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@ Hants
Any specific measurements?
Hants
If you have chronic pain you could use more mustard and curry as these products contain tumeric, which is known to be used for pain by alternative practitioners. As Hants mentioned, we often use tumeric to add colour and flavor to our pepper sauce.
Tumeric has as part of its chemical structure the phenyl ring that is found in pain killers. This is probably why it helps relieve pain, I got good results with one patient who was having problems with the popular pain killers. Chap boiled piece in some water. Said it didnt aste good though LOL
de hood
Reiter”s sounds “interesting”. But you probably don’t have that. The boys down there would have got that diagnosis
The manifestations of Reiter’s or reactive arthritis include a combination of three seemingly unlinked disorders: an inflammatory arthritis of large joints, often including the spine; inflammation of the eyes in the form of (conjunctivitis or uveitis); and urethritis in men or cervicitis in women. A useful mnemonic is “the patient can’t see, can’t pee, can’t bend the knee” or “can’t see, can’t pee, can’t climb a tree.” Not all affected persons have all manifestations, and the formal definition of reactive arthritis is the occurrence of otherwise unexplained noninfectious inflammatory arthritis combined with urethrits in men or cervicitis in women.
Reactive arthritis is an RF-seronegative, HLA-B27-linked spondyloarthropathy (autoimmune damage to the cartilages of joints) often precipitated by genitourinary or gastrointestinal infections. The most common triggers are sexually transmitted chlamydial infections and perhaps, less commonly, gonorrhea; and Salmonella, Shigella, or Campylobacter intestinal infections.
Reactive most commonly strikes individuals aged 20–40, is more common in men than in women, and is more common in white men than in black men. This is owing to white individuals’ being more likely to have tissue type HLA-B27 than black individuals.
There is a lot of talk these days about “fibromyalgia”. Note that you don’t have to present like a “true”f/ myalgia patient to have the diagnosis. I understand that this diagmosis is commonly used up here for many unexplained maladies
@ de hood,
I add a 60 gram package of tumeric to a 10fl. oz bottle of Windmill pepper sauce.
I will experiment by adding some curry powder and mustard.
If it taste ok I will call it GP enhanced pepper sauce. lol
Hants,
In Biblical days the medicinal use of alcohol was common (I Tim 5:23, Luk 10:34)… a sedative/anti-depressant for the terminally ill and mentally distressed… it was also given to prisoners before execution… it was offered to Jesus just before and immediately after being nailed to the cross (Mt 27:34, 48).
Anyway, the key is moderation… as a forefather of GP’s chosen profession once said… ‘sola dosis facit venenum’.
@ de hood,
Did your doctors check your transferrin saturation?
Hood
I believe that the BU consulting doctor would do very well in the East. He gives his advice for free… and in East like everywhere else, good diagnosticians are very rear…
I must tell my family and my intelligent agent about this GP, they have little faith in Western know how but he may want to take our geo-political business of free heath care from us…no? He is a danger..no?
@ BAFBFP
It’s not so much that the doc is dispensing some free medical advice or that I am sneaking some free advice as much as that he is trying to help a brother to solve a medical puzzle. Who knows, maybe he might be on to discovering a brand new syndrome and have it named after him. 🙂
Does your statement signify that you would refuse to offer a helping hand to a brother. 🙂
@ MME
I guess you are referring to hemochromatosis when you say “check transferrin saturation”?
@ Doc GP
What do you have to say regarding the suggestion by MME?
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
From MME:- “Did your doctors check your transferrin saturation?”
I dont think you are sneaking some free advice Hoodie. Your situation is an interesting challenge to me. Perhaps you might list the symptoms in a little more detail
I think MME is just joking, man. Suggesting that you have a haematological problem secondary to alcohol abuse. LOL I doubt you have hemochromatosis
@ Doc GP
You seem to know me better than I thought. You are correct in ruling out any complaint related to alcohol. As you would be more than a little aware, Doc, us LDS peeps do not imbibe any alcohol not even for sacramental purposes. 🙂 We adhere to a code of health as far as is possible (except for me and my C.Cola). 🙂
Would you receptive to e-mails from me?
