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OT day 23

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Don Foreman

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Apr 12, 2011, 4:07:50 AM4/12/11
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Per Karen's encouragement, I went to the accupuncture clinic, which
is right next door to AxMan Surplus. Dr. Liu asked me what problem I
wanted him to address. I wondered why he didn't read what I'd written
on the form on the freakin' clipboard. I said I would like to reduce
grief-induced anxiety. He smiled, said, "yes, I will help you."

He swabbed spots on my skin with some stuff that was probably
antiseptic with some topical anesthetic because all I felt was
pressure when he stuck needles behind my ears and in the backs of my
hands -- but they did hurt a little if I moved my hands afterwards. He
wanted me to lie flat on my back on a bed but I don't do flat on my
back if I can help it so he said on my side would be OK too. I'd have
liked a recliner a whole lot better.

He left me there a while to snooze or zen or whatever I might want to
do, then by and by a woman came in, de-needled me and said I was
done and free to go.

I didn't notice any beneficial effect at all. Karen had said it
might take several sessions to achieve what I want it to accomplish
and Dr. Liu said the same thing. Karen said the improvement after a
month might be quite marked. Well hell, I'm expected marked
improvement after a month of just gettin' up and makin' it thru the
day 30 more times. In 30 days it will be glorious May in Minnesota.
Hardly ever snows on mother's day.

I'll give it two more tries. If I don't definitely notice benefit
after that then I'll declare failure. I really would like it to work,
so I really am willing to give it a chance. Many have said it has
provided significant and immediate mitigation of physical pain as in
sports strains and sprains. I saw my neighbor down the street
Michelle there today. She said her and her hub have been going there
regularly for years, didn't say why.

Noticed yesterday while recharging meds magazines that I was about
out of one drug. She who used to take care of that (and me) ain't
doin' that no more so it's up to me now. I called it in yesterday,
picked up the new batch today.

Karen will be here for one more day. I'll cover the penalty for
ticket change. Having her here one more day is definitely worth it to
me. I'm calling it a health care expense. I doubt if the tax man
would agree so I'll just call it that in my own mind.

Some of my recent lack of interest in life is dissipating a bit. I
really enjoyed my fish creole yesterday and also enjoyed that others
enjoyed it. I can't get very interested in TV yet. Mary and I
shared a couple of hours in adjacent recliners watching TV most
evenings, holding hands and racing for the yellow quilt on winter
nights.

I have watched a couple of shows and I'm enjoying watching the 10:00
news which I digitally record so I can watch it 20 minutes after real
time and skip thru the commercials. I bought a book at Wal-Mart
today, a new Stuart Wood, may not read it until this summer. Stuart
Wood is easy read, great for on the deck at the lake. I used to get
a lot of reading done at Mayo.

Karen joined me for my 3 miles today so I didn't carry. I need to go
up to Anoka on Wednesday to renew my carry permit.

Our friend Jan called tonight. She's trying to set something up and
I'd like to do that too. We might connect Friday night for supper at
the Red Robin on their side of town. I'd never eaten at a Red Robin
until last Saturday with Karl, Jacob and Karen. Karen and I split a
salmon sandwich that was really excellent. I could definitely do that
again -- and Red Robin serves cold draft beer which is right up there
on Bob's (Jan's husband, my former colleague and truely exemplary
engineer) priority list. I enjoy it too. Jan about talked my ear
off tonight. She can do that. She and Mar were thick as thieves so
I'm very interested in what Jan has to say about some of their
exchanges as close female friends.

Jan had no idea that Mary might have a few secrets. She was blown
away when I mentioned that Mar had been corresponding with a former
lover, and even that she'd had a lover while I was courting her back
in 1981. Golly, it didn't bother me to discover that back then. It
would have been surprising if there wasn't. She was a very attractive
and interesting woman of incredible depth and complexity. He was/is a
PhD in psych able to appreciate her depth and complexity. She told
me that he told her that she was the most complex person he'd ever
known.

He was there first, but I was there last, won her hawrt, took milady
home to my castle and gave her a good and happy life. It didn't
bother me a bit that she was corresponding with J.P. I think she may
even have told me that she was doing that. There is and was no
scintilla of doubt about her love for and commitment to me. She may
have just been tying up some loose ends.

Karen tomorrow, maybe a look at a different accupuncture place --
downscale a bit, might actually be more comfortable for me. Community
clinic, pay according to ability. I'll pay top rates, no problem,
but I might like the more informal setting -- with recliners rather
than horizontal beds! Several people in a room, not sequestered. Mayo
does chemo like that. There's a good reason why they do that. The
recipient of treatment feels less forlorn when there are fellow
travellers they can see and maybe share experiences with if they like.
One positive person in a group setting like that can make a huge
difference. I think the impromptu and improv Mary 'n Don gentle
comedic banter lightened and brightened the day of a number of chemo
recipients at Mayo.

More later. Time to hit the sack. I think maybe I am starting to
emerged from stunned paralysis. I still hurt like bloody hell so
perhaps the numbness abates along with the pain it suppresses. That's
progress of a sort, I guess. I'm getting impatient for more and
faster progress.

Winston

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Apr 12, 2011, 10:08:02 AM4/12/11
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Don Foreman wrote:

(...)

> I didn't notice any beneficial effect at all.

Perhaps you need to take it up a notch, Don.

Example:
When I scrape my hand on an exhaust bracket,
I don't agonize over my Alzheimer's diagnosis at all.

:)

--Winston

Don Foreman

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Apr 13, 2011, 2:30:32 AM4/13/11
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On Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:08:02 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:

I don't understand your example, Winston.

I don't know if this acupuncture stuff is gonna work or not to get my
fu aligned with my poo or whatever it's supposed to do, but both of my
kids say it has worked very well for them so I'm willing to give it a
fair trial. What the hell, it costs less than smoking did and it
doesn't hurt.

J. D. Slocomb

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Apr 13, 2011, 8:02:04 AM4/13/11
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Generally speaking acupuncture seems to work best for alleviating
pain. Certainly it has worked for me, even when I approached it with
the attitude that "it can never work".

Whether it works as a tranquilizer or similar I have no idea although
my wife swears that it helped her stay on a diet and I also know a
number of people who recommend it as an aid to stopping smoking.

Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)

Winston

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Apr 13, 2011, 9:30:05 AM4/13/11
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Don Foreman wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:08:02 -0700, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Don Foreman wrote:
>>
>> (...)
>>
>>> I didn't notice any beneficial effect at all.
>>
>> Perhaps you need to take it up a notch, Don.
>>
>> Example:
>> When I scrape my hand on an exhaust bracket,
>> I don't agonize over my Alzheimer's diagnosis at all.
>>
>> :)
>>
>> --Winston
>
> I don't understand your example, Winston.

Sometimes when we get really bad news, it's almost helpful
to be distracted by a relatively trivial piece of bad news.

Sort of lifts us out of the mental rut for a bit.

On February 15, 2008 I was diagnosed with late stage 5 Alzheimer's
Disease:
http://alzheimers.about.com/od/symptomsofalzheimers/a/symptoms.htm

Two of my doctors said I'd be in stage 6 soon.

Now, when an electronic simulation isn't going well, or I bop
myself on the foot with an object that I should have picked up
differently, it's almost a relief to have something relatively
unimportant to think about for a moment, rather than dwelling
on my poor deteriorating brain. My example was an attempt at
humor regarding this effect.

> I don't know if this acupuncture stuff is gonna work or not to get my
> fu aligned with my poo or whatever it's supposed to do, but both of my
> kids say it has worked very well for them so I'm willing to give it a
> fair trial. What the hell, it costs less than smoking did and it
> doesn't hurt.

