Thoughts from the T-Shirt Lady

I did call my computer geek to have him add more memory, as I mentioned in my last post. When I called, he told me he was already replacing the 256 memory chip on the motherboard with a 512 – since I didn’t need a new power pack, and the price was the same.

Also told him to add an internal modem – there is no place to plug in the cable from the external modem, as the motherboard external connections have been changed.

Took my pc to him on Monday- this is Thursday, and it’s still not done. He ran into a snag trying to update the windows xp os for the new motherboard, memory, etc. When I stopped in today to see if it was ready, he explained the problem that he was having and that the hard drive was getting very hot – this is the same harddrive that I have had since my original pc was upgraded. Probably would die soon, surprised that it hadn’t happened yet! So now we will add a new hard drive for the os – hopefully it will be done tomorrow.

Thank goodness I have my laptop – being without a pc for a week would give me grief – not being able to read and respond to email, write in my blog or conduct business – my gosh – withdrawal symptoms!

Of course, my DH keeps asking when it was going to be done – he likes to get on in the evenings, when I am watching my favorite tv shows – and searches for farm equipment, etc. Or he orders seeds and stuff!

Pray for tomorrow to get my pc back

Sandi

I have worked with computers for many years, at first taking courses at a community college, then going on to getting my degree in Computer Information Systems, and landing a job with the federal government as a computer programmer. In those days it was COBOL programming – I’m sure there are some of you out there who know what that is!

Over the course of the years, we have purchased PCs and upgraded PCs, and this week we are in the process of another upgrade.

Just recently, I upgrading our OS from Windows XP service pack 1 to service pack 2. Yes, I know, the service pack 2 update has been out for at least 2 years. I just heard too many horror stories of software and programs, etc, not working once the update was done.

Well, about 2 weeks ago, I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade to service pack 2. Before I did that, I went to all the on-line sites for software I currently use, to see if there were any issues about the upgrade. Didn’t see anything that I couldn’t handle.

And all went well!

I had spoken with my computer geek about adding more memory and also another hard drive. I didn’t know if I had 1 or 2 hard drives, and wasn’t about to open the case to check. (I’m a programmer, not a geek!) I wanted a separate hard drive to put the page pool on. I went ahead and added the large page pool file to the D drive, and made the C drive one much smaller. At least in the meantime, it would help somewhat. Also upgraded ie to 7.

My DH, who always complains about the computer being slow – standard issue and I’m used to hearing it – told me he thought it was running faster. That’s quite a complement.

So now, I’m ready to upgrade my PC – no way can I afford a new PC with us both being retired. Took it to my geek – he opened it, said I already had 2 hard drives – good that will save me money. Asked him about adding more memory – and that’s where we came across a stumbling block.

My PC was rebuilt about 5 years ago, so my memory chips are the older kind, and I might not be able to get any more. I could upgrade to the newer chips, but they wouldn’t fit on my motherboard. So I opted to go with an upgrade – new mother board, new power supply, and more memory. The upgrade includes 256 in memory. I have 512 now – prior to upgraded – we decided to add another 256. I run several programs at the same time when I am working on the pages for my website, and I want to make things run a little faster. I’m almost tempted to call them and tell them to add another 256.

Of course, whenever I get around to upgrading my PC, or upgrading video equipment – I’m always at least 2 years behind the latest inventions… took me forever to go to DVD from VHS, and CD from cassettes (I still have a turn table and vinyl records!) Guess I can wait around for another 5 years or so, before I get anything else done to my PC (grin).

I have some very good friends who are always sending me little jokes to brighten my day, and inportant information.

One of my best friends sent me an important email on Friday about the symptoms of heart attacks that women experience – which is certainly different from men, and doesn’t get talked about enough!

I thought it was a good to pass along the email that I received.

Here is a more detailed article on Heart Attacks for women, written by one who had one.

Heart Attack

I’ve meant to send this to my women friends to warn them that it’s true that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing a heart attack…you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that we see in the movies.

