Gout

Some of you know that I have had, in the past, several instances of gout. I haven't had an incident since my diet change more than two years ago. Some of you have heard me proudly mention that...but we all know about pride, don't we?

Right now I'm in the second day of a full-blown attack...unless I inadvertently broke a bone in my foot (which, surprisingly enough, I haven't ruled out).

Gout is partially hereditary (pretty much the same thing that causes kidney stones), partially food-related, and partially alcohol-related. It is caused by the formation of uric acid crystals in the joints...usually one at a time and usually in the foot (most often, big toe).

Mention Gout and people that think they know, break into a big smile (just short of laughter). It's not anything close to that smile-provoking image...and quite frankly, I wouldn't wish it on an enemy. For those of you I haven't already bored to tears explaining it to, gout is probably nothing like you imagine (if you have ever heard of it at all)...and mine is atypical. It's actually a progressive form of arthritis. Here's one part of many "official definitions:

Gout is one of the most common forms of arthritis (joint inflammation). It appears as an acute attack often coming on overnight. Within 12-24 hours there is severe pain and swelling in the affected joint. The skin over the joint may be red and shiny.

Gout usually affects only one or two joints at a time - most often the feet and ankles. The ball of the big toe is the commonest site. Without treatment the attack subsides in a week or so and when patients first develop gout there may be intervals of many months or even years between attacks. As time goes by, these tend to become more frequent and more severe and eventually many joints may be involved, sometimes all at the same time. At this stage a state of chronic or continuous joint disease may develop with progressive joint damage, disability and crippling (chronic gout). Gout affects mostly men and is very rare in women until after the menopause when it is quite often seen. (courtesy of Wellington Regional Rheumatology Unit, Hutt Hospital).

In my case, it has most often affected my ankles. I've had it in both...though not at the same time. That would literally leave me fully bed-ridden. Right now the affected area seems to be the bones in the top, middle of my right foot (unless I fractured something kicking one of the brats from upstairs's bike out of my way the other day).

This a picture that doesn't even come close...but the best of several tries before I got really sick of trying.

Sorry about a foot picture...I really don't like feet...not even my own.

I wasn't kidding when I said this is something I wouldn't wish on an enemy. I need a cane just to make what has become a five minute trip to the bathroom. If I need to go more than 20 feet, I will break a sweat from the pain. I have crutches, but try to stay with the cane (anyone that has had to use crutches will understand).

The above was written just a short time after the last post (nice holiday, huh?), but I held it a while to avoid posting faster than most people check. I'm actually much better now (though still limping).

Happy Holidays!

Right-wing Christian "activists" need not shop at this site.

I am referring to Christmas, New Year's, Chanukah (which I am told begins on Christmas day this year), Japanese Shogatstu, etc. and I include Kwanza. If I missed anyone...my apologies.

In the past month or so, I've seen multiple stories from multiple sources (mostly U.S.) dealing with anger over how holiday greetings are delivered (esp. by stores, etc.). I've even seen calls for boycotts. With all that is going on in the world, it seems like a stretch to make an issue over whether a store wishes a "Merry Christmas" or a "Happy Holidays". Most of my Jewish friends and all of my Japanese friends return a "Merry Christmas!" with as much enthusiasm as it was offered, despite the fact they are not Christian

Most of my friends and I laugh at anyone offended by "Happy Holidays!" Even the friends I know that become irritatated over "Merry Xmas" are mostly upset because "Xmas" isn't a word.

My Christian friends realize that as both Christmas and New Year's are holidays, holiday wishes usually include both, so Happy Holidays is not only appropriate, but a lot easier than "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!".

I'll stick with more accurate, shorter, easier and all-inclusive any time. It works from every angle

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

I truly wish each and every one of you the best of whatever you happen to celebrating!!!!!!

Bon Enkai

It's that time again. I can hardly believe it.

Bon Enkai.

It's year-end parties. I kind of had one last Friday/Sat. Note To Self: You are not 23, and drinking all night is a very BAD thing! From Sunday night after dinner I started a 36 hour water fast. As I type this, my liver is thanking me! I haven't done one in a while, and with all the seafood and alcohol I've had in the last week, I was more than due to clean the system (a little).

Taka works in the PR Department of her company. Her job largely involves internal relations. Because of that, she has already had something like four bon enkai's for work...then there's get-togethers with friends. Of course she is much more responsible with hers than I am with mine....I seem to go back and forth between not learning a thing, and learning what little knowledge I have the hard way.