I have mixed emotions about that. (Not that it's any of my business!)

Obviously, I'm happy to see your optimism springing back.

At the same time, we both know how vulnerable one can be after
experiencing a life-changing tragedy, so things that appear
to offer hope can be very disappointing, or worse, a continuing
time and energy sink, just when one need one's time and energy
the most.

--Winston

Leon Fisk

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Apr 13, 2011, 2:52:35 PM4/13/11
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On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 06:30:05 -0700
Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote:

>On February 15, 2008 I was diagnosed with late stage 5 Alzheimer's
>Disease:
>http://alzheimers.about.com/od/symptomsofalzheimers/a/symptoms.htm
>
>Two of my doctors said I'd be in stage 6 soon.

<snip>

Didn't know Winston, really sorry to hear about this diagnosis...

My Dad had Alzheimer's, after reviewing the link you gave I would
dispute your Doc's diagnosis. Unless you have a Doppelganger around
that posts here pretty regular :) I've noticed nothing in your postings
that even hints of dementia, so I would say you could/would be more like
stage 3 right now (only really close people would notice odd things).
My Dad's woes were very apparent at stage 5 and I seriously doubt
anyone at this stage could function/post sensible stuff in a usenet
group such as this.

Hang in there Winston!

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

Ignoramus10266

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Apr 13, 2011, 3:20:18 PM4/13/11
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On 2011-04-13, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote:
>
> Sometimes when we get really bad news, it's almost helpful
> to be distracted by a relatively trivial piece of bad news.
>
> Sort of lifts us out of the mental rut for a bit.
>
> On February 15, 2008 I was diagnosed with late stage 5 Alzheimer's
> Disease:
> http://alzheimers.about.com/od/symptomsofalzheimers/a/symptoms.htm
>
> Two of my doctors said I'd be in stage 6 soon.
>
> Now, when an electronic simulation isn't going well, or I bop
> myself on the foot with an object that I should have picked up
> differently, it's almost a relief to have something relatively
> unimportant to think about for a moment, rather than dwelling
> on my poor deteriorating brain. My example was an attempt at
> humor regarding this effect.

Winston, I am also concerned about myself and that I am sometimes
forgetful, more than I would like. I cannot really figure out if it is
just my natural state, or I have a progressing disease like
Alzheimers.

On the one thing, I can do moderately complicated things such as
retrofitting a mill with EMC2. That's a plus.

On the other hand, I do misplace things or forget about some things. I
would say that I am "easily distracted". Say, today I forgot to take a
wallet with me.

I am quite concerned about this, especially in light of the fact that
two of my grandparents had/have dementia.

Everything I read about early stage of Alzheimers is extremely
non-specific and not really definitive.

i

Ed Huntress

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Apr 13, 2011, 3:53:44 PM4/13/11
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"Ignoramus10266" <ignoram...@NOSPAM.10266.invalid> wrote in message
news:3rSdnarVsOTvajjQ...@giganews.com...

The earliest stages of most dementias are difficult to distinguish from
aging and just packing your memory to the hilt. Nearly everyone I know who
is my age (62) comments about it, and the scientific evidence is that it's
completely normal. I noticed that I was getting forgetful about short-term
things when I was in my '40s.

What Winston is talking about is much different. Like Leon, it would startle
me to learn that the diagnosis was correct, given the sharpness of mind
evidenced by Winston's posts. I sincerely hope they're being overly
pessimistic.

What I've learned to do about general forgetfulness is something that comes
easily to me these days: Forget about it. d8-)

--
Ed Huntress


Winston

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Apr 13, 2011, 4:09:45 PM4/13/11
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Leon Fisk wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 06:30:05 -0700
> Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote:
>
>> On February 15, 2008 I was diagnosed with late stage 5 Alzheimer's
>> Disease:
>> http://alzheimers.about.com/od/symptomsofalzheimers/a/symptoms.htm
>>
>> Two of my doctors said I'd be in stage 6 soon.
> <snip>
>
> Didn't know Winston, really sorry to hear about this diagnosis...
>
> My Dad had Alzheimer's, after reviewing the link you gave I would
> dispute your Doc's diagnosis.

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. That must have been heartbreaking.

I disputed my doctor's diagnosis as well, but not being a medical
professional, I wasn't seen as having too much 'standing'. :)

Of 5 doctors that examined me at the time, three didn't diagnose any
such impairment, or anything remotely related to it.
Perhaps it is one of those fatal illnesses that presents as normalcy. :)

> Unless you have a Doppelganger around
> that posts here pretty regular :)

I haven't detected any.

> I've noticed nothing in your postings
> that even hints of dementia, so I would say you could/would be more like
> stage 3 right now (only really close people would notice odd things).

Behind schedule again! :)

> My Dad's woes were very apparent at stage 5 and I seriously doubt
> anyone at this stage could function/post sensible stuff in a usenet
> group such as this.

Some would argue otherwise. :)

> Hang in there Winston!


Thanks, Leon.

--Winston

Winston

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Apr 13, 2011, 4:19:33 PM4/13/11
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Ignoramus10266 wrote:
> On 2011-04-13, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote:
>>
>> Sometimes when we get really bad news, it's almost helpful
>> to be distracted by a relatively trivial piece of bad news.
>>
>> Sort of lifts us out of the mental rut for a bit.
>>
>> On February 15, 2008 I was diagnosed with late stage 5 Alzheimer's
>> Disease:
>> http://alzheimers.about.com/od/symptomsofalzheimers/a/symptoms.htm
>>
>> Two of my doctors said I'd be in stage 6 soon.
>>
>> Now, when an electronic simulation isn't going well, or I bop
>> myself on the foot with an object that I should have picked up
>> differently, it's almost a relief to have something relatively
>> unimportant to think about for a moment, rather than dwelling
>> on my poor deteriorating brain. My example was an attempt at
>> humor regarding this effect.
>
> Winston, I am also concerned about myself and that I am sometimes
> forgetful, more than I would like. I cannot really figure out if it is
> just my natural state, or I have a progressing disease like
> Alzheimers.

I expect that disease - free people occasionally forget things
and experience times when they don't feel very sharp, mentally.
The person who doesn't, is either a statistical outlier or is
being less than candid on the interview paperwork, IMHO.

Early diagnosis has to be a problem because of the fact that we
don't have clearly - defined inarguable criteria.

> On the one thing, I can do moderately complicated things such as
> retrofitting a mill with EMC2. That's a plus.

That is non-trivial mental exercise. Fun, too!

> On the other hand, I do misplace things or forget about some things. I
> would say that I am "easily distracted". Say, today I forgot to take a
> wallet with me.

People do that. Stuff happens.

> I am quite concerned about this, especially in light of the fact that
> two of my grandparents had/have dementia.

Concerning, for sure.

> Everything I read about early stage of Alzheimers is extremely
> non-specific and not really definitive.

Our knowledge about the brain is quite insufficient, IMHO.

Tell ya what, Ig. I'll go in first and radio back. :)

--Winston

Leon Fisk

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Apr 13, 2011, 4:26:42 PM4/13/11
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On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:20:18 -0500
Ignoramus10266 <ignoram...@NOSPAM.10266.invalid> wrote:

<snip>


>On the one thing, I can do moderately complicated things such as
>retrofitting a mill with EMC2. That's a plus.

Learning something new after ~30 gets more and more difficult. Or
rather maybe a better way of putting it, retaining new stuff we learn
after ~30 becomes more and more difficult. The fact that you are is a
really good sign that nothing significant is happening so far. Physical
and mental exercise have been shown to slow down the progression of
this disease.