You could write me at lswiltshire@hotmail.com
Put dehood in the subject line
@ Dr. GP
Have you considered old age and probably lack of exercise? Maybe the Hood is sleeping improperly. Sometimes I wake up in the night with pain in my elbows and once I change my position I usually go back to sleep. At other times I just shove the offending limb under a pillow and it either goes away, or I fall asleep.
Apart from acetomenaphen, is the Hood on any medicaments? If so, these may be the cause of his pains (muscular).
I understand that there is ‘coca’ in coca cola. Maybe the body is addicted and needs more of its fix. The pain in joints and muscles are symptomatic of that experienced by drug addiction and withdrawal. The only downside is that with addicts increasing the intake usually alleviates the symptoms.
LOL GP… haemochromatosis is usually hereditary, but it sounds like you and de hood’s doctors have already ruled that one out.
Georgie P:
As one Georgie to another I have a lot of bone to pick with you regarding your “pussy footing” comments! And now you mention it, where can I find your “Georgie bundle” in LSWiltshire@hotmail.com? And, just in case any blogger is uncomfortable with my reference to “pussy” as in footer, here is an explanation for a somewhat involved metaphor liking abstemism to hidden agendas, here is the result of my elrctronic search:
“Ted Nesbitt
From “The Oxford English Dictionary” —
. intr. To tread softly or lightly to avoid being noticed; to proceed warily; to conceal one’s opinions or plans; to behave evasively or timidly. Also with it.
1903 Atlanta Constitution 20 Mar. 3 Vice President Charles Warren Fairbanks is pussy-footing it around Washington. 1916 [see PUSSYFOOT n. 1]. 1918 C. SANDBURG Cornhuskers 73 Who pussyfoots from desk to desk with a speaking forefinger? 1928 Observer 5 Feb. 18/1 While most papers are still ‘pussy-footing’ on the Presidency they called their editors together and afterwards announced a unanimous decision. 1931 E. THOMPSON Farewell to India 203 Trying to coax a horse to wait while I pussy-footed up to him. 1934 D. L. SAYERS Nine Tailors III. ii. 286 When I got out through the porch, I had to pussyfoot pretty gently over that beastly creaking gravel. 1949 Time 9 May 25/2 The ones who pussy~footed, side-stepped, straddled, carried water on both shoulders and compromised were left at home. 1951 E. PAUL Springtime in Paris viii. 155, I saw you pussyfooting around the exhibition. 1973 Times 16 Oct. 6/6 A Labour Government should not ‘pussyfoot around’ with reform of the Official Secrets Act but scrap it. 1975 B. WOOD Killing Gift (1976) IV. i. 129 Why do you pussy~foot, captain?.. Why not just say ityou think Jennifer Gilbert killed him. 1977 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXV. 626/1 We have ‘pussy-footed’ round this issue of profit for years. 1980 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 29 Mar. 937/1 It is time someone was honest enough to stop pussyfooting about.
2. [f. PUSSYFOOT n. 2.] trans. To render teetotal; to impose prohibition on. rare.
1921 [implied in PUSSYFOOTING vbl. n.].
So pussyfooting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1921 Q. Rev. Jan. 100 The tyranny that would ensue from the Pussy-footing of Canada is too horrible to contemplate. 1928 Collier’s 29 Dec. 38/1 The wrappings which..the pussy-footing politicians impose upon a candidate. 1956 G. P. KURATH in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 107/2 Certain qualities seem to predominate… These are whole-bodied movements,..dynamics from pussy footing to violent acrobatics, rhythmic complexity. 1974 J. CLEARY Peter’s Pence vi. 187 Authority had been given to the pussyfooting amateur..and nothing had gone right. 1976 Times 16 Feb. 8/7 In the face of political dogma, ‘pussy-footing’ and ill-informed decision making, is Mr Laker downhearted? 1977 Time 8 Aug. 1/1 To hell with what timid, pussy-footing diplomats think!”
