From Start to Start

From Start to Start?
I guess that doesn't make much sense but if you know what I'm talking about, it does!
It is about Elder Hall.
Three weeks ago he started his mission by entering the MTC to be trained.
This week he starts working in the mission field!
Early Wednesday morning he will be getting up, getting final packing and preparation done and then he will be taken to the airport! At the airport he will board a flight to Durban. He will be met at the airport and taken to the Durban mission home/office and from there he will be dispatched to his first area.

I imagine it has been three weeks of lots of learning and adjustment.

He has never been away from home for any extended period.
He has always had family and friends close by.
Food, what to do and all the other 'everyday' things have always happened without him having to give too much thought and attention to whats next.

Now, he will be looking after himself.
He is living, full time, with his companion.
He will be exposed to and have to accommodate other traditions, cultures and standards.
Manage his own finances sticking to a budget.

It is going to be a great experience for him because he is doing something that involves full time service, full time caring for others and focusing on the work he is doing.

I can hardly wait to get his first email or letter after he has arrived and settled down in his first area.

The start of a new era

Well, the great day in Darius’ life has at last come.

He started his mission today! We dropped him at the Mission Training Center in Roodepoort at about 10:30 am this morning. He will be there for 21 days and then he flies to the Durban Mission which includes the whole of KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Swaziland and the Southern ‘half’ of the Free State.

We had a lovely 2 days with Tristan, Candice and Clarke staying with us. They came to our home in Pretoria on Tuesday evening. Tristan had only flown in from a week in Germany on Tuesday morning! It was lovely spending time with the whole family and enjoying each other’s company. Clarke woke us all early this morning – he was not in the mood for sleeping! We got ready quickly and by 7:15 we were all assembled together for family prayers and some scripture reading. We shared our testimonies of the restoration and at 07:45 we went to our chapel – Pretoria East – to meet President Vermuelen, our stake president. He chatted to Darius for a short while and then we all joined him in his office and he set Darius apart as a full time missionary – he became Elder Hall. What a choice and lovely blessing he got!

We took a few photographs outside the chapel and we left in convoy – all 2 cars – to the Mission Training Center. We were able to see his room he will be sharing with 4 other Elders and then we said our goodbyes. Phew, it was quite emotional! Kaleela found it very hard to say goodbye to her brother!

Now Darius has dedicated 2 years of his life to serve the Lord – he has prepared well for this, he has put aside many of his old ways and habits and has taken his preparation very seriously! He will be an excellent missionary and I know the Lord will bless him as Darius serves Him.

I am very grateful for the support Darius has had from his Mom, his older brother and his sister. I am also very grateful for the support and encouragement that everyone who knows him has given – we don’t stand alone and sometimes in the most imperceptible ways, great influence is wrought!

Missionaries love getting mail.
Send Elder Hall a letter by addressing it to
Elder Darius Hall
P O Box 1741,
Wandsbeck, 3631
South Africa

CHAPTER FOUR - Starches

The vegetable kingdom produces vast quantities of starch.  It is present in particularly large proportions in all grains, the roots and stems of many plants.  Starch molecules are long-chain carbohydrate molecules, closely related to each other as you will see in CHAPTER FOURTEEN. (Be patient, it will still be published!) Nutritionally they are very important, but because modern commercial practices have led to their being "cornered" by vested interests, many of the products arising are so unnatural that they now constitute a threat to man's well-being.  I have enlarged a little on this theme in chapter fourteen.

Wheaten products and potatoes feature strongly in the diet of many people.  For ourselves we have always favoured whole-wheat bread over other breads, and potatoes cooked in their jackets.  As pointed out later on, we know that we cannot be sure that we are getting truly whole-wheat meal so, having conducted this study, we are now cutting down our consumption of our bread to two slices each and then only two or three times a week!  We have considerably reduced our usage of potatoes too!  At this point a modified Atkins approach is used - "COUNT ALL STARCHES and DI-SACCHARIDES".

CHAPTER THREE - Di- and Tri-Saccharides - Other names for SUGAR

THE SUGARS in this group require more energy in the process of digestion,  The most important one (in our quest) is sucrose or cane sugar.
It is very much sweeter than glucose and it figures in modern man's diet in ever increasing amounts - something that is very much to his detriment!

Munro was surely right when he called it (and all confections and concoctions in which it is used), "devil's food", as it tends to be habit forming and in impairs the palate to the extent that the delicacy of other flavours are forgotten.  Personally, I regard it as a slow poison.  For ourselves, Rona and I, we use none of it except when refusal to sample proferred food might give offense.  Any sucrose we might ingest intentionally (for example in raisins or dried figs) is accompanied by other ingredients in the fruit of origin.  We do not use large quantities of dried fruit.

So, what is one to do about sweetening one's herbal tea or other beverage?  Atkins is in favour of some synthetic sweeteners, but for me, that seems foolish.  Why burden the body's eliminatory system with foreign matter?  Why dull the sensory palate?

CHAPTER TWO - Monosaccharides

A brief look at chapter fourteen (you can' t!  You'll have to wait until I post it!)  will show you that I now intend dealing with two sugars, glucose and fructose.
Biologically, they are probably THE most important of all the sugars!

Nature produces vast quantities of them in the whole vegetable kingdom and if we feed ourselves with them in the natural, whole state, we will also be getting a useful contribution of minerals, vitamins and enzymes.  The calories they supply need not be counted provided the fruit is used in the best way AND also provided that other forms of carbohydrate are restricted.

The ideal source is FRUIT, fresh whole ripe fruit.

The best way to eat fruit is alone - make a meal of fruit.  Don't use it as a little extra at the end or the beginning of a meal, AND, above all, DO NOT AND ANY SUGAR!

As a point of interest; the carbohydrate content of fruits vary between 7% and 20% of the fruit mass.

