country n news-another duct tape story

COUNTRY N NEWS-ANOTHER DUCT TAPE STORY

i am a duct tape aficionado
i am a big fan of duct tape
i have duct taped all kind of things to make them work

heck
last week at habitat while doing a project
the handle broke off one of our wheelbarrows
so
into my ranch truck i went
got out my yellow duct tape
i have yellow since it matches the seat on my john deere lawn tractor
which over the years has split
necessitating coverage with yellow duct tape
the color of donald ducks bill

i also use the yellow duct tape to mark my tools
so they dont get mixed up with the habitat for humanity
tools

so i got out that yellow tape
taped that handle back on
then
finished the job with that wheelbarrow

no
i told the kids that were helping me
thats not my tool even though it had yellow tape on
its handle

now this is one of my proud possessions
its my duct tape chair
i have requested that my wife she
when i die
bury me sitting up in that chair
yes
i took this old chair she drug home one day
used 2 or 3 rolls of duct tape on it

it should never wear out
so
when some anthropologist digs up my grave
my bones will be sitting on this intact duct tape chair
with my new dental implants still attached to my skull
so said my dentist when i asked

the list could go on and on

so last week
i reached into my pocket where my iphone was embedded
in a pocket full of compost and garden soil
i wiped it off to make a phone call
as i did
i noticed i could see this light shining all around the sides
of my iphone
i realized that the cover had popped off my iphone

so
i took it home
cleaned it up good
blew it out with that spray stuff they wont let kids buy
looked down into the crevice where that light was
arising from
down in there was
the best compost made
the best garden soil made
and
a lot of moisture

so
i took it
put it in a baggie of rice
waited
well i didnt wait 24 hours
but
the next morning
the moisture was all gone
i tried
unsuccessfylly to blow out more stuff
maybe i should have dropped a bean seed down in there

i went online
yep theres those videos on how to fix it
but
i thought
this isnt going to end well if i try all that stuff
so
out to the truck i went
i picked the dark grey duct tape
taped that iphone shut i did
then
turned it on

shazam
it works
well theres some spots on my screen that seems to be
coming from inside
like little fireflies who left their lights on
but
it works
doesnt look that good
well to me it does with all that duct tape

so 
now i am now a proud owner of a duct tape iphone
as
i sit here in my duct tape chair
checking my messages
on my duct tape iphone

how to make the best of what you are presented with

macgyver would be proud

the organicgreen doctor

duct tape 101

DUCT TAPE 101
i have a dell inspiron laptop computer that
i brought a few years ago
it still works well
ive decided ill use it until it just doesnt work anymore

i thought that day had arrived recently when i was typing this
sentence

all great men have a great women

it came out

al eat gr avemeh twrome atwne

what the heck is going on

so i did  a computer search with google
and
with dell
no i didnt call dell as last time i did i didnt know what the hell
the guy said
i just know a box came to the house a few days later with
instructions to send it in to their repair place
i did and they fixed it

the search had a lot of instructions
like download this fix  and download that fix
none of that stuff worked

it suggested that i turned down the sensitivity of my touch pad
which i did
that helped only slightly
sure slowed me down
but
that writing i did just kept jumping all over the place

finally i found a real good solution to the problem
a modern computer nerd said
get a dish towel and cover the lower half of the computer
with it
well what do you know
that worked

later i found a mouse pad that was about the right size
laid it over the bottom half and it also worked well
looked better also

now you know if youve read this blog that i like duct tape
and duct tape uses
i even have a book of duct tape stories




people always send me duct tape pictures

here is a gift someone gave me
i think they enjoyed this one way too much
since i am such a donald duck fan

poor donald duck duck taped down like that
its just not right
although i will admit i wished i could have duct taped someone
down like that in the past



then theres my infamous duct tape chair
when people come over they say
oh so thats your duct tape chair
its still there
i use it everyday
it will outlast me i think
unless my wife she decides to put it out in the barn

so the other day i was sitting on the couch where i sit
every morning with my cups of coffee looking out over
the back pasture toward the river
looking at the sunrise
to write and type my blog

i looked over at the coffee table and saw this
black roll of duct tape sitting there

i thought
i wonder yes i wonder if that would work on my computer

i tore strips off the roll
laid two layers across the bottom half of the computer
and
guess what
you betcha

