I bet that will get some interest built…
There’s the story that if you drop a frog in boiling water, he will jump out! But if you put him in cool water and gradually adjust the temperature, he will sit there in boiling water until he’s a French entre. Have you ever tried this? Frogs don’t like enclosed spaces… no flies. So putting a frog into a pan, or a Dutch oven, regardless of the temperature of the water, doesn’t mean he’ll STAY there. If he does manage to stay in the water, as you gradually turn up the heat, it takes a LONG time for that water to get hot enough to boil. Frogs do not stay in 1 place if there are no flies or other flying food. It doesn’t matter then what the temperature of the water is, frogs jump out.
Apparently, this is a parable or a fable. It is meant to have more meaning than the animal behavior aspect. Gradual change, even if it is to the detriment of the specimen, will not produce self preservation activity like a sudden change. Sudden loss of income by firing causes a person to look for a job, go through the grieving process, curtail extravagant expenditures, and seek help. Going 3-5 years without a raise produces the same kind of hardship, but it does so gradually and so the victim does NOT change his behavior. The same thing happens when one comes suddenly into money. He suddenly spends money on trivial things, ego boosting things, vengeful things, changes his whole lifestyle. A person receiving money in greater quantities every year tends to raise the level of spending gradually. Some actually realize what’s happening and invest the money that they have left over, thus increasing their future income and maintaining a lifestyle. Some don’t. They find themselves making 2-3 times as much money as when they started their careers, and have saved nothing of it. Someone losing a loved one due to accident goes through violent changes. But the person that loses a loved one to a long illness doesn’t react the same way. Someone that wakes up with a fever and a terrible cough or pain goes to the doctor. Someone with an unexplained rash that comes and goes, ignores it.
July 26, I had terrible enough pain that it caused me to throw up for about 6 hours. Sudden change from normal to awful pain in a matter of seconds. I did not feel this coming on. It wasn’t there, then it was. Kidney stone diagnosis at the emergency room. 1.3 cm or about 1/2 inch (50 caliber). After the operation to put in the stent and the ESWL treatment, it felt like a pebble in my shoe. It was annoying but not painful enough to take medication. The doctor actually suggested I strain my pee to see if there were particles getting passed. I thought he was kidding.
It has now been over a month. No coffee or pop for 1 month. LOTS of cranberry juice and decaffeinated tea. The pain now is just under my rib cage in back and about 2″ above my pelvic girdle, and in my left side about navel level. It doesn’t get better, it doesn’t move. Chronic annoyance. I can’t sit, I can’t stand, and it’s hard to sleep. I postulate that the pain/annoyance has gradually increased in the month since it started. I have been reading “expert” advice about dissolving kidney stones. One described a concoction: Apple Cider Vinegar, extra virgin olive oil in a specific combination… Wait? That’s salad dressing. I’m supposed to drink salad dressing? I don’t think so. Friday, I get to have laser treatment. They take a camera, aim the laser at the offending rock, blow it up then collect it in a basket. Doesn’t that sound like fun?
“Hey you! Doofus! I need some flies in here, and the water is tepid and smells funny! Hey? Yo! Ok, I’m hopping out!” They’d better get all of it is all I’m saying… Ribbit
Measureable progress 