>On the other hand, I do misplace things or forget about some things. I
>would say that I am "easily distracted". Say, today I forgot to take a
>wallet with me.

Being easily distracted is not the same as having no knowledge that you
should/need to take your wallet with you. Especially not knowing where
it is when it is in fact where you have put it for years. One thing I
have learned is not to move stuff to new places if at all possible. The
old place may not be convenient, but that is where I'll go looking for
it and then realize it isn't there, but moved to... I've been able to
find lots of stuff by just thinking "where would I put this right now"
and then go look there. Once you begin second guessing, moving things
around it won't work anymore.

>I am quite concerned about this, especially in light of the fact that
>two of my grandparents had/have dementia.

I'm in a similar situation, my Dad had it or something causing extreme
dementia for sure.

>Everything I read about early stage of Alzheimers is extremely
>non-specific and not really definitive.

After watching my Dad go to pot on a day-to-day basis, wondering about
stuff he was/wasn't doing, I think I could spot it in somebody else a
bit sooner now. I doubt that you would be able to notice these
small changes though yourself (shrug).

Winston

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Apr 13, 2011, 4:28:01 PM4/13/11
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Ed Huntress wrote:

(...)

> The earliest stages of most dementias are difficult to distinguish from
> aging and just packing your memory to the hilt. Nearly everyone I know who
> is my age (62) comments about it, and the scientific evidence is that it's
> completely normal. I noticed that I was getting forgetful about short-term
> things when I was in my '40s.

Yup. I write 'task lists', now. Very helpful.

> What Winston is talking about is much different. Like Leon, it would startle
> me to learn that the diagnosis was correct, given the sharpness of mind
> evidenced by Winston's posts. I sincerely hope they're being overly
> pessimistic.

Thanks, Ed. Coming from you that is a huge deal.

You'll be pleased or greatly upset to learn that it hasn't affected my
daily life much at all. I drive around, shop, work on my projects just
like normal.

> What I've learned to do about general forgetfulness is something that comes
> easily to me these days: Forget about it. d8-)

Done! :)

(Sorry for hijacking your thread, Don.)

--Winston

Ignoramus10266

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Apr 13, 2011, 5:10:23 PM4/13/11
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On 2011-04-13, Leon Fisk <lf...@no.spam.iserv.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:20:18 -0500
> Ignoramus10266 <ignoram...@NOSPAM.10266.invalid> wrote:
>
><snip>
>>On the one thing, I can do moderately complicated things such as
>>retrofitting a mill with EMC2. That's a plus.
>
> Learning something new after ~30 gets more and more difficult. Or
> rather maybe a better way of putting it, retaining new stuff we learn
> after ~30 becomes more and more difficult. The fact that you are is a
> really good sign that nothing significant is happening so far. Physical
> and mental exercise have been shown to slow down the progression of
> this disease.

I am not convinced that mental exercise is really a cause of
postponing dementia, or a consequence of not having early stages of
it.

That said, I did think, before embarking on a CNC retrofit, that it
would be a good test of my mental function, as I would need to learn
and retain quite a few things to put the puzzle together.

>>On the other hand, I do misplace things or forget about some things. I
>>would say that I am "easily distracted". Say, today I forgot to take a
>>wallet with me.
>
> Being easily distracted is not the same as having no knowledge that you
> should/need to take your wallet with you. Especially not knowing where
> it is when it is in fact where you have put it for years. One thing I
> have learned is not to move stuff to new places if at all possible. The
> old place may not be convenient, but that is where I'll go looking for
> it and then realize it isn't there, but moved to... I've been able to
> find lots of stuff by just thinking "where would I put this right now"
> and then go look there. Once you begin second guessing, moving things
> around it won't work anymore.

I am still trying to understand the difference between "ordinary
forgetfulness", if there is such a thing, and early stage of
dementia. Kind of like what you are alluding to.

>>I am quite concerned about this, especially in light of the fact that
>>two of my grandparents had/have dementia.
>
> I'm in a similar situation, my Dad had it or something causing extreme
> dementia for sure.

I am actually optimistic that in 20 years, they will find a cure for
Alzheimers.

>>Everything I read about early stage of Alzheimers is extremely
>>non-specific and not really definitive.
>
> After watching my Dad go to pot on a day-to-day basis, wondering about
> stuff he was/wasn't doing, I think I could spot it in somebody else a
> bit sooner now. I doubt that you would be able to notice these
> small changes though yourself (shrug).

I really would like to know, as I have a family and need to make
decisions rooted in reality.

i

GeoLane at PTD dot NET

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Apr 13, 2011, 11:26:09 PM4/13/11
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On Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:07:50 -0500, Don Foreman
<dfor...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote:

>Per Karen's encouragement, I went to the accupuncture clinic, which
>is right next door to AxMan Surplus.

Ooooh. Axman. Good for a couple of hours of browsing. Nothing
exactly like that near where I live in central PA. My son took me
there when I visited him at the university on the way home from a
business trip. He was doing an EE summer internship at the time.

RWL

Larry Jaques

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Apr 13, 2011, 11:40:23 PM4/13/11
to

>> On 2011-04-13, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> Sometimes when we get really bad news, it's almost helpful
>>> to be distracted by a relatively trivial piece of bad news.
>>>
>>> Sort of lifts us out of the mental rut for a bit.
>>>
>>> On February 15, 2008 I was diagnosed with late stage 5 Alzheimer's
>>> Disease:
>>> http://alzheimers.about.com/od/symptomsofalzheimers/a/symptoms.htm
>>>
>>> Two of my doctors said I'd be in stage 6 soon.

Dayum, I thought you were kidding about that. Condolences, Winnie.
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_stages_of_alzheimers.asp
6 is "not good", I see.


Ig said:
>Our knowledge about the brain is quite insufficient, IMHO.
>
>Tell ya what, Ig. I'll go in first and radio back. :)

Don't forget to wear clean underwear! What's the channel?

--
The United States of America is the greatest, the
noblest and, in its original founding principles,
the only moral country in the history of the world.
-- Ayn Rand

Winston

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Apr 14, 2011, 12:11:10 AM4/14/11
to
Larry Jaques wrote:
>
>>> On 2011-04-13, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Sometimes when we get really bad news, it's almost helpful
>>>> to be distracted by a relatively trivial piece of bad news.
>>>>
>>>> Sort of lifts us out of the mental rut for a bit.
>>>>
>>>> On February 15, 2008 I was diagnosed with late stage 5 Alzheimer's
>>>> Disease:
>>>> http://alzheimers.about.com/od/symptomsofalzheimers/a/symptoms.htm
>>>>
>>>> Two of my doctors said I'd be in stage 6 soon.
>
> Dayum, I thought you were kidding about that. Condolences, Winnie.
> http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_stages_of_alzheimers.asp
> 6 is "not good", I see.

Yup. I haven't seen any issues beyond "Stage 2"
and it's been 39 months since my "Stage 5"
diagnosis.
I'm not a trained professional, so what do I know.

I will continue to wait patiently.

> Ig said:
>> Our knowledge about the brain is quite insufficient, IMHO.
>>
>> Tell ya what, Ig. I'll go in first and radio back. :)
>
> Don't forget to wear clean underwear! What's the channel?

You are tuned in properly, Larry.

:)

--Winston

Don Foreman

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Apr 14, 2011, 3:30:33 AM4/14/11
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On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 06:30:05 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:

OK, now I'm with you and tracking. I totally agree that hope is not a
strategy.

