welcome to the organic green doctor blog

i am a family physician who was diagnosed with
early mild cognitive impairment(mci) amnestic type on december 21, 2010
this is a precursor to alzheimers disease
because of this diagnosis i have opted to stop practicing medicine
this blog will be about my journey with this disease
please feel free to follow me along this path
i will continue blogging on organic gardening, green living,
solar power, rainwater collection, and healthy living
i will blog on these plus other things noted to be interesting

Friday, July 31, 2015

alzheimers news-we are close now

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WE ARE CLOSE NOW
by 2018 i might be able to start treatment with monthly infusions
of a new alzheimers drug
if
studies continue to show positive results
that will slow down the progression of alzheimers in my brain

if it had been available 10-20 years ago
i could have started then
when i was at the peak of my career as a doctor
or
even when i first started full time private practice at the age of 40

the time may be now when we can do something to
really slow down and prevent this disease

so what can you do
exercise may be the best prescription for right now
as well as
controlling your weight blood pressure cholesterol diabetes
then
do the other healthy things like diet sleep stress control
anxiety depression control stay mentally active socialize
and
watch the news for whats on the horizon

and

we need your help
consider donating or walking with us at the walks in your area
this is where the alzheimers association gets its funds
for
research
education of family patients and health providers

my team
organicgreendoctor
will be walking in the
williamson county walk to end alzheimers on
saturday september 26 2015 at san gabriel park in
georgetown
here is the link for my team organicgreendoctor
donate and or join us for the walk

we also will be walking in the
bell county walk to end alzheimers on
saturday november 7 2015 at pepper creek trails in
temple
here is the link for my team organicgreendoctor
donate and or join us for the walk 

i will be the honorary chair for the bell county walk
and will say a few words before the walk starts

Image result for senior expo at bell county expo center
on tuesday september 22 2015 i will be a guest speaker
at the senior expo at the belton expo center
talking on alzheimers disease and answering questions
from the audience
my talk starts at 1030 am

on friday october 9 2015 i will be the guest speaker
starting at 1130 am for the burnet county extension club
at the first lutheran church fellowship hall in burnet texas

if you have a club or group who would like for me to speak
on alzheimers disease please contact me

the organicgreen doctor

Thursday, July 30, 2015

country n news-its working

COUNTRY N NEWS-ITS WORKING
we now have in place our new energy saving devices
a doubling of our solar power capacity to generate electricity

new double pane windows

mini split ac heating system

we have now had a week to analyze our energy use with
all three new devices in place and working

without these new devices we were consuming
58 kw at day
now our solar system when its maxed out
which occurs in july and august when the sun hits the
panels just right
we produce somewhere around 23+kw a day
now
subtracting that from our total use
we are down to 35 kw on our meter being used from
our electric company
except we think its the windows and the new ac units
that have dropped the amount on down to 25 kw used
a day
ie 10 kw a day saved from the new windows and new unit

putting that in dollars
its a drop of $6 a day to less than $3 a day for electricity
$180 a month vs $90 a month

we cant wait until the fall when that meter will be running
backwards every day except at night
we should have a negative balance
plus
we are getting an energy credit on the ac unit from our
electric company thats equal to about 4 months electricity

now thats the kind of jackpot i like to win
and
plus we will get a $4,000 tax credit next year when we file
our taxes

so long term and short term these energy saving changes
are working
positively on our pocket book

as i mentioned before we were going to take an equity loan
to do our energy saving changes
but
in processing our loan we would have had to give up
an acre of ag exemption
so
we decided not to do it but self finance it ourselves

how
by cutting bills that we realized we seem to be living
ok without them
we paid off our car
stopped our newspaper
cut down on our satellite tv
cut back on our our home phone ie we stopped it
are taking quotes on car house and liability insurance
that should drop our premiums by 25%
will rethink my medicare part d coverage company to
hopefully half our costs
we stopped our trash pick up since we are almost recycling
100% of our trash
man that was a $50 bag of trash we put out each month
didnt make much sense to me
i now make all my own compost and mulch

so when this is all added up it equals the amount of the
note we made to ourselves
money we were paying to toyota dish verizon newspaper
insurance companies trash company nursery
plus
at the end
whenever we move
of course as i tell my wife she
that will happen
when im dead or i dont know whats happening
we will have all these paid for
plus we will have all that money that we would have
paid to a bank
in a fund for us to use as we wish

somehow this seems like im missing something here
i wonder why more folks dont do this

where are we all going wrong

but
here at the country n
its working for us

the organicgreen doctor

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

whats right

WHATS RIGHT
Image result for memantine is now generic
ive written about namenda before
the company that makes the brand tried to stop making it
so they could promote the namenda xr to all the docs
so when namenda when generic all the patients would be
on namenda xr
a 'new' drug with a longer patent time

