On 2023-06-11 12:20, Bob Henson wrote:
> On 11.6.23 10:58 am, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> Bob,
>>> Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England
>>>
>>> If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything. — Mark Twain
>>>
>> 😂
>>
>> No need to remember the lies, that's true.
>>
>> You need to put "-- " at the start of a new line to separate your
>> signature from the body of the post. It is a standard.
>
> Betterbird insets it automatically on all my messages. Why it's missing
> here I don't know  - as it only leaves one line space between the quote
> and the separator, I suspect fat and arthritic fingers :-)
>

Yeah, after posting that I realized other posts of you were correct.
Some cpu fart of Betterbird :-D

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 6/11/23 1:22 AM, Bob Henson wrote:
> On 10.6.23 8:30 pm, The Real Bev wrote:
>>
>> Anyway, the selection of local GPs (some are "internists") is pretty
>> damn thin :-(
>
> We have the same problem here. It used to be every doctor's ambition to
> be a GP, and positions in areas like this (Cotswold Hills) used to be
> fought over. As an area to live in this is about as good as it gets.
> Nowadays, recruitment of experienced doctors is nearly impossible. The
> surgery that my pharmacy was in had just that problem, as did the nearby
> surgery where SWMBO worked for some time. You can imagine what sort of
> GPs they get in the areas where no-one wants to live.

I'd want Doc Martin. I don't care how abrasive he is. Or House.

A friend's daughter went through Caltech in biology and then on to med
school. She was shocked to find that most of it was memorization, not
actual thinking. That explains a lot. She became an ER doc -- regular
hours and you don't have to actually get involved with your patients.

> Having grown up in an era where, if you needed a GP, you just went and
> sat in his waiting room and got seen before he left for lunch/dinner,
> you can imagine what I think of the current methods. We have to phone an
> unqualified receptionist and persuade her to book a telephone
> appointment with a doctor (not necessarily the one you want to see)
> which may be one to two weeks away. When you speak to him/her and if
> they decide to see you you have another wait of possibly a couple of
> weeks before you see them face to face.

Friend's doc recommended a specific cardio-doc. We called numerous
times, left messages, etc. trying to make an appointment. Finally we
just drove into Los Angeles to make the appointment. No explanation
given, of course. From then on we had the name/number of the doc's
assistant and the whole thing has been worth the nuisance, but it should
NOT have happened that way. Why have docs' staffs become so incompetent?

> There are now private GP services springing up, but you need to be very
> wealthy to use them - they aren't for the likes of us normal mortals.

"Concierge" or "boutique" docs/groups. I don't do 'luxury' vacations
either. All seem unpleasant. I think if you have decent insurance and
scream loudly you can cut through the crap most of the time, but the
system ought to work better.

It would be nice if there were actual reliable objective methods for
rating doctors. Every single one here is a Top Doc (or equivalent) and
has a plaque on his wall to prove it. Yelp is a waste of time. Reading
the doc's resume (CV, excuse me!) is about the only thing we can do, but
sometimes that isn't sufficient. Somebody had to be in the bottom 10%
of his Johns Hopkins grad class.

--
Cheers, Bev
There's something wrong with my keyboard.
Whenever I type x I get x.

