Old BLOG

I had started an old BLOG some years ago but lost interest and sort of forgot about it. One day started to think about it and eventually found it again. Couldn't log in because it was associated with and old e-mail I had at msn.com. That e-mail quit working due apparently to a problem with Firefox and MickeySoft's hotmail. I had to give up on that e-mail because I use Linux OS which won't run IE. IE sucks anyway which means hotmail is no longer acceptable. After some messing around I finally regained control of my old BLOG and started to blog there again.

http://absolutemaybe.blogspot.com/ That BLOG will be mostly for opinions about anything I care about. Will try to keep both BLOGs active. Cyberspace can be fun but frustrating at times. Be sure to note all login and password info for any accounts you may care about later.

Lincoln City? Weather has been wet and windy this week. Tried some ocean wave videos. Maybe some can be uploaded to youtube? Will see.

Ken.

No mosquitoes?

Don't miss the little blighters but am curious as to why I don't see any this year. I usually get several mosquito bites during the year even while taking vitamin B1 which helps to reduce the number at least. Don't like the spray on or wipe on repellents. They are supposedly safe, but...

This year I'm not even taking extra Vitamin B1. I just don't see any mosquitoes. I still walk around a lot, at the beech , in the woods, around town, the occasional trip to Portland or Salem. Still no mosquitoes. We had a wetter than average spring and the summer has also been cooler than normal even inland. Maybe they like it hotter?

Just another benefit of living on the Oregon coast. Away from the sweltering heat and bugs that infest the rest of the world.

Ken.

Diet that works

Over the years my wife has searched for a diet that will work for her while I mostly offered encouragement as I enjoyed my beer and chips kind of eating. I learned from childhood to eat my veggies so the other stuff didn't hurt too much, or so I thought.

As age started to manifest itself with increasing joint pain, fat belly, acid reflux, depression, headache, aggravated allergy, high blood pressure, well, you get the idea, it seemed time to make some changes. Cathy started the so called "Paleo diet" which includes lots of vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, poultry, nuts and some tubers. Conspicuously absent is grains, legumes and dairy. So, I figure, what the hell. All ready know I have gluten and, dairy problems. May as well try this paleo stuff.

Well, guess what. Joint pains are gone. Allergy is much better. No more headache or depression. Blood pressure is lower. Acid reflux is much better. I can now fasten the top button on my pants! I wear size 36 pants that were too small but refuse to go to size 38. Only fat dudes wear size 38.

At first it was difficult to avoid some of my old favorite foods such as breads, chips, cookies, candy and such but is well worth the effort. I had just assumed all those little maladies were a part of life. It's nice to find a dietary source of relief.
For more info see Cathy's website at www.coastalpaleo.com

Ken.

Cathy's BLOG

I setup a new blog for my wife Cathy http://catonthecoast.blogspot.com/. Hopefully she will blog more often than I do. Now I need to figure out this blog follow stuff so I can keep an eye on her. Oh no! she might follow me too! Need to watch what I say.

We are also working on a new website for her at http://www.coastalpaleo.com/

Ken.

Many Diets.

Added a new page to pdxken.com called Diets. This page compares some of the popular diets. The idea is to get people to examine different diets to see which fits the best. Everybody is different so it would seem that not everyone would do well on the same diet.

In my case grains and dairy cause joint pains and aggravated seasonal allergies. Glutenous grains are especially bad for me. My wife also has problems with grains and dairy foods, different symptoms. This is only a sample size of 2 but it still makes me wonder how many other folks have similar food sensitivities and don't know it. Yes, I love breads and such but the body complains if I eat that stuff. We are both trending toward the Paleo diet. Lots of fruits and vegetables, meats, fish, chicken. Just not dairy, grains, or legumes. Oh, we also need a lot of willpower.
http://www.pdxken.com/diets.html

Good health to you.
Ken.

Barefoot walk

Last summer Cathy and I started barefoot walking. Our son Sean started barefootin and talked us into it. Sigh, the stuff our kids get us into. Anyway when the weather cooled off and got wet last fall our shoes stayed on but we really missed barefootin. Yesterday afternoon with temps in the 50s and the sun shining warm we went for a walk and decide to try our feet bare again. Only the last several blocks, need to toughen up again. How nice! The sun had warmed up the ground to a perfect temperature and we were in bliss!  We both realized how much we missed walking barefoot. This from a couple in our 60s? I think we are getting younger.

Barefoot walking and running is actually very healthful and beneficial in many ways. Guess what. We were born that way! After years of wearing shoes of various poor design our feet and also our whole body gets more and more deformed. High heals are just one example. With all the padding and heel cushioning shoes have people tend to land heel first whether walking or running. When barefoot we tend to land on the front part of the foot which has natural shock absorption. This may help to reduce some leg and back problems. There is also the benefit of grounding. Grounding? Connection to the Earth is naturally healthy. Good Chi, Schumann Resonance and just feel goodedness.

For more info see http://www.barefootted.com/ and http://www.runbare.com/

BareFoot Ken.

Looking at different Linux Desktop Environments.

Linux OS has more than one DE (desktop environment). The first time I used Linux it came with the Gnome DE. That was nice but I eventually discovered KDE (The K Desktop Environment). After trying Gnome and several others KDE has become my favorite. Why do I prefer KDE over the more popular Gnome? Well, KDE seems to be more configurable. It can easily be changed in various ways to suit an individuals work habits or personal preference. I use the Ubuntu distribution of Linux, actually Kubuntu for the KDE version. After experimenting with a number of others I keep coming back to Kubuntu.

So, what's the problem? Well, as software develops, progresses and improves it always seems to use more resources whether CPU or RAM. The KDE developers have done an amazing job of keeping CPU usage under control but RAM usage is creeping up, the price of more features and goodies. Most of what I do works just fine even with the latest and greatest. But with my old Pentium 4 rig maxed at 1G RAM some sound and video editing programs start to slow down. The obvious solution would be to upgrade to a nice new Multi core CPU with lots of RAM, which I intend to do eventually. For now though I am looking at window managers that us less power such as LXDE, Fluxbox, Openbox, or maybe Enlightenment. They all have there advantages and disadvantages, not to mention the learning curve that comes with new stuff. The nice thing is that it's easy enough to install each and play with it.

Ken.