We have found that the Diamond's idea of sticking to fruit alone for the whole morning to be excellent.  We feel very energetic on this arrangement but thereafter we go along with Essie Honiball (partially) using fruit, nuts, yoghurt (non pasteurised) and sometimes vegetables in a blended mix.  What interesting combinations we come up with!
Before noon there are just two fruits which we exclude namely, Avocados and Bananas; avos because of their high fat content (16.4%) and banana's carbohydrates are complex.
The protein content of fruit varies between 0.2 and 1.3% fat (between trace and 1.0% in grapes!) - all valuable contributions.
Fruit sugars (glucose and fructose) yield almost 100% of their energy as they require a minimum of modification.

CHAPTER ONE - GENERAL

We first adopted the all-fruit breakfast style, as suggested by the Diamonds, about 1992.  Initially, we weren't too conscientious about it, but we certainly found some improvements in our health.  A friend of mine has been on the Atkins routing for several years.  He has a particularly awkward problem threatening diabetes and reports favourably on it without needing to invoke medical assistance.  I decided to make a serious study of it as it is very close to the Munro ideas, but more systematic.  Munro, without actually saying so, made me very conscious of the fact that the caloric theory is pointless, even stupid, so I gave up counting calories.  Atkins confirmed this idea and substitutes a guide by counting carbohydrates.

At this point is seems necessary to put in an aside.  Why should we bother further with our pursuit of a natural, drug-free state of health?  We are really doing very well;

• Rona was containing her blood pressure problem without medical drugs, using herbs;
• her thyroid problem was being controlled with a little extra vitamin plus a homeopathic preparation;
• I couldn't avoid some medication being in the hands of an ophthalmologist for conditions threatening blindness;
• we had a mere passing acquaintance with colds and 'flu.
• We were pretty poor customers of our GP and apothecary.

Well, we just felt we had not really completed the search, the search for perfection - what we felt our Creator was holding out to us; after all, had we not been singled out as evidence by so much prompting and guidance?

While my study of Atkins' ideas was in progress, Rona came across a very slim, unobtrusive book one day while we were visiting the public library.  It was called  "I Live on Fruit" by Essie Honiball.  It was the first edition of her book and it contained photographs of what she looked like before and after she adopted a diet consisting solely of fresh fruit (in season) and a small portion of plain, untoasted nuts under the guidance of a man who had been studying the subject for years and years.  At the time she started under his care, she was really just "skin and bone" weighing something like 30 kg and not responding to any of the treatments prescribed by her doctors.  A few years later she was well covered at about double that mass.  It was the photographs that really caught my attention as they reminded me of how emaciated my first wife looked at the time of her death.  It also reminded me of a book we had acquired while we were living in Tasmania. "Live Food Juices", in which Dr Kirschner describes curing a patient of a similar wasting disease using only carrot juice - one U.S gallon per day!  He showed similar photographs.  I couldn't get to read Essie's book quickly enough.  Since then we have acquired the latest edition of her book - she has been on the diet for over 30 years now and is living in Montagu.  She's done a really marvelous job spreading the knowledge.

Now I had a variety of approaches to the question of healthy eating to compare.  Each of them had some merit, none were without merit.  I know that, from my own observations and from what I had reported to me by persons who felt much the same as I did.  It seemed obvious that in the case of some bodily constitutions, conditions had arisen, maybe of genetic origin, such that tolerances differed widely.  There is also a great possibility that years of dieting in a particular manner induces either weaknesses or strengths in a particular direction.  What then, is the best way to go about finding a diet which can really be described as an ALL ROUND health diet, suitable for everybody?

Certain points stood out very plainly as I considered this matter.

1. The first point is that modern western man tends to be an over eater.  There is a simple explanation for this that I will cover later.
2. The second point that came clearly through, was that most people ate far too much starchy food.  The dangers that lurk therein will be explained later.
3. Less obvious but often confirmed by medical experience, is the heavy consumption of protein, especially animal protein.  I'll attempt to cover this later as well.

The conclusion at which I arrived after comparing all of the books and ideas available therein, pointed very clearly to the concept of wholeness so that "wholesome" meant what it said in the strictest possible way, beyond our meagre understanding of what our Creator had in mind for our well being, that is to say, almost holiness.

At this stage, I think it best to summarize the approach we are using at present and maybe mention what we believe to be our ultimate goal, rather than bore you with our reasonings - such will be provided in the final chapters.  By following this procedure, you can get to the nitty-gritty quite quickly.

In discussing diet, authors often do so under the heading PROTEIN, CARBOHYDRATE, FAT, and probably various minerals and vitamins.  In discussing health the chances are great that EXERCISE and BREATHING will also receive some attention.  For reason which will become apparent later, I propose following a slightly different procedure; the headings I'll be using are MONO SACCHARIDES, DI and TRI-SACCHARIDES, STARCHES and CELLULOSES (i.e. four separate headings in the place of CARBOHYDRATE), FAT, PROTEIN, EXERCISE, BREATHING, "MEDICINAL" HERBS, ELIMINATION, MENTAL STATE and IMPLEMENTATION.

Introduction

At various times over the years, I have committed to paper the progress we, my wife and I, have made in our pursuit of health for our family.  The object of this present effort (in 1997),  is to bring the saga up to date.  Each time I did a write up I provided a copy for each member of the family to or ignore as he/she thought fit.  I have no intention of repeating all the early details, but to make this intelligible, I will need to refer briefly to some of the key points on the journey which began approximately 45 years ago.  The younger members of our immediate family probably have a special need for this knowledge and we would be failing in our duty as parents if we did not share it with them.  Our knowledge was acquired at great cost, emotionally and financially, and it would be wicked on our part if we did not attempt to share it with them.  It would be foolish on their part if they neglected the opportunity to benefit from our experience.  Wise is the man who learns from his own mistakes; but how much wiser is he who learns from another's?
Since the subject is also of interest to some friends and acquaintances, I do it for them too as I have already been approached for copies.