that duct tape worked
no more jumping around those letters as i typed them

i must say i sure am happy
since im such a duct tape connoisseur
as
rating
this jumping letter things was getting really frust

oops i need to add another strip over there on the side

the organicgreen duct tape doctor

duct tape story, insurance shock, sometimes

DUCK TAPE STORY

if youve read this blog much you know i like duct tape stories
and duct tape uses
heck i just discovered thanks to a reader that the mythbuster
guys love duct tape and have done several shows on them
which i have on a dvr for review over and over again

next to my duct tape chair that i fixed up with black duct tape
this story below i think is the best duct tape use ever

go to this link to watch this story
duct tape surfer


INSURANCE SHOCK

dear employee due to the changes in health care we will have to make
changes in the insurance coverage
we will go from a $300 to a $500 deductible
a 90% coverage to an 80% coverage
a $5 copay for generic drugs to a $10 copay
etc etc etc
all this reduced coverage will help bring down the costs
so we will charge you not $572 but $1005 a month for the insurance

so i decided to go to the affordable care exchange here in texas
i googled it and then i remembered
mr rick decided we wouldnt participate
im sure hes well covered since he gets his vicodin from somewhere
remember that he couldnt remember those 3 things

but the feds will establish it in our state texas
who is in the last tier in health care especially for kids and women
its just not online yet

so i pretended i would be a california resident and checked the prices
for similar coverage in their new insurance exchanges
predicted cost $679 a month

guess ill be changing to the new plan when it becomes available or
moing to california

SOMETIMES

as the drought worsens here in central texas the water source for
a lot of the central texas cities keeps shrinking
lake travis is at its third most lowest level ever
with no rain in site the lake will continue to drop and probably
make records for the lowest levels ever

there is an island called sometimes island that appears when the
water level gets low
now that the level is near record lows its now called

sometimes peninsula
you can now actually walk from the shore to the sometimes
island/peninsula edge

folks we need rain and lots of it
folks we need to decrease our water use a lot
or we may be in trouble here
folks we need to xeriscape our yards
folks come stay with us at the country n for a week
and well show you how to save water

the organicgreen doctor

garden stuff, bunny ears

GARDEN STUFF
you know you can garden wherever you live
and raise vegetables if you have 6 hours of sunlight
me i got way too much sunlight on my garden
in fact here pretty soon ill be putting up shade cloth
over some of my stuff to block some of the late
afternoon sun

this photo is from a friend who lives in chicago
she along with a young neighborhood friend planted
this garden at their condo

its real easy to do
they took 5 gallon buckets in this case as you can see
they are visually attractive to the eye
you would want to cut holes in the bottom for drainage
in central texas you would want to put some screening
material like window screen in the bottom to keep
fire ants out
you then add a good potting soil
in this area the best is lady bug vortex potting soil
which has everything in it already
i would also add a small layer of good compost on the top
if the potting soil you use doesnt have it

then add a layer of mulch to hold in moisture
then twice a month use a good liquid organic fertilizer
not that miracle grow stuff fertilizer at the recommended
concentration
i use johns formula since it has seaweed molasses humates and
fish emulsion in it

then regularly i would check one of two finger methods of
watering
first stick the index finger down to the first knuckle
if its wet dont water
if tis dry water it
its that simple
sometimes in the hot summer it may need watering every day
remember over watering will kill the plants just as fast as
not watering it

then the second method is using the middle finger
if none of this works just raise that finger and say heck with it

usually like i said not watering it enough or watering it too much
or not having 6 hours of sun is the reason this doesnt work

after the bucket is all ready
just plant the plant
water it in
and take good care of it and enjoy the crops

they should have a good crop from their 3 different
tomatoes and eggplant and peppers
good luck

last week i wrote about the tatume squash that
was used to replace the yellow squash and the
zucchini squash that gets wiped out by that old
squash borer
here is the first two that i harvested
you pick them at baseball size
they are just as good as the yellow or zucchini
i expect any day now to see those two plants
collapsed and dead from the boerer
but im ready this year since ive got plenty of these
tatume squash that are growing