the courts jumped in
gotta make the namenda and sell it

so
finally the generic is officially here

now here is why that company was fighting so hard
$4,000 per patient was what they were after

oh
namenda is added to alzheimers patients regimen
as they start that decline downwards
that turning point of no return

sucks
to have a company take advantage of those families

so
the generic form of namenda at costco is
for 90 pills
$46.69

the branded form of namenda at costco is
for 90 pills
$1129.92

this is whats wrong with our healthcare system

Image result for tom brady
now about tom
brady that is
lesson learned

here is how it should have all went down

were you involved with deflating the balls in any way
yes i was

thats all he would have had to say
we all understand
we all would forgive
pay the price
then
move on

dug a little hole didnt he

the organicgreen doctor

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

dear ms b-dont be afraid

DEAR MS B-DONT BE AFRAID
i know you dont have some of these things where you live
but
i hope you arent afraid of some of them when you come
to visit

your gma has learned to not be afraid of them
heck shell grab some of the bugs off our veggies
with a bare hand
but
no she wont grab no snake

that she cant seem to grasp no pun intended
she always
yells for me to come get them
and
i usually just move them to another location
sometimes i just pretend i move them
i just leave them be
since they will eventually slither away
they are as afraid of her as she is of them

of course
gma cant be convinced of that fact

now at habitat i have them convinced not to kill snakes
yesterday a small rattler had eaten a mouse
and
was moving slow as we uncovered some old lumber
good thing we all had on gloves huh

the snake was gently removed to the side of the property
to live another day and to eat another mouse or rat
now ms b thats a good thing
that they eat rodents

last week we had several workers here
one in particular he was ascared of our
beautiful country n
zipper spiders
we have one at almost every window or door where they
can hang from a plant
they are good guys as they catch insects and bugs
in their webs
circle them with their web material
you know like spider man does

one on our big front window
youll see that window one day
it overlooks our front yard as it extends out over our pasture
with views down to the river

this is where we watch deer turkey all kinds of birds
an occasional fox
rarely seen coyote but we know they are
there since we can hear them ahowling at night
scary that howling sound is

this big ole zipper spider on that window
caught her this big old grasshopper
covered him up like a mummy and i guess stored him
somewhere

we also have a lot of these in our garden
i leave them along
they are actually quite colorful
and
devour and wrap up a lot of insects
an organic approach to insect control

this one worker that was scared of the spiders
had me move them away from the windows he
worked on

well one worker threw a grasshopper on him
i thought he would need a diaper change
he screamed so loud
i thought he had cut himself severely on broken glass

a good laugh at his expense was had by all

now i hope
as you visit us
that you develop an appreciation of nature
let it exist
undisturbed as much as possible
all the creatures have a place
except
for the scorpion

so
dont be afraid
dont listen to gma about those snakes either

the organicgreen doctor

Monday, July 27, 2015

telling it like it is

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS
thats what donald and bernie are doing
telling their views on things in an almost unfiltered way
donald probably worst than bernie
plus
donald has all that money but bernie aint got none
but
it is sort of refreshing to have some one say what needs
to be said
no i dont agree with what donald says
but
he is saying what he is thinking
and
doesnt seemed to be affected by what the rest of us think
or the news media
or the republican party
Image result for donald trump
boy would they like him to go away

now ole bernie is more like us than donald

i would like to see the wind blow donalds hair
real hard to see whats under that thing

i sure am looking forward to those republican debates
boy is old donald going to ruffle some feathers

Image result for bernie sanders
now old bernie
he looks like a kind ole granddaddy doesnt he
but
he is from independent vermont
thats independent
they think different and dont always follow what
the national parties want followed
thats why
he is such a good independent

he really is for us the common folks
now donald
he is not really one of us
no hes not

so why cant the other candidates just do whats right
think for themselves

immigration-just do something
fix it
quit ticking off the hispanics
they are both parties future
the loser of their support will be the minority party
our economy would collapse without those hispanic
immigrants
ok send the bad ones home but keep all the rest

health care-quit wasting time trying to get rid of obamacare
most folks agree its here to stay
now work to fix whats wrong with it
make all states sign up for medicaid
look at whose profiting the most
insurance companies hospitals drug companies
and
thank goodness millions of folks are insured

iran-sign the treaty or get a better solution
dont get a better solution then sign the treaty
you cant do nothing

guns-do whats right
have some rules on who can buy guns
no loopholes please
it makes me sick when a large group
in this case the nra can control so many congressman
if i go and buy a pistol today to keep here on my property
i would expect to show id do a background check
make me wait a period of time
the end result
i will get my handgun to have on my property

