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

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.

Re: Calcium

[cellio]

Thanks for the tips.

Wait, milk is good but cheese is bad? And what's the deal with spinach?

Re: Calcium

[fauxklore]

Sorry if I confused you re: dairy. Both milk and cheese (and yogurt) are high in calcium. The problem is that if you eat/drink them at the same time as spinach, the oxalic acid in the spinach keeps you from absorbing the calcium. (The high fat and sodium in cheese are a separate issue.) There are a few other things with oxalates, but spinach is the most common and there are lots of dishes with spinach and cheese, which is why I thought it worth mentioning.

Re: Calcium

[cellio]

Aha. Thank you for the clarification. I didn't know that spinach caused interference, and you're right that omelettes and quiches are common deployment paths. I'll pay attention to that. (Most of my spinach intake is via salads or a certain fish dish that I like to make, fortunately.)