Menu

My iMac Is Almost 4

, , ,

Wow, my iMac is almost four years old. Didn’t think it’s been that long and while the screen has gotten bigger in newer iMac models, the overall design has remained the same. I wonder if Apple will unveil a new iMac look this year after the Back to School summer promotion?

If so, I wonder if it’s time to refresh? Everything’s going good but apps like iPhoto are really becoming unresponsive. And the potential for Thunderbolt is alluring.

Getting a Colonoscopy Before 40

,

From MedlinePlus

When you hear colonoscopy does your ass pucker up, even just a little? More thorough than a sigmoidoscopy, a colonoscopy looks at the entire length of your colon. Typically colonoscopies are performed at age 50, recently bumped from a minimum age of 40. So while under 40 years old, what was I doing willingly asking for a probe of my anal innards?

Due to family history and recent medical events in my extended family, it was worthwhile to get answers sooner rather than later. So with that, I visited my primary care physician and requested the procedure. I was told that since I didn’t meet the age minimum, I couldn’t simply request a colonoscopy. But with a family history of polyps and other medical issues at the time, I was referred to a GI doc for a consultation.

With the push for increased awareness of GI ailments, I didn’t realize that colonoscopies are big business and there’s a significant backlog of getting an appointment with a GI doc. I could go to a hospital like Straub or to a private practice like the Pacific Endoscopy Center. The hospital had a shorter wait so I took that route. Even then, the first consultation appointment I could get was six weeks away.

Soon enough, the weeks passed, and there I was talking with the GI doc about why I wanted his tools up my butt. Again with family history, the procedure was approved and could happen as early as a week! So while getting the initial consultation is tough, getting the actual procedure is timely.

To prep for the procedure, I started a low fiber diet five days out. Yep, low fiber, not high fiber as I would have expected. That means no nuts, fresh fruit with peels/skin, or fresh vegetables. It’s almost like the food you’re told to avoid is the only things you can eat during this time. So take advantage and hit up McDonalds, you’ll be safe with their typical fare.

One day before, you go on a strict clear liquid diet which wasn’t too bad after all. Jello, juice, clear broth, soda, coffee, and water can fill you up for one day. Then the real fun begins. It’s time to clean out your entire system by drinking a liquid laxative. Four liters of it! That’s almost one gallon and about 17 cups of fluid. For my afternoon appointment, I had to drink three liters the night prior and the last liter the morning of.

You ever wondered what Gatorade concentrate mixed with sea water tastes like? Wonder no more since that’s what you’ll be drinking (at least what the laxative reminded me of). Fortunately, I picked the orange flavor packet and the smell and aftertaste struck me as orange Gatorade-ish. So while chugging down one cup every 10 minutes, the smell flooded me with old memories playing basketball in the hot Hawaiian sun and quenching my thirst with orange Gatorade. If it weren’t for these fond memories, this laxative preparation would have been way worse.

The first hour started off good, and I tried to drink a bit extra with each cup every 10-15 minutes. The second hour was worse with times increasing to every 15 minutes, and the last hour was really difficult with even more time in between drinks. You have to drink quickly and don’t hold the liquid in your mouth – you’ll spit it out or worse.

Surprisingly, the laxative took some time to kick in and even then, it wasn’t as violent as I feared. Sure, you gotta go, but not uncontrollably. More relief came from finishing drinking the laxative for the night.

The next morning, the last liter went down easily since I was thirsty and hungry, and I knew what to expect. I wasn’t very hungry even though I hadn’t a bite of solid food in over a day. Now for showtime…

In a gown and booties in the hospital, I was connected to oxygen and an IV and given a sedative via the IV. With the sedative taking effect, I felt a cold glop then a few “dips” from the scope, and it was off and exploring. I could watch the display screen but was sleepy from the sedative and didn’t particularly like the the view up my ass so I kinda dozed off. I think when the scope hit a turn in my intestines, the nurse had to roll me and massage my stomach area to clear a path. Your insides don’t feel pain so short of the roto rooter slipping through my anus, I couldn’t feel much. I did feel pressure when air is injected but all things considered, that’s pretty minor.

After 10-15 minutes, it was done! It was fast. Somehow I ended up in a recovery room as the sedative wore off. The room is full of “personal gas” as you’re encouraged to burp and fart as a sign that things are working right internally. You’re in this recovery room longer than the colonoscopy itself as attentive nurses check your status and give you snacks and drinks.

Two hours from check in to check out passed and truthfully, prepping for the colonoscopy was worse than the procedure itself. Really. The next day, I was back to normal for the most part. You can eat as before but your digestive system is a little sensitive after not having anything in it except for the medical scope.

So. There’s my long story about getting a colonoscopy before the age of 40. It was a scary decision to make not knowing what the results would be, but that fear of the unknown was more paralyzing than anything else. Oh yeah, what were the results? A clean bill of colon health!

