Day four

No grain, no processed food, and no milk products. This is the first day I've stuck with the diet completely. I had very little coughing little pain and only a little swallowing. I also ate relatively little food. BMI = 26

Day three

I fasted for two meals and ate cereal and milk for dinner.

Moving back to older blog

I keep flip flopping like an unstable politician on blogs. My blog entries will be on this blog.

Caveman Diet Day 2

- 2.5 days from yesterday.

Paleo Day 1

Day one was not completely Paleo. I had a sandwich I had made two days before that had bread (of course) and cheese. I hate to waste food.

GERD Elimination Plan

My question is what is the best way to solve the GERD problem quickly and permanently.

I have been to doctors who have diagnosed me with asthma, allergies, and GERD. Only the last doctor, an ENT suggested GERD and that was after a second visit. The allergy inhaler did nothing to improve my symptoms. The Prilosec did help my symptoms but I believe also sent me to another doctor visit with lower abdominal pain.

Ending today I tried a rapid weight loss plan using Slim Fast shakes. I have lost a few pounds but it has not been good on my lower end so I'm ending that plan as of today.

After much research on the internet and quite a few years of these problems worsening, my hypothesis is that my GERD has the following causes:

• The fat around my stomach pressing on the stomach and pushing the stomach contents up my esophagus.
• Eating too fast
• Eating too much
• Sugary and processed foods especially chocolate
• Foods that I am allergic to according to a recent test (Corn, milk, oats, peanuts, potatoes, soybeans, and wheat)

I also believe that the GERD is a life threatening emergency that must be stopped as fast as possible and through any reasonable means necessary.

I will test this hypothesis by going onto a paleolithic diet for at least 30 days and by chewing all food until it is completely liquid in my mouth before I swallow it. The ENT recommended that I try the paleo diet and my research points to this as a possible solution as well. 

The theory behind a paleolithic diet is that humans developed over millions of years as hunter gatherers and that our bodies are best suited for that type of foods.  Modern hunter gatherers don't suffer from the heart disease and obesity that we "civilized" people do.

I have no desire to live in the bush wearing a loincloth and being a snack for bugs on a regular basis, but the idea behind the paleolithic diet sounds reasonable. At any rate it will cut out the processed foods that I know are not good for me.

I will report the results as they occur in this blog.

Current Health Challenges

As of right now I have the following health problems:

• A chronic cough
• sometimes difficulty breathing
• A feeling of mucus running down the back of my throat when my nasal passages are dry
• Sometimes a lump in my throat
• A constant need to swallow
• a hoarse throat
• Near constant heartburn
• 29 pounds above my ideal weight
• Tendinitis from constant computer use
• Getting farsighted

All but the last two are symptoms of serious heartburn or GERD (Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease) of a kind that can result in deadly esophageal cancer.

To say I'm worried would be a serious understatement.

Action has to be taken and fast. See the next post for my plan.
  

iPhone 4 Review

After owning the iPhone 4 for about a year, here is my review.

 The Good:

• It does just about everything. Camera, video camera, phone, internet, project management, etc...
• Like most Apple products, it looks great
• Apple ease of use
• Stable
• Thousands of apps. There is an app for just about everything and they are usually dirt cheap
• This is the best mobile gaming platform I've seen. For $3 you get better games than you'll pay $30 for on the Nintendo DS or other dedicated gaming platforms

The Bad:

• Get a case on it before you drop it. Its beauty comes at a price
• Yes, it does have the dropped call issue. Again, get a case.
• It is like a Swiss Army knife or a Leatherman tool. It does everything OK and nothing really well.
• The battery is only good for a day and if you are using it heavily you better have a charger or it won't make it through the day.
• With the tracking technology Big Brother Apple & AT&T/Verizon knows your every move.
• Because of the small screen size web surfing is not nearly as good as on a laptop 

Summary:

Steve Jobbs said that smart phones are basically compromises. This is true. The iPhone does nothing as well as a device dedicated to that purpose such as a GPS. What it has is portability. It does just about everything and it is wherever you are.

I have had some type of personal digital assistant since my HP 100 lx back in the 90's. This is the single most useful information device of any type that I've ever owned. This little thing does it all.

Review of OtterBox Commuter Case for iPhone 4

I ordered a Commuter Case for my iPhone 4. I wanted a case that slipped into and out of my Scottevest pockets better and the Commuter Case looked like it would fit the bill.

When it arrived I tried it on my iPhone minus the screen saver. The case definitely slips into and out of pockets better but I sent it back. Here are the pros and cons:

OtterBox Commuter Case:

Pros:

• Lighter than the Defender Case
• Slips into and out of pockets easier than the Defender Case.
• A more stylish look than the Defender Case 

Cons:

• No belt clip
• The corners are not covered in hard plastic.
• The front of the iPhone is unprotected except for the stick on screen saver. (The Defender Case has a raised edge all around the screen in addition to a built in screen cover.)