Having had a completely unexpected heart attack about 10:30 p.m.
with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might’ve brought it on, it was this past April,’06, about 1-1/2 hours after I’d spent a pleasant 2 hrs. rehearsing with the Note-a-Belles.
I was sitting all snuggly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me,and actually thinking, “A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.” A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you’ve been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you’ve swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn’t have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach, which doesn’t do much good, as your esophagus and throat muscles are in spasm and it hurts to swallow.
This was my initial sensation—the only trouble was that I hadn’t taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m. After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.
AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening. We all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of a heart attack happening, haven’t we?
I said aloud to myself and the cat, “Dear God, I think I’m having a heart attack!” I lowered the footrest, dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself, “If this is a heart attack, I shouldn’t be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else…….but, on the other hand, if I don’t, nobody will know that I need help. And if I wait any longer, I may not be able to get up in moment.”
I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the paramedics. I guess when one reaches them, your address automatically flashes on a screen, as the operator verified my address immediately and asked my symptoms.
I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn’t feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts, ma’m. She said she was sending the paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in. No, I didn’t take an aspirin, as I’m allergic to it, but I did take a 100 mg magnesium oxide capsule…which bottle I keep handily in reach on the kitchen counter…which is a small detour on my way to the front door…with about a 3/4 glass of water to get it dissolving ASAP into my bloodstream.
Magnesium relaxes blood vessels as it dissolves to get them expanded to let blood get through the constriction of the vessels. I then laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don’t remember the medics coming in…their examination…lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance…or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way. But I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance.
He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like “Have you taken any medications?”) but I couldn’t make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again…not waking up until the cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed two side-by-side stents to hold open my right coronary artery and now was being taken into the CCU, and looking up at the three anxious faces of Karen, Mark, and Wendy. Since I’d been a patient at St. Jude in 2002 for my TIA treatment, they had my emergency info in their system and had called my kids. I spent two days in CCU and two in general ward, then was discharged.
I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St.
Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents.
Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned firsthand, as a Certified Medical Back-Office Assistant in Internal Medicine Clinics, and as one who has lived through a heart attack due to:

1. Being aware that something very different was happening in my body …not the usual men’s symptoms, but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act ). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last!) MI because they didn’t know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion…take some Maalox or other anti-”heartburn” preparation…and go to bed…hoping they’ll feel better in the morning when they wake up….which doesn’t happen.
My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you’ve not felt before. It is better to have a “false alarm”
visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be!

2. Note that I said “Call the Paramedics,” Ladies. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!
Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER. You’re a hazard to others on the road, and so is your panicked husband/friend who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what’s happening with you instead of the road, and so are your kids or friends a hazard as well. As sure as I sit here, they will get the attention of a cop who will pull you over for speeding–more wasted time.
Do NOT call your doctor–he doesn’t know where you live and if it’s at night you won’t reach him anyway, and if it’s daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn’t carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do–principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.

3 Don’t assume it couldn’t be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count — I did, and do, too. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it’s unbelievably high, and/or accompanied by high blood pressure.) MI’s are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there (and, of course, family genetics can be a factor. I qualify for the latter, and the years 2005 and 2006 have been the most stressful of my life since Jack died in 1981.)

4. Read on for the e-mail I received today that prompted my above lecture to you:

SUBJECT: Drinking ice water at mealtime (which I’ve always done until
now.)
Noting that neither Urban Legendss nor Snopes has anything to say about this one, it must be true. Interesting, if you’ve read it before, re-read it. It may save your life. Send it to your friends and family. It may save their lives…

This is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal, but about ladies and their heart attacks. This makes sense…the Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals…not cold water…maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating!!!
Nothing to lose–everything to gain…

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you.
It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this “sludge” reacts with the stomach’s hydrochloric acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal. (Make it green tea–a great antioxidant!)

A serious note about heart attacks: Women should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line, or even pressure there and under sternum, or “indigestion” symptoms, especially if you haven’t eaten in several hours.
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack, but heaviness /pressure under the sternum is common.

Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms, but not necessarily in the women 60% of people who have heart attacks while they are asleep do not wake up.

Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive.

Sandi