The crazy lady strikes again

Oprah's show on 10/24/2006 (as broadcast here in Chicagoland) was about the adjustments people have to make after they lose weight due to bariatric surgery. (The term "bariatric surgery" covers a number of operations, such as gastric bypass and the installation of a Lap-Band, all designed to shrink the stomach to such a size that the patient cannot eat much food, thus making it almost mandatory that the patient lose weight as the direct result of the operation.) One of the case histories Oprah... Sign in to see full entry.

One might call this the third in a series of articles on the limits to human freedom. I started thinking about some of the things I am about to discuss because they are associated with the fundamentalist Protestant practice of the altar call. Regular readers will remember that I portrayed this custom as being manipulative, whether the people who engage in this custom intend to manipulate others or not, due to the way in which the environment of the altar call (the soft organ music, the pastor... Sign in to see full entry.

All the cleaning we've done over the past few days has kicked up just enough garbage to go to my throat. Therefore, I have the mother of all sore throats right now. Rest assured that hot tea and plenty of rest are on the menu for today, sprinkler installation or no sprinkler installation. Perhaps later on today, depending on whether or not the pipes are up to it, I will call village hall to give the building inspector the proverbial piece of my mind. One thing I plan on mentioning to all and... Sign in to see full entry.

In a way, this is a continuation of yesterday's entry, about my observations on the limits of human freedom (with special attention paid to the "freedom" to commit suicide). In this sermon excerpt, John MacArthur (who used to lead a church in California) discusses another such limit to human freedom. All too often, if one goes to some fundamentalist Christian churches, one will be subjected to a custom called an altar call. At the end of a sermon, the pastor of the church at which you are... Sign in to see full entry.

In my Disease of the Week blog, just yesterday ( yesterday being 10/19/2006), I mentioned that none of us is truly free, in the sense that we all decry the loss of someone who dies alone, with nobody to care for him or her. (Think of the headlines, when such a case comes to media attention, and you will understand what I mean.) That thought created a cascade of other thoughts, particularly associated with mental illness and also the way in which we treat each other. "Mental illness" as a... Sign in to see full entry.

I don't know how many of you remember this live-action series starring Linda Hamilton (as Catherine Chandler, the Beauty of the title) and Ron Perlman (as Vincent, the leonine Beast of the title). Like Star Trek, it became something of a cult classic. I'd like to discuss some of my observations of this series. Most of what I've seen of the series has been in reruns. (I only got to see the third season while the show was still on the air, and the third season - with Diana Bennett as the cop... Sign in to see full entry.

In the latest entry in Diary of My Perceptive Reflection, SYMPHONY talks about the right to die. She also speaks movingly about the decline of her beloved Nan, whom she regretfully had to stop visiting because Nan's Alzheimer's disease made her very combative, striking out at SYMPHONY at least once. That was not the Nan that SYMPHONY knew while growing up. I can't blame SYMPHONY for refusing to visit her Nan toward the end of Nan's life. I know that I used to dread being around my own father... Sign in to see full entry.

Wal-Mart is bringing its $4 prescription plan to the State of Illinois. For those of you who haven't a clue as to what I'm talking about, Wal-Mart is offering a thirty-day supply of approximately 300 prescription drugs at its pharmacies for $4. This chain has been doing this promotion at its Florida stores for a few weeks now, and has decided to expand the program to the State of Illinois and a few other states. (For those who are even more clueless than I am, that selection of three hundred... Sign in to see full entry.

One blog I hope to pay more attention to is my Disease of the Week blog. I'd failed to post to that blog regularly, and now, it's languishing in the equivalent of ratings as a result. Sign in to see full entry.

Now, they're coming in on Monday to install the sprinklers. The village wants these sprinklers in by the end of the month - entirely appropriate, when one considers that fire-prevention publicity generally happens in October - but I just don't like the fact that this was done on such short notice. To compound matters, my husband got sudden notice today that he's being moved up to his new corporate headquarters from his current place of employment early next month. This move is being done at the... Sign in to see full entry.