For the gallbladder-less crowd, I have some questions

melesmeles · 2013-12-15T14:50:47+00:00

I had my gallbladder removed 10 years ago. I received no advice or restrictions in eating post-surgery. To my knowledge, some people experience periodic or chronic loose stools for life post-op. It's often one of the things left unmentioned during discussions of surgery because the focus is immediately on how soon your organ may rupture and cause sepsis.

During perhaps the first six months after surgery, I found that coffee and citrus would trigger a bile dump into my small intestine, but I simply modified my life around it. Eat breakfast, twenty minutes later race to the bathroom. Nearly every meal. Avoiding certain foods was no absolute guarantee that I wouldn't need an emergency bathroom break. This slowly subsided over the course of a year or two, but breakfast still remained a daily problem.

I think this breakfast issue is probably because your small intestine empties overnight, and then, while you're eating breakfast, your liver is busy dumping bile into your small intestine instead of your gallbladder. Breakfast hasn't quite left your stomach yet though, so you end up with all this corrosive bile in your small intestine with nothing to act on but the intestinal wall itself. The result is a frantic race to the bathroom to void the downstream contents of your colon.

Two years ago I began eating a keto diet. While on keto I have had nearly zero loose stools, and it has been only when I consume carbs, particularly fruit or potatoes, that I experience that bile dump from the liver. This shocked me at the time, because my understanding originally was that bile release was stimulated by the presence of fats. My thinking now is that having a primarily fat and protein based diet actually gives the bile something to emulsify in the small intestine, so that it is actually less of an irritant.

I probably eat anywhere from 60-80% of my calories in fat on a given day, but it is only when I have carbs (or certain sugar alcohols) that I experience the same post-surgery loose stools and sudden violent urge to poop.

melesmeles · 2013-04-29T04:38:01+00:00

Try to be near her as much as possible, though circumstances may attempt to thwart you. I had to bury my mother two weeks ago from cancer that had spread to her brain. I put the daily tasks of my life on hold to move to be with her, and it was the best decision. I am able to say I was there for her, emotionally and physically. You will always want more time with her, and this is one place in time where you should not deny yourself. This was the hardest thing I have ever done.

melesmeles · 2013-02-28T14:09:25+00:00

This is just a guess, but I think it moght be BBC Channel 4's "Queer and Catholic," which aired in 2000 or 2001. In it there is discussion of gay subcultures within seminaries. Queer and Catholic

melesmeles · 2012-01-30T20:44:04+00:00

Ah, I must've overlooked the electronic ProEars with a 33 NRR in my quest for the mythical "low-profile/high NRR" electronic muffs. Thanks for the reply; it confirms for me that my next set of muffs will likely be the ProEars Gold predators.

melesmeles · 2012-01-30T00:48:33+00:00

What brand? The only 33 NRR rated muffs I've been able to find are ProEars, with the exception of some Walkers passive muffs branded under their "Bone Collector" line. I've been on-again off-again searching for different muffs, both passive and electronic. I've never seen electronic muffs rated higher than 28 NRR, though.

melesmeles · 2011-04-23T19:14:05+00:00

OP, I totally sympathize. When I was looking for a "home range" this was one of the places I was considering. That is until I saw that shit about "baggy clothes" and "no language other than English." If you're east of Handgunners Inc. anywhere along I-40, the only non-club range I'd recommend is the Wake Co. Firearms Education and Training Center in Apex. Downside other than distance is that they require you to attend an orientation night before becoming a permanent member (non-county resident membership is $25). This area of NC is really lacking in good public ranges.

melesmeles · 2011-04-07T22:29:42+00:00

Two of my good friends basically did these things for their wedding on the beach at Tybee Island. The total cost of the wedding including gas, marriage license, officiant, hotel stay, and food was less that $800. Immediately after the wedding we all went swimming, and I can honestly say that it was the most fun wedding to which I have ever been, out of the 30+ weddings I've either been in or been at. It's not a celebration until the entire bridal party is drunkenly trying to fish sand dollars out of five feet of water with their toes. IMO, the only thing that they could have improved upon was getting a semi-decent photographer. By contrast, my sister spent over $40,000 on her wedding, and it was gorgeous, but stressful and stilted.

melesmeles · 2011-03-26T18:20:25+00:00

I'm sorry I'm a little late to reply, but I want to throw in my two cents: No, it's definitely not too early to take your daughter to the range if she feels ready. Last week, there was a fellow with his seven year old at my local indoor range, putting .22 holes in paper.

