White Knuckle Driving – My England Experience

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Dr. Greg Meyer

2 Weeks and 3500 miles. After getting my BMW diesel automatic (thank God) with built-in Navigation, I was following instructions out of the city to our first hotel near Bedford. It would have been very difficult without the calm English-accented woman in the Navigation computer calmly warning of which roundabout exit to take, and which roads to follow.

I got used to the left-sided driving fairly quickly. It was the roads, and the driving habits that made me exhausted…..

The smaller highways sometimes have curbs! no shoulders, no warning tracks….just jolt when you bump the curb at 60 mph. Country roads should have shoulders, not curbs.

Once off the major highways, most of the roads are winding the countryside. Again, no shoulders, and occasional curbs. At best there is a 6 to 15 foot hedge row that blocks any chance of seeing anything ahead. Worse case: a 5 foot high solid rock wall that has been there for 1,000 years. Sometimes the road is wide enough to paint lines. You have about 6 inches leeway on each side of your car. When a bus comes around the corner at 45 mph and you see his tires over that white line….you pray that your left front end is not going to kiss the rock as you swerve that way. For some reason, I noticed that shifting your whole body and twisting away to the opposite side while squinting and briefly glancing away at the possible moment of impact seems to help.

Polperro has very narrow and steep streets.

The little village of Polperro on the southwest coast prefers you park outside the village and walk in. Click here to see why.

Typical’ “2-lane” country road, not much of a shoulder!

Other times there are no lines. This is bad. It means the road is not wide enough for two vehicles. That doesn’t sleep to slow down the country buses and trucks. There are pullouts for long stretches, but for a short stretch of single lane road it is a squeeze play….and again pray. Check out a video here.

Parking is allowed with cars facing either direction. It’s not uncommon to suddenly see an oncoming car cross the lane directly in front of you to swing into a parking spot on your side. Freaked me out. And, because there are no shoulders or any extra room on the roads, even in towns…people just park on the road. Not off to the side (there is no side), just right on the road.

On the M-highways….things are great. 3-4 lanes each direction with great lane etiquette No one cruising in the fast line at 55 mph. Immediately after passing anyone in any lane the cars go right back into the lane they were in. I could set the cruise control for 85, and still get passed by the occasional drivers doing 100, or more.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Britain, driving, England, United Kingdom | 3 Comments

Memories in my vacuum

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Dr. Greg Meyer

The top is dying in the sun, pulling memories from the roller

Yes, spring is here. It’s time to reminisce over the past year – with my Dyson. Remember the last time I talked about my vacuum? Well, this isn’t about the dirt, it’s about the hair. I love cleaning the roller. Don’t get me wrong, I like rinsing out the top half, seeing all the stuck on dust from months of cleaning wash away, revealing the shiny yellow plastic again. But there is something about getting down there in the roller, having to pull, spin, pull, spin. You have to work at it. No cheating using a knife…the fun is the manual pulling of the hair, and carpet threads wound so tightly around that roller.

There are still a few Max hairs showing up. They are shorter of course, intermingled with the other hairs and carpet pieces. I think about the good years we spent together, and about the other dogs I have had. The thin blond hairs, Cyndi is in there of course. Uh oh….what’s this? Beautiful long silky strands of black hair interwoven in the mix. They wrap around several times. If CSI were checking this out…maybe they would think there was someone else involved. No trace in the house, but the vacuum reveals it’s secrets. Who else has been here, who has stayed been in my living room and bathroom and left their DNA in my Dyson, their long beautiful hair…..

oh yea….how could I forget……

Posted in the human story, Vacuums | Tagged cleaning, dyson, hair, memories, vacuum | 8 Comments

A Case of Warts

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Dr. Greg Meyer

When we were visiting Puerto Vallarta recently, our friend’s little girl had a case of warts in her mouth. She was happy and playful as ever. I was told that the doctor had biopsied them a few weeks back, and then cauterized them away. The biopsy had come back as “papilloma” which basically warts caused by a virus. But, since that treatment they had returned, with a vengeance. They were now inside the right side of the cheek, gum, and roof of the mouth. My friend asked me if there was anything I could do.

I took a look, and there were at least 30 warts, soft round bumps covering inside the right side of the mouth and upper palate. She had a history of all vaccinations, but otherwise was in excellent health.

