Geezer

There are 384 posts filed in Geezer (this is page 14 of 39).

If there’s an economy in your sharing then it’s not really sharing

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

You can say I know a thing or two about sharing. I was open source long before it was cool. I support Wikipedia with not only my money but my photography, which I freely donate to the public domain. Even this blog is licensed under Creative Commons, allowing anyone to take what I’ve made and use it practically any way they choose. So the brouhaha over the “sharing economy” in Raleigh has me puzzled.

I attended what was billed as a “public hearing” on Airbnb Monday night. Fans organized the meeting to make a case for why Raleigh should consider legalizing use of the home-hosting service. Like other cities, Raleigh, they say, needs to embrace the “sharing economy.” I’m friends with many of these folks but I have a different take on this issue.
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Reconnecting with the Digital Connectors

These young people are going to change the world

These young people are going to change the world

Recently I was invited to give another talk to the Raleigh Digital Connectors and I delivered that talk tonight to a roomful of attentive young people at the St. Monica’s Teen Center. My experiences with blogging was again the topic of conversation, so I spent about 45 minutes going over the highlights (and some of the lowlights) of my twelve years of blogging experience.

It’s hard to boil down so many different posts over so many different years so I mentioned some of the posts that got noticed or those that mean a lot to me. I also had fun comparing blogging to Facebook and trying to show that they’re not the same.

Given a little more time, I would have mentioned a few other things, too. Near the conclusion, I was trying to make a point about how I speak my mind here and if you find what I say to offend you then it’s your fault. If you come into my proverbial home, don’t be shocked when you find me being myself. Many of my friends and family find agreement with things I write and many do not. That doesn’t bother me because I feel obligated to the world to always call ’em like I see ’em, regardless of whether my opinions are popular or not. I hope I’ve demonstrated that characteristic throughout my years as a blogger.
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Parks board service is complete

I learned last week that my replacement was finally appointed to the Parks board. Thus, the October meeting I attended was indeed my last one. I was humbled by the kind remarks my fellow boardmembers shared with me. It’s been a great ride, that’s for sure.

I do also want to wish my replacement, Shane Malun, all the best!

Twitches and fatigue

My initial optimism about the magnesium supplements helping with the muscle twitches I’ve had has worn off. The twitching has continued, spread out all over my body now. In fact, one night last week I felt the muscles between my shoulder blades twitch when I was sleeping – waking me up. It’s the biggest damn pain in the ass.

To top it off, we had only walked about the fairgrounds for about an hour before I started feeling very fatigued. I felt like my arm and leg muscles were slow as molasses. It dawned on me that night that I am finally able to effectively define fatigue versus simple tiredness. Fatigue is like tiredness but without the mental urge to sleep. Fatigue is not having any energy while still maintaining the will to do something. The mind is willing but the body unable. It seems that the fatigue that would once make a visit to me for a few weeks every year or so has begun to occur far more frequently and persistently. And it really sucks. I’m tired when I have no right to be and it’s starting to affect my quality of life.

I hope to revist my doctors soon to discuss next steps. This journey is obviously not over yet.

Thomas Crowder

I began this post back on 25 September, the day Thomas Crowder resigned from the Raleigh City Council. I had to stop writing because it felt like an obituary and it was too soon for that. Thomas passed away this afternoon.

Thomas Crowder

Thomas Crowder

I’ve been in a funk for the past few days after hearing that the health of my friend Thomas Crowder has taken a dramatic turn for the worse.

I first met Thomas in person during the 2007 election when he appeared at the League of Women Voters candidate forum. He reminded me a bit of John Wayne, larger than life.

The last time I saw him was about a year ago. We were outside the Raleigh Times one morning when he suddenly stopped speaking and stared at me.
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Fantastic nerves

I got the word back from my neurologist this morning regarding the nerve tests done Tuesday. The doc says my nerves look “fantastic,” so good that we didn’t even have to do the actual EMG test. He suggested I keep up the mineral supplements and he would see me again in a few months.

So, I’m still not completely sure what’s up with the twitches but it doesn’t appear to be nerve damage. Whew!

Part of the puzzle to be revealed?

Tomorrow is when I talk to the neurologist about the results of Tuesday’s test. The doc has initially diagnosed benign fasciculation syndrome. I’m curious to learn whether he maintains his diagnosis tomorrow.

Twitching continues, mainly in my glutes now. My left bicep has been feeling fatigued for two days, too, though I have not done anything strenuous with it.

On another note, I was checking the Gulf War Illness page on Facebook today when a visitor posted about her veteran husband’s cramp fasciculation syndrome:
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Gimmie gimmie shock treatment

Yesterday was my appointment to get an EMG and a nerve conduction study done to find out more about my twitchy legs. The technician’s name was Diane and she had me take off my shoes and socks and lie on the table. Diane asked if I was having twitches now and if they were visible. Unfortunately, none were active that I could point her to (though I noticed them again later on the way home).

She then attached a few electrodes to my ankle area and used what is essentially a cattle prod device to run electric shocks into my muscle while a computer charted the responses.

“This is a little more active than I expected,” I told her, not expecting shocks. “I was thinking this would be more passive.”

“Well, we’ve got to check your muscles’ responses to the electricity,” she responded without looking up.
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A room with a 115,000 volt view

Update 14 Oct: Duke Energy Progress tells me this line is 115,000 volts, not 140,000. Post updated to show the true voltage.

401 Oberlin residents never have to charge their cellphones

401 Oberlin residents never have to charge their cellphones

As I’ve occasionally driven by the new 401 Oberlin apartments at the corner of Oberlin Road and Clark Avenue, I’ve begun to notice just how frighteningly close the building is to a high-voltage transmission line paralleling it on Clark Avenue. High voltage lines pulsing with electricity in the neighborhood of 115,000 volts are less than two dozen feet away from the top floor of this building. Scary thought. It’s something that is conspicuously absent from their fancy building renderings, I’ve noticed.

Twenty years ago I rented an apartment with my brother and friend on Thea Lane in southwest Raleigh that was located about 50 feet under the 115Kv transmission lines that run alongside the Beltline. I never thought much about it until the day I was adjusting my tape deck (remember those?), getting ready to record a CD. When I bumped up the gain slightly on my tape recorder, I was surprised to hear an unexpectedly loud hum coming through the tape heads! Yikes! I wasn’t going to wait around for science’s definitive answer on the possible dangers of electrical field exposure, I was ready to get out of there!

Now look at 401 Oberlin, which is twice as close to power lines as I used to be. Electrical field strengths become twice as strong at half the distance, so 401 Oberlin residents are almost certainly swamped in a very strong electrical field.

Bottom line? No way in hell I would ever live there!

I’ve got an inquiry in with Duke Energy Progress to determine how much juice is actually flowing through that transmission line. I’ll update this post if/when I hear back from them.