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craigb

By craigb
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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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I am a career musician - I never grew up.

I am a successful musician - I guess that's rare.

The mortgage is paid off and I take vacations every year, but that's not a measure of success. This is: I get up in the morning and go to be at night; In between I do what I want to do. That's success.

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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As they say, money doesn't buy happiness, but then it doesn't buy unhappiness either. The two are neither mutually inclusive nor mutually exclusive.

There are happy rich and unhappy rich, happy poor and unhappy poor. I suppose if I didn't make enough money to scratch out a living, the lack of it would make life unhappy, but I've always managed to get by.

Back when I was in a group that was the warm up band for headliners in concert and they were negotiating us for a record deal I had a lot of money, and I was happy. When the deal fell through, the band broke up, and I went back to working night clubs I was still happy.

When I was a field engineer working for a manufacturer of Cable TV equipment, the money was excellent, I had a company car, and only worked 3 days a week, but I wasn't happy. I could do the job but didn't like the way the company was run and therefore the situations they placed me in to do my job. Fortunately I could still gig on the weekends, and after a few years when the lay-off/downsizing came around, I was in the first group to go. I went back to playing music full time for a living and never looked back.

I'm living life on my own terms. Nobody is telling me what to do. I don't punch a clock. In other words, I'm free.

I accept the gigs that I want, and turn down ones I don't. When I book a gig, I have to show up, but that's not bad because I want to show up - can't wait to get on stage and play. I live by my good business decisions and hopefully learn from bad decisions. I get to play music and make a decent living at it. I'd make more if I was still with the CATV company, but I wouldn't be as successful in life.

You spend the majority of your waking hours at work. If you do at work what you would do for free, you are a lucky person. I'm lucky that way.

I'm of retirement age, but I have no plans to retire. Gigging is the most fun I can have with my clothes on.

Some people wake up to an alarm and say "I have to go to work today". I wake up when I want and say, "I GET to go to work this evening!!!" and that is a big difference.

As far as I'm concerned, life is too short to be in the "I HAVE to go to work today" group.

Add to that I'm married to my best friend who is a fantastic singer and my duo mate. We could spend 24/7/365 together and it wouldn't be enough. I'm a very, very lucky man.

Some people define success differently, but this works for me.

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InstrEd

InstrEd

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1 hour ago, Notes_Norton said:

True, and if you are a happy sort, it'll buy you a lot of fun!

Must of the dates with my now wife were the simple dates.  She tells me all the time that she prefers the dates that we were creative and didn't cost a lot of money.   We went past Spring down to Atlanta Georgia and the hunt was on for the coupons for things to do.   My wife loves to find a bargain :)

My wife has severe dietary restrictions and we usually find a place to stay with a little kitchen so we can cook most of are own meals. Has worked great even on our honeymoon in Hawaii. We usually will eat out for one meal but it takes planning to find a place she can eat at.  With smart phones now it is a lot easier to find a local restaurant  that she can eat the food.  One good use of Smart Phones!

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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Leilani and I have self-imposed dietary restrictions. It's an anti-inflammatory diet and it's very low in sugars, carbohydrates and foods with high arachidonic acid.

Before the diet my inherited bursitis was so bad I couldn't walk 2 blocks without sitting and resting and I couldn't drive for more than 15 minutes or so without an ice pack on my hip. Now I walk 4 miles a day with zero pain and driving for hours doesn't bother me at all.

It's worked just as well for a sports injury in my hand where arthritis set in.

It's not an easy diet to follow, but it's better than being in pain or taking drugs which for these conditions have unfortunate side-effects.

I got the diet from a doctor who told me to try it before resorting to anything else and it works.

Notes

PS as a side effect, I never get sick. This year I went off diet when I was in Vienna for a week, ate a bunch of desserts. I must have caught a cold on the plane. A few days later I got a cold that consisted of; one day runny nose, one day mild cough. That was it. I think the last time I caught anything was 15-20 years ago.