campaign finance-the rich richest folks will and are going
to control what happens in this country
as they can finance any person they want for office
we the regular folks use to control things somewhat
by being the ones who financed the elections
with our few dollars each
those rich richest folks arent going to do whats best
for us you know

then
theres the big republican parties list of candidates
ive lost count
what a circus that will be
the winner will be all bruised up
when he or she finally wins the nomination
with a lot of fodder for the democrats to use
it seems all this
and
with donald being uncontrollable
it cant be good for the republican party

what or what has happened to our political system
i hope this is not the start of our downfall

ok i do hope donald and bernie stay in for the long hall
it sure makes it more interesting
almost comical to watch at times

they are making the other folks face issues they have
been avoiding

the next 15 months
it could be a fun time

the organicgreen doctor

Friday, July 24, 2015

alzheimers news-this weeks conference

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-THIS WEEKS CONFERENCE
in washington dc this week they are having the
azlheimers associations international conference

below are some of the things that have been in the
news this week

many ive written about in the past

Related image
el lillys drug solanezumab reports some results from
their studies
solanezumab is what i call an alzheimers vaccine
given as an infusion or injection
anibodies in the body grab the bad stuff beta amyloid
and remove it from the brain
if it works the memory gets better

the results of recent studies are a 30%  reduction in
the decline in memory

several studies are being done using this drug
one the a4 study is using it on folks with normal memory
but who have positive scans for beta amyloid in the brain
those results will be out in a few years
and
will give the final answer
will this drug prevent or
slow down the development of alzheimers disease

in the colombian study its being given to folks
who have the gene for alzheimers who will be
getting alzheimers 100% of the time
if it slows down or prevents the disease it will be
a significant game changing finding

Image result for aducanumab
the other study was the biogen study
it reported the results of a small group given
a higher dose of the drug aducanumab
the results were not as promising as results of
an earlier study on lower doses that
showed both a decrease in beta amyloid
and and improvement of memory

the biogen company will be launching a new study
on folks with mild cognitive impairment
the precursor stage to alzheimers disesase
some neurologist consider it as early alzheimer disease

this upcoming study is the one that i am waiting to
hear from
i am on the waiting list when it starts signing up
its the one new treatment study that i may qualify
since
im too early to qualify for some studies
and
too far along for other studies like the a4 studies

go to biogen.com website for more info
www.aducanumabclinicaltrials.com

other reports from the conference
women are affected for some reason more often
than men
and
its not just because women outlive us men
which was thought previously

exercise may be one of the best treatments for
slowing down the disease

the incidence of alzheimers like heart disease and stroke
is decreasing
because of better control of blood presssure cholesterol
diabetes obesity and increased exericise
also more emphasis on better diet and healthy living
seems to be paying off

so there is some hope each year as research progresses

also
for those who asked
here is the link to the reversal of cognitive decline article
dont do this regimen without discussing it with your
health care provider
as it can interfer with certain medications and health conditions

the organicgreen doctor

Thursday, July 23, 2015

country n news-green pictures

COUNTRY N NEWS-GREEN PICTURES
no theres not much green color in this picture
but there is a lot of green in the picture

on the left are my black rainwater tanks
its an accumulation of tanks over the years
yes collecting rainwater is an addiction
if you want to see for yourself
get one of those 50 gallon tanks for your house
many municipalities give them away
or
sell them for a reduced price
total capacity at the country n is 30,000 gallons
90% full on this day july 23
which is good the best since weve been saving water
the water is used for drinking and in the house
and
for irrigation
the irrigation is a separate system from the house system

then look just to the right of the tanks
see the small white thing
thats my top bar bee hive
if you could get up close
you would see those busy bees coming and going
like at a busy airport
this month i accidentally dropped a honeycomb
so we harvested its honey
my oh my what flavor
never bought any honey that tastes this good
no wonder bears fight through stings to eat this stuff

then right above the bees hive on side of the barn
is a brown box
thats a bat house
i was attempting to attract bats to eat insects
but
for some reason they dont like the country n

see the tall grass just in front of the bees
thats native grass
i keep this small area unmowed to keep people
away from the bees
they get orney if you mess with their hive
and
attack the eyes and face like inside the nose and
the lips
hurts like hell those stings

the mowed grass in the front of the picture is
mostly native grasses buffalo and blue grama
they turn brown when its dry but pops right back
when it rains

you cant see them but just to the right of the tall grass
there is a shelf of pvc pipe you really cant see
that i saved from projects here and saved from leftovers
from the habitat houses
pvc destined for the landfill

also hidden in there is a stack of metal
old fences copper wire and pipe metal from the solar
install old metal pipes etc
these are given to habitat for humanity who then
sells them for monies to use for habitat