But, as Chairman of the BAMCL, which has a very large accumulated deficit, and whose future may involve greater emphasis on the production of alcohol from fermentables (cane juice), we have to work out the economics of drinking vs. driving. So while I support drinking in moderation, I am undecided what to say to a recovering alcoholic who tells me that he is not drinking anymore …or any less.
As a biblical scholar would you not agree that the essential message of the Better Book regarding “spirituous” substances, is not against them, per se, but against users and use?
Anyway, my final advice is that if you must go around pussy footing, be sure that you are well sheathed!
My goodness, is this what happens when one can’t sleep? It makes one wonder at the type of pussy footing being engaged in to result in such nocturnal emissions.
George Reid wrote
“But, as Chairman of the BAMCL, which has a very large accumulated deficit, and whose future may involve greater emphasis on the production of alcohol from fermentables (cane juice).”
Same one trick pony again.
Why don’t you focus on mekkin people (like me) put rab land (wink wink) back into production of food to reduce the import bill?
Why don’t you create a strategy that will increase the production of fruit and vegetables for local consumption?
Why don’t you help the goat,cow,chicken and pig farmers to produce more for local consumption?
Wanna big ups wid degrees, masters, mistresses, an phds, can guh to Toronto, New York or weh Georgie Porgie duz live fuh wanna $100 steaks.Wanna got money to burn.
Barbados needs to produce food for security and to reduce the import bill.
Hants:
We all know there is enough land still left to support us in a crisis.
But who amongst us is willing to work it?
We’ve sent home the willing.
Our ethic is now why farm, when we can steal produce with impunity.
Time will tell if this policy is sustainable, personally I doubt it.
This lawlessness, unless nipped in the bud now, will progress, as conditions deteriorate, into the law of the jungle, and by then it will be too late.
@Straight Talk,
I hope we have leadership in Barbados with the political will to stop the lawlessness.
Stealing a mango from a farmer is the same as stealing a pack of biscuits from a supermarket. Tiefing is thiefing.
@ Hants // July 25, 2010 at 3:16 PM
@Straight Talk,
I hope we have leadership in Barbados with the political will to stop the lawlessness.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Hants, you like you living in a “Wonderland” like little Alice.
Man, the leaders we got down hey can’t even stop one anedder from tiefing much less to stop others from doing it also!! 🙂
Yuh leff yuh self open fuh dah one!
@ Doc GP
Ok, Doc, I’ll get a together a fairly comprehensive list of symptoms and send you an e-mail message.
@George Reid,”But, as Chairman of the BAMCL, which has a very large accumulated deficit, and whose future may involve greater emphasis on the production of alcohol from fermentables (cane juice), ”
As with Hants, I will take umbrage with this one, because there are many points that this sprout from this.
Firstly, what is the purpose of the BAMCL? To generate agricultural production, assist in improving distribution of local product and hence improve release of products from farmers, or to make a profit per se?
Your comments on the state of the BAMC is not a concern per se, to me my concern is whether the farmers themselves, who employ workers, who make local products that reduce the need for imports and hence foreign exchange, are making a profit and are ‘safe’.
To worry whether the BAMC is making a profit per se, merely generates a quesiton whether the BAMC is a suitable organisation in the first place.
From a national standpoint, the most important questions are:
– are we producing a substantial amounts of local foods, including meats, vegetables and starches, locally?
– are the farmers in whom we have vested this important task and whom have takien up the gauntlet, making a profit and are they able to maintain a sustainable environment for their activity?
– are our efforts saving a substantial amount of foreign exchange?
– are we able, via this mechanism of assistance to farmers, to assure ourselves that in the event of a world emergency, that we will be assured of food for our populace?
Those are the only four relevant quesitons and our national policies and legislation should be focused on achieving these results.
Unless you wish to be dependent, even more so, on imports and the ‘great corporations’.
@GP,
Doc, in your opinion, is addiction to alcohol more of a physical cause or an emotional one?
