You have reached out to another human being. Let's see if we connect on a point of interest.
Choose a topic from the list below.
Wanna email me? Click here.
Is there a new puppy in your future? Or, do you need help training the dog you already have? Take a minute to check out The Ultimate House Training Guide.
Your dog wants to please you. You need to teach him how.
It seems that every day an email warning begins to circulate about a new computer virus. Although many of these alarmist messages are hoaxes, you must protect your computer against the many destructive viruses which do exist. Norton AntiVirus(tm) is the software I use (http://www.symantec.com/). Another good choice is VirusScan from McAfee (http://www.mcafee.com/).
Either way, install it, run it, update it. Norton's software has a component called Live Update, which reminds you to download virus definitions regularly. When you agree at the prompt, this program connects to the Internet, downloads the latest protection against new viruses and installs it on your PC.
Some ISP's intercept email viruses before they reach your computer, but you cannot expect 100% protection from this. Besides, the Internet isn't the only place you can pick up a virus. If you receive disks/CD's to read into your computer, you must scan them for viruses first. (You can set up your anti-virus program to do this automatically.)
Be safe. Use protection. *grin*
Don't you wish there were a place where you could look up the lyrics to that song? Well, there is. Twenty years of Usenet discussions are archived at http://groups.google.com/. To find song lyrics, you want to search a group called alt.music.lyrics.
Once you drill-down to alt.music.lyrics, type a few words of the song into the search box. Click on "Search only in alt.music.lyrics" and then the "Search" button. Try to choose a unique bit of the lyric. For example, "I love you" is NOT a good choice and returns 38,600 results. If you know the artist's name or the title, include that in the search box too.
The first time I used this powerful resource (it was hosted at deja vu then, not google), I was amazed to quickly find exactly what I was looking for. The Internet is a fantastic research tool, when someone shows you how.
Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of starvation. You can help feed the world's hungry -- at no cost to you.
Clicking on the banner below takes you to The Hunger Site. Once there, click on the Donate Free Food button. That's it. You're done. The site's sponsors donate money to the United Nations World Food Program.
"Forward this email to everyone you know!" Whenever I read this sentence in a forwarded email, I am immediately suspicious. Is the elaborate tale merely a hoax?
Sometimes the message is an urgent warning about a new computer virus, or a tug-at-your-heart plea for a dying child, or a call to action against government interference. Whatever. Before you forward anything to "everyone you know," you can save yourself time, effort, aggravation, and the ire of all the folks in your email address book by doing some research.
To investigate the legitimacy of a computer virus warning, use the search feature at Symantec's Hoaxes page.
The "dying child"/"government interference"/"human health warning" type emails fall into the category of Urban Legends. You can check them out at about.com's Urban Legends page.
And, thank you for not forwarding email hoaxes to me.
Are you taking care of yourself? Do you exercise? Get enough sleep? Eat well? Good for you.
But, wait a minute.
"Eat well." What do you mean by that? Cutting back on animal fat? Eating more veggies? That's a start.
Maybe you even buy organic produce and eat it raw or steamed. You're getting better. But, is that the best you can do?
Perhaps you've invested in a juicer, and you juice your organic veggies for a blast of nutrients. Excellent! Now you are on your way to better health.
Want to take the next step? There are vital nutrients that you still aren't getting. Not even through juicing organic produce.
What you missed are the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that are found in sea vegetation.
If you aren't prepared to add seaweed to your diet, you can simply add a high-quality whole food supplement containing sea vegetables. I prefer a liquid supplement to pills, raising the odds that the nutrients nourish my cells and not my cesspool.
I use, and highly recommend, BarleyLife with kelp from AIM International. For more information, send me an email.
Did you ever write an email you wanted to share with several friends and associates? Were you concerned about all their email addresses appearing in the message? Perhaps you considered that Sue might not want Jon to have her address. But, how to protect her privacy without sending a separate email?
Did you ever receive an email where the distribution list took up an entire page, and you needed to scroll down to read the message? Did you worry about those 50 other recipients having your email address?
"Blind Carbon Copy" is what you need. Every email program should have a way to hide the email addresses of your recipients. If you don't see "BCC" as an option when you address your message, check your software's Help.
When emailing a group, I address the message to myself (most programs require an address in the "TO:" field). Then, I set up the rest of my recipients as BCC's. Nobody gets anybody else's email address (except mine). No long distribution list appears in the email. Problem solved.
When I was six years old, my pediatrician diagnosed me with asthma. I don't remember much about my life then (I'm pushing 40 now) except that I would get out of breath running in the playground with the other kids. Each 'spell' passed on its own after a short rest in the school nurse's office.
At some point in my teens, I switched doctors to a GP who was appalled that I was not on medication for my asthma. He prescribed Proventil/Albuterol. I was amazed at how well it worked to open my airways, but I hated the side effects: my racing heart, trembling all over, etc.
Years later, the drug lost its effectiveness for me. My GP told me to "use it more." Well, even the maximum dose didn't work, and I could no longer climb the stairs in my house.
Finally, without asking/telling my GP, I made an appointment with a specialist: a pulmonary doctor. After taking a history and running some simple tests, he confirmed the diagnosis of asthma. However, the prescribed treatment was different.
He explained that Albuterol -- a bronchodilator -- does nothing to treat the underlying inflammation. He gave me prescriptions for Pulmicort -- an inhaled corticosteroid -- and Singulair -- a leukotrine receptor antagonist.
Another drug-induced miracle! Not only could I climb the stairs in my home, I was able to take walks and dance in my aerobics classes again. I lost the extra weight gained during my period of inactivity.