I'm investing little hope and less money in the acupuncture bit. It's
an experiment. If it works, great. If it doesn't, nothing lost but a
few hours and a few bucks. I'll survive either way.

I'm very sorry to hear about your diagnosis and how it is affecting
your outlook on life. You certainly present here like everything is
working OK.

I've always marvelled at the stories about how so-and-so "heroically
fought his cancer" or whatever. I now understand it better. The
medics fight cancer with drugs and surgery with varying degrees of
success, all the afflicted can do is maintain an attitude that
maximizes their quality of life along the way.

A diagnosis is not a life-changing tragedy, it's a discovery of a
condition that may define one's endgame which certainly can and
perhaps should be life-changing in some situations. It ain't a
tragedy until the fat lady sings but it is notice that inevitable
tragedy (demise) is more imminent than in a vague future.

It's an opportunity and notice that one's life meter is running low so
it's time to do whatever one can to maximize quality of remaining life
for self and loved ones if one wasn't already doing so.

Mary made the most of every single day of her life after being
diagnosed with an incurable terminal disease. Some of those days were
a bit tough, but most were good or better. While hope is not a
strategy, it can be a very powerful motivator and offer great solace.
Mary and I hoped for the best all the way and that hope gave us great
comfort and enabled us to enjoy each other's cheerful banter, warm
companionship, camaraderie and love until her final hours.

She was radiantly happy at our chow mein party in the gathering room
at the rehab when I fetched chow mein per her instructions, her son
Dave and her very good friend joined us for dinner. She was weak, in
a wheelchair, but she had good appetite and her wonderful leprechaun
wit, hugely enjoyed that little dinner party. We didn't know she was
on final though she might have suspected. If she did, she protected us
from that.

She died peacefully six days later. I'd squeezed her leaky, edemic
hand the night before she died at Mayo as she cheerfully bade me "go
home, Foreman, I'll be here at least until Sunday. Bring me some lip
balm and the hard case for my glasses."

Enjoy your loved ones and family, let them enjoy you right now. Make
that job 1.


Don Foreman

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Apr 14, 2011, 3:34:32 AM4/14/11
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On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:28:01 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:


>
>(Sorry for hijacking your thread, Don.)

No prob.

Larry Jaques

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Apr 14, 2011, 7:46:13 AM4/14/11
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On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:11:10 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:

>Larry Jaques wrote:
>>
>>>> On 2011-04-13, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Sometimes when we get really bad news, it's almost helpful
>>>>> to be distracted by a relatively trivial piece of bad news.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sort of lifts us out of the mental rut for a bit.
>>>>>
>>>>> On February 15, 2008 I was diagnosed with late stage 5 Alzheimer's
>>>>> Disease:
>>>>> http://alzheimers.about.com/od/symptomsofalzheimers/a/symptoms.htm
>>>>>
>>>>> Two of my doctors said I'd be in stage 6 soon.
>>
>> Dayum, I thought you were kidding about that. Condolences, Winnie.
>> http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_stages_of_alzheimers.asp
>> 6 is "not good", I see.
>
>Yup. I haven't seen any issues beyond "Stage 2"
>and it's been 39 months since my "Stage 5"
>diagnosis.
>I'm not a trained professional, so what do I know.

Farkin' gaddam DOCTORS!


>I will continue to wait patiently.

Park it at Stage 2 and call that doctor nightly, just before you go to
bed, and give him your much more informed diagnosis.


>> Ig said:
>>> Our knowledge about the brain is quite insufficient, IMHO.
>>>
>>> Tell ya what, Ig. I'll go in first and radio back. :)
>>
>> Don't forget to wear clean underwear! What's the channel?
>
>You are tuned in properly, Larry. :)

Same Bat Time, Same Bat Usenet Station, Pooh?
AOK

Winston

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 9:01:12 AM4/14/11
to
Don Foreman wrote:

(...)

> Enjoy your loved ones and family, let them enjoy you right now. Make
> that job 1.

You are as eloquent and focused as ever.
Thanks for these thoughts, Don.

--Winston

Winston

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 9:15:12 AM4/14/11
to
Larry Jaques wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:11:10 -0700, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net>
> wrote:

(...)

>> Yup. I haven't seen any issues beyond "Stage 2"
>> and it's been 39 months since my "Stage 5"
>> diagnosis.
>> I'm not a trained professional, so what do I know.
>
> Farkin' gaddam DOCTORS!

Not their fault, Larry.

If my corporation told the docs I needed a hysterectomy
and breast augmentation, that would have been the
treatment plan.

Docs gotta eat too, ya know. :)

>> I will continue to wait patiently.
>
> Park it at Stage 2 and call that doctor nightly, just before you go to
> bed, and give him your much more informed diagnosis.

That'd be harassment.
I wouldn't be any good at it.

>>> Ig said:
>>>> Our knowledge about the brain is quite insufficient, IMHO.
>>>>
>>>> Tell ya what, Ig. I'll go in first and radio back. :)
>>>
>>> Don't forget to wear clean underwear! What's the channel?
>>
>> You are tuned in properly, Larry. :)
>
> Same Bat Time, Same Bat Usenet Station, Pooh?

Right, Commissioner!

To the Batmobile, Robin!

--BatWin

Ignoramus10155

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 12:11:34 PM4/14/11
to

I always was.

> What Winston is talking about is much different. Like Leon, it would startle
> me to learn that the diagnosis was correct, given the sharpness of mind
> evidenced by Winston's posts. I sincerely hope they're being overly
> pessimistic.

The example that I found the best, is this. Regular forgetfulness is
when you forget a wallet when going on a shopping trip.

Alzheimer's is when you put the waller into the refrigerator.

> What I've learned to do about general forgetfulness is something that comes
> easily to me these days: Forget about it. d8-)

Forget about what? :)

i

Ignoramus10155

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Apr 14, 2011, 12:12:01 PM4/14/11
to
On 2011-04-13, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote:

Winston, I am very sorry to hear about this, but how exactly were you
diagnosed, then?

i

Winston

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 12:25:37 PM4/14/11
to
Ignoramus10155 wrote:

(...)

> Winston, I am very sorry to hear about this, but how exactly were you
> diagnosed, then?

My corporation hired a couple psychologists.
One talked with me over the phone and the other one
did an evaluation in his office.

That's what I got for performing my job well.
(Got a stellar review!)

Apparently my boss's boss decided this was a good
way to get rid of me.

--Winston

Ignoramus10155

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 12:29:30 PM4/14/11
to

The cynic in me is wondering if the evaluation, perhaps, was a clever
way to get rid of you.

i

Winston

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Apr 14, 2011, 1:03:40 PM4/14/11
to

I was thinking the same thing Iggy. :)

--Winston

Don Foreman

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 1:12:14 PM4/14/11
to
On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:25:37 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:

>Ignoramus10155 wrote:
>
>(...)
>
>> Winston, I am very sorry to hear about this, but how exactly were you
>> diagnosed, then?
>
>My corporation hired a couple psychologists.
>One talked with me over the phone and the other one
>did an evaluation in his office.

Psychologists paid by a corporation. Good God! Get an examination
and opinion from a real doctor!

Winston

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 1:46:52 PM4/14/11
to

I did. It took a whole day, but lunch in the
hospital cafeteria was cheap and very tasty!
(Fish fillet with a side of perfectly - steamed veggies.)

(After completing the tests, she claimed the earlier
evaluation was invalid, because I had secretly
recorded it.)

I looked over at her as she was reading a copy of my
employment review from the same outfit.