now
on top of the barn
are 26 solar panels
16 10 year old ones that produce 2.5 kw
10 brand new spanking panels that also produce 2.5 kw
 the country n electric company is producing
25 kw a day
or about half of what we use in the summer
july and august is the highest energy use months
thanks to the oppressive texas heat

in certain months if its sunny we will have a negative
use of electricity
the pay off on this all is about 10-15 years
1/3 of the new system is paid for with a $4000 tax credit

then we put in these new highly energy efficient windows
the old single panes would get so hot to the touch
these new ones are almost cool to the touch

then
we added a minisplit system ac and heat to our house
putting in a central system would have defaced the
inside of our house
so far
it has dropped the use of electricity each day by about 20%
since they are so energy efficient

so here at the country n
we are having a green summer despite the heat

the organicgreen doctor

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

price is not right

PRICE IS NOT RIGHT
price is right is a game show
life is not right
Image result for price  is right
a new hepatitis c drug cost $1000 a pill
$80000 for full treatment
cure rate 100%
if it can be afforded
it will cost medicare medicaid private insurances
a lot of money
now the private insurances can negotiate with
the companies making these drugs
on its price
but
medicare cant

my wife she takes a medication for a health issue
her specialist says she has to take the brand drug
as it works better than the generic one

now ive went along with this since
this specialist is a good match for her
so
ive kept silent
ok my tongue bleeds from biting it

even though as a practicing physician i always used
the generic brand
and
never had a problem controlling the drugs levels
ie they worked just as well as the brand

my wife she saw the specialist yesterday
i want the generic one she said
she had to listen to a lecture on how much the
brand worked better than the generic
she sounded like a representative from the drug company
my wife she said

she got the generic drug

it costs $94 a year whilst the brand cost about $400+ a year

now both of these cases explains problems with drug prices
here in the united states

the prices paid for drugs in other countries like canada and
europe are significantly lower

you would think that medicare would be able to negotiate
prices like the foreign countries and the drug plan companies
but
the influence of big pharma lobbyists on our congressman...
who work for us
right

so my wife she won her battle to lower her drug costs
but
medicare thats another deal

they(big pharma) wins we lose

the organicgreen doctor

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

not too hot

NOT TOO HOT
yesterday was a scorcher
as it got to 100 degrees here
making things start to turn brown all over the place
my buffalo grass is starting to brown some
but
with the first rain it will green up again

thats the way grass is suppose to work around here
i dont water it
it turns brown
nature waters it
it turns green
its the way its suppose to be

now in my garden i have malabar spinach growing
on the fence
i bought this plants parent about 10 years ago
it self seeds each year giving me lots of plants to
pick from
ive donated the babies to a lot of folks

we thin them out to the plant thats self planted in the right
place
the thinned plants are just right for salads

it loves the hot weather and will grow until it freezes in the fall
i occasionally water it
we use it in salads
and
cook with it
my favorite is my wife shes spinach casserole

its the plant that keeps on giving and giving

this is where my onions were planted this year
after harvesting my onions
i seeded this bed with purple hull peas
which i harvest and freeze for new years day
so we can have good luck all year

the peas put nitrogen back into the soil
this week i will cut down all the peas since we
have harvested one crop off them
i will feed the plants to the chickens
they love them
the roots are left in the ground since they are loaded
with minerals and nutrition for the soil
next
ill add 4 inches of compost
not even working into the soil
ill add some liquid molasses to stimlate bacterial
and fungus growth
ill add humates which helps breakdow the soil some
ill add cottonseed meal to provide nitrogen as a
quick source of nitrogen
ill add an organic fertilizer like ladybugs 824
ill stir this up some
cover it with pinestraw or oak leaves
letting it mature until i plant my fall garden
in october and november

this soup of stuff will be good and cured and ready
for my fall crops
carrots beets lettuce spinach cilantro swiss chard bok choy
broccoli cabbage parsley etc
then another bed where my potatoes
were seeded with the same peas
after harvesting a first crop
i opened up a spot for my fall tomatoes
just large enough to plant the tomato
leaving the peas mostly in place
they fix ntirogen in the soil
in the circle where i planted my tomato i added
compost cottonseed meal fertilizer humates molasses
then stirred it up some
then planted my fall tomatoes in the middle of the circle

i also added a 5 gallon bucket with holes in the bottom
added two shovels full of compost
my country n chicken compost

ill water the tomatoes once a week by filling up the
buckets with water

the peas shade the tomatoes and keep the soil from
drying out
as the tomatoes grow ill add a sun screen over the
tomatoes to keep them cool

this fall we should have a good crop of fall tomatoes

so no its not too hot to garden now

the organicgreen doctor

Monday, July 20, 2015

dear ms b-its gone

DEAR MS B-ITS GONE
Current U.S. Drought Monitor

ms b see all that dark stuff
that deep maroon-thats the aggies color
and
red-thats the razorbacks color
and
orange-thats the horns color
all that color use to be over where we live in
central texas