 

I first learnt that what and how one eats can affect health conditions about 73 years ago.  I really only learned the lesson which was given then, very recently, for at that time the impact on me was more a matter of annoyance and regret.  My Dad had a "sweet tooth" and regularly bought a good supply of sweets to which I was allowed fairly generous access.  I used to come out in a rash of "itchy bumps" which drove me to distraction and I scratched myself raw.  The doctor who was consulted said the condition was caused by either too much sugar or too much meat.  We were not big meat eaters, so obviously the sugar was to blame.  As young as I was, with encouragement from the family, I was able to resist the temptations reasonably well; I even stopped taking sugar in tea, thus copying my mother, rather than my father.

About 45-50 years ago, my first wife "Tinker" was getting more and more ill and responded poorly to the medical treatment.  I was loaned a copy of a book by Dr. Munro titled "Man Alive You're Half Dead".  He branded all foodstuffs containing sugar and starch as "Devil's Food", and while not actually banning them, he strongly recommended separating them from protein and fat foodstuffs because of the difference in conditions as regards digestive environment.  It is beyond doubt that I benefited from the adoption of Munro's ideas, but there seemed to be little improvement as far as Tinker's condition was concerned.  Ultimately Tinker succumbed in 1945.  To this day I strongly believe that SHE DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE - IF WE CHOOSE TO LEARN FROM THAT TRAGEDY.

Had it not been for Rona, my wife, companion and helper from 1946, all could and probably would have been lost.  Being busy with daily activities, having a growing family, all the factors we humans encounter and have to cope with, meant that really, we learned very slowly.  While in Tasmania we acquired a goodly number of excellent naturopathic books from Melbourne where we had contact with a mail-order house supplying health foods, rare herbs, homeopathic supplies as well.  One book I need to mention is "Live Food Juices" by H E Kirschner.  On returning to South Africa, we added many books to our library.  Here I'll only mention those that deal with diet in relation to health:-

• "How To Get Well" by Paavo Airola
• Several little books by Morris Krok
• "Mucusless Healing System" by Arnold Ehret
• "Dr Atkins Diet Revolution" by R C Atkins
• "Fit for Life" by H & M Diamond
• "I Live on Fruit" by Essie Honiball

Since writing most of the text in this little work of mine, we came across  another book in which the author, and Osteopath named Giraud W Campbell expresses views very similar to those expressed in the books previously mentioned, but places emphasis in slightly different areas.  The book is titled "A Doctors Proven Cure for Arthritis".

Foreword by Author

The last book I studied before completing this writing was "A Doctor's New Proven Home Cure for Arthritis" by Giraud W Campbell, D.O., an Osteopath.  He could, rightly, speak of a "Cure" because he went further than diet.  In my case, I'm thinking along the lines of prevention.  If we prevent the development of an ill-health situation, there is nothing to cure!

A most important point I must make to the reader of my efforts is that you are an individual, there is nobody else exactly like you, there you need to study your own reactions to specific conditions.  My task was to provide guide-lines by making suggestions.  Remember you owe it to yourself and your loved ones.

Robert O. Hall
Graaff-Reinet.
July 1997.

A healthy view on life!

My father was an exceptionally intelligent man. He was a man of whom it could have been said, "He was ahead of his time". This was true in many ways; he was a brilliant at everything he did and indeed, his life portrayed that. Everything was stamped with his inimitable stamp of thoroughness and excellence. He trained, at a young age, as a chemical engineer yet he trained people in his old age in electronics, chemistry, mathematics, hairdressing, technical drawing, refrigeration....


In one area the world today would say he was eccentric and most definitely, "behind his time". That was in the area of personal health and hygiene. In these areas he favoured homeopathy, naturopathy, fasting and other methods frowned upon by many in today's highly 'advanced' world of medicine, health and related disciplines.


Towards the end of his life on this planet, Dad published a book, for his family and close relatives, of his findings, his learnings and his opinions on matters pertaining to health, what it is, how to get it and how to keep it.


During the next few weeks, I will be including in this blog, pages from his book. This is something that I obtained his approval for and something I have been putting off until now.


So, prepare to learn from a genius as I publish these pages over the next months.

Lightning - Finished at last!

Dean Koontz - Lightning
At last I finished this novel!
It was a very enjoyable read.  The characters were interesting and captivating.  The plot was somewhat unexpected and unpredictable.  It is not one of the best books I have read but 'Lightning' was good!

It is a strange name for a novel but as you get into it it becomes apparent why as intense electrical storms accompanied significant events that occur at frequent intervals in the book.

I read slow though - or maybe other people read fast?
I wish I could time how long I spend reading a novel!  When I read reviews of others about the book, they talk of reading it in a single sitting or, in 14 hours!  Maybe its just that I don't have a single span of time like that to read in but I am sure it takes a whole lot longer than 14 hours to get through it!

The only complaints I had about Lightning was that the end seems to - like with other of Dean Koontz's novels - come to a rather rushed close.  As expected, the last few pages of the end is a chronology that describes in short 'time chunks', how the characters lives continue.

Now I am reading another Dean Koontz novel.
This one is called 'Night Chills'

Rover Streetwise

Rover Streetwise
A recent aquisition, the Rover Streetwise has proven to be a pleasing car for me to drive.  I travel between Pretoria and Johannesburg on a daily basis and surprising as it may seem, the Streetwise takes some of the pain out of the trip.

• It is not a high performance car. 
• It has a very heavy clutch. 
• Its torque range is not at all impressive.
• Nobody wants to buy them.  Something to do with Rover not being around anymore?

BUT...

• It is solid
• It Feels safe
• When you are in its good torque range it feels good
• It cruises well
• It is very economical!

It seems like the longer I have it the more economical it becomes!  I start with just under 7 litres per 100 kilometers.  It has dropped consistently to where my last tank full of diesel was a mere 5.54 litres per 100 kilometers!  Itravel about 750 kilometers on a tank of diesel and that is on a mix of about 30% city driving.

I dont think my old BMW 325TDS had consumption as good as that.  It came close though.  The BMW had

Much better performance

fantastic torque range

easy to drive

solid

safe

reliable - excepting for the times it had a short circuit  that BMW could not find until I traded it in for a new 735i

cheap to run - because of the motorplan

The only car I have had that comes close to these two in economy (and I have had many cars) was another old BMW Cheetah 1800.  It was

• Basic
• easy to service
• easy to understand
• had a clutch that had seen better days
• paint was well oxidized

BUT...