Eyes bugged out and a look of total surprise on her face.

Heh. :)

(If I disappear now, it isn't because I'm being snooty.)

:)

--Winston

Leon Fisk

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 2:13:29 PM4/14/11
to
On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:10:23 -0500
Ignoramus10266 <ignoram...@NOSPAM.10266.invalid> wrote:

<snip>


>I am not convinced that mental exercise is really a cause of
>postponing dementia, or a consequence of not having early stages of
>it.

Are you familiar with the Nuns Study?

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/24/nuns_alzheimers_study/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nun_Study

If not that ought to get you started :)

Ignoramus10155

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 3:46:28 PM4/14/11
to
On 2011-04-14, Leon Fisk <lf...@no.spam.iserv.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:10:23 -0500
> Ignoramus10266 <ignoram...@NOSPAM.10266.invalid> wrote:
>
><snip>
>>I am not convinced that mental exercise is really a cause of
>>postponing dementia, or a consequence of not having early stages of
>>it.
>
> Are you familiar with the Nuns Study?
>
> http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/24/nuns_alzheimers_study/
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nun_Study
>
> If not that ought to get you started :)
>

I just started reading the Wikipedia article, and I am already
fascinated. There are so many things to read and so many unanswered
(for me) questions, but this is, clearly, a treasure trove.

I wonder what "linguistic density" means -- as this is something that
is, at least, measurable.

Thank you!

i

Leon Fisk

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Apr 14, 2011, 4:31:12 PM4/14/11
to
On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:46:28 -0500
Ignoramus10155 <ignoram...@NOSPAM.10155.invalid> wrote:

<snip>


>I wonder what "linguistic density" means -- as this is something that
>is, at least, measurable.

Guessing... how many languages you are fluent (used loosely) in. I
suspect technical languages (like programming, ie Perl, C...) would also
apply.

When my Dad's sickness was well underway I was searching/reading a lot
more about it (he passed away ~5 years ago). I still read stuff about
it but I'm not actively pursuing it right now.

Leon Fisk

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 4:49:27 PM4/14/11
to
On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:31:12 -0400
Leon Fisk <lf...@no.spam.iserv.net> wrote:

>On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:46:28 -0500
>Ignoramus10155 <ignoram...@NOSPAM.10155.invalid> wrote:
>
><snip>
>>I wonder what "linguistic density" means -- as this is something that
>>is, at least, measurable.
>
>Guessing... how many languages you are fluent (used loosely) in. I
>suspect technical languages (like programming, ie Perl, C...) would also
>apply.

My bad... it would be more like the number of words in your vocabulary.
I'm sure the more languages you are fluent in should help boost your
vocabulary, but that isn't really what they're implying (shrug).

Leon Fisk

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 5:01:31 PM4/14/11
to
On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:49:27 -0400
Leon Fisk <lf...@no.spam.iserv.net> wrote:

>On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:31:12 -0400
>Leon Fisk <lf...@no.spam.iserv.net> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:46:28 -0500
>>Ignoramus10155 <ignoram...@NOSPAM.10155.invalid> wrote:
>>
>><snip>
>>>I wonder what "linguistic density" means -- as this is something that
>>>is, at least, measurable.
>>
>>Guessing... how many languages you are fluent (used loosely) in. I
>>suspect technical languages (like programming, ie Perl, C...) would also
>>apply.
>
>My bad... it would be more like the number of words in your vocabulary.
>I'm sure the more languages you are fluent in should help boost your
>vocabulary, but that isn't really what they're implying (shrug).
>

Well, I'll beat this one to death... For a much better explanation, see:

http://diard.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/the-nun-study-alzheimers-disease-and-good-writing/

Should hit the nail-on-the-head for you :)

Ignoramus10155

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 5:17:59 PM4/14/11
to
On 2011-04-14, Leon Fisk <lf...@no.spam.iserv.net> wrote:
> On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:46:28 -0500
> Ignoramus10155 <ignoram...@NOSPAM.10155.invalid> wrote:
>
><snip>
>>I wonder what "linguistic density" means -- as this is something that
>>is, at least, measurable.
>
> Guessing... how many languages you are fluent (used loosely) in. I
> suspect technical languages (like programming, ie Perl, C...) would also
> apply.

I know RUssian, English, C++, perl, bash.

I read those websites about Alzheimer's that you recommended, and I
believe that by linguistic density, they mean sometihng other than the
numbe rof languages. They refer to "how many ideas are expressed per
10 words". I find this to be puzzling, as 10 words seems to be very
little room for many ideas, but I kind of get their idea.

> When my Dad's sickness was well underway I was searching/reading a lot
> more about it (he passed away ~5 years ago). I still read stuff about
> it but I'm not actively pursuing it right now.

I find this to be kind of interesting, right now.

i

Ignoramus10155

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Apr 14, 2011, 5:23:13 PM4/14/11
to

Yes, a good explanation. I wonder if one could write a computer
analyzer of linguistic density.

i

Larry Jaques

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 9:10:13 PM4/14/11
to
On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 06:15:12 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:

>Larry Jaques wrote:
>> On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:11:10 -0700, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net>
>> wrote:
>
>(...)
>
>>> Yup. I haven't seen any issues beyond "Stage 2"
>>> and it's been 39 months since my "Stage 5"
>>> diagnosis.
>>> I'm not a trained professional, so what do I know.
>>
>> Farkin' gaddam DOCTORS!
>
>Not their fault, Larry.
>
>If my corporation told the docs I needed a hysterectomy
>and breast augmentation, that would have been the
>treatment plan.
>
>Docs gotta eat too, ya know. :)

Huh? Since when are doctors under corporate stupidvision?
Corporate insurance agencies tell them what they'll pay for a given
surgery, but that's about it, innit?

Tons of doctors are retiring early due to Obamunism and the "fix" with
the drug moguls. Both the people and the doctors got taken. I think
the CONgresscritters did, too, but they also got some kickback for
their kitties.

Larry Jaques

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 9:22:26 PM4/14/11
to
On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:03:40 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:

Shrink to Boss: "I read him lists of the 206 bones and 656 muscles in
the body and asked him to repeat them to me from the bottom up. He
couldn't do it, barely remembering five of each." Stage 5 Alzheimers!

Larry Jaques

unread,
Apr 14, 2011, 9:32:29 PM4/14/11
to
On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:46:28 -0500, Ignoramus10155
<ignoram...@NOSPAM.10155.invalid> wrote:

>I wonder what "linguistic density" means -- as this is something that
>is, at least, measurable.

It refers to how many concurrent languages you can cuss in, Ig.

Winston

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 12:17:52 AM4/15/11
to
Larry Jaques wrote:

(...)

> Huh? Since when are doctors under corporate stupidvision?

Who isn't, Larry. Really. :)
There is no God but the Fortune 500.

> Corporate insurance agencies tell them what they'll pay for a given
> surgery, but that's about it, innit?

Nup. A corporation with several limitless slush funds can pay for
all kinds of dirty tricks without breaking a sweat.


--Winston

Winston

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 12:21:47 AM4/15/11
to
Larry Jaques wrote:

(...)

> Shrink to Boss: "I read him lists of the 206 bones and 656 muscles in
> the body and asked him to repeat them to me from the bottom up. He
> couldn't do it, barely remembering five of each." Stage 5 Alzheimers!

That is pretty much the way it went.

Doc made me skip lunch. Read me a couple complicated and very boring
stories and asked me detailed questions about them.
Had to admit I didn't remember a thing. Bingo! Instant Senility.