only recently did this small slither remain
right over the country n
its was so dry here
the water levels were low in our rainwater tanks
our source
our only source of water for drinking at
the country n

the grass was real brown
the trees werent growing well
the vines were not atwining around things much
heck
even the weeds were all stunted
all the wild animals were suffering
then
boom came april and may
producing all the rain
so much rain that we set new records around here
filled up well almost filled up the lakes
the source of so many folks water

so we survived the worst drought maybe ever
in the country n area
never ever running out of water in our tanks
except for my accidentally emptying two big tanks
well ok i did empty another one by accident

so we around here learned a  lot about
conserving water
xeriscaping our landscape
not even at one point being able to wash our cars
but
we all survived
our water use dropped a lot

ill teach you what we learned

but
im worried that people will forget like they always
seem to do
and
start using water willy nilly and wasting it again
heck some folks even watered their yards
during all that rain we had
crazy aint it

now im hoping that you and those folks in
california
can learn some lessons from us
as we suffered through the drought
since
those dark colors real dark colors seem to be
sitting right over all of california

its important for you guys to get this right
since you all produce so much of our food
well probably most of it

so
im hoping that you grow up to be a
green person
gardening
conserving water
preaching the gospel that i preach
on taking care of this earth
since
we want it to be here when you get my age

now i hope yall listen to your moon beam governor
jerry
since he seems to be grabbing this issue by the
horns

just remember if yall run out of water there
you can always move in with us
spoiling is guaranteed

heck it seems most of california is moving here
anyway

the organicgreen doctor

Friday, July 17, 2015

alzheimers news-its here

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ITS HERE
i wrote a few weeks about namenda and namenda xr
the company that makes namenda was going to stop making
namenda since its new namenda xr was out
namenda is taken twice a day 
namenda xr is taken once a day

its the medicine that is usually added to aricept
when an alzheimers patient starts to get worse

why the xr
its a change in patent
so they can make it as a brand only for several years
at $362 a month

now the namenda 
remember its the same drug 
works the same
has to be taken twice a day
is going off patent
excuse me it just went off patent

by stopping the namenda the drug company would have forced all 
those dementia patients to go onto namenda xr
so when the namenda goes generic doctors and patients 
wont want to chamge to the cheaper stuff

the federal courts forced the company to continue to make
namenda
but not after the company pushed the namenda xr heavily 
to consumers with ads and to doctors with the good looking
drug reps

now the namenda is generic
mylan is making it 
it will show up at costco first then other pharmacies
it will be about the same price as the brand for awhile 
then drop some 
but then after 6 months it will plummet in price

eg generic aricept dropped from $280 to $160 to 
where it is now about $10
thats what i pay now for 30 days worth

so the generic namenda called memantine is expected to do 
the same

if your loved one is on namenda xr
you will need to ask their doctor to change to the generic namenda
you might save $300+ a month

then
i follow a blog called missing jim
its like ive written before oozes pain emotional pain

this last blog was painful to read
as 
this wife struggles as a caregiver finding help for
her and her family and her young alzheimers husband

this folks is what its like to be an alzheimers caregiver

read it and weep

the organicgreen doctor

Thursday, July 16, 2015

country n news-oh deere

COUNTRY N NEWS-OH DEERE
when we first moved to the country n 15 years ago
it was obvious that we would need a riding lawnmower
i actually planned on mowing all my 10 acres with
this new mower

so i bought a second level riding lawnmower real cheap
i mowed it into the ground literally
i gave it to my neighbor next door
since the mower wouldnt mow any more
but it ran
so he hooked it up to his small trailer
to haul hay fertilizer etc around his property

after mowing a lot i realized this golden rule
of buying tools and farm equipment
buy the best and they will last a long time

so i went to the bible of buying
consumer reports
the top rated mower was
this john deere riding lawnmower
in the picture above i used it to haul kids around our
pasture during our annual clinic party here
at the country n

that was the easiest task that it does

it didnt take me long to realize
dont mow all your pastures
let nature take over and do what it wants to
to the land
with some tweeking from me of course

so
i take that john deere mower and mow my wife shes
walking path
a mile long winding path around our property
she wont walk on it unless its kept mowed
she be like scared of snakes
so
i oblige her
it wasnt long before i purchased the trailer for the
john deere
best thing i ever bought around here
i haul rocks grass brush trash kids even my wife she once
dogs around the property

then of course i mow only my 1 acre that is fenced in
around our house
during drought times
i only have to mow it twice a year
this year
we have had so much rain i have mowed it twice
already and was long overdue for a mowing
until
i ran full speed into a small tree trunk
stopped dead in my track
with a whiplash crashing it was