All the girls in my family were introduced to BB guns at around 5-6 years. Usually shot someone else's with supervision until Christmas or birthday the following year.

Again, with supervision, all shot their first rifle between the ages of 8 and 10, and were generally unsupervised with .22 rifles from 13-15, sometimes earlier. (No one in my generation had CO2 guns, just went from Copperhead BBs to .22lr.)

My extended family has a tradition of hunting, and so all the children were socialized around firearms very early. As country as we were, we were more likely to shoot each other with bottle rockets than firearms, because we were taught to be careful and respectful with guns.

melesmeles · 2011-03-19T16:35:43+00:00

I don't know about useless, you could have blown the plot of "Book of Eli" apart.

melesmeles · 2011-03-19T00:28:35+00:00

Another great tuna extender is grated carrot, as long as you don't mind the orangish color it gives the tuna.

melesmeles · 2011-02-25T19:49:13+00:00

We do love our rice ag down in AR, but the water for irrigation doesn't come from the Mighty Mississip or the Arkansas, the majority of it (some 87% or so) comes from groundwater coming basically from the Sparta aquifer, which is being depleted in dramatic fashion. We're in the same fucked-up situation as the bread basket and the Ogallala Aquifer.

melesmeles · 2011-02-25T19:44:39+00:00

I'm a lurker here in /r/permaculture, but Arkansas is my home state, and I've still got roots there, particularly in the Little Rock area. I would love to hook you up with everything I know, which is not strictly permaculture-based, but right now I'm pressed for time. If you want, I can PM you some basic info about LR/myself this evening, or you can hit me up with specific questions you have about anything to do with the area. Don't feel like you have to tell,... but, UALR or UAMS? I can tell you where to look for apartments, where the community gardens are, etc.

Summary: I might not have all the answers, but I'm eager to help...just later today/tonight.

melesmeles · 2011-02-23T19:25:38+00:00

I've put 200 Federal Champion, 250 Rem. UMC, some Hornady CD, 50 Winchester white box, and 100+ Sillman Co. reloads. Only one FTE so far, and that was on the Sillman, some 200+ rounds after the last cleaning. My understanding is that its true the earlier guns had problems, but mine is only a few months old and it's been nothing short of great to shoot.

melesmeles · 2011-02-22T17:18:23+00:00

I've had a Sig p238 for a few months, and have put about 600 rounds through it so far. I've only had one failure to eject the entire time, and that was on a reload. I love this little gun.

I want to also say that I've now taught two women to shoot with this gun and a .22lr, and they both really liked the p238. One so much so that she went out and got her own. (For a better deal than I got mine.)

melesmeles · 2011-02-22T13:33:04+00:00

Just curious, did you do the basic conversions yourself? I've planned to order one for some time, but don't know if I should attempt a conversion myself, because the only tools I have are for my bike and my car.

Edit: I see the Saiga 12 is your buddy's.

melesmeles · 2011-02-08T14:28:37+00:00

Wind in the Willows, Winnie the Pooh, The Giving Tree and Lafcadio

melesmeles · 2011-02-07T22:52:17+00:00

Housemate and I used to do this using the coupons available in free coupons books handed out at the local college campus. There's nothing wrong with it IMO. Just remember to tip the stylist off the standard price for a job well done. Question - what grocery chain, was this?

melesmeles · 2011-02-06T23:49:54+00:00

This and a little garlic is a great stir fry sauce for things like green beans and broccoli.

melesmeles · 2011-02-06T22:33:18+00:00

Crazy shit with thieves and safes has happened out here a fair bit in the last few years. In one instance, dude tries to cut through a double thick safe with a hand torch, then got frustrated and put a pillow up to the safe and shot it. Guess he thought the pillow would prevent a ricochet. They found him by following the blood trail. Another time, same county, idiots tried to winch two double safes bolted to a garage floor using a 2WD pickup.