--Winston

Larry Jaques

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 9:08:16 AM4/15/11
to
On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:21:47 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:

So, did they "terminate with cause" yet? That'd suck, unless you're
ready for retirement.

Winston

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 9:23:03 AM4/15/11
to
Larry Jaques wrote:

(...)

> So, did they "terminate with cause" yet? That'd suck, unless you're
> ready for retirement.

Yup. Sept 18, 2007. Took my badge, stopped my pay and locked me out
of the building. I began recording their harassing phone calls
shortly thereafter. They re-hired me then laid me off *again* on
July 24, 2008 because they have a guideline against employees
recording phone calls to their home while the corporation is
committing wire fraud.

Turns out recording is legal to do if it is in support of an
investigation of a crime.
(Attempted murder is still a crime here.) (Technically Speaking)

:)

--Winston

Larry Jaques

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 1:22:17 PM4/15/11
to
On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:23:03 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:

>Larry Jaques wrote:
>
>(...)
>
>> So, did they "terminate with cause" yet? That'd suck, unless you're
>> ready for retirement.
>
>Yup. Sept 18, 2007. Took my badge, stopped my pay and locked me out
>of the building. I began recording their harassing phone calls
>shortly thereafter. They re-hired me then laid me off *again* on
>July 24, 2008 because they have a guideline against employees
>recording phone calls to their home while the corporation is
>committing wire fraud.

Oh. <blink, blink> I thought we we'd been talking about _recent_
events here. Did I miss the memo again?


>Turns out recording is legal to do if it is in support of an
>investigation of a crime.
>(Attempted murder is still a crime here.) (Technically Speaking)
>
> :)

You should change your sig, Winnie.

Winston 008
Stirred, not shaken

For more fun with your buddies, read W.E.B. Griffin's series entitled
Presidential Agent. You'n Charlie Castillo, eh?

--
Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people.
Others have no imagination whatsoever.

Winston

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 2:29:05 PM4/15/11
to
Larry Jaques wrote:
> On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:23:03 -0700, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Larry Jaques wrote:
>>
>> (...)
>>
>>> So, did they "terminate with cause" yet? That'd suck, unless you're
>>> ready for retirement.
>>
>> Yup. Sept 18, 2007. Took my badge, stopped my pay and locked me out
>> of the building. I began recording their harassing phone calls
>> shortly thereafter. They re-hired me then laid me off *again* on
>> July 24, 2008 because they have a guideline against employees
>> recording phone calls to their home while the corporation is
>> committing wire fraud.
>
> Oh.<blink, blink> I thought we we'd been talking about _recent_
> events here. Did I miss the memo again?

Hey that was *femtoseconds*, geologically speaking.

>> Turns out recording is legal to do if it is in support of an
>> investigation of a crime.
>> (Attempted murder is still a crime here.) (Technically Speaking)
>>
>> :)
>
> You should change your sig, Winnie.
>
> Winston 008
> Stirred, not shaken
>
> For more fun with your buddies, read W.E.B. Griffin's series entitled
> Presidential Agent. You'n Charlie Castillo, eh?

Ahh, not me man. I'm just an everyday working shlub.
That series sounds like interesting reading though.

--Winston

Leon Fisk

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 3:09:23 PM4/15/11
to
On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:23:13 -0500
Ignoramus10155 <ignoram...@NOSPAM.10155.invalid> wrote:

<snip>


>Yes, a good explanation. I wonder if one could write a computer
>analyzer of linguistic density.

Yes, it has been done more or less. You might want to see this
NPR story:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127211884

Radiolab did a whole one hour show that you might find of interest, but
as I recall just a portion concerned Alzheimer's. Suspect this is a
clip from that show. I'm on dial-up, so I haven't listened to this
particular clip but I did hear the complete show on Radiolab.

Ignoramus1116

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 3:21:30 PM4/15/11
to

I downloaded the idea density analyzer CASPR, and applied it to my old
biographical type writings that I could find, where I talked about
myself. Looks like my idea density is 0.55-0.66, which is close to the
"unlikely to have alzheimer's" range.

i

Ignoramus1116

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Apr 15, 2011, 3:23:43 PM4/15/11
to

I meant CPIDR.

i

Leon Fisk

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 4:23:59 PM4/15/11
to
On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:23:43 -0500
Ignoramus1116 <ignora...@NOSPAM.1116.invalid> wrote:

>> I downloaded the idea density analyzer CASPR, and applied it to my old
>> biographical type writings that I could find, where I talked about
>> myself. Looks like my idea density is 0.55-0.66, which is close to the
>> "unlikely to have alzheimer's" range.
>>
>> i
>
>I meant CPIDR.

Interesting... I'll see if I can get it to run here, curiosity for
the most part. My brain gets a jolt (enjoyment) messing around with new
(to me) applications of all sorts. Not sure what I might try "feeding"
it though just yet. Most of my ramblings are pretty terse and
fragmented to say the least...

Looks like at least a 10 mb download so it will have to wait till
tomorrow at the earliest. Thanks for the tip, I have a couple
"concordance" type programs but this looks to be more diagnostic in
nature.

Ed Huntress

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Apr 15, 2011, 5:19:28 PM4/15/11
to

"Ignoramus1116" <ignora...@NOSPAM.1116.invalid> wrote in message
news:OIKdnVlyjIwnBzXQ...@giganews.com...

This is a really curious scale. I'll have to spend some time looking into
it. I checked one of my old articles, "Dry Gear Hobbing," (0.523) and Ernest
Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea." (0.543) But Hemingway avoided
adjectives and used lots of nouns. In my professional writing, I do the same
thing, and I write pretty tight, but a couple of my posts here ranked over
0.550 -- probably because I use lots of adjectives and adverbs online. And
some of them are loose as a goose. (This paragraph ranks 0.547).

Good, clear, effective writing is generally taught to use nouns and verbs,
and to minimize adjective and adverb modifiers. That's the school by which
those of us born before 1980 or so were taught. Strange. Thanks for the
lead, Iggy.

--
Ed Huntress


Ignoramus1116

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 5:21:01 PM4/15/11
to
On 2011-04-15, Leon Fisk <lf...@no.spam.iserv.net> wrote:

Leon, my only suggestion would be to "feed" it something
autobiographical.

If you feed it, say, your instruction on how to tap metric threads or
whatever, it will be not of the same kind and bound to have a
different idea density.

Idea density is a fancy way of counting the number of verbs and
adjectives and some other non-nouns, and divide by total number of
words.

Different genres of writing have different "densities".

i

John R. Carroll

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 5:49:33 PM4/15/11
to

It can still be a useful tool.
You could analyze a business communication and revise what was written
accordingly.


--
John R. Carroll


Ignoramus1116

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 5:55:08 PM4/15/11
to

Yes, low idea density texts are easier to read. One idea per sentence,
is a good guideline, when one is to write concisely for the
consumption of a wide audience.

This is why I posted another message, cautioning against applying this
idea density metric to different genres, and then using results of
such measurements.

The above two paragraphs that I just wrote, have idea density of
0.51. A post about my weight loss, from 7 years ago, was rated at 6.1,
and it was written by the same person!

