random bits

[cellio]

I used to occasionally have a problem with an overnight power outage killing the alarm clock and causing me to oversleep, but I've more recently realized that having a UPS or three means never having to fear that again. :-) (Fortunately, today's power outage came after we were up, not in the middle of the night, and only lasted about five minutes. I was just about ready to interrupt my morning grooming to shut down computers when the need went away.)

In the "interesting if true, and interesting anyway" department: earlier this week I learned that the folks who handle disposal of sensitive documents for my company are blind. (Well, not the truck driver.) If I understand correctly, the local blind association arranges this, as sort of an extra guarantee or something. Who'd'a thought?

Signal boost: it looks like someone's testing stolen credit-card numbers on a large scale. Check your statement for microtransactions; they're testing the cards with ~20-cent transactions to verify that they're good before hammering them. Link from jducoeur.

A few days ago my copy of I Remember the Future by mabfan arrived. Yay! I'll have some nice reading for Shabbat.

Oldest LOLcat? Link from siderea.

My doctor confirmed that I should be taking calcium supplements now to (with luck) fend off problems later. Where can I find calcium tablets that are sized for, y'know, normal people and not horses? Most bottles in stores don't even include pictures on the label, so it's hit or miss. The oblong ones I have are scored for cutting widthwise, but I need them to be narrower, not necessarily shorter, and my attempts to do that have all ended badly. What do other women of a certain age do?

Comments

[tashabear.livejournal.com]

Where can I find calcium tablets that are sized for, y'know, normal people and not horses?

What about chewables (http://www.amazon.com/Chewable-Calcium-Supplement-60-Count-Containers/dp/B000FKJTT8)?

[spiritdancer]

re: calcium supplements: Try Viactiv (or the generic equivalent). It's a chewable calcium supplement in various flavors (most commonly chocolate; I recall seeing caramel, as well).

OTOH, you may want to give your doc a call back and ask about Vitamin D supplementation, as well. It doesn't really help to take the calcium if you can't absorb it (and going into winter where you live, odds are pretty good you're going to be Vitamin D deficient).

Reminds me I need to start taking my Vitamin D again :-)

[magid.livejournal.com]

Another way to boost calcium is to choose calcium-fortified orange juice, if you don't already.

[dreamdancer85.livejournal.com]

Try Costco's Kirkland brand. I use their 500 Mg + D(400 IU) and K (40 mcg)

The pills are about the size of a one a day multi-vitamin.

I take two of these as I need both the calcium and the Vit. D.

The BIG bottle has 600 in there, and costs $10.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the historic LOLcat!

Calcium

[fauxklore]

There's a cheaper chewable option than Viactiv. I use Tum's (or the generic equivalent, i.e. a calcium carbonate antacid.) Each tablet has about 200 - 300 mg of calcium, depending on the brand. So two tablets a day works for me.

One other thing with calcium is that oxalates can interfere with absorption, so eating dishes made with cheese and spinach is counterproductive as you absorb the fat but not the calcium from the cheese.

blind employees

[ticklethepear.livejournal.com]

The other great job placement I saw was in a cigar factor in Nicaragua where several blind people who in charge of quality of control of external packaging, since their sense of touch is more acute.

[cjsherwood.livejournal.com]

My personal favorite for calcium supplementation is Tums (or generic store-brand thereof). Chewable, not too unpleasant tasting and, iirc, one can get a full daily dose of Calcium by chewing 2 daily.

[hopeness.livejournal.com]

With the credit card thing, that is exactly the pattern the thieves used--a small "test" transaction (at a movie theatre halfway across the country!) prior to the big charges.

And others have suggested chewable calcium - even better, before I had to start on my current crazy vitamins, I was supplementing with calcium "chews"... chocolate tootsie-roll like things.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*makes note of microtransactions and more*