it wouldnt move wouldnt mow
so
my wife she and i loaded it on my truck

off to the repair place
when they called after it had been in the
lawn tractor hospital for a month
i drove over there and picked it up

now the old country guy who works on it
it took so long because there were what looked
like a graveyard of lawnmowers waiting in line
to be worked on

the repairman has a flat top
slightly overweight
wears old overalls with a white t shirt
he may have even had one strap undone
i thought he would look better with a piece of
straw in his mouth
i think i heard banjo music in the background

he says
you kinda rough on that mower aint you
there sure was a lot of stuff under that mower
now i fixed almost everything
except for a slight miss in the motor
thats going to cost a lot more to fix
i suggest you run it awhile and see if it clears
if not
it needs a reworking of your carburetor
and
well he didnt finish his remarks
i think he was going to say
take care of your tools
like
my historian brother always says to me

so
yesterday
i got onto that mower
attacked that 3 ft native grass in my yard
and
mowed it and mowed it and mowed it
yes
three times to get it to its 4 inch height

now if it wont rain anymore for a while
i may not have to mow again this year

lessons learned
regular maintenance is important
buy the best
yes
take care of your tools

the organicgreen doctor

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

mortgage breaker

MORTGAGE BREAKER
so i asked her how much do yall make a year
she told me
so
i ran the calculation from bankrate.com

they could afford a $280,000 mortgage
thats
$1900 a month for a 15 year note
thats $92,000 in interest
or
not
she said

so they are getting a zero percent loan
for never
at $0 a month

their house will be paid for when they move in

so how did they do it
have you ever lived in an apartment
in cities like san francisco and new york
some live in them all their lives
you learn to be efficient

now enter the small house concept
low cost
low taxes
low upkeep
low energy costs
less to clean
less to furnish

so she said they got interested in the small house concept
it does fit in with their repertoire of living

just the other day as i stood in my garden
before i found out about their house
pausing to meditate ie listening to the birds achirping
the wind ablowing no other sounds were heard
thinking i was
i wish we had built a small house a tiny house as they are called
what a waste our house is
we only really live in 1 room sleep in one
the rest is just for show i guess
chop all that all away
whats left is a tiny small functional house
a kindred spirit we have with this young couple
wish it was us

now theyre not hippies
or some earthy persons
or survivalists
just a young couple who in my opinion looks at life
in the right way
has thought it through
and
has their priorities right

they read books
watched videos
toured these tiny houses
thinking this is what we want to do
they got designs but none really fit what they wanted
so
thats right
they just did one themselves

they found a repossessed building that is about +-600 sq ft
and
was very well built
moved it to the site
and
started to work

its design includes a bedroom an office a bathroom
combo kitchen living room dining room a small front porch
all space is spoken for and all space has a designated function

well i said whos doing all the renovation
we are she said
oh so youve done sheet rock electric plumbing flooring
insulation painting
no she said
but
were gonna learn
so they had uncles show them how to do sheet rock
but they did it all themselves
a theme it seems
the electricity and plumbing and ac heat was done by
papa with their assistance
the place is well insulated and air tight

the ac heat will be two of the minsplit systems
interesting i told her we are having these put in our
country n as i write now
very efficient systems
papa did this for years as a living
cost of labor so far
zero

just lots of sweat equity

so the labor for doing a 1600 ft run of pvc for water
a 1600 ft driveway
leveling of the build site
anchoring the building to withstand those southern storms
all donated
cost of labor
zero

all supplies used are paid for with cash as they go

total cost
$30,000

at note for 15 years would be $250 a month
that would be $45,000

their note
zero

so we went to visit them
there they were all sweaty
but smiling
a little dirty and hot
it was 95 degrees and the humidity felt like
you know that deep south humidity
110%
as i took that picture
looked at those two 23 year olds
where did all their wisdom come from
how did they think of all this
and
then carry through with it

what does this mean for them
a lifetime of financial security
something that my wife she and i are only now
experiencing in our retirement years

they need a car
they can afford it
a used one im sure
cash paid for

want to travel to south america
done

do a cruise
done

its all a way of looking at the world
that we all have lost
our ancestors had it

we have been overtaken by all the things that
we are told we need that we really dont
now
these kids have iphones and tv and internet
so they arent off the grid type of folks
just
nice to see practical human beings

the likes we dont see enough of
but
we should

the organicgreen doctor

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

dave would be proud

DAVE WOULD BE PROUD
oh i said you took his class
no
oh then you read his book
no
oh then you listened to him on the radio
no
but she said i know who he is
thats dave ramsey the financial guru

