Month: November 2014

Back from Chiang Mai – doctor report

Sawadee Khrap

Just got back from Chiang Mai to see the doctor about my Blood Pressure.  He cut back my Valsartan morning dosage by half and approved the Cialis as a lowering agent too.  I do feel 100 % better at the lower dosage and don’t have the dizziness like before and no ED.  The report has my cholesterol levels within the acceptable range and they appear to be getting better – I attribute that to the oatmeal every morning and the High DHA Fish Oil I have been taking – so little adjustments to the  med. regime I was taking is working. – Just reduce the Valsartan and continue as before – Oh Ya.  I did add back the Folic acid for the kidneys.

CBI stayed at the B2 Green Santiham  while I was there  – a short 20 min walk to Sirphat Hospital and/or the local shopping centers – great location, great place to stay just off Huay Kaew Rd on the Northeast corner of the Old City.  And they just built a new restaurant right around the corner from the B2 – “Corner Bistro” – Owner Kevin Lo,  a US-Thai who used to live in New York has a GREAT menu, staff and excellent tasty food – open at 7 AM  – great for breakfast – only one in the area open that early – breakfast and a short walk for exercise – beautiful.  Dinners are great too –

citylife fairAlso went to the City Life  JJ Market Garden Fair – Met a lot of old friends there and had a great time – excellent food, booths and entertainment – Steve , reporter for CityLife Mag, snap a picture while I was getting a foot massage – and for the rest of the trip everywhere I went they knew I was in town – I just searched and I can’t find the photos but they must be there somewhere – Thanks Steve

Ciao

Pattaya Park Tower

Sawadee Khrap

Just getting around to posting the images taken at Pattaya Park Tower with Charlie._MG_6511IMG_1633IMG_1646


The first shot is from my condo looking toward the Tower itself – we went up to the 54th floor for lunch and the view.  It has a revolving floor that in 1 hour will allow you to see all of Pattaya – plus there is a gondola and harness rides available – second image shows the harness ride and the view of Pattaya Beach Area – the lower image is looking East at my condo.  The windows in the tower are slanted in such a way I could not eliminate the restaurant reflections – sorry also the tinting of the glass really cuts out the colors, but you can still see the perspective..

P.S.  That’s not Charlie in the harness – neither one of us wanted to try it.

Ciao

Grand Caribbean Status

Sawadee Khrap

_MG_6507_MG_6510A couple of friends asked what was happening with the construction of the “30 story Grand Caribbean Tower” just up the road from my condo.  Here’s the latest shot from my balcony – work is daily but on the inside so no images – structure itself appears to be in the drying stage before the walls are installed and its sealed up.  Behind the green wrapping is 4 – 8 story units and again only inside construction.  The whole thing is supposed to be open in late 2015 and looks like its on track to do so – before I leave Pattaya I will visit and see if I can get some inside shots.

Ciao

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he’ll be a mile away – and barefoot. 😉

Another trip to LakeLand

Sawadee Khrap

_MG_5909Took another trip to LakeLand – Pattaya  to test out the new method using  “Back Button Focusing”  on the 7D. (see my earlier post “Tack Sharp”)   I like it, but will take a lot of practice to make it feel natural – I am used to half-down Shutter focusing – standard way most DSLR are factory setup.  Using  BBF the focusing is independent from the shutter button so tracking is a lot easier and shots are more controlled – at least that’s what they say and I am finding it to be true as I get accustomed to it…..  So here are some examples of shots of the day  – _MG_6298_MG_6017


_MG_5932_MG_6036_MG_6304_MG_6327_MG_6437_MG_6439_MG_6441_MG_6110


These shots are just random across the day –  to see the value in BBF you need to compare a sequence of shots following the subject – for example 8 in a series – tack on focusing – and total control when the image is taken – you don’t miss a shot because the camera was re-focusing after every shot.  Too many to post here but every action shot is sharp and captures the second I wanted.  Just use high speed shutter and fire away – focusing independent.

The last 4 shots were of a new friend “Martin” who I meet at the Park and took a lot of images – right now he’s checking all of them over to see what he likes the best  – then I’ll further process and prepare them for printing – these are just a quick selection from the days activity.

Ciao

*** DANGER *** Doxazosin

Sawadee Khrap

Actually I should say danger with Doxazosin and Cialis combinations.  From my last trip to Chiang Mai the doctor prescribed 2 mg Cardoxa (Doxazosin) in addition to my 160 mg Valsartan to get my BP down to the 120’s.  I found that I could not tolerate 2 mg and had to reduce to to 1 mg each morning – just couldn’t get used to it and was just too dizzy all day.  So I took the stuff for about a week and seeing that they warned about the possibility of getting extreme erections I did not take any Cialis during that time.  After the break-in week, I found that my morning wood was actually diminishing and any erection was a thing of the past. – That’s not acceptable – I’m 74 but do not want to be cut out of the game this early – so I tried adding 2.5 mg Cialis to the formula – 1st day  OK,  2’nd  day better – but the 3rd day – WOW BP dropped below 90 and I had to sit for about 2 hr.  before I could do anything and felt bad the rest of the day —–  Had I taken a larger dose it could have been DEADLY.   This combination really affects me.  Checking the literature on the Web – Warnings – don’t combine – and they are right.   (2.5 mg)  1/8 tab Cialis is the smallest I could take but at any larger doses I could have easily overdosed.

So now, using just Valsartan – I increased my Cialis to 5mg ( 1/4 tab) daily and seems to be working – Valsartan + with only Cialis  – BP in the 120’s and back on track – will have to wait to see what the long term effects are – all literature point to a safe combination and seem to solve my problems.  So far so good.  I’ll check with the doctor when I get back to Chiang Mai again.

Daily – 160mg Valsartan,  5mg Cialis,  3g Fish Oil,  81mg Aspirin – seems to be the winning mixture.   BP  120’s and feel OK, erections back.    God I hope this works long term.

I will keep you informed so you don’t encounter the same problems or deadly combinations.

Ciao.

Tack Sharp

Sawadee Khrap

TackSharp

Got a DSLR camera – looking for “tack sharp” images ?    This book is a must – I just learned how to get images that I have had trouble with trying to focus for the last 3 years – his techniques are great and he fully explains how to set up your camera’s special features to INSURE Tack Sharp Images.  Amazing – just tried out his settings at Lakeland Water Cable – Pattaya and “0’ed ” in on these moving shots with ease.  This was just a test run so I now have my camera setup and will go back to get some great images in a few days – just a sample here._MG_4599   Sorry don’t know who the skiers were.   Just some quick shots to check the _MG_4494procedure and then back to the computer to confirm the focus – next time I will spend more time and get some better shots of the guys – promise

Ciao