Your two paragraphs, to which I am responding, rate at 0.563. Unlike
the nuns in the nun study, you are not 22, and you are not writing an
autobiography.

i

Larry Jaques

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 6:07:05 PM4/15/11
to
On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:29:05 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:

>Larry Jaques wrote:
>> On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:23:03 -0700, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Larry Jaques wrote:
>>>
>>> (...)
>>>
>>>> So, did they "terminate with cause" yet? That'd suck, unless you're
>>>> ready for retirement.
>>>
>>> Yup. Sept 18, 2007. Took my badge, stopped my pay and locked me out
>>> of the building. I began recording their harassing phone calls
>>> shortly thereafter. They re-hired me then laid me off *again* on
>>> July 24, 2008 because they have a guideline against employees
>>> recording phone calls to their home while the corporation is
>>> committing wire fraud.
>>
>> Oh.<blink, blink> I thought we we'd been talking about _recent_
>> events here. Did I miss the memo again?
>
>Hey that was *femtoseconds*, geologically speaking.

Somehow, you don't look that old on Usenet, Win.


>>> Turns out recording is legal to do if it is in support of an
>>> investigation of a crime.
>>> (Attempted murder is still a crime here.) (Technically Speaking)
>>>
>>> :)
>>
>> You should change your sig, Winnie.
>>
>> Winston 008
>> Stirred, not shaken
>>
>> For more fun with your buddies, read W.E.B. Griffin's series entitled
>> Presidential Agent. You'n Charlie Castillo, eh?
>
>Ahh, not me man. I'm just an everyday working shlub.
>That series sounds like interesting reading though.

It is. I spent at least half an hour laughing on the previous book,
_Black Ops_. I'm 100 pages short of finishing the last one in the
series, _The Outlaws_, and I'm relishing the end. I'll miss the
characters now that I'm done, though. This stuff sure beats TV all to
hell.

Ed Huntress

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 6:10:26 PM4/15/11
to

"Ignoramus1116" <ignora...@NOSPAM.1116.invalid> wrote in message
news:GvSdndOZJ6QhIzXQ...@giganews.com...

I saw your other message. I'll have to try writing something
autobiographical and see how it comes out.

I'm more interested, though, in the justifications for counting
prepositions, adjectives, and adverbs as "propositional." I'm not arguing
with it; I just have to see the basis for it.

It's very interesting to a writer.

--
Ed Huntress


Winston

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 6:32:01 PM4/15/11
to
Larry Jaques wrote:
> On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:29:05 -0700, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net>
> wrote:

(...)

>> Hey that was *femtoseconds*, geologically speaking.
>
> Somehow, you don't look that old on Usenet, Win.

Larry!

That is the nicest thing you've ever said to me!
I'm touched.

:)

(...)

>> Ahh, not me man. I'm just an everyday working shlub.
>> That series sounds like interesting reading though.
>
> It is. I spent at least half an hour laughing on the previous book,
> _Black Ops_. I'm 100 pages short of finishing the last one in the
> series, _The Outlaws_, and I'm relishing the end. I'll miss the
> characters now that I'm done, though. This stuff sure beats TV all to
> hell.

How do you *do* that? Set an egg timer and poke yourself with
a rusty fork for a few minutes to simulate commercials?

I mean *no commercials*? Seriously?

:)

--Winston <-- Loves a good book!

Winston

unread,
Apr 15, 2011, 7:06:47 PM4/15/11
to

I'll have to look around for a Windows machine
because I can't get CPIDR to run under Linux Wine.
http://www.ai.uga.edu/caspr/

Thanks for this!

--Winston

Ignoramus1116

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Apr 15, 2011, 7:19:26 PM4/15/11
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I ran it on a Linux machine under Mono. I do not use Windows.

1) sudo aptitude install mono mono-winforms

2) download CPIDR

3) run it

mono CPIDR.exe

Larry Jaques

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Apr 15, 2011, 9:06:24 PM4/15/11
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On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:32:01 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
wrote:

>Larry Jaques wrote:
>> On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:29:05 -0700, Winston<Win...@BigBrother.net>
>> wrote:
>
>(...)
>
>>> Hey that was *femtoseconds*, geologically speaking.
>>
>> Somehow, you don't look that old on Usenet, Win.
>
>Larry!
>
>That is the nicest thing you've ever said to me!
>I'm touched. :)

(send the money in a plain brown wrapper as previously arranged)


>(...)
>
>>> Ahh, not me man. I'm just an everyday working shlub.
>>> That series sounds like interesting reading though.
>>
>> It is. I spent at least half an hour laughing on the previous book,
>> _Black Ops_. I'm 100 pages short of finishing the last one in the
>> series, _The Outlaws_, and I'm relishing the end. I'll miss the
>> characters now that I'm done, though. This stuff sure beats TV all to
>> hell.
>
>How do you *do* that? Set an egg timer and poke yourself with
>a rusty fork for a few minutes to simulate commercials?
>
>I mean *no commercials*? Seriously?

My choice: NONE for over 4 years now, and it's heavenly.

Every time I walk into someone else's home, go to the mall/gym, etc, I
have to put up with that shit. It's ghastly.

Proof to the public: After about a week of going without any TV, try
watching it for about an hour. You'll gasp, too. It's so bad you'll
want to scream. See if you can keep up and count the number of
commercials on in that hour. When I quit, it was 25+. UFR!

God/Buddha/Allah/Gaia bless the silence of a book.


>--Winston <-- Loves a good book!

Atta Boy!

Winston

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Apr 15, 2011, 11:53:16 PM4/15/11
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Larry Jaques wrote:

(...)

> (send the money in a plain brown wrapper as previously arranged)

Wait for it. :)

(...)

> Every time I walk into someone else's home, go to the mall/gym, etc, I
> have to put up with that shit. It's ghastly.

Yup.

> Proof to the public: After about a week of going without any TV, try
> watching it for about an hour. You'll gasp, too. It's so bad you'll
> want to scream. See if you can keep up and count the number of
> commercials on in that hour. When I quit, it was 25+. UFR!
>
> God/Buddha/Allah/Gaia bless the silence of a book.
>
>
>> --Winston<-- Loves a good book!
>
> Atta Boy!

:)

--Winston

Winston

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Apr 16, 2011, 12:11:08 AM4/16/11
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Ignoramus1116 wrote:

(...)

> I ran it on a Linux machine under Mono. I do not use Windows.
>
> 1) sudo aptitude install mono mono-winforms
>
> 2) download CPIDR
>
> 3) run it
>
> mono CPIDR.exe

Hokay. I've found a windows version of mono to run under Wine.

Now downloading.
Thanks Iggy!

--Winston

Winston

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Apr 16, 2011, 2:20:29 AM4/16/11
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Ignoramus1116 wrote:

(...)

> I downloaded the idea density analyzer CASPR, and applied it to my old
> biographical type writings that I could find, where I talked about
> myself. Looks like my idea density is 0.55-0.66, which is close to the
> "unlikely to have alzheimer's" range.

I write in the same 0.55-0.66 range. Yet according to the diagnosis
and timeline of licensed professionals, I am now deep into Stage 7
Alzheimer's.

How can this be?

--Winston ^ 0.581

Ignoramus1116

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Apr 16, 2011, 2:44:14 AM4/16/11
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Did they also ask you to interpret blots on paper?

"Does this blot remind you of the money you stole from your employer"?

i

Winston

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Apr 16, 2011, 2:49:19 AM4/16/11
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Darn. No blots. I wanted to look at the blots. :)

--Winston

Gunner Asch

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Apr 16, 2011, 5:07:08 AM4/16/11
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On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:30:32 -0500, Don Foreman
<dfor...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote:

>On Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:08:02 -0700, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net>
>wrote:
>
>>Don Foreman wrote:
>>
>>(...)
>>
>>> I didn't notice any beneficial effect at all.
>>
>>Perhaps you need to take it up a notch, Don.
>>
>>Example:
>>When I scrape my hand on an exhaust bracket,
>>I don't agonize over my Alzheimer's diagnosis at all.
>>
>>:)
>>
>>--Winston
>
>I don't understand your example, Winston.
>
>I don't know if this acupuncture stuff is gonna work or not to get my
>fu aligned with my poo or whatever it's supposed to do, but both of my
>kids say it has worked very well for them so I'm willing to give it a
>fair trial. What the hell, it costs less than smoking did and it
>doesn't hurt.

