Coping: With a Retiring Mogambo

Nearly the worst thing imaginable has happened to the global pharmaceutical industry:  My

 esteemed colleague – The Mogambo Guru – has made plans to cut back his meds and spend more time on the golf course.

 

This all came to light when a couple of readers passed on “Pssst!  The Mogambo is quitting!”

 

Instantly, I fired up the teletype to Mogambo Headquarters – we keep a highly classified private network of venerable model 28-KSR teletypes (thanks for asking) once used for the Washington-Moscow hotline connected between hooked up us.  Since Moscow has moved operations to Washington and Venezuela, and we picked up the surplused units cheap…

“Dear Junior Mogambo Ranger (JMR) George,

Well, since you asked, I have not officially retired, but I originally went on a short vacation, and then it just morphed into not working, and now I am giving retirement a try, which is interesting since I am still in Phase One of retirement, the one where I really get serious about playing golf well as part of the Stupid Mogambo Plan (SMP) that I will get so good, so suddenly, that I will, like the meteor that killed the dinosaurs, come literally out of nowhere and eliminate the hell out of all competition utilizing a “Tap-In Birdie Every Time” approach that I have yet to develop or even figure out how in the hell I can do such a thing, but which ought to bring in, oh, say $39.95 a pop as a DVD (“It’s a 50 dollar value!”).

I also intend to make a lot more money winning golf tournament after golf tournament, make even MORE money from milking lotsa, lotsa moolah from the lusciously lucrative product endorsements, become a media darling where I habitually hobnob with cute Hollywood starlets and famous celebrities, and drive a really nice car, too.

Being naturally suspicious and paranoid, of course, I assume that you are ingratiating yourself so that I will introduce you to my future Hollywood friends or let you borrow my aforementioned nice car.

No promises, you understand, but it’s a deal! Thanks!

And as to the question “Will I write again before the Mother Ship arrives and takes me back to my home planet where I can escape the bankrupting stupidities of a deficit-spending leftist government financed by the loathsome Federal Reserve’s suicidal creation of excess money and credit made possible only by their laughable neo-Keynesian econometric imbecilities?” I hope not! Hahahaha!

So, good luck to us both, George!

-Mogambo

Prediction:  Once the Mogambo figures out there are course marshals, he’s throw down his sticks and get back to writing…such is his fear of rule enforcement. 

 

Or, if he really does get famous and the Retired Financial Stars Tour stops at Pine Dunes, my home course ( played exactly once so far),  I’ll bounce for a round.  But only Monday-Thursday – the same offer I extended to president Obama.

 

Hey!  Here’s a great idea: What about a three-some? 

 

Mr. Ure’s Flu-Like Symptoms

So there I was last night – pondering whether to eat dinner, since I had just spent a good hunk of Thursday afternoon playing “shopping with Lola” except of course it was Elaine, not Lola, but that was the only difference I could find.  Run from this store to that, wait around for inspiration on which thing to buy – then failing that, another dash to another store, only to arrive home past dark to wrestle a hundred pounds of second vanity and sink off the pickup and onto the deck which was the closest spot to the project.

 

Somewhere along the way I had started to develop what are for me classic signs that something wasn’t quite right.  A slight ringing in the left ear, touch of a sore throat – not distinct, more like an awareness of it, and a few passing flashes of ‘Gee, is the heat turned up?”

 

Since there is far too much going on getting construction finished before T-day at the ranch to take time out to be sick (I’m convinced busy people get sick less often, anyway) I applied my normal ‘just-in-case’ which although not guarantees are offered,; seems to work:

• I started with a zinc tablet since zinc lozenges are supposed to be good for colds.

• Then I had a glass of Italian vitamins (Paisano) since grape juice is a fine source of reversartrol, anti-oxidants, and vitamin C.

• Since it’s not good to drink on an empty stomach, a couple of lour tortillas with a huge helping of melted Mozzarella cheese that I told myself was a quesadilla but not quite.

• Since the cheese is a little salty, more Italian vitamins.

• And as long as things are going into the mouth, a Co-Q-10.

 

About here it was confirmed that I really had the start of something because usually 8-10 ounces of wine and a quesadilla and I feel something of effects.  But, when coming down with something – or just outright sick – the effects of salutatory alcohol disappear.  Not good – but not a waste of the Italian vitamins, since I use them as an important diagnostic tool.

