sundries

[rm]

Thank you all for the pinched nerve advice. I am pretty sure this is a combination of: ongoing ergonomic issues at work causing muscle pain/cramping and travel stuff. A hot shower and enforced rest last night helped. It still hurts and tingles, but not as much, and my main goal is for it not to get worse again during the day right now. It's far from the most painful thing I've ever experienced, but it's annoying and distracting and affecting my productivity, which I find highly objectionable.

Remember to leave your address here if you want a holiday card from Patty & I.

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Lou Dobbs is considering a run for president. And you thought 2012 couldn't have more racism on parade.

Yesterday there were mass political killings in the Philipines. 46 people are now confirmed dead in the pre-election violence, including twelve journalists, according to Repoters Without Borders.

Department of Crappy Songs I'm Obsessed With: Miss Hollywood by Carbon Leaf. Yes, this is another Con Sweet thing.

Today's big news is that a homeless organization called UHO is really a fraud. I thought everyone in New York City had known that for years?

The muse, after: obituary for Charis Wilson.

All hail the unconscious brain: Two nights ago I dreamed about the whereabouts of something really important I had misplaced and had been fretting over for a while. Sure enough, this morning when I checked, there it was.

Tomorrow night I take Patty to see the balloons getting blown up for the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Last night, more Bollywood, in which the most common phrase uttered in our household was "is this really happening?" as it was hard for us to tell what were dream sequences and what weren't (the answer was that the scenes in question were often a mix of dream and reality and we weren't picking up on that film vernacular particularly quickly). Weirdest thing about this film? One character looks so much like marchek it's disconcerting. Also, the douchebag fiance guy who won't get the girl in the end totally looks like the Indian Clive Owen. There was also a major subplot involving Switzerland and a giant cow bell.

Comments

[gatheringrivers]

Regarding the pinched nerve thing - I checked the last entry, didn't see anything similar to what I do, so wanted to toss it here just in case it might be useful.

When I have my occasional shoulder/neck issue, it seems to be aggravated by stress - so likely muscle tension that built up to an intolerable level.

I have a homeopathic leg cramp ointment (made by Hyland's, orange label, it IS called "leg cramp" something or other - findable on Amazon at the very least) that works like a charm to get the muscles to calm down.

Then, for an exercise, I grab onto a convenient non-moving object (stair railing, shelf support, etc - seems to work better when my hand is around shoulder level), hold on tight, and lean away from the object (while still holding on) and this provides tension without using muscle power.

Then, I twist that arm back and forth a few times, GENTLY, stop leaning, and let go. One or two times in a day, and some sleep, seems to take care of it for the most part.
I do recommend a chiropractor - mine is wonderful - but I know it's a pain in the arse finding one who's any GOOD. A good chiropractor should be willing to sit down and explain why you have pain in x-spot, in a way that actually makes sense to you, and anatomically. Mine has posters of skeletal and muscular structures, so I can point to it and go 'I hurt here when I do x' and he tells me what's connected. It's very cool. :)

Hope that helps. You're welcome to email me if you want more details, or reply here and I'll expand. :)