Phandrens

I have been suffering with Palmar fibromatosis for some years. The middle fingers of my right hand have been slowly curling inwards for about 20 years. Finally it has reached a point where I need action. I am at the point where I can barely open my hand to a 90 Degree angle. I am having surgery tomorrow. The first surgery I have had since having my tonsils out 53 years ago. I am, naturally apprehensive, but it is necessary. Palmar fibromatosis (Dupuytren’s contracture) is a condition in which tissue in the palm of the hand covering the finger tendons thickens and scars. The affected tissue, called the palmar fascia, becomes tight and shortened, contracting the fingers inwards toward the palm. I am told it is prevalent among people with Viking ancestry. Take from that what you will.

Every coffee shop, train and park bench is filled with people (mostly, but not always) young, working on laptop computers. The smartphone and tablet have become the consumption device of choice, but except for quick email, notes and checking appointments, we need a laptop computer of one type or another. An ugly, but as yet little discussed side effect of using laptop computers, especially (shock, horror) on your lap, is the damage you can be doing to your body and hands. In the 70's and 80's millions of dollars were spend on the design of office workstations. Standards and rules were developed. Injuries were reduced, and the people rejoiced (well, not that perhaps) but injuries fell dramatically. Then came the laptop. And much of that work went out the window, with the office... For digital nomads and mobile workers the idea of a workstation is not on the radar. Think Again - You Have A Workstation! Your Workstation is the place you sit down (or stand up) and work from. It...

Copyright is a legal device to protect the creator of a work from having that work copied and devalued without his permission. The definition is: The exclusive legal right to (publish, distribute, sell, perform) a literary, musical or artistic property. There was no need for copyright before the printing press, because the only way to copy anything was by hand, and the process was slow. If you wanted a copy of the Bible, you hired a scribe, who would then work for three years making an (error prone) copy. The cost was high, and the results were in themselves an original work of art. Early Copyright The republic of Venice granted the first privilege for a book in 1486. The first copyright privilege in England bears the date 1518, it was for two years. It was 15 years later than that of the first privileges issued in France. in April 1710 In Great Britain the Statute of Anne marked the world's first copyright statute. It granted publishers of a book legal protection of 14 years ...

Over the last two to three years I have begun to have memory problems. I can't remember when they started, but that is hardly surprising. My son said it started as if someone had flipped a switch, perhaps he is right. I had a computer business. I was writing software for a number of businesses. I also did computer repairs. Many of those involved virus removal and cleaning up Windows to improve performance. My memory became so bad that I would tell someone I would call that afternoon and then forget to go. I would bring a computer back to the office for repair and forget where it came from. This is not the way to run a business. The business languished. I began to wonder if I was developing Dementia or Alzheimer's . I allowed the business to run down to nothing, and began working as a casual bus driver. I could not remember the number of the bus I was driving, but that was OK, it was printed on the bulkhead above my head. The route was on file cards, and the ticketing comput...

In my last post I described the effects of three years of Lipitor on my memory. This event has changed how I think, what I do, how I work. Unfortunately it has caused me to find barriers that are self-created. My mother was poorly educated but very intelligent. She taught me to accept my limitations, but not to invent them. The limitations imposed by struggling to retain vital information for longer than minutes has made me completely re-define my life. Now I discover the limitation was imposed by a drug. The manufacturers of that drug were aware of the problem. They state that they have 145,000,000 YEARS of patient usage from which they gather data. That means that Cholesterol patients have been taking Lipitor for a combined total of 145 Million patient-years. If two percent of patients are suffering memory loss that is a total of 2,900,000 years of misery and suffering spread across patients taking Lipitor. • That is 38,666 lifetimes. • That is 116,000 people taking Lipitor from age ...