Side joke to anyone Japanese reading this: I eat a lot of myoga!

I'm not much on holidays. Never have been, really. This one is hard to avoid though. The actual holiday is New Year, but companies and friends get together throughout December to celebrate. This time of year, the last thing you want to do is be on a train any time from 9-12. There are more sloppy drunks than anyone should have to be subjected to (although for some reason I don't seem to mind so much after four hours of drinking). Trips to the store by bicycle after 9ish, can be kind of dangerous. There are more than a few drunk drivers (bike riders, pedestrians, etc.) out there. Several thousand pounds of steel handled erratically and bicycles, no matter how vigilantly handled, are just not a combination that works well.

There is another year-end tradition in Japan that I am planning to follow (construction companies willing). Year-end cleaning. It's like Spring cleaning in the States. The idea is that you should start the new year out fresh and clean of everything from the past year. A sensible tradition, but a bit colder than the whole Spring-cleaning thing. The scaffolding is finally down, but there are still people all over the building doing this and that. I've even been able to open my curtains for the first time in six weeks. Now it's time to start getting the place in order for the new year.

The new year from the first to the third is the biggest holiday of the year in this country. I'll talk about that in another post.

Cell Phones

Cell phones are an incredible phenomenon in Japan these days.

It's not just talking on them, it's text messaging and e-mail. It's become very much of an addiction for more people than is believable. A potentially life-threatening addiction, at that. Depending on the time of day, I would say that easily more than a quarter of all people I see driving a car are either talking on or in some way using their cell phone as they drive down the road (there are times when that is closer to half...or more). The number of people using their phones (as much e-mail as speaking) while walking can go even higher than that (again depending on location and time of day). There are also a surprising number of people that are reading or writing e-mail on their phones while riding their bicycles!

I don't like phones much. I never have. They have their uses, esp. living as far from most of my family and more than a few friends as I do. Even so, I'm on the phone less than the average guy in my situation. I like cell phones even less. In addition to just not esp. liking talking on the phone, mine has allowed me to be even dumber than I once was. I remember a time when I knew every phone number of friends and family...and most of those used on a regular basis. Right now, I just use speed dial...and don't even remember my own number. Cell phones are moderately convenient from time to time, but I might not even have one if it weren't for work. My cell phone is absolutely essential to my job. For this reason (among others, to be sure), I now have a garunteed space reserved in the fifth level of Hell.

My cell phone died Sunday. Saturday night at nine it worked fine. Sunday morning it was just a piece of plastic.

On Monday it turned out to be necessary to take a one hour trip to wait four hours for someone to tell me, "Your phone is broke." They claimed it was moisture damage. It was never wet. It wasn't hot enough for perspiration. I didn't drop it. They offered the lame excuse that maybe condensation from having it outside in the cold and bringing it into a warm room may have been enough to damage it. Somehow, they actually thought it was a valid argument that their phone couldn't handle being outside on a night not even cold enough to snow and brought into an apartment that wasn't all that warm. The phone wasn't even two years old.

I'm basically screwed. I learned my lesson long ago to back up everything on my computer with some regularity, but didn't really think all that much about backing up what was on my cell phone. NTT can't (or won't, if one of my engineer friends is to be believed) recover my directory. I have lost so many business contact numbers I could cry. I made a backup list about six or seven months ago (and can't even find that), but anything newer than that is gone. NTT will send me a list of all my out-going calls for the last three months, but all the important numbers were incoming calls. The directory was more important than both of those combined though.

It gets better...

The law changes next year (I think...too late to be useful to me in any case), but right now, changing cell phone companies means changing phone numbers...and the wonderful people at Docomo reminded me of that at least fifteen times. I will now need to change my business cards (I'm rather attached to mine, and they aren't cheap), send out something like 75-100 notification letters (twice, since the letters are so important that I can't wait for the business cards to be finished...that'll be about 100-200 hours of my time, since most of my business contact was by phone).

There is a little light in this disaster in that it will force me to get in touch with more than a few agencies and clients I haven't heard from or been in touch with for some time....still, it didn't stop me from screaming at the construction idiots this morning. Five weeks, seven days a week and they might be done by the end of the year according to what is becoming daily updates in the mailbox. The fifth level of Hell has an invitation with my name on it.