CommenTerry

I Prefer Cold, So I'll Take Summer

I'd rather be too cold than too hot any day, but I like summer better than winter. I know that sounds like a contradiction, but it really isn't. That's because there's more to summer and winter than just hot and cold. Despite summer's heat, I like the long days that season brings. I find the short days of winter quite depressing. Also, the snow and ice storms of winter cause major problems for me. I have great difficulty driving or walking on snow and ice. While there is snow and/or ice on the ground/road, I'm usually stuck in my house, going stir-crazy. I find this much more inconvenient than having to mow the lawn during the summer.

What Would They Really Do with That Money?

Quite often, you will hear someone say something to the effect of: "If I ever won the lottery jackpot, I would give most of the money to the poor." Ninety percent of the people who say this are lying, of course. They just know that it is highly unlikely that their bluff would ever be called. If I ever won it, I would give a tithe to my church. I would probably give another ten percent to established charities. However, I would make sure that had enough left to be in a position where I would never have to work again if I didn't want to.

Do You Really Know What You Look Like?

Do you really know what you look like? How can you be sure? Have you ever really stopped and thought about it? Most of us look different in every picture that's ever been made of us. The photo I use on this blog doesn't look anything like the photo on my driver's license, which looks nothing like the photo on my employee ID card. Which of them is right? Do any of them actually provide an accurate depiction of my true appearance? Do cameras lie?

Even mirrors are inconsistent. I don't look the same in my bedroom mirror as I do in my bathroom mirror. Immediately after my most recent haircut, I looked in the mirror and thought to myself how good it looked. However, when I looked in the men's room mirror after returning to work, I didn't think it looked nearly as good. Why the discrepancy? Are mirrors as biased as people are?

Perhaps we'll never know how we truly look. Perhaps it doesn't really matter.

An Undue Obsession with Hair

Our culture seems to have developed an undue obsession with hair. For women, this is somewhat understandable, but more and more men seem to be obsessed with maintaining and/or re-growing their hair. They spend millions of dollars each year on pills, lotions, and hair replacement surgeries. It seems to me that their priorities are out of place, as most of the men who spend that kind of money of their hair don't spend nearly as much maintaining the health of their hearts, lungs, livers, colons, prostates, etc.

Classic Rants and Raves #59

I'll never understand those people who constantly have a cell phone stuck in their ear. I could never think of that much to say.       

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It's sad that in today's 200-channel TV universe, there's still nothing on to watch. That'll probably remain true even when 500-channel line-ups become a reality. Perhaps we should all ditch our TVs and start doing something useful with the time we've been wasting camped in front of them.

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Want to have an easier life? Always be  good sport.

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Those of us who watch where we are going have a responsibility to clear the path for those who don't. 

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I think some people were just meant to be heavy. Take Star Jones Reynolds for example. Now that she's lost all that weight, she looks downright hideous! 

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Sometimes you don't realize how bad you were feeling until you start feeling better.

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In most cases, criticism should be accepted gracefully and without resistance, even if it is undeserved.

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The more difficult and/or inconvenient a task might be for a given individual, the more motivation it requires for them to get it done.

I Don't Mind "Wasting" Money on My Health

People often accuse me and other "health nuts" of wasting our money on vitamins and supplements. A guy I once worked with used to say that the only "benefit" we got from that stuff was "expensive urine." Well, maybe so. Much of it is unproven. However, which would be the worst mistake? Spending the money on those items, only to discover that they were of no benefit or not using them and discovering too late that you missed out on their benefits, such as better health and a longer life? I'll take my chances on the former. After all, it's only money.

Thank God for Sending His Son!

In the Old Testament days, God seemed distant, mysterious, and even unpredictable at times. Even His prophets wondered what He was really like. Back then, it was impossible to really know God.

Fortunately, all of that mystery was finally put to bed when Jesus came to earth to reveal God's true nature in human form. Today, we joyfully celebrate that advent, as we do each year on this date. Now, it's possible for anyone to know God through a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Random Rants and Raves #138

The easiest time to predict whether or not you will like movie is just after you have bought or rented it.        

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Never judge a DVD by its cover – the cover is almost always of higher quality.

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Financial planners constantly warn their clients about the risk of outliving their retirement savings. However, they never mention the risk of dying early in retirement and leaving most of it behind.

