It was nigh 10:00 p.m. last evening when my failing brother's beer-enfeebled brain finally folded up and freed me to leave him passed out in his favourite chair in the living room, with basic cable programming on the tellie as his company for the remainder of his evening.
He passed out right near the end of the first episode I had tuned in of one of the series we follow ─ we watch our shows via a T9 Android 8.1 TV Box that I alone operate, for my brother is unable to.
I have no patience for his weak brain ─ no one has to swill so much beer on a daily basis that it is more likely on any given evening that he will pass out, than it is that he will retain consciousness throughout that evening.
I came upstairs here to my computer to bide some time, and I think that it may have been approaching 11:00 p.m. before I got myself to bed.
I had some uncertainty about when my working wife would be home, for she had worked the long day at her friend's Thai restaurant. This uncertainty can inhibit sleep's arrival.
Nevertheless, I did eventually get there.
I am now unclear on whether it was 2:26 a.m. or 2:46 a.m. that I had made the second or third time check of my night, for I sleep brokenly. But at that point I decided that I had gained sufficient restoration, and I rose to get busy and try and get as much background work done as I could for a new post I am planning at one of my six hosted websites.
My wife had not yet come home ─ she never did that night.
Notwithstanding, I failed to accomplish as much of that background work as I had hoped, even though I did not return to bed until after 5:30 a.m.
However, although I did get some further sleep, I was again awake enough shortly after 8:00 a.m. to be checking the time; and probably by no later than 8:30 a.m. I made the decision to get up and return to work on the website post research.
My brother was not yet up, but he did soon enough emerge from his bedroom shortly after 9:00 a.m.
The day was promising to be remarkably sunny ─ I had not heard any such weather predictions portending anything like it.
My website research kept me involved right up to the noon-hour, by which time my brother had already returned to his bedroom to rest up ere heading off for the afternoon.
I had some exercise with my 43½-pound dumbbell; and then I donned cutoffs and headed on out to the backyard to bask in the sunshine. My eldest stepson was up by then, so the house would not be unattended.
Beginning at 12:08 p.m., I started just over 40 minutes while slouched low into a deckchair or lawn-chair, and facing directly into the Sun. I was wearing only cutoffs.
After that, I stretched out on the lawn with just my tank top beneath me, and gained just over 30 minutes of exposure for the back of me.
This is not something I could do on a daily basis ─ it is too time-consuming. But today may be a fluke, and another wholly sunny day may not arrive for a few more days ─ I just have no idea.
I had been hearing vacuuming happening in the house, so I knew that my brother was out from his room and busy.
When at last I came into the house, he was still present. I got busy fixing up my day's first meal.
There seemed that about him that suggested an ill mood, so I did not advance any conversation with him. At one point while I was running water in the sink and washing a dish, I heard him speaking to me from another room, but all I could hear was the word "today"; and then he spoke another statement that included the phrase "your ever-loving woman."
I have no idea what he had been trying to communicate, nor was I interested enough to solicit clarity. My suspicion was that it probably was not worth hearing.
Finally, he was set to head out, and he announced his intention, saying he would see me later.
He used to regularly spend Saturday evenings with his girlfriend Bev and then stay overnight at her home; but the previous two Saturday evenings, he has shown up here with her, and she has spent the night with him.
I am inclined to expect it will happen again this evening. If it does, unlike the previous two Saturdays, I will not seek out a good movie to try and enjoy with them via the Android TV Box.
My plan this time is to fetch up T.V. series that my brother and I have never yet seen. He actually mentioned one early this week that his friend Greg had recommended ─ a concluded Western series called Deadwood.
It ran for three seasons, and debuted just over 15 years ago, yet I can remember nothing of it. So instead of spoiling another good movie ─ Bev is incapable of remaining silent once she gets sloshed on her white wine ─ I will begin tuning in episodes of this series from its beginning.
Anyhow, we'll see ─ it seems a grand idea to me.
A latter afternoon nap became necessary for me following that meal I spoke of ─ my first meal of the day almost invariably creates too much burden for me to withstand the return to bed.