Acupuncture has worked fairly well for me over the years, the few times
I used it.

Mostly to work on the pain of 2 back surgeries and other injuries,
several sessions before, and a couple afterwards. That and autohypnosis
and the back doesnt bother me anymore.

Gunner

--
"If I say two plus two is four and a Democrat says two plus two is eight,
it's not a partial victory for me when we agree that two plus two is
six. " Jonah Goldberg (modified)

Gunner Asch

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Apr 16, 2011, 5:10:00 AM4/16/11
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On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:20:18 -0500, Ignoramus10266
<ignoram...@NOSPAM.10266.invalid> wrote:

>On 2011-04-13, Winston <Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote:
>>
>> Sometimes when we get really bad news, it's almost helpful
>> to be distracted by a relatively trivial piece of bad news.
>>
>> Sort of lifts us out of the mental rut for a bit.
>>
>> On February 15, 2008 I was diagnosed with late stage 5 Alzheimer's
>> Disease:
>> http://alzheimers.about.com/od/symptomsofalzheimers/a/symptoms.htm
>>
>> Two of my doctors said I'd be in stage 6 soon.
>>
>> Now, when an electronic simulation isn't going well, or I bop
>> myself on the foot with an object that I should have picked up
>> differently, it's almost a relief to have something relatively
>> unimportant to think about for a moment, rather than dwelling
>> on my poor deteriorating brain. My example was an attempt at
>> humor regarding this effect.
>
>Winston, I am also concerned about myself and that I am sometimes
>forgetful, more than I would like. I cannot really figure out if it is
>just my natural state, or I have a progressing disease like
>Alzheimers.
>
>On the one thing, I can do moderately complicated things such as
>retrofitting a mill with EMC2. That's a plus.
>
>On the other hand, I do misplace things or forget about some things. I
>would say that I am "easily distracted". Say, today I forgot to take a
>wallet with me.
>
>I am quite concerned about this, especially in light of the fact that
>two of my grandparents had/have dementia.
>
>Everything I read about early stage of Alzheimers is extremely
>non-specific and not really definitive.
>
>i

Or you could be having the beginning stages of Normal Ageing.

Now Ive had a stroke..which explains some memory issues, but they seem
to be getting smaller and smaller.

But I still put stuff down and forget where I put it.

Leon Fisk

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Apr 16, 2011, 1:37:06 PM4/16/11
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On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:21:01 -0500
Ignoramus1116 <ignora...@NOSPAM.1116.invalid> wrote:

<big snip>


>Leon, my only suggestion would be to "feed" it something
>autobiographical.
>
>If you feed it, say, your instruction on how to tap metric threads or
>whatever, it will be not of the same kind and bound to have a
>different idea density.

Yeah, that was what I was kinda thinking myself. It would be best if I
could dredge up something from my past. Lots of stuff around but I'll
have to do some thinking/tinkering with it. The best stuff is most
likely scrawled out on paper.

Leon Fisk

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Apr 16, 2011, 1:42:54 PM4/16/11
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I think you want the Mono runtime that corresponds to your Linux
distribution. Something like:

sudo apt-get install mono-runtime

At least "mono-runtime" is what it is called under Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic)

See this webpage for some more info/instructions:

http://www.cs.uga.edu/~wcb/cpidr/

Ignoramus5624

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Apr 16, 2011, 1:56:53 PM4/16/11
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Yes, he needs mono and mono-winforms.

i

Leon Fisk

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Apr 16, 2011, 2:49:11 PM4/16/11
to

Yeah, I already had "mono-runtime" by needed to get/add
"libmono-winforms2.0-cil". That also depends on:

libmono-accessibility2.0-cil
libmono-webbrowser0.5-cil

but those will be added automatically when you go for
"libmono-winforms2.0-cil".

I think Winston is using some flavor of Ubuntu, so:

sudo apt-get install mono-runtime libmono-winforms2.0-cil

should do the trick for him. It runs really sluggish on my old Pentium
4 - 2 Ghz processor, especially from the get-go as it initializes
itself. Maxed out the CPU for several minutes during this process.
So be patient Winston if you get that far.

On a side note, some of my recent text corresponding with a friend via
email scored "0.576, 0.557, 0.563, 0.572". I'll mess around with it
some more, I find it interesting at the moment :)

Winston

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Apr 16, 2011, 7:28:20 PM4/16/11
to
Leon Fisk wrote:
> On Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:56:53 -0500

(...)

> Yeah, I already had "mono-runtime" by needed to get/add
> "libmono-winforms2.0-cil". That also depends on:
>
> libmono-accessibility2.0-cil
> libmono-webbrowser0.5-cil
>
> but those will be added automatically when you go for
> "libmono-winforms2.0-cil".
>
> I think Winston is using some flavor of Ubuntu, so:
>
> sudo apt-get install mono-runtime libmono-winforms2.0-cil
>
> should do the trick for him. It runs really sluggish on my old Pentium
> 4 - 2 Ghz processor, especially from the get-go as it initializes
> itself. Maxed out the CPU for several minutes during this process.
> So be patient Winston if you get that far.
>
> On a side note, some of my recent text corresponding with a friend via
> email scored "0.576, 0.557, 0.563, 0.572". I'll mess around with it
> some more, I find it interesting at the moment :)


I got CPIDR running shortly after I mentioned that I was downloading mono.

CPIDR is a little awkward to run but it does run sufficiently quickly.

I suspect that my installation is flawed because the program takes quite
a bit of time to 'initialize the tagger'. Whatever that is.
"CPIDR is initializing the tagger. Please wait..."

Fascinating stuff for sure.

Thanks guys.

--Winston


Ed Huntress

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Apr 16, 2011, 8:05:27 PM4/16/11
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"Winston" <Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote in message
news:iod8m...@news2.newsguy.com...

It does that in Windows, too. It takes two or three minutes on my machine.

>
> Fascinating stuff for sure.

Yes, it is.

--
Ed Huntress

>
> Thanks guys.
>
> --Winston
>
>


Winston

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Apr 16, 2011, 8:30:00 PM4/16/11
to
Ed Huntress wrote:
> "Winston"<Win...@BigBrother.net> wrote in message
> news:iod8m...@news2.newsguy.com...

(...)

>> I suspect that my installation is flawed because the program takes quite
>> a bit of time to 'initialize the tagger'. Whatever that is.
>> "CPIDR is initializing the tagger. Please wait..."
>
> It does that in Windows, too. It takes two or three minutes on my machine.

Ah! Good. In a way. <--0.40! :)

>> Fascinating stuff for sure.
>
> Yes, it is.


--Winston

pyotr filipivich

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Apr 17, 2011, 1:31:02 AM4/17/11
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Gunner Asch <gunne...@gmail.com> on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 02:10:00 -0700
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Adult Onset Attention Deficit Disorder.

My Dad passed along the information he got: If you can't remember
the word, or name, or whatever, but it comes to you later, that's just
old age forgetfulness. But if you never recover that word ... it is
some form of dementia. Alzheimer or just Senile Dementia.

Sometimes, we forget what isn't "important" at the time - till we
need to recall it.
Like where we left our hat.

tschus
pyotr
--
pyotr filipivich
"With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

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