BUNNY EARS
i was known for my duct tape and my donald duck talking for
the kids when i was in practice
in fact im researching a duct tape coffin to use when i die
black of course or maybe donald duck yellow and blue

also those of you who know me very well know that ive ruined
many a photo op with my bunny ears
in fact my sweet daughterinlaw forbid me to do any bunny ears
for their wedding pictures
well thats not true she did allow me one picture where i did
bunny ears
except for some reason it didnt come through when all the pictures
were produced

my niece thanks at
sent me this  picture and wondered if i had drawn it

the organicgreen doctor

the plant that keeps on giving, duct tape

THE PLANT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
if i could only chose one plant to plant in my garden
it would be the swiss chard


i presently have 3 planted in my garden

a red version

a bright version

a green version

when i cut the leaves to use in cooking it looks like this


i planted mine in september of last year and this late winter
and have been doing cuttings off of them since

they have provided regular cuttings for our salads
as we use the new leaves as they first appear for salads
but before you can turn around it seems to have grown
even more so the leaves get larger

so we use them in our two favorite recipes

crockpot greens with chopped garlic onions and poblanos peppers
served with fresh my wife shes country n cornbread
or
mollies swiss chard in tomato sauce or coste e bietole
with garlic onions shallots and brandy tomato sauce

yum yum on both those recipes

the plant seems to not mind the winter at all
in fact sometimes unless the temps get way down in
the 20s i dont even cover them to protect them

they love the spring time and usually survive the summer
heat here ok as long as they get water

i rarely have any insect problems with this plant

after the initial prep of the soil when i plant it i never
do anything else to the soil

these plants may sometimes last me two years
but usually i transplant a new plant each fall and if the
old one starts to flounder some i pull it up and feed
it to the country n chickens
who love it


the plant also looks beautiful tucked in the landscape
or in a pot on the deck
especially the more colorful varieties

its also loaded with nutrition

so yes
a plant that keeps on giving and giving and giving

DUCT TAPE
since im known as the duct tape doctor or dr duct tape
or dr duck tape
people are always sending me pictures of new uses for
duct tape

my cowgirl sisterinlaw sent me a picture yesterday
it seems her horse starting loosing it horseshoe
the farrier you know the guy who puts them on couldnt
come out for several days

you got it
she used duct tape to hold it in place
notice the colorful swiss chard color that was used

the organicgreen doctor

final update, multinames

FINAL UPDATE
this is the final update on our video for the neurofilm festival
at the american academy of neurology annual meeting

our video didnt win but two well deserving videos did

our video did have the most viewings of any of the other ones
during the contest
we had over 3100+ views

thanks again to those who took the time to vote for our video
and to those who watched the video

MULTINAMES
recently when my wife she and i had our surprise mutual
birthday party i received several birthday gifts

yesterday while looking through the cards i noticed that mine
didnt really have my real name on them


one was addressed
happy birthday to
dr water

my neighbor who was also my patient when i was in practice
starting calling me dr water after i helped him design and put
in his rainwater collection system
ive been working on him to make that final conversion to a
complete system
right now he uses his rainwater to water his garden and to
provide water to his several horses

another was addressed
dr duct tape

if you look at my index on my blog or if you do a search of my
blog for duct tape you will see several ok a lot of entries for
duct tape

in my practice the biggest use was to use duct tape for wart removal
people would come in with a wart and i would recommend they
apply duct tape to the wart and leave it on for a week
many times the wart would peel off when you removed the duct tape
this especially worked well on the fingers and toes where freezing
would hurt like hell or cause scarring

doc i just paid a $20 copay to have you tell me to use duct tape
many sure were skeptical but many came back pleased
or
i could just freeze the wart off and make them cry
cause some scaring and charge $60 which the insurance probably
wouldnt pay
results the same


then there was the famous duct tape chair i did at home
that my wife she regrets ever picking up at some sale somewhere
where they sell junk and dragging it home to fix
i fixed it ok
i covered it with duct tape and its my prized possession
told her i wanted to be buried sitting up in that chair
they can just duct tape me in place

so dr duct tape it is



then theres the one
dr duck

so many of my younger patients didnt know my real name
they just thought dr duck was who i was

of course
i talked to them in donald duck talk and had donald duck
pictures for them to color and
had duck stuff everywhere
what else would they think right

