Highwayman

I'm Back Again (Sort Of:)

Well, my visitors are gone and life is slowly coming back to normal. I'll try to put up a new post soon!

From The Home Front

I'm still here, sort of, just incredibly busy. Our visitors will stay with us till Wednesday so I'll try to write a normal post after they leave. Still recovering from a nasty flu and driving around with fever certainly doesn't help:)

See you all later!

Do People Overuse Prescription Drugs?

I've been reading about the abuse of legal opioids such as fentanyl which are apparently freely available in some countries and prescribed for even minor pain issues. Here it's more difficult to get a prescription for this sort of thing, unless you are over certain age or have serious health problems, such as cancer.

Yet I've heard of someone who was very old and had persistent back pain, but was otherwise overall healthy. The person got hooked on morphine for pain issues, developed some nasty complications and died quickly afterwards. I know that at this person's age it was hardly a surprise, but there still appears a connection to me.

In general though, doctors seem to dole out certain medications like candy. There are folks out there who use one medication to go to bed, another to wake up, and yet another to deal with anxiety issues. I'm not talking war veterans over here, but young people in their twenties. Of course, I'm not a doctor, but it looks excessive to me.

Antibiotics abuse has got so bad, with resistant strains which keep popping up, that the doctors here hesitate to give it even for pneumonia sometimes. There are many home remedies available yet we've seemed to develop a culture which tells us to look for easy solutions to our problems, as in fixing everything with pills.

I will freely admit that I'm probably biased since I can badly tolerate even simple medications and prefer not to use them if at all possible, so I'd like to hear other opinions. You are all welcome to comment!

What's The Use Of Crafting?

An embroidery set I bought in Germany.

Women nowadays are often taught that crafting is basically a waste of time (as opposed to the fine arts of facebooking, twittering, and other forms of attention-wh*ring online) and something for old women. A friend was ashamed once that a repairman came and saw her through the window engaged in (gasp) crocheting. Yet, doing things with your hands, like knitting or cross-stitching (or drawing or playing a musical instrument) is good for your nerves. It makes you more relaxed and helps you fight depression and even dementia.

Don't believe me? Here is what science says:
Crafting: A Cure For Depression

I can testify to the fact that I recently cured a splitting headache by just engaging in cross-stitching:)

Here is a British lady who gives you 9 reasons to start crafting:
9 reasons crafting is good for you

As for me, I'm off to tend to my guests, so see you later!

A Short Note

I'm sick. Like in having flu. Plus, I'm getting some visitors who'll stay with us for a couple of weeks so posting will be scarce.

Here are a couple of videos to entertain you:

How to make pine needle tea

Why you don't need a huge mortgage (the one thing which keeps so many wives in the workforce):

Living in an 8m2 apartment in Japan

Canadian homeschoolers living off the grid

Well, maybe it's too extreme, but you get my point:)

The Rest Of Vacation Pictures