so i asked how did you know how to do all of this

just stop a minute and visualize this
you got married a year ago
just finished college a year ago
your husband just graduated from college this year
you have been in the work force for only a year
neither family is wealthy
ie you arent a trust fund baby
you just built a house for cash

in two years you will
own your own house with no debt on it
own both your cars
having paid off two vehicles
have your emergency fund for several months
to withstand a financial crisis
have a 401k at work
you built the house yourself with friends and familys help

if you invested 15% in your 401k with no employer match
at 5% return
at retirement you would have close to 2 million dollars
easily obtainable

future multimillionaire you would be

you and your spouse are only 23

well
no way you would say
that  doesnt happen any more
well
it did
and
its happening now

so how did this couple do it
they set down
discussed it
this step above is missing from many marriages
read books
watched videos
turns out they did the dave ramsey method without
having read any of his materials

they removed all of their credit cards
clip clip into the shredder
a cash only family
including all the home construction
they stopped the school loans and did a cash only schooling
her school was paid for with scholarships and supplementing
with work and cash
no school debt for her when she graduated
her occupation was highly sought after
instant employment after graduation
he finished school with $20000 debt
all occurred before the marriage
remember you inherit your spouses debts
they worked hard during his final schooling to pay for it

a cash only family was born
dave would definitely be proud

this all sounds like the american dream

tomorrow
their house

the proud uncle organicgreen doctor

Monday, July 13, 2015

dear ms b-it was fun

DEAR MS B-IT WAS FUN
that what i would say to you
if i was holding you in my arms this morning

why that historian brother of mine
that would be your great uncle
told a funny as he was talking about our ancestry
thats at least a fourth of your dna by the way

he was agoing through our ancestry
marching from my parents your great grandparents
sliding along that graph to tell stories about each one
then
he said know this one was got arrested once
for selling alcohol when he was not licensed to
do it
ok
ms b
he was caught moonshining
no he wasnt a duke of hazzard moonshiner
just probably trying to make it in difficult economic times
thats al

yes go ahead and laugh
there was at least one incidence of limbs crossing some on
that family tree

but heck
there wasnt a lot of choices sometimes in those days
so
you had to do what you had to do
right
heck even now the government and  scientists say
its ok
if its further out on  that ancestry tree

there were a lot of kids little kids this year
where did they all come from
boom it seemed out of nowhere
well
theres more little ones coming this year
so therell be even more little ones to see next year
man they all seem so dang cute and so smart

a changing of the guard
it seems
as
those of us with the gray hair are becoming grayer
and grayer and grayer
more stooped
moving slower

the next generation is on its way
plenty to replace those who are fading away

thats your generation sweetie
the hope for the future

the organicgreen doctor

Friday, July 3, 2015

alzheimers news-wwogdd

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WWOGDD
i think about this a lot
when folks ask me what to do
to prevent getting alzheimers

so wwogdd
what would the organicgreen doctor do

this week a study was published where they followed
folks every 3 years with a simple memory test for 18 years
when they went back and looked at the memory tests of
those who developed alzheimers
they found that those patients with alzheimers had some
problems doing the memory tests that were gradual
as time went on
basically looking back they could have predicted who
would get alzheimers long before symptoms occur

then another study found that those who had hypertension
were less likely to develop alzheimers
thinking that it may be something with the medication
folks take that may slow down or prevent alzheimers disease

so in 2015 knowing what i know about alzheimers
and if i were at risk for getting it
eg if you are genetically linked to me
when i turned 50 if not sooner

i would maximize my health as below

do a baseline memory test and repeat it every 3 years
i would use the moca test thats administered by a
health care provider and not the ones usually done
in their offices-the clock test or mmse
the moca will pick up early  abnormalities
well it did on me at 60 but the mmse did not

i being one who wants to know where i stand
would have the new alzheimers blood test done when
it becomes available
probably in less than 5 years
accuracy will be 90-100%

but dont do this until all your ducks are in a row
long term care insurance life insurance or disability insurance
as long as there is obamacare you dont have to worry about
denial for health insurance

im sorry but if you are genetically kin to me you probably
will not be able to ever get long term care insurance

if i had high blood pressure or high cholesterol i would
aggressively treat them with medication
the blood pressure meds and the statin drugs themselves
may have benefits in slowing down the disease
separate from controlling the pressure and cholesterol

i would get moving every day with exercise
walking is so simple inexpensive to do

control your diabetes anxiety depression stress sleep abnormalities
be active mentally and socially
limit alcohol use
dont smoke
avoid medicines linked to memory loss like old antihistamines
bladder pills etc

take a bunch of vitamin and supplements that have shown to
possibly be beneficial in slowing down the disease process

now i would be ready
my health and my brain will be ready

then since in the next 10 years maybe as soon as 5 years
those who will be able to be identified as having
preclinical alzheimers
(based on a positive alzheimers blood test positive amyloid brain scan
and maybe positive spinal fluid tests)

