My body

Bert just pulled in

The older brain

 Brains of older people are slow because they know so much. People do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains, scientists believe.

Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full, so, too, do humans take longer to access information when their brains are full.

Researchers say this slowing down process is not the same as cognitive decline . The human brain works slower in old age, but only because we have stored more information over time. The brains of older people do not get weak. On the contrary, they simply know more.

Also, older people often go to another room to get something and when they get there, they stand there wondering what they came for. It is NOT a memory problem, it is nature's way of making older people do more exercise.

SO THERE .

Now when I reach for a word or a name , I won't excuse myself by saying "I'm having a senior moment". Now, I'll say, "My disk is full!”

How we blocked someone in the 80's

The Story of the “Buddy” Box

     

 Years ago at Christmas a man named “Buddy” used to fill a box with toys and bring it to his six nieces and nephews at Christmas. You can only imagine how excited they were to receive that box, and it made a very special Christmas for all of them.

Time passed on the children grew up and our “Buddy” became ill. He fought his sickness for years and then one Christmas Day he lost his fight. The children remembered the excitement he brought to them at Christmas and wanted to do the same for other children to honour his memory.  So each year we celebrate our “Buddy”, and this year we wanted you to have the same joy we did on Christmas morning!!

    Merry Christmas !!!

Pee on the fence they said

Intelligence Test or lack of...

Fuddle Duddle Balls

Lifes mystery explained in 2 pictures

I Still like the stuff

Rules, Rules, Rules,

This is what it FEELS like

New Knife Rack

Achieve it

Life is like a Camera

As we grow up

Coffee

Size Matters

While at the Bank Machine

Balance... in all things. a very serious joke.

God was missing for six days. 
Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day.

He inquired, "Where have you been?"
... 
God smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied God, and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a place to test Balance."

"Balance?" inquired Michael, "I'm still confused."

God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth. "For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over here I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things."

God continued pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.

The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land area and said, "What's that one?"

"That's Newfoundland, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful highlands, rivers and streams, lakes, forests, hills, and ocean. The people from Newfoundland are going to be handsome/beautiful , modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to travel the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, carriers of peace, and producers of good things."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, "But what about balance, God? You said there would be balance."

God smiled, "Not very far from Newfoundland is a place called Ottawa.............Wait till you see the idiots I put there."

Shapes

Bad hair days

Canadian Open carry

Not new but still funny, eh Scrounge?

Best Cures

A Black Cat

chew deterrent

I must be past expiry date...

a ring on Friday

Would that be called "a ring for a rasin"?

Anti Wanker Spray

I wonder if a bulk discount is possible?

7 Wonders of the World

Today I am...

Enough said.

Truro Chillin

Stacked Norwegians Logs

I have stacked lots of wood over many years, and never would it be called art like this is.







Thx Herman

MS takes cruel toll at young age

 

151 Nova Scotians with disease live in long-term-care facility

There are days, and this is one of them, that Melanie Gaunt is in so much pain she loses her train of thought.

In her small, cluttered room at Northwood’s long-term-care facility in Bedford, the petite 46-year-old regularly repositions herself in her wheelchair, levering herself around on the armrests.

“MS goes down the side, right?” said Gaunt, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis three days after her 31st birthday in November 2002.

“You have a good side and evil side. My evil side is my left side so my pain is mostly in my hand and my wrist and my arm. Sometimes my shoulder. I’m having a lot more pain than I would normally and it’s very hard for me to concentrate on basically everything.”

Gaunt alternates between suppressing tears and cracking jokes when describing the suffering and isolation that comes with her disease, in which a person’s immune system attacks the central nervous system.

“I’ve spent the last couple of months basically in bed. Watching Netflix, I’ve gone through the English speaking movies — now it’s subtitles.”

While she sometimes struggles to find her words, Gaunt tells her story in frank and articulate terms. That’s not such a surprise given that she has a master’s degree in organizational communications — in fact, she was diagnosed with MS as a graduate student in North Carolina.

She returned to her native Halifax in 2006 to live with her mother (“She said of course I’ll be the one to take care of you. I’m your mother.”) But Gaunt’s condition worsened to the point where she needed 

professional care and she’s lived at Northwood since 2010.

She’s one of 151 Nova Scotians with MS who live in long-termcare facilities, according to a Statistics Canada report released last week.

Nova Scotia has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, about 330 cases per 100,000 people.

“With MS . . . . it strikes you in your prime,” said Ben Davis, president of the the MS Society of Canada’s Atlantic Division. “You can be 40 years old in a longterm- care facility surrounded by people who are not your age and stage. That is absolutely a challenge across the country and we advocate for better long-term care and more home support for people with MS.”

Living in a long-term-care facility usually means being with people who have dementia and that can create uncomfortable situations.

Gaunt recounted being woken up by a resident, a former minister, who had come into her room when she was napping one afternoon. (Residents can lock their door from the inside but she had forgotten to do so that day.) “He’s getting to a point where his vision is going so he came up to me (she puts her face very close to the reporter’s) like that and . . .

I woke up. It was terrifying so I’m reacting but he has no clue what he’s doing, so I can get as mad as I want but it doesn’t do a load of good.”

Gaunt doesn’t downplay the challenges but she also points out the relationships she’s built at Northwood — particularly with the five or so people in the 155-bed residence who have MS.

An animal lover, she made the most of a brief visit on the day of the interview from a pet therapy dog, Max, a tiny and lovable Yorkie.

She also successfully lobbied for a residence feline, a large Norwegian Forest cat, whose unannounced visits she enjoys.

In fact, Gaunt has made it her mission to improve her quality of life and that of others with physical disabilities who live in longterm- care facilities. She’s a cofounder of a group called Independence Now NS. The group advocates for improvements in housing, transit and other issues crucial to the lives of the physically disabled.

For Gaunt, living with MS is akin to that family member you love but can make your life hell sometimes.

“I love my MS — I have to embrace it. . . . Sure, yeah, it has taken a lot of opportunities that I wanted or I could have had. But it’s given me wonderful opportunities and wonderful friendships and relationships.”

 John McPhee (jmcphee@herald.ca) 

 I will admit, I do NOT love my MS, but this disease affects us all very differently. I am very fortunate to still live at home , but without  my wife I could not live on my own.

The Redhead

A man is dining in a fancy restaurant and there's a gorgeous
redhead sitting at the next table  He's been checking her out
since he sat down, but lacks the nerve to talk with her.
Suddenly she sneezes, and her glass eye comes flying out of its
socket toward the man. He reflexively reaches out, grabs it out of

the air, and hands it back.

"Oh my, I am so sorry," the woman says as she pops her eye back
in place.  "Let me buy your dinner to make it  up to you," she
says.

They enjoy a wonderful dinner together, and afterwards they go to
the theatre followed by drinks. They talk, they laugh, she shares
her deepest dreams and he shares his. She listens. After paying
for everything, she asks him if he would like to come to her place

for a nightcap.



They had a wonderful time.  He stays for breakfast.  The next
morning, she cooks a gourmet meal with all the trimmings. The guy
is amazed.



Everything had been SO incredible!

"You know," he said, "you are the perfect woman, are you this
nice to every guy you meet?"

"No," she replies. . ."You just happened to catch my eye."

Dancing with Gramps

Dads sweetie

This has one of the best endings ever!