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Part of maturity is knowing when to cut your losses and abandon a bad decision, rather than stubbornly holding on to faint hopes that you will be eventually proven right – and incurring greater damage along the way.

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Questionable “credit counselors” are continually trying to peddle their expensive debt elimination programs on TV, radio, and in print. As an alternative, I’m offering one that’s free, simple, and guaranteed to work every time. Here it is: Pay off your debts and stop buying things on credit.

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The next time you hear someone complaining about the integration of religion with politics, ask them if they are okay with mixing politics and secularism. Their likely response: “Huh?”

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The good news about growing up is that you’ll start seeing people for what they really are. The bad news about growing up is that you’ll start seeing people for what they really are.

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I have a hard time believing that the U.S. is still a majority Christian nation. Everywhere I go other than church or church-related events, I’m outnumbered by non-religious people.

Random Rants and Raves #137

Anything that carries a disclaimer is inherently risky.        

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On Easter as well as the last Sunday before Christmas, churches might as well hand out "Get out of Church Free" cards as their parishioners exit. That's because, on the following Sunday, most churchgoers act as if they have received such cards.

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Apathy is the ultimate luxury.

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If you find that you’ve finished a task sooner than everyone else, you’ve probably forgotten part of it.

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A crying baby is one of the most annoying sounds that God ever created. No one other than its makers should have to listen to a baby cry.

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Gas prices are like interest rates – once they start off in a particular direction, they’ll generally keep heading that way for a while.

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Why do most high school alma maters sound the same?

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If you don’t destroy everything you own, someone else will.

Political Correctness Has No Place in Medicine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now recommending that all persons between the ages of 13 and 64 be voluntarily tested for HIV/AIDS as a part of routine physicals. Really? I wonder if they are also recommending that men be tested for ovarian cancer and that women get screened for prostate cancer. Ridiculous, you say? It’s no more ridiculous than recommending that people who are not sexually active, haven’t had blood transfusions, don’t do illegal IV drugs, and haven’t had accidental transfers of body fluids with others get tested for HIV/AIDS.

This recommendation is nothing more than a politically correct scheme to keep certain segments of the population from being singled out. Test everyone so IV drug users and those who engage in risky sexual behavior won’t feel so bad. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Can’t be damaging their self-esteem by recommending that they be the only ones tested, can we? Why, that wouldn’t be fair! It would also appear to be – gulp – judgmental! And we all know that’s a dirty word nowadays.

But this is not where political correctness in modern medicine ends. Even though it is neither the most prevalent nor the most deadly form of the disease in the general population, breast cancer gets the lion’s share of the attention and the research funds. It far outdistances skin cancer (the most common form of cancer) as well as lung and colorectal cancer (the two forms of cancer that kill the most Americans each year).

Why? Because it is the form of cancer that affects women the most. That’s the only reason. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not attempting to trivialize or make light of breast cancer. It is a horrible disease that has claimed the lives of several of my friends and family members. I just think political correctness has been a roadblock to balance and common sense in the fight against cancer.

Speaking of cancer, many people might be surprised to learn that one of every two men will get cancer, whereas only one of every three women will get this dreaded disease. That’s correct, as is the case with heart attacks, more men are stricken with cancer than are women. However, the media doesn’t play up this rather inconvenient tidbit of information. In fact, one would think that just the opposite is true with all the talk about women’s health, women’s cancer, women’s health, women’s cancer, women’s health, women’s cancer, ad infinitum.

But if the numbers really were reversed, would it make any difference? The answer can be found in the immortal words of Sarah Palin: “You betya!” The media would be conducting investigative reports on the subject on a regular basis and there would be protests in Washington, with people demanding answers from their elected representatives. These politicians would then feel the pressure to make promises to end this awful form of “discrimination.”

I know this would occur based on all the recent whining on the TV news programs about women not being recipients of organ donation as often as men are. Rest assured that nothing would be said if men were getting the short end of the stick here. Then we have all the complaining about the fact that women pay more for health insurance than do their male counterparts. I guess it’s okay that men have always paid more for automobile and life insurance.

By all rights, political correctness has no place in medicine. Yet, as in the case with all other aspects of our society, politically correct thinking has managed to get its foot in the door. It’s high time we kick it to the curb. Otherwise, we will begin to see it establish a stranglehold on the world of modern medicine.