This week has been a rough one, both from a productivity and physical point of view. Starting early this past Sunday, I have had a severe bout of pain from my arthritis thingy. For the most part, I’ve been either in bed or on the couch every waking moment since, until today. Three truly bad days with little to look forward to. The meds weren’t doing very much, and as long as I was reclining I was fine, sitting in my wheelchair at the computer for more than 10 minutes led to the (near) impossibility of getting up and collapsing back on the couch.
Today things seem to be getting better. I can move around the apartment without the horrific pain of earlier in the week, and am able to spend some time at the computer (as this posting is proof). The week has not been totally non-productive as I have been able to view the blender documentation and tutorials on the TV (thanks to YouTube and the PS3 web browser apps), so the 14+ hours on the couch were not constrained to endless reruns of 70’s-80’s sitcoms or the Judge Judy marathon that shows up on the local Fox channel. Still, there is a limit to how much “book lernin'” you can absorb without actually getting your hands dirty. Today was a pleasant change of pace.
I know there are a number of reasons for the pain to wax and wane, but I have not been able to identify specific causes. Sometimes a change in weather will trigger a bout, as will an unusually diverse (and extensive) selection of goodies over and above my normal dietary needs. Historically I have been treated for gout, never in my big toe but my major joints (knees, hips, and shoulders). Since that’s what hurts it seems possible it exacerbates the symptoms. I am not convinced, based on 20+ years of experience. The kinds of activities triggering gout in the past were absent this last cycle.
For giggles, I powered up my Palm Pilot m130 to run a biorhythm program, to see what my cycles showed for this week. Surprise! Both my physical and intellectual cycles bottomed out this week (emotional critical day was Sunday as well).
Now, how reliable is this pseudoscience? The idea that our lives pass through cycles of ups and downs is pretty reasonable (ask a woman…). That there is different cycles for different life elements also seems like a valid idea, and that they have different periods is entirely possible. But did they cause a spike (or rather a crash) in my life this week?
I don’t know. I really don’t care. In my “younger” days I tracked my biorhythms closely and decided there was at best a slight correlation between the cycle and my daily functioning. The theory remarks that it is more significant on the critical days when a cycle passes through the “0” point on a chart than to peak or valley. These critical days are times when you can do either very well or really poorly, more than you might expect on either border day. On the rare occasions when two (or more so all three cycles) were critical you were to be especially careful, lest a horrific “catastrophe” should take place. I did, and “it” never happened.
Do I believe the number of days I have lived have a direct effect on the mundane events of my life, more or less so if the number is divisible by 23, 28, or 33? Not really, I guess. I suspect it’s more coincidental than causal but it is fun to look at. Not that I would use it solely to make any life critical choices. And with an intellectual level at -100, I’m SURE not buying a lottery ticket today.
Not for at least another 16 days…
Phred
post 57 of n
Phred the Elder 