On 6/11/23 2:58 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2023-06-11 10:01, Bob Henson wrote:
>> On 10.6.23 11:21 pm, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> On 2023-06-10 23:48, The Real Bev wrote:
>>>> On 6/10/23 12:56 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I would never try to kill ants in the garden. I only kill insects when
>>>>> they destroy too many of my plants.
>>>>
>>>> Yes.  Pillbugs just eat decaying veg, so they're OK.  I will go out
>>>> of my way to crack the shell of any snail I see, but slugs are more
>>>> numerous and need to be squashed with some sort of implement that I
>>>> won't want to touch again, so I let most of them live.  Potato bugs
>>>> (Jerusalem crickets) get thrown high into the air over the street --
>>>> if they land safely they can walk to the other side.  Their pupae get
>>>> cut in half with the garden trowel.
>>>
>>> Snails are easy. There is a blue granulate of "something" that they love
>>> to eat, but makes them dissolve and vanish. You just sprinkle it around
>>> the plants they are eating, and in a day or two they are gone, you only
>>> find the empty shells.
>>>
>>
>> The "something" used to be metaldehyde, which was thought to be species
>> specific, but actually is toxic to most animals and hence is now banned
>> in the UK (and as far as I know in the USA too). Current ones are
>> nowhere near as effective and contain ferric (iron) phosphate.
>
> Oh.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaldehyde
> https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaldeh%C3%ADdo
>
> Safety
>
> Metaldehyde is classified as a 'moderate risk' pesticide by the World
> Health Organization and is toxic to all animals that ingest it in large
> quantities. Metaldehyde is highly toxic by inhalation, moderately toxic
> by ingestion, and slightly toxic by dermal absorption.
>
> Metaldehyde is not a carcinogen.

Neither is a gun...
> Doesn't seem to be prohibited here, at least the Spanish wikipedia
> doesn't mention it.
>
> It seems the granulate is not metaldehyde alone, but mixed with some
> other substance as bait.

Snarol was metaldehyde and is now banned. Haven't tried any of the legit
stuff.

--
Cheers, Bev
There's something wrong with my keyboard.
Whenever I type x I get x.

On 2023-06-11 20:56, The Real Bev wrote:
> On 6/11/23 2:58 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2023-06-11 10:01, Bob Henson wrote:
>>> On 10.6.23 11:21 pm, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>>> On 2023-06-10 23:48, The Real Bev wrote:
>>>>> On 6/10/23 12:56 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I would never try to kill ants in the garden. I only kill insects
>>>>>> when
>>>>>> they destroy too many of my plants.
>>>>>
>>>>> Yes.  Pillbugs just eat decaying veg, so they're OK.  I will go out
>>>>> of my way to crack the shell of any snail I see, but slugs are more
>>>>> numerous and need to be squashed with some sort of implement that I
>>>>> won't want to touch again, so I let most of them live.  Potato bugs
>>>>> (Jerusalem crickets) get thrown high into the air over the street
>>>>> -- if they land safely they can walk to the other side.  Their
>>>>> pupae get cut in half with the garden trowel.
>>>>
>>>> Snails are easy. There is a blue granulate of "something" that they
>>>> love
>>>> to eat, but makes them dissolve and vanish. You just sprinkle it around
>>>> the plants they are eating, and in a day or two they are gone, you only
>>>> find the empty shells.
>>>>
>>>
>>> The "something" used to be metaldehyde, which was thought to be
>>> species specific, but actually is toxic to most animals and hence is
>>> now banned in the UK (and as far as I know in the USA too). Current
>>> ones are nowhere near as effective and contain ferric (iron) phosphate.
>>
>> Oh.
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaldehyde
>> https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaldeh%C3%ADdo
>>
>> Safety
>>
>> Metaldehyde is classified as a 'moderate risk' pesticide by the World
>> Health Organization and is toxic to all animals that ingest it in large
>> quantities. Metaldehyde is highly toxic by inhalation, moderately toxic
>> by ingestion, and slightly toxic by dermal absorption.
>>
>> Metaldehyde is not a carcinogen.
>
> Neither is a gun...
>> Doesn't seem to be prohibited here, at least the Spanish wikipedia
>> doesn't mention it.
>>
>> It seems the granulate is not metaldehyde alone, but mixed with some
>> other substance as bait.
>
> Snarol was metaldehyde and is now banned. Haven't tried any of the legit
> stuff.

