Good news! I actually now have a real life outside of my cyberlife! I no longer have to be on FaceBook constantly. Sometimes my crops even DIE of neglect.

This is a topic near and dear to my heart. First of all, I agree that you should research your symptoms before heading off to see the doctor. I also recommend that you always carry a list of medications you are taking on a card in your purse or wallet; how often you take it and the dosage. It's a good idea to know when you started the medication and what for. I also agree you should take a list of questions and your symptoms; and write down what he/she tells you. As for experiences at the doctor's office, I have had the best and the worst. My advice is that if you live in the Central Valley of California and are critically ill, find a doctor that you can see out of town (my choice is Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara). If you do have to have a doctor in the Valley, do a lot of research before entrusting your care to him/her. My best experience with a doctor was at UCLA - the Heart/Lung Transport Dept. The head of the dept spent 1 1/2hrs explaining and answering questions. Imagine, 1 1/2 hrs with your doctor's full attention! Felt fantastic. My doctor at Sansom Clinic is much the same. He will stay with you as long as you need him to, and you can call him ANYTIME and actually speak to him - even after hours. Then we have my Valley doctor. I walk in, sit down, he comes in and asks what is wrong, I give him my best guess and he writes out a script. No examination. Works fine if you have enough experience to know your own body but you're in trouble if it turns out to be cancer! It's really important to take responsibility for your health and that includes your medical care. Doctors are not gods. Too many of the older generation (older than me, thank you) believe anything the doctor says. My mother in law had hip replacement surgery and came out fantastic! Two days later her GP told her she had gallstones and wouldn't survive the surgery - so she died. Sorry so long winded :)

I think I mean if you don't agree, give me something to come back to. A little back and forth; convince me?Maybe I can even win you over to my side???

I think your blogs are extremely interesting. Wish you'd respond in more detail for further discussion though.

It works out really well most of the time. Not much wallowing anymore. Like I said, everything takes practice. Does it work for you?

Great ideas!

I have kept a journal off and on for years. Sometimes when I have so much on my mind I can't organize my thoughts and therefore can't sleep. I've used it to get my negative thoughts out of my head so I can move on. I've used it to feel sorry for myself. I've used it to say the things I'd like to say to people and, due to social convention and my upbringing, can't. Looking back thru the journals I'm amazed at how I came thru some of the times of my life; those times when I was so down I thought I'd die and wanted to. It also shows me how far I've come in handling certain kinds of situations. The poor, poor, pitiful me statements are even sometimes funny and often again amazing when I deal with those situations now in my life. Best of all it can be my best friend - uplifting, encouraging, funny. And it has kept many people in my family from a near fatal barrage of anger and frustration directed solely at them. All in all I feel that rereading those words has made me a stronger person; just by knowing that I made it thru once helps me make it thru again.

These are really good ideas. Practice, practice, practice...that's the key.

Yea. I just finished it. Very interesting. Like I sid, I just enjoy the game! I only get in trouble when I play too many at one time - run out of time.

--- On Sun, 7/4/10, IntenseDebate Notifications <notifications@intensedebatemail.com> wrote:

I used Facebook in the beginning because it was something new to learn. Then I played the games to make friends around the world as I wasn't used to being retired and away from people. Then came the addiction...gotta get home to harvest, etc. As I made friends outside of my work my time became confusing. Now I have made myself concentrate on real life as well as cyberlife. The Facebook fairy does not punish me for unharvested crops, undeveloped towns, uncleared. I found I could actually function without the mouse in my hand and not wallow in guilt for hours.
Since I'm not addicted to my cell or to Tweets or My Space or any other communication networks I'm doing ok. I can live without updates to my phone immediately - although I feel as if I'm missing an arm if I leave it at home.
And Farmville is not an awful game lol.