• I travelled all the way from Johannesburg to Durban and travelled around in Durban for a week before filling up.  It was a consumption of between 4 and 4.5 litres per 100 km.
• I don't think I exceed 80km/hour though!  My father seemed to think it was a good speed and he was driving with me!
• It was my second car- my first had been totalled in a head-on collision after I had owned it for about 6 months.

Vuvuzelas in Joburg

The Bible tells the story of the children Israel who, after wandering for some time, came upon Jericho - a formidable city.  They were terrified to enter it yet after some sweet talking by their inspired leaders, they marched around it seven time and after blowing on their trumpets, the city walls collapsed and they were able to overrun the city.

Today, throughout South Africa, a cacophony of sound exploded as hysterical soccer enthusiasts all started blowing their VUVUZELAs at 12 noon to show their support of Bafana Bafana, the South Africa national soccer team.

I wonder if all the VUVUZELAs being blown in unison could have the same effect as the Children of Israel's trumpets had on the city of Jericho?  If it can, the South Africa better watch out!

But then, maybe not!
The children of Israel were God's chosen people.......

Tooth Fairy and Dental health

I, think I will stop going to dentists.

My last three visits to these modern day Tooth Fairies has resulted in 3 teeth going.  It would not be so bad if it was just loosing a tooth but the discomfort really makes it a rather big issue.

When I was a child I used to look forward to the days that my teeth would loosen and come out - sometimes with some assistance from external devices.  The loose tooth would come out and be kept secure so it could be placed in a slipper at the foot of the bed.  In the morning, instead of a rather ugly looking tooth, there would be a coin left either by some daft little mouse or a fairy with a fetish for collecting childrens' teeth.

Now, at 51 years old, the teeth are still firmly rooted but due to decay, have to be extracted.  If only they would come out easily.

Half a lifetime ago I lost my first tooth when it was knocked out by a Mercedes in a head on collision on a highway.

Years later, another tooth decide to cleave in twain and after months of having a split tooth, half fell out.  Some months later the other half crumbled and collapsed and so I went to the Dental School where they removed it.  The dental student was a pretty young lady who was very worried about the discomfort I was experiencing and instructed me in the correct use of dental floss.

At the end of last year, after experiencing some pain on one side of my mouth I went to the dental school again.  The semester was finished so the only dentists available to do the work were the experienced lecturers.  The pain was being caused by infection underneath a tooth whose base had re skilled to become a bacteria generator and the prognosis was that the tooth should be extracted together with the offensive bacteria.  The doctor, professor or lecturer injected anesthetic in the appropriate places and after a suitable amount of time, tested the work area.

"OUCH!"

"Okay ve vill poot some mor anaesthetic"

Test again.

"OW!!"

"Ja, stil not goode? Ve shal poot sum more"
"After dis ve can do no more Ja? You hav had de limit then Ja!"

Test again

Bearable

So she started removing it.  Like me, the tooth was being stubborn and was not too keen to be evicted from its place.

"You must be a patient ziss is going to take a little effort!"

More pressure, twisting and pulling.

This was getting intense.
It was starting to be very painful but as a man I dare not let it be seen!  My right arm decided to rebel and it started shaking.

"No! Vot is de matter?  It is not that sore! You haf had enuf injekshuns Ja? Behafe yourself!!"

There is no way to respond.  She has a hand in my mouth together with a pair of fancy pliers, a pipe sucking trying to remove the lining of my mouth and another silver tube that is spraying water into the demolition site.

I hold tight to the chair but the right arm will not be constrained and it is waving furiously at my side and encouraging my legs to join the rebellion which they too start to do.

Doctor Sadistky by this time has the pliers held in two hands both gripping with all their might to the surgical steel handles.  She is trying hard not to put her foot against my face so that she can really pull hard and prevent me from being pulled out of the chair.
She twists, turns and wriggles, discards the pliers and replaces them with another, more powerful looking pair!
Eventually the tooth decides that resistance is futile and it relinquishes its hold on the lower jaw and with a resounding CRACK! it comes out.

'Dis woz not so bad ja?  Why were you like da baby? Whats the matter with you?'  Dr Dread asks.

It had to be my worst experience ever at a dentist.  I am convinced that Poland exiled her and the only place she could get a place to work was at the Dental school!

She said another would have to be pulled out too but that it could wait till the new year.  No way was I going back there!

So, today, months after that experience, I went to see another dentist.  We are on a medical aid now which means that Dentists can extract more than just teeth - they extract money too from the medical aid!
Anyway, the dentist sees the condition of my mouth and identifies a tooth that needs work now.

He will try to save it but if not, he will have to extract it.

I get the injections - not too bad.

He sees quite soon that he will not be able to save it.
He battles for a while to get it out but he is successful.
No pain during the procedure.
Why can't all dentists work as nicely as him?

All the above is of course mainly my fault - I should have looked after my teeth better and not gone for 5 years without any work being done or checkups.

We live, we learn and we loose our teeth.
Dentures, here I come!

Ag Pleeez Daddie...

At least I am a hit with my family!

After deciding to 'can' my marginal attempts at blogging and at the same time close my Google AdWords account, I have decided to continue with the blogging part.  My children (all adults now) asked why no more updates - after having laughed hysterically at my spelling and my subjects.  When I told them of my decision, the begged me in true SA style saying 'Ag Pleez Daddy, you have to carry on.  We like it!'

So to keep my posterity happy I will continue in spite of feeling that I am plunging into the bottomless pit of meaningless drivel that permeates cyberspace and makes it a hazardous and meaningless trip for those who venture to spend any of their precious time 'surfing' the choppy seas that exist in this borderless realm.

I guess it can be a little like a journal though; something that distant relatives 5 and 6 generations from now can view with the high tech history viewers of their time and think 'Wow, what made that prehistoric old man tick?'