We were able to find some homeopathic remedies just a block away from the house, so I purchased a remedy in liquid form. Since we were leaving the following day, my instructions were to shake, and put 3 drops in the mouth twice daily. Let me know in a week if there if there are any changes.

Much to my surprise and delight, about a week later I got an email saying that “it is as if she never had the warts–they are all gone. Nikki’s recovery was really awesome and I’m eternally grateful to you for saving my daughter from embarrassment when she goes to the park to meet her boyfriends. No more “pimples” for her, thanks a lot!”

The remedy was Thuja 200c

Nikki is a 2-year-old yellow lab mix.

Nikki relaxing

Nikki and Vallarta sunset

Posted in homeopathy | 2 Comments

Side Effects

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Dr. Greg Meyer

I was reading thru one of my “throw-away” med journals and saw an ad for new med. Linzess is NOW APPROVED in adults for the treatment of both irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC).

Before we get into to side effects, ask yourself : just what is the”disease” that needs to be treated here. This is a fairly common diagnosis when they can’t find anything wrong with you but you complain of diarrhea and constipation back and forth, usually with some abdominal pains. “idiopathic” means we have no clue at all….it just happens, like an a “Act Of God” I guess.

In my opinion this “dis-eaze” is just a symptom, not a disease. Why aren’t the bowels assimilating the nutrients and passing the waste products out in a efficient, timely matter. If you listen to the whole story of the person, there is always more. More symptoms: maybe mental, emotional, or physical or all three. These are also the symptoms of the main disturbance, the real problem. Treat this main disturbance with homeopathy, remove any obstacles to them getting better, and ALL their “symptoms” will get better, including their bowels.

Back to the new drug. Under “adverse reactions” included are: diarrhea, abdominal pain, flatulence, abdominal distension, headache. (so, it could make you worse?)

But here is the scary part. “Contraindicated in pediatric patients up to 6 years of age. Use should be avoided in pediatric patients 6 through 17 years of age. “

Why? In nonclinical studies death occurred in young mice within 24 hrs following one or two doses of the drug. That’s right, baby mice got one dose and died. (!!!)

I know there are a lot of helpful drugs, with a lot of potentially horrible side effects, and some not so bad side effects. But, wouldn’t it be nice to not have to take the drugs at all? This is a plug for homeopathy, (and any other non-injuring healing method.)

Posted in homeopathy, Medicine | Tagged constipation, drugs | 2 Comments

Urban Orchard Update – pruning time

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Dr. Greg Meyer

Well it has been about a year since planting my fruit trees. The peach trees grew about 8 feet tall, so time to prune back and get ready for more growth. Here’s a short video on pruning my trees.

January 31, 2013 new growth

January 31, 2013 peach blossom bud

apple blossom

peach blossom

Posted in Food, tree planting, urban orchard | Tagged tree pruning, urban orchard | Leave a comment

The Master Cleanser: Lemonade Diet

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Dr. Greg Meyer

I’m 3 days into a 10-day cleanse. I follow it from the book: Healing for the Age of Enlightenment 1976, by Stanley Burroughs. Now you can find numerous links for the diet on the internet. Basically it is very simple:

2 tbsp lemon or lime juice, (about 1/2 lemon)
2 tbsp genuine Grade B maple syrup
1/10 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
water, combined in a 10 oz glass.

extrapolated make 4 quarts:
2 cups lemon juice
2 cups maple syrup
fill with water to 4 quarts total

NO OTHER FOOD IS TAKEN!

Hard to believe…but all the calories and nutrients you need are supplied by the maple syrup. Living off lemonade for 10 days (or longer) takes some courage and will-power, but the benefits are great. It alkalizes your system, and eliminates toxins and congestion that have formed in any part of the body. It can also be a reducing diet, but it does a lot more.

This is the time of year to do it, lemons are plentiful, and we got all the free lemons from friends with lemon trees. The maple syrup is what costs the most – $20 a quart, from Whole Foods. You need to use the real stuff, not artificially flavored high-fructose corn syrup. Actually it tastes good………………………………………………………………………..so far.

Here’s a picture from Whole Foods market – they even had a set up for it in the produce department. Good timing!