so when i die
i would like for my obit to say

rip
dr water dr duct tape dr duck
you did good

the organicgreen doctor

bros, duct tape use

BROS

this week i got together with two of my brothers who
live close by
there are 5 of us boys in our family
at one point when we were all together at home
we shared 1 bedroom
you can imagine what that must have been like
5 boys in one room
just think of the smell that must have been coming
out of that room
we all have battle scars from our confrontations

two live in another state and we dont get to see them
as often as we like
my wife she and i plan a visit soon to see these two

but it is nice to have two that live close by so we can
get together occasionally

my older brother has a birthday today
he lives in a nearby state
he is retired army veteran
thanks for your service

my younger brother lives also in a nearby state
he is the one with alzheimers disease
its sad to see him to see how he has gone down hill
but
i remember him for what he use to be
a 20+ year fireman then
a 10+ year deputy sheriff
before he was struck with his terrible disease

my next older brother lives nearby
he is a retired air force veteran
he was an airplane pilot
he also is a retired certified financial planner

we have used his knowledge a lot over the years
which has helped my wife she and i to have
a more secure financial future
thanks bro

he is also my rainwater brother
who wishes he had all the rainwater tanks i have
as he is limited by space and by his hoa

the next brother also lives nearby
he is also a retired air force veteran
his second career is he is a doctor also
but a phd in history and teaches at a nearby college

he always gives us a historical perspective on everything
and has a historical file on each of us
some of the things he has i hope he throws away before
i die
as he and i lived together in our younger single days for a few years

he also is an expert in freeway exit numbers
just ask him and he can give you the exit numbers of
any place he travels
when we make a road trip together to visit relatives
we dont even use a map or gps
since he always knows where we are
must have a genetic gps in that brain somewhere

but we had a good visit the three of us
talking about the past the present and the future
we solved the earths problems
ate a good home cooked meal

and of course
ended the day with a good midday nap

it all brought back memories of that room we shared years ago

thanks
bros

DUCT TAPE USE
people are always sending me pictures and articles on
uses of duct tape
my smiley cute daughterinlaw sent me this one



seems this guy drank a bottle of duty free booze and got
real unruly so the passengers held him down and duct taped
him down to the chair
also he had a potty mouth so they duct taped his mouth
sure am glad he didnt have to puke on that flight

would say this is a good use of duct tape

the organicgreen doctor

tomatoes, bridge repair, new chair

TOMATOES

sure love tomatoes
in central texas the best time to grow tomatoes
is in the fall
the best crop that i have ever had here at the
country n was in the fall

the problem is you have to plant now in the heat
of the summer and nurse them through all this
heat for the next 2 months to get those
delicious fall tomatoes

i put down 2-3 inches of compost and work it
into the soil
then i plant the tomato like i do in the summer
except i use some type of solar blocking material
to keep the hot mid day sun off the new plant
if you dont do this the plant wont make it

you can use row cover solar screen cardboard
anything to shade the plant and
keep it watered so it doesnt dry out then
in octoberish you will be rewarded with the best
tomatoes of the year

BRIDGE REPAIR
yesterday i wrote a blog on walking on the golden gate bridge
in san francisco

however i forget to tell you that they were repairing
and painting the bridge

when i saw this truck below sitting at the entrance to the
bridge i almost didnt walk on the bridge that day



NEW CHAIR
my wife she is always looking for bargains
i think its a game she plays to see what she can find and get
the best deal
heck sometimes its for stuff we dont need
i accuse her of buying stuff from goodwill and then later donating
it back to them

its all about the chase i guess

recently she came home with this battered old chair
that she got for less than $5
we have a rustic house so sometimes old beat up things
just look good in our house

this thang this chair set around for several months
i finally sat in it and covered it with an old blanket so it didnt
look so bad
well sorry to say i got use to the chair
its got a metal frame and can pivot in all directions
reminds of one of those exercise machines that can go in
all directions

then i ran across an article online about using duct tape for
upholstering
you know me and duct tape
i had to have a duct tape chair

so i got a roll of black duct tape and began working
it is a work of duct tape art

she will regret this purchase cause i aint getting rid
of this piece of art work

the organicgreen doctor

pedexting

PEDEXTING
texting is a good way to communicate with people especially
if you dont wont to talk with them
heck some teenagers do hundreds of texts a day talking with
their friends
ive found it a very convenient way to interact with my friends and
family
i can text that message and keep on working
they can work and look at the message and keep on working