When it comes to journals I am not much use either.  To me a journal is a book - normally black - whose edges are still perfectly straight, sharp and well defined; who pages still cling to each other on the edges excepting for the first few which have been disfigured by some spidery scrawl of handwriting that the author cannot even read.

The best attempt I ever had at keeping a journal was while I was on Mission.  That was only because it formed part of the routine missionaries are supposed to keep.  Even then there were many days that were not accounted for.  Sometimes the days became weeks and the weeks may even have turned to months.  So, I'm not very good at that.

I am very good at snoring.

Neighbours close their windows and hang heavy drapes when I move into an area.  I assist the economy of glaziers and builders as home owners become aware of weaknesses in their properties and seek to rectify them before realizing that the best cure is to seek another quiet suburb!  Estate agents thrive as panic selling sets in and unsuspecting buyers snap up 'bargins' only to realize that they too desire the peaceful quiet suburbs miles away from the source of the tremors.

Well, enough of that useless mish-mash, yaddah, yaddah, blah, blah.
Time to post this into that teeming, boundless pool of binary chaos.

Cure your piles yourself without surgery!

Piles! Hemorrhoids!

These are two hated words that bring great embarrassment!
No need to fear though. You can get rid of yours WITHOUT surgery!

Many years ago when I was in my late twenties I went to the doctor about an unusual discomfort I was feeling when I sat down!
To my horror, his diagnosis was that I had piles and needed surgery to remove them. I still remember the discomfort and embarrassment I felt as I went through the procedure. Going to the toilet was a problem and the stuff they made me drink to keep me regular and soft was disgusting.

I vowed never to do it again!

I was even prepared to live with them if I ever got them again. I was not going to be operated on!
Well, it is now about 20 to 25 years later and I have had piles again - about 3 times! - but I am not still living with them because I have found a fantastic way of getting rid of them. I have supplied a couple of other people who I know of with the same remedy and they have all experienced the pleasure of their piles going away WITHOUT SURGERY!
The process is natural and painless!
It is fantastic to know that there are many ways in which common ailments can be rectified and many problems with health can be treated by yourself if you are patient and take the time to know what you need to do.
Piles come in various forms. From the simple internal or external ones that cause little or no discomfort to the big bleeding ones; all can be cured and healed with the natural remedies I use.
Biochemical Tissue Salts for the basis of the Remedy with Calc Flour and Ferum Phos forming the basis of it.

Calc Flour restores tissue elasticity. Piles occur when the tissues around the blood vessels have lost their elasticity.

Ferum Phos is a great healing agent that reduces swelling and inflammation. It also strengthens the quality of blood.
Take the tissues salts by alternating between them half hourly at first until the healing is complete then stay on a maintenance dosage of three times a day for a month or two after.

The process can be improved by taking other natural remedies that help maintain good circulation. A good candidate in this area is Red Pepper powder or Cayenne Pepper. Take a half a teaspoon three times a day in a little liquid. - It will burn at first but it is worth a little discomfort for the benefit it gives!
I trust that you will find this as helpful to you as I did.
Be Patient - it Works.
Ken.
PS: Please note that I am not a Doctor but feel the need to share my experiences with you. The remedies are natural and harmless and in my opinion, the preferred way in which to treat yourself.

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Cats

IF you are anything like me, you will love cats!  I am very much drawn to cats and I am so lucky because our neighbourhood has lots of cats...

• skinny cats
• furry cats
• fat cats
• cute cats
• big cats
• small cats
• beautiful cats
• ugly cats
• white, black and tabby cats
• grey cats and ginger cats
• cats of every shape and size

The picture above is my daughter's cat.  Kameko is a Seal point Tortoise Siamese cat with a pedigree more distinguished than the British Royal Family but a nature and disposition as haughty and demanding as a monarch.
This cat is 11 years old and has used up all 9 of her lives and still continues to live.  She is anorexic and frequently goes on hunger strikes and then expects us to shower her with love, affection and pampering.

Her diet used to consist of a bird a day.  If there was a bird on the ground, she would catch it.  This hobby stopped one day when she was run over repeatedly by some perverse driver.  With a few lives expended, Kameeko had a will to live and after considerable expense and a few months at the local vet she once again was at home and up to her feline demands.  The cat's agility and mobility had been compromised and she was not quick enough for most birds so she had to resort to dry food.

I tolerate Kameeko.  As a cat she is not one that impresses me much!

Lightning - a few chapters on.

Lightning by Dean Koontz is being a very enjoyable book.  I don't get much time to read it but the time I get is well spent and rewarding.  The characters have become understandable and the plot is getting deeper.  Poor little Laura Shane.  She has lost so much and yet is handling everything so well.  Her experiences are still punctuated by Lightning and inclement weather.




She has spent the last few years as an orphan with an unknown and mysterious guardian angel intervening on her behalf at times yet in the one incident that was crucial for him being there, he was absent yet Miss Shane survived!

The evil force that is a threat to her has been out of the story for a while and I wonder what deep dark deed he is contemplating.

As with all the Dean Koontz novels I have read, Lightning is being just as unpredictable and equally gripping.

Hamsters and the big wheel

Hamsters are little rodents that humans think are cute so they pop them in a wire cage with a big wheel in it so that they can entertain their owners with hours upon hours of running to the end of the never ending wheel.



Poor hamster.  Nothing better to do in life than to look at these huge faces peering at them through the wires of the cage. 
They twitch their noses endlessly and it brings smiles and giggles from the spectators. 
They turn around and climb on the treadmill and it brings laughs and comments from their captors.



Food gets thrown in the cage.  They run to it and grasp in in their tiny little hands and nibble voraciously at these tasty treats.

What is the purpose of life for them?
I often wonder if our lives are not in many ways similar to theirs.  Of course, our cages are much bigger but we have a 9-5 schedules that we follow each day and although we are not running endlessly on a treadmill, many of the activities we indulge in - and sometimes have to do - are about as pointless as the poor hamster's.

