Xrays

We all have this thing called the Central Nervous System. Turns out, it's pretty important... if you like information processing, ie: being able to butter your bread, get dressed, ward of infections, or take a nap and wake up again. Which, funny thing, is all stuff we like to do.

This is our story -

Best Buy sent Jess to a "women and technology" conference to rep for GeekSquad, which ended up being a bit dead on attendees (it was in Maine, what do you want.), which meant Jess spent a lot of time talking with other vendors, including 4 or 5 chiropractors which Jess tried to ignore, since she knew all about the worthlessness of aimlessly popping backs.

Well, there was one chiropractor who Jess' coworkers decided was terribly cute and had to be visited. He, like the other 4 chiropractors they'd already spent time with, offered to do a neck scan to check spinal alignment and see how screwed you were. Jess had already put up with this nonsense once, and they had been unable to get any readings because Jess is not human. (Actually it was because of too many pain meds for too long.)

Anyway, Doctor X declared that he, having the best technology in the building, could do what none of the others could. His "I have the best toys" speech got Jess hooked, since Jess likes to have the best toys too. What do you know, he could see stuff. I have no clue what, but it sounded cool. And he sounded smart talking about it. And he didn't offer to do any aimless back popping, in fact, he frowned upon such, saying it was important to first know what you were working with and where you were trying to go. This made sense to Jess, who took Doctor X up on his offer to find her some recommended weirdos like himself closer to home.

A few months later, we decided to give it a try. What the heck, we'd tried enough pills to make drug addicts jealous, and the whole "love the pain" thing wasn't working either.

And so we ended up at Spinal Corrective Center with husband and wife team Dr. David and Dr. Jennifer, who, strangly enough, are really cool. :)

We attend SCC for adjustments 3 times a week. It doesn't take long, and it doesn't hurt. In fact, the few hours after our adjustments are usually Jess' best times.

Many thanks go to Jess' parents who have aggreed to help us with this huge financial commitment.

That should answer some of the many questions we've received!

If you want to learn more, please visit the website for SCC

where you can find all kinds of info.

A reminder which hangs over the xray viewboxes.

Jess' neck at the beginning of treatment, showing a -1 degree curve (spine going the wrong way)also showing my fine mouthful of fillings. The blue line shows where the curve should be.

Eric's neck at start of treatment.
Jess' spine is seen below. This picture has been darkened to allow better viewing of the spine. You may notice it seems tilted towards the right. In fact, this is the way my "posture" is graded:

Head Shift Left, Hip Twist Right, High High Left (1/2''), Shoulder High Left (1/4'') with a weight imbalance of 15 lbs to the right and forward head placement of 1/2 inch.

These numbers are from my last review at 60days of treatment.

Eric's spine

(xray shown normal and dark, blue line is optimal)

We're looking forward to seeing all the changes that this treatment will bring. We know it's going to be good to get our Central Nervous System back to the place where it can do an effective job of fixing things, keeping us healthy, and giving orders... and all that technical stuff too.

Quackers and Tomatoes

We enjoyed our first few tomatoes while the 'rents where here.
This plant has come a far way from the sun-burned scraggler it was when we bought it.

Family!

Mom and Dad (Remaly) came up to visit for a few days.
Dad and Eric went to check out the Museum of American Precision
while Mom, Meg, and Jess went to the spa by our house.
Then we sat around and played games.

Settlers, a family favorite...


and the PS3, where Mom still cringes everytime someone crashes.

berries!

making muffins with raw cane sugar and mixed berries


one thing i've learned from friends in culinary schools...

"use your hands!"

back to the drawing board

since i'm out of work i decided to dig up an old project,

a story tentitively called The Fallout

(click to view large)

knowing nothing more, which mock cover first catches your eye?

email or leave a comment below and tell me

why and what you imagine this story is all about

Vacation in Vermont

Last week Mom, Dad, and Alaina (Schaefer) made the long trip out east to visit. We gave them tour of Nashua (in the rain) and then joined them a few days later for some camping in Vermont.

A few notes on the pictures:

~ Dad is seen attacking a cone of "Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz," which is comprised of coffee ice cream, with flakes of fudge and expresso beans. Later you'll see a picture of his horror as he finds this flavor's name in the Flavor Graveyard, rendering this top pick a discontinued flavor.

~ The jukebox pictured has no volume adjustment. It also has no off button. It also plays without demanding any quarters as the stickers might lead you to believe are requried. Jess figured all this out at 7am by pushing a few buttons.

~ The odd looking picture of the camper covered in scattered rays of light was taken with a cross screen (or "star") filter. The star pattern is generated by a very fine diffraction grating embedded in the filter, or by the use of prisms in the filter.

~ Somehow the wording on the sign "Blind Drives Pedestrians" seemed funny at the time. Actually, it still sounds funny.

~ Look, a bee!

~ In one picture Mom is seen doing a dance. I think it's a "keep the rain away" dance but it might have been a "Jess put the camera away before I kill you" dance.

~ Fresh corn, purchased right down the street from the campgrounds, made a perfect addition to a dinner of grilled chicken and veggies.

~ The photo of the camper at night is followed by the same shot, taken without the flash and with a long exposure. Cameras are fun.

~ Our campground (previously a dairy farm) had a huge garden that looked to be split up perhaps by seasonal / long-term campers. Whatever the situation, they had some nice looking produce, as Jess' pictures attest. In the words of Edna Ferber, "cabbages is beautiful..." (look it up, if you don't remember English class and the Pulitzer Prize winning novel of 1925).

~ Our shadows hold hands. Isn't that just cool.

~ The yellow bird at the top of the pine may or may not be a goldfinch.

~ I took a picture of the meter at the campsite because it's made by Westinghouse... the same as our current collection of flatscreen computer monitors. When I mentioned this, Dad filled us in on the fact that Westinghouse used to make refrigerators as well. Then he told us this story...

A lady opened her refrigerator and saw a rabbit sitting on one of the shelves.
"What are you doing in there?" she asked.
The rabbit replied, "This is a Westinghouse, isn't it?", to which the lady replied "Yes".
"Well," the rabbit said, "I'm westing".

~ The farm animals pictured (along with the "cow-ch") are all part of the Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock, VT. You can find out more at their website, here.

~ The last few pictures of the river in a gorge... yep, that's what it is. Good guess. It's actually the Ottauquechee River, in Quechee Gorge, in Quechee, Vermont.

If you want to come visit now, we're ok with that.... :)

rest time

If you visit the Schaefer house right now you'll be invited to rest along with us.

Which, of course, means sitting back, kicking your feet up, and... crashing cars.
We hold firm to the believe that every human
should do that which they are best at...
if that means driving recklessly, then by all means, drive recklessly!
(But please, keep it to the streets of your PS3. Repairs are cheaper here.)

Burnout : Paradise City
by ElectronicArts