unicorn

If you're going to take valsartan, which has a half-life of about 9 hours, as opposed to telmisartan, which has a half-life of 24 hours, I recommend taking it at bedtime, as blood pressure are highest after waking up in the morning. Most heart attacks and strokes also happen in the morning. The activity of valsartan wanes towards the end of its dosing schedule.

Penile pumps, when used with constricting devices, work on most people for whom the oral medications don't. It's used more often in relationships, since one can't exactly carry the device around, but you could also use it if you've hired someone to service you. Hypertension worsens erectile dysfunction, by the way.

Like much (or probably most) of medicine, the purpose of blood pressure medications is not to immediately make you feel better, but rather to prevent bad things from happening. Over time, hypertension causes arteries to harden and narrow, which will cause a drop in blood flow to various organs, including the brain, heart, kidneys, eyes, legs, and penis. This increases the risk of stroke, dementia, heart attack, heart failure, renal failure (which would require dialysis 3 times a week), blindness, difficulty walking distances, and inability to sustain erections. While it is true that one shouldn't diagnose hypertension from a single reading, your single reading is certainly alarming, unless you were visiting the doctor for a highly painful or anxiety-inducing reason, such as passing a kidney stone, a horrible migraine, etc., in which case the increase in BP could have been temporary and adaptive. One would almost never, for instance, diagnose hypertension due to a reading obtained in an emergency room (you'd broken your leg in a car accident, for example). At the very least, you should do home blood pressure checks, which must be done correctly in order to be accurate. The readings must be taken when you're calm, not in pain, resting for 5 minutes, back supported, feet flat on the floor, not talking, and cuff on a bare arm at heart level (arm supported). In any case, the patent for valsartan (the active ingredient in Dilart) ran out well over a decade ago, so it is not being marketed by any pharmaceutical company. While it is true that pharmaceutical companies may take physicians out to dinner in order to attend educational/promotional talks for new medications, these are never done for medications which are off patent, for obvious reasons. There is no way your physician can benefit in any way for prescribing valsartan, unless he's also a pharmacist and literally selling them to you himself. (As an aside, I prefer telmisartan over valsartan, because it has better activity over a 24-hour period, but either is fine. Telmisartan is also off patent and relatively inexpensive). If your blood pressure is really that high, you should be checked to see that you don't have another medical condition which is causing your blood pressure to be so high (although that's not the case 90% of the time), also known as secondary hypertension (as opposed to regular, primary hypertension, sometimes called "essential hypertension."). In any case, I hope you can discuss your health in a polite, respectful way with your physician, and that you try to educate yourself on a subject before proclaiming superior knowledge to someone who's dedicated his career to health.

It's either one or the other. If you try to come onto guys in a public toilet (which is not a gay venue), you risk getting bashed. Of course, some get excited by the danger, but if you don't want to court danger, don't do it, especially as an older man. Sooner or later you'll run into trouble, either legal or physical. Obviously I don't condone violence, but an older man leering at younger men's cocks in a public toilet is asking for trouble.

Yegads! I just found out Tobey Maguire's 50! I wonder if he's gotten his AARP membership yet...

I can hardly think of anything more disgusting than force-feeding someone on a hunger strike.

There are places even worse than that in Iran, where he's from. I would also personally prefer death to a life of eternal torture. As they say in New Hampshire: live free or die.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/06/26/ice-force-feed-iran-mehrad-asadi-eidivand/84349361007/ "A federal judge granted a request allowing immigration officials to force-feed an Iranian asylum seeker on hunger strike while in detention in Arizona. Mehrad Asadi Eidivand, who was living in the U.S. on a work permit, was arrested outside his Phoenix home in May and taken to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Florence, Arizona. In protest of his detainment, the avid bodybuilder went on an initial hunger strike that left him diagnosed with acute kidney injury, court records say. Asadi Eidivand soon began a second hunger strike, leading officials on Monday to ask a federal judge's permission to monitor his health, administer intravenous fluids and medicines, and insert a feeding tube through his nose without consent. U.S. District Judge Steven Logan granted the request the same day, writing Asadi Eidivand was at risk of organ failure...".

Orban is the threat to children. So is Trump. They want gay children dead--no bones about it. Consider a donation to the Trevor Project or something similar. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/blog/trump-administration-orders-termination-of-national-lgbtq-youth-suicide-lifeline-effective-july-17th/ "June 18, 2025 – The Trevor Project received official notice yesterday that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is initiating the closure of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services program within 30 days, effective July 17, 2025. Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, released the following statement in response: “We received official notice that the Trump administration has ordered the closure of The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services program, effective July 17, 2025. This means that, in 30 short days, this program that has provided life-saving services to more than 1.3 million LGBTQ+ young people will no longer be available for those who need it. “This is devastating, to say the least. Suicide prevention is about people, not politics. The administration’s decision to remove a bipartisan, evidence-based service that has effectively supported a high-risk group of young people through their darkest moments is incomprehensible. The fact that this news comes to us halfway through Pride Month is callous – as is the administration’s choice to remove the ‘T’ from the acronym ‘LGBTQ+’ in their announcement. Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased.