Does alcohol have the same dependency effects that the ‘harder’ drugs such as cocaine have, or is the ‘attachment’ more of an emotional ‘hide’ from reality?
Or is Dr Reid just another sugar baby, where nothing else matters?
Please tell us about the schemes and incentives you have put in place to approach food security.
@George Reid / ST,
As for the potential for a world emergency, may ‘seem’ a way away, but you did of course hear Castro’s warning a few weeks ago that a nuclear war (USA/ North Korea) was pending.
Since then, both the USA & South Korea / North Korea have been ‘posturing, no to mention reported threat of nuclear attack by North Korea?
May seem posturing, but be aware of two things. One, that Castro, is no fool. Two, that he has more information, much more, than you and I.
Finally, I ask not whether a major world crisis will come, for it will, but whether one is currently being ‘engineered’, on multiple fronts.
And by whom?
Answer me George, what concrete proposals has your board put in place to address our current predicament.
If none, why not?
I note your previous disagreement with DLP policy over the Guyanese, and support your position wholeheartedly, but what is the end game in your opinion for our agriculture.
The reference to George Reid in his capacity as Chair of BAMCL reminded BU of a concern which we detected on the How About Export Barbados blog. The comments by Dr. George R and James Paul MP CEO of Barbados Agricultural Society gave the impression that they are impotent in how to tackle the issue of moving agriculture forward in Barbados. A little off topic but an important matter.
Crusoe:
Remember The Maine.
Pearl Harbour.
The Gulf of Tonkin.
9/11.
WMD.
and now the Cheonan.
Get with it, if the US wants to kick ass, no price is too great.
@ Doc GP
Ok, Doc, I have sent the e-mail message as mentioned. I hope that you will be able to get it opened as I sent it as an attachment. Let me know if you there are any problems re getting it opened.
Crusoe
In my opinion, addiction to alcohol is physical, emotional and chemical.
I think that alcohol has the same dependency effects that the ‘harder’ drugs such as cocaine have, and that the ‘attachment’ is probably just as much an emotional ‘hide’ from reality?
de hood
Re I’ll get a together a fairly comprehensive list of symptoms and send you an e-mail message. On receipt, I will have a go at it; but I will not promise that I am better than my colleagues at home.
George Reid
Re As a biblical scholar would you not agree that the essential message of the Better Book regarding “spirituous” substances, is not against them, per se, but against users and use?
I think that there is much merit in your opinion Sir. I however, employ it for dermatological applications, rather than for gastric lavage LOL
Pat
You have put forward some interesting ideas for consideration in the mystery of the arthralgic HOOD
old age
lack of exercise
sleeping improperly / poor position while sleeping
medicaments
addiction to ‘coca’ in coca cola
drug addiction and withdrawal with respect to chemicals in coca cola
I like your approach to the problem We can probably eliminate “sleeping improperly / poor position while sleeping” since he also has pain at other times of the day not related to sleep. However, I had a chiropractor explain to me that massaging of muscles that have gone into spasm can cause mal alignment of joints with accompanying pain. In such cases the routine drug tests and xrays would all be normal
Whereas many things deteriorate with age, we cant write of people or problems to old age. At the first post mortem I witnessed, the pathologist shook his head in wonder, because he could find no abnormality in any of the tissues sectioned from the deceased- who was 80 years ago.
That is not to say that we cant give out BU David, BT Hants and others as “out old age!” LOL If you appeal the umpire will give out these guys LOL
We need a proper history to evaluate your list though. We cant write of de Hood yet cause he has not given us a proper history. He might just need some WD40. LOL
@ de Doc
“We cant write of de Hood yet cause he has not given us a proper history. He might just need some WD40”
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
Bin dere, dun dat! 🙂
@Hoadie
Have you reached out to complementary medicine?
Micro Mock Engineer wrote at July 24, 2010 at 11:17 PM
LOL GP… haemochromatosis is usually hereditary, but it sounds like you and de hood’s doctors have already ruled that one out.