like i was in my 50s and like my younger brother and my older brother
and my mother and probably my dad and my aunts and uncles and
my grandmothers were
we were it seems born a generation too soon

you if you have preclinical alzheimers will be able to receive
either or both

an infusion of an alzheimers vaccine antibody
( a similar method used to treat those with lupus or rheumatoid
or ulcerative colitis or crohns or other connective tissue diseases)
which will remove the bad stuff amyloid and also prevent it from
being deposited
and/or
a bace inhibitor taken as a pill that will prevent the bad stuff from
forming

if it works these drugs will slow down or prevent azheimers disease

there are also other drugs on the way

this is all within your near future

maybe avoiding in yourself what has happened to your ancestors

please be ready

the organicgreen doctor


Thursday, July 2, 2015

country n news-we do our part

COUNTRY N NEWS-WE DO OUR PART
my wife she sent me this article
she usually is spot on the ones she sends
im usually interested in the topic
weve been married too long

this one called 50 simple things
which i linked here
is the one she sent me yesterday


as i read down all the things to do to save this earth
make it greener save you money
the one that wasnt on there
well parts of it was

we discontinued our trash collection
why
as part of my new austerity measures to save money
looking for money spent on things we dont really need
so far im or i should say we are at $2000 a year saved
thats $20000 in 10 years
and
we are still alive happy fed well traveling still doing all the things
we like to do

the trash thing was costing us $600 a year
we noticed that as we got better and better at recycling things
we had smaller and smaller trash bags each week
then
this last month we had one not full trash bag we put out
for the trash folks
that was a $50 bag of trash
now its no more

well over half the trash was soiled paper products
that are now composted

10 year savings is $6000
that combined with our other austerity measures
like discontinuing our newspaper
$300 a year or $3000 in 10 years
those two things are paying for our new solar system
we are doubling its size
plus the $50-100 a month savings on electricity which pays
partially in 10 years our new highly energy efficient
air conditioning and heating system
which also is lowering our energy use especially in the
hot summer
and
cold winters

yes we still plan to get our wood from firewood steve
each fall and use our wood burning stove

then there is the $6000 tax credits and other credits that
almost covers the cost of our new energy efficient windows
we are replacing all of them in our house

so when its all over with
we will only be paying extra for about 20% of  these new
systems
when we one day leave the country n
well i will either be dead or wont know the difference
we will sell this place and should make back a large
percentage of our investments

plus
we are borrowing the money from ourselves to pay
for this
we are using money we were or would have been paying
verizon dish newspaper trash co car auto health insurance
yes we still have a cell phone dish tv and insurance
eg
$5000 in 10 years on insurance
$2500 in 10 years on dish
$3000 in 10 years on verizon
at a reasonable interest rate
so in 10 years
our net cost will be zero

i think im doing the math right

so we are being green two different ways
the old way
and
the new way

the organicgreen green doctor


Wednesday, July 1, 2015

how sweet it is

HOW SWEET IT IS
Image result for sugar
philstar.com

there is a white powdery substance that is killing a lot
of americans every year
25,000 to be exact
no its not k2 or heroid

warning your kids are consuming this potential lethal legal substance

some folks are overdosing on it every day
and
its a legal white substance

46,000 die its year from illicit drugs
36,000 die each year from car accidents
33,000 die each year from fire arms
29,000 die each year from alcohol
75,000 die each year from alzheimers disease

like this white powdery substance alcohol is legal also
limit boths use could save a lot of lives

some folks take in 50 tsps of the stuff a day
a lethal dose
it appears
based on new statistics

Image result for sugary drinks images
usatoday

youve probably already figured this out
its sugar

gulp is what i said when i read the stat this morning
a gulp has 35 tsps of sugar
one a day guarantees you
obesity
diabetes risk
heart disease risk
high blood pressure risk
alzheimers risk
an early death
Image result for legal sweet tea photo
for you southerners
that also includes the famous
ill have a sweet tea please

i feel like a can of soda a day
a glass of sweet tea a day
MAY BE
but probably not ok
but above that the odds
are against you

apparently in mexico 30 per cent of the the deaths
under 45
are due to sugary drinks
thats bad

in japan where unsweetened drinks are consumed
the death rate is almost nonexistent

now i look at my diet
my sugar consumption is negligible
i do eat sweets after each meal
and
drink a sugar free soda once a day
the rest of the time its water and wine

so
think about this for yourself and your kids
as
you are the one that usually purchases this stuff for them
so
you
if you look at the statistics
you are buying a lethal although legal substance for you kids
and your family
that kills them almost as much as guns alcohol drugs and cars do

seems a simple chose to me

the unsweetened organicgreen doctor