This was reported in multiple sources, including my local newscast--the newscasters had a little chuckle when they gave the story.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14822367/Banker-Debra-Jones-fear-dolls-lawsuit-PTSD-Chucky.html "A former banker with a deep-seated fear of dolls has claimed she has suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ever since her boss left a Chucky toy on her chair. Debra Jones claims in her lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina that her supervisors at Truist subjected her to workplace discrimination and created a hostile work environment - causing her emotional and financial harm. Jones had already been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder, autoimmune disorder and vitiligo when she was hired as a full-time relationship banker in April 2024 in Rocky Mount, according to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com. She claims she suffered discrimination and retaliation at the Charlotte-based bank due to those disabilities, and the Chucky incident caused her to be newly diagnosed with PTSD. Chucky is a fictional character in horror slasher films about a doll possessed by a serial killer. The first film, Child's Play, was released in 1988 and numerous sequels have followed. It all went down in June 2024, during her last week of training, when Jones claims her manager at the time, Matthew Korr, placed 'the doll that kills people' in her chair. She says Korr 'was aware of her fear of dolls and how her fear of dolls negatively affected her disabilities, as Plaintiff had shared this with Korr when he had invited Plaintiff to his home for a team cookout.' When he then saw how Jones reacted, Korr allegedly started to laugh. Immediately after the incident, Jones said she had to be treated by her medical provider - and was placed on eight weeks of medical leave to treat her disabilities. She finally returned to work in August 2024, and was assigned to a new manager, Jennifer Briley, who said she was aware of the Chucky incident and moved Jones to a different office. Yet, Jones said her treatment at the bank became worse as she continued to face mockery, and was subjected to unequal treatment related to her job and her workplace accommodations. 'Plaintiff contends that Plaintiff and her coworkers alike were subjected to making some mistakes, but Plaintiff was treated differently than her coworkers when she made mistakes,' the lawsuit asserts. It also claims Jones had an accommodation to leave work at 3pm three times a week to seek treatment 'for flare-ups that started as a result of the Chucky doll incident.' ..." Those "flare-ups" were supposedly to treat her vitiligo (the "autoimmune condition"), a condition which does not require 3 times a week treatments. This whole situation sounds so preposterous, I wonder if there ever was a doll placed on her chair. I wonder if this will ever make it to court. Why would anyone hire such a woman?

https://www.fodors.com/news/photos/food-fights-around-the-world

And what's a vicitim? Fooding may be where a food fight covers the street with food.... https://www.vice.com/en/article/italys-biggest-food-fight-has-left-70-people-injured/

These tours are all small tours (around 12 participants), so not like we're being herded in big buses. You're right--we can do without the cooking lessons or knife-making lessons, but the conveniences make up for it.

I am leaning towards tours. I usually go for tours in countries in which I don't speak the language and/or they drive on the left (let alone both). One time I did drive all around Turkey for 2 weeks, but I learned Turkish before I went. I can hardly remember any Turkish, though I think I could re-learn it more quickly if I had to do it again. But the last time I drove in Greek Cyprus, I knocked off the car's side-mirror. I'm really not good at driving on the left. Best I can do is not get run over when I cross the street. My best friend and I toured South Africa once on our own, but he did all the driving. When my husband and I toured the UK (England, Scotland, Wales) 3 years ago, we did a tour, since neither of us can drive on the left.

Well, that's not Pan Am by any means. I remember cashing in all of my frequent flyer miles on one of their last flights from Europe. In those days, the sleeperette seats were considered the height of comfort!

Thanks for the advice. Though we'll be traveling during the dry season (August), I think we'll lean towards the tours which focus on central and eastern Java.

My hubbie and I are planning to visit Java and Bali next summer (probably August 2026), and have looked at some organized tours of the area. Obviously, we want to visit Borobudur and Prambanan temples, but some tours visit Jakarta and some don't. The Gate1 Discovery Tour visits Jakarta, but skips eastern Java, while EF Go Ahead Tours skips Jakarta but visits eastern Java. I should note that Gate1 Discovery seems to be less expensive, go to better hotels, and include more meals. I'm hoping someone here has visited Java and can share his opinions. https://www.gate1travel.com/small-groups/small-group-asia/2026/small-groups-indonesia-15did26.aspx?Brand=DISCOVER https://www.goaheadtours.com/guided-tours/indonesia-bali-java

https://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/temu-com It looks as though almost everyone who's used them states they're scam artists.

Yes

Just in case anyone's wondering what he looks like...

The mystery thickens. A plane with no history of problems, and now there are two reported problems in short order from the exact same airline, when 1200 have been built since 2007. That makes me suspect the airline's maintenance facilities...