The reprise of "No B Side"

I was looking at some of my old blogs today, and came across this one.  I wrote it in Feb. 2017.  Re-reading it, I see that not much has changed at all in the last 2 years. I think it bears repeating.

February 2017
 As an observer of all things going on around me, it appears that the media has lost the fact there there is a B side to all that is going on in the world right now. 

Let me clarify. "B Side" is a music industry term that originates from when record labels release 45s. One song on each side. and A side (Which was supposed to be the hit song) and a B side which featured another song on the album that was good but not being considered as an A side single.  So, you played the A side song and the B side may NEVER get heard. 

Funny thing, though, sometimes people want to know what's on the B side. And occasionally, a B side song is a hit.  Maybe a DJ at a radio station played it by mistake. It's happened many time in the course of music history. Google "B SIDE HITS" and you will be surprised at what songs charted that were never supposed to be hits.  
Now, in the world of CDs and MP3, and streaming services, the B side is not a factor anymore and we now hear the Chart Cut and it's all we ever hear. (Listen to XM radio and tell me what the repeat rotation is) I was a radio DJ for many years. My luck was that they never made me follow the national rotation, and I was allowed to play what I wanted.  So, I mixed it up a lot and played songs that you didn't hear a lot, but everyone remembered. The songs you don't hear anymore."

I have a point to all this. Really.  It has to do with the news media. 

We are in a time of great division. It is not the first time, and it will not be the last time.  I don't choose sides, I observe what I perceive to be only A Side information.  All the media seems to thrive on is the anger and the negative energy that is spewed forth by people who don't or won't accept the current world and political situation. 
You see riots, and angry mobs, celebs who think they have the voice and ear of the people. And it's only so because the news media shoves it into your face and surrounds you with this hate and anger. All for ratings.  Bear with me. If  you are watching the news and there is rioting in the streets, and cars being set on fire, and you switch to the other news channel and see some warm and fuzzy story about happy people doing good things, do you shake your head and go back to the riots and anger because it's "more interesting?"  It's like listening to the first 10 seconds of a B side single and deciding that the A side song is better because that's what the record company has chosen to give you. It's what the networks chose to broadcast because they know that you will watch. 

I want to see the B side to all this hate and discontent. Show me the good. There is good in everything. It's the Yin and the Yang. You can not have one without the other.  Problem is, we are only looking at the Yang. We need a little more Yin I think.

I used to counsel teens. At the beginning of a group session, which I KNEW was going to be all about bitching about their parents and their life, as teens are prone to, I would go around the room and tell them to give me a HAPPY before we started. It had to be thought out . Not "I'm happy to be here...or I'm happy the 49ers won the Superbowl. (It was a long time ago) It had to be a genuine, happy feeling. It was hard for them. They were so programmed to be negative that it was beyond them to think that they had anything at all going for them. But.. they managed in the end to come up with something thought provoking. 

We have a higher power of some sort watching over us. I believe that.  Sometimes we just need to turn off the constant A side and flip to the B side and see what is there. It might be a better song. 

Have a great day.

My First Month of getting control of Type 2 Diabetes

I write about all kinds of stuff here, but rarely do I discuss personal or health issues.  I feel, though, that it is time to share they ways I am dealing with type 2 diabetes.

Having talked to a lot of people about this, I find that almost everyone I know is 'Pre-Diabetic'.  I was also told this about 2 years ago.  I figured I would lose weight, exercise and cut way back on my sugar intake.  At that time my glucose test came back in the mid 100s.  Not great.  I did well for a couple of days, and then blew it off.  Pre meant I was not there yet.  Then, I had labs done in March of this year and my glucose was at 260 and my A1c was 7.4 ... At that point I called my doctor and started getting pro active.   I hated hearing her say that I had full blown Type 2 Diabetes.  It was a serious wake up call and I needed to heed the warning. 

The first thing was the medication. Metformin twice a day.  The scary thing about that was reading the side effects.  Severe gastro intestinal discomfort, gas, serious runs, and cramps. The very worst of anti-social behavior. I took the meds and waited for the worst.  Nothing happened.  I was one of the lucky ones.  To this day, I have no  bad reaction to the Metforman. 

Next on the agenda was to lose weight. That meant a drastic change of diet.  Being in Auto Sales, one tends to eat whatever they can whenever they can.  It's a terrible thing to do to your body.  I think the choices we have in fast food nowadays is tantamount to just eating poison . Some of the taco fast food places can't even tell you what the "Meat Product" the put in their taco is. True Mystery Meat. So, I had to adjust what I ate IN A BIG WAY.  No sugar, no white carbs, a little dark chocolate (90%) and less dairy. 

I swore I would never give up my milk, so I found a brand called Fair Life which is lactose free, half the sugar and organic. One 8 oz glass is fine and I am happy.  Also, Mulberry and Cinnamon from the health food store. One of those a day, and 600mg Alpha Lipoic Acid if you have toe tingling. I got a glucose meter and tracked my readings 2x a day to show my doctor in my follow up. She was pleased that my numbers were down over 100 points 1 month after starting my new AD (After Diabetes) life.  I have shed about 16 pounds and completely changed my diet.  I must say my wife, Nikki, was a HUGE part of this too.  It takes a ton of prep time to eat healthy. She jumped in with both feet and she too has shed some pounds. 

After the first month I feel great. More energy, I can put on my socks and breathe at the same time....Kinda nice.  

It is an ongoing process.  But, I have taken a do or die (literally) attitude regarding this issue.  I have been sober now for 35 years, and quit smoking about 18 years ago.  This is the same thing. It makes no sense to me to load my body up with all this crap.  And it is not easy to avoid sugars. High fructose corn syrup is in everything from Ketchup to salad dressing. Start reading labels. If there is fructose corn syrup, you might as well replace that with the words Rat Poison.  It is my belief, since I started researching all this stuff, that the dramatic rise in type 2 diabetes is in direct proportion to the amount of processed foods humans eat.  There are alternatives to these things. Even so called Health foods are not. Become a label reader.  Things you think are okay are NOT. White rice, corn on the cob, every kind of fruit juice and energy drinks are full of sugars. It will shock you.

Anyway, I am on a new journey, and I will keep you updated.

Have a great (Sugar free) Day!