I have a package and a half of the old stuff. I will use it, of course,
because if I throw it to the garbage it will just end polluting the
environment as well who knows where. In my house I know there are no
pets. I saw this morning two large salamanders or similar, while
previous times I saw only one, and I have used the stuff with them
around somewhere. It must be a good hunting ground for them.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 6/11/23 12:18 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2023-06-11 20:56, The Real Bev wrote:

>> Snarol was metaldehyde and is now banned. Haven't tried any of the legit
>> stuff.
>
> I have a package and a half of the old stuff. I will use it, of course,
> because if I throw it to the garbage it will just end polluting the
> environment as well who knows where. In my house I know there are no
> pets. I saw this morning two large salamanders or similar, while
> previous times I saw only one, and I have used the stuff with them
> around somewhere. It must be a good hunting ground for them.

I associate salamanders with swamps. We have lots of lizards and ONE
horned toad when I was maybe 10.

I don't see many snails, but I have a lot of pots and slugs seem to like
to cling to the bottoms. Nasty things.

What am I saving the Snarol for? <ponder>

--
Cheers, Bev
Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

On 2023-06-11 22:11, The Real Bev wrote:
> On 6/11/23 12:18 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2023-06-11 20:56, The Real Bev wrote:
>
>>> Snarol was metaldehyde and is now banned. Haven't tried any of the
>>> legit stuff.
>>
>> I have a package and a half of the old stuff. I will use it, of course,
>> because if I throw it to the garbage it will just end polluting the
>> environment as well who knows where. In my house I know there are no
>> pets. I saw this morning two large salamanders or similar, while
>> previous times I saw only one, and I have used the stuff with them
>> around somewhere. It must be a good hunting ground for them.
>
> I associate salamanders with swamps.  We have lots of lizards and ONE
> horned toad when I was maybe 10.

I don't really know if they are salamanders, they could be anything
similar, they move too fast for me to observe :-D

No swamps here, it is very dry, pre-desert. Except that this May it
rained every week and a lot, something that has not happened in 80 years
at least. And there is more rain coming next week.

>
> I don't see many snails, but I have a lot of pots and slugs seem to like
> to cling to the bottoms.  Nasty things.
>
> What am I saving the Snarol for?  <ponder>
>
>

--
Cheers, Carlos.

In comp.mobile.android, on Sat, 10 Jun 2023 14:50:07 -0700, The Real Bev
<bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 6/10/23 1:06 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2023-06-10 21:36, The Real Bev wrote:
>>> On 6/10/23 11:26 AM, micky wrote:
>>>> In comp.mobile.android, on Fri, 9 Jun 2023 03:11:31 +0200, "Carlos E.R."
>>>> <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Oh, I know that's the final result, but I mean they measure
>>>>> "something" in the air they blow or rebounds, I don't know exactly
>>>>> what. The measure something, do some calculations, and end by
>>>>> figuring out your eyeball internal pressure :-)
>>>>>
>>>>> Back upon a time, I worked at a place that made tests machines. I
>>>>> want to know how that machine works. :-)
>>>>
>>>> I sort of thought they measured the deflection of light that they
>>>> bounced off the eye.  I can't imagine what else they could measure.
>>>
>>> https://www.brightfocus.org/glaucoma/article/how-eye-pressure-measured
>>
>>
>> Ah, thanks. :-)
>>
>> "Air-Puff Tonometry", that's the one I was thinking of.
>
>It's still not clear what's being measured. The diameter of the flat
>spot? Its depth? Something completely different?

Yes, it's agreat list, and it gave the name, air-puff tonometry.
Following that along I found
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocular_tonometry#Non-contact_tonometry"

"It uses a rapid air pulse to applanate (flatten) the cornea. Corneal
applanation is detected via an electro-optical system. Intraocular
pressure is estimated by detecting the force of the air jet at the
instance of applanation.[19]"

This too doesn't say, exactly, but I think it means when your eye goes
from being round to being flat, such that I assume, some light bounces
off at the right angle and is seenn by a sensor. They may measure the
"force of the air jet" but they know when it's the right force when the
eye is flat.

That's the way I'd do it anyhow, and I'm working on my PhD in glaucoma
testing. My first class starts in September. Wish me luck.