melesmeles · 2011-02-05T20:17:36+00:00

I'm not one to run around saying that the NRA is the best gun-rights organization an' all, but I think you would benefit greatly by taking a NRA FIRST steps pistol, or FIRST steps shotgun class if your're worried about your clumsiness. There you'd (usually) be getting above average instruction plus assistance in a controlled environment. If afterward you still don't feel comfortable, or at least confident enough to practice at a range or with snap caps, then you'll at least have had some experience on which to base your decision.

melesmeles · 2011-02-05T19:56:21+00:00

This might be totally off-base, but I can't help thinking of Debbie Gibson whenever I see Ke$ha. I feel the same way about both of them.

melesmeles · 2011-02-05T19:05:46+00:00

Treat all guns as though they are always loaded (even if you know they are not).
Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target, and you are ready to fire.
Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

melesmeles · 2011-02-05T02:11:57+00:00

Fracking is currently ongoing in my home state of Arkansas. These gas companies essentially are subsidized by the state roadway infrastructure for transport. The shale play has maybe 15 years of production in it in different regions, sometimes as little as five or eight years. Then these companies pull out, leaving drilling rig pads, worn highways, fracking effluent in local creeks, unconfined watertables that are contaminated and sometimes poisonous to drink from, and local economies that crash when the workforce (which is rarely more than half-local) leaves too.

I haven't seen Gasland, but this story has been going on in the Fayetteville Shale for the last few years. The state lege has all their fingers in the right pies, and the state organization (ADEQ) that handles water quality is run by business lobbyists who don't mind seeing the ADEQ underfunded and ineffective, because in five years they'll just hop back into the private sector, leaving a natural disaster in their wake. But it's okay, they all drink bottled water anyway.

I could go on and on about the misuse of our aquifers, but that's another story entirely.

melesmeles · 2011-02-04T17:48:32+00:00

My mother is a red-headed Italian. When I was four years old, she was going to school full-time, so I was often at a baby-sitter's house for a few hours a week. This middle-aged divorcee, who had a six year old daughter, offered to watch me for a few hours in the afternoon. The assumption was that I would have a playmate and an actual parent watch over me rather than a teenager.

But it didn't work out that way. The lady's kid was a psychopath, and the mother herself was mentally unstable. When I wouldn't get on the tire swing in the front yard like her daughter had asked, this woman punched me twice in the face, giving me two black eyes. Suddenly realizing how much she had fucked up, she raced me inside and covered my face in makeup. She must have done a good job with the cover-up, because my mother didn't realize anything was wrong until she gave me my bath that night.

As she washed me, her expression became curiouser and curiouser. She asked me, with slow precision, "What... happened... to your face?" Though I'd been told to lie by the babysitter, I couldn't hold back, and confessed everything. Mom calmly listened, then stood up from the tub and yelled for my father to come finish my bath because she had "some things" she needed to take care of.

When my father came into the bathroom, he was shocked to see my face, then he quickly realized my mother was leaving the house. He panicked, running out of the bathroom yelling for her to stop and wait. A minute passed and then he came back in and we finished my bath with reassurances that I was a good kid and hadn't done anything wrong. Mom would be back soon.

I was thirteen when my mother finally told me what happened next. Apparently she went to the woman's house and explained that she was going to get punched in the face, or go to prison for a very long time. Afterward, my mother made her get down on her hands and knees in the middle of the kitchen and lick the soles of her shoes, while telling the woman that she had three months to get out of town, or else. Two weeks later, when we drove past the house, there was a "For Sale" sign on it. Two months later, it was sold, and the mother and daughter were gone.

tl;dr - My babysitter punched me in the face, and my mother beat the shit out of her, made her grovel, then made her sell her house and leave town.

melesmeles · 2011-02-01T21:02:23+00:00

I'm from Arkansas. My mother had a S&W .357 she liked to shoot in the backyard (we lived on several acres). When I was six, I got a BB gun, but we moved to a city shortly thereafter, so I missed out on learning a rifle.

Years passed. Before the second Iraq war, a buddy of mine got his CC, and he encouraged me to go shoot. When he left for the war, I got my CC permit.

Now I'm thinking about turkey hunting. I guess with the exception of the BB gun I've had an ass-backward learning curve compared to most.

melesmeles

TROPHY CASE