Philosophers and scientists have argued the purpose of life.  Religious leaders have their opinions that, to them, are supported by scripture but there are relatively few people in the world that can really say with full conviction that they KNOW what the purpose of THEIR LIFE is.



The purpose of life is something that I have considered and pondered many times in my life.  As a child it was not so important but as I grew older and started shouldering more and more responsibilities it became evident that there was a purpose that was far more than just myself and that I played but a small part in it.

Through diligent study, meditation and prayer I was able to come to realise what my purpose in life is.
Youtube has this interesting clip to watch - click here

Trapped by safety

As a child I had very limited exposure to crime. I guess those were the days that children were seen and not hurt.  Crime was an adult topic of conversation and I can't remember my parents ever really discussing it.

When I cast my mind back I can remember one instance that occurred when I was somewhere between 10 and 12 years old.  We were staying in a large house in Yeoville - a suburb of Johannesburg.  The house was on the corner of two roads and there was a wall around most of the street sides of the property.  They were not high walls - most likely only about 2 or 3 feet high.

My mother had left her handbag on a chair or a table that was close to the main entrance to the house - the front door.  The door was open and we were all in various parts of the house.  Someone came through the gate, onto the property, up the path onto the veranda and entered the door, stole the handbag and left.  I only heard about it years later.



When I was 11 my sister had a birthday party - she was 12 - and it included loud music and lots of her friends.  Some bikers tried to gatecrash the party and my father had to call the police.  This was the height of excitement for me but by today's standards it was very tame!

The next incident I remember as after we had been living in Natal for some time. I can't recall how old I was but my father had a small transistor radio which was always in the lounge. When we had been out one day, someone broke into the house through a window in the lounge and stole the radio. The police reacted quickly to that and a few days later had caught the perpetrator who subsequently was tried and sent to prison.

We had no burglar bars on our house in those days. No alarms. No infrared sensors and no tall walls or fences with razor wire and electric fencing. We would feel safe and secure in our house without any deterrents to miscreants whose unlawful activities invaded the lives of others.

As far as I knew the criminal had been caught and sent to jail and so our tranquil suburb was crime free!

How time have changed!



I was standing in our kitchen over this weekend looking out onto the street our home is situated on. I realised that I was peering through glass that was segmented into different small panes by a burglar guard. A few meters further on was a security gate with an expensive electric lock on it. From the security gate to the perimeter fence was a few meters of paved ground with only knee-high shrubs in the garden beds. The fence has spikes on the top of it and the electric gate has features that makes it difficult to lift it off its runners to gain unauthorised access to the property.
I looked to the other side of the road and saw the neighbours walled property - a wall more than 2 meters high - and then their house with its small squares of glass because of the the burglar guards on the windows. To get into their property you also go through an electrically locked gate. The doors are also (as are ours) secured by security gates which add another level of safety.

How times have changed!

We leave in a peaceful and quiet suburb of Pretoria - peaceful and quiet by today's standards but what a sharp contrast to what I was used to when I was growing up!

In my young days, crime was hardly ever heard of.
In my early adult years I knew people who knew someone who had been a victim of crime.
Now I not only know people who have themselves experienced various different types of crime, I myself and my family have been victims of it.

One of my colleagues had the experience last week of dropping his nephew at school and having to suddenly shield him and other children from a shooting that was taking place at the school. In this case, the victim died a short while later - before an ambulance could even get to him. The shooter had taken the life of his victim. He has killed 3 others previously.

The police eventually caught the perpetrator who will stand trial at some stage. I hope the justice system sees justice done!

Human Trafficking

We have been warned, leading up to the FIFA 2010 Soccer world cup, that children are at risk in South Africa and that children should not be allowed to go around in public places on their own.

I seems that events of this nature and scale provide lucrative platforms for insidious merchants to market their wares which include children and teenagers.

A typical mode of acquiring their 'marketable items' is to be in popular shopping centers watching all who come in and are wandering around.  They identify and monitor potential targets to ensure that they are not with anybody who is nearby.  When they strike the walk up to their prey with an injection concealed in a hand and bump lightly against the shoulder of their prey injecting the contents of the syringe as they do it.  A few short second is all it takes and the injected person collapses.  The hunter quickly comes to the aid of the unconscious person picking him or her up and shouting 'my child is ill and has to get to the hospital!'.  They rush out of the center carrying their prey and get into a car that is parked nearby.  The child or teenager is never seen again.

A young girl's price is said to be as high as R39,000.00.

I am disgusted by the actions of these and other people.  In today's fast moving, automated society where everyone sees to self with little regard for others particularly people not known to them, these crimes are easily perpetrated and executed knowing that there is little chance of being challenged or intercepted.  It is a harsh reminder that we do not really stand together and we hate to get involved with other's problems.  In a way I can understand that because our society often punishes well meaning people so everyone feels to not get involved.

It is also a poor reflection on human kind that such inhumane acts become an expected part of any great event such as these international sports events are.

I am glad there are organisations that are set up to monitor human trafficking and who work to prevent it from happening, but in today's high tech society I am sure that they only get to see a small percentage of what is really going on.

The radio today reported on another form of human trafficking.

Street beggars that are found at many intersections of the road of Johannesburg and Pretoria are hiring babies from irresponsible 'mothers' for the day.  They pay the mother a paltry R20.00 and they take the child, strapped onto their backs in the traditional way, and spend the whole day, in the sun, getting donations from motorists.  Drivers feel more compassionate to a person begging with a child and so they are more included to give and give larger amounts.  The beggar who hires the baby has no personal responsibility to the child.  If the child cries, even better, more sympathy; but the child gets nothing.  Babies end up being deformed, malnourished and ill with disease but are given no care.  They are returned to the 'mother' at the end of the day.

And the end of the day the beggar has benefited from higher donations; the mother has benefited from the hire fee; the baby has had no benefit at all and will most likely become another beggar or street child in later years due to the lack of care and attention and worthwhile social engagement.

This trafficking should be stopped and I am sure it can be prevented far easier than other forms of trafficking. Begging of this nature should be illegal particularly on busy street corners with an infant.

