also gives me the supernatural abilities like super-intelligence, telekenisis and empathy along with…

Wait a minute, that was a John Travolta movie. Never mind.

Seriously… The last time I really brought up (bitched, moaned, vented, etc) my health was the summer and fall of 2003 when I hit a couple of hard patches and was frustrated, scared and just flat out torn up (to put it lightly). Blogging things publicly helped me get my frustrations and worries out in the open… or at least out of my head for the moment until the next panic hit.

It’s 4 years later and I’ve got problems again. Problems in my head this time that get the doctors attention. Now, from the smart-ass perspective, you’d quickly quip “Yeah, anyone who (inserts a thought, political idea, interest, etc) would be classified as having problems in the head!” but it’s a little more serious than that. About 5 centimeters worth of serious. Between-my-ears, behind-my-eyes serious.

I’ve been operated on twice up there before. Both times I had the operations in question out west with one of the top doctors in the world. This time around, I’m sticking in Tampa Bay and trusting a doctor who’s been heralded to me as one of the best in the world. He’s got books and awards and all that jazz. He’ll have some of my old friends along with him to make sure my ABI doesn’t get fudged up and what not.

Still, there are risks and even if they aren’t substantial — what they are is a worst case scenarios. So I worry about that, even though it’s almost like thinking about worst-case stuff when you go out and do day to day things.
“The worst case scenario while driving to the Supermarket to pick up milk is that an out of control mack truck with a drunk at the wheel, plows into my car and explodes…. Oh, and I don’t die instantly on impact!”

Rosy, cheery stuff like that.

So part of my mind (ha — the cause of all my problems) keeps wanting me to be responsible and at least report this upcoming operation, make arrangements for the “just in case”, “worst case scenario” type things. Every other part of me wants the status quo to remain — though that status quo is a deteriorating personal conditions where the changes in my health are more or less subtle until I get to a tipping point and things really get messed up and my life hangs in the balance.

Rosy, cheery stuff like that.

I don’t want to face the idea of things — out of my control — go bad and yet with responsibilities to friends and loved ones, how can I not?

East Lake Woodland’s Publix has been around for… Oh, I don’t know how long… It’s on the cusp of the ritzy and posh Pinellas suburb of East Lake and draws shoppers form East Lake, Oldsmar, Palm Harbor and Saftey Harbor…

…in the smallest Publix in the area.

The store is almost always under renovation — every couple of years things are re-painted, re-aligned and what not. The only problem is that these renovations don’t do much to fix the flaws of the building in general and how Publix is trying to operate the store on less floorspace than most standard Publix supermarkets.

Crowded aisles, support beams int he middle of aisles, lack of selection due to lack of space… It all factors in to simply hurt the location and can’t be remedied by simply white-washing the building over and over again.

I’m counting the days until I hear this store is to be closed, demolished and then rebuilt… And trust me, it will happen. Tarpon Springs (US 19 and Tarpon Avenue) Publix just underwent such a change. Us 19 / Curlew Publix was a former Grocery store – but after the store was leased it resulted in a all out demolition of the where the store would be and renovation of the shopping center. Dunedin has a store that was totally demolished and rebuilt, and Coral Landings Publix (Palm Harbor on US 19 north of Tampa Road) was built just to the south of an existing Publix that served the Highland Lakes retirement community (that stoer is now a Stein Mart).

The biggest problem facing Publix, I would think, replacing the building is the lack of space for them to play around with in the shopping center. They are next to a key driveway for the shopping plaza and a high tension power line cooridor.

Tricky to work with – not impossible though.

Losing the location for a couple of months would hurt but I would think the windfall would be well worth it. A superior store to local rivals and a death grip on North Pinellas as the MUST Super Market with superior quality staff, service and selection…

So Al Qaeda has the idea to go and attack the American financial institutions to do damage to our way of life. Citicorp, Prudential, etc… Sure, major financial institutions such as these are indeed good targets but really, is Al Qaeda missing an opportunity here? Why go after these big banks when there is an even BIGGER target sitting in the country with absolutely no one paying attention to it?

Why not blow up Wal Mart’s main offices and do Americans a favor?

First off, I’m kidding when I suggest these bastards blow up anything, so if anyone takes this post seriously and thinks I am encouraging a terrorist attack, you got another thing coming.

Of course, even attacking a retailing giants main corporate center won’t destroy the organization. Wal Mart is too spread out… But the thing is — attacking Wal Mart hits every American in one way or another… Shopping, employment… Even competing wages for those employed in other retailing / supermarket institutions…

I won’t get into a rant with regards to Wal Mart and the rolling back of American pay rates… but lets just say I would have know qualms if the Wal Mart shopping institution was suddenly wiped from the map.

McDonald’s Salad Has More Fat Than Cheeseburger

LONDON (Reuters) – Global hamburger giant McDonald’s latest line in healthy looking salads may contain more fat than its hamburgers, according to the company’s Web Site.

McDonald’s, plagued by health critics and flattening sales, has launched the biggest change to its menu in 30 years with its plans to get into the multi-million pound prepared salad market.

“You can choose your salad, topping and dressing. You can mix and match to suit your diet and lifestyle,” said a McDonald’s spokeswoman.

However, consumers hoping to lose weight by switching from burgers to salads may be disappointed, according to the Interactive Nutrition Counter on the McDonald’s Web site.

For example, on the new menu to be launched at the end of this month, a “Caesar salad with Chicken Premiere” contains 18.4 grams of fat compared with 11.5 grams of fat in a standard cheeseburger.

The British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) told Reuters it welcomed the salad menu but warned that salad dressings bought in fast-food outlets or supermarkets could be very high in fat and calories.

BNF said the recommended daily fat intake for men is 95 grams per day and for women 70 grams per day.

Good thing I avoid McDonalds — that shit just ain’t healthy… For ANYONE