Stroke Economics 101

Boost stroke care to prevent disability, save billions: report

"Widespread access to stroke care clinics could prevent tens of thousands of strokes and save at least $8 billion in health-care costs over the next 20 years, doctors said Wednesday."

Read more...

I'm currently out of the office, sitting on the couch listening to the dog snore and watching Oprah... (and what do you do on your vacation?)

OUT OF OFFICE AUTO REPLY
BY JIM STALLARD
(thanks McSweeneys!)

I will be out of the office on travel from June 13 through June 21 and from June 23 through June 29, 2006.

I will have e-mail access through my laptop on June 17 from 5:36 a.m. to 5:39 a.m. (GMT), but will be using the bandwidth to download an A-ha ringtone.

My work cell phone (212-555-3285) is in a rented Camry at the bottom of the Delaware River. If you wish to fax me, I suggest allowing yourself ample time to emerge from the cryogenic state.

If this is an urgent matter, my assistant Kelli Browne can be found in the third stall of the 17th-floor women's room trying desperately to locate a fresh vein.

I will be back in the office June 22 from 3:00 a.m. to 4:30 a.m., trying to erase certain financial transactions from my hard drive. From June 22 through June 23, I will be checking my BlackBerry periodically to see whether company accountants have begun to pick up the trail.

On June 24, I will be receiving messages through a dead drop in Washington, D.C. Put masking tape on the front leg of the mailbox on the southwest corner of 37th and Upton Streets, N.W., to alert me, and then write the message on the back of Lincoln's head in the memorial.

From June 25 through June 28, I will be traveling to the homes of various friends, trying unsuccessfully to borrow money, except for June 27, when I will be attending a Bobby Vinton show in Branson, Missouri.

During the afternoon of June 29 through the morning of June 30, I will be crawling through a drainage pipe connecting Chula Vista with Tijuana and will not have good reception.

Beginning July 2, you should be able to reach me through the main switchboard at the minimum-security prison in Texarkana, Texas. My pager (212-555-2946) may be with me, depending on the thoroughness of the cavity search. It will probably take me a while to call back.

If my attorney comes through, I expect to be back in the office at 9 a.m. on July 5. Have a safe holiday!

Heard last Saturday night at the Honest Lawyer in the Ladies Washroom

There is a girl in New York City
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I'm falling, flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Oh, so this is what she means

(Paul Simon "Graceland")

Stroke: Light or Mild? Hardly...

Tipping the Scales of Progress: Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada releases new data and recommendations on tobacco, obesity and disease prevention

"While the Foundation has previously released statistical reports, this is the first edition that combines data and projections with policy recommendations for governments. "

Some of their more interesting recommendations:

• encourage mixed use developments that enable people to walk or bike to a variety of shops and services in their neighbourhoods.
• (tobacco control) elimination of deceptive labeling e.g., "light" and "mild"
• remove sales taxes from restaurant foods that are ‘healthy’
• remove sales taxes from ‘healthy’ food products such as single servings of bottled water, pre-packaged salads and fruit trays in retail stores

June is Stroke Month

Nurses target stroke and hypertension

"Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in Canada, with more than 15,000 deaths every year attributable to this cause. It is also one of the most costly medical conditions, costing the Canadian economy $2.7 billion annually (Health Canada, 1997). (...) Risk factors include obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, hypertension, and the lack of regular physical activity."

Heart and Stroke Foundation: Finding Answers for Life

"Over time high blood pressure can damage blood vessel walls causing scarring that promotes the build-up of fatty plaque, which can narrow and eventually block arteries. It also strains the heart and eventually weakens it. Very high blood pressure can cause blood vessels in the brain to burst – resulting in a stroke."

Do you know the five warning signs of a stroke?

Rob's Story: A Wild Ride

bowl of heaven

100 paper stars
Originally uploaded by Vaguely Artistic.

This reminds me of people I went to elementary and high school with who used to be able to make these things out of the ends of the paper from dot matrix printers. Remember dot matrix printers? But the coloured stars make for a much prettier picture.

You ain't ever gonna burn my heart out

Driving to the chiropractor today, on the way home from work, I got a little sick of the guy subbing for Matt Galloway on CBC and flipped to another station that was playing "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis. God I loved that CD, What's the Story Morning Glory? when I was in university. Those were some songs good songs to sing at the top of your lungs as you pace back and forth on the worn down hardwood waiting for inspiration to strike. Wonder where I put that CD. Wonder if I still have it.

So once upon a time I saw this thing on the National Newsmagazine where Stuart McLean set up shop in some small town fair and offered a nickel for people to tell him a story. Ever since then I feel like that's what I would do with my life if nothing else mattered. In real life you can do a something like it, but there's always the pressure to produce something afterward. Still it has it's pleasures. Lucky for me, I was working on Wednesday morning and had a moment where I thought I was actually doing this very little dream of mine. The boundaries of my job made me hold back a bit--I mean there's only so much info I need to know for this job. But then again, part of what I do is to make connections so I guess it's legit. I just got to spend about 45 minutes asking this guy to tell me whatever life stories he felt like sharing. People like to talk about themselves. Wish we each had more time to listen.

Which reminds me of Radical Careering, a book a picked up while out with Nancy this past weekend. It has a new term-- "The Age of Intensity", defined as:

"The dawning era in which experiences become our most precious commodity. As life compresses around us, our experiences become increasingly finite, and we search for ways to make the most of every moment."

Cheap as it may sound, the most of this moment is contained in the season finale of CSI. All for now.

Another item to consider for the "It's amazing how normal we all turned out to be" file

Cookie Monster searches deep within himself and asks: Is me really a monster?

Counting myself in

No, today is not census day, but it is the day that I completed the census. A bit early. I may be jinxing it. Saying I may be jinxing it may be jinxing it.

Last Thursday we had the employee annual general meeting at work at the keynote speaker was Pinball Clemons. Here is the sum total of what I knew about him before walking into the room:

He has something to do with the Argonauts.
He's short.

I still don't know much more than that, and yet I do know what differentiates him from other rah-rah motivational speakers I've heard before: he actually may be real. I mean he just can't be that good of an actor. And I don't know that he cares enough about what other people think to bother trying to act. "We leave hope to the other team," he says. "We decide to win." Yes, it's a powerful thing to believe in yourself enough to realize that you simply need to decide to make your life count in order for it to happen.

To bad it's such a terrifying decision. And yet it seems all so simple I wonder why it's so scary.

This year I've already discovered that I'm an extrovert after years of believing I was an introvert.

What's next?

Once worked with a guy who named his cat "Dubya". Poor creature. Of course I mean the cat.