unless

they are driving which isnt good
and now texting while walking can be just as bad



yesterday there was a report of a lady who was walking with
her family on a pier after they had eaten at a nearby restaurant
and she simply pedexted herself into lake michigan and had to
be rescued by her son and rescued workers
bet that was real embarrassing
heres the news report

her advice was no texting while walking

now there is a new app for your phone called transparent screen that
uses your rear camera to show a video screen of where you are walking
that shows up under whatever you are texting or reading

its recommended it be used sparingly and to never be used while
driving

this is what i think about all of this


the organicgreen doctor

ad8 test, duct tape, football

AD8 TEST
the ad8 test is a screening test designed by washington state
it can screen for cognitive changes in dementia
the i cant remember **** stage

it can be taken by a patient or can be administered by a family
member or friend
eg
when i take this test i get a perfect score
and when i take the sage test i do ok also
however when more advanced test are given to me thats
when the slight cognitive problems i have show up

(report-one year follow up neuropsych tests from ut southwestern
show no change in cognition over the last year)

the ad8 test will pick up someone with problems more advance
than i am eg pat summitt would probably have problems with
this test and glenn campbell
my younger brother he would probably not get any of these
correct as he is in stage 5 of alzheimers disease

go to this link to read about the test and take the test online

it can also be obtained online at this link and printed off
to be done manually

if you or a family member score poorly on this test consider
seeing your primary care provider for evaluation

DUCT TAPE
my wife she read my blog yesterday on duct tape being used
as a fly trap
she said oh no
because she knew what was going to happen today at our house
your right and shes right
duct tape hanging from the windows and doors to see if it would
work to catch those pesky flies

at least i used the christmas red colored duct tape so it sort of
looks like christmas decorations

no flies caught yet but will monitor the situation closely and will
report here if successful

FOOTBALL
its going to be a great football weekend here
it starts tonight with two good high school teams meeting in the regional
finals of 4a playoffs
they played once this season and cedar park lost by just a few points
lake travis is a machine
where do they get all those good players
should be a good game

lsu vs georgia
what if georgia wins wont they make things interesting
then who gets to play in the bcs championship game
if osu beats okla could they be there if lsu loses

texas plays baylor
rg3 tore texas up last year
he is going to be fun to watch at the next level
bet this is his last year
if texas wins they could end up with a decent season to build
on for next year

we just need a play off system like d3 schools have
wouldnt that be fun to watch

cowboys need to keep winning
can tebow continue his magic
can the texans win without a quarterback

it will be cold here and wet
the firestove will be going and the tv games will all be watched

have a good weekend

gardeners get you row cover out to cover your plants this next
week as we may see some 20s here in the austin area

the organicgreen doctor

solar cooker, cheap gas, duct tape

SOLAR COOKER
here is a photo of a solar cooker



my rainwater brother-the one that i infected with the
rainwater virus-use a solar cooker similar to this to
cook food
he bought his made of cardboard for $25
its the ones that are sent to 3rd world countries so they
can be used to cook food there
many of those countries have plenty of sunshine
but have no electricity

he uses a dark broiler placed inside a plastic bag
like an oven bag and leaves it out in the sun
eg he cooks soups and beans
the pot gets up to 325 degrees
no electricity is used

the energy from the sun reflects on the food and energizes
the particles in the food which cook it
beans were good
soup was good
wonder if itll cook a good hamburger

i plan on purchasing the cheaper one then get a better one
if it works well for me
think maybe he just infected me

CHEAP GAS
when we visit california we are always amazed at how
expensive gas is there
makes you not want to drive much there

recently here there was a sighting of gas < $3.00
below is a photo of that sign

sure wanted to drive there just to get that cheap gas
but didnt since it was 50 miles away
would have made for a great picture though

 

its been a while since its been this cheap

DUCT TAPE
its been awhile since ive posted duct tape stuff

so to fight those pesky flies
you know the ones that are to fast for the folded up newspaper
or magazine or new fly swatter
the ones that land on you nose when you try to sleep
how many times has that nose been swatted while sleeping
the ones that wont just go away
dont they just die eventually anyway
think we have super flies at our house

you can hang a strip of duct tape and extend it from something
like a window frame or ceiling
the flies just have to land on that sticky side
then they are done for
try it

the organicgreen doctor