One of the unattractive effects of ageing is a consequence of the loss of collagen as our bodies grow older. Even an older man with excellent muscle development along the lines of bodybuilding is not immune; when he leans forward, those muscular 'pecs' will sag outward with visual effects that resemble stretch marks.
When I recently read the following article, I found myself responding with considerable interest ─ I am 69 years old, after all:
HSIonline.com
However, there was one wee problem with this statement in that article heading that clearly targets the reader: "Reclaim your youth with this collagen trick."
The problem? Well, just try and find some apocynin ─ it's also referred to as "NADPH-oxidase inhibitor," but you'll have to dig right in at that Wikipedia article I just linked to in its section "Mode of action" to gain any understanding of what that might fully mean.
So the article above mentions a few unlikely sources, and concludes by mentioning that apocynin can also be found in vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) beans.
But vanilla beans are not something we can just readily snack on.
Nor are you going to likely find apocynin supplements at your pharmacy or favourite health food store.
I made a quick search using Google, and found one source that sells the stuff ─ but 50-mgs cost $45. Another source supposedly offers a gram for $39, but with shipping to the U.S. the price jumps to (again) $45.
However, neither source adequately describes just what exactly the buyer is getting, and the latter source even said this:
Please note: All products are "FOR RESEARCH USE ONLY AND ARE NOT INTENDED FOR DIAGNOSTIC OR THERAPEUTIC USE, NOT FOR USE IN HUMANS"
So tell me then, how in blazes are we supposed to make use of that "collagen trick" if we can't get hold of the stuff as a usable supplement at any kind of reasonable price?
That's almost as helpful as saying that the waters from the Fountain of youth is the longevity trick we all need to entirely avoid ageing!
I came across another article published in mid-April touting the stuff, but I must be pretty stupid not to have noticed any recommendations on ready sources that we can actually access and use:
- Mercola.com: Why Apocynin Regenerates Skin
Such articles are barely above being useless to the consuming public.
If I have overlooked some viable source for apocynin that is safe to use and which is not prohibitively expensive, please let me know about it!
I want to conclude this health-related portion of today's post by referring you to some research that ─ surprise! ─ reveals just how fallible the medical profession is, and just how unreliable and dangerous the products of the Pharmaceutical Industry are.
The first bit of research I want to bring up relates to multiple sclerosis ─ and specifically, how frequently patients are saddled with that frightful diagnosis when it was not true!
These two articles report on the study:
JacksDailyDose.com
MedicalNewsToday.com
Two days ago, I included a link to an article in which it was presented that men should not resort to testosterone supplementation out of vanity or any related reason as they grow older ─ testosterone reduction is supposed to be a healthy and natural part of the ageing process, and interfering with it can have very unhealthy consequences.
Something similar was said for women and estrogen.
Well, that same website source now has an addition reason why women might wish to second-think hormone replacement:
DrMicozzi.com
Another report on that study is here:
- MedicalXpress.com: Long-term use of hormone therapy linked to increased Alzheimer's risk
It sucks that we can't have the sort of vital and almost immortal lives that the vampire characters have in popular T.V. series and movies, but there doesn't seem much we can do about it.
If we meddle too much, there can be drastic consequences.
The best thing we seem able to do is be as physically active as we possibly can; eat as wholesomely as we can (avoiding pesticide-polluted crops and products, as well as anything genetically modified); and do the necessary research and take the best nutritional supplements that we can afford.
I will finish now with several photos that were taken early into a trip my wife made to visit her sister ─ one of two sisters my wife has ─ who basically lives in Italy (the other remains in Thailand).
I cannot tell you where or precisely when the aerial photo was taken, but it is quite possible that it was taken during the initial landing approach to Italy.
The date was approximately June 5, 2018:
It is now 7:15 p.m., and I am home with both of my two stepsons newly arrived from wherever each had earlier been.
Will my brother yet be showing up with his girlfriend Bev? If so, as said earlier, I am fully prepared as to what we will be watching on T.V.
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