Posted inLiving with a catheter

Diet could play a role when having a problem inserting a urinary catheter

I've been doing the intermittent urinary catheterization thing five times a day since my bladder became atonic in May 2017, a bit over five years ago.  Or as I like to say, my bladder went on strike back then and hasn't returned to work since. At least, not very well. I can pee some on my own, but not enough to stop using a catheter to empty my bladder. At times I've suffered from some pretty severe anxiety and depression, which I described in an essay 180 Medical asked me to write. I've also wondered whether anyone cares about my…
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Posted inBicycling Salem

A gloriously-written ode to bicycles in The New Yorker

The May 30, 2022 issue of The New Yorker has a terrific book review by Jill Lepore that is a whole lot more than a typical review, since Lepore describes her love affair with bicycles in the course of describing Jody Rosen's "Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle." I encourage you to read the entire piece. But if that link doesn't work for you (I'm a subscriber), here's excerpts from what was called Easy Rider in the print edition, and the title below online. The New Yorker has some of the best writers anywhere. Lepore is…
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Posted inHome life Web/Tech

My email nightmare shows how hooked I am on Gmail

I've got quite a few problems in my life, as do we all. But what sets off a special fear in me is when I get a message from Apple Mail on my MacBook Pro laptop saying something like, "Unable to connect to Gmail. Username or password not recognized." Sometimes the problem is easily fixed by restarting my computer. But a few days ago it was a waking nightmare. Nothing had changed with my Gmail account. I'd simply shut the lid on my laptop, as I do every night before I go to bed, then flipped it open in the…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

Don’t fall for the “copyright violation” Facebook scam

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but for a while today I was taken in by this (now) obvious Facebook scam. My excuse is that I did indeed purchase a Facebook ad/promotion last weekend to support a petition asking the Salem City Council to include in an upcoming $300 million bond measure the Salem Bike Vision proposal for spending $10 million to build a network of protected bike lanes. (Sign the petition! If you're reading this before August 2022.) So my eye was caught by "your ad has been reported," since some commenters on my Facebook post are crazily anti-bicycle, and…
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