Style Tips from Bath & Body Works

, ,

Visited the new Bath & Body Works at Ala Moana and like most major retail chain openings in Hawaii, it’s still packed with people. Since shopping for actual Bath & Body products is simply too hard in this crowd, I took some style tips from the store itself.

Nice blue accent in the signage. Recessed lighting above the signage provides emphasis and contrast. Forgot to look what kind of bulbs were used. Probably CFL, not LED.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Yes, the store is still crowded. Moving on… Neutral wood tones and white walls. Combination of recessed and track lighting. The shelves match the white and wood tones.

Hmmm, what kind of flooring is this? A wood laminate? Actual hardwood is probably too expensive.

Oh, Nectar Mint. Sounds like a new scent. With the wide palette of colors throughout the product line, no wonder neutral colors for store hardware are used to minimize contrast.

By the cash register area, the oversized ceiling light fixtures project an amber hue that matches that lighter maple wood. More importantly, I think the lights provide focal points to create queues for each register. The fixture’s round shape helps offset all the square, right angles throughout the store.

I like how these silver capped bottles of colorful Country Chic lotion are on glass shelving near the entrance of the store. The silver and glass is a striking combination and the translucent glass shelves near the entry way lends an open sensation, not building a barrier for incoming shoppers.

Thanks for the styling tips Bath & Body, but now I have a tip for you. I really can’t remember what the Bath & Body shopping bag looks like. With all the shoppers on a scented buying frenzy, memorable shopping bags should be abound as free advertisement ala Apple and Victoria’s Secret. It doesn’t have to be as extreme as Abercrombie & Fitch shopping bags, but you get the idea.

Top Gun Again, 25 Years Later

, ,

So the best of the best is gonna be back here and that means the iconic Top Gun is coming back to the big screen on its 25th anniversary. For one night only, you can catch the larger-than-life Maverick, Iceman, Viper, and Charlie in the movie theaters. So if you got tone, head on over to Consolidated Theatres at Ward on Monday, May 16 where hopefully, the pattern is not full.

Why are you hesitating? Are you waiting for the need for speed? Are you waiting to talk to Goose? Don’t think about it. If you think, you’re dead. Go supersonic and stay with your wingman.

Great balls of fire!!

Comparing LED Flood Lights

,

From incandescent to fluorescent to LED has been my path for recessed lighting. After getting recessed lights, I picked up a box of BR30 incandescents and was happy. I like the warm colors of the incandescent bulbs, but they do produce heat and don’t last very long. Can’t beat these for dimming purposes either.

As the initial incandescents started burning out, I tried CFL bulbs. These are physically bigger to accommodate the swirly CFL inside so they jut out a bit of the recessed can. Fluorescent light is whiter and cooler, but takes some time before the brightness is at its max, and there’s only a slight dim to these dimmable CFLs. Life span is better than incandescents, but I’ve had a few go out already after a year.

Philips bulb already installed

Now up are LED bulbs. These are downright expensive, costing about $30-40 per bulb! But they supposedly last 20+ years. They’re getting more mainstream with bulbs available at Costco and Home Depot. Before fully committing to these, I wanted to try them out and bought a 65-watt Conserv Energy PAR30 LED from Costco and a Philips Ambient LED from Home Depot to compare.

At first glance, the Conserv Energy looks more industrial, almost like a rocket booster ready to launch a Space Shuttle into outer space. The six LED elements are clearly visible surrounded by a metal ring that looks like a computer processor’s heat sink.

Conserv Energy LED
Conserv Energy LED Lit

The Philips Ambient LED also shares an industrial appeal with its metallic frame but thankfully, it’s not so utilitarian and features some style. The light covering is frosted so the LEDs are not so visibly pronounced, and this changes the light dispersement as we’ll soon see.

Philips Ambient LED
Philips Ambient LED Lit

Here are the two lights installed “side by side.” The Philips is the furthest from the smoke detector and the Conserv Energy is next to the detector. Notice the light dispersement of the different bulbs.

LEDs side by side
Light Differences Top (Philips left, Conserv Energy right)

The Philips Ambient LED lives up to its name, dispersing the light over a wider range to provide ambience. The light diffuses near the bulb so it is significantly brighter in the upper regions of a room and fades near the floor. The Conserv Energy has the opposite behavior. Its light is not diffused and is more directed downward so low items are better illuminated. However, this lighting also creates harsh, sharp shadows. Each bulb shines brightly and is painful to look at directly, and unfortunately, these recessed cans don’t have a dimmer so I can’t comment about the dimmability of each.

I’m not sure which bulb I like better. In general, the cast from the Philips Ambient LED is more pleasing to me but the floor area seems a little dark (from a typical 8-ft ceiling). But then again, is illuminating the floor that useful or needed? Maybe it’s time to return both bulbs and keep searching for another LED light bulb.

Going Ghetto at Costco

I admit, I didn’t want to pay up for that issue of Consumer Reports at Costco. I wasn’t interested in the entire issue but just the short reviews about kitchen appliances. So instead, I got ghetto and snapped some pics to refer to.

«‹ 233 234 235 236›»