But MME I am sure that , unlike most on BU, you know that though often hereditary, haemochromatosis or haemosiderosis also refers to cases of iron overload originating from a metabolic disorder. I am sure too that you know that the term haemochromatosis or haemosiderosis is generally used to indicate the pathological effect of iron accumulation in any given organ, which mainly occurs in the form of haemosiderin.
So do you think that the Hb would be raised in these patients or low?
Seeing that the Hb is one of the first tests done on all patients, It would seem that de hood’s doctors most probably ruled out haemochromatosis very early, based on the Hb levels they found, and based on the truth that “common things are common”. After all this disease is not common in Bim.
Hence I came to the reasonable conclusion that your request for transferring levels was due to the fact that you were joking and suggesting that de hood has a haematological problem secondary to alcohol abuse………seeing that alcohol is the topic But we could consider haemochromatosis or haemosiderosis briefly for completion.
David
You cant comment, man
You have been given out man! LOL
Out old age LOL Murdah
Even the third umpire say so LOL
@GP /David / Hood,
You have lost me, who is the ‘3rd umpire….’ac’ or ‘J’…
To be strong in conviction and make a good decision, the ‘third umpire’ must have inspected the ‘action’ in detail…..
😉
Then, must also have discounted such things as the ‘blue pill’ to make an unbiased assessment…
lol
After reading the responses to what I said about the future direction, if any, of BAMCL’s productive activities, and the ab hominem comments regarding my role as Chairman of the BAMCL, I am reminded of the statement that when you are up to your ass in alligators is not a good time to remember that your reason for going into the swamp was to drain it.
However, I have taken note of the concerns of bloggers, although some of them emanate from a fundamental misunderstanding of BAMCL’s role. And to David’s additional off topic comment about being impotent to move anything forward, I shall just say that he is being tautological. I wonder what condition enables a person to move things backward, or do you just need a reverse gear.
Mr Crusoe Sir,
This is a medical blog not a legal one. So we dont need all that ipso fact info on the sentence the unpire put pun de BU editor, man. You begging fuh he or what?LOL
And why are you only giving he out in one facet of the game? LOL He say he cant olay 20/20, he only playing test matches now. Murdah.
“Hence I came to the reasonable conclusion that your request for transferring levels was due to the fact that you were joking and suggesting that de hood has a haematological problem secondary to alcohol abuse………seeing that alcohol is the topic”
……………………
@ GP… logical conclusion 🙂
Of course you are also correct that the disease is not common in Bim. It is however the most common genetic disorder among Caucasians… with highest prevalence among those with anglo-celtic ancestry… like the real-real Robin Hood LOL
Re: “So do you think that the Hb would be raised in these patients or low?”
… low Hb levels may be indicative of an iron deficiency, however the reverse is not true i.e. iron overload does not necessarily cause polycythemia… many people with the disease have a normal Hb level.
MME
I have no idea of the ethnicity of de Hood, or how long he has been in the care of physicians. I just started looking at this thing in a vacuum for the fun of it I have not seen him or examined him or know his ethnicity or history
I agree with you that iron overload does not necessarily cause polycythemia and it is possible to have a normal Hb in haemochromatosis.
The point I was making is that with a patient with arthritis and a normal Hb I would not jump to do transferrin levels initially. Since“common things are common” I suspect that my colleagues began just as I did. That being said, since the disease is so uncommon in Bim, I suspect that his doctors have probably never seen a case in their training or practice , putting the likelihood of that diagnosis way out of their thinking. Referral to a Haematologist might very well cause the penny to drop.
However, you seem to know that de Hood is Causasian (which I don’t), so I see where you are coming from now. I think that you should see where I was coming from initially too, when I honestly thought you were joking in the light of the fact that we were talking initially about alcohol
@ Doc GP
It may have slipped your notice but I did mention in my initial e-mail that I am considered “bajan white”. I use the term intentionally because as I have mentioned in other comments elsewhere that as far as I am concerned there are no “pure” whites/blacks in Bim in this day and age. 🙂
I do not mean to be offensive. However, should this occur I make no apologies.