I read something in Scientific American a few years ago explaining why, but I really don't remember exactly what it was. It's about some immune system cells that reside in your mucus membranes that inflammatory foods, especially sugars and starches suppress.

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Michael Vogel

Michael Vogel

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On 12/5/2019 at 9:34 AM, Notes_Norton said:

Leilani and I have self-imposed dietary restrictions. It's an anti-inflammatory diet and it's very low in sugars, carbohydrates and foods with high arachidonic acid.

Before the diet my inherited bursitis was so bad I couldn't walk 2 blocks without sitting and resting and I couldn't drive for more than 15 minutes or so without an ice pack on my hip. Now I walk 4 miles a day with zero pain and driving for hours doesn't bother me at all.

It's worked just as well for a sports injury in my hand where arthritis set in.

It's not an easy diet to follow, but it's better than being in pain or taking drugs which for these conditions have unfortunate side-effects.

I got the diet from a doctor who told me to try it before resorting to anything else and it works.

Notes

PS as a side effect, I never get sick. This year I went off diet when I was in Vienna for a week, ate a bunch of desserts. I must have caught a cold on the plane. A few days later I got a cold that consisted of; one day runny nose, one day mild cough. That was it. I think the last time I caught anything was 15-20 years ago.

I read something in Scientific American a few years ago explaining why, but I really don't remember exactly what it was. It's about some immune system cells that reside in your mucus membranes that inflammatory foods, especially sugars and starches suppress.

Is it a specific plan you follow or do you mean just in general terms, Bob. 
What’s your source for Arachidonic acid? Eggs or supplements?

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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11 hours ago, Michael Vogel ( MUDGEL) said:

Is it a specific plan you follow or do you mean just in general terms, Bob. 
What’s your source for Arachidonic acid? Eggs or supplements?

The diet was given to me by a doctor. He said to try this before looking to the medical cures, it can slow or stop the join deterioration.

For both arthritis and bursitis, treatment is similar:

Try the dietary approach first, and if that doesn't work, take stronger action.

Foods that may contribute to chronic inflammation are foods with a high glycemic index (foods that convert to sugar quickly), such as fruit juices, sugars, simple starches, or rice cakes, foods heavy in polyunsaturated or saturated fats, and foods high in arachidonic acid. Some specific foods to avoid are:

    * Fatty cuts of red meat (high in saturated fats) lean is good
    * Organ meats: liver, kidney, and so forth (very high in arachidonic acid)
    * Egg yolks (very high in arachidonic acid)
    * Poultry - chicken, duck, turkey (very high in arachidonic acid)
    * Pasta (high glycemic index)
    * Juices (high glycemic index)
    * Rice, especially rice cakes (high glycemic index)
    * White bread (substitute whole grain breads such as rye)
    * Nightshade Plants bother many people (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers, paprika)

Glycemic index charts can be found on the Internet.

Better choices are foods with a low glycemic index and foods that are heavy in monounsaturated fats. Some specific good foods are:

    * Salmon and other fish
    * Oatmeal
    * Low glycemic fresh fruits and vegetables
    * Olives and olive oil
    * Peanuts and other nuts
    * Whey proteins
    * Lean beef is good, 100% grass fed is better

It is restrictive and cheating can negate the healing. Try it strictly for a month or two.

I've shared this with friends and it's helped all I've shared it with.

I had one neighbor who was walking her dog and using a cane. I printed it out and gave it to her. In a month she stopped using the cane. About 6 months later she was using the cane again. I asked her if the diet stopped working. She replied that she just couldn't give up her pasta and high glycemic fruit.

She eventually needed hip replacement. She since moved so I don't know how she is doing with that, but I know from my experience playing for the retirement audience that joint replacements work most of the time, but when they don't the 'cure' is worse than the  problem. And the doc who gave me this diet told me that replacement parts wear out and when you are 10 years older, you might not recover from the surgery as well.

I chose the ounce of prevention with diet in 2005 (give or take a year) and I'm still pain free. I'd rather walk and play guitar than eat pecan pie, apples, and macaroni.

Notes

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