Struck by Lightning!

You gotta be careful!
Lightning can strike when you least expect it!

Lightning is the next Dean Koontz book I have started reading and it is promising to be just as enthralling as the previous novels of his that I have read.

I starts with a baby being born during a particularly violent electric storm.  The mother was experiencing difficulty so her doctor - a dunken, self pitying failure - was called to assist.  The doctor's ability to get to the hospital where he most likely would have ended up burying his mistake, was impeded by a mysterious guardian angel.
Baby was born, mother died and the thrilling mystery begins to take form....

I expect that this book, also available as an audio book and in handheld electronic format, to be a compelling read.  I am only a 10% into the book and I know there are a number of characters, some good, some very bad and sinister and others at the mercy of the badies.  The plot is not yet completely clear but that is what makes good reading - a keeness to find out about the plot and the way it unfolds....

Finished 'Intensity' - a Dean Koontz novel

Well, after many days of reading I have completed the Dean Koontz novel "Intensity".

I found it quite intriguing and I often wondered to what extent Mr Vess would go in his pursuit of satisfying his depraved senses.

If you want to read book that are really HORROR THRILLERS, Dean Koontz is the author to turn to.  There is nothing "normal" about his characters.  I found myself totally absorbed by some parts of the book willing the good character to hurry up and get a move on to free herself from the grips and bondage of her evil, bloodthirsty tormentor.  The actions of Mr Edgler Vess were always unpredictable.  His love for the macabre was experienced in so many different ways.

At the end of the book, Chyna managed to escape in spite of great obstacles and she even managed to free Ariel who had been imprisoned by the demonic Edgler.  After all the tension of the 24 hours covered by most of the book, there was relief that the bad guy did not win but disappointment as well because the story almost ended in an anti-climax.

I can imagine that this novel could be (might already be) a gripping movie.  It would be interesting to see how the various scenes would be depicted.

Satisfaction! Grrrr

Following on from yesterday's blog posting, I had the pleasure of noticing how stupid the 'Blue Light Brigade' can be.
The Blue Light Brigade is a term given to the politicians who travel the roads in big black cars fitted with blue strobe lights and the normal lights have also been modified to flash brightly as well.  The come cruising down the highways and byways of South Africa and expect the drivers that are in their way to take any measures to get out of the way so that they can get to their destination quickly - their time seems to be so much more valuable than the normal citizen's!

Last night, while traveling home along one of the highways between my place of employment and my house, I had covered about half the distance in traffic that was not too heavy.  I was in the inside lane and I noticed a Blue Light car coming up behind me.  I completed passing a large truck and I moved out of the inside lane.  The dearly beloved politician passed me and I moved in behind him again to pass other slower vehicles.

Some distance further on the Blue Light car had disappeared from sight and still had about 20 minutes of travel left.  As I neared the exit from the highway I needed to take I noticed a long stream of cars on the outside lane and I saw that I would be able to get past them before my exit so I proceeded to do so.  Imagine my surprise when I saw that one of the cars in the long queue was the politician!

I carried on past and pulled in front of the queue of cars, end a bit further on took the exit I needed to.  In my rear view mirror I saw that the Blue Light car was waiting in the queue to get into the exit - they were being slowed down by a large truck that was in front of the queue.

I took the exit and entered another highway and completed my trip off that highway without having seen the Blue Light car again.

Which all goes to prove the old adage, "More haste, less speed"!

Special People :(

Previous on KenRules mention was made of the amount of time we waste.  Commuting traffic is a time and way that much time is wasted.  I waste between 3 and 5 hours a day commuting from home to my place of employment!  There are many people in the same preidicament as I.  I look around me while inching forward on the 'freeways' and 'highways' I travel on and the sheer volume of cars caught in the same slow moving traffic would support my assertion.  Many of us WASTE TIME in traffic!


Then you get the people whose time is so valuable to them that they will contravene all kinds of road usage laws.  People who feel that they are so speciual that they do not need to comply with and be subject to the rules of the road.  People who are so special that they must be allowed to get to their destination faster than anyone else.
So they come speeding down the emergency lanes of the highways bearing scant regard to the consequenses of their actions, kicking up sand, stones and various other forms of debris that exist behing the yellow line that demarkates the 'no mans land' of the highway!
Why can't they, like most others, submit to the fact that the traffic is intense and slow moving and inch along eventually reahing their destination without jeapodizing the safety of other road users?  Eventual they get to a point in their speedy bypass where they will have to join the main flow again so they will have to push in thereby agravating and exacerbating the problem for everyone else!
In South Africa we have a 'Blue Light Brigade'.  I think it is something our politicians learned from when the US President came with his convoys to South Africa.  As he travelled around there would be a cavalcade of big black Jeeps with tinted windows and blue fashing lights in front, behind and on each side of the Presidential Limosine.  All road users where exepected to make way for the enormous procession so they would pull into the emergency lanes, climb pavements and roll down embankments to get out of the way for this doyen of the civilized world.
Our politicians saw how cool this was and so for the past years we have been subjected to this arogance on our roads as our 'public servants' travel with their 'blue light brigades' from venue to venue.

For behold, though shalt make way for this special person for he art far superior to thee and thou shalt be forced from the road if thou dost not acknowlege how superior he/she is.  Verily verily, I say anto thee (although though canst not hear it but thou art aware of the blue lights that are flashing impaiently) that failure to comply with our demands will result in a punishment that will exceed they wildest expectations for we will with impunity and without fear for the law - for we are above and beyond the law - roll open our electric tinted windows and hold forth our automatic fireams and aim them at the tyres of your vehicle and shoot with anticpation of the diruption danger and damage this will cause to thee and thy family as you travel innocently on the roads that we have provided yet failed to maintain!

Read for life.

Comparatively speaking, LIFE IS SHORT.
What do we spend most of our life doing?
Reading.

In one way or another our lives are involved in reading everyday and in many of the things we do.
Just look at the various ways we read - and this is not taking into consideration the work place or careers!

