Category: Daily Life

Ramblings, often stream of conscious, journaling the events of my life.

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How to tell you aren’t as young as you used to be

While donating blood, you ask, "So, do I get a prostate exam with this?"

I’ve had several people explain the difference between prostrate and prostate and the typo has been corrected. I also now understand why when I ask for a prostrate massage, I get a back rub.

Update: For the record, I didn’t really ask if a prostate examine was included. I did ask if they performed a PSA blood test. Medic does PSA tests once a year during their September blood drive.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by cells of the prostate gland. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in the blood. The doctor takes a blood sample, and the amount of PSA is measured in a laboratory. Because PSA is produced by the body and can be used to detect disease, it is sometimes called a biological marker or a tumor marker.

It is normal for men to have a low level of PSA in their blood; however, prostate cancer or benign (not cancerous) conditions can increase a man’s PSA level.

[Source, National Cancer Institute, Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Test]

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DomesticPsychology.com url shortener

I’m a strong believer in owning your content. URL shorteners like http://bit.ly/ and http://3.ly/ bother me in that if the business changes or goes under, your short links die. http://3.ly for instance has been acquired or changed to http://qr.net which I still feel was a bad business move. If the business becomes unethical, they could sell your short links to redirect your traffic elsewhere. So, just like I believe you should view Facebook and Twitter as temporary places for content (much like a bulletin board on a college campus) and instead host your own site like http://domesticpsychology.com/blog/ (much more like a library or museum…and yes I know Twitter gets archived at the Library of Congress), I believe you should own your own url shortener.

Anyhow, to live by my own words, I thought I’d buy Cathy a domain for her own url shortener for DomesticPsychology.com. My first thought was http://dp.me After two cups of coffee, I rethought that one. I’d say I am not sure Cathy would want to direct people to http://dp.me but then again I haven’t ever broached the subject 🙂

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Veg-o-rama is closed

Knoxville is hard on restaurants. Seems like we close them as fast as new ones open. Today I tried to take a friend to Veg-o-rama for lunch only to find the door locked (had to ask myself if today was Monday) and a KUB door tag blowing down the street. If you’ve never had the displeasure of receiving a KUB door tag, it’s basically a notice that if you don’t pay your bill by 5pm that your utilities will be turned off. The Time Warp Tearoom says they’ve been locked up for about two weeks.

To the best of my knowledge, Veg-o-rama was Knoxville’s only true vegetarian restaurant and introduced me to a variety of delicious entrees I presumed not achievable in a vegetarian dish. From their website:

Welcome to Veg-O-Rama, Knoxville, Tennessee’s only full-service vegetarian restaurant and bar. Our eclectic menu features daily specials based on as much local and organic produce as we can source. We also feature regular menu items like the Veggie Burger, Chili Dogs, and the Getting-to-be-Famous Tofu Reuben that are available all the time.

[veg-o-rama.com]

Veg-o-rama was staffed by wonderful, friendly people. The atmosphere was inviting and accommodated conversation between diners. Additionally, Veg-o-rama added to the developing character of Central Avenue which holds promise of developing into a quaint community. I hope they are simply going through a rough patch and reopen soon but I presume the worst. So, what are your favorite places to each vegetarian in Knoxville?

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What’s up with Doug?

2011 was supposed to be the year of "no." I was going to take on little to no new work or volunteer activities (granted, I juggled many more events than normal but that was a blast!) Quite simply, I wanted a year to regroup, simplify, finish off some projects, and make a fresh start in 2012. I’ve mostly done just that. I’m getting my ps and qs in order. I’m evaluating past behaviors and business practices and planning for future improvements.

Has it worked? Well, the house and family I’ve ignored in the name of paying bills is getting more attention (at least for the moment). But like a gas expands to fill a void, so does life expand to fill the time. One of my mantras is "you don’t have time, you make time." Fewer to-dos does not mean more time. So although long overdue personal projects are nearing completion, others are moving in to fill the void. Where’s that leave my head? I’d like to fall off the grid and go to Sedona for a few weeks. But then again, another side of me wants to fully immerse myself into work and do a 48 hour launch of a company. I suppose I’ll end up somewhere in the middle.

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Thought of the day

Hey! I bought a lottery ticket last night. I wonder if I’m rich.

I played bingo once in Dallas, TX. What I learned was that you might have a winning card but because of the pace of the game, or trying to play too many cards at once, you can overlook the win and give the game away to someone else. So it begs the question, how many times do people buy winning lottery tickets and never check them? I’m not talking necessarily about the jackpot. When millions of dollars go unclaimed, that tends to make the news; but the occasionally win that is not the jackpot could go overlooked. What if I’m sitting on a $200,000 ticket? Wouldn’t my day be a little less stressful, if I knew?

The odds of that being a winning ticket are slim to none. However, the thrill of the possibility of being a winner is well worth the $1 and well worth delaying a glance at the ticket just a while longer.