all of these current events were just a bad, cruel April Fools joke. Alas, that is not the case.
About this time of year in 1988 I had outpatient surgery to remove tumors from my abdomen. Like the dozen or so other tumors I have had removed, these would turn out to be benign. (Knocking on my head to simulate knocking on wood…)
After the lidocaine wore off I experienced great pain in my abdomen. (Eventually, the incision would become infected and require draining and antibiotics.) I tried three aspirin, but they had no effect. My surgeon and I had known each other since I was very young as we used to be neighbors. I called him and said, “I am in horrible pain. What do I do?” He said, “Schmuck, get some ibuprofen, Advil, and take three.”
I did as he said and waited. Magically, 35 minutes after taking the ibuprofen the pain was completely gone. That was both a revelation and a curse.
I have chronic pain, most of which is due to arthritis in many joints. Although they are not as bad as when I was younger, I also still get headaches, sometimes from allergies, but also from arthritis in my neck. Last night I had a new pain in an unusual place. Thinking it was just dry skin I applied lotion, but that had no effect. Finally, I went to the old standby, ibuprofen, and sure enough the pain was gone in 30-35 minutes. (Many hours later the pain has also not returned.)
Like all powerful medicines ibuprofen has negative side effects, one of the worst being potential kidney damage. In addition, excessive use of NSAIDs like ibuprofen increases the risk of adverse cardiovascular effects. (NSAID = Non Steroid Anti Inflammatory Drug) So I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. What I have had to do is to actively monitor my ibuprofen usage. Those days in which I do not take it are marked on the big calendar in the kitchen. I try to avoid taking ibuprofen on successive days and that is one reason I note my usage. I have found that I usually take it 3-4 days a week and, therefore, don’t take it 3-4 days a week.
NOTHING in life is all good or all bad. EVERYTHING is a trade-off.
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Moving to a more pleasant topic…
On this day in 1904 Clarence W. Spicer began manufacturing his invention, the Spicer joint, a type of universal joint. Over a century later, his company, the Dana Corporation, headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, has worldwide automotive parts sales approaching $10 billion per year. Of course, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2006 but has since recovered, obviously.
Many “motorheads” are familiar with Dana rear ends. While the majority of these have been installed in trucks, Mopar muscle cars of the late 60s and early 70s also had Dana rear axles. Muscle cars like this:
From Barrett-Jackson a picture of a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T. I know very little about Mopars so I don’t know if the R/T was usually fitted with a Dana rear end. I do know that John Kraman and Bill Stephens, of the Mecum broadcasts on NBCSN, seem to be very impressed by Dana rear axles.
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