Photos & Update

I finally had time over the weekend to get some updated photos of progress on the barn. The back is now ready for a door to be installed; DH has started the framework for six stalls on one side. We now have insurance on the structure too; in case of storm damage, we can afford to have it replaced.

I wandered out there Saturday afternoon and took the pictures posted below.

There's not much to write about here, except it is HOT and HUMID. Around 7:00 yesterday afternoon I went on my bike ride, tackling the Killer Loop, and it was just nearly too hot for biking. Usually by that time the air is cooler and it's not horribly uncomfortable. By the time I got back though I was soaked in sweat! Don't think I'll go again until the summer weather abates, or we have an unseasonably cool afternoon.

Saturday afternoon I left on the bike, but the wind began to pick up and first thing I knew, rain started. I had seen some clouds on the horizon, but they sure got to me in a hurry! I got soaking wet on my way home, but I wasn't too far off. In the city park, I loved riding in a misty, light rain...but Saturday it became a torrential downpour and a real struggle to get back to the house.

Oh yes, I bought some flourescent paint -- bright orange -- and painted my bike. If I were a true smart-@ss I'd put a sticker on the back of my bike that read: "SEE ME NOW?" I chose that color so when someone (probably a fat person in an SUV) hits me, they'll have a hard time saying they "didn't see me." :-(

Family is all doing okay. Or what passes for okay in my family anyway. DH seems well too, though I worry he's overdoing it with the work on the barn in this stressful hot weather. However, he takes frequent breaks and drinks lots of water. I can't be his "keeper," even though I do stay in touch with him via the two-way radio when he's out at the barn working.

I've been reading a lot, writing occasionally, and otherwise still piddling with my garden stuff and flowers. We are also looking at foreclosures again, since we've managed to save enough to think of buying another house, perhaps for additional rental income. Sunday we looked at two places, and one was very promising - about a mile from town, 3 acres and a fairly nice house that just needed some work, in the right price range. We looked at another place with 8 acres and an older house, but it was in another county...just barely across the line, but the price was astonishing, it was so low. We'll keep searching, never can tell when we'll find a bargain.

I'd like to have two rentals -- for the income. If we don't buy a house though, we can always buy a used mobile home and put it at the back of the five acres, rent it out. I figure we could do that (pay cash, have the trailer delivered and get electricity/septic tank) far below the price of buying a house. And then we could rent it, or let a couple live there who could help us with upkeep on this place in exchange for rent.

So it goes...


Rear of barn, side with framework for stalls 


View alongside creek, sloping away from rear of barn 


Creek alongside property, behind barn 


Horses grazing in pasture 

Gee, I wonder WHY I am suspicious of all those "scientific studies" that, first promoted as good, turn bad by the next "study?" Could it perchance be that drug companies have something to do with the "first studies?"

As I've mentioned before, I'm waiting for the "study" that connects the huge wave of breast cancers with mammograms; it's surely in the works.

This article will open your eyes:


Study: What's Good Often Turns Out Bad


By LINDSEY TANNER

CHICAGO (AP) - New research highlights a frustrating fact about science: What was good for you yesterday frequently will turn out to be not so great tomorrow.

The sobering conclusion came in a review of major studies published in three influential medical journals between 1990 and 2003, including 45 highly publicized studies that initially claimed a drug or other treatment worked.

Subsequent research contradicted results of seven studies - 16 percent - and reported weaker results for seven others, an additional 16 percent.

That means nearly one-third of the original results did not hold up, according to the report in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Contradicted and potentially exaggerated findings are not uncommon in the most visible and most influential original clinical research," said study author Dr. John Ioannidis, a researcher at the University of Ioannina in Greece.

Ioannidis examined research in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and Lancet - prominent journals whose weekly studies help feed a growing public appetite for medical news.

Experts say the report is a reminder to doctors and patients that they should not put too much stock in a single study and understand that treatments often become obsolete with medical advances.

"The crazy part about science and yet the exciting part about science is you almost never have something that's black and white," said Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, JAMA's editor-in-chief.

Editors at the New England Journal of Medicine added in a statement: "A single study is not the final word, and that is an important message."

The refuted studies dealt with a wide range of drugs and treatments. Hormone pills were once thought to protect menopausal women from heart disease but later were shown to do the opposite, and Vitamin E pills have not been shown to prevent heart attacks, contrary to initial results.

Contradictions also included a study that found nitric oxide does not improve survival in patients with respiratory failure, despite earlier claims. And a study suggested an antibody treatment did not improve survival in certain sepsis patients; a smaller previous study found the opposite.

Ioannidis acknowledged an important but not very reassuring caveat: "There's no proof that the subsequent studies ... were necessarily correct." But he noted that in all 14 cases in which results were contradicted or softened, the subsequent studies were either larger or better designed. Also, none of the contradicted treatments is currently recommended by medical guidelines.

Not by accident, this week's JAMA also includes a study contradicting previous thinking that stomach-lying helped improve breathing in children hospitalized with acute lung injuries. The new study found they did no better than patients lying on their backs.

DeAngelis said she included the study with Ioannidis' report to highlight the issue. She said the media can complicate matters with misleading or exaggerated headlines about studies.

Ioannidis said scientists and editors should avoid "giving selective attention only to the most promising or exciting results" and should make the public more aware of the limitations of science.

"The general public should not panic" about refuted studies, he said. "We all need to start thinking more critically."
~~~~
Um, critical thinking...what is THAT? Are Americans capable of it? ;-)

More photos

Last night I finally downloaded the photos off the camera, and two are posted below. There's a huge gooseneck and flatbed trailer parked underneath the barn top -- easy to see how LARGE it will be when completed. I think there'll be about six stalls on each side, if DH puts stalls on both sides. He will soon start the side additions, already has trusses.

We're a bit worried about Hurricane Dennis here, especially since he couldn't get insurance on the partial barn structure. The insurance agent actually said they were NOT writing any more policies until AFTER Dennis had passed through! That IS worrisome, but maybe the worst of it will pass us by, considering our location is far from the coast.

Much to do today, have to run!

View of one side completed