Fresh ideas

..... or lack thereof.
In an effort to spur my inner creative genius, I've decided to add a segment entitled "Ask the medic". Anyone who sends me questions will get them answered. Fire away with your questions about almost anything and I'll endeavor to answer them. Do I want to get into a long winded answer to a question that will require me to do a ridiculous amount of typing to answer something that you could just as easily looked up on Google? No, not really. Nor do I want to discuss how to perform open heart surgery or anything else that is way beyond the scope of my little brain. I'm a smart guy, and I'm sure I could take the heart out but I don't think I could get it put back together again.

In other news, glad to hear MC2 is doing better. I'm envious of a thunderstorm though. Our rainy season will be coming up soon though and we can look forward to days of mud. I know you weren't thinking that all of our vehicles were 4WD just because the gov. paid for them were you? For those of you just joining us, our runway is paved and the road that runs to the stables is paved- that's it. Everything else is sand, some of it has gravel on it, some doesn't. When it rains, the guys who have been here through the winter say it gets slippery.

Speaking of the coming weather, the colder months mean we get to quit taking our Aralen (Chloroquine phosphate). Just for fun, lets look at the possible side effects of this wonderful drug. Doing a Google search returns 4,660 results in 0.15 seconds. Choosing the first of these we find the following:

"Special Senses: Ocular: Irreversible retinal damage in patients receiving long-term or high-dosage 4-aminoquinoline therapy; visual disturbances (blurring of vision and difficulty of focusing or accommodation); nyctalopia; scotomatous vision with field defects of paracentral, pericentral ring types, and typically temporal scotomas, e.g., difficulty in reading with words tending to disappear, seeing half an object, misty vision, and fog before the eyes.
Auditory: Nerve type deafness; tinnitus, reduced hearing in patients with preexisting auditory damage.
Musculoskeletal system: Skeletal muscle myopathy or neuromyopathy leading to progressive weakness and atrophy of proximal muscle groups, which may be associated with mild sensory changes, depression of tendon reflexes and abnormal nerve conduction, have been noted.
Gastrointestinal system: Anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps.
Skin and appendages: Pleomorphic skin eruptions, skin and mucosal pigmentary changes; lichen planus-like eruptions, pruritus, photosensitivity and hair loss and bleaching of hair pigment."

Hmmm, maybe malaria isn't so bad. I know the stuff gives me a headache and bothers my stomach. I try to take it late Monday afternoon after eating and it still messes with my head. I usually have weird dreams that night too. The other types of malaria medicine, Mefloquine (brand name: Lariam) and atovaquone/proguanil (brand name: MalaroneLariam have lists just as long and Larium overdoses really mess with your head. Maybe I'll look into some of the herbals.....

Well Chris toasted my printer the other day- 220 volts was more excitement than it could handle. A lot of computer equipment has a voltage regulator in line- not HP printers. Time to order another printer. I've ordered a CD/DVD burner so that I can burn pictures to disc to send home. Pictures of me ought to make anyone's day brighter!

What more can I say.