@ GP
With my above comment in mind would you suggest a check of the iron levels of the blood.
THE THREE WISE MEN
Johnny
Jim
Jack
I was wondering when yuh all was going to figure out that George Reid isA Big Gas Bag .What are the odds he can be cured. Blows lot of hot air too. He has be saying the same sh…t for years and no one has listened because it doesn’t add up to a hill of beans. Nobody listened then.! What a pussy!
@Wuhloss, as the great Viv says ‘keep on walking…’
@ac, you coming in with some fiery pace, you is like Malcolm Marshall today, wicked bouncer, yuh!
@ac, by the way, that last phrase should not be used there, it is normally reserved for one of the finer things in life….;-)
@ Crusoe
Thanks Crusoe. I was going to admonish ac for using that statement. Poets have written odes on the pussy. I can turn a phrase or two myself.
Those of us who spend much time in a doctor’s office should appreciate this! Doesn’t it seem more and more that physicians are running their practices like an assembly line? Here’s what happened to Bubba:
Bubba walked into a doctor’s office and the receptionist asked him what he had. Bubba said: ‘Shingles.’ So she wrote down his name, address, medical insurance number and told him to have a seat.
Fifteen minutes later a nurse’s aide came out and asked Bubba what he had.
Bubba said, ‘Shingles.’ So she wrote down his height, weight, a complete medical histor y and told Bubba to wait in the examining room.
A half hour later a nurse came in and asked Bubba what he had. Bubba said, ‘Shingles.’ So the nurse gave Bubba a blood test, a blood pressure test, an electrocardiogram, and told Bubba to take off all his clothes and wait for the doctor.
An hour later the doctor came in and found Bubba sitting patiently in the nude and asked Bubba what he had. Bubba said, ‘Shingles.’ The doctor asked, ‘Where?’
Bubba said, ‘Outside on the truck. Where do you want me to unload ’em??’
One favorite argument of young men in reference to the use of intoxicating drink is, “When I find out that it is doing me an injury, then I will give it up.” That is making an admission and coming to a conclusion.
The admission is true; the conclusion is false. You admit it may injure you, and when it has injured you, then you will quit it. You won’t use such an argument in reference to any other matter. “I will put my hand into the den of a rattlesnake, and when I find out that he has stuck his fangs into me I will draw it out and get it cured as quickly as possible.” There is no common sense in that.
Young men, beware of this thing, because it is a snare. It is fearfully deceptive. Every man who drinks intends to be a moderate drinker. I have said this over and over again, because I believe it to be important. Every man who becomes intemperate does so by a course of argument from the beginning all the way down to ruin. Young men, you say, “When I find out that it is injuring me, then I will give it up.” Is that sensible?
I once heard of a pilot who said he could pilot a vessel into Boston Harbor. “Now,” said he to the captain, “I’ll stand ‘midships, and you can take the helm. I know every rock in this channel – every one of ’em – I know ’em all, and I’ll give you warning.” By and by the vessel struck upon a rock, and the shock threw everybody down upon the deck. The poor pilot got up, rubbing himself, and said, “Captain, there’s one of ’em.”
Now we say to young men, “There ‘s one of them. Hard up your helm before you strike!” That is sensible. If you have struck, haul off and repair damages, and then strike again. Is that sensible? In time the poor old battered hulk will not bear any more damages, and men will bury you, a broken wreck. That is the end of it in many cases. “When I find out that it is injuring me, then I will give it up.” Gather all the drunkards of this country together, and ask them every one, “Are you drinking enough to injure you?” A large proportion will declare that they are not. Each one of them has become a drunkard in the sight of God and man before he has become one in his own estimation.
