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Showing posts from January 5, 2014

Ice Boats

As most of you already know, I enjoy sailing.  Of course, I enjoy just about all boating, but sailing is a lot of fun on my fast, little Minifish sailboat. Not only is it a lot of fun, but my little Minifish has some history to it... my history. It holds many memories and stories.  I was a young teenager when I received this boat so it holds a lot of memories and stories.  Putting aside the history of this particular boat, sailing can be fast, wet, and heart-pounding exhilarating which is always a plus for enjoying an activity! It should come as no surprise then that ice boat sailing has always intrigued me. Ice boats are sleek and fast...  and, I suspect, very cold!  With the speed and all that wind whipping across a frozen lake on a cold winter's day, I imagine the cold could be brutal.  These little 'boats' gliding across the ice seem to move much faster than a sailboat can in water.  All that friction and drag of the water really slows a boat down considerably.  This

Cheap LCD Monitors Not Matching Prints

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The left side of the photo is what my LCD monitor showed... the right side is what it looked like printed. I recently decided to have some of my photos and artwork printed by a professional lab.  The quality of prints from these pro labs just cannot be matched on your home printer.  Additionally, the quality of these prints and their durability/longevity far surpasses those cheapo prints from local kiosks like at Walmart or online economy prints like at Snapfish.  There is just no comparison in quality.   I should also point out that printing photos or artwork on your own printer is exceedingly expensive when compared to having prints professionally printed. The cost of ink is very high. The cost of quality paper is very high. And, to be honest, a Professional Lab will actually print photos at a level of quality that is just not possible on any home printer. Regardless of where you have your photos printed, you must ensure your computer monitor (or your camera if the photos

Prepared Foods

Systemic Mastocytosis patients are very sensitive (for lack of a better term) to many foods.  In particular, foods which are high in histamine are very dangerous for those of us with this illness. Foods high in nitrates and other preservatives are dangerous for us as well.    Typically, frozen foods aren't too bad for us if they were flash frozen without preservatives.  For example, frozen vegetables are really just flash frozen cut vegetables...  nothing wrong with that, right?  Well, nothing is wrong as long as the frozen foods are handled properly. Now, let's move on to frozen prepared foods such as frozen meals, frozen dishes, frozen ravioli, frozen chicken, etc...  These prepared foods start off bad for us (Systemic Mastocytosis patients) because they are high in preservatives.  These preservatives are known to cause sudden mast cell degranulation which, in turn, causes anaphylaxis.   As if that is not bad enough... Now, if these frozen meals are handled properly w

Hoping for Rest and Recovery

As I had already written previously, I had a very rough night with poor health last night.  I didn't get to bed until 4am...  and then I was up and in the bathroom again at around 8:30am.   I was hoping I could sleep away most of the day and, if luck would have it, I would recover a bit while I was getting some much-needed rest.  Well, no luck today as far as my health is concerned. I ended up suffering from some more episodes of anaphylaxis, although considerably more mild than last night.  My heart-rate was in the 120-140 beats per minute range most of the day making it impossible to sleep.   I've also been very flushed, on and off, all day and all evening tonight.  That is never a good sign.  Flushing on my face, neck and shoulders typically is a precursor to failing health again. This flushing is irritating too...  It gives me a deep burning feeling and I actually look like I have a splotchy sunburn...  when it is a bad case, all of my skin is a solid red that resembles

Honored at The National Museum of the Air Force

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The official Air Force letter, signed by Sheila, notifying me that a 'Legacy Data Plate' in my name will be installed at the entrance to the National Museum of the Air Force. On Christmas morning, Sheila informed me that she had arranged for me to be honored at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio!  How is that for a nice Christmas surprise? In the official Air Force notification letter, Sheila wrote, "...what better way of immortalizing and honoring the airman you are and the highlights of your impressive and proud, albeit short career, than in a place of honor and respect at the National Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio." Personally, I can think of no better place for this honor. A beautiful aviation-style stainless steel 'Legacy Data Plate' in my name will be mounted on the "Wall of Honor" at the entrance to the museum.  This Legacy Data Plate will include my name, my specialty, my branc

A Bad, Bad Night

Last night was one of those exceptionally bad nights... a bad, bad night... When Sheila and I headed to the bedroom for the night, I was feeling rather lousy and suspected my health would be crashing before long.  My stomach was upset and gurgling... I was very nauseated holding back vomit... I was a bit dizzy... and I had been flushed all evening. I should have jumped on taking extra medications and emergency medications right away. I don't know why I didn't... perhaps I was experiencing cognitive problems also so was not thinking clearly. Anyway, I didn't take any extra medications. Before long the dizziness felt more like light-headedness and I definitely need to get to the bathroom as soon as possible. I was sick as a dog.  At this point, I knew I needed extra emergency medications but now I was stuck in the bathroom, sick, without a glass for water to help down a few emergency pills.   I knew the first thing I needed was anti-nausea medications. The nausea was