 

I made note to mention this diagnostic sequence since it’s a little different than the EMT SOAP approach (subjective, objectives, assessment, and plan of treatment) that goes into life support.

 

Oh, sure, Western medical figures a BP cuff, thermometer, pulse oximeter and a 3-lead ECG backed up with O2 and an AED is how medicine is done, but it’s a lot of work when for something basic, two glasses or wine and getting in touch with yourself can get there.  And no question, orange tongue depressants to look at the ‘something’ in the throat is much less satisfying than a quesadilla.

 

At any rate, my self-SOAP done, I augmented my plan with the following:

• 2-5 grams of vitamin C since vitamin C is one of the wonder drugs of the world.

• Along with that 2 Benadryl’s since best I can recall, it’s an H1 blocker and if I was getting anything serious (like swine) it’d be harder to storm with H1 blocked.

 

Next up on the list was 8+ hours of sleep and a system recheck.  Which I did at 5 AM today and honestly, except for a touch of ‘feel slow after Benadryl’ effect, the throat is normal, the only flash of heat-feeling was from drinking 600  ml (2+cups) of scalding hot coffee and no runs, drips, or aches.

 

Good news and bad:  On the one hand, further symptoms would have indicated more sleep, but on the other, no rest for the wicked.  Since I feel great, I must be wicked, which means I must get more stuff done today.

 

Darn shame:  My next level of treatment is a super-hot shrimp curry over rice with the objective of suppressing TNFa (curcumin), accompanied by a bit more wine (reversartrol) but just a bit, and depending of symptomology, move to an H2 blocker like Zantac but being very aware & careful to remember that Zantac is different from Zyrtec.  Again, with H1 & H2 blocked, I figure cytokine storm risk would go down – but this is only my thinking and IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE.

 

This would be followed by either very hot buttered rum or hot Southern Comfort and water, or the old sailing warmer-upper  Hot Yukon Jack and water, while snuggled under plenty of blankets since higher temps is one way to kill some bugs and it seems worth a chance.

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A couple of readers have been asking about my approach to flu-like symptoms, so there it is.  No  mercury-based preservatives, no egg or canine by-products.  Toss in a good book for periods between sleep (I’ve got a half dozen on the night stand already) and bring it on.  I could use the break.

 

Financial Enlightenment

Been thinking over LED, fluorescent lights and such – pondering this:

“Your speaking of light bulbs!!! Do you remember the LIFE TIME Bulbs. I had one in the bathroom that lasted 20 years, and one in the garage that is doing better than that. Imagine the savings there. So what happened to them? They seemed pretty green(cash) to me!!!! Maybe we need a company to bring them back or the Gov’t!!!

Having just had a couple of screw-in fluorescent lights go out after only a year or two of use, I got myself to thinking that one of these mornings I should fire up a spreadsheet and see where the breakeven points are for energy lighting on a KWHr annual basis. 

 

Seems to me that a 50-watt light bulb will burn for (pencil?) 20-hours for 11-cents worth of power. So if the price different is $8, then if the fancy light doesn’t last at least x hours,  then….

 

At this point, I drift off into thinking about two trains, one leaving Chicago and the other leaving New York….OMG I’m have a quadratic equation relapse!  Quick, where’s my reversartrol liquid?

 

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Send your comments to george@ure.net

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The UrbanSurvival Mall:

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“Live on $10,000″ A Year

With another round of layoffs due to start later this month…a round which will start to axe many of the middle managers who have managed to avoid the HR grenades…might I suggest a preemptive tactical move?  Voluntarily dropping your lifestyle back a bit, since we’re all being marched down that road by either circumstances or some out-of-control-PTB types who write checks to Washington lobby and to anti-reformers in California!  A good starting point, at least if you’ve still got $10-bucks is my e-book “How to Live on #10,000 a Year…or less!”

 

 

 

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My commodity broker JB Slear and I have written a simple book to get you started on high density hydroponics.  It’s an example of how someone with a little creativity, access to a few ‘dollar stores’ and willing to try out some new farming techniques can grow an amazing amount of produce sin a very small space – like even an apartment balcony (if it gets some sunlight).  Sound interesting?  It’s just $10 bucks here…

 

       

 

Pass It On

The business model of this website is base Simply click here and send a link to this site to everyone on your distro list…Nothing more dangerous than sharp, clear-thinking upstarts who ask a lot of questions, eh?  Unless you believe WTC-7 fell over on its own, of course….

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Thursday November 19, 2009