Summary:
The Commuter Case offers more protection than most of the cases I see on the market with only a little more weight. However, for people who tend to drop their phones like me then you may want the additional protection of the Defender Case.

Heartburn & Weight

I'm fat. No, not obese but fat. I've also had heartburn trouble for many years. Both problems have been long in coming and I'm sure there is plenty of plaque in my veins and arteries.

Today I did not help myself very much. I ate several large pieces of Mexican sweet bread, a pack of M & M's, two vending machine chocolate cup cakes, a large helping of leftover restaurant beef cheese & chips and other nasties. This did not help either of the aforementioned problems.

I need a system that will keep me eating healthy foods and portion sizes and that will keep me from eating too close to bedtime.

Otterbox Defender Case for iPhone 4 - Review

When I got my iPhone 4 I thought it was a wonderful piece of engineering and great looking too. It also looked like it would break if you stared at it too hard. Based on my experience with prior electronic devices I knew that it would be contacting the ground in the near future.

After some research I ordered a Defender case from Otterbox. (www.otterbox.com) After about a year of daily use and abuse I have not been disappointed. The case has paid for itself several times.

The good:

• Lives up to its name. My phone has been dropped several times. Once from about head height right on to concrete. My Defender case has marks from contacting hard surfaces on three of the four corners (and the corner with no marks is covered in silicone) but the phone looks and works as good as new.
• The belt clip holds the phone in place well yet makes it so that the phone is easy to take off and put on the clip.
• Otterbox's customer service is top notch. See below.

The bad:

• The case adds to the weight and size of the phone. 
• The belt clip is made of a type of plastic that will break if too much pressure is put on it and mine did break. Otterbox replaced the belt clip with no hassle.
• The outside silicone covering makes for a great grip on say your dashboard or in your hand but it makes it difficult to slide the phone into or out of a pocket.
• The screen covering is as good as a screen cover can be but I took it off nonetheless. My eyes hurt from nearly constant computer use so I didn't need one more thing between them and the screen. This is no fault of the case as I don't see how a screen cover could be any better than the one in this case.
• The silicon covering developed a small tear. This time Otterbox replaced the entire case including the belt clip.  
• This is a personal thing but I would prefer that the Apple logo not show through the case. 

Summary:

The Defender case is a top quality case that provides a high level of protection against drops at the relatively small price of a bulkier and heaver phone and is backed up by a company that is willing to stand behind their products.

Getting Simple & Packing Stuff Around

I am attempting to get the junk out of my life. Junk of all types. One battle is the amount of junk I haul around.

I've fought a six year battle with my Targus backpack. (Targus 17” CityGear Chicago Laptop Backpack model number TCG650) It is the most useful piece of gear I've ever owned. It has crossed the country several times and accompanied me to work and just about everywhere else I've gone for at least six years.

It will carry just about anything you could want and more. One of the best features of this particular pack is that it will sit up on its own so you don't have to lean it on anything to keep it from falling over. The problem with it is that it is big and not the most professional looking thing you could haul around. The other problem with it is that one of the main zippers finally broke. It will not stay zipped.


I've tried numerous messenger bags and most recently a Scottevest travel vest. None have been able to replace the backpack. I take everything out of my pack every few weeks and examine whether I've used it or not. I only have in there what I use regularly.

Here is the lowdown / review on the Scottevest after about two weeks of ownership.

The good:

• A nice looking vest. It does not give you the tourist or old man look of a regular travel vest.
• 22 pockets. It took me a long time to even find all of the 22 pockets.
• Can carry a great deal of stuff and not look all that bulky.
• Pockets made just for phones and other gadgets
• A two year warranty.

The bad:

• I am not so sure about the long term durability. Time well tell.
• When it is unzipped it puts pressure on the back of my neck and it is usually unzipped.
• It will likely be too hot for summer wear (Scottevest does make lighter weight vests for hot weather).
• The personal area network is nice but you have to dedicate a set of headphones to the vest to really use it and the earpieces seemed to need just a little more wire to comfortably reach my ears.

Summary:
The Scottevest is a well thought out piece of gear and I will use it frequently. The more I use it the better I like it. However, most of the things I haul in my backpack are things I need nearby but not necessarily on me at the moment. It can't replace my backpack so now I have a vest AND a messenger bag that I've had for years.

The vest does simplify things when I'm say at the kids games. I don't have to carry the backpack with their water bottles and stuff as they fit in the vest pockets. However, it has not simplified my life overall as I'm still hauling the backpack around at least to the car and back.

Dixie

Please don't think of my use of the names of Dixie or Johnny Reb as a racist, redneck, or indicating that I wish to portray a bad boy image. This is not the case.

My heritage is Southern and I love the South thus the name. This blog is about giving back in my own Southern manner to the blogger community and to all of the people who have helped me through their blogs.

My thanks to all of you for writing your blogs and for visiting my blog. My hope is that my blog just might help someone be a little better.