" Historically, non-contact tonometers were not considered to be an
accurate way to measure IOP but instead a fast and simple way to screen
for high IOP. However, modern non-contact tonometers have been shown to
correlate well with Goldmann tonometry measurements and are particularly
useful for measuring IOP in children and other non-compliant patient
groups.["

I'm as non-compliant as anyone, or I'd like to be. Really, I don't
like people touching my eyeball with things. Air is enough.

For only 99cents you can get started:
https://campaign.aliexpress.com/wow/gcp/tesla-pc-new/index?UTABTest=aliabtest377151_530968&src=google&src=google&albch=shopping&acnt=708-803-3821&slnk=&plac=&mtctp=&albbt=Google_7_shopping&albagn=888888&isSmbAutoCall=false&needSmbHouyi=false&albcp=20123152476&albag=&trgt=&crea=en3256802221804479&netw=x&device=c&albpg=&albpd=en3256802221804479&gclid=CjwKCAjw4ZWkBhA4EiwAVJXwqWbgrmgqwC_T38YXGycaY-9r0-w1bM66ZpRSeVn1XZLRxA3qc1VQyxoC3pUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&aff_fcid=2707de5744ba48e39281b8d81ae93ed2-1686535518343-09488-UneMJZVf&aff_fsk=UneMJZVf&aff_platform=aaf&sk=UneMJZVf&aff_trace_key=2707de5744ba48e39281b8d81ae93ed2-1686535518343-09488-UneMJZVf&terminal_id=83519f51916c495b8bd61ebf0b22f8a8&wh_weex=true&wx_navbar_hidden=true&wx_navbar_transparent=true&ignoreNavigationBar=true&wx_statusbar_hidden=true&bt_src=ppc_direct_lp&scenario=pcBridgePPC&productId=3256802221804479&OLP=1085100208_f_group2&o_s_id=1085100208
Heres a abetter one for $950.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/155467325209 It's new but it doesnt' say if it
includes instructions.
This one is $10 more an dit has a pamphlet:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234881784755 I th ink it's worth an extra $10
to get instructions, especially if you're a sole practitioner.

https://www.scienceworld.ca/stories/ever-wonder-about-air-puff-eye-tests/
The air puff tonometer releases air over a range of pressures at your
eye. At the same time, an infrared beam of light is shone off your
cornea. When the cornea flattens out under the pressure of the air, the
beam of light reflects at a different angle. When this occurs, the
device records the pressure of the air that was required, measured in
millimetres (mm) of mercury (Hg), a quaint unit of measurement that
lingers like an after image of an earlier time. The test is usually
repeated to account for variations in eye pressure.

So I was right. I love being right. It's better than food.

It's surprising a little thing like the two ebay items can do all this,
or even just the part where they release air at several known pressures.

This air puff method is not as accurate as other tonometer methods and
tends to give higher readings. But it is easier to administer and less
invasive, so optometrists use it as a screening method. If a problem is
indicated, then the eye doctor will resort to a more precise method
involving anesthetizing your eye and pressing a small plate against it.

I wonder if childrens' parents teach them to not touch their eyeballs or
it's just instinctive. ?????

On Sun, 11 Jun 2023 13:11:28 -0700, The Real Bev
<bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 6/11/23 12:18 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2023-06-11 20:56, The Real Bev wrote:
>
>>> Snarol was metaldehyde and is now banned. Haven't tried any of the legit
>>> stuff.
>>
>> I have a package and a half of the old stuff. I will use it, of course,
>> because if I throw it to the garbage it will just end polluting the
>> environment as well who knows where. In my house I know there are no
>> pets. I saw this morning two large salamanders or similar, while
>> previous times I saw only one, and I have used the stuff with them
>> around somewhere. It must be a good hunting ground for them.
>
>I associate salamanders with swamps. We have lots of lizards and ONE
>horned toad when I was maybe 10.

Despite its name, a horned toad is a kind of lizard, not a toad.

We have lots of lizards of various kinds here too.