Intoxicating drink is deceptive in its very nature. It reminds me of the fable of the serpent in a circle of fire. A man was passing by, and the snake said to him, “Help me out of my difficulty.” “If I do, you’ll bite me.” “Oh, no, I won’t.” “I’m afraid to trust you,” “Help me out of the fire, or it will consume me, and I promise on my word of honor I won’t bite you.” The man took the snake out of the fire, and threw it on the ground. Instantly the serpent said, “Now I’ll bite you.” “But didn’t you promise me you wouldn’t?” “Yes, but don’t you know it’s my nature to bite, and I cannot help it.” So it is with the drink. It is its nature to bite; it is its nature to deceive.
Young men say (and I have heard them more than once) that they “must sow their wild oats.” Remember this, young gentlemen, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” If you sow corn, you reap corn. If you sow weeds, you reap weeds. If you sow to the flesh, you will of the flesh reap corruption. But if you sow to the spirit, you will of the spirit reap life everlasting. Ah, young men, look at that reaping, and then contemplate the awful reaping of men to-day who are reaping as they have sown, in bitterness of spirit and anguish of soul. “When I find out that it is injuring me, Then I will give it up.”
Surely that is not common sense. Such is the fascination thrown around a man by the power of this habit, that it must have essentially injured him before he will acknowledge the hurt and consent to give it up. Many a man has been struck down in his prosperity, has been sent to prison for crime, before he acknowledged that his evil habit was injuring him. I remember riding from Buffalo to Niagara Fails, and I said to a gentleman, “What river is that, sir?” “That,” he said, “is Niagara River.” “It is a beautiful stream,” said I, “bright, smooth, and glassy; how far off are the rapids?” ” Only a few miles,” was the reply. “Is it possible that only a few miles from us we shall find the water in the turbulence which it must show when near the rapids?” “You will find it so, sir.” And so I found it, and that first sight of Niagara Falls I shall never forget. Now, launch your bark on that river; the water is smooth, beautiful, and glassy. There is a ripple at the bow of your boat, and the silvery wake it leaves behind adds to your enjoyment. You set out on your pleasure excursion. Down the stream you glide; oars, sails, and helm in proper trim. Suddenly some one cries out from the bank, “Young men, ahoy!”
“What is it?”
“The rapids are below you.”
“Ha, ha! we have heard of the rapids, but we are not such fools as to get into them. When we find we are going too fast, then we shall up with the helm and steer to the shore; we will set the mast in the socket, hoist the sail, and speed to land. Then on, boys, don’t be alarmed, there’s no danger.” “Young men, ahoy there! ” “What is it?” “The rapids are below you.” “Ha, ha? we will laugh and, quaff; all things delight us. What care we for the future? No man ever saw it. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. We will enjoy life while we may; we will catch pleasure as it flies. This is enjoyment, time enough to steer out of danger when we are sailing too swiftly with the current.” “Young men, ahoy!” “What is it?” “Beware, beware! the rapids are below you.” Now you feel them! See the water foaming all around! See how fast you pass that point! Up with the helm! Now turn! Pull hard; quick, quick! Pull for your lives! Pull till the blood starts from the nostrils and the veins stand like whipcord upon the brow. Set the mast in the socket, hoist the sail! Ah, ah, it is too late; faster and faster you near the awful cataract, and then, shrieking, cursing, howling, praying, over you go. Thousands launch their barks in smooth water and realize no danger till on the verge of ruin, boasting all the while to the last, “When I find out that it is injuring me, then I will give it up.” The power of this habit, I repeat, is fascinating, is deceptive, and men may go on arguing and coming to conclusions while on the way down to destruction.
–Taken from Platform Echoes, John B. Gough. Pages 93-97, 1886.
@Since 2006 me and Lord Bacchus had a fight
Who do you think won?
He did and it started wid a rum
Then a vodka and a sprite
Oh shite you know de rest all right?
I cud rite odes to pussy and all o dat
but a sonnet is a sonnet jus stick to the facts
Fourteen lines ain’t enough to tell you bout my trip
Wid da alcohol
Stinking son of a bitch!
@Georgie Porgie
Dem lines fa you. My brother I had my rass full o drinks and trust me when health issues arise you would have already had de drinks.Either way ya can’t win!
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