Still, I was on drugs. And although there are no noticeable side effects, I'd rather not be on medication. I asked my doctor if I needed to be on both Pulmicort and Singulair. (I also use Albuterol on occasion.) He gave me a peak flow meter and told me to stop the Singulair while keeping track of my measurements.
After five days off the Singulair, my peak flow readings dropped back down to ~360. (They had reached a high of 420.) I went back on Singulair.
When I asked my doctor about non-drug alternatives, he said that he didn't know of any that worked. But, if I had something that I wanted to try, we could discuss it.
My yoga teacher had given me information on ginkgo biloba being used to treat asthma. Although my doctor had doubts that it would do any good, he had no objections to me taking it. The ginkgo would not interact with my medications.
After one month on ginkgo, my peak flow readings jumped from ~430 to ~470. I don't remember ever feeling this healthy, strong, powerful, alive!
If you'd like to add ginkgo to your regimen, please be sure to use a high-quality supplement.
Good health to you.
7 September 2000 addition:
For three days last week, I was in "the city" (Manhattan). The air
pollution there nearly did me in.
Nothing like the clean air that I am used to out here in "the country"
(Long Island). *smile*
When I coughed and felt the mucus rattling in my lungs, I immediately regretted not packing my fenugreek seed tea. A few hot cups of that usually helps me to expel the excess mucus.
Anybody else out there drink fenugreek seed tea to clear your lungs?
February 2002 update: Florida is for the ducks!
About a month ago, I spent a week in Orlando, Florida. It seemed like a good idea: take a break from the New York winter. What I didn't expect (it's been 30 years since my last trip to Florida) was to have so much trouble with my asthma.
I consider myself to be very well controlled, taking maintainence medications a few times a day with rare uses of Albuterol. While in Florida, I needed to use my rescue inhaler about four times a day along with an over-the-counter cough suppressant, even waking at night to take them.
When I returned to Long Island, my breathing returned to normal. I haven't used my rescue inhaler since. End of nightmare. Thanks for letting me share.
  This I am an Asthma Survivor Web Ring site is owned by
Andrea. Want to join the I am an Asthma Survivor Web Ring?? |
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Do NOT reply to Spam asking to be removed from their mailing list. It only makes matters worse. You let them know that they have reached a real person. This encourages them to increase the volume of Spam sent to your address.
Do NOT waste your time complaining to their mail server. Most of these guys set up a new free email account each day. So, you won't even slow them down. You may get some satisfaction against someone who repeatedly sends you Spam from the same address day after day. But, when you contact their mail server, their response may be "Although the mail may appear at first to originate from one of our accounts, we have discovered that this offender has faked his email address."
You may try using the filter on your mail program. But, then you need to decide what you want to filter out. Do you delete all mail with "Hey" in the subject? You may inadvertently discard mail from your friends that way.
Most browser based email systems can block incoming mail from a particular address. But, it doesn't help you each time the sending address changes.
Do you want to know how I handle Spam (after trying and failing with the above methods)? When I see Spam in my inbox, I delete it. No emotion, little time, small effort. Just delete it.
Although I have always bruised easily, the black-and-blue marks have definitely gotten more prevalent since I am using Pulmicort and ginkgo biloba.
The good news is, a friend told me to use arnica montana, which helps my body to heal the bruises quickly. My local health food store carries arnica in a gel to smooth onto the skin and pills to dissolve under the tongue. I have also used an arnica cream. They all work well for me.
By the way, if you happen upon arnica plants growing somewhere, stay away! This stuff is poisonous when not diluted by the homeopaths.
Be Well.
Those of you with browser-based email, or AOL, don't need help with this. But, some of us get our email through POP3 mail servers. Personally, I use optonline.net and used to worry about how to access my email while away from my home computer. I worry no more.
www.MailStart.com is a free demo you can use to check your email from any web browser once per week. If you need to use the service more often than that, or if you need the advanced features, such as opening attached files, you can purchase the full product for $10 per year.
To access most email accounts, you simply enter your email address and password into the login form. MailStart.com contacts your mail server and displays a copy of your mail. You can also delete, reply, forward, and send new messages.
The email you read through MailStart.com stays on your mail server for you to access it again when you get home, unless you use the delete feature. To get a copy at home of email that you send using MailStart.com, be sure to use the "Send a CC to myself" option.
When logging in, MailStart.com may have a problem guessing your correct user name and/or mail server and will prompt you for this information. So, it's a good idea for you to research all this before you need to use it. You can find your user name and mail server in the email account settings of the email software on your computer.
Give it a try while you are thinking about it.
December 2002 Update: Optimum Online now has its own web based e-mail for their customers. Go to http://www.optonline.net/ and click on the envelope on the top right of the screen. You will be prompted to enter your account name and password. You can take it from there.
Also, a new web-based e-mail application resides at http://www.mail2web.com/. It is free to use, and I find it even more user friendly than Mail Start.
A while back, my Yoga teacher, Grace Welch asked me to write a letter of recommendation for her to become a provider in the Oxford Health Plan. You may find my testimony enlightening:
Dear Madam or Sir:
By adding Yoga Services to Oxford Health Plan's benefits, you are helping your participants to maintain good health. Congratulations!
I have been studying Yoga with Grace Welch for four years and am pleasantly surprised by how well my body and my mind have responded. From the increase in strength, flexibility, and balance, to the reduction in stress and stress-related health problems, the improvement in my physical and mental conditioning has been impressive.
Grace enables all her students to derive the maximum health benefit from our Yoga practice by encouraging us to challenge our bodies without exceeding our limitations. She teaches us to 'listen' to our bodies and to be satisfied with our progress while we strive to reach our goals.
I look forward to many more years of studying Yoga with Grace, and I highly recommend her for inclusion in your list of Yoga Services providers.
Sincerely,
Andrea Z*******
Student of Yoga
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