• We wake up in the morning and READ the time off our watch or alarm clock.
• We go have breakfast and we READ the labels on the cereal box
• We take the milk out the refrigerator and READ the expiry date
• READING the time lets us know how we are progressing in the day
• In the car we READ the dashboard and other instruments
• As we drive we READ road signs, adverts and banners along the road
• The newspapers are READ
• Our calendar or agenda for the day is READ
• We decide to see a movie and we READ what is showing
• We watch the movie and READ the pictures and listen to the words
• Going shopping and we READ the shop names we go to
• The product labels and prices of the items are READ as we seek what we are looking for.

There are very few activities in a day that we can complete without reading.  Sleep is one of them and thank heavens for that!

It is hard to imagine living without being able to read text, writing or books yet there are many people in the world who go through each day without a clue of how to READ.  I cannot image being in that situation.  The ability to read is something I have always taken for granted!
Yet there are people, even in some of the most advanced countries, that are illiterate!  I cannot even begin to imagine what they are missing!
Can you imagine not being able to pick up a paper and READ the news or stories it contains?  Or getting a letter and maybe recognising who it is from by the handwriting but not being able to read it?
Reading is a skill we should all be so very thankful for.
It enriches our lives, builds character, increases knowledge and understanding.  It opens the world to us.
Through reading we have ways to assist us in every aspect of lives.  It provides a way of addressing the innumerable challenges and problems that we face on a daily basis and, through the art of being able to write, provides a way in which we can touch and affect the lives of many others.
Where would we be today if it were not for the fact that from the earliest of times there have been people who have been able to read and to write.  People who have recorded their experiences, their joys and their frustrations.  People who have documented, sometimes in the finest and most intricate detail, their lives and their experiences so that we can benefit from this written word!

Wasted Time

Time is such a precious commodity.  Once it has passed it has gone forever and there is absolutely nothing you can do to retrieve it or relive it.
When you think about it, a lot of our life's time is wasted and then I wonder what can be done to prevent that from happening.  Many of our daily activities can be classified as wasted time...

• Watching TV
• Sitting in traffic
• Waiting for some event to start
• Sitting idly staring into space

It does not take too much effort and the list can be added to.  I do not categorise sleep as a waste of time.  We all know it is essential to each person to spend some time sleeping.  Failing to do this is counterproductive and can have far reaching and undesirable consequences.  Many books are written on this including Sound Sleep, Sound Mind: 7 Keys to Sleeping Through the Night.  We all know it is important!

What about the other time though?  Wasted time that cannot be justified as essential?

TRAVEL TIME
I spend about 4 hours of each day in traffic travelling to a from work.  It is essential time as it permits me to maintain my lifestyle and enjoy many other things but it is essentially "WASTED TIME"!
I can spend the time concentrating as much as I can on the activities pertaining to safely driving myself but when stuck in bumper to bumper traffic that is stop start, stop start, the only thing left to do is to

• Count the cars in front
• count the cars behind
• see how many there are of each make
• note number plates and patterns in the letters and numbers
• consider the acronyms that the letters of the numberplate can be
• look at the people inside the car and wonder
• What work they do
• Are they married
• what kind of people are they
• how much do they earn
• did they kiss their spouse and children goodbye
• are they in a company car
• See the surrounding country and buildings
• calculate the total cost of vehicles within your sight
• consider all the petroleum products being burned and the cost of it

Lets face it, it may be slightly entertaining but IT IS A BIG WASTE OF TIME!!

TIME IS MARCHING ON AND BEING WASTED!

If you could read, it would not be such a waste of time but, of course, you cannot read!  I see people reading the paper or a magazine, holding it to the steering wheel and glancing between the road and the traffic and what they are reading.  They are compromising their safety and all other road users!

I have seen people with bibles open on their steering wheel.  They must think that because it is the Bible they are reading, the Good Lord will guard and protect them so that they will get to work safely!  I am sure the Good Lord expects them to use common sense and will protect them after all precautions they take themselves!

So, what do we do?

We live is an age of amazing technological advancements and Audio Books are one of these technologies that can assist us.  Most cars these days, when fitted with sound equipment, have a CD player.  Audio books can be listened to during the long and tedious commuting we do.

Audio books can be

• entertaining
• educational
• motivational
• inspiring
• edifying
• character building
• funny

and can cover a wide variety of subjects and topics.

The problem I have with audio books is that you have to train yourself to listen to them and to HEAR what is being said.  I sometimes 'zone out' and do not hear or absorb anything that is going on around me.  The radio can be playing.  I am aware of it but do not really hear it.  My wife may be talking to me and I don't hear her either!

I also think it would be good to be able to listen to an audio book version of the current book you are reading.  It would provide a convenient way of getting through it and enjoy it.

Back to the Reading theme...

After moving away from the original theme it will most likely be a good idea to get back to reading and the joys of doing it.

John Grisham

I have had the pleasure of reading many of John Grisham's books.  For the most part his novels are interesting and absorbing.  His stories are obviously well researched.  While reading them I often find myself asking if things like this can really happen - I question of people can really be as he portrays them.   As much as I know it is fiction, I feel there is a lot of truth in the fiction and that makes it even more compelling to read!

The Brethren is a very good example of this.  It is centered around how crime can and is used to promote greed and allegiance to an organisation that is rotten from the top down.

Throughout his books I find myself eagerly reading and wanting the 'good guys' to be victorious.  I am disappointed

As good as the books may be, I found that after reading a few, some aspects of the plot were almost predictable.  The plot proceeds with considerable tension and is drawn out for the majority of the book only to come to a rather sudden stop in the last pages of the book.  It is almost like he realises that he could go on for ever but he needs to keep it to a certain number of pages so the end is rather rushed.

In spite of that, I did enjoy reading the books and would start a new story immediately on finishing the current one.

Law forms the basis of most of his novels I have read with Skipping Christmas being an exception.  Like a number of his other books, this was made into an amusing and light hearted movie as Christmas With the Kranks.